“They’re going to come for you now. Not only Gage, the Fangs. Maybe someone still inside the club. You’ve got that flash drive. You’ve got my name. Caleb’s name. That makes you a threat.”
“They were coming for me anyway. I don’t care.” She folded her arms and cocked her hip.
“I do.”
Silence pressed in.
Then I asked, “You ever care about someone enough to want to hurt them just to keep them safe?”
She swallowed. “You’re not hurting me.”
“I will. If you stay.”
Her hand found mine and my heart jumped a beat.
“You already did,” she said. “When you let me walk away, telling me you wouldn’t miss me when I was gone.”
I met her eyes. “That was me trying to protect what was left of you.”
“And this is me telling you there’s more of me than you think.”
She wasn’t wrong. That night at the warehouse raid, she’d moved like someone who knew how to end a life and carry the weight after. She’d taken down Malo without blinking then stood over his body like she knew what it meant and what it cost. I knew some of her family background, knew they didn’t have it easy from what Caleb had shared, but he’d never gone into details. Now, I knew there was more to the story.
I stepped closer and placed my forehead on hers, my hands settling on her hips. Breathing in her fire like it might burn away the parts of me that still hoped this could end clean.
“I want you to run,” I said, “but I don’t want to be here when you do.”
“I’m not running,” she ground out, like she was sick of repeating it.
I exhaled like it physically hurt. “Then I hope to God you’re ready for what’s coming.”
Old ladies and kids had been brought in to keep them safe, filling the spare bedrooms and even side rooms to the max.
Riot was outside locking down the perimeter. The rest of the club was out gathering intel, calling in favours, shaking trees to see what would fall. Inside, in the war room, it was just me and Lucy.
She sat across from me at the table, back in her own dress. The Henley I’d lent her was folded on a chair in the corner. For a second, I saw her in it again, the soft fabric hanging off hershoulders, sleeves hiding her hands, the way the fabric had rose and dipped over her breasts and something sharp hit me in the chest. She’d worn my clothes like she belonged in them, and now she’d slipped back into her armour.
Flash drive in her hand, spinning it between her fingers. I’d seen the files. Enough to know how deep it went. Gage hadn’t only betrayed us, he’d sold secrets to cartel-connected hitters who had federal protection and local enablers. There were names on that drive I couldn’t even say out loud without drawing fire and we were deciding what to do about it.
Burn it all down? Go public? Use it as leverage?
I didn’t know, but I knew it started with finding Gage and making sure he didn’t get the chance to do more damage.
“I got a feeling he might be heading east,” I said, breaking the silence. “Back towards the state line. There’s a cabin up there. Club used it back in the early days. Off grid.”
Lucy nodded. “You think he’d risk circling back?”
“He’s desperate. Desperate people go where they think no one will look.”
She leaned forward. “Then that’s where we go.”
I stared at her, unsure if I admired her courage or hated that she had any reason to need it. She looked at me, no fear in her eyes, only fire. I nodded once, then forced my gaze from hers. Time for plans.
“We’ll take at least two bikes. I’ll tell Riot to bring two extras for lookouts. We go to that cabin, check it out. If Gage is there, we talk and keep him alive.”
“If he’s not?” she asked.
“Then we light a signal fire he can’t ignore.”
