He called her his. His ol' lady. His wife. Property of Clutch. Rebecca "Bex" Pierce never belonged to anyone. She chose him. She stood beside him. She wore his patch with pride. Until the night he chose wrong. When a lie tears through the Dawnbreakers MC, loyalty turns toxic and pride turns cruel. In front of his brothers, in front of the clubhouse, Clutch does the one thing Bex never thought he would. He doesn't hit her. He doesn't cheat. He just doesn't believe her. And if he doesn't believe her? Then the patch means nothing. So she takes it off herself. Throws it at his feet. And walks away from the only life she's ever known. No protection. No club. No husband. The fallout fractures the Dawnbreakers from the inside out. Secrets unravel. Brothers fall. The club reforms. But the woman he lost? She isn't waiting to be claimed again. If Clutch wants his wife back, he won't just have to apologize. He'll have to rebuild everything he broke. Publicly. Relentlessly. Without expecting forgiveness. Because this time, she isn't property of anyone. Not even him. This story was born inside the Grovel & Betrayal Facebook group during a live "build-a-book" day. You asked for: • Public humiliation • Believed-the-wrong-person betrayal • Nuclear heartbreak • A man who has to earn her back And as I was reading your comments, one character kept echoing in my head. Clutch. You met him in Unlawful Hearts. You saw the quiet weight he carried. You heard him whisper to Remi. You watched him stand in the fire with the Dawnbreakers. This is his story. Welcome back to the Redemption Road world, this is within the same timeline as Unlawful Hearts.

They call my husband the embodiment of cruelty. Demetri Ferraro was forged for control, vengeance, and bloodshed without conscience. Strangers murmur cautions about what he might do, forgetting I sleep inches from him nightly. If only they could witness what I have. There's a terrifying authenticity to our marriage. With me, he's attentive to the point of reverence. I wear his fingerprints like brands. His vigilance wraps around me, reflexive as breathing. I trusted him completely because betrayal seemed impossible. That was my undoing The merger of our families cost me things I didn't know I was losing. I salvaged only the skating rink-solitary hours on pristine ice before dawn or after midnight. The architecture of my future was more elaborate than I comprehended. The truth doesn't announce itself with confession. It arrives without remorse, manifesting as inevitability, as though questioning his constructed reality was never an option. I don't doubt that my husband loves me. For the true terror of Demetri Ferraro isn't found in shadows or violence. It's in how he determined I belonged to him, by systematically eliminating any alternative path.

**Please note - Merciless has transferred to my Patreon (1st May) in preparation for Amazon/KU release. I thought we were heartbroken together, grieving as one. But the night my mother passed away, was the same moment all my childhood illusions came crashing down around me. My role model, the person I looked up to the most, my own father was not who he claimed to be. As time moved on, more secrets unravelled and I couldn't help but wish he died instead of her. I turned into a monster, born out of the sharpest betrayal, determined to claim revenge and become utterly merciless.

I was never a woman who believed in promises. They always felt like wishes, soft things people made when they didn't know how else to hold on. Judas Mercer made them anyway. And somehow, he kept every single one. He waited for me when the world didn't. Built a life while I was still learning how to belong to one. Loved me in a way that I could finally trust. What I didn't realize was how much of our life already existed beyond me. How some bonds didn't begin with us but were already settled and familiar. She was a presence that had always been there. The woman from our past and our present woven into the spaces I thought were ours alone, standing there with us all along. Because Judas kept his promises. He just kept his secrets too. ~S~S~R~A~Y~N~E 🦋Perceived cheating 🦋Possessive MMC 🦋Dark romance themes 🦋high spice content

One lesson I learned very early in life was to be cheerful, to be agreeable, to do as I was told and ask for nothing, and to never ever complain. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and maybe they'll love you. I grew into an adult who took care of others and never expected that those I loved would take care of me in return. I gave and never asked, never expected, never demanded. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and you'll find someone that will love you. And then one day, a Dragon walked into my workplace and turned my world upside down with a single wink. Having grown up watching his father treat his men like they were disposable, just meat bags to be fed into the grinder, Dragon was determined to be different when he became president of the Dragon's Inferno MC. He cares about his people. He takes care of them. He was upfront with me, taking care of his MC and those he considered to be his would always be his priority. And I agreed to that, I joined him in that mission, throwing myself into becoming the perfect old lady of the prez. Smile Maddie. Act happy Maddie. Take care of them and maybe they'll love you. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't complain and maybe he'll love you. I told myself I was independent. I was strong. And I didn't need my Dragon to take care of me. And I almost believed it. Almost. But now I'm watching him with her. I'm watching him comfort her. I'm watching him listen to her, support her, reassure her. I'm watching him take time from his day to check in with her. I'm watching him worry about her. I'm watching them become closer right in front of my eyes. I'm seeing every thoughtful gesture he does for her. And me? I'm not happy. I'm not smiling. I'm done being agreeable. Fuck not causing trouble. I'm about to set my Dragon's world on fire. And then I'm walking away. She can have him. For the first time in my life, I'm choosing myself.

*PREVIEW ONLY* Available on Kindle and Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GCPX775Y PAUL I cheated on my fiancée. Sophie and I were building our future. In love, happy, peaceful. Then she found a lump in her breast, and I made the worst choice: I numbed my fear by sleeping with someone else. My worst mistake and my biggest regret. Now I see Sophie around town with him. She's radiant and laughing with people who actually show up. I'm trying to learn how to be a man who does. If she lets me, I'll spend the rest of my life proving I can choose her when it's hardest. If she lets me... SOPHIE I thought the promise was in sickness and in health. But he buried his fear in someone else. On the same night, I walked into a bookstore and met the gentle giant owner, who invited me to his book club full of misfits. I'm laughing again, I'm smiling more than I ever have, and I'm healing my heart. My bookstore owner keeps showing up like it's as easy as breathing. I don't know what the future holds; I don't know if I'll win this battle against cancer, but I do know I'm done wasting time on people who love only when it's easy. CALLUM She came into Rivers & Rhodes Bookstore and asked for books with happy endings only. I gave her a recommendation, an invitation, and an offer of friendship. Now, this beautiful, brave woman is completely under my skin. I'm not here to win a competition against him. I'm here because choosing someone, second by second, is the only way I understand love.