Текст книги "Sinner's Steel"
Автор книги: Sarah Castille
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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 22 страниц)
TWENTY-ONE
If you take it apart, and you can’t put it back together, don’t panic. Walk away, clear your head, then start again.
—SINNER’S TRIBE MOTORCYCLE REPAIR MANUAL
Evie drove up to the Sinner clubhouse and parked outside. She hadn’t been back for over a week, and she hoped the impromptu visit didn’t ruffle any feathers. Although Zane had come by Connie’s place several times to visit Ty, her son wanted to spend more time with his dad. Since they were passing by the clubhouse on their way home from a day in the mountains, she’d agreed to a brief stop to see if he was around when she couldn’t get in touch by phone.
She waved to Shooter and Tank, tinkering with their bikes out front, and turned off the Sinner SUV Zane had insisted she keep as a matter of safety. The raid on the Black Jack clubhouse had been delayed because of the increased presence of the ATF in Conundrum, drawn by the spate of fires and the explosion at the coffee shop. For now, everyone had to lay low, although Zane had gone scouting around the Black Jack clubhouse, this time with executive board approval, to try and figure out if they could try to get T-Rex out with a two– or three-man operation.
“Can I get out, mom?” Ty didn’t wait for her answer, but pushed open the door. Connie jumped out after him and they headed over to talk to Tank who they hadn’t seen since returning to the safe house.
Shortly after moving in with Connie and trying to get back to her regular life, Evie received her first lesson about keeping the police out of biker business. The morning after contacting the police to report her car stolen, she’d awoken to find her vehicle burned out and wrapped around a street light beside Connie’s driveway with the Black Jack initials spray painted on the remains. The Sinners had arrived with a flatbed truck to take it away and Connie, Ty, and Evie were moved back to the safe house above Sparky’s shop.
Concerned about Evie’s biker clients ratting her out to the Jacks, Jagger had convinced her to hold back on reopening her business in a new location. As a result, she’d kept herself busy painting Sinner bikes, talking to insurance adjusters, and trying to find a new home for her business from inside Sparky’s shop. With too much time on her hands, and after hitting her quota of video games with Ty, she’d gone through her scrapbooks and reminisced about the time she and Zane had spent together.
They didn’t talk now, except about Ty, and she missed him so much she ached. Although she was still wary about the life he led, now that she’d had some time to think, she was beginning to warm to the idea that the Sinners weren’t all bad. But she’d hurt Zane by walking away and she didn’t know how to mend the rift between them.
“He’s not here.” Ty ran toward her as she rounded the vehicle, Tank in tow. “Tank says he’s gone away.”
Usually the first with a smile, Tank shifted his feet and looked away. “Club business. Doesn’t get shared with old ladies or civilians.” He held out his hand to Ty and raised an inquiring eyebrow. “You wanna shoot some hoops before you head out? I gotta escort a lady to a car, then I can meet you out back.”
Evie nodded at Ty’s silent query and watched him race across the lawn.
“How do the old ladies do it?” she asked Connie. “If club business isn’t shared with old ladies, then they never know what’s going to happen when the brothers go out. Maybe they’re just going for a drink, or maybe it’s a shootout, or a suicidal raid on the Black Jack clubhouse. I couldn’t deal with that uncertainty. I’d be an emotional wreck. And what if someone came after me or Ty when we were alone? I’m not like Arianne. I couldn’t stab or shoot anyone.”
“Um … hello.” Connie waved a hand in front of Evie’s face. “You stabbed Vipe when he was…” She choked on her words. “Hurting Bill. And if you’d had a knife when you found out Jagger was the one who beat the shit out of Zane, I have no doubt you would have used it. You didn’t faint or collapse on the floor weeping like some kinda drama queen.”
Connie brushed back her hair. She’d worn a tank top and a cute pair of very short shorts to go hiking in the unseasonably warm weather and Tank hadn’t given her a second look. Evie wondered if he’d bowed out because of Sparky.
“I’ve never been the drama queen type.”
Connie laughed. “It sounds like you’re not worried anymore about the red patches on his cut.”
“I don’t think he does that part of it for kicks. At heart, he’s still the same Zane.”
“I don’t think any of them like that part.” Connie tugged at her top when Tank waved from the porch. “Far as I can tell, they’re pretty decent guys, except for Shaggy, Shooter, and a couple of the others who are certifiably wacko.”
Tank and Hacker emerged from the clubhouse holding a blond woman between them.
“Who’s that?” Connie gave her a nudge. “She looks spitting mad.”
“Get your fucking paws off me,” the woman snarled as they drew near. “Your damn pathetic clubhouse is in the middle of fucking nowhere. It’s not like I can run away.”
Evie sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s Doreen, the woman from the dungeon. They must be letting her go.”
Doreen’s hair was a disheveled mess of blond curls, and her long, angular face was pale and wan. Although taller than both Evie and Connie, her thin frame gave her an almost skeletal appearance save for her generous, perfectly-shaped breasts, which Evie doubted were real.
“I’d let her go, too with a mouth like that,” Connie said. “She puts the Sinners to shame, and since I’ve been hanging around with them, I have to say that’s no easy feat.”
They stood aside as Shooter drove up in a black Chrysler 300C. He left it running and raced around to open the passenger door for Doreen.
“What the fuck is this?” Doreen sneered at Connie and Evie. “A good-bye party from the girl scouts?”
“I’m Evie. I talked to you downstairs.”
Doreen stared at her for a long moment, and then she tilted her head to the side. “You got red hair. And your name … Evie. Is that short for something?”
“Evangeline.”
Doreen’s eyes widened and the look she gave Evie was cold, calculating. “You’re the one Viper wants. No one could figure it out but now I get it. He wants a taste of the other side. Innocence. Soft and sweet. Tell me, little kitten, when he pets your widdle pussy do you purr?”
Evie recoiled, her nose wrinkling in disgust. Doreen laughed and moved toward Shooter, standing by the open door.
“Aren’t you the looker?” She leaned up, her breasts brushing against his chest. “Lucky me. Jagger sent the young blood to take me home. A couple of junior patch and you just gotta be a prospect. Even if it wasn’t written on your cut, I can smell the newness on you.”
Shooter narrowed his eyes. “Back off, bitch.”
Evie had never seen anyone move as fast, but before Shooter could push her away, Doreen yanked one of his weapons from its holster, spun, and held it to Evie’s head.
“Evie!” Connie took a step forward as Hacker and Tank drew their weapons. Doreen pushed Evie in front of her, using her as a shield.
“Don’t come any closer or I’ll off the little kitten right here, right now. Serves Jagger right for sending a buncha boys to do a man’s job.” She gestured to Connie and tipped her chin at the 300C. “Open the passenger door.”
“She has a little boy,” Connie said. “Why don’t you take me?”
“I got a little boy, too, and the Sinners threw me in the fucking dungeon. Kids aren’t part of this.” Doreen ushered Evie into the vehicle, making her climb over the center console to the driver’s seat, seemingly oblivious to the guns trained on her back.
“You’re the one Viper wants,” she said, sliding into the passenger seat beside Evie. “And I’m gonna give you to him all wrapped up with a pretty little bow.”
* * *
Zane had always wanted to destroy a police car. However, the crunch of glass under his bat, although supremely satisfying, didn’t solve the bigger problem. T-Rex wasn’t free.
“What. The. Fuck?” He slammed the bat on the hood of Benson’s vehicle over and over again until Jagger pulled him away and walked him a few feet down the dirt road near the Black Jack clubhouse.
He was losing it. Big time. But a week of seeing Evie and not being able to touch her, brief conversations about Ty and nothing else, and the possibility of a future limited by the damn warrant over his head, which meant a civilian life with her wasn’t an option, had finally taken their toll. Deputy Benson was damn lucky it was only the car bearing the brunt of Zane’s frustration. After all, he’d just screwed up big-time.
“I told you where the dungeon was.” Zane hefted the bat, and scowled at Benson. “You were supposed to tip off the ATF then go in with our ATF mole.”
Benson had the good grace to look uncomfortable. “I was there. And I still can’t believe Jagger pulled in that favor. Having someone in the ATF in your pocket could have saved you from some real deep shit more than once.”
Wrenching himself out of Jagger’s grasp, Zane stalked across the road where he and a handful of brothers had been hiding, expecting Benson to return with T-Rex. He grabbed Benson by the collar. “You saying T-Rex isn’t worth a favor?”
“Of course not.” Benson struggled to free himself from Zane’s grip. “But it was a waste of a favor because Viper was ready for them. Someone must have tipped him off. The place was virtually empty. There were only a handful of bikes in the parking lot, and I’m pretty sure if the Black Jacks’ attorney hadn’t made mincemeat out of the warrant, they wouldn’t have found any guns or drugs.”
“They woulda found fucking T-Rex,” Zane spat out. “You should have done something. Fucking waste of a mark.”
“Easy, brother.” Jagger loosened Zane’s grip on Benson’s neck. “We’ll find another way.”
Zane flung the bat across the grass bordering the road. “I should’ve just gone on my own. Snuck in while everyone was distracted. I coulda been in and outta there with T-Rex by now.”
“Not a chance.” Benson loosened the collar of his blue police shirt. “Even though it’s pretty much deserted, that place is like a fortress, and they’ve left all their guards. We passed through an electric fence, dogs, a metal detector, and a slab of muscle at the door just to get into the clubhouse. They have cameras everywhere.”
“I don’t need to get into the clubhouse.” Zane wiped the sweat from his temple. “The door is on the outside.”
“We can try another day,” Benson said.
Jagger and Zane shared a glance and Zane’s tension eased. They were on the same page. They’d waited too long already. Today was the day and if Plan A didn’t work, then they would move to Plan B.
“I think we need to take advantage of the opportunity we bought ourselves.” Jagger mused, rubbing his brow. “The club is running on a skeleton staff and they’ll have moved their weapons. We need a distraction. Something to keep them busy while we cut the fence and go inside. I was thinking—”
“Runaway truck filled with explosives?” Cade joined them beside the wrecked police car.
“That’s getting old.” Jagger chuckled. “I was thinking of a full-on assault.”
Cade raised his brows. “Suicide.”
“Not if we’re in the hills with sniper rifles.” Zane took the plan, rolled with it. “We can set up a roadblock by the bridge. Sparky’s still got a truck in his shop from the last transport job. We’ll park it sideways and toss the keys.”
“What about the electric fence?” Cade had offered to be Zane’s second when they’d first talked about breaching the perimeter. “It’s twenty-five feet high and has 10,000 volts running through it. They’re not gonna turn it off once we start shooting. Only way it goes off is if the gate is open.”
“Ram the gate,” Benson said. “That can be part of the distraction. Get me a truck and I’ll do it. I’m a dead man anyway once the sheriff or the ATF figure out the tip came from me. They’re already suspicious because of some of the work I’ve been doing for you. T-Rex is a good kid, and if this helps end the war between the clubs and saves lives, it’s worth the risk.” He held up a hand when Zane opened his mouth. “And before you try to talk me out of it, I’m not going in there actually thinking I’m gonna die. I’ll go in armed and in a vest, and I’ll bail at the earliest opportunity. But, yeah, there’s a risk, and if I come out of it alive, I want something from you.”
Jagger lifted an eyebrow in silent query.
“I wanna join your MC.”
“It’s not an open door policy,” Zane said, no small bit impressed by the cop’s audacity. “Everyone goes through the process.”
“We’ll need a new prospect after Shooter’s patched in.” Jagger’s lips twitched at the corners. “You know how to polish a bike, Benson?”
“Until it shines.”
Jagger’s phone vibrated in his hand and he checked the screen. “Got a message from Shooter. I’ll text him, and tell him to get the brothers together and bring out the trucks. Then we’ll go get T-Rex.”
Zane shook Benson’s hand. “Welcome to the club.”
* * *
Not happening. Not happening. Not happening.
Evie turned onto the highway heading south out of Conundrum. They’d stopped at four traffic lights and two stop signs and so far she hadn’t managed to draw anyone’s attention to the woman holding her at gunpoint in the vehicle. Where were the police who always seemed to catch her when she drove a measly five miles per hour over the speed limit? They hadn’t passed one single cruiser during their ride through the town.
The Sinners would be behind them. Somewhere. She had no doubt about that. But what were they going to do if she was in the Black Jack clubhouse? From what she’d heard around the club, the Jacks lacked even the semblance of humanity she’d been surprised to see in Zane’s biker brothers.
“I’m not with them,” she said as they passed the last of the residential areas.
“Yeah. I got that when I saw you standing there all innocent and pretty.” Doreen snorted her derision. “You gotta be hard to be a one-percenter biker chick, and that goes for lays, sweet butts, house mamas, and old ladies.”
“So let me go.” Evie clutched the steering wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. She’d briefly considered crashing the car, but she didn’t have the courage to do it. What if she died in the crash, or was so badly injured she couldn’t care for Ty? Alive she could maybe talk her way out, or find a way to escape. Doreen’s decision to kidnap her had to be opportunistic at best. Maybe Viper wouldn’t be interested now that he knew she was with Zane.
“This world is about survival.” Doreen lowered the gun when a minivan overtook them. “And if there’s one thing I know how to do it’s survive. Being Viper’s old lady has got its perks but Viper is one sadistic bastard and I need a fucking break. You’re no threat to me and you’ll keep him busy so I don’t gotta be bustin’ my voice box screaming every night so he can get off. Viper will let me take a little vaycay ’cause I brought him a present, and I can go to Ennis to see my boy, JC. Turn here.”
Evie drove down a narrow road that led into the foothills. Dry grass and scrub brush gave the area a desolate feel. “You don’t care if he sleeps with other women?”
“It’s gonna happen so why kick up a fuss? It’s worth it for the old lady status and it means I don’t gotta share the love with anyone else, if you know what I mean. Viper might fuck other women, but he’s crazy possessive about the ones that belong to him. He killed his first old lady when he thought she was having an affair.”
Evie felt a flicker of anger at the thought of Zane sleeping with other women while she wore his cut. No way would she allow it. And she was damn sure Arianne wouldn’t allow it with Jagger either. Arianne was one of the strongest women she had ever met. She was pretty sure Arianne wouldn’t have allowed anyone to kidnap her at gunpoint. And she’d bet anything Arianne would have crashed the car rather than drive like a good little girl to the big bad wolf’s lair.
So what was she doing? She might not be good with a gun, but Zane thought she was strong and brave. Was she really any less of a woman than Arianne? She just needed time and more information to come up with a plan.
“Arianne said you were lying about having a son.”
“I lied about pretty much everything else, but not that, and not Axle.” Doreen raised the gun again. “Needed something to tug on the heartstrings that had a ring of truth to it. Except JC isn’t really Axle’s son.” Her voice tightened. “I’m telling you this ’cause I feel sorry for you since you won’t be leaving that clubhouse until you’re too broken to talk. Axle and I were together before he joined the Jacks. Not the best of guys, but not the worst ’cause he had ambition. He wanted to lead his own club. And since it couldn’t be the Sinners, he set his sights on the Jacks. He kissed up to them something fierce until finally Viper agreed to patch him in.”
“He wanted to take over from Viper?” Evie’s gaze flicked to Doreen. “Was he crazy?”
“Go big or go home, that was Axle’s motto.” Doreen sighed. “First night Axle brought me to a Black Jack party, Viper called me to his room. He told Axle women in the club were shared and if he had a problem with that he’d take back the patch. I did what old ladies do, which is what their old men tell them to do. Not that I was complaining. Everyone wants Viper’s attention. If you’re wearing his cut, you get a shitload of respect. So I went with Viper. He wouldn’t join the “no glove no love” party, so nine months later…”
“Viper’s son?”
“I told Axle the boy was his and I put Axle’s name on the birth certificate. I fucked up my life but I didn’t want to fuck up his. Viper wouldn’t have given a damn about his son, but Axle did. He wanted kids. He was good with JC. He would have been a good dad. But the minute I found out Axle was dead, I took JC to my mom’s place, and I did what I had to do.”
“You became Viper’s old lady.”
Doreen didn’t miss a beat. “You gotta look out for yourself in this life. You gotta be strong. You get caught, you figure your own way out. That’s the biker way. It’s all about self-reliance. It’s all about doing what it takes to survive. It’s a fucking rush, I gotta tell you. Now I got power, respect, and soon I’ll have enough money to get him away from my mom and give him a good life.”
Evie studied the road ahead. All signs of civilization slowly disappeared until they were deep into the low rolling foothills of the Bridger Mountains. She had no doubt if she drove into the Black Jack clubhouse she wouldn’t survive—at least, not emotionally. So why was she looking in her rearview mirror every five minutes hoping to see the Sinners? Why couldn’t she handle this on her own? Was she that afraid to take a risk?
She caught a glint of metal on the road ahead, and slowed the vehicle. Doreen stabbed her in the side with the gun. “Keep driving. Whatever it is, go right through it.”
“Get that thing out of my side.” She’d had enough of Doreen and her rough voice and her harsh words. She’d had enough of driving and worrying about what would happen to Ty. She’d had enough of wondering if she had what it took to cut it in this world. Because dammit, despite her best efforts, she was in this world. She would do what it took to survive, and that meant there was no fucking way she was going to let Doreen take her to Viper.
Closer now, she could see motorcycles parked across the road, blocking the way. But she didn’t give a damn who they were. All she knew was that she was finished with this bullshit. Doreen might think she was a kitten, but she had claws.
Evie pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, and turned off the ignition.
“What the fuck?” Doreen poked her again. “Start that vehicle up and get going.”
Evie’s heart pounded in her chest and she dropped her left hand to the driving console and felt for the window button. “Shoot me.”
Damn, it felt good to take a risk, just like she’d done when she was young. Except Zane had always been there to catch her if she fell.
“Stop playing games,” Doreen snarled.
Evie pressed the button and the window rolled down. She reached for the key. “Okay. Okay. I’ll get going. The heat is getting to me. I needed some air.”
“Now.”
Swallowing hard, Evie yanked out the key and threw it into the bush. “You aren’t going to shoot me because Viper wants me, and I’ll bet he won’t be happy if you bring me back dead.”
“You fucking bitch.” Doreen slammed the butt of the gun into Evie’s head. “Yeah, he wants you, all soft and pretty. But you pull this kinda shit and he won’t want you anymore I promise you won’t be wanting what he dishes out to women at the club who he doesn’t want to pet.”
Dazed, her head throbbing, Evie gripped the steering wheel and tried to regain her focus, but Doreen was already pushing open the door.
“Climb over the console toward me. Nice and slow. We’re gonna go get that key.” She stepped out of the vehicle and gestured Evie toward her.
Still stunned from the blow to her head, Evie climbed over the console toward Doreen. In the distance she heard the rumble of an engine, the thud of feet, and then …
“Evie.”
She knew that voice. She had heard it in her dreams since she was eight years old.
Taking advantage of the distraction, she brought up her knees and slammed Doreen in the chest, knocking her to the ground. Doreen stumbled back, falling to the ground. Evie dove after her and grabbed the gun. She pointed it at Doreen, lying sprawled in the dirt and smiled at Zane and Jagger as they jogged to a stop.
“I want to deliver her to Viper. All wrapped up in a pretty bow.”
* * *
“No.”
Zane hugged Evie to him and glared at Doreen, now securely trussed in the back of the 300C and out of earshot. After what Doreen had pulled, he could think of a dozen other things to do with her rather than drive her back to the Black Jack clubhouse, and none of them involved leaving her unharmed.
He tightened his arms, pulling Evie into his chest. He couldn’t think about what would have happened if they hadn’t been on the road, planning the raid on the Black Jacks clubhouse. Of course if they hadn’t been on the road, they would have been at the clubhouse, and Doreen wouldn’t have had the opportunity to take his Evie captive.
“It’s our best chance.” Evie looked up at him from the circle of his arms. Zane hadn’t let her go since he’d rescued her from Doreen. Okay. Maybe not rescued. Evie had been doing fine on her own. More than fine. In fact, she’d reminded him of Arianne when she delivered a couple of kicks to Doreen’s stomach, stomped on her hand and threatened to blow off her head before Jagger had taken away her gun. Maybe she’d been hanging around the club too much.
But at least she was talking to him now, holding him, letting him hold her … He startled when he caught the tail end of Evie’s sentence and realized she’d been laying out a plan.
“I’ll put on your bandanna and sunglasses and drive up to the gate with Doreen,” she continued. “They aren’t going to feel threatened by a woman. They’ll have to open the gates to let her in, which means the electric current will go off. I’ll stall them as long as I can. You can cut through the wires at the back and go with Cade to get T-Rex, since you know the layout best. No need for sniper guns or people getting hurt.”
“I like it,” said Jagger, leaning against the vehicle beside them. “Except for the part about not getting to shoot any Jacks.”
Betrayer. Zane weighed the likelihood of another disciplinary session against the pleasure he would get from punching Jagger in the face to stop him from moving forward with Evie’s ridiculous plan.
“I don’t like it,” Zane said. “So it’s not happening.”
“Baby, relax.” Evie nuzzled his neck. “I’m okay. Better than okay. I nailed that bitch and it felt so damn good. I want to do this.”
He growled low in his throat, feathered kisses along her jaw. “Wouldn’t have happened if I was there. Won’t happen again.”
“But if it does, I can take care of myself.” She leaned up and nipped his earlobe. “And you know what?” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “It makes me hot.”
“How hot?”
Evie pressed her lips to his ear and murmured. “So hot I want you to strip off my clothes, spread me out on the hood of the 300C, and then lick me until I scream. Then I want you to flip me over and fuck me hard, one hand in my hair pulling me back, one hand on my hip, holding me tight, as my nails scratch the paint and my hips smack against the grill, and the whole car shakes from the force of your thrusts as you hammer in to me with all the brothers watching.” Then she ground her hips against his hardened length. “That hot.”
He slid his hands down her back, cupped her ass and lifted her against him. “You talk dirty like that to me, sweetheart, prepare to have your wish come true.” He carried her away from the brothers to the front of the vehicle and settled her on the hood. Then he eased himself between her parted legs, held her face between his hands and kissed her hard. “You’re on the vehicle. What comes next?”
Evie’s eyes sparkled with the challenge, and she licked her lips. “You strip me.”
He slid his hands under her shirt. Although he had no intention of letting his brothers see what was for his eyes alone, he wanted to know just how far she would take this. Pretty far, he guessed, because in this moment she reminded him of the Evie he had left behind—the risk taker—confident, wild, fun and free.
“I do this, that mean we’re good again?” He smoothed his hands over her warm skin. “Can you deal with Jagger occasionally taking out his frustrations on me when I bend the rules?”
Evie mocked a frown. “If you put yourself in that position again, you’ll get no loving for all the nights you’re hurting. So before you make any stupid decisions, like putting your life at risk, just think about that.” She covered his hands with hers and pushed her shirt up to the bottom of her bra, baring her midriff.
A dark possessive growl left his lips and he tugged her shirt down. “Not here. Otherwise, I’ll have to kill all the brothers for looking at you and then we’ll never save T-Rex.”
“Too bad.” She slid closer until the curve of her sex pressed up against his cock, now straining beneath his fly. “I always wanted to be fucked on a car.”
“Behave.” He gave her a mock slap on the ass. Her eyes widened and her lips parted forming a silent oh. Zane filed that reaction away for later.
Jagger rounded the vehicle and cleared his throat, intruding on their moment. “All ready to drop off the parcel? Hacker and Tank will be here soon with the trucks.”
“Actually, I’d rather wrap her around a street light,” Evie said. “Just like Viper did to my car.”
Jagger handed her Sparky’s red bandanna. “You’ll have to settle for this. It’s as close as we’ll get to a bow.”
Evie laughed and twisted it between her hands. She seemed to have forgiven Jagger, which was a relief since Zane harbored no ill will toward him. He’d put Jagger in that position knowing the consequences, and in the end the sacrifice was worth it for the knowledge they’d gained about the Black Jack compound.
Sweat trickled down Zane’s back and it wasn’t just from the heat. How could he stop this? He’d almost lost Evie again. His heart couldn’t handle anymore.
“It’ll be fine.” Evie gave Zane’s arm a squeeze. “I know that look on your face and I know what you’re thinking. But I’m not going into the clubhouse. I’ll drop Doreen off and once they open the gate I’ll drive away.”
“We’ll be covering her from the hill,” Jagger said. “Even if Doreen tells them who she is, they won’t be able to catch her, and you and Cade should have just enough time to get through the fence.”
Why did Jagger keep pretending he was on board with this plan? No way would he have agreed to allow Arianne to drive a vehicle right up to Viper’s door. Not that he could have stopped her … just as it seemed he wouldn’t be able to stop Evie unless he wanted to throw her over his shoulder, caveman style. The thought held some appeal.
He heard the rumble of trucks in the distance. Jagger looked up and smiled. “Trucks are here. Let’s roll.”
Let’s roll? Zane released Evie and cut Jagger off from his bike, making one last effort to head off imminent disaster. “When did we start involving women and kids in club business?”
“Evie wants to do this, brother.” Jagger put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “And since she’s not your old lady, I gotta respect her wishes.”
Evie’s eyes sparkled and she flashed Zane a grin. “I know you’ll be there to catch me. You always are.”
Christ. How could he refuse her when she looked at him like that? The answer came in a heartbeat: he never could.
