Page 177 of Reckless

Behind me, his voice follows us across the concrete. “You can’t do this!”

Nobody answers, and by the time we reach the bikes, he’s shouting.

Threats first.

Then demands.

Finally, “Don’t leave me here!”

I glance back at the two security guards who are also left in the building, but they have much more composure than asshole Ryan. I smirk, then slide my leg over my ride.

Engines fire one after another, the familiar thunder of Defiance filling the night air. I start my ride and glance back once through the open warehouse door.

Ryan is still yelling, still fighting the zip ties.

“He’ll be fine ’til morning,” Bear says over his idling bike.

I shrug. “Probably.”

Nitro smirks. “Think he’ll need to piss before then?”

“Guess he’ll find out.”

Laughter rolls through the parking lot as Sin kicks his bike to life and looks over the line of brothers. “Let’s go home.”

The club rolls out together, headlights cutting through the darkness as Ryan’s shouting fades behind us, swallowed by the rumble of engines.

Until there’s nothing left to hear.

Chapter Thirty-Three

GHOST

The Next Morning

Travis Cole, Calloway’s chief of staff, lives on the kind of street where kids ride bikes after school and neighbors mow each other’s lawns on weekends.

Quiet, predictable, and safe.

He leaves the house at seven thirty almost every morning, coffee in one hand, laptop bag over his shoulder, never once looking over it. He has no reason to.

Until today.

Travis Cole’s routine is exactly what I expected.

It’s what happens after he gets home that catches my attention.

Two phone calls.

The first lasts twelve minutes and goes straight to his lawyer. The second lands with a private security firm I’ve never seen connected to him before. Different company, different ownership, and nothing that traces back to Calloway or Waterton.

He is making it personal.

I sit back in my chair, reading through the report again before closing it.

Smart move.

He’s spent long enough standing beside powerful men to know how quickly they start looking for someone else to blame when everything falls apart.