Beyond the Cut

by Sarah Castille

  “Rescue time. Stay low and head for the door.” He jumped up and fired a few random shots to keep Mad Dog occupied while Dawn crouched and ran. Mad Dog grunted and the gun fell from his grip.

  “Fuck. I shot him.” Gunner slammed a hand on the doorframe.

  “No, I shot him.” Cade half rose from behind the couch, his weapon still trained on Mad Dog.

  “Are you fucking kidding?” Gunner raced across the room to kick the bastard’s gun away. “You didn’t have a clear shot.”

  Cade knelt down beside Mad Dog and pressed two fingers to the pulse on his neck. “Damn. He’s still alive.”

  “It’s our lucky day.” Gunner heaved a sigh. “We woulda started a war and been kicked out of the club.”

  “Um … boys.” Dawn motioned them to the door, but Cade didn’t move.

  “I would have been kicked out,” Cade said. “It was my bullet.”

  “You can’t shoot for shit.” Gunner tugged at Mad Dog’s shirt to check the wound. “No way would I let you take the fall.”

  Dawn raised her voice to a shout. “The police are almost here. I can see flashing lights. You have to go.”

  “Fuck.” Gunner slapped the bullet-ridden wall. “He was wearing a vest. He’ll be bruised but not broken. Let’s go.”

  “You can’t leave him here.” Dawn’s voice rose in pitch.

  Cade frowned. “Why not? Break and enter, assault with a deadly weapon? Taking a hostage? Even our lawyer wouldn’t be able to get us off without some jail time.”

  “We’ll do time together,” Mad Dog mumbled. “You bastards don’t get me outta here before the cops show, I’ll tell them I came to visit my wife to talk about our kids and Dawn stabbed me unprovoked. Then a buncha Sinners tried to off me. My bullets are near the door. Makes it look like I was defending myself. By the time the cops sort it out we’ll have spent months cooling our heels in jail.”

  “I’m not your wife,” Dawn bit out. “We’re divorced.”

  “And look what happened when you pulled that shit.” Mad Dog gave a bitter laugh. “Not that a civilian piece of paper means dick all. And that cut you’re wearing is a joke. You’re still my old lady until I’m dead or I let you go.”

  “Your call, brother,” Gunner said.

  Cade pointed his gun at Mad Dog’s head. “I wanna shoot the fucker dead.”

  Dawn looked at Cade aghast. “We have to let him go. There’s not enough time to clean up and hide his body. I can’t go to jail, Cade. I can’t leave the girls with Shelly-Ann and no one to watch out for them.”

  “Can you walk, fuck face?” Cade shoved Mad Dog’s head back with the gun barrel, his finger itching to pull the trigger.

  “Just get me to my damn bike,” Mad Dog spat out. “I’ll call someone to pick me up.” He turned to Dawn. “Bitch. Gimme my phone. And go get the money.”

  Cade jabbed his knee into the wound on Mad Dog’s leg and Mad Dog screamed.

  “You disrespect her again and I’m gonna say fuck the MC, fuck the cops, and fuck you breathing another fucking breath.”

  “I need the money, dammit,” Mad Dog leaned on Gunner to pull himself up. “I know she has it.”

  “Shut the fuck up.” Cade smashed the butt of his gun into Mad Dog’s head. Maybe if he hit the bastard enough times, he would do Cade the favor of dying.

  “Take him out the back door in case someone sees him.” Dawn handed Mad Dog the phone and Gunner half dragged him through the kitchen.

  Cade looked back over his shoulder at Dawn. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m good.” But she didn’t sound good, and she didn’t look good either. He’d never seen her so pale.

  “Put your gun away,” Cade said softly. “Don’t let them know you have it. Call me if they take you to the station or arrest you. Club’s got a lawyer, Richard—”

  “I can’t afford…”

  “I’ll take care of it.” He had a healthy bank balance from the work he did for the club, and without a family and no desire to spend it on flashy cars, or fancy digs, he was more than able to pay Richard’s fees.

  “We gotta go,” Gunner shouted over the wail of sirens.

  “I’ll ride around the block and come back when the cops leave,” Cade called out to Dawn. “Then I’ll take you to the clubhouse. You can’t stay here with a broken-in door.”

  Gunner grunted his disapproval. “I thought we were gonna … you know … we had plans.”

  “Plans change.” Cade took one last look at Dawn, and then he turned and dragged Mad Dog away.

  * * *

  “Fucking hell.” Jagger scrubbed a hand over his face and glared at Dawn, Gunner, and Cade, seated in front of his enormous oak desk like recalcitrant children. Zane, Sparky, and Dax leaned against the walls behind them along with Shaggy and T-Rex for an impromptu and unofficial board meeting.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?”

  Dawn forced herself to meet his gaze. With her head still spinning from how quickly the Sinners had arranged for her door to be fixed, and the bullet holes repaired after she’d put the police off the scent last night, a confrontation with Jagger was about the last thing she was up for this afternoon.

  “I was thinking Jimmy … er … Mad Dog had broken into my apartment and intended to assault me and then bring me back to his clubhouse.” She raised a hand to block out the light streaming through the wall of windows beside him so she could more clearly see his face. Such a beautiful office for someone with such a menacing scowl. Dark wood shelves lined the wall behind him, and a matching credenza sat to his left beneath a polished mirror. Clearly the Sinners hadn’t done much to renovate this room; its historic patina was marred only by the prints of motorcycles hung on the worn, papered walls.

  “Not you.” Jagger waved at her dismissively. “The two idiots beside you. What part of ‘don’t engage the Brethren’ did you two not understand?”

  “He engaged us first,” Gunner said. “And he was holding Cade’s old lady hostage. We had a duty to rescue her.”

  “Don’t spin me that bullshit.” Jagger thumped his fist on the desk. “You shot him. If he hadn’t been wearing a vest, he would have died.”

  “Actually, I shot him,” Cade interjected. “Gun was very expertly shooting around him to provide cover for Dawn to get out.”

  Gunner sniffed. “You know Cade couldn’t hit a target right in front of his face. I shot him.”

  “I stabbed him,” Dawn said, feeling left out. “In the leg. That’s why he was down.”

  “Well, according to Wolf, he told the Brethren executive board that Cade and Gunner attacked him when he visited his wife to talk about their kids.” Jagger pushed his chair away from the table. “So now we got a problem. Wolf says I broke my word, and now he can’t negotiate with us without looking weak, like he’s not supporting his brother.”

  “Did you tell him about the Jacks backing Mad Dog?” Dax always liked to know his intel was being put to good use.

  “Yeah, I told him. He wasn’t surprised, but he’s reluctant to raise the issue before the election in case it backfires, or the Black Jack puppets outnumber his supporters. He needs us to clean house, as much as we need Brethren support.”

  “That might be part of the reason why Mad Dog accused Cade and Gunner,” Dawn said. “He’s afraid you’ll actively back Wolf. With the Sinner support clubs and resources behind him, Wolf will be sure to win. By accusing Cade and Gunner, Jimmy effectively cuts Wolf off from any potential Sinner support, makes the Sinners look bad, and wins himself the sympathy vote. Wolf’s only hope now is if you back him openly.”

  Gunner scrubbed a hand through his buzz cut. “I dunno. Then it’ll look like we tried to off Mad Dog so Wolf would win. Could turn everything against us.”

  “Or it could be just what Wolf needs.” Dawn hesitated, acutely aware that she was now the center of attention. The Sinners were listening in a way the Brethren never had. All those years sitting quietly in the corner at the Brethren clubhouse hadn�
��t been a total waste. She’d listened and learned, watched the political game and understood the players.

  Worthy. And it felt damn good.

  “Keep going,” Jagger said. “You know them better than we do.”

  “If the Brethren think Wolf is cunning and powerful enough to enlist the Sinners to take out Mad Dog, they’ll vote for Wolf. Yeah, they might grumble that Wolf didn’t support Mad Dog, but in the end they aren’t hung up on rules or creeds or honor. The only thing they respect is power. And if the Sinners come out and show their support for Wolf instead of hiding in the shadows like the Jacks, they’ll see Wolf as the strongest candidate and the Sinners as the strongest club, and they’ll vote for the man who can bring a patch over to the table.”

  “We got intel that Mad Dog might be paying off supporters,” Gunner said. “If that’s the case, it won’t matter who they think is stronger. They’ll just follow the money.”

  Dawn sucked in her lips, considering. “Mad Dog came to my house demanding money. He seemed almost desperate. If he needs money that badly, he must not have paid off enough supporters yet to win the election.”

  Jagger’s eyes narrowed. “You got any ideas?” he asked. “A good way for the Sinners to show their support for Wolf?”

  “The Brethren love a good party.”

  “Done.” Jagger slapped his hand on the table. “You organize it. Tell Banks we’ll need the bar on Saturday.”

  Dawn’s gaze flicked from Jagger to Cade and back to Jagger. She’d given them information that could tip the balance in the Sinners’ favor, now it was time for payback. Only a few weeks ago, she’d considered the idea and dismissed it out of hand, not just because she lacked confidence, but also because she had nothing to offer. Now she had both.

  “I want something in return.” She swallowed hard and firmed her voice. “I want my girls back. Now. Wolf is president. If he tells Mad Dog to keep Shelly-Ann and the police off my back, then he’ll have to do it; otherwise he risks being kicked out for disobeying his president and he’ll lose his chance at running for election. He’s put me at risk by making Mad Dog untouchable, and you’ve seen how Mad Dog took advantage. I’ve had enough. No more talking about it. No more negotiating. I’m a Sinner old lady and they are Sinner girls and I want them to come home.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding,” Zane spat out. “We’re not getting involved in a fucking marital dispute.”

  Dawn dropped her hands to her hips and stiffened her spine. “And I didn’t want to get involved in a biker war, but that’s what this is. The Brethren are a pawn in the war between the Sinners and the Jacks. Yes, you can take the information I gave you, ignore my request, and help Wolf win the election so he’ll patch his club over to the Sinners, but it’s not the right thing to do, and it’s not how our world works. I’m calling in my mark and I expect you to honor it.”

  “I vote in favor,” Cade said. “Anyone opposed?”

  Not even Zane lifted a hand.

  Jagger nodded. “I’ll talk to Wolf.”

  She thought her heart would burst.

  EIGHTEEN

  I will never let down my guard.

  SINNER’S TRIBE CREED

  Her girls were home.

  Dawn sat on the floor of the bedroom that had been unused for the last year, hugging her knees to her chest, still unable to believe her angels were home. But there they were. Maia and Tia. Asleep in their twin princess beds, tucked under duvets bearing the images of handsome princes, horse-drawn carriages, and happily-ever-afters.

  One call was all it had taken. Everyone was on board with her plan. Jagger called her after the deal was done, and a few minutes later she was in the Sinner SUV, and driving straight to Shelly-Ann’s house.

  They’d celebrated with ice cream and pizza and now the girls were asleep and Dawn couldn’t bring herself to leave their room, terrified it wouldn’t last. What if it wasn’t real? What if Wolf changed his mind and Shelly-Ann came to take her girls away? Without a way to overturn the court decision, it was a pyrrhic victory at best. She’d used up her mark with the Sinners, and no doubt enraged Jimmy, and as easily as the favor had been granted, it could be taken away.

  Unless she took Doug up on his offer.

  The buzz of her phone startled her. She pushed away her thoughts of leaving Conundrum and checked her text messages.

  How’s my old lady?

  Best day of my life

  And your girls?

  Asleep

  Are you sleeping?

  Yes. I’m fast asleep

  Wake up, babe. I’m here

  Dawn heard the rattle of a key in the lock and the thud of a dead bolt. The front door creaked open and footsteps echoed through the house. When she looked up, Cade stood in the doorway, arms folded, blocking the light from the hallway.

  “Where did you get the key?”

  “Had it made when we replaced the door.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t think to ask?”

  “You’re my old lady. I need easy access.” He kept his voice low as he walked toward her, his handsome face partially obscured by the shadows. “What are you doing on the floor?”

  “I’ve waited so long to have them back, spent so many nights imagining they were here, after I put them to bed, I couldn’t leave. I want to watch them in case it isn’t real or in case it doesn’t last and they’re suddenly taken away.” She pressed a fist to her mouth. “I’m so confused, Cade. One moment I’m bursting with joy, and the next I’m terrified I’ll lose them again. I don’t think I could bear it.”

  A pained expression crossed Cade’s face and he sat on the floor beside her, his leather creaking as he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Keeping you company.”

  “Cade…” She tried to push away, but he held her tight. “You don’t have to do this. If you want to stay, you can take my bed.”

  “There aren’t many precious moments in life, babe.” He stroked his fingers over her bare arm. “Best to appreciate them when they happen, and even better if you’re not alone. We’ll watch them together. Keep them safe.”

  She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “You want to sit on a cold, hard floor all night watching two little girls sleep?”

  “Maia and Tia,” he said. “Not just two little girls. Your girls. And I know you’re worried. That’s why I’m here for as long as you need me.”

  Dawn tried to wrap her mind around the fact a big, badass biker was sitting on the floor with her, in a room full of princess toys. Not only that, he seemed prepared to stay. “That’s very sweet.”

  Cade chuckled. “For a sinner.”

  “You have a good heart for a sinner. Strong, brave, loyal. And you’re not so bad in bed.”

  Dawn leaned up and nuzzled his neck. Cade groaned.

  “Don’t start something that can’t be finished in here with your kids. I’m supposed to get a reward for good behavior. Not a punishment.”

  “I’ll just sit here and dream up a suitable reward.”

  But when he tucked her under his arm and settled her back against his chest, Dawn knew he understood. Now she needed her girls. Later was for him.

  * * *

  Cade startled awake when Dawn placed a hand on his shoulder. Last thing he remembered, he’d carried her to bed, fast asleep, then come back to watch over the girls.

  “What are you still doing here?” She kept her voice to a low hush so she didn’t wake the children.

  “Thought I’d keep watch after you fell asleep.” He pushed himself to his feet and Dawn reached up and stroked a hand along his jaw, rough with a five o’clock shadow.

  “That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

  “That mean it’s time for my reward?” He slid a hand over her hip and along the edge of those damn sexy shorts she wore to bed. He loved her in those shorts. Probably more than he loved her in lingerie.
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  “You did this for sex?”

  Cade leaned down and kissed her. “I did it for you.”

  Dawn clasped his hand and led him out of the room and down the hallway.

  Cade lasted thirty seconds watching her lush ass peeking from the bottom of the shorts, and then lust destroyed the last of his patience. Can’t wait. In one quick motion, he scooped her up, and threw her over his shoulder.

  “Hey, put me down.” She wriggled against him and his groin tightened. Christ. He’d listened to the brothers with old ladies complain about their women dressing down once they had kids, but now he understood. If he had to watch her walking around in those shorts every day, he’d be sporting a permanent erection not appropriate for family viewing.

  “You got a perfect ass.” Cade squeezed her cheek. “I can hardly wait to get both hands on it.”

  Once in her bedroom, he dropped her on the bed and immediately turned to check out her room. Feminine but not frilly. Modern but not austere. She’d clearly worked hard to fix it up, and if he hadn’t known to look for signs of the break-in, he wouldn’t have been able to tell the room had been totally destroyed.

  He liked the ornate wrought-iron headboard, and the pristine white duvet, not so much the purple silk cushions scattered on the bed since they served no useful purpose and would inevitably wind up on the floor. The clean white lines of her night table and dresser appealed to his taste for simpler things, and of course he checked out the framed pictures of her kids and friends. No pictures of Benson, he was pleased to note, or of Mad Dog. And no pictures of her parents.

  “What’s with the cuckoo clock?” He pointed to the gingerbread-house-style clock on the wall, so at odds with the rest of the decor.

  She blushed. “My grandparents on my mother’s side were from Bavaria. When I ran away from my uncle, I left behind all my mementos, but I saw this clock in a pawnshop and it was almost identical to the one my parents had in our kitchen. I was surprised Jimmy didn’t destroy it.”

  “If it makes any noise when I’m inside you, I might have to rip it off the wall.”