by Lana Grayson
“You son of a bitch.” Lyn tucked her gun into the waistband of her pants. She stared at him, the bike, the patches. “I can’t believe this.”
Thorne met her stare, a blood-thirsty warlord facing an angry cobra in a pushup bra. He didn’t flinch. Lyn didn’t blink. I was the jackass still in shock, piecing together how the fuck Thorne planned to rebuild the club after he torched it to the ground.
“How could you do this?” Lyn didn’t pace, she dug in for the fight. She needed to shut her mouth, but neither of us ever figured out the magic word that stopped her from complicating club politics. “Holy shit, Thorne. Does Rose know?”
“Why would I tell Rose what I’m doing?” Thorne eyed me. “I have more sense than to involve my woman in this.”
Lyn’s boots crunched over the gravel as she stalked to Thorne. I expected her to poke his chest, but even she showed restraint. “Don’t you treat me like I’m some property patch. I’m your goddamned business partner.”
“Are you?”
“Not anymore. Can you blame me for leaving?”
“You had a temper tantrum and pouted your ass out of Pixie.”
Lyn didn’t pout—she punished. And if Thorne wanted to survive this meeting without getting castrated by a French manicure, one of them had to back down.
“I thought there was a traitor in your ranks. I feared for me and Sorceress and Anathema,” she said. “God, if I had known it was you...”
“He’s not a traitor, Lyn,” I said.
“Like hell.”
Thorne ignored her. “I needed to talk to you.”
“I was always a phone call away,” I said.
“I’m not here for a chat.”
“You here to kill me?”
“I should.” His voice twisted. “I will, unless you call off your old lady.”
Words no one should have spoken around Lyn. She tensed, primed and ready to blow. But Thorne wasn’t some mindless savage gawking over her tits at the club.
He also wasn’t stupid enough to underestimate her.
Her voice hissed in warning. “Only one cocksucker should be getting the bullet. What the hell separates you from Brew?”
“Brew wasn’t acting for the club. Did his dirty work self-serving, to get Blade out of jail.”
“And this? How are you going to explain this to Rose while Brew…” Her words twisted, guarded, as though I couldn’t read through the hesitation. “While Brew suffered for his betrayal?”
“This is different.”
“How?”
“Because I got tired of waiting for someone with the common fucking sense to end this war.” Thorne nodded at me. “Knight fucked everything up, so I took initiative.”
I anticipated that. Didn’t mean he was right, but I was man enough to let the insult pass. “What was I supposed to do? I had a club full of men salivating for war and Temple on my ass. I tried to bring the clubs together to protect us.”
“And you nearly killed Rose in the process.” Just her name pissed Thorne off. “You’re lucky I didn’t chain you to our bikes and quarter you in the street.”
“I had to take her.”
“No, you fucking didn’t.”
Lyn reasoned with the unreasonable. “If he hadn’t, Priest would have taken her. Ruined her. For Christ’s sake, Thorne. That girl doesn’t deserve any more pain.”
“You don’t use my goddamned queen as a pawn.”
I understood his devotion to the woman. Not like I hadn’t offered my own heart, soul, and balls to the one who’d inevitably get me killed too. “I had no choice.”
“Men died because of it,” Thorne said.
“More men might have died. They didn’t.” I held my arms out. “You want to tell me why you were sending me goddamned messages about Anathema?”
“So you’d stay out of our fucking way.”
“That’s it?”
“You weren’t planning for war, but if your guys came across one of our runs? There would have been bloodshed. I wanted you to stay clear of us. It worked.”
“Didn’t sign your name.”
“Next time I’ll include stationary and some tissue paper.”
“You’re goddamned lucky I never took a match to Pixie while you were on a run.” I swore. “And if my men found those notes? Christ, Thorne. What the hell were you thinking?”
“This Temple shit is out of control.” Thorne dropped the attitude for something much worse—his honesty. “The feud is killing my men. More people are gonna die if we don’t stop it.”
A lone car traveled up the highway. We both shifted Lyn from the street, tossing her behind us and the bikes to avoid being seen.
Or gunned down.
At least we hadn’t lost our optimism.
“This could have been real easy,” I said. “Temple was lookin’ for the man who killed Blade Darnell.”
“Ain’t finding him here.”
Lyn arched an eyebrow.
“No,” I said. “I’d say our murderer is masquerading as a ghost. Doesn’t make a difference. Blade said I’d be the one to kill him. Why the fuck would he blame me?”
“Because Blade was always loyal to Anathema.”
“He made deals with Temple.”
“Always had, and he knew that shit would eventually fuck us. He probably pinned you so Temple wouldn’t hit Anathema.” Thorne didn’t apologize for it. “You made a great target. Even my men thought it was your handiwork.”
I nodded. “And now that they know Blade abused Rose?”
Lyn answered for him. “We’re on the cusp of anarchy.”
Thorne frowned. “One good thing about a puddle of blood. If it gets big enough, we’ll never know who bled into it. I’ve got my men organized. They won’t question us on Blade.”
I envied his confidence but not the shit he dealt with. “Hard to keep them in line when you put a girl’s safety before her daddy’s role in the club.”
“Don’t pretend Blade is innocent in this,” Lyn said.
“To Temple he was,” I said. “They don’t care what happened to little Bud. Might blame her for opening her mouth and letting all those secrets out.”
Thorne shouldn’t have cared as much either, but hell. I wanted to rip off Priest’s cock for simply threatening Lyn. I couldn’t imagine if someone actually hurt my woman.
Thorne chose his words like he loaded a gun. “Temple isn’t getting anywhere near Rose.”
“How are we gonna stop them from rolling over the Valley?” I asked.
“Can you keep your guys off our asses long enough to deal with your mess?”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“Did you lose control of The Coup?”
“I never controlled them,” I said. “Exorcist did. It’s amazing we lasted after you murdered him.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.” Thorne didn’t need to hold a knife to go for my throat. “You’re the king traitor. They stuck to you until they thought they could do better.”
“And now you’re in the crosshairs.”
“How do we fix it?”
Lyn spoke when she shouldn’t have talked. She had a bad habit of sticking her nose where it didn’t belong, and she was lucky it hadn’t gotten broken before.
“You don’t fix it,” she said. “This feud between Anathema and The Coup is idiotic and indulging it will just shift the focus from where it belongs. We need to take care of Temple before it’s too late.”
Thorne wasn’t in the mood to be chastised by the princess. “Maybe we could all defer to you instead, Highness. Patch you in.”
“I probably could have ended all this bullshit before it started.” She pulled her cell from her pocket. “This ends with one phone call.”
“Got a line to Heathen?” I snorted. “Not the best person to be texting.”
Lyn wiggled her cell. “I’m not talking to Temple. I’m calling ATF.”
Oh, Christ. If Thorne didn’t take the first shot, I probably would.
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The ATF officers harassing Lyn were a problem, but she was smart enough to play dumb. Or, at the very least, keep her mouth shut so she didn’t cause any problems. Sorceress was clean—no illegal activity, none of her girls misbehaving in the back rooms, not even a missed deduction on her taxes.
Lyn could handle herself when it came to the club, but she couldn’t protect herself from either MC if she dared to breathe a word to ATF.
“Are you trying to make me kill you?” Thorne asked. “Don’t do something stupid.”
“Then use your heads instead of your guns,” she said. “I have an idea.”
I already hated it. “And you think it involves ATF?”
“Met with Miss Prissy Bitch herself today. She’s been up my ass since Temple nabbed me. She wants to use Sorceress for surveillance.” Lyn’s eyebrow arched. “I say we give it to her.”
“Can’t do much dancing in a coffin, Lyn,” Thorne warned.
“And we can’t fix the problem with The Coup unless we get Temple off our asses. ATF isn’t after Anathema. Temple is a bigger club, someone with access to drugs and names and real connections. Why piss around with smuggled cigarettes if they can get intel on cocaine trafficking in California?”
“And you think you can give them Temple?” he asked.
“Not me.” She met my gaze. “But Luke can.”
I sure as hell wasn’t about to let Lyn stick her perfect ass in harm’s way, but I wasn’t about to jerk off Temple’s cock. I shook my head.
“They want me dead, Lyn.”
“They want to know where Blade is,” she said.
“Blade’s dead.”
“They’re just assuming that.”
I swore. “What the hell are you planning?”
Lyn’s confidence bluffed enough men, but not us. She teased with a breath and smile.
We didn’t buy it.
“We lure Temple to Sorceress, completely wired and bugged with a connection to ATF. They come looking for Blade, and we get them to incriminate themselves. Then the agents come in and grab Heathen and his men. That chapter of Temple bends over for the Feds instead of fucking our asses.”
“Do you have any idea how fucking stupid that plan is?” Thorne said what I was thinking. “Christ, you’ll either suck a cock or a gun before that night is over. You want to risk it?”
“How else are we going to fight a club bigger and stronger than us? Temple is connected and dangerous and out for blood. We need all the help we can get.”
“So you want to rat?” Thorne asked.
She winked at me. “Let the rat, rat. At least it’s fitting.”
I laughed, but it wasn’t funny. This bullshit would never work, and only Lyn would concoct such a scheme. She was unlike any other woman I’d ever met. It was Christ’s only blessing on our forsaken club.
“If you deliver Temple to ATF, you put Sorceress in the middle.” I saw through it. How could a woman so beautiful be so goddamned ruthless? “You’re making a trade with ATF. Temple for Sorceress.”
She shrugged. “That a problem?”
“Yeah. Because I’m the one acting as bait.”
“Never said it’d be easy,” she said.
“Never said you’d give me up for it.”
Her smile faded as her glance cast from Thorne to me. She swallowed, hard. “If you believe I would ever let anything hurt you then you deserve whatever comes your way.”
Thorne snorted. “She’s sweet.”
“I’m honest.” Lyn’s voice edged hard enough to reveal a bit of sincerity, more than she usually exposed. “If we do it right, ATF gets Temple, and Luke won’t get hurt. We lose the heat and can focus on Priest and his gang of degenerates.”
“You think your ATF buddy will play along?” Thorne asked.
“She’s desperate for anything I can toss at her. It’s either this or I give her some details on Blade. Doubt that would help us.”
“Fine.” Thorne pointed at Lyn. “You contact me as soon as you talk to her and get me the details.”
“Deal.”
“Until then, we didn’t meet tonight. And if The Coup attacks my men...or if something happens to Rose?” He scowled. “Then, Lancelot, you and me got serious problems.”
“We already have problems. It can’t get any worse.”
“Got a couple bullets too many in my gun that say otherwise.”
“If you wanted to kill me, I’d be dead.”
“Don’t fucking tempt me.” His voice dropped. “This changes nothing. You’re still the rat bastard who split the club.”
“And you’re still the reason I left.” It wasn’t the time to start this. Too much at stake to come to blows, too little time to air the grievances that’d justify the bruises. “I hope you realize this war might have been a lot worse without me.”
“This war wouldn’t have started if I took you out when I had the chance.”
I held my arms out. “Then we’d be having a lot less fun.”
Thorne nodded to Lyn. “Keep him alive while he’s of use to me.”
He climbed onto his bike. I exhaled.
“Great talk, as usual,” I said.
The engine roared, and Thorne sped into the darkness. Lyn’s hand found mine, though her voice hadn’t softened. Doubted it ever would, but damn, her palm fit perfectly in mine.
“You gotta be careful.” I pulled her close, braving the warning arch of her eyebrows. “Don’t get yourself implicated with ATF.”
“I’m not worried about me. You’re gonna be the one dealing with Temple.”
“Might be nice to see the guns I’ve imagined aimed at my head.”
Her lip trembled. Just enough. “Don’t let them shoot.”
“I’m good at avoiding bullets, even better at skirting the law.” I squeezed her hand. “We’ll set this trap together.”
“Yeah.” She closed her eyes for a moment too long as my hand grazed her cheek. “Just what I wanted. A front row seat to the MC inner circle.”
“Only once.”
“It will never be only once,” Lyn said. “I spent these last couple years trying to keep Sorceress out of harm’s way. Now it’s the deepest trench in the war.” Her eyebrow rose. “You better be worth it, Luke. You already owe me too many favors.”
“I don’t mind being in debt to you.”
“You’re full of bad decisions, aren’t you?” Lyn tugged on my cut, pulling me close. “Just promise me this will be your last.”
A man could hope.
One bad mistake a year ago made up in a single kiss from Lyn. She saved me from misery, isolation, and every shred of regret that sliced at my wrist.
But even Lyn wasn’t strong enough to save me from what waited.
Either we’d defuse the war before it started, or the shrapnel that remained would mark our graves.
And I wasn’t ready to dig that hole.
Lyn called two hours too early.
She had her instructions from both me and ATF. They gave her clearance to clean the club before the agents set up their surveillance equipment, but she was supposed to be in and out. Quick. Before Temple realized the little mouse set a trap.
Something wasn’t right.
I wasn’t an optimistic man. And I knew what happened to pretty women who crossed Temple MC. She was worth more than the bullet they’d used to kill her, but not by much.
I answered the call and dropped everything, sprinting to my bike.
“Lyn?” I crashed over my seat. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything.” She wasn’t being tough. This was her scared. Her voice didn’t quiver, but I recognized the desperation behind each word. “I don’t know what happened, but they’re here.”
A punch to my gut would’ve felt better than the pit in my stomach. “Who?”
“Temple.”
“Son of a bitch.” I was still in the city, trying to rally what men I had left, the ones I trusted who hadn’t deferred to Priest. “Are you sure it’s them?”
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“Yeah. I saw them on Sorceress’s cameras.”
“Where are you?”
“My office...” Her voice faded as if she were listening. I expected a pop of gunfire but heard nothing. I held my breath with her. “Luke, they aren’t supposed to be here for another two hours. They must have known it was a trap. Someone tipped them off.”
I had no idea who would be that stupid. It wasn’t my men, and it wasn’t anyone in Anathema.
“Is ATF there?” My only goddamned hope rested in the Feds. Christ, what happened to me? “Where’s your agent contact?”
“She wasn’t meeting me here until five o’clock. Luke, it’s just me. I’m alone—” Her words quieted. The phone jostled in her hand. “Fuck…they cut the power. I doubt they meant for this to be a pleasant talk about Blade.”
My heart pumped. Thought it’d shatter my ribs. “Get the hell out of there.”
“I can’t. They have a man guarding my car. There’s two inside. One is Heathen. I don’t recognize the other.” Her voice lowered even more. “I gotta move.”
I had nothing else to offer her. “I’m on my way.”
“You better bring backup.”
“You better stay safe.”
“I’ll find a place to hide.”
I clutched the phone. “Lyn, you keep quiet. You hear me? Don’t let them find you.”
“Not planning on it.”
The call disconnected.
I should’ve told her I loved her.
I should’ve said something reassuring.
I should’ve promised that I’d keep her safe, protect her from Temple’s men, and I’d be coming to rescue her.
The words choked me, and only a slice through my throat would free them.
Lyn got lucky before. Made the right friends. Stayed clear of danger. I only hoped my bike was quicker than how fast her luck ran out. She had plenty of places to hide in Sorceress, but I had only one road to take to the club.
And it was the wrong one.
I hadn’t crossed the river before I spotted the bikes in my mirrors. Four of them, and what might have offered me a slice of optimism two weeks ago now rewarded me with a second gut punch.
I was just lucky it wasn’t a bullet to the brain.
My bike red-lined before I let the former members of The Coup speed behind me. It wasn’t a safe place to ride. I dodged early afternoon traffic only to race between two school buses and a cop.