It always comes first.
These men, this family we’ve created, depend on me to keep them safe.
To make the hard choices.
To sacrifice whatever I have to sacrifice to protect what matters most.
That’s what my president did before me.
I learned that lesson with Rebekka, too, and I’ll apply it with Elizabeth if I have to.
No matter how good she smells. No matter how fucking perfect she tastes when I kiss her. No matter how right it feels to have her in my arms.
The fact is, the club is my priority. The only reason she’s here is to prove to her that we’renotwho she thinks we are.
And Iwillprove that to her.
One way or another.
Even if it kills me.
I flip the poker chip one more time, catching it in my palm and closing my fist around it. The familiar weight centers me, reminds me of who I am and what I owe these men.
Elizabeth Hale came here looking for a story.
I just need to make sure I spin the narrative to the right one.
Because the alternative could end in disaster…
For Defiance and Elizabeth!
Chapter Ten
ELIZABETH
Two Weeks Later
Sin has been distant since our ride a couple of weeks ago, only talking to me when I need to ask him questions. I’m not sure if it’s an avoidance technique for his benefit or mine. Either way, we’re in a weird place.
Maybe that’s for the best.
I need to stay focused, no distractions. My priority is gathering information on the club, my brother, and whatever illegal operations they’re running.
I know they’re up to something.
I just haven’t figured out what.
Yet.
It’s a few days away from New Year’s Eve, and the club is in full-on planning mode. With their annual toy drive coming up and the club girls throwing a party to bring in the new year, I’ve even been helping with some of the preparations while I’m not focusing on digging around. Sometimes, you have to delve deeper into other aspects of the club. The entertaining things to find hidden truths, though, to be honest, I am not really finding anything newsworthy when I search those avenues either.
All I am seeing is a club that genuinely supports and loves each other—people who are here through thick and thin. The problem is it doesn’t ring true to me, especially after Sin’s little charade in the desert, on the bike, under the stars. With the way his fingers worked me up, and the way his mouth ravished me.
God, it felt so…
Dammit, girl! Get a hold of yourself!
Sitting in the main clubroom at a table with the club girls and Millie, we pack the final toys and gifts into the bags for the children. I’m still shocked the club does this for sick and disadvantaged children at the end of the year. Again, it’s another thing I have learned about the club. Their giving and nurturing spirit, which, as outsiders, we honestly have no idea is there. For some reason, Las Vegas Defiance keeps this philanthropic side of itself out of the spotlight, and I have yet to discover exactly why.
