Clutch: Satan's Fury MC Read Free Page B

it completely broke me and left me a shattered mess. I had to keep it together for Charlie and Hadley. I was all they had left, and I couldn’t let them down.
    We were in the middle of the second day of driving when Charlie asked, “We’re in North Carolina right?”
    “Yeah. I guess we are,” I admitted with a smile.
    He perked up in his seat and said, “Then we’re getting close to Tennessee. We should go there.”
    “I guess we could. Is there somewhere special you had in mind?”
    “Nashville would be cool … or maybe Memphis. Definitely Memphis. Remember how Dad was always talking about how he wanted to go see Graceland?”
    I laughed. “Yeah. I think he mentioned it a time or two.”
    “I think that’s where we should go.”
    “Okay. We’ll give it a shot,” I told him as I reached for the map. I decided that it was just as good a time as any for him to see the place where Elvis made his mark, never realizing that the famous city in the south was about to make quite a mark on me as well.
     

 
     
     
     

     
    It’d been almost two months since the day I left the club. I’d spent most of that time driving across the country from one city to the next and trying to map out our new distribution route. I’d only been gone a couple of days when Cotton called to give me my new orders. If I was going to be out on the road, he wanted me to make good use of my time.
    Even though I was technically working, it’d been good to be out on my own. I needed time away from her, the woman I loved but couldn’t have. I needed the silence, some time to let the storm of thoughts settle in my mind. I simply needed time away from Cass and all the constant reminders of what I couldn’t have. There were times that I missed the hustle and bustle of the club—the loud music, the sounds of my brothers coming and going at all times of the day and night, the anticipation of what the hell was going to happen next—but being out on the open road had done me good. There was a sweetness to the silence, a peace that only comes from being on a ride. It’d given me time to sort my shit and move on. I couldn’t dwell on the past or dream about the future. I had to live in the moment and forget everything else in between. I was ready for a new start, ready to see what was waiting for me around that next curve. I had no idea what the future held. All I knew for certain was that life was a crazy fucking ride, and even though there were no guarantees, I planned on living my life the only way I knew how: wide-open.
    I’d had enough of random hotels and the unpredictable spring weather. It was time for me to get to my last stop before heading back home. Just as I’d stopped to fill up my tank, my phone started buzzing. When I checked the screen, I saw that Smokey was calling. He’d been calling off and on since the day I’d left, making sure that I was still alive and well, and he’d catch me up on everything that I’d been missing back at home.
    I answered, “What’s up, brother?”
    “I’m about to lose my damn mind. You up for some company?” he groaned.
    Laughing, I said, “And why’s that?”
    “I don’t know, man. Seems like everyone is just in a pissed off mood, and it doesn’t help that Henley and Wren are knocked up and moody as hell. Wren is acting all weird and shit and she’s just a few weeks along.”
    Wren was Stitch’s ol’ lady. He’s the club’s enforcer and not a man you’d ever want to have a run-in with. When he first met her and her son Wyatt, he fell fast and he fell hard. I wasn’t surprised at all when Smokey told me that she was already pregnant. My brother was happy—really happy—and I was glad to hear that he’d found someone to break through that ironclad heart of his.
    “Hell, I can’t win for losing around here,” he went on. “You were always better at dealing with this shit.”
    “I don’t know about that,” I scoffed. I’d always been able to get along with just about