I couldn't walk away. It's not who I am. The moment I saw Rayne broken and bloodied, I knew I wasn't leaving without her. As the president of the Houston Defiance MC, my job is to protect. And there's no taming the rage building inside my body, screaming at me to shield her from the husband who's beating her day in and day out.

Blair's life isn't perfect, but she has a plan. Find a new roommate, finish school, and finally start the future she's been working so hard for. And then he knocks on her door. One unwanted visitor is all it took to crush her reality and leave her living in fear. But at least she's living, thanks to the help of a good Samaritan. A very sexy, tattooed, and motorcycle-riding man with a dog that looks as savage as he is sweet. GreenPeace saves her. He makes her feel safe. He makes her feel a lot of things she's never felt before.

To say we come from different worlds is an understatement. I'm ambitious. Professional. I keep my nose clean and my reputation impeccable. No bad choices. No bad boys. The VP of the Ironwood Lords of Carnage? Definitely not part of the plan. But when fate slams us together, to protect someone we both care about, it's impossible to deny the heat between us.

I'm the guy whose name brings fear into the hearts of even the hardest men. They call me Cross because I've killed enough men to fill a cemetery, and I never saw any problem with that - until a woman I hardly remember brought my 11-year-old daughter that I didn't know existed to my doorstep and left her for me to take care of. At first, my daughter was a complication I didn't need, but now I'll do everything I can to raise her right. I'll even stay away from her hot-as-sin guidance counselor Roxanne, who makes me feel like I'm 20 again, and not pushing 40.

With marriage, there are things you can and can't live with. Harry, my abusive husband, made that clear enough when he beat me like a dog, forced a miscarriage on me, and tried posing me as a hostage to my father's notorious biker gang, The Reapers. I was lucky enough to get out of my marriage in one piece but it's only a matter of time before he picks up my trail and hunts me down. Blackjack swears he'll kill him the second he steps foot in town. I know he means well but there's something about his stare when he tells me I deserve better.

Being the MC President's daughter was never going to be an easy life. Not in general, not in love. Especially when the guy meant for you isn't yours to have. And that's just one of the many reasons why I'm going away. Back to my ancestral lands, where everything is simple and pure. Where I can do some good. And I'm not coming back.

Nickel lives free with the brothers he calls family and has never craved anything more until he met Karmen. The shy, quiet nurse caught his eye months ago, and he hasn't been able to get her off his mind since. Nickel knows what he wants, but he's never had to fight for it before. Until Karmen.

Trip, son of the former president of the Blood Fury MC, is determined to resurrect his dead father's destroyed club. It’ll be a long, difficult road as the new president attempts to rebuild the club from the cold ashes left behind. Bad blood and bitter memories are only some of the obstacles Trip has to overcome. The local police department, Manning Grove PD, is another, since they don’t want to see their small town once again overrun by outlaw bikers.

Kincaid: Hero complex? Possessive? Not afraid to speak my mind? Check, check, and check. I'm also president of the Cerberus MC, a former Marine, and Emmalyn Mikaelson doesn't have a clue what she's gotten herself into by jumping on the back of my bike. Shadow: I'm no stranger to a woman warming my bed. What's new for me is being the one ghosted. So imagine my surprise when the girl who decided I wasn't enough shows up on my doorstep burdened with the consequences of her own lies and deceit.

I might be the first man to join the Cerberus MC and not love it. Instead of leaving, I bide my time, knowing that I burn every bridge I cross. When an opportunity plucks me from the desert of New Mexico and transplants me in East Tennessee I feel a little better about the path my life has taken. The new job isn't as solitary as I expected it to be. Instead of doing reconnaissance alone, I'm stuck sitting at a bar, trying to determine if they're using the business as a human trafficking hub.