"Let 'em say we're crazy, I don't care 'bout that. Put your hand in my hand. Baby, don't ever look back." -Starship, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

Furious Dads.

Word had spread about my involvement in Kai's altercation by the time I reached my front door. I cringed as my father threw open the door while I cautiously walked up the narrow stone path. His eyes bore holes into my face, as I tried my best to not look up from my feet as I walked. The light above the door cast shadows across his angry features, and I felt my body slump into submission the closer I got to his imposing form.

The rumble from Kai's motorcycle faded into the distance, and for a brief moment, I wanted to turn and run after him, begging him to shield me from my father's wrath. There weren't many times in my life when I had made my father angry, but the few that I did have under my belt, hadn't been pretty. My father wasn't opposed to using his hands harshly in punishment.

While my father was a good man, he was often an angry one, and I could smell the lingering hints of alcohol on his breath, which only escalated my fears. Coming to a stop in front of him, his strong hand reached out and snatched the cozy material of my sweater, almost dragging me into the house. The door bashed against the wooden frame with a dreadful thud that echoed in unison with the deep, frightful beats of my heart.

My father spun me out of his grip and my body crashed down onto the old floral couch in the living room. He positioned himself over my crumpled form and glared daggers into my skin. "You think that shit is funny, Rach?" he asked in a low voice coated with disdain. I frantically shook my head. "I knew that boy was bad news the minute he showed up!" His voice escalated in tone, bouncing off the walls of the small house.

Like a wolf, huffing and puffing, readying himself to blow down the various homes of the fearful pigs, I waited as the tone escalated gradually with each comment to leave his strong lips. He was building up to the grand finale. His own crescendo of powerful words, until the end result exploded across my skin. I waited, careful to not object to the tyrant he was delivering.

I knew my place. I was not only his child—his subordinate— but I was another woman under his control. I may have had a thick skin, but where my father was concerned, it dissipated the minute he expressed his shame in my actions.

I knew I had let him down. I had chosen to discard Lex Slater like he was an old pair of jeans that I no longer found comfortable.

I had chosen to disregard his silent wishes when I had stepped foot outside of the door with the beautiful boy named Kai.

I had chosen to embarrass him when I defended someone from a rival club.

I had chosen to abandon my duty as a Palmiero the minute I fell in love with Kai Heyman.

I had made a lot of choices, and if I had the opportunity to go back and redo any of them... Well, I wouldn't change a damn thing! The thought of playing pawn to any plan to unite the Knights of Tyr and the Hell's Bastards made my skin crawl. I wasn't a commodity that could be traded. I wasn't a carton of cigarettes traded on a prison yard for protection. I wasn't a prized pig sold to the highest bidder at the county fair. I was Rachel, and I was going to be the only person who decided what was best for me and my life. I had spent too damn long doing what I thought others expected.

I had been groomed all of my life to be a fighter, yet as my father stood over me weighing me down with insults over my decisions, I realized that I was failing to fight for what I really wanted. I wasn't fighting for my freedom.

"NO!" I shouted, as I scooted up the couch into a sitting position.

"What?" my father countered in an overly angry way, his voice laced with fire and contempt.

My armor dissolved instantly. The pieces that I had set in place for that one minute of opposition, disintegrated the minute his eyes met mine. He was angry, but there was more. There was something hidden deep under the volcano of scorn. Was he a tad proud of me for standing up to him?

"I'm sorry, Dad, but you don't have any right to say those things about Kai. He protected me tonight, as much as I protected him. Had it been Lex, he wouldn't have cared if I'd been hurt. He would've carried on, only protecting his own ass. Kai stood up for me when someone bad mouthed me. If you're going to be angry at anyone, be angry at you, for picking such a loser to try and tie me to. I'm glad Lex's gone! He would've only been an albatross around the club's neck."

My father stood his ground, yet he backed up a tad to let me stand and face him. His arms crossed across his chest and his lip curled into a sneer.

"You aren't the little girl that I raised. That girl, would've done whatever she needed to for the sake of this club! You may think you're rid of good old Lex, but I have news for you, Rachel Girl... You will marry Slater, and you will be the reason that the Bastards pull us out of the shit with the Feds!"

"I'm not marrying that piece of shit! He probably has a million kids all over the continental U.S. The only thing on that man that runs properly is his mouth and his ego. I hate to break it to you, Daddy, but Lex Slater will never amount to anything. If you think he's the salvation you need where the Feds are concerned then you're as delusional as everyone else!"

His hand raised in a swift movement and landed across the pink of my cheek in a resounding crack. My flesh burned and I felt the first tears well up in my eyes. Catching sight of my mother, she stood in the doorway. Her hands twisted around the blue kitchen towel, desperate to intervene, but I knew she wouldn't. She never went against my father.

"I knew coming to this fucking town was the wrong decision!" he shouted, as he turned his back on me and focused his displeasure on my mother. He never hit her, but he was cruel sometimes with his words.

Seeing the opportunity to escape, I turned slowly and inched towards the door. I knew better than to stay when he was like this. I loved my father, but he was a monster when he was drinking.

"When Lex gets here, I want us packed and out of this shithole town!" he yelled, as he snatched up the warm bottle of beer that he had abandoned on the small wooden coffee table. He took one last swig of what could only be described as being "warm piss," and focused his glare back in my mother's direction. "Screw the Feds and screw laying low!"

My blood ran cold at the mention of abruptly packing up and leaving Northridge. We hadn't been here long, but I was already overly fond of the quaint town with the exaggerated smiles and freezing winters. Leaving Northridge meant leaving things that I had become fond of rapidly— my awaiting job, my new friend, and the boy I loved.

I halted my escape when his words registered about Lex coming to Northridge. This was worse than I could have previously imagined. If Lex came here, I would be forced to be under his watchful eye until such time as my father felt it was right to take it a step further. I was technically of legal age to marry someone, and I would die before that person was Lex Slater, and his floundering sense of loyalty.

Snatching the knob of the door, I threw it open and ran as fast as I could into the freezing cold of the night. I didn't have a clue in hell where to go. I was still very new to town, so there were only a select number of places where I could go, but my feet took over and just kept me running. Through the grey muck of the old snowy sludge. Through the ice coated blades of brown grass. Through the now silent streets of the main stretch of town. I ran until it felt like my muscles were burning and my body was going to crumple.

Instinct must have carried me, because I spied a faint light filtering out of a set of large bay doors, and ran faster. I skidded to a stop, as the scent of motor oil and metal encased me. That paired with some welcoming warmth, was more inviting than anything I had ever experienced in my life.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" a sharp voice sprang from the left side of the garage. "Sorry, sweetheart, but you can't be running in here."—He paused to take in my disheveled appearance—"Hey! You ok?"

I blinked rapidly, as his silhouette came into focus. He was extremely tall, just like Kai, but his dark hair was longer and hung down past his shoulders. He wore a thick bandana across his forehead, and his eyes were a dark, almost amber color. They looked like warm honey, sweet and inviting, yet there was a hardness to them. His inked hands jutted out and steadied my wavering body.

"Sit down," he instructed, as he lead me over to an old leather bench seat that had at one time been installed in a truck. I plopped down onto the alluring material, wanting nothing more than to close my eyes and fall asleep. Maybe, if I woke up from this nightmare, things would be back to normal.

He crouched in front of me and dug a handful of candy out of the pocket of his coveralls. The yellow wrappers of the butterscotches made me squint, and I slowly reached out and plucked one out of his open palm. He popped one into his own mouth and after a few twirls against his teeth, you could hear the crack as the candy split apart under his impressive bite.

"You gonna tell me who you are now?" he asked again, as he rested his hands on his knees.

"Rachel," I admitted in a soft voice.

"I kinda figured that, based on how my wife described you earlier."

"Your wife?" I asked in confusion.

"You met my Catherine earlier. I'm Gas Mask Heyman, Beast's dad." I nodded my head, but I was unsure what to say.

He looked like Kai, just an older version of my majestic beauty. I didn't know why, but when I thought about Kai, I thought about being pulled away from Northridge, and the tears began to flow like waterfalls.

Gas Mask stood abruptly and furrowed his brow. "I'm gonna go give my son a call. I don't want you movin' from this bench. Ok?"

I demurely nodded, and tucked my hands under my legs to warm them. The faint sounds of rock music spilled from a small radio, tucked up on a shelf, along with some various metal parts and bottles. The town had gone quiet all around, and while I waited for my own savior in the warm garage bay of a shop called Heyman Customs, I let my body go quiet as well.

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A/N: Hey!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to vote and comment.

Rachel's dad is really pissed about this. How do you think she can get out of being taken away by Lex? Can Kai and his club do anything to help her?

<3 Amina