“So, we’re on the same page? Are we clear?” I ask.
“Crystal, wildcat.”
Sighing, I spin on my heels and begin walking toward the clubroom. “I need you to spend the rest of my time here today introducing me to your brothers. I want to get a feel for the entire club. See how everyone interacts together. I don’t want my focus to be solely onyou,” I reply.
Sin simply grins, leading me over to the sofas where some of the guys are sitting and drinking. “Whatever you need, Elizabeth. Now, let me introduce you to my brothers, properly this time…”
The next few hours are a whirlwind of introductions. Everything feels like a blur of activity, conversations, laughter, and the clinking of bottles. I watch the way the men interact with each other and how they look to Sin for guidance, approval, and just about everything. There’s respect here, something deeper than just obedience. It’s loyalty, genuine and unforced, and it further complicates everything I thought I knew about this biker world.
I’m here to put together information on the club, and even though I came in hot, I am already seeing that these men, this club, and certainly the performance they put on for me today, have made me wonder if everything I know, if everything I have been taught about bikers, or at least 1%ers, might be an overstretch.
But maybe that isexactlywhat Las Vegas Defiance, and especially Sin, are doing today—performing.And that is exactly why this assignment is ongoing, not just a one-day interview.
I’m shadowing them for as long as I need to get the information, to make my mind up on whether they are the good guys they’re implying or whether they are truly the ruthless,unruly biker club I am presuming them to be. And if that’s the case, then this could be the break I need in exposing them and, in turn, exactly the push to get me off the rookie ladder and finally have my name out there as someone who blew the lid off something huge.
By the time I leave the clubhouse in the dead of night, the air is cool against my skin, a stark contrast to the gentle warmth of the Vegas December weather. I take a deep breath, my mind buzzing with everything I’ve seen, everything I’ve felt. There’s a thrill in the uncertainty, the danger of it all—a feeling I can’t shake.
I’m caught in a risky game, especially with the undeniable chemistry between Sin and me.
The stakes are higher than I ever anticipated.
But I’m in now, and there’s absolutely no turning back.
I have to do this.
I must uncover everything I can possibly find at Las Vegas Defiance, even if there’s something about Sin that has me questioning everything.
Becausethatis what these bikers do…
They lull you into a false sense of security.
Make you believe you’re safe with them.
I know, because that’s what happened to my little brother, Marcus, when he wanted to prospect in with them—and then, he showed up dead with no plausible explanation.
Now, I am going to be the one to uncover whattrulyhappened and expose them for the liars, manipulators, and murderers they truly are.
Chapter Four
SIN
The Next Night
It’s strange having a random woman walking around my clubhouse, asking everyone questions, requesting access to areas that I wouldn’t dare allow outsiders to ever gain access to. But we prepared for Elizabeth’s arrival long before she got here. We made sure that everything was aboveboard. That everyone was trained in what to say and whatnotto say.
Weshouldbe fine.
Ishouldbe fine.
I can fight whatever this attraction is, just as she can.
As I sit back in the clubhouse’s main room, sipping quietly on a beer and watching Elizabeth make her rounds,yet again,I can’t help but admire the way she carries herself or the professionalism in how she talks to the people in my club. I don’t know what I was expecting when she arrived, but this leather-clad wildcat was not it. I guess when I think about how a reporter might dress, I have blazers and knee-length pleated skirts in mind. Reading glasses and perfectly styled hair. A picture of virtue and morality.
Elizabeth Hale doesnotscream virtue to me.
That woman is tough to the core.
I know when people have been through shit, have seen things, or have lived through a life they never should have. I know because I’m the president of men and women who come to a club seeking refuge from lives just like that, just like Elizabeth’s, even though I’m sure she will vehemently deny it. Just like our conversation yesterday in the kitchen with Millie, Elizabeth let Millie believe she came from a good background and a happyhome. I see right through that bullshit card she’s trying to sell, and I really want to do some investigating of my own when it comes to her. Elizabeth doesn’t back down, and that has caught my attention. She could be incredibly bad for us, for me, if I get in over my head, if I don’t watch her like a hawk. So, I have to keep my wits about me, but there’s something about Elizabeth Hale that’s drawing me to her like a moth to a flame.
