"I know his flight landed recently." The shaky voice of Valentina's grandmother filled her ears. Her grandmother's soft Spanish quickly jogged her memory of her native language.

"I don't understand why he has to mess everything up, mama," Valentina sniffled in the same language while sitting heavily on her couch.

"I know, mi amor," the older woman sighed. "Speak to your brother. He needs to know the situation."

"I really don't think he'll help me."

Her grandmother sighed. "He's the only family you have besides me. I know he let you down but he cares for you. You need to act quickly; we don't know what your dad will do."

Groaning loudly, Valentina bid goodbye to her sweet grandmotherPressing her forehead against the cool countertop, she sighed lowly as tears breached her water line.

"Shit," she hissed. "I'm gonna' be sick." Holding her stomach, she lurched to the sink and dry heaved.

Snagging her phone again, she opened the last text she got from her brother months ago detailing the club he'd joined in the next city over. In reality it wasn't that far; he'd been so close this whole time.

No word since then. To be fair, she did have the address, she'd just never had the balls to actually go find him.

"I might as well give up now." Valentina brushed her long, midnight tresses behind her back. Snagging a water, she retreated to bed while planning her day tomorrow to get the urgent news to her brother.

***

Sliding her scrub top off as she sat slowly in her truck, Valentina groanedShe was worn down, sweaty, and stressed. Her tightly french braided hair was borderline frizzy, and overall she felt ready to keel over. Glancing up at the sky, the midday sun beamed down at her. No time like the present. Starting up the chevy, she peeled out of the hospital parking lot.

Glancing at her phone repeatedly on the drive, Valentina worried her lip while following the GPS.

She hadn't seen Jude since he bailed on her. Would he even give her the time of day? After everything that they'd been through, Valentina thought he'd do anything for her just as she had done everything for him. Like paying for his transportation into the States, his Visa, and giving him a fucking roof over his head. All while she was graduating from nursing school! She hadn't needed to help him; no, she got out of Honduras all on her own. But now...god, now she was approaching him. In his home.

Holding in her barf while parking outside of the biker bar, she looked down at her thin, black tank top, and scrubs rolled up at her hips. A change of clothes would have been smart.

"You can do this. He'll be happy to see you, he owes you." Her voice trembled as she opened her car door. Taking a deep breath, she schooled her face and glanced at the entrance.

Just as she did, the door slammed open and a haggard drunk was thrown out.

"Don't ever show your fuckin' face here again," a deep voice snarled with the most
palpable anger she'd ever had the pleasure of witnessing.

Amber eyes darted up to her. Valentina met his gaze evenly.

The man was auburn haired, a deep reddish brown that was pushed back out of his face, only slightly grown out. His skin was on the paler side. It had been marred with some scars, cutting through his one brow and his thick- trimmed beard where no hair grew. He cracked his tattooed knuckles loudly while looking her up and down.

The man was beautiful in a scary way, with all due respect. He was fucking huge, Valentina reaching a solid 5'5 while he soared past 6 foot. The broadness of his body held strong as well, making him a wall of intimidation.

Rolling her lips, she could assume he was a biker with the leather hanging off his frame. The biker stared at her intensely, as if daring her to come in.

"Keep the door open for me, will you?" she rasped after almost swallowing her tongue.

Her feet seemed to move on their own, unwilling to sit in any more silence and open staring.

His eyes felt like molten lava as she approached, silent and judging while she came closer and closer to where he took up the doorway. Crooking his jaw, he narrowed his gaze and took in the smaller woman.

She had hip length black hair, braided in two sections but if he had to guess it was loosely curly. Her face was round, with rich tanned skin that was flush from what seemed to be anxiety. Dark brown eyes peered up. They were wide and practically had every thought running through her head reflecting off of them. Her plump, pink lips were parted a bit as she took a deep breath.

Slowly, he sidestepped. She pushed into the doorway where he'd turned his body to the side, and now they both were crowded in the doorway.

The man pressed harder into the door to give them both more space, obviously not expecting her to stop right in front of him. His judging and somewhat curious eyeing turned into glaring.

Her breath hitched: his scent of firewood and cedar wood was mixed with the smell of gasoline. "Thanks..."

She looked at the leather jacket. His patch read:

Mayhem Motorcycle Club
Enforcer
Butcher

She licked her lips slowly, meeting his eyes again. "Thanks Butcher." Her tone was breathy as her attention was drawn to the rowdy bar just beyond him.

He slammed the door shut as soon as she stepped in, causing her to jump and all attention to dart to the two. Behind her she could feel Butcher's glare, practically herding her further into the dimly lit building by the bar counter.

All the men were openly staring at the newcomer. She imagined this wasn't a place with many random customers. There were a few women, some draped over bikers' laps and others waiting on them. She tried to use that to make herself more comfortable, but it didn't help.

Glancing behind her, she saw Butcher was still lingering, only another man had come to his side. A blonde guy, taller than Butcher, miraculously, but slimmer. He was still intimidating, covered in tattoos that seemed intricate and impressive and his hair was slicked back. His square jaw was crooked but his eyes were intrigued by the woman falling right into his bar.

"So welcoming," she mumbled. It was loud enough to be heard by the two men behind her. The blonde threw his arm over Butcher who crossed his arms over his broad chest. Butcher sneered and shook off the arm.

"I came here looking for someone. I was hoping you could help me," Valentina finally piped up, swallowing hard while leaning against a bar stool.

The blonde man's brows shot up, "You ain't pregnant right? Searchin' for a baby daddy or something?"

Valentina recoiled as if he'd slapped her, "Do I look pregnant?"

Both men took their time checking out her curvy figure, looking at her flat stomach.

The blonde smirked. "I'd feel a little weird having the hots for a pregnant chick."

Exhaling loudly through her nose, Valentina rubbed her cheek and met Butcher's gaze. She fidgeted with her braid.

"I'm looking for my brother. Jude Vasquez, looks similar to me. Like 5'9...said he joined here a while ago last I heard from him."

The blonde's eyes widened and Butcher looked even more skeptical.

"Holy shit!," said the blonde. "You're Val! Damn, he's mentioned you a few times, I saw pictures but couldn't remember the face. You look even better than the pictures. My name's Gunner, hun, we're practically family if you're a biker brother's sister."

Gunner held out his hand, grinning wide down at her. Slowly, the woman took it.

"I'll go get that asshole now. Butcher, you stay with the pretty lady. Don't let anyone bother her," Gunner demanded. The two were left alone, one feeling awkward and the other feeling intimidated.

"Is my brother...popular here?" she asked Butcher while shifting to stand a smidge closer to him. The other men staring was starting to finally break her.

Butcher grunted, shifting his body and standing perpendicular to her. Her view of the other bikers was shielded and vice versa. Her shoulders fell a little in relief as she finally pushed herself up onto the bar stool.

His non answer didn't stop her from filling the silence as he stood stiff, not even a foot in front of her.

"We're not close. I'm surprised he mentioned me to anyone," she mumbled, mostly to herself while examining the long sleeved white shirt straining against the man's muscular frame.

Once again, the auburn haired man grunted. He met her gaze, "He got patched in last month."

Her eyes widened at the sound of his voice, much less angry than when he kicked that man out. It was rough, just like the rest of him, with a particular rasp to it that scratched a neglected part of her brain.

Her head tilted, having read a little bit about motorcycle club culture. She knew that meant he was just officially... indoctrinated, so to speak.

Just as she was about to say something else, a door in the back swung open abruptly. Standing up quickly, she caught the full head of hair that belonged to her brother. Glancing up nervously, she saw Butcher staring down at her. Brushing past him, she stood beside the large man as her brother rushed forward, obviously disheveled.

Valentina's face fell as the anxiety crashed back down on her at the sight of her little brother. Sniffling, she fell forward when he was close enough and lunged to hug him.

"Shit!" He was surprised and almost fell back. His lean frame had grown more muscular, his height still grazing just under six foot. But he still felt the same with his comforting hug that wrapped around her.

"I have to talk to you, you asshole." She suddenly pulled away to wipe her face.

"Val, holy shit. I haven't seen you since..."

"Yeah, since you were an absolute dick. I really need to fucking talk to you, dude. It's important." Her voice lowered even though she knew at the very least Gunner and Butcher could hear their conversation.

"What's it about?"

Her shoulders fell a little, not sensing the urgency in his voice that she wanted or expected. "The family." Her arms fell to her sides before wrapping around her waist.

Jude's brows furrowed, gesturing around. "This is my family now. Anything important about our shitbag parents can be said in front of them."

Valentina's eyes watered. She doesn't know what she expected. "You're kidding me," she hissed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Looking up, she blinked to get rid of tears. "Dad is in the States. And apparently he wants to drag me back to Honduras to take care of them in retirement. 'Like a good daughter.' Mom is sick, you know how he can get. When I tell him no, it's not going to be pretty and he's going to hurt me. I don't even know how he found out what state we're in. Abuela said he was lookin' around for us."

Her summed up explanation hung in the air as strangers and everyone took it in. Her brow twitched, seeing her brother's wide eyes.

"But since they're your fucking family now, I'm going to leave. I'll deal with him myself."

Jude's mouth opened and closed repeatedly, blinking as he processed. "He's here?!" the younger Vasquez balked. He paled at the announcement, "Like now? Holy fuck. You've gotta go lay low or something, Valentina."

Her jaw dropped.

"Great idea, genius. Fuck! I should've never come here," she rasped as her throat closed with emotion. Her shaky hands reached for her purse.

Butcher snagged the bag, putting it further down the bar. Her fingers just grazed it as they both watched it slide away. Her face swung towards him, but he stared down impassively. Then he nodded his head over to Gunner.

Valentina glanced back to see Gunner rubbing his jaw in thought.

"Jude, the way you treat your blood in a moment of need is disappointing," the blonde announced. Jude's attention whipped to him, eyes wide.

Valentina wiped at her face, looking at his jacket once again, and read President. He was in charge.

Jude opened his mouth to say something but Gunner cut him off.

"Poor little Val." He tilted his head while staring down at her. "Halfway up shit creek without a paddle, huh?"

"Get to the point, Gunner," Butcher seethed behind her, as if he hated wasting time with Gunner's games. Valentina flinched as she was sandwiched between the two large bikers.

"You look cute in your little nurse get up, hun, "Gunner said. "That what you do for a living?"

Slowly, Valentina nodded.

Humming in interest, Gunner stared at her. Valentina slowly backed up. Her back bumped into Butcher's chest and she gasped. Still, she stood there,wary of the club President.

"How long you been nursing?"

"Three years including residency."

"Who do you treat?"

Valentina instinctively glanced back at Butcher, who she was starting to believe may be the most sane person in here. He was staring intensely down at her. His amber eyes flickered down her contemplative face before darting to Gunner, and then back to her dark gaze. As if to say, go on.

"Uh—" she cleared her throat and turned back to the blonde. Still, she shuffled further back towards Butcher, barely a foot between them now.

"I worked in the general ER of Saint Mary's, but I got transferred to the pediatric unit six months ago." Valentina ran a hand through her hair nervously, but managed to hold the President's stare.

Gunner smirked. "Well hot damn, Butch." The club president saw his friend watching the woman like a hawk. "I'd say we hit the jackpot."

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant but he cut her off.

"I got a proposition for you, honey," Gunner eyed where Valentina leaned towards Butcher. Butcher sneered but only braced his hand against the bar, not moving away
from the teary-eyed woman.

This would work nicely. Gunner was sure of it.

"We're in need of some medical assistance every once in a while," Gunner drawled with a charming grin. "Our Doc, him, and his woman just popped a bun outta' the oven. Little shit is trying to get us killed. Working around your original schedule I'd like to have you as an asset. On call, so to speak. In exchange, we'll handle the situation of your sperm donor."

Valentina's doe eyes went wide, blinking up at him and glancing back at Butcher again, who was staring at the blonde with a clenched jaw.

"Protection and extermination," Gunner held out his hands as if presenting the offer on a silver platter.

"E-extermination?"

The blonde clapped a hand on Jude's shoulder, gripping it tightly and drawing a wince. "Only if necessary. Jude will be tasked with finding him, since apparently he needs a lesson on how to treat family, huh?"

Valentina saw her brother glance nervously at his boss. He nodded in response.

"Why...why would you offer me that?" There was a bite to her voice. She was on the defensive, suspicious.

Gunner's blue eyes trailed over to Butcher, ow he almost hovered over the smaller, fragile woman.

"I think you'll fit nicely here in the club. And I can't say no to a damsel, hun."

"You're going to protect me? No matter what he does?"

"No matter what he does." Gunner held out his hand.

She inhaled sharply, clasping their hands together.