“Daemon is way too strong and powerful. There is no out for me. I know that. Only when he’s done with me will I find peace.” Gabrielle smiled. “But I see a brighter future for my daughter. If you give her a chance, I think you could make her a very happy woman.”

Petal hit the window. “What’s keeping you guys?”

Gabrielle chuckled. “You’re not a patient person, are you, Petal?”

“My Sunday plans have been changed so I’m feeling a little … tender.”

Colt climbed out of his car as his mother opened the door. Gabrielle walked over to Kim, and he watched the two embrace.

Petal had her arms folded and glared at him.

“I want to talk to Rosalie,” Colt said.

“And you think I’m going to allow that?” Petal asked.

“It’s fine,” Rosalie said. “I’ll be fine.”

Petal shook her head. “Yeah, maybe when you look in the mirror, you’ll see how fine you look.”

Rosalie chuckled but Petal left them alone.

He stared at Rosalie who once again had her hands thrust into the pockets of her jeans.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“To talk to you.”

“This is not part of our arrangement. Friday nights is what we agreed.”

He held his hands up in surrender. “Is it wrong for me to want to talk to my wife?”

“Colt, you and I don’t have that kind of relationship, so I’m going to say yes.” She pulled her hands out of her jeans. “What is all this?”

“An olive branch.”

Rosalie laughed. “So I tell you truth about who my father is, and all of a sudden you want to be friends?”

“I want us to be allies, Rosalie. Is that so hard to believe?”

“Coming from you, yes.”

“Look, I don’t know what your father is up to, and I can only imagine it’s not very good.” He looked toward the house and then stepped in front of her. “I’m aware of the deal you made him.”

She tilted her head to the side. “I doubt that.”

“You’ll get pregnant and he’ll leave your mother alone. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that you’ll do anything for your mother. Marry a guy you don’t know, and fuck him every Friday in the hope of getting pregnant.”

“So, now that your genius brain has figured that out, what are you hoping to do? Make a deal with me? What?”

Colt took a deep breath. This woman was infuriating. He didn’t quite believe her mother that she was a kind and gentle person. So far, she had made him do nothing but work at every single task when it came to her.

“Your father is up to something,” Colt said. “And I know you care about your mother, so I’m proposing that you trust us.”

“No. I don’t trust any of you. You agreed to this marriage, this treaty pact, or whatever it is.”

“We can protect your mother from him. The whole club. You’re trusting Daemon’s word, and you can’t always be with your mother. The club has a lot of men, Rosalie. We can protect her from him.”

Rosalie stared at him and slowly folded her arms across her chest. “And what do you want in return?”

Colt looked at her. “You’ve got to come and live with me, spend time at the Satan’s Death Riders MC, make this marriage work.”

She shook her head. “Fuck, no. Don’t you see, that is exactly what he wants. He will want me to try and get information out of you and I’m not doing that. I’m not getting between the two clubs.”

“I’ll protect you.”

“No, you won’t.” Rosalie shook her head.

“He killed my sister,” Colt said.

Rosalie stopped and turned toward him. She had been about to enter the house but he had to stop her.

“I want to see him six feet under. I want him to suffer and pay for what he’s done. He didn’t pull the fucking trigger, but he ordered the killing.”

He was right in front of her now and looked her in the eyes. Rosalie had no choice but to tilt her head back to look at him.

“He’d been trying to take me out … but I had to hold her in my arms as she died, Rosalie.”

“I’m so sorry,” Rosalie said.

“And I want to make him pay. I’ve been treating you like shit and I know I shouldn’t have. You had nothing to do with this, and for that I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to pay for his sins.”

“And just like that, you expect me to believe this?” Rosalie asked.

“I want you to think about it. I’m offering you protection. The club, all of it. For you and your mother and for Petal.”

Rosalie looked at him and then bowed her head.

“He wants me to get pregnant. It’s been three months and he keeps telling me that if I fail, he will hurt my mother.”

He went to take her hand but Rosalie pulled away.

“Trust me.”

“How?” Rosalie asked. “How can I trust you when I don’t even know you?”