These days? Things are different.Kade’s father made sure of that. He yanked the club out of the mud before he died, and we’ve been living under that legacy ever since. Charity runs, community events… the kind of “trouble” that barely counts.
Kade stops suddenly, tugging my hand and pulling me flush against him. That look he gives me, yeah, he’s not staying mad. He never can.
“I heard thirty is the new twenty,” I tease.
He chuckles, brushing his thumb along my cheek. “From what you’ve told me; you were crazy in your twenties.”
“I know.” I grin as I pop his belt open. “So, sit back and enjoy the ride.”
But before I can go any further, there’s a noise. Boots on gravel. A heavy step. Sharp enough that Kade instantly stiffens, his fingers circling my wrists to still them, like he’s suddenly alarmed.
“Shh,” he murmurs, eyes scanning the darkness.
“It’s probably a fox,” I whisper, laughing it off, but the laugh dies when he shakes his head.
“No.” He pulls me behind him, keeping me close to his back. And that’s when my heart kicks harder. Kade doesn’t spook easily.Ever.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Kade. The cleanest president in the land.”
The voice is deep. Unfriendly. A man steps around the corner with two others at his back. I’ve never seen them before, but Kade has because his whole body changes. He straightens, folds his arms over his chest, every inch of him shifting into the dangerous version of himself. The one he rarely has to use these days.
“Jimmy. Liam.” He nods at two of them, deliberately ignoring the third shadow lurking behind them.
“Hope we’re not disturbing anything?” Jimmy says, leaning just enough to try to peer around Kade and get a look at me. “Don’t hide, sweetheart. Nothing to be scared of. What’s your name?”
I open my mouth.
“You don’t need her name,” Kade snaps, stepping fully in front of me, blocking me from view, voice cold enough to cut.
Kade turns his back on them and cups my upper arms, his touch gentle but his posturecoiled. “Baby, go inside. I’ll be there in a minute.”
My stomach dips. “Who are they?” I whisper. I’ve never questioned Kade’s dealings—not with the club clean and most faces familiar, but these two are strangers. Strangers who are looking at me like they’re choosing dessert. And Kade looks like he’d rather swallow glass than introduce us.
“Not now, Queenie.” His voice is low, tight. “Straight inside. Lock the door.”
The way he says it makes the hairs on my arms rise. I nod hard and hurry away, heart thudding as I round the building and slip inside the clubhouse.
I don’t stop moving until I’m outside Diesel’s room. I bang on the door with the side of my fist, fast, panicked.
It flies open, and Diesel stands there completely naked.
“Oh my God.” I slap a hand over my eyes. “Christ, put some clothes on!”
“Where’s the fire?” he grunts.
“Who’s Jimmy and Liam?” I demand.
A beat. Then his tone drops. “Where did you hear their names?”
“I asked a question!”
“Where’s the Pres?”
“Outside. With Jimmy and Liam!”
I hear him swear, then the sound of him tripping over something as he drags jeans on at record speed. He barrels past me, nearly clipping my shoulder.
“That was a total cock-blocking move,” Fern grumbles from the bed. “I’djustgot him to stop pacing.”
