Chapter 2 - The Ghost of the Past
The tension inside the neon-lit diner in the middle of nowhere was thick enough to cut with a knife. The biker, whose name was Jax, felt the world tilt on its axis. The young man standing across from him was the spitting image of Julian Vance—a man Jax had personally watched plummet over a rocky cliff into the roaring river below eight years ago.
"Julian," Jax breathed, his voice a mix of gravel and pure disbelief. "You're supposed to be food for the fish."
The young man chuckled, a hollow, grating sound that made the hairs on the back of Jax’s neck stand up. He slowly pulled his hand out of his jacket, revealing not a gun, but a heavy, silver lighter engraved with a twisted serpent. "Julian was my father, old man. I'm Leo. And you must be Jax 'The Iron Wolf' Miller. My dad told me all about you before he died of his injuries in that cabin."
Jax's grip tightened on the little girl's shoulder. Her name was Lily, and those wide, terrified eyes belonged to Rose—the only woman Jax had ever loved, the woman who had vanished the very night Julian Vance attempted to destroy their entire motorcycle club.
"Where is she, Leo?" Jax growled, his massive frame casting a long shadow over the diner floor. "Where is Rose?"
Leo’s cold smile returned. "She’s right where she belongs. Paying her debts. But the girl here... the girl is coming with me. My father wanted his legacy preserved, and Rose made the mistake of trying to run with his property."
"She isn't property. She's a child," Jax said, his voice dropping an octave into a dangerous rumble. Behind him, three other members of the Iron Wolves MC—Grizz, Hawk, and Doc—stood up from their booths. The clinking of their heavy silver rings and the creak of their leather vests signaled that the diner was about to become a war zone.
Leo looked around the room, completely unfazed by the four massive bikers closing in on him. "You think you can stop me with brute force, Jax? Look out the window."
Hawk glanced through the blinds and cursed under his breath. Two black SUVs had quietly pulled into the gravel lot, blocking the bikers' choppers. Men in dark tactical gear were stepping out.
"We go out the back," Jax whispered to Grizz. "Take Lily. Don't let her out of your sight."
"No!" Lily cried out quietly, burying her face into Jax's leather vest, her tiny fingers clutching the wolf patch. "Don't leave me!"
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"I'm not leaving you, sweetheart," Jax said, his tough exterior melting for a fraction of a second as he looked at her. "I promised your mom. I've got you."
With a sudden explosion of motion, Leo lunged forward, throwing a flashbang grenade onto the diner floor. A blinding light and a deafening crack shattered the room.
