David woke up feeling happier after last night. Greg was history and he felt like he'd secured her firmly back under his thumb and everything was back to normal. Then just as he had that thought, Max appeared in his head.

'David! Answer me!'

'What?' David answered him with attitude, dropping down off his perch and flying out down the passageway.

'Get all of your asses to my house. Now!' Max demanded as David looked into the side cavern to see if Star was still asleep but he found it empty and he walked out into the main lobby.

'Your house? I don't know where you live.' David said, spotting her in her own bed and he watched her flick open her large almond eyes like she'd heard him.

'Escalona Drive. Now!' David rolled his eyes and turned to see Marko and Paul walk out, followed shortly by Dwayne. He looked back over at Star and she had gotten up and Laddie was getting out of bed then he ran over to Dwayne. He decided he would drop Star and Laddie back down at the Boardwalk while they went and dealt with Max, not that it was what he wanted to do but there was no way Star was going to meet Max nor was Max going to lay eyes on the kid. Besides, after last night, he felt he had nothing to worry about, in fact, he was sure of it. They got themselves ready and once Star was ready, she walked towards him and stood next to Paul. David was taken by how beautiful she looked tonight and he almost said something but he held his tongue and instead walked out. On the way up to the Bluff, all David could hear was Laddie bitching and moaning that he wanted to stay with Dwayne and he felt like grabbing him and throwing him off the fucking cliff. Without breaking his stride, he picked Star up as soon as they reached the top and they were airborne, flying above the bush towards his ride. He had to leave, he couldn't stand listening to the little shit go on any longer. He put her down as he landed and he got on his bike, Paul and Marko dropping out of the sky beside them. Dwayne was next and as soon as he landed, Laddie started up again.

'Laddie stop.' Star told him and he just gave her a look of defiance and that was it for David. He told her to get on and as soon as she held on to him, he flicked the throttle and left the boys in his wake. He knew making Max wait wasn't a good move but the thought of leaving her on the Boardwalk was making him feel more and more uncomfortable the closer they got and he contemplated leaving her someplace else but he didn't and he pulled up outside the entrance to the Boardwalk and again remained on his bike.

'Hop off.' He told her and she did. 'I'll be back soon.' He heard the others arrive but he ignored them and maintained eye contact with her. He looked at her hard and silently warned her to stay in line but then Dwayne interrupted their connection.

'Dave, I'm gonna take Laddie with me. I gotta do this man.' David glared at his brother and his eyes flicked to the little boy, who cowered away behind Dwayne.

'For fucks sake, kill him already.' David projected, glancing back at Star before turning his bike and riding off towards Max's street. David was pissed and the night hadn't even begun yet. Max was not going to be happy with Dwayne not being there, Max wasn't happy anyways, but now David was going to have to lie about where he was. Fuck.

They arrived on the street twenty minutes later and once David saw Max's car, he pulled up outside the house and got off his bike.

'Where are we?' Paul asked, looking at the house with a screwed up face.

'We're in yuppie city, that's where we are.' Marko answered him.

'This is Max's house.' David's comment made them both halt and look at him. It was one thing to mess with Max in public where he couldn't do anything but to come to his house and do it was suicide. 'Come on.' David told them. 'He's expecting us.' They walked up the stairs to his apartment and Max's door opened before they could knock and he stood there, looking less than impressed.

'Get in here.' He drew David inside and the other two followed.

'Nice neons.' David said mocking Max's décor choices as he walked through the door. 'Why are we meeting here?' Max closed his door and before the boys even knew what had happened, all three of them were slammed against the wall by their irate, fully turned elder. The hit had taken David by surprise, even though he knew Max was angry at him, and he had cracked his shoulder blade.

'What did I fucking say to you?!' Max spoke in a low bone chilling tone as they all steadied themselves back onto their feet. David's rebellion surged, he wasn't going to let Max intimidate him and he arrogantly glared back at him.

'He had it coming.' Max cracked him hard across the face and the boys stood and watched in shock, at both Max's anger and David's defiance.

'Don't you fucking sas me boy!' Max told him. 'You were warned not to come into my store any more, and to stay away from Maria,' Max looked at Marko, 'and you were sure as fuck told to leave Greg alone.' David continued to stare at him like he didn't care what he had to say. 'And what the fuck happened to the security guard?' David shrugged.

'Maybe he got lost.' David's cavalier attitude was doing him no favours. Max spun on his heel and walked into his kitchen and picked up a glass of what looked like red wine but David knew wasn't. Max was where David had got the idea to keep blood in a wine bottle.

'I have a job for you, for all of you.' Paul watched as Max changed his tack and flipped. He was worse than David and Paul realised that Max and David were so different yet so much alike and he guessed that was what happened when you spent over a century together. 'Including Star.' David's attention piqued with the mention of his girl and Max smiled knowingly at him. 'I'm adding to the pack. There are two brothers who have just moved to Santa Carla and I want you to induct them. I thought Star would be a nice lure for the older one and once he is in, the younger one will follow.'

'Star is not…' David started to speak and Max gave him a look that stopped him.

'You're on real thin ice as it is David and if you don't do this, you will regret it. You don't want to go the way of William do you?' David knew Max's power and when to push it and when to leave well enough alone. He also now knew that he would not live should he go against Max on this one. David was feisty but he wasn't stupid.

'Fine. Who are they?'

'Michael and Sam Emerson.' Max told him. 'I want you to find them and befriend them. Welcome them into your gang David, you need some fresh blood. All of you do.' Max said looking at the others then he stopped. 'Where's Dwayne?'

'He's doing one of his Indian Ceremonies. It's the half year new moon.' David said quickly and Max looked away. Dwayne had always maintained his heritage and Max knew it.

'When I call for all of you, I expect all of you come.' Max told them and Paul nodded. 'I want it done by next week. Now get out.' Max kicked them out and David happily left. He walked down the stairs to their bikes and it didn't take a genius to see David was pissed.

'Fucking cunt!' David spat, straddling his bike and booting it to life. 'Let's get the fuck outta here.' The last thing he felt like doing was hanging out at the Boardwalk now, nor did he want Star there.

'Where are you?' He projected to Dwayne.

'Leaving downtown now. Where are you?'

'Meet me at the side entrance of the Boardwalk.' David responded before spinning his wheels and doing a massive screeching burnout right in front of Max's place and riding off. Fucking Max, he didn't want anyone to join his boys and he resented Max for making him do this and for assuming that Star was his to use in this capacity too. He knew he had to break away from Max's authority, he just didn't know how.

They pulled up outside the Boardwalk under the archway by the beach and shut off their engines.

'What's up?' Dwayne projected to David.

'Apparently we're adding to our crew.' David responded, lighting a cigarette. 'Fucking Max.' David was seething and was in no mood to even think about Max's decree let alone talk about it right now. All he wanted to do was finish his cigarette, call for Star and get the fuck out of here. He inhaled his smoke and watched the people walking past when he saw Star walk into his line of sight, talking to the same kid from the night before. He restrained his instinct to react and he sat there and continued to smoke not taking his eyes off her. He watched her as she nervously laughed and flirted with the boy while they walked towards a pissy Honda parked just down from them and she was so involved with her interest in the kid, she didn't even see them or sense they were there. The boys picked up on David's distraction and saw her too and their collective mood, that was already sour, turned even darker. After their visit with Max, David was in no state to put up with this but at the same time he was in the perfect mood to stir shit up with someone stepping on his turf. He saw the shaggy haired kid get on his bike and hold out his hand to her and that was the catalyst that made David move, there was no way she was going anywhere with this fucker. He flicked his smoke away, revved his engine and he rode down the pathway, pulling up beside her, his boys backing him and trapping to two of them in. Star turned and he instantly saw the guilt ridden shocked look on her face and he knew he'd sprung her. His level of disdain for this situation right now was palpable yet taking her out from under the guy was giving him a certain level of amusement.

'Where ya going Star?' He pressed his cold stare into her, watching as she couldn't even bring herself to look at him, but she answered him.

'For a ride.' A ride. Was she fucking kidding? 'This is Michael.' She weakly introduced him and David's eyes flicked over to the boy and looked him over, pure judgement streaming off him.

'Let's go.' Michael said to her and he prepared for her to get on behind him and David was surprised to see her turn to get on. She had to know there was no way David was going to allow that.

'Star?' He spoke her name and it was laced with the power he had over her. She turned back to look at him and their eyes locked. He drew her to him with his mental influence and he projected to her to get on his bike. He knew he had her by the look on her face and he watched her turn and look back at Michael before she walked towards him. He studied her closely the whole time, unimpressed she had again tried to defy him, and he didn't let the eye contact with her go, watching her walk to him and he smiled a controlling grin as she placed her arm across his chest onto his shoulder and she got on his bike behind him. He'd won and as he looked Michael up and down, he saw that Michael knew it too. Now to fuck with him. He wasn't going to let this punk get away with trying to steal his property away that easy. Paul laughed at Michael, mocking him, and David decided he'd lay down a challenge. Let's see what this kid had.

'You know where Hudson's Bluff is, overlooking the point?'

'I can't beat your bike.' Michael complained, motioning to David's bike.

'You don't have to beat me Michael, you just have to try and keep up.' David egged him on, willing him to take up the challenge. He wanted to show him no one fucked with his girl without some retribution and he wanted to show Star what happened to men whom she decided to ignore his directive for. David heard Dwayne tell Laddie they were going for a ride and David took off, heading down the staircase onto the sand and screaming off down the beachfront. Dwayne and Paul were weaving in and out with each other and around the people and bonfires on the beach laughing and Marko hollered at them. David called out too and he heard Star giggle, he couldn't see Michael but he was sure he was following and he sped up and gunned it underneath the pier. He felt Star hold on tighter and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marko near him. They kept going down the beach and Paul screamed around to his left and flew up into the air over a small sand dune, landing heavily on the sand and skidding around before he picked up speed again. David laughed, thinking there was no way Michael's piece of shit bike would be able to keep up with them when he saw Michael follow Paul into the air and his face dropped a little. He was surprised, the kid must really wanna show them what a man he is, either that, or he really wanted Star to see how tough he was. Fine, if he wanted to play, David would make him play. David took off towards the Northern end of the beach, went out onto the main road and headed up towards the forest. He entered at the southernmost tip of the woods and went through the longest and hardest track he knew of up to the top of the Bluff, the boys following close behind him and loving every minute. David rode out onto the cliff top road and the weather had turned windy and dark with misty sea spray coming up from the ocean and David pulled harder on the throttle. Let's see how big this kids balls really were. He gunned it towards the cliff edge and to his surprise, Michael appeared next to him. Star was laughing and reaching out to him and David had him.

'Come on! Come on Michael!' David yelled out as he prepared to go over the edge and he felt Star withdraw her arm and hold on tighter to him. David watched the edge come closer and closer and then he heard Star cry out and he saw Michael go off to the side and off his bike out of the corner of his eye and he halted his bike just as his front tyre knocked a small rock over the edge. David smiled as both he and Star looked down over the cliff when he heard Michael yelling at him.

'What the hell you doing huh?' Michael ran towards David.

'Nooo!' Star screamed out and David felt the force of Michael's fist against his cheek. Dwayne and Paul pushed Michael but David heard him continue to provoke him and he turned and smiled at him. It appeared Star had picked one with some gumption and David was almost impressed with the boy and he decided he wasn't quite done with him.

'How far you willing to go Michael?' David taunted him and he could see the reactions on his boys faces in his peripheral vision. He didn't quite know what he was going to do but Michael was going to come with them down to their cave and David was going to have some more fun with him.