Cash

She was supposed to be off-limits. He never much cared for following rules.

Cece

When I first came to Shine, I was quiet, sweet, and compliant. That's all I ever knew. Anything else meant punishment and pain in my old life.

Now the rage inside of me is eating me alive, and everyone has all but given up on trying to help.

Except the one man who has always stood by my side.

No matter how horrible and cruel I am to him, he refuses to leave, refuses to let me fall into the black hole I'm not sure I want out of.

His gentle touches and sweet smiles are nothing I've ever known, and it ignites feelings in me I didn't think possible after barely surviving the hellhole I was raised in.

But he wants that sweet girl he met, and I don't know if he can accept the woman who rose from the ashes of her horrific past to become the nightmare for the monsters who once terrified her.

Cash

She came to the clubhouse terrified of her own shadow, thrust into a new life with complete strangers far away from everything she knew.

I made sure she felt safe and protected, and she became the salve that eased the pain of losing a brother.

I wasn't supposed to notice the way she blushed so prettily when I held her gaze for too long, or the way she looked so damn tempting every time she gave me a real smile.

I sure as hell wasn't supposed to crave that smile against my lips.

Giving into temptation would blow our world apart, and it's getting harder and harder for me to care.

But the past has a not so funny way of showing up when we least expect it.

The monsters from hers need to be dealt with once and for all before they find a way to cause her more pain.

They will pay for hurting my woman then, and I'll make damn sure they're buried six feet under before they ever have a chance to do it again.