Table of Contents

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Epilogue

Sneak Peak at Grave!

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Copyright © 2018 by Savannah Rylan

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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Chapter 1

Knox

“The fuck are they doin’ now?” I asked, as I slowed my bike down. Rock pulled up next to me, followed by Mick, Brewer and Grave. We had been tailing several of the guys of The Black Saddles MC for most of the day, and I was getting sick and tired of following them all around fucking Redding.

“They’re moving closer to our territory, and I don’t like it,” Grave said.

“Who the hell do they think they are?” Mick asked.

“What do we do from here?” Rock asked. “Anyone got any ideas?”

The Black Saddles were known for their shitty maneuvers and their pushy tactics. They knew exactly where the territorial boundaries were, but lately it seemed as though they didn’t give a shit. We kept to ourselves and we expected them to do the fucking same, but they weren’t having it. They wanted our territory enough to posture for it, and multiple warning shots had been fired off over the past couple of weeks. We’d chased them out of more alleyways and broken up more fights in our own damn town than we’d ever had to do before, and I was getting damn tired of it all.

“This supposed to be some kind of damn mission? Or are we pow-wowwin’?” Brewer asked.

“The Dead Souls don’t pow-wow,” I said. “But you’re starting to get on my damn nerves.”

“We’re supposed to be doing surveillance,” Mick said. “So… what do we see?”

“A bunch of pussy assholes who don’t wanna adhere to boundaries,” I said.

“So… a bunch of Graves?” Rock asked with a smirk.

Grave slapped him on the back of the head, almost knocking the man off his damn bike.

“Settle down, kids,” Brewer said. “We don’t wanna get too loud. I see some of them up ahead.”

We all turned our attention on the assholes walking around in leather cuts with a pin up girl riding on a Harley as their back patch. The Black Saddles had started hanging around the area about six months ago. At first it seemed like our club’s would get along. Or at least co-exist in the same area. But the second that they started moving closer into our territory, all of us started to get a little more on edge.

“Why are they out here by one of our sites?” Grave asked.

“Snoopin’ around, that’s what,” I said. “And we can’t have them doin’ that. Not with so many jobs out right now.”

Our club ran and laundered money for a hefty price on whoever wanted to use our channels. We had a monopoly on it on this side of the country. The wilderness was the perfect place to do something like this because no one expected tens of thousands of dollars to be filtered through shabby shacks in the fuckin’ forest. Redding, California was our city, and since it was near the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, it was the perfect place to conceal our operations.

But the Black Saddles were threatening to blow that shit sky high.

The last thing we needed was the feds coming into our damn town because of some nosey, loud ass biker club and stirring up trouble. And if these fuckers rolled up in here trying to take what was ours, we would fight for it.

“You guys. Come here. It’s Diesel,” Brewer said. Diesel was the president of our club, and the one that sent us out to follow the fuckers.

We all hopped off our bikes and surrounded Brewer’s body to listen in on the phone call.

“You guys all there?” Diesel asked.

“Yup,” Mick said. “Hit us with it.”

“I got a tip that The Black Saddles are having some dumbass party in the woods on the other side of Redding.”

“This whole place is near the fucking woods,” I said.

“Don’t get smart, Knox. It doesn’t suit you,” Diesel said. “You’re no longer doing surveillance. You’re going to that damn party.”

“And shooting them dead?” Grave asked. I stifled a laugh.

“Not today, Grave. Save your bloodlust for later. Make it an informal meeting. Go with beer or whatever the fuck it is those pussies wanna drink.”

“You want us to set formal boundaries,” Brewer said.

“Yep. And you guys are gonna get it done. Don’t swing the first punch and you sure as hell don’t blow off the first round. But if things get hairy with them, bury ’em in the ground,” Diesel said.

“I like the sound of that,” Grave said with a grin.

“And make sure our hot-head doesn’t massacre them,” Diesel said.

“We’ll make sure he’s locked down,” Rock said.

“I don’t need a damn babysitter,” Grave said.

“Nope. Just maybe some meds,” I said.

“Call me when it’s done,” Diesel said.

“Will do,” Brewer said.

We all got on our bikes and headed for the other side of Redding. We parked our bikes at a gas station and grabbed a case of beer, then set out for the woods. We could already hear them partying up a storm. Loud as fuck with a massive fire raging in the middle of the woods. Like they weren’t risking burning the damn place down altogether. Reckless clubs were the worst. Loud as hell, thought their dicks swung to the ground, and had nothing to back up their threats.

“Well, lookie who we have here.”

“The fuck they doin’ here?”

“You guys lookin’ for a fight?”

“Nope,” Brewer said. “Just came here to talk.”

“Talk? The hell you guys wanna talk about?”

Two distinct individuals parted themselves from the group and started for us. One of them had this mass of hair on his head and a crazy look in his eye. The other guy had a leather cut on that didn’t match the rest of the club’s.

Meant he was a prospect.

The Black Saddles had fuckin’ prospects fighting their damn battles.

“And you are?” I asked

“Rex,” the guy with the hair said. “This here’s Blaze.”

“You a prospect, Blaze?” I asked.

“The fuck does that matter for?” he asked.

“Just… wondering,” I said, my eyes sizing them both up. If shit hit the fan my guys and I could take them.

“We come with beer,” Brewer said. “All we wanna do is talk.”

“‘Bout what?” Rex asked.

“We want to draw some lines,” Grave said. “We think some wires have gotten crossed as to who owns what in this town.”

“Naw. Don’t think lines have gotten crossed at all,” Blaze said.

“With no due respect whatsoever, you’re a prospect. And by the clean shaven look of yours, you haven’t been one for long,” I said. “So, let the adults talk while you take care of the beer.”

Brewer thrust the beer into Blaze’s arms as his eyes grew wide with anger.

“What boundaries you wanna discuss?” Rex asked.

“Redding is ours. All of it,” Rock said. “Including thirty miles into this forestry and thirty miles outside the city on all sides.”

“And who drew those lines?” Rex asked.

“We did, when we settled. Eleven years ago,” I said.

“So, you guys think ya got grandfathered into some place and now you’re scared because ya got company?” Blaze asked.

My eyes panned over to the prospect as he dropped the beer to the ground.

“Gas station beer tastes like piss,” Blaze said flatly.

“Better than the swill you’re probably drinking’,” I said.

“We might be new, but we ain’t new to how this works,” Rex said. “You want your territory, you defend it. Wars have been fought over less in the South. You want it, come and get it.”

“Fine by me,” I said.

I took a step towards Blaze and I eyed him. I smiled when he pulled his arm back and threw the first punch. Then, all hell broke loose. My men were throwing punches and pulling out guns, popping off shots and splintering trees. I cracked my hand against Blaze’s jaw before I felt his fist connect with my stomach. I went stumbling to the ground, hitting my knees as I gasped for air. I watched Blaze’s nasty ass boots scoot underneath my gaze as his hand reached down for my hair, and he pulled my face back to see him as I watched blood trickle down his chin.

“Ya look good on your knees like that. Reminds me of your sister, Canyon. ‘Cept she’ll be facing away from me when it happens.”

My vision dripped with red as I balled up my fists. No one knew about my family. No one outside of my immediate crew. Grave, Brewer, Rock, Mick, and Diesel. They were my family, so it was only fitting they knew about mine. No one else outside of them were supposed to know about her.

And yet, someone did.

When I got involved with the club, I made myself distant from my family to protect them. My father left us all when I was young, and I watched my mother rise up like the strong woman she was to take care of us. But I pulled away from her when I became a prospect in order to protect her. In order to save her from the life of darkness I was beginning to enjoy.

Until I had to drop Canyon off with her.

No one knows the truth about Canyon, and no one ever will. But even this dumbass club knowing I had a sister was too much for me. Her name was to be kept out of their mouths, or I’d break their jaws so they couldn’t keep her name in it. That little girl was precious to me. More precious than anyone could ever imagine.

Because she wasn’t my sister like I’d told everyone. I had lied to keep her safe.

Canyon was really my daughter.

I lunged up off my knees and nailed Blaze in his dick. He bent over, grabbing at himself and sinking to his own knees. My leg came up and nailed him in the nose and I felt it crack underneath the pressure.

That was when he fell to the ground.

I brought my boot back and kicked Blaze right in his gut. I heard him gasping for air as I reared my leg back, kicking him again as his ribs gave way. I kicked and I kicked, busting ribs and heel stomping his head into the ground. By the time I was done with that asshole, he was gonna know to keep Canyon’s name out of his fuckin’ mouth. Especially when it came to the vile, filthy bullshit he had just spilled.

My daughter was ten fuckin’ years old.

What the hell was wrong with him?

“Knox! Knox! Shit, man. Come on!”

I heard Grave’s voice off in the distance as a pair of arms wrapped around my body.

“Come on. We gotta get out of here,” Grave said. “Shit.”

I heard the sound of sirens off in the distance and saw guys scattering all over the damn place. I took off after Grave, the blood on my boot leaving a trail behind me. Branches were smacking me in the face as we ran for the gas station, my legs carrying me as fast as I could possibly go.

But the cops were already running after us, and we knew we had to hide if we had any chance of getting away from them.

We all ducked down into holes and hid ourselves behind trees. We lined our steps up with the cops we could see as their flashlights whipped around the forest. I slowed my breathing down and crept silently like a snake, inching closer to our bikes as the gas station finally came into view.

Then, when we thought the coast was clear, we made a mad dash for the parking lot.

Everyone cleared out and I took one last look behind us. The last thing we needed was some fuckin’ priggish cops following us all the way back to our place. But before I could crank up my bike, I heard a voice behind me.

And I knew I’d been caught.

“Well if it isn’t Knox.”

I gritted my teeth and turned my head as I kicked the stand up on my bike.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the cop said. I’d know his voice anywhere.

“Officer Layton.”

“What brings you out here this time of night?” he asked.

“Just… hangin’ out,” I said.

Officer Layton had it out for our club. He was always on our ass and I could sense he was enjoying himself right now. I knew I couldn’t outrun him. The cop cars were blaring their lights in the gas station parking lot, and they would chase me down until I ran out of gas. Running from them now made it risky to go anywhere. To my mom’s to check on Canyon. To the lodge to meet up with the guys. To my apartment that was supposed to be sacred. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and as the Officer Layton gazed down at my boot I saw him reach for his cuffs.

“You’re under arrest,” the officer said.

“What the hell for?” I asked.

He grabbed my wrist and whipped it behind my body as I kicked the stand back down on my bike.

He slapped the bracelets on me and yanked me off my bike. I watched someone come and wipe the blood off my boots before putting that shit in some fuckin’ evidence bag. I looked over towards the woods and saw some men emerging from them, carrying a massive black bag as they headed towards the ambulance.

I felt the blood drain from my face as I watched them load the dead body into the back.

“For the murder of Andrew Shepard,” the cop said.

“Don’t know anyone by that name,” I said.

“Figured you wouldn’t. But you might recognize his nickname.”

“Oh really? And what’s his fun little nickname?” I asked.

“Blaze,” the cop said. “The man’s name is Blaze.”

Chapter 2

Monroe

“Welcome to your new office, Miss Williams. We weren’t sure how you would prefer it, so if you want anything changed around just put in a requisition form for it.”

I set my bag down as I walked into the office with my name on it. The front desk receptionist was kind. She had a bright smile and a delicate demeanor, which was refreshing. I closed the door behind me and drew in a deep breath, taking in the lack of windows my office had. No natural light whatsoever despite the expansive space. Just a blaring light hanging over my head and two lamps perched in either corner my desk resided between.

I walked over to my desk and ran my fingertips over the surface. It was sturdy, but still cheap. The ‘comfy’ office chair looked like it hadn’t been serviced in well over a decade, and when I sat down the air puffed out as if the chair itself was groaning underneath my weight. I opened all the empty drawers and coughed when the dust flew out.

Could I requisition another office space in the building?

This was my first real job out of law school and I was lucky to have it. Scott and Lowen Law Associates was the premier law firm in Redding, California. They had been looking to hire someone new and fresh to the game, which was code for ‘we’re tired as hell and we need someone to take the bulk of the load for us’. Which I was happy to do so long as it advanced my career.

Though the office they gave me left much to be desired.

Very much.

As I sat back in my chair, I closed my eyes. My first day was simply to get settled and set up in my office. I didn’t have any appointments scheduled until my second day. Redding was very different from Austin. I’d grown up in Austin my entire life. Most people called me a city girl, but I was a small town girl at heart. The dustier and older, the better. Redding had a certain charm that Austin didn’t, and people here lived at a much slower pace. It was refreshing after college, because Baylor University was no joke.

I passed the Bar Exam for California two weeks prior to applying for the position at Scott and Lowen Law Associates. They were impressed with my LSAT scores coming out of Baylor Law School, but they were even more impressed with the fact that I wanted to leave Austin for a city in a completely different state. I tried to show them how qualified I was for the position, but part of me thought they hired me simply because they were intrigued with why someone would want to leave Austin.

But there were many personal reasons for that.

I had wanted to leave home. Ever since I left for college, my dream was to never return back to Austin. I had nothing left there. There was nothing in that city for me but old memories that hurt too much. Playgrounds held too many happy memories that brought tears to my eyes and passing by my old homestead everyday made me sick to my stomach. I needed to go somewhere new and start fresh. I needed to create a new life for myself.

That was why I applied for the position in Redding, California.

That was the reason why I wanted to leave Austin.

My father left when I was a kid. There wasn’t a huge fight or a shell-shocking reason for why he left. He simply… left. Nothing seemed off with my parents. We still had family dinners and talked around the fire. We still watched family movies and went and did things together on the weekends. I was nine when I woke up and saw him leaving for work. I remember him giving me a massive smile and kissing me on my forehead. He told me he loved me like he always did, then I walked him to his car and waved him off.

The only difference was, he never came home from work.

I begged my mother for years to tell me what happened, but she wouldn’t. She told me that her and dad simply stopped loving one another, but it didn’t explain why I never heard from him. Why he never called on my birthday and why I never saw him at Christmas. It didn’t explain why Mom was so quick to clean out his side of the closet and rid any memorabilia of him from the house.

I hated her for it for so long.

And then, she got sick.

Cancer was a bitch, and my mom fought hard. The first time she beat it, but the second time around she was tired. Tired of working and tired of crying. Tired of fighting and tired of scraping by. I watched her waste away in a hospital room for months before the tumors finally took her under, suffocating the life from her as I held her hand. It wasn’t until she breathed her last breath that she told me the truth.

What really happened with my father all those years ago.

I drew in a shallow breath as a knock came at my office door. I wiped at the tears underneath my eyes, then cleared my throat and fluffed my hair. It was probably one of the older lawyers coming to see how I was adjusting, and it wasn’t going to look good if I was crying on my first day.

“Miss Williams?”

“Come in, Mr. Scott. The door is open,” I said.

A man with snow white hair stepped in with a massive smile on his face. I stood and reached my hand out for his, shaking his broad, strong hand. I looked him in his eyes to let him know I was serious about this position. Then he took a seat in the rickety chair in front of my desk as I sat back down into my chair.

And that puff of air that shot out from the cushion seat caused him to chuckle.

“We did the best we could under the circumstances,” Scott said. “But when our secretary told you to requisition whatever you want, she meant it. We have a budget in place to update office spaces as necessary, so put in for a new chair.”

I watched him wiggle in his seat as the wood bowed underneath his weight.

“Make that two seats,” he said.

“Will do, sir,” I said. “Once I find the requisition sheets.”

“Those along with the rest of our forms are in the filing cabinet to your right. The keys you were handed when you came in not only lock your office and the front and back doors, but there’s a key on there to open and close the cabinet.”

“Duly noted.”

“I’m here to welcome you and then to apologize,” he said.

“Why apologize?” I asked.

“I told you that you wouldn’t see any clients until tomorrow. However, an emergency proposition has dropped into my lap and both Rose and I are booked solid until seven tonight.”

“Then I’m more than happy to take it on,” I said. “Who’s the client?”

“You will be assisting Rose with a retainer client. They seem to have gotten themselves into a bit of legal trouble and there are some things that look very fuzzy.”

“Is Rose someone I should know about?” I asked.

I watched Scott grin at me before he gave a light chuckle.

“I see neither of us did our research,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I have something to admit, but if you’re as perceptive as I take you to be, then you already know.”

“I’m still not following, sir.”

“I hired you because I thought you were intriguing. It’s not simply what’s on paper that makes me want to hire someone, it’s also their purpose for being hired. I have to admit, I was interested to see why a young woman fresh out of college would want to come to a woodsy place like Redding for her first job.”

“I figured as much,” I said.

“It wasn’t until I shook your hand that I realized how serious you were about this.”

“You could tell by a simple handshake?” I asked.

“I’ve been working in this field a very long time, Miss Williams. I can tell many things by a simple handshake.”

“So, what is the research I did not do?” I asked.

“Rose is my wife,” Scott said.

“And she’s helping with the case?” I asked.

“My wife’s name, is ‘Rose Lowen’.”

I felt the pieces fall into place as I nodded and started to laugh.

“Didn’t take your last name, I presume,” I said.

“She’s a firecracker and a very independent woman. We started our own practice thirty-some odd years ago. Her idea she built from the ground up. I’m simply along for the ride.”

“But she obviously gave you permission to hire someone on,” I said with a grin.

“And I don’t believe you’ll disappoint. You’ll be helping my wife on a recurring client. The Dead Souls.”

“Is that… their name?” I asked.

“You have much to learn about this area. But for now, all you need to know is that a local group of individuals keep our law firm on retainer in case they get into trouble. The police around here like to bully people that don’t exactly fit in with the ‘norm’, so we step up to the plate once that happens.”

“I take it Rose will fill me in further?” I asked.

“She will. She’ll be in your office in about an hour. I was sent to give you the heads up.”

“Well, thank you for it.”

“And by the way? The name’s Bradley Scott. You can drop the ‘Mr. Scott’ nonsense.”

“Sorry, it’s a bit of a habit, growing up in Texas.”

“I’d like to bite it in the ass now before it starts,” he said with a grin. “Enjoy Rose! She’s a heck of a woman.”

“If she married you, she’d have to be,” I said with a grin.

“I like your spunk, Monroe. I think you’ll fit in just fine.”

I shook Bradley’s hand one last time before he left my office. A client. On my first day. At a law firm who had retainer clients with names like ‘Dead Souls. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that sounded like a gang of some sort. A group of thugs or whatever. And if there was one thing I wasn’t going to do, it was defend someone who was actually guilty.

And I was going to make that very clear to Rose.

Chapter 3

Knox

“What the hell happened out there?” Diesel asked.

“None of them wanted to talk,” I said. “All they wanted to do was beat the shit outta us and kick around the damn beer we brought.”

“I don’t give a fuck about what happened with the Black Saddles. What the fuck’s all this mess I’m hearing about you killing someone? I didn’t want you to fucking kill people, Knox. Only talk!” Diesel yelled. I pulled the phone slightly away from my ear.

“I didn’t kill anyone, Diesel.”

“Not what I’m hearing,” he said.

“Well what you’re hearing is wrong.”

“There was a body bag on the scene, Knox. I know what your charges are.”

“I didn’t kill him, Diesel. It was a set up. Blaze was still talking shit to me before we started dashing into the woods. Yes, I probably broke a couple of his ribs. But that bastard was still alive and well when we took off.”

“If you punctured his lung, he could’ve choked on his own damn blood.”

“He also would’ve been coughing it up. Which he wasn’t. I heard his threats. He was still yelling at me as we ran.”

“What was he saying?” Diesel asked. “What the fuck caused you to fly off the handle?”

“Hey, you said don’t throw the first punches,” I said. “He threw the first punch.”

“So, he hit you first.”

“Yes. That man took me to my fucking knees before I did something about his mouth.”

“What the fuck did he say to you, Knox?”

“Diesel, he knows about Canyon,” I said letting out a long sigh.

The phone call fell silent as I stood at the telephone. These police officers were fucking quick to book me and get me in some community fucking holding cell. And I didn’t like it one damn bit. I saw people eyeing me that I didn’t want looking at me and I knew this wasn’t a good situation. A couple of the cops had gotten to some of The Black Saddles as well, which meant we were all locked up in the same damn room.

Separated by only a few bars of iron.

“What exactly does he know about Canyon?” Diesel asked.

“Not much,” I said lowly. “He called her my sister, but he fucking knew about her. There isn’t anyone in this damn city who knows about her except for you guys. And you’re the only one who knows who she actually is.”

“And you’re sure he mentioned Canyon?”

“Diesel, when I was on my knees, he told me I looked just as good as fucking Canyon from the behind.”

“He did what?”

“He made a crude fucking comment about my ten year old-... sister,” I said.

“I would have killed that motherfucker on the spot,” he said.

“And now you know why I flew off the fucking handle,” I said.

“Okay, look. If you’re sure that asshole was still alive when you left, then I believe you. We’ll call up our lawyer and get you the hell outta this, and in the meantime I’m gonna poke around and figure out who the fuck’s been opening their damn mouths about your life.”

“Thanks.”

“I gotta ask you this to help me, but are you sure me and the guys are the only ones that know about Canyon?”

“Yes,” I said.

“No drunken nights where you got lippy with someone? Did you talk about Canyon to one of the guys in a public place? A bar or some shit?”

“No, this is the most public place I’ve mentioned her before,” I said.

“Okay. Then the only thing I got to go off of is the fact that one of our guys is running their mouths when they don’t need to be. The only other option is that The Black Saddles somehow came into contact with your mother and pieced it together. Any way that could’ve happened?”

“My mother and her live in Anderson. On the south side. They’re nowhere near here,” I said.

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’m gonna dig around and see if The Black Saddles have tried to pull their shit in that area as well. I don’t wanna start pointing fingers at our own until I ain’t got any more options.”

“I hear ya. Another question before I get kicked off here.”

“What’s that?” Diesel asked.

“We got anything in the way of protection in jail?”

“I can work on it and get you something. Why?”

“Because the cops snagged a couple of The Black Saddles, and the only thing separating us right now is a row of iron bars.”

“Shit. Okay. I’ll work on that first, then place the call to our lawyer, then get to digging on all this Canyon shit that’s come outta left field.”

“I didn’t kill him, Diesel.”

“And I believe you. That’s why we pay our lawyer what we do. To help us in situations like this. You hang tight, okay? Don’t start shit.”

“I didn’t start it the first time and look where I’m sitting,” I said.

“Don’t start shit in front of the fucking cops,” he said.

“Fine. But get me outta here. I’m useless in here, and if someone goes after Canyon-”

“Oh, that shit ain’t happening. Not on my watch. You’ve got my word on that.”

“Thanks, Diesel.”

The cop at the desk was eyeballing me hard, so I hung up the phone and let the asshole lead me back to the holding cell. I didn’t like sitting and waiting. Wasn’t in my blood to do that shit. I was an action man. I wanted to get out and help. I wanted to get on my fucking bike, ride all the way to the south side of Anderson, and make sure no one had placed a hand on my damn family. I hadn’t seen them in almost three years, but I sent money every damn month. Money my Momma could use to help raise Canyon so she wasn’t footing all those damn finances by herself. I sent pictures to Canyon in letters on her birthday and toys for Christmas. I wanted her to know that her Daddy was thinking of her even though he couldn’t be there to celebrate.

But fuck me if someone was gonna mention my damn daughter like Blaze had.

I knew I didn’t kill him. I knew what killing someone felt like. I knew what it felt like from the barrel of a gun, I knew what it felt like with the tip of my boot, and I knew what it felt like with my bare ass hands. That fucker wasn’t dead. I hadn’t kicked him hard enough or nearly enough times to do that to him. Grave got to me before that shit happened. I knew he was hurt. Groaning on the ground like the pussy he was, but he wasn’t dead.

I heard him fucking shouting after me for fuck’s sake.

The police officer threw me back into the holding cell and I stood up to face him. What the hell was he doing, throwing me around like that? I loomed over the man and he cowered, shutting the door quickly to lock me in with all the town drunks and domestic abusers who took pride in beating their wives.

“The hell you looking at?” I asked.

I panned my gaze over to the holding cell next to mine and I saw them. The Black fucking Saddles with their bullshit navy blue cuts. Fucking navy blue when ‘Black’ was in their damn name. I hated everything about these guys. Everything they stood for and all their dumbass tactics to try and take our territory. I watched the two guys stand up and head for the row of iron bars that separated us, and I looked over to see the police officer pleasantly distracted.

Great.

Just fucking great.

“We’re gonna get ya, you know,” one of them said.

“You killed Blaze, and that shit ain’t gonna fly,” the other said.

“I didn’t kill your pathetic prospect,” I said. “That man was yelling at me as I ran.”

“Like a pussy,” the guy said as he laughed.

“I don’t know. If I recognize you right, you were cowering behind a damn tree while your prospect was throwing punches,” I said.

“I was not,” the man said.

“Wanna bet?” I asked.

The two men lunged at me, pushing their arms through the iron bars. The men in my cell stood up, ready for a fight as they all stood behind me. The police officer leapt from his chair and ran over to the holding cell, then aimed his taser gun at both of them before he started screaming.

“Sit the fuck down or I’m gonna shoot!”

I eyed them heavily as the guys in the cell cracked their knuckles. So, this was the hierarchy of jail. The guys I was in the holding cell with were my buddies now, which meant if any of their shit traipsed in there I’d be expected to defend them on a moment’s notice. I didn’t know what kind of men they were. I didn’t know their damn names or know the kind of shit they were capable of. And I wasn’t about to start defending the scumbags of the earth just because we were in the same damn cell together.

“We’ll get you,” the man said. “Sleep with one eye open, asshole.”

“I won’t have to,” I said. “Because you’ll be in here much longer than me.”

The guys sat down on the other side of their cell before the cop had a chance to break in his shiny new taser gun. Everyone backed off and went into their respective corners as I slumped into a chair in the corner.

Fuck.

Just fucking great.

This was exactly what I needed. Some fucking sitting and waiting game while Diesel organized a group of guys to help me with a potential rat among them. It was hard to believe, that one of them would talk about Canyon that way. I trusted those men with my life over and over again, and the idea of betrayal in that form boggled my damn mind.

Was one of them really capable of that shit? Or had something else taken place I didn’t know about?

The only rule I left Momma with was to not come into Redding. Ever. Not alone, and certainly not with Canyon. They could go anywhere and do anything, but our territory was off limits. It was the only way to fully cut ties with them and keep them safe from all the shit I was in. It protected them if we ever got caught running and laundering money, and it protected them if shit like this kicked up with rival gangs.

At least, it was supposed to.

Was it possible Momma came into town with Canyon? If it was, why the hell would she risk something like that? Why would she go against the only rule I had to raising Canyon? I wasn’t dictating what she could do. I didn’t send her a fucking food list or outline what parenting shit I wanted her to do with Canyon. For all I cared, the woman could raise her Catholic and send her off to a damn convent!

All I asked for was to keep their asses outta Redding.

My momma was bullheaded, but she wasn’t stupid. It was hard for me to believe that she’d go against that one fucking rule for any reason. But it was also hard for me to believe that one of the guys would betray me in the foulest form. Talking about our operations was one thing, but spilling shit about families? That was a whole different ballpark that came with its own set of rules in The Dead Souls. We took family seriously. Both the family we had with the club and the family we tried to keep secret and protected. I wasn’t the only one shielding people I cared about from this lifestyle, and I wasn’t gonna be the last.

But we didn’t fucking talk about it.

Ever.

The only time we ever talked about it was after patrols. A few times a year, a few of us would be sent out in regular gear with regular attitudes to check up on families. Sometimes it was Diesel riding out to pass by my momma’s house and sometimes it was Grave. A couple of times Mick had gone and once I’d sent both Rock and Grave when I caught wind that Canyon was sick. But that was it. They came back, reported what they saw, then we got on with our lives.

I’d done it with their families before, and they did it with mine.

I saw the cop in the corner move from his chair before he walked over to my cell. He ripped the door open and motioned for me, his eyes glaring and his jaw clenched. Holy fuck, Diesel worked fast. I grinned as I got up, then threw a careless wink at The Black Saddles before I made my way for the door.

“Yes, officer?” I asked.

“You’re being transferred,” the officer said.

“Transferred?” I asked.

“Yep. You’re being booked. Maximum security jail up the road until your case can get looked at.”

“But I didn’t do anything,” I said.

“It ain’t my problem,” the cop said.

He slapped handcuffs on me as The Black Saddles began to snicker.

“We got a load of drunks coming to be dumped in the tank so they can sober up. Means you assholes gotta go somewhere else until we can deal with ya.”

“Assholes? As in… plural?” I asked.

Then, I heard another door creak open as I turned my head around and looked. I saw two cops going for the two Saddle members on the bench and I bit back a groan.

Fucking fantastic. Not only was I about to be thrown in jail, I was going with two men who thought I’d killed one of their own.

Looked like I was gonna have to make up my own damn protection now.

Chapter 4

Monroe

“The Dead Souls are what?” I asked.

“A biker club based out of Redding,” Rose said. “They keep us on retainer to help them out of their problems and we come when they call.”

“But only when they haven’t done anything, right?” I asked.

Rose shot me a look I didn’t like as the two of us sat in my office.

“Miss Williams, what you need to understand about my husband and I’s practice is that we represent any client who can pay our fees. We’re good at what we do and we only hire the best. It’s why I encouraged my husband to hire you on.”

“He told me you entrusted him with that responsibility,” I said.

“Oh, he’s so cute. I love him more and more every day,” she said. “Now, we’ve gotten a call from Diesel-”

“I’m sorry, I still can’t get past the fact that we’re representing a biker gang. Are we representing them because they are innocent in something? Or because there are loopholes we can catapult them through?”

Rose’s eyes hardened as she looked up from her file folder.

“I understand you’re fresh out of school, so let me give you a crash course in your first lesson. Being successful and making a living in any law firm requires a bit of risk. Most of the clients you take on will truly need your help. Mothers getting away from bad home situations and children being abused by their parents. It happens more in this town than you think. There are people who even travel out of town to seek out our services.”

“Good,” I said. “Because we should be helping them.”

“But there is one entity that runs this town, and that’s The Dead Souls. If you want to stay in business around here, you cooperate with them.”

“So… they’re blackmailing you for help,” I said.

“Hardly. There’s nothing to blackmail us with. They came to us about a decade ago to try out our services, and they kept us on retainer.”

“What happened?”

“Diesel, the head of the club, was being accused of selling drugs on the street.”

“Which wasn’t true… right?” I asked.

“Correct. The accusations were blatantly false in an attempt to bring them down. The DEA was looking for a way to stop their rumored activities, so they tried pinning drugs on them to get a leg up. I dug deep enough and found the evidence necessary to get the charges dropped, and they put us on a monthly retainer.”

“You said ‘rumored activities’. What are these… activities you speak of?” I asked.

Rose handed me the file she was holding and I began scanning the documents. Everything I was looking at was insane. Money laundering. Money running. Supposed connections with some of the most notorious crime families in the nation. Rose had to be kidding me. I wasn’t going to defend people like this. What the hell kind of law firm had hired me? Did they think I was really going to agree to something like this?

“I can see the disgust written all over your face,” Rose said.

“I can’t defend people like this,” I said. “They’re nothing but low life criminals. They deserve to be in jail if even half the stuff in that file is accurate.”

“People in this nation are innocent until proven guilty, despite how the media portrays it. There is no evidence linking them to any of these supposed crimes, so for all we know The Dead Souls are just some guys who ride bikes to get away from their boring lives in accounting and managing.”

“Seriously. That’s what you believe?” I asked. “They think they’re above the law.”

“And you know this from a file?” she asked.

“No, I know this because pieces are starting to fall in place. This isn’t my first day in this town, it’s only my first day at work. I moved in three weeks ago. I’ve heard people talk. I’ve seen the bikes rumble by with men in black leather vests with logos on their backs. I’ve seen the way they march into an establishment and people cower at their presence.”

“They’re hardly scary men. People concoct ghost stories in their minds. That isn’t anything we can be held accountable for. Or them, for that matter.”

“But all ghost stories have been born out of a truth. All rumors got started from somewhere, and it’s almost always an inherent truth.”

“Can you prove that in a court of law?” she asked.

I scoffed as I sat back into my chair.

“Miss Williams, I was like you once. Bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to take on the evil of this world. What you have to understand is that evil is always going to exist. There isn’t a gauge for how bright it is outside until night falls. Evil and good, they keep one another in check. But there are those that toe the line and get wrongly placed into either the light or the dark.”

“You’re giving me the ‘gray area’ speech to defend our defense of criminals?” I asked.

“No. I’m giving you the ‘gray area’ speech because time and time again The Dead Souls have been placed there. In the gray area, toeing between light and dark. Evil and good. And because of how they act and what they look like, entities like the DEA have tried to shove them into one area for their own selfishly sought-out motives. When I was defending Diesel in that courtroom, I wasn’t defending him. I was railing against the fact that the DEA as a whole thought they could force their own predisposed will onto another group of people. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that links The Dead Souls to their rumored activities. But that doesn’t mean people can pin things on them simply because they feel they are guilty. That’s why things are proven in a court of law.”

I hated the fact that she made sense. I hated the fact that Rose could justify this in my mind. I was listening to the act of a very talented lawyer and even she was swaying me away from what I knew was wrong. But she was right. It sucked to admit it, but she was. That was the exact reason why evidence in a courtroom was so necessary. It kept people from governing with their emotions.

I didn’t like the fact that Scott and Lowen took on clients who could pay their fees rather than taking on clients who they thought were innocent. But if I rode with Rose’s argument, then it would make sense why they wouldn’t do the latter.

That would still be governing with emotions and not with proof, which was contradictory to the life of a lawyer.

“Are you ready to take a look at the defense we need to prepare?” Rose asked.

“Can I take a second? You know, get a drink of water?” I asked.

“You can take however long you need. The first time I was asked to do this, my husband allowed me the same courtesy. So, I’ll tell you what he told me. Take as long as you need, Miss Williams, but when you come back, be ready to work or quit.”

“He called you ‘Miss Williams’?” I asked with a grin.

“You’re going to fit in here more than you think,” she said.

I grabbed my purse and walked out of the room, unsure of how to take her comment. The two of them had spunk, that was for sure. But did she mean I would fit in because of my personality, or because I was like them? I didn’t want to be like them. I didn’t want to be defending criminals. Had I known their reputation around the community, I never would have applied for the job.

Then again, that was what I got for not doing my proper research.

I walked into the women’s bathroom and sighed. I turned on the light, watching as it flickered above my head. I took a good, hard look at myself in the mirror, my eyes staring back at me with heavy bags underneath them.

That conversation alone aged me five years.

Was this something I was up for? Was I willing to compromise the morals I graduated with for a job? Was it possible a group of good-for-nothing thugs could really be as innocent as Rose explained? I turned on the faucet cupped the water, bringing it to my lips. I drank more than my fair share before I pulled at the paper towels, then dabbed at my skin to clear it up. I’d have to patch my makeup before I went back into the room, so I put my purse on the sink counter and pulled out the small pouch I kept stocked with essentials.

The door opened as I powdered my nose and I saw the front desk secretary walk in. She gave me a small nod before standing at the sink next to me, her hands fluffing her hair. I watched her carefully as she fixed herself up in the mirror. Her eyes kept catching mine, and soon her small smile grew into a full-sized grin.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Miss Williams. What is it?” she asked.

“First off, what is your name?” I asked.

“Audrey,” she said.

“Beautiful name. Audrey, what is your opinion of The Dead Souls?”

I watched her freeze in the mirror as her finger paused underneath her eyeliner.

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m curious about them. I saw them ride into town a couple of weeks ago and they pretty much act like they own the place.”

“In a way, they do,” Audrey said.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“There are some small businesses around here that they do own. Like the ice cream and shaved ice shop on the corner, or the strip mall on the other side of town.”

“Like, they literally own it?” I asked.

“Mhm. Bought the places out when they were struggling and used their money to revamp things. A lot of people don’t like them, but many places we’ve all come to love wouldn’t be standing if it wasn’t for them.”

“Why don’t people like them?” I asked.

“They think they’re trouble makers. They come into town and they’re loud. People talk about catching them talking in alleyways with creepy people, but no one really talks about it. They’re more like campfire ghost stories if anything.”

“But you think they’re good people.”

“I didn’t say that,” she said with a grin. “They’ve got good in them. But they definitely have one foot in the darkness.”

“So, they’re bad.”

“Why can’t they be a little of both?” she asked.

“Because one assumes guilt and the other assumes innocence.”

“Not necessarily. Sometimes darkness is merely… darkness. Nothing bad or good about it. Just the absence of light. There are many good people who stand in the light but get caught for things you’d never expect of them, and there are plenty of people considered bad who color in the lines all the time. Light and dark don’t define innocence and guilt, they simply cast a stereotype onto a person that leads someone in that direction. Doesn’t mean they always go there.”

“Sounds like you talk with Rose a lot.”

“Rose and Bradley are good people. That doesn’t mean they don’t have their faults, but they’re good. Light. And The Dead Souls? They’re dark. They have their bad moments, but it doesn’t mean their evil,” she said.

“What do they own around town?” I asked.

“A few places. You’ve got the places I already told you about, two big coffee shops and the pet store downtown.”

“The Dead Souls own a pet store,” I said.

“What? They can’t like hamsters? What a monster you are,” Audrey said with a grin.

I giggled and shook my head as I packed up my cosmetics.

“It was good talking with you, Audrey. Maybe we could get a coffee sometime,” I said.

“You know where to find me!”

I walked out of the restroom with very little conflict actually resolved. I took my time walking back to my office as I replayed both Audrey and Rose’s words. Could I really do this? Could I really defend people who were already so obviously guilty?

Was it a fault on my part that I already assumed they were?

I threw my office door open and was met with Rose’s stare. I closed the door behind us and went to sit at my desk, then I sat my purse down and sighed.

“Ready to work?” Rose asked.

I lifted my eyes to hers as I held out my hand.

“Good. I’ve got your folder on our case right here.”

Chapter 5

Knox

The fucking orange jumpsuit they had me in was bullshit. It looked like shit, smelled like shit, and made me look like a dumbass. Whatever the hell kind of angle Diesel was working, I wanted to let him know it had landed me here. There was no fucking reason for me to be in any jail cell, much less in some maximum security state-run bullshit place like the one I was in. I didn’t kill that asshole, and I’d go to my fucking grave with that truth.

I didn’t kill Blaze.

I hadn’t talked with Diesel since I was in the damn holding cell, so I had to make sure I could be protected. They’d put those Black Saddle asshats in the same damn jail as me, and I knew why. They were hoping shit would work itself out. I’d either kill them or they’d kill me, then they could keep the offending party in jail for the rest of their lives. That was how shit worked in Redding. The guards were laughing at us in corners while we tried to fend for our lives.

But they had no idea what they were in for.

I knew Diesel would get me out of this somehow.

But until I fucking heard from someone, I had to work on my own protection. As long as I was outnumbered by Black Saddles, I wouldn’t be safe. So, I was in the yard trying to scope out who the hell I could trust.

There were segmented groups all over the damn place, but most of them I recognized. The white supremacist shitheads with swastikas tattooed all over their bodies were in the corner in the shade. Probably plotting how to kill everyone in here who didn’t look like them. Then there were the street gangs. A gathering of the 409’s, a few Tango Blasts, and a couple of assholes that I knew worked for the mafia.

Then, there were the others. People in for petty theft, setting too much shit on fire, and other bullshit things that didn’t matter in the long run. They all stuck to the front doors, trying to avoid all the hardened criminals that had cut deals to run in a place like this in exchange for testimony or information.

I was surrounded by fucking rats.

But there was one person that caught my eye. Particularly, the group of people that did. They were sitting on some benches at the far end of the yard by the wall. Around Redding, they were known as the Latin Cobras.

But it was the head of their crew I was gunning for.

I remembered when Jesús had been arrested. Him and a bunch of his guys went down for shit they proclaimed for years they didn’t fucking do. His testimony and his pleas were all over the damn news when it happened. His great-grandfather was the one who started the Latin Cobras, and his fall from grace had tainted the group and put it in the hands of some asshole I knew he probably didn’t like. Rumor had it that the guy currently in charge of them was the one that betrayed Jesús.

The one that ratted him out.

I made my way over to them as people watched me walk. I could tell by the way they were looking at me that no one approached Jesús without permission. But I was about to break that trend. I was looking for protection and I was sure there was something I could offer in return.

Especially once I got out of this fucking hellhole.

“The hell you want?”

I watched one of his goonies jump off a bench and hold his hand out to my chest.

“Might not wanna touch me,” I said. “I’ve been known to kill men for less.”

“That what you in here for?”

My eyes whipped over to Jesús as he motioned for his man to stand down.

“Supposedly, yes,” I said.

“So, what? You didn’t kill no man?”

“Nope. Being set up.”

“So, you like everyone else in here, huh?”

“No,” I said. “Everyone in here’s probably guilty. Except you.”

I watched him cock his head as he sucked some air through his teeth.

“What makes you think that?” Jesús asked.

“Besides you screaming it all over the news? The man who now heads your gang looks like a fucking rat,” I said.

“He’s a dirty piece of shit, that one. So, what? You come over here wanting something from us?”

“Protection,” I said. “I’m in here with a couple of guys from the gang accusing me of killing one of their own.”

“So you wanna… line up with someone so you got numbers on ‘em,” Jesús said.

“That’s the theory, yep.”

“What makes you think I’d help someone like you?” he asked.

I grinned and shook my head as Jesús let out a raucous laughter.

“I’m just shitting with ya, Knox. Get the hell over here.”

Jesús stood up from the bench and clapped my hand before he pulled me into a hug.

“How the fuck you been?” Jesús asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen ya since high school.”

“Bullshit. We briefly crossed paths ‘bout four years ago. Remember that coffee shop shootout?”

“Fuck me, that was you guys?” he asked.

“Some punk ass gang trying to ride up on our turf. I don’t know why they think they can kill us off.”

“Even I know that shit. The Dead Souls ain’t nothin’ to mess around with.”

“You know this guy?”

I looked over at another one of Jesús’ goonies, confusion crumpling up their faces.

“Yes, I do. Him and I ran the same high school halls together. Show some fucking respect, ‘ey?” Jesús asked.

“I don’t know what I can give ya in return, but I didn’t kill that guy. I’ll be outta here in a few days, so if ya want something done on the outside, you can consider it done in exchange for protection,” I said.

“I like that offer. I don’t know if I can get all the Cobras behind you for protection, but I’ll do my best. You know, gang lines and all. Family’s family, and everyone else is an outsider.”

“I get it more than most,” I said. “I’m just trying to not die before Diesel gets me the fuck outta here.”

“He still runnin’ the streets?”

“He’ll die in the streets for all we know,” I said with a grin.

“I’ll have to get a call out to Diego,” Jesús said. “He’ll be the one to make the official call. He’s our O.G. on the outside.”

“When I get my damn call today, I’ll tell Diesel what’s going on. Maybe the two of them can meet up and… discuss terms,” I said.

“You do that. You do a favor for me, Diesel does a favor for him, we make sure you’re safe. It all works out,” he said.

“Consider it done,” I said as we clapped hands again.

I looked over at The Black Saddles and they were eyeing me with grins on their faces. I didn’t like the way they were looking at me, but yard time was almost over. The guards were already hustling us back inside to get us into our rooms and whatnot. But one of the guards grabbed me by the arm a little too tight for my liking.

“What?” I asked.

“You got a visitor,” the guard said.

“The hell is it? I didn’t ask for a visitor,” I said.

But all he did was lug me down the damn hallway before tossing me into a room.

I slammed my fist against the door in anger before I heard a throat clear behind me. It was a delicate sound, but one that expected attention. I turned around and took in the sight of the woman in front of me, her briefcase clutched in the palms of her hands.

“Hello, Mr. Knox. My name’s Monroe Williams. I’m your lawyer for your case.”

I grinned as my raked my eyes up and down her form. This was a joke, right? This bitch wasn’t Lowen, though she was very hot. Her gray heels matched her pencil skirt and the suit jacket she had buttoned around her waist. The blouse underneath it was black, which made her strawberry blonde hair and green eyes pop. I felt my cock lurch to life as I took her in, the length of her legs calling to my hands.

They really expected me to pay attention with that beautiful piece of decadence sitting across from me?

“Take a seat, please,” Monroe said.

“With all due respect, you aren’t my lawyer,” I said.

“I work with Lowen and Scott, and I’ve been briefed on your case,” she said.

“Don’t mean you’re my lawyer.”

“Mr. Knox, I’m here to help you. You can accept my help or deny it, but if you deny it you will most certainly end up in jail for the murder of that man.”

“I didn’t kill anyone,” I said.

“Then sit down and tell me about it.”

I enjoyed a woman who knew how to take control. It meant she would taste even sweeter when she finally yielded to me. I looked behind me and found a guard staring in, waiting for this beautiful woman to give him the command that she wanted out. I watched her pull out a chair and sit down, popping open her briefcase and pulling out file after file with my name on it.

Then, she pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to me.

“Mrs. Lowen figured you might be hesitant to sit down with me, so this is from her. Signed and notarized,” Monroe said.

It was an official letter stating that this tantalizing piece of woman was going to be helping with my case. I recognized Rose’s handwriting and Bradley had even signed it at the bottom as well. Dated from today and the notarization was still a bit warm.

“Seems recent,” I said.

“An hour ago, actually. Now, will you sit? Or do you want to go this alone?” Monroe asked.

I looked up from the sheet of paper and grinned at her as I made my way to my seat.

“Yes ma’am,” I said with a grin. “Anything else you need?”

Chapter 6

Monroe

It was incredibly unprofessional of me to think so, but Knox was extremely hot. His jumpsuit was rolled up at the arms, revealing tattoos that cascaded up his skin. Colorful tattoos with designs I could stare at for hours. And even underneath his baggy jumpsuit I could see the strength of his body. He was stacked with muscles for days and had dark brown eyes that sparkled with his menacing grin. His longer brown hair was slicked back. All he needed was some sunglasses and a leather jacket and there was no denying his bad boy status.

And I found it hard to keep my eyes off him.

“I need plenty,” I said.

“Then I’m ready to provide,” Knox said with a grin.

“Walk me through that night. What happened?” I asked.

“Blaze started the fight and I ended it,” he said.

“That doesn’t help your ‘I didn’t murder anyone’ case.”

“It was self-defense. Blaze started-”

“You mean Andrew Shepard?” I asked.

“That man introduced himself as Blaze, so that’s what I know him as. Take it or leave it.”

“Your attitude leaves much to be desired. A jury will convict you in a heartbeat simply because they don’t like you.”

“Do you like me?” he asked with a grin.

I felt my heart leap up into my throat. This was not the time to be flirting with someone. His entire demeanor left a lot to be desired, despite the fact that he was hot as hell. But being hot didn’t make anyone a decent person and it sure as hell didn’t sway an entire jury of anyone’s peers into believing someone was innocent of murder.

“And anyway, I thought the point of having you guys on retainer was to avoid mix ups like this.”

“You haven’t convinced me that this is a mix up,” I said.

“So, you think I killed that boy,” he said.

“I don’t even know what happened that night.”

“I told you-”

“You told me the punch line. I want the details. Start from the beginning. How did you guys end up in the woods?” I asked.

“I ain’t a story teller,” I said.

“If you want to save your sorry ass, then you might want to become one.”

I watched his eyes harden onto me as he slammed back into his chair. He clenched his jaw and rolled his tongue around his teeth, and I caught myself watching the motion. The issue was, he had caught me as well. I watched the grin crawl across his cheeks as my skin heated. My mind started wandering to all the things he could do with that tongue.

What the hell was wrong with me?

“A story then. All right, Miss Williams. Diesel sent us out there to try and draw up some boundaries with them,” Knox said.

“The President of The Dead Souls,” I said.

“I see you’ve done your research,” he said with a wink. “Anyway, yes. The Black Saddles have been kicking up dust in Redding for the better part of a year now. Trying to lay claim to an area that isn’t theirs.”

“Are they trying to buy up stores you guys already own?” I asked.

“No. They just come in with guns blazing and think they can shoot their way into things. Diesel wanted to be diplomatic about everything-”

“A biker gang wanted to be diplomatic?” I asked.

Knox’s eyes twitched and I bit down on my tongue to keep my commentary to myself.

“Uh huh. We did. We heard of some bonfire they were having in the woods. About burned down the damn place with how high those flames were. We pulled into the gas station, got some beer as a peace offering, then went to go find them to talk boundaries.”

“On where the two gangs would rule, I assume,” I said.

“Yep. We got back there and they surrounded us. Rex, some hotshot, and Blaze-- their prospect-”

“So, Blaze wasn’t yet a full member of The Black Saddles.”

“Nope. Rex introduced him as their prospect. Then Blaze started showing himself. Made some colorful comments and gave me these fun little bruises you see.”

“Did a doctor get pictures of those?” I asked.

“Yep. Took all sorts of pictures when they brought me here.”

“Good, I’ll get those for evidence. It shows us that there was some sort of fight the two of you were in. Not just you beating up on someone. You said he made colorful comments. What did he say?”

“Can’t tell ya that,” Knox said.

“Too bad. You want my help, you fill me in on everything.”

“It’s need to know.”

“I’m more than willing to let you rot in here if you don’t want to cooperate.”

“So, I’m working with a biased lawyer. Great. Does Mrs. Lowen know your stance?” he asked.

“She’s aware of it, yes. What comments sparked your retaliation?”

“So, you believe I wasn’t the first to throw the punch?” he asked.

“If I have to dig anymore of this story out of you, I’m gone. End of story.”

“Good. Maybe then Rose’ll get her ass in here and make this right.”

“She’s busy with her schedule until the end of the month. Think you’ll last that long in here with your Saddle buddies watching you?” I asked.

I wasn’t going to let someone like him push me around. If he didn’t want to cooperate and give me the full story, I didn’t have to help him. My eyes connected with his, unwavering as he studied me. I knew he was trying to figure out if he could trust me with whatever information he had stored away in his mind. But he had told me little that convinced me of his innocence. The only thing I did believe was that he wasn’t the first to hit someone.

But he sure as hell struck me as a killer.

“The question you’re asking requires a bit of backstory,” Knox said.

“I’ve got all afternoon,” I said.

“For me? You’re so sweet, beautiful.”

“Call me that again and I’ll break your arm before I leave,” I said.

“You prefer ‘gorgeous’ or ‘sexy’, then?”

I felt my cheeks heating as his grin grew to a smile. I hated how much I enjoyed those words rolling off his tongue. I cleared my throat and tried to get myself under control until I felt a pressure at my ankle. It was warm and inviting. There was a strength behind it my body enjoyed.

It took me a little too long to pull my leg away from his.

“How do I know I can trust you?” Knox asked.

“I’m all you have,” I said. “You don’t have any other choice.”

“Don’t mean I can trust you.”

“I’m not asking you to trust me. I’m telling you that you need to let me help you. Otherwise you’ll rot in here until you’re convicted of murder.”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

“Then convince me that you didn’t,” I said. “What did Andrew Shepard say to you that pissed you off so much?”

“He made a lewd comment about my …sister.”

“Your sister,” I said. “What’s her name?”

“Canyon.”

“Does she live with you?” I asked.

“Nope. Lives with my mother out on the south side of Anderson.”

“Did Mr. Shepard-”

“Blaze,” he said.

“Fine. Did this Blaze guy know your sister?” I asked.

“No one knows about my sister.”

“Well someone does, because he apparently did.”

“That’s the point. I have five guys in my entire fuckin’ club that know about Canyon. No one in this damn town knows a damn thing about her. For many reasons. I pulled myself away from my family to keep them safe from all this shit. So how the hell did some punk ass kid in some bullshit biker gang figure out who the fuck my sister was?”

“Okay. So, he made a comment about your sister. What did he say?” I asked.

“He kicked the shit outta me and I hit my knees. Then he told me I looked good down there like my sister did.”

“I can… see how that would piss you off,” I said.

“Yeah. Especially since my sister’s ten.”

“She’s what?” I asked.

“Ten. My fuckin’ sister’s only ten years old.”

“Has anyone checked up on your mother and sister?” I asked.

“Diesel’s probably on it.”

“I’m going to make sure they get checked up on,” I said. “So that’s why you started beating on Blaze.”

“Yep. I stood up and and punched him in the dick, broke his nose with a kick and then when he fell to the ground, I kicked him in the ribs. Then Grave-”

“One of the guys in the club?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“Does he know about your sister?”

“He’s one of the five, yes. Grave pulled me away from Blaze and that’s when I heard the sirens. We took off, but not before Blaze shouted after me.”

“He… yelled at you,” I said.

“Yep. Clear as fucking day. He was sputtering blood and shit, but he had enough strength to yell. Loud. Heard his dumbass voice echoing through the woods as we ran.”

“So, he was alive after you left him.”

“Very much so. But all of it was self-defense. That little fucker bruised my ribs, cracked my nose, and peppered my body with bruises before I even thought to lunge at him. Diesel told us to stay peaceful, so that’s what we did. ‘Til he opened his damn mouth about my sister.”

“That he’s not supposed to know about,” I said.

“Nope.”

I sat back in my chair and finished taking notes. It was a hell of a story, but I still wasn’t sure I believed him. A ten-year old sister? Something about that didn’t match up. The man in front of me was easily in his latter twenties, which meant there was a good decade and a half between him and his sister. I mean, it happened. Kids were born that many years apart sometimes. But something about the way he reacted didn’t sit well with me.

“I’m going to need the name and address of where your mother lives if I’m going to have someone check in on them,” I said.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure my club has got it handled,” Knox said.

“Mr. Knox, I need to make sure they’re safe. You said so yourself, you pulled away to keep them safe. So, if they’re in danger, they won’t take kindly to a biker gang trying to take them away from their home. But if they are in danger or have already been put in danger, they’re going to be more willing to accept help from someone like me.”

“I’m not giving you information on them,” he said.

“I know you’re trying to protect-”

“Then you know why I won’t do it. My club knows where they are. Diesel gave me his word he’d check up on them. I’m sure he’ll have an update for me when he calls.”

“Then give me some information about them,” I said. “Your mother’s name or age. Anything I can use to track them down on my own.”

“You wanna see how they are, or you wanna question them about me?” he asked.

“There’s a man you’re charged with killing that made a comment about your ten-year old sister taking it from behind. I have to take that seriously. You want my help? Give me the information I need to at least make sure they’re okay. I can call the police department in the area, have them run by their place, and I can use my confidentiality with you to tell them there’s a threat without disclosing who it’s from or why it exists.”

“No more police,” he said.

“You don’t have a choice. Police will be riddled in your future until we can get you cleared.”

“So, you do believe me. That I didn’t kill that boy.”

“Honestly? No. I don’t.”

“How can I make you believe me?” he asked.

“You can start by giving me the information I’m looking for. Then, you can give me evidence that all of this was self-defense or give me answers to the questions I have so I can go find it.”

“What happened ‘til innocent until proven guilty?” he asked.

“In a courtroom, yes. With me? Nope.”

I watched him clench his jaw again as he thought about my proposal. As far as I was concerned, Blaze’s words were grounds for a sexual threat. And with Canyon being only ten years of age, that worried me. It didn’t have much to do with Knox’s case, but I didn’t want any stone to be unturned. I knew I was working against my own biases with this case, which meant I’d have to work not only to prove to Mrs. Lowen that I could do this, but I would have to work to prove his own innocence to myself if I was gonna help this man.

But if he wasn’t innocent… if he did, in fact, kill that boy… I would recuse myself, quit, and leave.

Because I sure as hell wasn’t defending a murderer in court.

“Nancy Schroeder,” Knox said.

“What?” I asked.

“My mom’s name. It’s Nancy Schroeder. She lives on the south side of Anderson, and she’s sixty four years old.”

I scribbled the information down before I looked back up at Knox. I opened his file and scanned for his age as I placed the notes I took at the back of it. Knox was twenty-six. My age. But if his mother was sixty-four and he was twenty-six, that meant he wasn’t born until she was thirty eight. Which meant Canyon, if she was his sister, wouldn’t have been born until his mother was fifty-four years old.

And there was no way in hell a postmenopausal woman would’ve gotten pregnant at fifty-four years of age.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Knox. The moment I have something for you, I’ll be in touch,” I said.

“What do you want me to do until then?” Knox asked. “I got men in here wanting to kill me.”

“Then I suggest you watch your back.”

Chapter 7

Knox

I watched Monroe get up to leave and I turned my head to watch her. The swell of her ass was sinful as her hips swayed with the click of her heels. The guard opened the door for her and she left and I grinned as her heels clicked down the hallway. I felt the guard wrench me up by my arm, and my reflex was to throw my elbow into his nose and break it.

But if I wanted to get out of here, I needed to play nice.

I needed to sit tight and let that sexy fucking woman do her damn job.

There were so many things I could do to a body like hers. The marks I could leave on the dip of her waist and the holes I could fill with my raging cock. My body would blanket hers nicely, and I bet she was a submissive little fuck, too. The strongest women always were. Willing to give their control to any man who ran his tongue against their pussy. I bet she had juicy lips I could suck on while she begged for more. And I would give her more.

A woman with a body like that deserved more.

I could pin her hands above her head and nail her to the wall. She had the perfect height for me to bend her over that fuckin’ metal table and take her from behind. I bet her ass would jiggle nicely for me.

Hell, I bet her ass was still virginal.

The guard clenching on my arm hauled me back to my cell. We were walking down the hallway to whatever assigned hell they were gonna put me in. There were men smiling and snarling at me with their crazy eyes and their bullshit stares. Men who thought they were hard but were really pissing themselves at night because of this place.

But then, I saw a man reach out for me.

“Keep your hands in your cell, prisoner,” the guard said.

I saw him whip out his baton and crash it down onto the man’s arm.

“You’re a dead man walking, Dead Soul. You hear me?”

I turned my head and saw one of the members of The Black Saddles cradling his busted arm.

“I think the name you want is ‘Knox’,” I said with a grin.

The man lunged at his cell bars and the guard started beating on the bars with his baton. I stood back and grinned as the guard yelled at the man, but it did bring up a good point. I still had no idea if the Latin Cobras were gonna be helping me out in this place. And the bloodlust in the Saddles eyes were starting to wear on me a bit. I knew I could take them if they got me alone, but at what cost? Killing them in a place like this would ensure my stay here, but if I didn’t retaliate there was a good chance they wouldn’t stop until I was dead.

I needed to figure out where the Cobras stood.

I needed to talk to Diesel.

“You get one phone call, so make it a good one,” the guard said.

I looked at him as he shoved me in line and I waited for the next available payphone.

“Knox? That you?” Diesel asked.

“The hell is taking you so long to call me?” I asked.

“I can’t get anything through. The police aren’t exactly being cooperative. But I’m working on it.”

“You got anything for me? Anything on my family or this meeting I just had with this lawyer that wasn’t Rose?” I asked.

“Not Rose? What do you mean?”

“The woman who came to see me today is named ‘Miss Williams’. She had a signed and notarized letter from both Rose and Bradley saying she was working my damn case. But it wasn’t Rose.”

“I’ll check on it to make sure that checks out. What did you tell her?”

“Everything she asked for. Didn’t have a choice,” I said.

“Shit. Okay. I’ll make sure it checks out. In the meantime, I drove by your family’s place. Everything looks okay. People are all smiles and Canyon was outside playing with a friend.”

“And nothing looked outta place?” I asked.

“Nope. I asked around a bit in town, seeing if maybe the locals knew of a gang riding in every now and then, and they said nothing like that happened around their neck of the woods.”

“Good. I’ll take it for now. In terms of protection, I gotta lead. One of the heads of the Latin Cobras is in here. Jesús. I know him from our high school days. Ran the same hallways and shit. I talked to him about protection and everything, but he said he’d have to reach out to a man by the name of Diego.”

“I know Diego well. He’s helped me with a few things in the past. Actually owes me a very big favor right now after helping him out of a sticky situation,” Diesel said.

“I don’t know and I don’t care. Talk to him. Jesús and his men won’t make a move in my direction until they get that call from Diego,” I said.

“I’ll make it happen. It’s about time I started calling in my favors anyway. I’m too nice of a guy sometimes.”

“Yeah, nice isn’t quite the word I’d use,” I said.

“Call me tomorrow. I’m still working on the police not being assholes, but if all else fails I’ll send someone to see you in a couple days. But every time you get a phone call, call me, Knox.”

“Who the fuck else am I gonna call?” I asked. “Talk to you soon. Hopefully.”

I didn’t even get the phone on the damn hook before the guard tugged me away from the phone. I glared and him and he grinned, trying to taunt me into a bad situation. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to rile me up and get me going so I’d take a swing or some shit. All of these guards wanted men like me behind bars. They took pride in it for some shithead reason. But I wasn’t gonna give him the satisfaction of breaking his jaw today.

The guard threw me into my cell and I stayed there for the rest of the day. Dinner was taken in our cells because of some bullshit lockdown requirement, but I wasn’t hungry for the slop they were giving us. That food wasn’t even fit to feed to the fucking sewer rats, much less human beings.

So, I slid the tray underneath my cell and waited for some asshole to step in it.

I leaned back onto my cot and closed my eyes. I’d been in this shithole for two days, but it felt like two fucking years. There was nothing to do except stay alive, and everywhere I went it felt like someone wanted to kill me. I wasn’t scared, but I was wary of my surroundings. I couldn’t take care of my momma and Canyon if I was beaten to death in a dark corner where there were no fucking cameras.

I allowed my thoughts to drift, and they found their way back to Monroe. I reached out for her strawberry blonde hair and pulled it from its twist at the back of her head. I bet it would tumble down her back and make a nice handle for when I fucked that tight little ass of hers. I bet she’d cringe at the sight of my cock, wondering how something so big could fit in a hole so tiny. I saw her green eyes staring at me as she rode my cock, her massive tits bouncing in my face as she moaned my name.

Fuck. I bet my name would sound wonderful in those sultry low tones of her voice.

My hands were shaking at the idea of touching her velvety soft skin. Even with sitting across a table from her, she looked soft. A pillowy place for my rock-hard body to land after a long day at work. And holy fuck, how she would look in my shower. My walk-in shower was the best fucking thing about my damn house. I could lay her down on the ground and watch water pour over her as I fucked her until she screamed. I could take that showerhead and put it between her legs and watch the show as she unraveled.

How the fuck was I gonna build a case with a woman I wanted to fuck?

How the hell was that gonna work?

Chapter 8

Monroe

“So, how’d it go?”

I whipped my head up and saw Rose sitting in the chair in front of my desk.

“About as good as could be expected,” I said.

“Did you need the notarized letter?” she asked.

“I did, and even then, he was still unwilling to talk.”

“So, you didn’t get anything?” she asked.

“Oh, no. I got him to talk. Told me a lot of interesting things.”

“I knew I’d sent the right girl for the job. Okay, let me see your notes and we can get started on this thing.”

I set my briefcase down on my desk as she scooted towards it. I pulled out the pad of notes I’d taken, her eyes scanning the lines quickly as she frowned. I pulled out Knox’s case file and started pulling things out we could use in order to give Rose some time to digest the information in front of me.

“I need to make sure his family’s okay,” Rose said.

“I already called the Anderson P.D. on my way back. I gave them Knox’s mother’s name and told them where in town she lived. One of the officers on duty actually knows her, so they’ve got a deputy heading out there right now to check on them.”

“What excuse did you give them for checking in on her?” she asked.

“I told them I had a client who was worried about his family and that I was following up on my word to make sure they were safe. No other questions were asked.”

“Good, because we don’t need any more questions asked. It says here Knox said it was self-defense.”

“He was insistent on it, and contrary to everything that’s screaming in my head, I do believe him on that.”

“What do you not believe?” she asked.

“That Blaze wasn’t dead when Knox ran.”

“You mean Andrew Shepard?”

“He was insistent on calling the boy ‘Blaze’, so that’s how I’ve been addressing him. Knox said he was a prospect. Not even a full member of the gang yet.”

“Probably trying to show his strength to his crew to get initiated. We can use that in court,” she said.

“Is it possible to prove this was self-defense? I’ve requested the pictures the doctor took of Knox as protocol before putting him in jail to hold him, but is that going to be enough?”

“Not in a courtroom. It’s still circumstantial evidence. It proves there was a fight on both sides, but it doesn’t prove who threw the first punch. And if we put both The Dead Souls and The Black Saddles on the stand, all they’ll do is stand behind their own. Their testimonies won’t do us a bit of good.”

“And there weren’t any cameras out in the woods, so we have no footage. How in the world are we supposed to prove this was self-defense?” I asked.

“That’s a good question, and it’s one we’ll have to really dig in to find out. In the meantime, I do have some evidence that was sent my way while you were gone.”

“I’ll take anything I can get.”

“Assuming the doctor will cooperate on those pictures, samples of the dirt as well as Knox’s boots were processed.”

“Knox did say he was kicking the boy pretty badly when he did let loose. The guy made some-”

“I read the comment in your notes. We don’t have to repeat it,” Rose said.

“Sorry. Okay. Um… what’s going on with the evidence?” I asked.

“Multiple samples of dirt have DNA on them. All sorts. Knox’s. Shepard’s. Some guy named ‘Rex’.”

“Knox mentioned him, too. So that corroborates his story, for the most part,” I said.

“Having Knox’s blood on the ground so close to Shepard’s insinuates a fight between the two of them.”

“Have you already gotten crime scene photos?” I asked.

“I have. My husband’s printing them out as we speak.”

“We don’t get formal copies from the police department?” I asked.

“They’ll be embossed in the corner with an official seal. But emailing them is more convenient.”

“Doesn’t seem very secure,” I said.

But all Rose did was pan her gaze up to mine.

“I think I have a way to prove this was self-defense, but it’s a stretch,” she said.

“I’m all ears.”

“Knox’s boots were taken and processed, and samples of the blood on his boots were shipped off to labs. I put a very serious rush on them, and I got the results back a few minutes before you walked in. There is blood layered on Knox’s boot.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“In the photos of the evidence, you’ll see what I’m talking about. There are two very distinct layers of blood on his boot. One is clearly underneath the other. And you’ll never guess how it’s layered.”

“How?” I asked.

“Knox’s blood is on the bottom, and Shepard’s blood is on the top.”

“Which insinuates the fact that Knox was the first to bleed, which you can spin to mean that Shepard threw the first punch.”

“It’s a longshot, but it’s all we’ve got going for us right now. It proves self-defense, but it doesn’t prove that Shepard wasn’t dead.”

“I know there was a body carried off the scene. Do we know for sure it was Blaze?” I asked.

“I’m working on it, but the prosecutor is keeping things very close in that regard. Which is fishy in and of itself, so I’m holding out hope that the person in that body bag wasn’t Shepard.”

“But if this was self-defense, doesn’t that negate the killing? In a court of law, even killing in self-defense is seen as nothing other than self-defense.”

“But then there’s the family pressing charges if they come forward. Right now, we’re battling the city of Redding and the police department. If Shepard’s family comes forward after Knox is acquitted and wants to press charges on the supposed death of their son, we’ll have to go through all of this all over again, and the jury is more likely to side with a grieving mother than a hardened biker.”

“So, we not only have to prove self-defense, but we have to prove that Shepard wasn’t dead when Knox ran,” I said.

“And right now, I’m working with the theory that Blaze is not actually dead, because an autopsy hasn’t been done and I haven’t had the opportunity to-”

Rose’s cell phone rang out into the room and interrupted her train of thought. I knew where she was going with it, though. Without a body and time to look at the autopsy report, we were working under the assumption that Shepard was still alive. Which meant the charges brought against Knox were false, at best. As the defending party, we would get the opportunity to take a look at the body and get a copy of the autopsy results and run our own tests, if we wanted to.

And so far, Rose hadn’t gotten that phone call.

“I’m putting you on speaker, Mr. Potter,” Rose said.

“Who’s Potter?” I asked with a whisper.

“The prosecutor,” Rose mouthed.

“Ladies?” Potter asked.

“May I introduce my partner in this case, Monroe Williams,” Rose said.

“Miss Williams, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” I said.

“Look, ladies. This is an open and shut case. All of the evidence points to Knox. There was a great deal of blood spilled at that place, and a lot of it was Andrew Shepard’s.”

“It’s not as open and shut as you might think,” Rose said. “We have evidence to believe that this was, in fact, self-defense.”

“Those men went looking for a fight,” Potter said.

“According to my client’s testimony, which is backed up by the evidence we’re currently looking at, they actually went looking to talk,” I said.

“Talk? What do men like that talk about?” Potter asked.

“Boundaries. Territorial ones,” I said.

“Then what made Mr. Shepard pop off if you really claim he was the one to throw the first punch?” Potter asked.

“You aren’t going to get us to do your work for you, Gabriel,” Rose said. “You want information? Go find it yourself. When it comes to what our client has told us, that’s confidential and you know it.”

“Does the new girl know it?” he asked.

“I do. Hence why I didn’t answer,” I said.

Rose shot me a grin as I sat back in my chair.

“Mrs. Lowen, if your client admits to what happened, we can cut him a deal and make things easier for him,” Potter said.

“Admit to killing a man that isn’t dead?” Rose asked. “Why would he do that?”

“What makes you think Andrew Shepard isn’t dead?” Potter asked.

“Besides the lack of autopsy results and us not being able to come see the body for ourselves?” I asked.

“The assistant U.S. attorney is more than willing to-”

“Why would the assistant U.S. attorney need to be involved with this case?” Rose asked.

I furrowed my brow as the prosecutor sighed on the other end of the line.

I knew there was more to this than a simple open and shut case. It was uncanny for prosecutors to call like this. Whoever the hell this Potter guy was, he was stuck. There was a good chance this case was about to hop out of his hands and he was looking to keep it in his lap. Whether it was to make a name for himself or get whatever outcome he needed from it, I knew he wasn’t in this to defend Andrew Shepard.

He was in this for his own personal reasons.

“Mr. Potter, I don’t know who you are and I don’t know what is in this for you, but if you don’t answer Mrs. Lowen, I will personally subpoena Shepard’s body, hire our own coroner, and retest every single thing the county coroner has done to that body thus far. I will make it my personal mission to prove that Shepard isn’t as dead as people say he is, and when that little secret slips somehow to the media, I will make sure your name is written all over it.”

Rose looked at me with wide eyes as a shocked smile spread across her cheeks.

“Miss Williams, empty threats will get you-”

“I’m not sure why you assume the threat is empty, Mr. Potter.”

I heard him sigh on the other end of the line as I bit down on my tongue.

“The assistant U.S. attorney is trying to build a RICO case against The Dead Souls. Up until now, the attorney hasn’t been able to get any one of them in his custody.”

“And now that there’s one locked up, he wants to leverage it,” I said.

“Damn it, Potter. Are you serious?” Rose asked. “Is that boy even dead?”

“What do you want to talk about? Shepard or this case?” Potter asked.

“I want to know both. Why the hell are you using a boy’s life to leverage a case that isn’t even yours?” Rose asked.

I held out my hand for Rose, watching as her chest rose and fell with her deep breaths. This was hitting a nerve for her and I didn’t know why, but the two of us needed to switch off. Whoever was the calmer of the two of us needed to take the reigns, and since Rose was too worked up over whether Shepard was dead or alive, I needed to take control back.

“Mr. Potter, what is the U.S. attorney hoping to get out of all this?” I asked.

“He wants to get Knox to either turn on his club, or get someone else to turn on them,” Potter said.

“So, you’re going to leverage a murder charge over his head to try and do it? I won’t allow you to do that,” I said.

“You don’t have a choice.”

“We do have choices, Mr. Potter. Knox is, first and foremost, our client. And if there have been false charges brought against him, we will figure it out. We will be able to prove his innocence and your credibility with the public will be shot. You’ll look like a witch hunter and it’ll destroy whatever reputation you have in this community,” I said.

“No one’s going to take pity on a biker,” he said.

“But they will listen to reason,” I said. “And trust me when I tell you that the evidence we already have in our custody proves my client’s plea of self-defense. The more you hand us, the more it strengthens our case. The assistant U.S. attorney is attempting to leverage something last-minute, and you know what happens when we do things last minute.”

There was a pause as Potter digested my words.

“Things get messy,” I said. “You will be found out. I always figure it out. There will be no question I still have that isn’t answered to its fullest extent and there is no wool you’ll be able to pull over my eyes. There’s a reason Mrs. Lowen hired me and there’s a reason they trusted me with this case. I might look innocent, Mr. Potter, but I can assure you I am not.”

A silence filled the room as my mind drifted to Knox. If I didn’t believe his innocence, I did now. There was a tone in Potter’s voice as he was talking. A tone that led me to believe that Shepard wasn’t really dead. They were holding circumstances hostage and making it seem as if someone Knox touched was dead in order to fuel the government’s agenda, and that wasn’t going to stand. Just like I wasn’t going to defend a guilty party, I wasn’t going to allow anyone to keep my client underneath their thumb with tainted evidence and false accusations.

“They’re not innocent,” Mr. Potter said.

“That’s not for you to decide,” I said. “In a court of law, the only thing that reigns supreme are facts.”

I looked up at Rose as she crossed her leg over her knee, fully allowing me to take control of the phone call.

“The facts are clear-”

“Yes, they are. And when we’re done, Knox will be a free man whether you want him to be or not. You want to fight fair? Then bring facts. Because that’s all I’m bringing. If you have anything else to discuss about this case, you can give us a call. And if Rose and I don’t have permission to see a body and autopsy results in seventy two hours, I’m coming subpoena in hand to the county coroner’s office,” I said.

Potter hung up the phone call and I put my head in my hands. This was a nightmare. My first day on the job and I was already swindled into some massive government conspiracy. They really wanted to take a man who was innocent of his charges and make him believe he was guilty so he’d roll over on his own gang to save his ass. There were two things wrong with that picture. One, Knox wasn’t guilty. It was hard for me to palette and it was going to be even harder to prove, but that phone call told me he wasn’t.

And two? They assumed Knox was the kind of man to roll over on his friends. I didn’t know much about him, and I didn’t know what kind of soul he possessed, but there was one thing I knew for sure.

Knox would never give up his club.

“Where do we go from here?” I asked.

Rose picked up her phone from my desk before she stood to her feet.

“To lunch,” she said. “There’s this place on the corner I think you’ll enjoy.”

“What will we do after lunch?” I asked. “There’s an innocent man sitting in jail because of the U.S. government.”

“We haven’t proven his innocence yet,” Rose said. “Don’t lose sight of your rationale now. We’ll go get lunch, talk about anything that doesn’t have to do with this case, then come back with a fresh pair of eyes.”

“But what about Knox?” I asked.

I stood from my chair as Rose made her way to the door.

“I know you still have a lot to learn about The Dead Souls, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that they’re resourceful. Knox can take care of himself. Our job is to prove what we’ve now figured out from that phone conversation,” she said.

“Which is?”

“The fact that our client is innocent.”

Chapter 9

Knox

“And we meet again,” I said with a grin.

“I have some information for you, and you’re not going to like it,” Monroe said.

“What’s up, beautiful?” I asked.

“Call me that again and I’ll remove your lips from your face. The prosecution in your case isn’t working alone.”

“The hell does that mean?” I asked.

“Gabriel Potter is working with the assistant U.S. attorney to build a RICO case against your club.”

“The fuck?”

“You have to tell me everything, Knox. This is serious. The assistant U.S. attorney is a bull in the courtroom. He knows how to sway a jury and cherry-pick them to suit his own needs. It’s psychological warfare with him, and the only thing we can do is bring as many facts to the table as we can.”

“The hell they wanting me to do?” I asked. “And how the fuck, are you gonna get me outta here?”

“First off, you need to shut that mouth. I’m not the one you’re upset with,” she said.

“Well you’re the only one here for me to yell at, so I’m gonna yell.”

“Calm your voice or I’ll get that guard to haul you off.”

“You like watching a man being jerked around?” I asked.

Her eyes connected with mine as a grin spread across my cheeks. She looked hot today. Tight black pants and a free-flowing blouse. A suit jacket buttoned to accentuate that delicate waist she had and eyeliner that made her emerald eyes pop. Her hair was tied back into a low bun on her neck. Perfect for me to grab onto while those pouty lips of hers sucked my cock.

“If you insist on imagining me in whatever positions you’ve got going on in your mind, you’ll rot in here,” Monroe said.

I felt my grin falter as a smirk spread across her face.

“I like a woman with instinct,” I said.

“You better like a woman who gets you out of jail. Because right now, I’m all you’ve got,” she said.

“Whatcha need from me?” I asked.

“Everything you can give me, and you can’t hold back. Why the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is being used against you and your club. What you guys have gotten yourselves into? People who could vouch for your character in case we had to bring them onto the stand.”

“You don’t already know this shit?” I asked. “Haven’t done your research.”

“I want to hear it from you.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m still learning how to figure out when you’re lying to me and when you’re telling the truth,” she said.

“The hell you wanna learn that anyway?”

“Because trust works both ways in this game.”

“This ain’t a game.”

“We have to play it like it is. Now you can tell me what I need to know, or you can stay here under threat,” she said.

I drew in a deep breath as I settled back into my chair.

“People think we launder money,” I said.

“What channels do they think you use?” she asked.

“They think we filter the money through the stores we own in town to clean it before we use it.”

“Do they think you filter money through any other avenues outside of the town?”

“They think we also hold it in our lodge in the woods surrounding the town ‘til the heat dies down off it.”

“What else do people think you and your club are capable of?” she asked.

Her eyes were intense on mine, and I felt my walls slowly sliding down. There was no judgment in her eyes like there was the last time we talked. There was no heat in her voice or any kind of disgust in her eyes.

Something had changed, and I wanted to know what.

“If I tell you, you gotta tell me,” I said. “Information goes both ways.”

“Then tell me what I want,” Monroe said.

“Promise to answer my questions?”

She clenched her jaw as I darted my tongue out to lick my lips. I saw her eyes drop to my lips for a split second and my cock started to lurch to life. Oh, she wanted this. The way her eyes sparkled when she looked at me and the way she leaned forward on the table. Trying to get closer to me even though we had to be on opposite sides of the table.

I bet I could slip my fingers between her legs without the guards even noticing if she let me sit beside her.

“Promise,” Monroe said.

“People think we work with some badass families. They think we hide and clean their money for a price or some shit. I don’t know. It’s weird,” I said.

“Anything else people think?” she asked.

“Nah. That’s all I hear ‘round town. But it’s all bogus.”

“Of course,” she said. “Always is.”

“Far as people who can vouch for me, I got a whole club ready to step up to the plate,” I said.

“I need people outside of your club.”

“Do you count?” I asked with a grin.

“I don’t know your character.”

“I could make you familiar with it, if ya wanted”

I watched her cheeks taint with a very lustful blush as she sat up and cleared her throat.

“Do you have anyone you associate with outside of the club that could vouch for your character? You know, the kind of man you are?” Monroe asked.

“Nope. Sorry.”

“What about your mother?”

“Haven’t spoken to her in years,” I said.

“I take it you haven’t with your sister either?” she asked.

It was the way she asked the question that threw my guard back up. My eyes hardened onto her as she studied me intently. Her eyes were dancing along my body, registering my every reaction to her statement as I tried to clear my mind. The last thing I needed was someone else finding out the truth about Canyon. I wasn’t gonna let someone drag her or my mother up to the stand to try and defend me.

It would only make them targets.

“You’re hiding something from me,” Monroe said.

“I told you everything I know,” I said.

“Not everything,” she said. “I know when people are hiding things.”

“You had a lot hidden from you during your life?” I asked.

“I’m the one asking the questions.”

“And you promised to answer mine once I was done. Now I’m done, and it’s time for you to hold up your end of the bargain.”

“You aren’t done. I know you’re hiding something. What are you hiding from me, Knox?”

“Plenty,” I said. “But it ain’t got nothing to do with this case.”

I almost snarled at her. The hell did this woman think I was gonna do? I sure as hell wasn’t gonna tell her every little damn thing about my club. And if she thought I was gonna fucking tell her the truth about my family, then she could go throw herself off a damn cliff. I didn’t care how tight she thought her pussy was, there wasn’t a woman in the world worth having if it meant I had to spew that knowledge to her.

I already had one rat bastard talking about my life already. I didn’t need another.

“I take deals and promises very seriously, Mr. Knox,” Monroe said.

“I like it when you call me that,” I said with a grin.

“Until you can answer my questions in full, my end of your fun little bargain won’t be held up,” she said.

“So, you aren’t gonna be a good little girl and answer my questions?”

“No. I’m going to be your good little lawyer and get you out of this mess. Then I’ll throw you to the government and see what they can do with you. I’m sure it won’t look very good to your club if you’re in the hands of the assistant U.S. attorney, even if you don’t intend on saying anything.”

“Rose won’t allow that,” I said.

“Rose isn’t here,” she said. “It’s only you and me. Trust, respect, and honor works both ways. You want it from me? You give it yourself.”

The fire in her eyes was unmistakable. She was a force to be reckoned with, and I wanted her on my side. I watched her get up from the table, her body gliding across the floor in the flat shoes she was in. Her legs were strong and her shoulders were rolled back, and the confidence she walked with was tantalizing.

I bet she was headstrong like that in bed, too.

“Miss Williams?” I asked.

I heard her stop walking as I craned my head back to see her.

“I take family seriously. If it ain’t important to the case, I won’t tell you about them. Get used to that,” I said.

Then Monroe turned on her heels and was out the door in a flash.

Chapter 10

Monroe

I sat on the balcony of my apartment, overlooking the town of Redding. The sun was beginning to set and I’d long forgotten about the pictures in my lap. I tilted my glass of wine to my lips as the sun drenched my skin in a hot, dry heat I’d come to love. My mind kept running through the meeting with Knox. I knew he was withholding information, but I didn’t know what about. I didn’t like the fact that he was hiding from me. I didn’t like the fact that he was treating me as if I was some kind of common criminal. I was there to help him, and he didn’t give a damn that I was.

All he cared about was some idiotic reputation.

I closed my eyes and swallowed my wine as my mind drifted back to him. I could see his ocean blue eyes staring at me with that cheeky little grin on his cheeks. His brown hair was slicked back, but loose. Falling into his face and lending a boyish charm to his rugged features. The hair on his face had grown out, showcasing a stubble that made me smile.

I chastised myself for smiling as I opened my eyes.

In any other world-- and with any other man-- his confidence would’ve been alluring. I was a strong woman with very loud opinions, and most men couldn’t handle that. They either found me intimidating or too boisterous, which meant only a louder and more confident man could handle what I had to offer. I’d dated once during college. A man most people hated. He was cocky and arrogant and would always pick a fight simply to showcase how smart he was.

But I loved it.

I loved him, even though I knew he was going to break my heart.

He was a playboy, and I got that. I knew his reputation for turning over women. It seemed he had a new girl every semester, but when he chose me I couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough. He walked with his head held high and he always knew what he wanted. He was never afraid to take it and I was never afraid to give it to him. He showed me that being a powerhouse woman didn’t mean I had to sacrifice what I wanted in bed. Just because I was dominant in the courtroom didn’t mean I also had to dominate in my romantic life.

He made the decisions on where we ate and when, and I loved it. He would surprise me with gifts and whisk me away on weekend retreats. The spontaneity he brought to my life made my law degree easier to obtain. That semester was the only semester I could remember not struggling in my classes.

But just like every other girl, a new semester turned over and I was tossed to the side. My heart was broken and I was stuck picking up the pieces to try and glue it back together.

Then I tried filling the rest of the gaping holes with as many classes as I could take.

That man taught me a lot. Despite how badly I had been hurt by our breakup, he showed me I could have the best of both worlds. I could be a powerful woman and still be treated the way I wanted to be. He showed me that it wasn’t a disgrace to my feminist attitudes to want to be treated by a man if that was the choice I made for my life. My femininity was all I wanted it to be. That was the point. I could be loud and outspoken in my career and still come home and enjoy the dozen roses a man picked out for me before he pinned me against a wall and made me moan his name.

I could have both of those worlds if I chose them for myself.

I bet Knox could pin my entire body to a wall.

I shook the thought from my head as I threw back the rest of my wine. The last thing I needed was to harbor feelings for some man in a jumpsuit. It didn’t matter that he had confidence and it didn’t matter that he was stubborn in all the ways I enjoyed. It didn’t matter that I enjoyed how loyal he was to his friends or how hellbent he was on protecting his family. He was my client and I was his lawyer, and that was the extent of our relationship.

Though I got the feeling he wasn’t going to accept that.

I couldn’t get the deal he had made with me out of my mind. What kind of client made a deal to get to know their lawyer better? Most clients I’d come into contact with during my education were only worried about saving their own ass or cutting deals for less jail time. None of them had ever been concerned with getting to know their lawyer.

But Knox had been.

And I liked that.

The sunset over the horizon was beautiful. The cool night time air was descending onto Redding as I gathered up the pictures off my lap. Every time I turned around, Rose was sending me more information on this case. And the more I looked at it, the more I knew we’d be able to prove Knox’s innocence. I could see why it was taking the prosecution so long to turn over the evidence, though. They were probably seeing the pattern we were. With each piece of evidence they studied and claimed for themselves, it was another piece they would have to hand over. And if they were keeping track of patterns, they knew how bad this looked for them.

They knew they were handing over Knox’s innocence to us.

I was supposed to take the weekend off to clear my head about this case, but all I could think about was Knox. Every time I had a silent moment, he would pop into my head. Sometimes I would wonder how he was doing and sometimes I would simply see his eyes. Other times I could draw the details of his lips in my mind’s eyes, and other times I was envisioning what he might look like beneath his orange jumpsuit.

But every time it happened, I beat myself up for it.

I couldn’t think like this about my client, and yet… I couldn’t stop it. What did that mean? Did that mean I had feelings for him? I couldn’t have feelings for a man like Knox. He was a criminal who ran with a notorious biker gang. What the hell kind of woman did that make me? And it wasn’t like he was out of jail yet. It wasn’t like he was roaming the streets with his bike between his legs and a jacket thrown along his shoulders.

He was still in jail, for fuck’s sake.

I was harboring feelings for a man in fucking jail.

“Shit,” I said as I went back inside. “This can’t be happening.”

I tried to think of something else. Anything else. Lying. I had to think about the fact that Knox was lying to me. Or at least withholding information. That would make me not like him. That would put us back on neutral footing. I couldn’t have feelings for someone who withheld information from me. I couldn’t build a relationship with someone like that.

If you can’t trust him now, you’ll never trust him as your boyfriend, Monroe.

Boyfriend? Now my mind thought he was my boyfriend? I groaned as I put my wine glass into the sink. Was it possible for me to have feelings like this for someone like him? I was more confused than I’d ever felt in my entire life. I had to do something to get him out of my mind. Maybe a night out in Redding to explore would do me some good.

Yes. A night out. That was what I needed.

I slipped into my room and changed into a decent outfit. A pair of light wash jeans to accent the swell of my hips and a tight shirt to tuck into my pants. I picked out a crimson belt to match the crimson tank top I had on, then I grabbed a brown jacket and threw it over my shoulders. I slipped my feet into my casual brown flats and stuck some sparkling earrings in my ears, surveying myself in the mirror. I removed the clip from my hair and allowed it to tumble down my back before putting it into a half ponytail. My strawberry blonde hair framed my face and fell between my shoulder blades, sliding against the brown jacket I had covering my shoulders.

A splash of makeup to draw out my emerald eyes was all I would need before I was ready to go.

I grabbed my purse and stuck my phone in my back pocket. I had no idea if Redding even had a nightlife, but if all else failed I could get some food somewhere. I turned off all the lights in my apartment and locked the door behind me, then I strode to my car.

I didn’t even get in it before my cell phone vibrated against my body.

“This is Monroe Williams.”

“This Knox’s lawyer?”

“Yes this is. With whom am I speaking?” I asked.

“This is Officer Morris. I’m calling on behalf of Knox.”

“What’s happened? Is my client okay?” I asked.

“I’m afraid not,” the officer said.

“Is that all you’re going to tell me, or do I have to subpoena it out of you?”

I slid into my car and cranked it up before I skidded out of my parking space.

“Knox has been beaten pretty badly. He’s in the infirmary now, but he’s unconscious.”

“I want all of the footage from the cameras today to be sent to Rose Lowen of Lowen & Scott,” I said as I pulled out onto the road.

“Ma’am, we can’t-”

“If you make me get a subpoena, so help me God I will bring up charges on you for obstruction of justice. One of your inmates has been beaten so badly he’s in your infirmary. Send my firm what we need or I’ll have you arrested,” I said.

“I’ll move it up the chain of command.”

“If it takes more than two hours to get that footage, I’ll be rolling Mrs. Lowen out of her bed tonight. We’ll see how far she gets with you,” I said.

Then I hung up the call, tossed the phone into the passenger’s seat, and sped all the way to the jail.

Chapter 11

Knox

I couldn’t get my last meeting with Monroe out of my mind. I understood why she needed to know everything, but I wasn’t going to put my daughter at risk. Everything about my personal life had been kept secret and separate from the crew for a fucking reason. And I wasn’t gonna start blabbing all that shit to someone I didn’t know because she thought she needed to know my entire damn world. My mother didn’t have shit to do with this and neither did Canyon, and I wasn’t gonna start spilling my world just because some lawyer with a tight ass wanted me to.

Hell, Blaze was never supposed to know about Canyon, and somehow he did? How the hell had he found out about her? Someone was running their damn mouth about things they didn’t need to be talking about, that was how. Yet I was trapped in this fucking jail for shit I didn’t do because the government wanted to dangle me as fuckin’ bait.

But they had another thing coming.

I wasn’t about to roll over on my damn club. Especially when they were trying to pin some kind of murder on my head.

It made me angry that Blaze had known about Canyon. It made me angry that he thought he could make a joke like that about her and get away with it. That man deserved to die. I knew he wasn’t dead when I left him, but I’d kill him in a fucking heartbeat if he was still alive. He didn’t get to talk about my damn daughter that way and get away with it. Men in my world had died for less. Much less.

And he was knocking on death’s door with that information.

And if he knew, who was to say the entire group of Saddles didn’t know? For all I knew, the moment Blaze found out he started rattling off his big ass mouth to his friends to try and get initiated quicker. Show how big his dick was. Show off the kind of information he could get on rival club. It meant there was a chance the entire damn club knew about Canyon.

I wasn’t the only one who needed protection.

My family needed protection, too.

“Knox? That you?” Diesel asked.

“You got someone else calling you from county?” I asked.

“It’s been two days. I still can’t fucking get the police to cooperate with us. I was about to send Grave there to see you,” he said.

“Don’t bother. They’re making this hard. Look, have you talked to Miss Williams lately?” I asked.

“That new lawyer? No. But I have talked with Rose. She filled me in on what they’re trying to do to you. We’re gonna get you out of there, Knox. You gotta keep hanging on.”

“Have you talked to Diego yet?” I asked. “Because the heat’s rising in this place and it doesn’t look good.”

“The talks are going slow, but I’m putting pressure on him. I should have something in place for you by tomorrow morning. Can you hold tight for one more night?”

“I can do that. Been putting together some things that’ll help me defend myself if necessary.”

“Let’s not say that too loud,” he said. “But I got you.”

“Can you do me a favor?”

“Anything you need just say the word,” he said.

“If Blaze knew about Canyon, there’s a good chance he spilled that shit to his club. Which means the entire fucking Black Saddles could know about her.”

“I can go back and check on them if you want me to,” he said. “But there’s something you should know.”

“What? What’s happened?” I asked.

“You know Brewer’s got police contacts everywhere because he’s a fucking crazy man, right?”

“Yeah?”

“He told me this morning that the Anderson police department have been regularly checking up on your family. Every day, making sure they’re okay.”

“What?” I asked. “Has something happened?”

“No, nothing’s happened. Brewer did say that one of the officers mentioned the department owing a favor or something like that. You know what I think?”

“What?”

“I think our new lawyer girl pulled strings and got the police department to check in on them.”

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“Because there are regularly-logged reports on how they’re doing. Daily reports. Everything is by the books.”

“I’m not gonna even ask how you guys got ahold of that shit,” I said.

“I can take a ride out there tonight to check on them, but they’ve got officers regularly dropping in on them, according to Brewer. And you can thank Rock for tapping into their technology and getting those daily logs.”

“I owe you guys some shit when I get outta here,” I said.

“Look, family’s family. Whether they run with us or not. I’m still trying to figure out how the fuck some asshole in another club figured out about your family. I’m not getting much headway on that. The more I dig, the more I’m worried someone in our club talked.”

“I’d love to ask you why you feel that way, but I’m getting nasty looks from people,” I said.

“That’s fine. It’ll give me time to confirm suspicions. In the meantime, get through the night. I’ll know something from Diego tomorrow morning and then you should have some protection in there.”

“Thanks, Diesel. Talk to ya later.”

I hung up the phone and the guard yanked me off to the side. Fuck. I really wanted to bash every single one of their fucking heads in. The guard gripped me with a strength that would’ve signed his death warrant had we not been in jail, and I gritted my teeth as we started walking.

But instead of takin’ a right, we took a left.

“Where we going?” I asked. “Do I have a meeting today?”

The guard continued to drag me down the hallway before he tossed me into a room. I knew I wouldn’t be seeing Monroe this quickly after our last meeting, and that put me on guard. I turned around and the man at the door grinned at me, then he walked away and left me there by myself.

“Hey! What the hell’s going on!?” I asked.

I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and I braced myself. I didn’t know what the fuck was coming, but it wasn’t gonna be good. I saw three heads pop up with angry glares on their faces, then the door busted open and I was tackled.

I threw punches in all directions trying to get those assholes off me. I recognized their faces as I tried to break their noses. Blood was flying and punches were landing in my back. It felt like I couldn’t breathe as blood trickled its way up my throat.

“You think you was gonna get away with it?”

“With killing one of our own?”

“You ain’t shit in here, Knox.”

“You’re a pussy in chains.”

I got one of them in a headlock as my body tried to get to the door. If I could get out into the hallway, I could make a run for the nearest guard. If they would even fucking help me at this point. I whipped my fist around and cracked someone’s jaw, smiling when I heard it crunch.

But it wasn’t enough, and soon I was overwhelmed.

A fist came down into my temple and all I saw was black. I could feel the pain wafting through my body as my knees hit the floor. Another fist cracked me against my temple and it made me nauseous.

Then, a cold enveloped my body.

When I came to, I could hear monitors beeping. The smell of disinfectant was strong and my body felt like it was on fire. I opened my bruised eyes and looked around the room, taking in the I.V. bag that was pouring into my hand.

Shit. I’d been overrun with Black Saddle fuckbags.

The guards were corrupt. I knew that from the beginning. But I didn’t know they’d throw me to the dogs like that. I had to talk to Diesel. Or my lawyer. Someone who would listen to me. The Black Saddles had control of this prison. Or at least had a few of the guards in their pockets. No amount of protection would keep me alive with shit like that.

Not even protection from the Latin Cobras.

I heard someone groan and the lightness of the voice fluttered against my ears. I turned my head and saw a chair come into view, and in it a woman was resting. I didn’t recognize her at first, but she sure as hell was beautiful. Her jeans were tight against her hips and her dark red tank top squeezed against her body. She had on a brown jacket that framed the breadth of her shoulders and fell open right at her tits. Hell, whoever that woman was had a wonderful fucking rack. A rack I’d let my tongue get lose in any day of the week.

But it wasn’t until I took in the beautiful strawberry blonde hair flowing down the woman’s body that I figured out who it was.

Monroe.

My fucking lawyer was sleeping in a chair next to me.

She looked beautiful. Her body in those fucking clothes tugged at something inside of me I’d ignored for years. Fucking around with women was fun, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. I had needs and had plenty of choices when I needed to get my rocks off. But this was different. Looking at Monroe in that chair with her face contorted the way it was. There was something raw and vulnerable about the way she looked.

There was something about her body that almost… cared.

Had someone called her and told her what had happened to me? Maybe Mrs. Lowen? Or Diesel? I didn’t figure the jail would call her over something like this. The fucking jail was what did this to me in the first damn place.

Either way, she wasn’t working when someone called her.

What had she been doing? I’d had my hands on enough women to know she was dressed for fun. Looking to relax, or possibly spend time with someone. Rarely had I met a woman that dressed like that only to sit around in her damn home and shoot the shit with someone. She had makeup on that accented her features and clothes that clung to her curves, and I felt a pang of jealousy rush through my body.

Who the fuck did she have on makeup for?

Who the hell was she expecting to find before I interrupted her plans?

And why the fuck was she here anyway?

A shot of pain ripped through my ribcage and I groaned. My eyes squinted and my body winced, and the movement was enough to make me wanna vomit. I heard Monroe shuffling in the chair as I tried to get my body under control. I felt like I was sitting in the middle of a bubbling volcano.

Didn’t they have pain medication in this hellhole?

She shot up from the chair and her emerald eyes popped open, revealing the worry that was sitting behind her stare. My head lobbed over to see her and I watched tears rise in her eyes. Why the hell was she crying? Did I look that bad? Oh shit, was I dying? Had those Black Saddle assholes beaten me so badly I was gonna croak?

If I ever got my hands on them, all of them were dead. No matter what type of jail time that came with.

Without thinking, she leaned over and took my hand, her delicate fingers curling around my skin. Our eyes locked and I could see the fear behind her darkening green eyes. She squeezed my hand and scooted the chair towards me, closing the distance between the two of us. But a woman in a white coat slamming through the damn door ruined the moment and Monroe quickly pulled away.

Fuck me. Her touch felt phenomenal.

And I wanted it to come back.

Chapter 12

Monroe

I pulled up to the county jail and skidded into a parking lot. I left my purse behind in my car in order to lessen the time I’d have to take up in order to get through all their protocol. I grabbed my I.D. and walked straight up to the front desk and the man at the front scurried off his stool when he saw me.

“Miss Williams, I’m glad you could make it,” he said.

“Do you have those security tapes for me?” I asked.

“I sent it up the chain of command as fast as I could, ma’am. But it’s going to take some time to-”

“I’ll call Mrs. Lowen once I’m done talking with my client. Your chain-of-command can deal with her,” I said.

“That won’t be necessary, Miss Williams, I can assure you.”

“Then have those tapes ready for me by the time I’m done with my client. Otherwise, I’ll wash my hands of this and you can talk to Mrs. Lowen,” I said.

I walked through the metal detector and kept going when it didn’t go off. I flashed my identifications to anyone who needed to see it as doors were opened for me. Guards were looking me up and down and one of them even whistled after me, and I spun around to make sure he knew I’d heard.

“I’m not sure where you get off thinking you can catcall me when I’m about to talk to my client, but if you ever do it again I’ll find a reason to put you on the other side of these bars. You understand me?”

I glared at the man as his back stiffened, his gut hanging over his belt like he was something special.

I turned on my heels as I followed the signs for the infirmary. I had only one thing on my mind. I had to make sure Knox was okay. I wasn’t going to wake Mrs. Lowen from whatever slumber she was resting in until I knew the extent of the problem. She would want details on how Knox was as well as details on what the fuck had taken place.

But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I came into the room.

Knox was lying in a rickety hospital bed underneath some dim fluorescent lights. His eyes were bruised and there was a ring around his neck. Tubes were flowing everywhere and there were two separate I.V. bags feeding into his body. There were bruises on his forearms, overshadowing his tattoos.

He hadn’t just been attacked.

He had been beaten within an inch of his life.

My heart shattered into a million pieces. I felt tears crest my eyes as I started walking towards the bed. He was sleeping soundly, his chest rising and falling with his breaths. His orange jumpsuit was rolled down and in its place was a plain white t-shirt. It gripped to his body and I got my first decent look at the strength his body boasted of.

He was a strong man. Stacked with muscle he obviously took care of. This attack wasn’t taken out by just one person.

There would’ve had to have been multiple attackers to take a man of his stature down.

“Miss Williams?”

I jumped at the voice as I spun around on my heels. There was a small woman standing in front of me in a white coat. She was holding a clipboard and looking up at me, waiting for me to compose myself.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Your client was beaten pretty badly. Multiple attackers, I’d say. Two, maybe three people.”

“How do you figure?” I asked.

“When you work in the prison system long enough, you start to learn how bruising works. One attacker usually means uniform bruises no matter where they are. Relatively same size and shape, though there’s some room for error. But there are three very distinct bruising patterns on his body. From head to toe.”

“Do you have pictures of all these bruises?” I asked.

“I have to take them for legal purposes as well as medical purposes. I’m already compiling a folder for you to take with you.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“He was out cold when he came to me and he still hasn’t come out of it. He’s got a severe concussion. There was stomach vile mixed in with the blood he was coughing up.”

“I thought you said he was unconscious when he got to you,” I said.

“Well he wasn’t at one point. And when he was conscious, he was coughing up blood tinged with stomach bile. He’s got four fractured ribs, cuts and scrapes from head to toe, bruising on at least twenty percent of his body, and swelling in his brain.”

“From the concussion,” I said.

“That’s what we’re most concerned about right now. If the swelling doesn’t go down, I’m not equipped to drain it. We’ll have to transport him to the nearest hospital for a procedure like that.”

“When will you know if you have to move him?” I asked.

“Within a couple hours. The swelling can’t get any worse, otherwise we risk permanent damage.”

“Is there a chair I could sit in?” I asked. “I want to be here when he wakes up.”

“Even if he does wake up, he’ll be in no condition to talk. I’ll have to run tests and check his eyesight. Poke around and make sure he’s still stable. He’ll be nauseous and it’ll make it hard to talk.”

“Doesn’t mean he should be waking up alone,” I said.

The doctor eyed me curiously and I kept my gaze pinned to hers. I didn’t want Knox waking up alone, but I also didn’t want to leave him vulnerable. Having me in this room provided a witness in case someone tried to sneak in here and pull something else. I didn’t like the fact that the doctor was leaving him alone in this room to suffer while he was unconscious.

I was staying with him until he was awake.

“I’ll go get you a chair to relax in,” the doctor said. “Be back in a few minutes.”

I nodded my thanks before I turned back to Knox. There was so much more he wasn’t telling me. There were so many other things in play that, for whatever the reason, he wouldn’t come clean with. And the thing was, I wasn’t sure he’d come clean with Rose, either. I think he was holding his most important cards close to his chest in case we couldn’t get him out of this situation.

In case we couldn’t get him out of this hellhole.

The doctor brought in a chair and I thanked her profusely. I scooted it up beside Knox’s bed, and I watched him as he slept. The way his chest rose and fell. The way his body seemed peaceful, even though I knew the kind of pain he was in. I looked at the fluid bags and tried to decipher what was on them, and I had enough sense to know that they had him on the smallest of painkillers.

That kind of stuff wasn’t going to touch his pain once he woke up.

At some point in time I must’ve nodded off, because I was startled by a noise. A grunt and groaning before something started to move. My head shot up and I saw Knox open his eyes. I saw those dark brown eyes bloodshot with pain as his face grimaced. I felt tears of relief fill the backs of my eyes as I shot up, thrusting my hand out to curl around his.

My touch caught his attention and his gaze fell to meet mine.

“Knox? Can you hear me?” I asked.

But all he did was grimace. Like he was about to vomit.

I heard a door crash open and I removed my hand. I reached for the bucket next to my feet as Knox reared up off the bed. He threw his head over to the side and I placed the bucket up to his face, catching the puke he catapulted my way. The doctor was trying to get him to settle down as Knox continued to growl with pain. His legs were trembling and his hands were grasping the side of the bed until his knuckles turned white.

“Knox? Can you hear me?” the doctor asked.

“Uh huh,” Knox said.

“I need you to lay back. If you cooperate, I’ve got something that’ll help you with the pain.”

“Seriously?” I asked. “You’re holding pain medication over his head because you think he won’t cooperate? Give him the damn drugs. He’s in pain.”

“I can’t until he cooperates.”

“That the jail’s protocol, or yours?” I asked.

The woman looked at me as Knox fell to the bed. My jaw clenched as I stood, my tall stature looming over hers. She sighed and shook her head before she moved to his I.V., then she uncapped the needle and injected the medicine into Knox’s tubing. After a few seconds of deep breathing and Knox’s heart rate flying through the roof, his body began to settle down. His heart beat evened out and his legs stopped shaking.

And he stopped gripping so tightly to the bed.

“Now, you can do your exam. Doctor.”

I watched as she ran test after test. Asking Knox where he was and if he knew who I was. She flashed a light in his eyes and poked at his toes. She asked him to wiggle certain parts of his body and started feeling around his head. She asked him idiotic questions like ‘how are you feeling?’ and ‘how does your head feel?’.

I wanted to bash her head into the wall then asked her how she felt.

“Well?” I asked. “How is he?”

“For now, he’s as good as he can be. The swelling of his brain hasn’t impacted his memory recall or his response time to questions. The room isn’t spinning for him after throwing up the way he did, which is a good sign. He might not need a hospital, but the next two hours are important.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“I’ll be back with more pain medication for him in a little while. In a place like this, we can only give out so much at once,” the doctor said.

“I’ll be here.”

“I don’t doubt you will be.”

I shot her a look before she walked out of the room. I listened as the door shut behind her, then I turned back to Knox. I found him staring at me from behind his bruised eyes. I could tell he was confused, but there was also something else.

There was a bit of relief in his eyes.

I reached back down for his hand and took it within mine. I bent over his body in bed, my free hand lightly cupping his cheek. I wanted to make him feel better. Something inside of me wanted to take this pain away from him. I bent closer and closer to him. So close that I could feel his breath pulsing against my nose.

“Knox,” I said with a whisper.

“Hello, Miss Williams.”

My lip began to quiver and my head grew heavy. My forehead fell to his, and he caught it without a second thought. His hand slid from mine and rose to my neck, cupping the back of it to steady the shaking of my body.

I closed my eyes, trying to choke back my tears as I took in the touch of his hand against my skin.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Can’t tell ya that,” Knox said.

“As your lawyer, I’m telling you to tell me.”

“You don’t look much like a lawyer right now.”

“That’s what happens when you interrupt my Friday night plans,” I said.

“So, you did have plans.”

I opened my eyes and found Knox staring at me as my thumb traced his cheek.

“Not really. I was going to see what kind of nightlife the hopping city of Redding provided. But if all else failed, I was going to get some food and go home,” I said.

“Pretty dressed up for food,” he said.

“Pretty dressed up for Redding,” I said with a smile.

Hearing him snicker was the greatest sound in the world. I pulled back from him and reached for my chair, then sat down next to him. My hand fell to his forearm, draping around the bruising he had on his tattoos.

Then, I got serious.

“You need to tell me what happened.”

“I can’t do that,” Knox said.

“Doesn’t matter if you can’t. You have to. I’m your lawyer, and if I’m going to keep you safe I have to know what’s going on.”

“You can’t keep me safe in here, Miss Williams. No one can.”

“Then you have sorely underestimated me,” I said. “And if you don’t tell me now, I’m just going to find out when they release the security tapes to me.”

“Then you’ll find out somehow,” he said.

“Why won’t you talk to me? Why won’t you let me help you?”

“Because you can’t,” he said.

“There’s more to it than that,” I said. “Why aren’t you telling me the entire truth?”

“Because I have to keep you safe, Monroe!”

The tone of his voice caused me to jump and the doctor slammed into the room. I whipped my head around and saw her readying a syringe, but I stood and held my ground. I shook my head at her, making sure she understood we didn’t need any more of her ‘help’.

Then I held her stare until she left the room again.

“It is not your responsibility to keep me safe,” I said as I turned around. “I can keep myself safe.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second. Don’t mean I’m not gonna try,” Knox said.

“Talk to me. Let me help you.”

“No,” he said.

“Trust me. Please.”

“No.”

“Damn it, Knox. Give me something to help you.”

“I said… no.”

He was an immovable object. Unwavering in his convictions and his dedications. But this man was about to find out that I was an unstoppable force.

And when the two of us finally collided, he would find that I could move him. No matter what his convictions were.

Chapter 13

Knox

I spent four fucking days in the infirmary before I was released, and in that time Monroe had been busy. Instead of returning to gen-pop like I thought I was gonna, I was escorted by two guards I didn’t recognize to another part of the jail. I passed by a bunch of inmates barking at me like they were crazy as hell, then we went down a small corridor and walked a block outside. People were out in the courtyard enjoying the sunshine and shit, but as I scanned the crowd I noticed some people were missing.

Mainly, the three Black Saddles.

We walked into a separate part of the jail that housed only a few cells. And there was one in the middle that was opened and waiting for me. But instead of heading for the cell, we walked past it and headed for a small room in the back.

I felt my entire body brace until I saw there was a phone with a chair sitting inside the room.

“Take your time. We’ll be out here when you’re done,” the guard said.

Take my time? What fucking twilight zone shit had I stepped into?

I picked up the phone and dialed Diesel’s number. I sat back into the chair, my body aching as it relaxed. I closed my eyes as the door shut to my side, and I could see the guards’ shadows underneath the door.

Were they guarding the room I was in while I made some sort of phone call?

“Hey there, Knox. How are you feeling?”

“I take it you know about all the changes I’m currently going through, Diesel?” I asked.

“I do. A lot happened during your stay in the infirmary,” he said. “Ready for it?”

“I’m all ears.”

“Monroe is a hell of a woman. She worked tirelessly to get you out of gen-pop and into a safer place until your hearing. That’s going to be in the next couple of days.”

“I’ll have to give her my thanks,” I said.

“I also got things solidified with Diego. The Latin Cobras are on your side for protection if you need it, so long as the club helps them clean up whatever messes are made in the name of protection.”

“Sounds fair enough.”

“You don’t have yard time with the other guys until your hearing because it puts you at too much of a risk. But I figured you wouldn’t give a damn about that with how you’re feeling anyway,” he said. “Have they transferred you to your new cell yet?”

“I haven’t been in it, but I’ve walked past it,” I said.

“Good. It’s a wing that isn’t flooded with gen-pop. You’ll be much safer in there. Monore told me she’s coming to see you today, so be ready for that meeting.”

“I will be. There anything else?”

“Yep. We got a rat in the damn club, Knox.”

I felt my blood run cold as I gripped the phone in my hand.

“You sure about that, Diesel?”

“As a fucking heart attack. There’s no way Blaze knew about your sister unless someone from this damn club opened their mouth.”

“We have a fucking rat,” I said.

“And we’re gonna smoke them out. Don’t worry.”

“Smoke them out. I’m gonna kill them, Diesel. That rat bastard isn’t gonna see the light of day ever again once I’m out of this hellhole.”

“Let’s not say that too loud. You’re still in jail, Knox. I wanted you to know that I’ve all but confirmed it at this point.”

“Why the hell would someone rat on one of their brothers? Who the fuck would do something like that?” I asked.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out now. In the meantime, the Anderson P.D. are still checking in on your mom and Canyon. They’re still okay. I even took a night drive by there a couple nights ago. They’re good. Promise.”

“Thanks,” I said with a groan. “What the fuck’s going on, Diesel?”

“I don’t know, but we can’t let anyone know we have a rat. Not the Latin Cobras. Not our own club. Not anyone. The less people know, the easier it’s gonna be to track them down.”

“When I get out of here, I’m helping you get to the bottom of this. You aren’t doing anything with that asshole until I can help you do it.”

“Fine by me. The more the merrier. But right now, focus on your meeting with Monroe.”

“I have to tell her everything, don’t I?” I asked.

“It’s gonna be better if you do,” Diesel said. “I know you wanna keep things from her, especially with having a snitch in our midst. But she needs to know. You’ve got two days until your hearing and she’s gonna need all the ammo she can muster to get you outta there.”

“Fuck.”

“I know it’s a lot, Knox. But you gotta trust me on this. You’re in a safer part of the prison, you won’t have yard time so you won’t be exposed. You’re about to have a meeting with Monroe to talk about where you go from here, and the only thing you need to focus on is filling the holes she still has with your story. Because I know you, and I know you left holes.”

“What about the rat?” I asked.

“You gotta let me handle that until you can get out of there. Then, we’ll team up and scorch the nasty little rat out of our ranks.”

“How are the guys doing?”

“Missing us already?” he asked.

“Cut the shit. How is everyone?”

“We’re good. Trying to get you out of there. Brewer’s doing his thing and so is Rock. Grave’s ready to bust down doors and spill blood to get you out of there. You know how he is.”

“How’s Mick?”

“Worried. He always worries. You know him. But he’s running your position well until you get back.”

“Making ya good money?” I asked.

“Not as much as you do, but he’s holding his own. He’s ready to get you out of there, though. Your job plus his job is swallowing him a bit.”

“He’ll get used to it. Took me three years before I really got the hang of things. He’s only been at it for a little over a year.”

“You got enough chit chat to feel normal again?” he asked.

“Fuck you. I gotta go. The guards are shifting outside so it’s probably time for my meeting.”

“Fill her in, Knox. Give her what she needs to fight for you. She’s the one who got you out of gen-pop so quickly. Trust her. I know I do.”

“I do,” I said as the door beside me opened. “I trust her.”

“Good. Talk to you soon.”

“Yeah. Talk soon,” I said.

I hung up the phone before the guards helped me from my chair. My body was starting to ache more, but the guards were being surprisingly gentle. The door down the hallway opened and I saw a bunch of men pouring in from yard time. But the moment their faces came into view, a shit-eating grin spread across my face.

The Latin Cobras.

I was in a separate wing surrounded by Jesús and his godsent goons.

My eyes connected with his as the guards ushered me past him. He shot me a wink and I shook my head, relief flooding my veins. Better late than never, but at least I could sleep comfortably at night now. Being out of gen-pop and surrounded by protection meant it would be hard for anyone to get the sneak on me again. And now that I had numbers over The Black Saddles, it was gonna be hard for them to turn the guards of this wing against us.

Especially since I had a feeling Diego and his crew had these specific guards in their pockets.

They led me back down the hallway and out into the courtyard. There was no one out there but me and the guards, and I felt an ominous cloud hanging over me again. I looked over to the building and saw Jesús and his guys looking out from beyond the small window they were afforded in their rooms.

I braced myself for another fight even as my body throbbed with pain.

“Sit,” the guard said.

I looked at the table to my left. A table in the middle of the courtyard with the beautiful sun beating down on my back.

“Knox!”

I heard Monroe’s voice and I whipped my head around. The guard let go of my arm as my eyes connected with hers. She was walking down the sidewalk, her pencil skirt clinging to her body. Her heels clicked and her hair was piled high on her head. She was back to being a professional except for her smile.

There was a massive smile on her face as she greeted me.

“You can leave us,” Monroe said. “We’ll be fine.”

“We’re over in the corner if you need us, ma’am,” the guard said.

“Take a seat, Knox. This’ll be the last time we talk before your hearing,” she said.

Chapter 14

Monroe

I sat down in the sun with Knox as my eyes roamed his body. He had his jumpsuit rolled down again, with nothing but a tight white shirt covering his upper body. It was hard for me to take my eyes off him. His bruises were still very prominent but he looked stronger than ever. His brown hair was blowing in the light wind and his dark brown eyes looked amber with the sun.

I shook my head and snickered before I opened up my briefcase.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Better now,” Knox said with a grin.

“That happens when you get a bit of sun.”

“Wasn’t talking about the sun.”

I looked up at him and our eyes connected. He had this small little grin on his face that accented the mystery behind his eyes. I giggled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, trying to shake off how hard my heart was thrumming in my ears.

Then I cleared my throat and tried to get myself into a more professional mode.

“It’s good to see you upright,” I said. “But now it’s time to get serious.”

“And here I thought yard time was supposed to be playful,” Knox said.

“You have to talk to me now. Your hearing is in two days and there is still a lot you’re keeping from me,” I said.

“I agree,” he said.

“Right now, what we have is circumstantial at best. But Rose is a hell of a lawyer when delivering opening and closing statements, so we’re confident. Right now, your boots are the biggest piece of evidence we have. We can prove by the way yours and Blaze’s blood is layered on your boot that you were the first-”

“I gotta stop ya right there, Monroe.”

The sound of my name in his voice prickled the hair on the back of my neck.

“What’s wrong, Knox?”

“Before you go any further, I gotta come clean about some things,” he said.

“Some… things.”

“Yes. I need to tell you the truth.”

I felt my jaw drop open before I reached for a pen and my notepad.

“The whole truth?” I said.

“As much of it as I can give to you,” Knox said.

“If you’re going to tell me the truth, you need to give me the entire thing. Anything you can tell me will help you. I think I’ve more than proven that point.”

“I have no doubt you’ll help me, but it wasn’t because of what you organized while I was in the infirmary.”

I swallowed hard as his eyes held my gaze. I felt his foot slip towards me underneath the table. For a split second, the warmth of his leg burned into mine. It shot a cataclysmic electric shot up my leg, stunning my gut into silence. Goosebumps littered my body at his touch and I jerked my leg away, crossing my feet at the ankles and tucking them away from him.

But not before a very thick blush rose on my cheeks.

“What are you willing to tell me that you haven’t told me yet?” I asked.

“Blaze didn’t just make some sexual joke about my very young sister that night,” I said. “He threatened her life.”

“He did what?” I asked.

“After the comment about me looking like my sister on my knees, he said the only difference was that she would be facing away from him.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Blaze said ‘You look good down on your knees. Reminds me of your sister. Except she’ll be facing away from me when it happens’.”

“He meant your sister would be down on her knees with her back to Blaze.”

“There’s only one reason to get someone on their knees and still be behind them. And that’s if ya plan on executing someone,” Knox said.

“He said that to you?”

“Yes.”

“Was there anyone else around you that could’ve heard that comment?” I asked.

“There was no one.”

“I thought you said a man by the name of Grave pulled you off him,” I said.

I could see a brief swell of panic run behind his eyes and I knew what he was thinking.

“Knox, who else was there?” I asked.

“No one. It was just me.”

“I know that’s not true. You’ve already mentioned names. Don’t start lying to me now,” I said. “You said you were going to give me the truth. Now spill it.”

“You want the truth? The Black Saddles sent Blaze after me because they were betting on him being a cock. He threatened my sister’s life and they knew that would set me off. They went digging around in my personal life just to find something to shoot at me. They were betting on me lunging at Blaze and I played right into their fuckin’ hand! The only reason we were there was to fucking set some boundaries with some punk ass party crew who couldn’t do shit with their lives if they wanted. It wasn’t supposed to turn into some all-out fuckin’ brawl, Monroe. But what the hell was I supposed to do? That asshole threatened my fucking sister’s life. A sister that asshole wasn’t even supposed to know about!”

Knox was slowly rising up from his seat and I could see the guards getting nervous. I tossed them a look and held up my hand, then waited for Knox to calm his temper. He had privileges now, that much was obvious. But those privileges only went so far. He still had to keep himself in check because if it was necessary, we would have to pull guards for character witnesses.

And him yelling at his lawyer didn’t look good.

“I beat the crap out of the boy, yes. But he was alive when I left him. Alive and breathing enough to yell some shit after me when we took off running,” Knox said.

“When ‘we’ took off running,” I said.

I watched Knox sigh as he shook his head.

“You have to tell me who was there with you,” I said.

Knox jutted his jaw out as he shook head.

“If someone saw Blaze still alive when you left, that’s our missing link. Witnesses, Knox. That’s what gets you out of this shithole.”

“Thought you said you had evidence to argue.”

“We do, but it’s a stretch. And with your stubborn streak, your tattoos, and your unwillingness to cooperate, I’m not sure it’s going to be enough for a jury,” I said.

“Then it’s a good thing I got the best lawyers in town,” he said.

He panned his gaze back to me and I shook my head. What in the world was this man so afraid of? Because that was what this was. Fear. He was fearful and panicked, so he kept bucking up to me to try and feel powerful again. He had been stripped of everything that was familiar to him and had no way to protect his family inside here.

“Was it you or Rose?”

“What?” I asked.

“That pulled the strings with the Anderson police. Was it you or her?” Knox asked.

“How do you know about that?”

“Does it matter?” he asked.

“If you have to know, it was me,” I said. “The police are sending me daily reports of how they’re doing. And with what you’ve told me, I’m glad I did it. A daily checkup will make sure they stay safe and guarded.”

I watched Knox nod as he bit down onto his lower lip.

“Why are you so afraid?”

His eyes flared instantly with anger as he whipped them back to mine.

“The hell makes you think I’m afraid?” he asked.

“Your eyes. The way they panic every time I probe you for answers. I’ve see it two times. When you’re talking about your sister and when I keep asking you who was there with you that night. You’re scared, I’m just not sure why.”

“I don’t get scared,” he said.

“Which is a lie. We all get scared. We all have adrenal glands that go into overdrive. It’s a basic evolutionary advantage. You telling me you’ve evolved beyond adrenal glands?” I asked.

Knox chuckled to himself and it brushed a smile across my face.

“I don’t know what more I can do to get you to trust me,” I said.

“It ain’t about trust, Monroe.”

I shivered at my name again. The way he sounded in his low tones as he looked off into the distance.

“It’s about keeping things sacred.”

“What things?” I asked.

“In my world, secrets are key. You keep them to keep people safe.”

“So, you think you’re keeping people safe by not telling me who was with you that night,” I said.

Knox nodded his head curtly as my hand raked down my face.

“Okay. Well, who was there then that is someone you don’t mind telling on. Blaze was there. Some guy named Rex was there. Anyone else?” I asked.

I watched him rack his brain, like he was making a life or death decision. His eyes squinted off into the distance and his eyes became glassy. He was losing himself in his memories. Recounting that night from his point of view. I was familiar with the look and I sat patiently. Waiting for him to come back to reality and give me something I could work with.

Then, I saw another rush of panic cross his face.

“Knox?” I asked.

“Shit,” he said.

“Knox. Let me in. What’s going on?” I asked.

“I have to go,” he said. “I gotta make a phone call.”

“Alright. I didn’t want to have to do this, but I’m going to,” I said.

I beckoned for the guards and the rushed over, their handcuffs drawn and ready to chain him to the table.

“The fuck you doing?” Knox asked.

“I’m not going to let you tank your own damn investigation,” I said. “I know you won’t roll over on your club. It’s why the assistant U.S. attorney will never get anywhere with this investigation. But you’re not going anywhere until you talk to me. I’ve tried being nice and I’ve tried being your friend and I’ve tried earning your trust. But we’re down to the wire and I’m not going to watch you sink yourself over some dumbass pride you feel towards people who aren’t around right now.”

His eyes were pulsing with an angry fire as the guards handcuffed him to the table.

“So, what? I’m gonna sit out here and piss myself until I talk to you?” Knox asked.

“If that’s what it takes. You just remembered something, and you’re going to tell me. Otherwise I’m pulling your defense.”

“I thought you just said you weren’t gonna let me sink,” he said.

“Sometimes it takes almost drowning to realize how good you had it before,” I said. “Now I put on sunblock this morning. Did you?”

Chapter 15

Knox

The guards handcuffed me to the table, rendering me immobile in the middle of the fucking yard. Was this woman insane? Did she really think she could fucking smoke me out for information? The heat of the sun was slamming down against my back, and I knew I wouldn’t last long in it before I started to burn. Monroe’s eyes were filled with a fiery commitment I would’ve found attractive any fucking day of the week.

But not now.

She was fucking crazy right now.

“Guess I should’ve figured a woman like you would like it rough,” I said.

“You’ll never find out, so don’t you worry,” Monroe said.

“I’ve got all sorts of ways of finding things out, beautiful. If I want something, I make sure I can get it.”

“You won’t have to work hard for it if you talk to me and tell me about your case,” she said.

I felt my eyebrows tick up as her gaze held mine. Was she offering what I thought she was? My eyes fluttered down the parts of her body I could see as she leaned across the table at me. Her blouse was fluttering in the wind and I could see right down her damn shirt. And fuck, she had a rack on her I’d love to get my tongue on. I felt my cock stiffening as my eyes rolled up to hers. She was playing a game I enjoyed. I liked her dangling herself in front of me like a piece of meat.

I licked my lips as a chuckle peeled from my throat.

“You offering yourself as a little… consolation prize?” I asked.

“Whatever gets you to talk, Knox.”

“Why would you do something like that. You’re a strong woman. I’m sure you’ve got ways of figuring shit out.”

“Like you?” she asked with a grin.

“I want you to help your own damn case. I want you to talk. I don’t want to have to pry every little detail out of you. I want you to trust me enough to know that I can help you.”

My eyes locked with hers as I struggled with her request. She wasn’t just asking me to tell her information. She was asking me to rat out my friends. I’d already opened my big ass mouth once and told her Grave was there. That risked pulling him into shit he didn’t need to be pulled into. For all I knew, she’d already fucking talked to Grave and the club was planning my release the moment I walked outta this damn place.

I couldn’t tell her about the other guys who were there with me. If I did, they could all get roped into this shit. The government was targeting me, then they’d target them, too. And with one rat already in the group blabbing about my fucking life to people, the government could use them to roll over on the entire fucking club for all we knew.

Nope. I couldn’t tell her who else was there with me. I wasn’t a rat, and the damn future of the fucking club was at stake.

I wasn’t gonna send my only damn friends to prison because some woman shoved her tits in my face.

“It’s your only chance out of here, Knox. Don’t do this to yourself,” Monroe said.

“I ain’t doing anything to no one,” I said.

“You’re doing it to me,” she said.

I whipped my gaze over to hers as she settled back into her seat. Her eyes went from frustrated to somber to something akin to worried. She shoved her briefcase off to the side and set her pen and pad down, then hooked her stare into mine. I couldn’t move away from her. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t look away from her stare.

There was something about it I enjoyed, even though I couldn’t figure out what.

“Getting hot out here,” I said.

“You can change that,” Monroe said.

“You gonna let me fry if I don’t open my mouth?” I asked.

“You remembered something. And if you don’t want to talk about who in your club was there, fine. But you have to tell me who else was there. Anyone else. Someone we can subpoena who can testify that Blaze was still alive when you left. That this was self-defense. Anything to get you out of this jail. Because they’re coming for you, Knox. With heavy artillery and arguments that’ll take Rose to her knees. Give me something. Help yourself. Get out of here so you can go stand by your damn crew again.”

“I see why you’re a lawyer,” I said with a grin.

“Who was there?” she asked. “Forget your club, though I know some of them were there. Who else was there besides Rex and Blaze? I saw it fly across your face.”

“There were some other guys there that night,” I said.

“Okay. Who was there?” she asked.

“It wasn’t just The Black Saddles,” I said. “They were with another group.”

“That’s… great. That’s great. Let me get my pen and my pad,” she said. “Hit me with them.”

“Some of the Latin Cobras were there. A group based on the other side of Redding. I didn’t think anything of it because The Black Saddles were having that damn fire or whatever on their turf. Figured they were there to talk boundaries as much as we were.”

“Do you know any of their names?”

“Not many of them. You can easily find them by their tattoos, but there’s one face I did recognize. His name’s Paco. He’s Diego’s right hand man.”

“Who’s Diego?” she asked.

“Diego’s the leader of the group. But you gotta be careful when approaching him. He doesn’t like people snooping around in his business. He’s heavily armed wherever he goes.”

“How do you know these guys?”

“That relevant to the case?” I asked.

Her eyes fluttered up to mine as her pen hovered above the pad. I sighed and shook my head before I looked back at the building I’d been transferred to. I could see a few of the Latin Cobras still poking their heads out the window. Trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. They probably saw the whole damn debacle. How Monroe had the guards handcuff me to this damn table we were sitting at.

“I know them from high school,” I said.

“So, you went to high school with some of the Latin Cobras.”

“I did, yes. We weren’t close or nothing, but we knew one another.”

“Okay, I’m going to be very upfront with you. Paco’s our only shot at getting you out of here,” she said.

“Figured as much.”

“I’m going to find Paco and get him to testify so you can get out of here.”

“And if he doesn’t wanna do it?” I asked.

“It’s pretty hard to go against a subpoena.”

“You don’t know these guys. They’d rather get thrown in jail then testify in a fucking courtroom.”

“We’ll find a way. I think I’ve proven to you that I’m pretty resourceful in situations like this.”

“Pretty sure the handcuffs and the seduction made that point loud and clear.”

“To be fair, that wasn’t seduction. That was me merely giving you a peek of what you’re missing while being in here. You get out there, you’ve got your hands back on women.”

“Or you,” I said with a grin.

“If we can get Paco to testify, we can couple that with your boots and the lack of evidence on the prosec-”

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Okay. Lack of evidence?” I asked.

“You shut me up a lot when we’re having these meetings. It would do you some good to let me talk.”

“What do you mean ‘lack of evidence’?” I asked.

“The prosecution has been slow to get us things. One thing they still haven’t released to us is an autopsy report. Much less a body. No one on our side has been able to even confirm the fact that Shepard is lying on a slab somewhere.”

“Then why the fuck am I in here if they don’t have a body?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. A lot of this seems very weird and fishy to me, but coming with our best argument in court guarantees your release. That’s why I’ve been hammering you for information.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me that?”

“Because you won’t shut up long enough to let me tell you anything,” she said. “We find Paco to vouch for Blaze still being alive when you left, we couple that with the fact that the prosecution hasn’t released as much as an autopsy report to us, and this is money in the bag. Then I can easily start working on getting this damn RICO case dropped. I’m not hounding you for information because I wanna screw you over, Knox. I’m hounding you for information because it’s going to make everything going forward a hell of a lot easier.”

“Does that mean you’ll let me outta these damn handcuffs now?” I asked.

“Yes. I’ll let you out of those handcuffs. For now,” she said with a smirk.

“I just got one question,” I said as the guard released me.

“What’s that?”

“Why did you stay in the infirmary with me?”

I held her gaze and watched as her face fell. It was like her mind was ripping her back to that moment and that same worried look in her eye returned. Her gaze fell to my forearms that were still bruised and swollen from the attack. She danced those beautiful eyes all the way up to my face, and for a moment I thought I saw tears in her eyes.

“Because I was worried about you,” Monroe said.

She waved over the guards before she shut her briefcase and got up. The guards came and hauled me back to the building my new cell was in. I craned my neck back and watched Monroe walk away, her head tilted to the ground and her shoulders slumped.

That woman didn’t deserve to walk with her head down at the ground. She was sexy. Confident. Commanding.

She needed to walk with pride.

“I need another phone call,” I said.

“Only one a day,” the guard said.

“What do I gotta do to get another phone call?” I asked

“He can have mine,” Jesús said.

I looked over at the man who was now tasked with my protection as he nodded his head. He sucked at his teeth as the guards debated on what to do, then they led me back to the room at the end of the hallway. They sat me down in the chair and I picked up the phone, furiously dialing Diesel’s number.

“Knox? That you again?”

“I don’t have a lot of time to talk, but you need to call Diego again,” I said.

“Why? What’s goin’ on?”

“Some things he’s not gonna be happy about, but I can’t do nothing about it. I told Monroe that Paco was there.”

“What?” Diesel yelled.

“I had to give her something.”

“Shit man, I told you to give you more details, but not to snitch that there was another crew there.” he asked.

“She handcuffed me to a damn table and threatened to not let me go until I fucking talked.”

“Shit. She went oldschool on you,” Diesel let out a sigh. “What do I need to tell Diego?”

“Tell him that Paco and a few of his guys were there that night and that our lawyer’s gonna come snooping around. She’s wanting to find someone who’ll testify that Blaze was still alive after we all left.”

“Does she know any of our guys were there?” he asked.

“She might know that Grave was there, but if it ever comes up it’s gonna get denied to hell and back. The only other names I’ve mentioned are Blaze and Rex, and I don’t give a shit about them.”

“No one does. Look, we all knew you were gonna have to talk to get out of there. The guys appreciate you keeping their names out of it, but they were all ready to step up if you needed them.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“In the meantime, I’ll call Diego. He’ll enjoy the heads-up. I’ll probably have to cut a deal in order to get Paco to agree to testifying, but that’s how Diego and I have always worked. Don’t worry, Knox. We’re gonna get you the hell out.”

“Good. Then I’m gonna figure out who the fuck’s opening their mouths about my family.”

“I’ll make the call now,” he said. “Hang in there, okay?”

“I’m good. Just get word to him before Monroe does something stupid,” I said.

“Should we all start bending down to her now?”

“Quit being an asshole. You’re not good at it.”

“Never have been. I still don’t know why you idiots appointed a softie as President. Let me go so I can call Diego. Talk to you soon, Knox.”

“Later, Diesel.”

Chapter 16

Monroe

“We got a problem,” Rose said.

I whipped my head up from my desk as she slammed a folder onto the table.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Take a look.”

I opened the folder and grimaced at the pictures I saw. My heart fell to my stomach as I looked at picture after picture of a young man lying on an autopsy table. Bruises covered his body and his jaw had obviously been broken. The stitched ‘X’ on his chest was open in some pictures, revealing things about the human body I never wanted to see in person. I flipped through picture after picture, canvasing the man from head to toe. Then I flipped to the pages of information that documented in verbiage how the autopsy had gone.

Fuck.

This was Andrew Shepard.

“Cause of death?” I asked.

“That’s the only thing helping us out right now,” Rose said. “It says the cause of death was a knife to his back. Severed his spinal column and rendered him immobile from the waist down,” Rose said.

“Was a murder weapon ever recovered from the scene?” I asked.

“No, but take a look at his stomach.”

I flipped through the pictures until I got to the pictures regarding the young man’s torso.

“Ugh. Holy-”

“Those boot prints are clear as day. They match Knox’s boots perfectly. Even with the blood on the tip of his boots, having prints like this on a dead man’s body doesn’t look good. I can’t sway a jury into thinking that heel-stomping a man into the ground didn’t somehow attribute to his death.”

“But you said-”

“I know what I said and I know what the autopsy said. But now I’m trying to think like an emotional juror who’s going to look at this twenty-one-year-old boy and then look over at Knox. He’s stone-faced and uncooperative and littered with tattoos on his arms. The jury’s going to judge him, they’re going to think he’s guilty anyway, and with his shoe-size practically stamped into this boy’s body, they’ll convict him. We need that testimony, Monroe. We need Paco.”

“I’m working on it,” I said. “I’ve got a meeting with Diego for lunch.”

“You what? I’m coming with you.”

“Nope. I’ve got this,” I said.

“Monroe, the Latin Cobras aren’t to be messed with. You won’t be meeting with just Diego. You’ll be surrounded by armed men.”

“I’ve been surrounded by armed men every time I go into that jail to meet with Knox. You think those prisoners don’t have shanks on them?”

“Get a subpoena. You can do this from afar.”

“I find it interesting that you’ll defend a club like The Dead Souls but have issues talking with someone like Diego. I’m not going with a subpoena. I’m going on neutral ground. I’m meeting him at a place The Dead Souls own, so if anything happens it doesn’t just rattle this case, it rattles his crew against theirs.”

“That’s… actually pretty smart.”

“Yeah. You pick up a few things in this town apparently. Now I need to get out of here. I’m going to be late if I don’t,” I said.

“I’m going to the coroner’s office today to get a look at the body myself. I’m going to have our labs we trust run the same tests to be sure this information is accurate.”

“Sounds good. Meet up around four to talk?” I asked.

“See you then. Be safe.”

I walked out to my car, my briefcase in hand. I was petrified about meeting Diego in person, but I knew it was the best way to approach him. I was still getting used to how things worked around here, but I knew approaching someone like Diego with respect and without force would be the way to go. I got into my car and drove into the town, parking just beyond the place we’d agreed to meet.

Then I took in a deep breath and started for the restaurant.

I knew who he was the moment I walked in. Tanned skin. Bald head. Covered in tattoos from his hands to his neck. He was wearing a crisp blue shirt and was in a pair of ragged jeans, and I could tell by the way his shirt puffed out that he was armed.

I saw a few men staring at me, no doubt Diego’s men as I began to approach him.

“Your heels are loud, Miss Williams.”

“A confident woman doesn’t mind reminding someone when she’s in the room,” I said.

“Do you consider yourself a confident woman?” Diego asked.

“I consider myself a bold one,” I said as I slid into the seat in front of him.

“Nice day for a glass of water,” he said.

The waitress quickly set one down in front of me and I thanked her. I could tell she was scared. Her hand was shaking and she tried to get away from the table as quickly as possible. I quirked my eyebrow and grasped the water, then took a small sip.

“Trusting,” Diego said. “I like that.”

“Do I have a reason not to trust you?” I asked.

“My reputation usually precedes me.”

“Well you haven’t done anything to me, so in my eyes you don’t have one.”

“A dangerous way to operate in a town like this.”

“I’m sure I can get by just fine, Mr. Diego. Would you like to make this short and sweet? Or do you want to keep chit chatting?”

A grin slid its way across his face before he started to chuckle.

“Figured maybe you had better things to do than sit and talk with a lawyer,” I said.

“I hear one of your clients had a man of mine’s name in his mouth,” Diego said.

“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’?”

“I have. Are you suggesting we have the same enemy?”

“I did a little bit of research on territorial boundaries. You know, the places you occupy, along with other groups in the area,” I said. “The Black Saddles don’t have a claim anywhere in this town.”

“They don’t.”

“Yet they act like they do.”

“They’re pompous that way,” he said.

“The Dead Souls think that, too. It’s actually why they were there at the fire that night.”

“What fire?” Diego asked.

“Don’t do that. I’m a busy woman and I don’t have time, Diego. The only man I’m looking for is Paco. I know the two of you are close.”

“If you need Paco, why don’t you get a subpoena?”

“Because I don’t want to force anyone to do anything. I have a very specific outcome I’m looking for, and it doesn’t require airing everyone’s dirty laundry in order to get it done,” I said.

“What information do you think Paco has?”

“I think he knows a man by the name of Blaze was still alive after The Dead Souls left the fire that night. All I need is him to make that same statement, if it’s true, under oath.”

“That’s all,” Diego said.

“That’s all. I need a witness who can verify my client’s claims that a man by the name of Blaze was still alive when everyone started to run.”

I could tell Diego was turning my proposition over in his head. He was drumming his fingers on the table as some of the men in the restaurant turned to face us. I was sorely outnumbered by a bunch of men who probably had semi-automatic weapons holstered to their hips.

I felt the sweat dripping down my back as I held Diego’s stare.

“What do I get in return?” he asked.

“I figured you would ask that. I can’t go into specifics because it’s privileged information, but there are certain people wanting to leverage the fact that my client is in jail. They are wanting to get my client to betray people he never will. And if that happens-- if they get their hands on my client in jail-- it will bring many official people into this town that no one wants here. Not you, not The Dead Souls, not anyone else. If Paco testifies and gets my client out of jail, that risk goes down. And for Paco’s testimony, I will stay on the case and make sure those official people don’t bother the good people of Redding.”

“And you can guarantee this,” he said.

“I can guarantee lots of things. That’s how good I am,” I said.

Diego’s grin turned into a smile and he began to laugh. The men in the restaurant followed his lead, their heads thrown back in laughter. I thought they were mocking me. Calling me out on something they didn’t think I could do.

Then Diego’s hand reached over the table to strike a deal.

“I’ll get word to Paco. I take it you want him in your office?” he asked.

“No need. I’m sure you have ways of getting in touch with me. The court date is tomorrow afternoon. If you could set up a meeting with us, all I’ll need before that time is a written and signed statement by him of what he’ll say on the stand,” I said.

“Consider it done, Miss Williams.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as Diego and his men got up to leave. I pulled out my phone and called Rose, then filled her in on everything that had happened. Then, we had to get to work. Diego held up on his end of the bargain and I was sitting with Paco that night, watching him as he wrote out and signed his sworn testimony.

Between that, the inability to recover the murder weapon, and all the circumstantial evidence in play, Knox’s case was thrown out before it ever reached a grand jury.

Someone murdered Blaze, that much was for certain. There was a body with an obvious knife wound to the back. But it wasn’t our concern any longer. At least, it wasn’t at the time. Knox was going to be released from jail, which meant the assistant U.S. attorney was going to have a harder time getting his hands on the club.

But the RICO case was still pending, and that pissed me off.

“What do we do now?” I asked. “I made Diego a deal that I would keep tabs on this RICO case to make sure it didn’t come into the city.”

“Then you hold up your end of the bargain,” Rose said. “And you can do that now that the charges to our client have been thrown out. The RICO case will probably get put on the backburner. Without anyone in the club to leverage, their case isn’t rock solid. Unlike us, they can’t operate any formal investigation because of circumstantial evidence. They need the hard stuff, and they don’t have it.”

“When does Knox officially get out of jail?” I asked.

“He’s being released tomorrow morning. Just in time for his weekend. He’ll be a free man to run and do whatever he pleases until he sticks his foot in some more shit again.”

“Should someone be there to meet him?”

Rose slowly turned to me, her eyes boring into mine.

“Our job stops when our client is free. Understood?”

“But they keep us on retainer, right? Shouldn’t someone go there to make sure he’s got a way to get back to… wherever it is he has to go?” I asked.

“His club will be there. That’s what they’re for.”

“Not sure if that’s an accurate statement, but I get where you’re going with it.”

“Miss Williams, the case is over. Now it’s time for you to go home, enjoy your weekend, then come back in on Monday. I’m sure someone will need your assistance by then.”

“But what if-”

“Go home, Monroe. Now.”

I watched Rose walk down the hallway and turn into her office. I stood in the middle of the office building, my mind racing with all sorts of things. Happiness for Knox, wariness for the deal I struck with Diego, a deep-seated want to be there when Knox got out of jail. I got where Rose was coming from. I did. Keep things professional and it helps to be unbiased in a courtroom.

But I wanted to be there to celebrate this victory with Knox.

Just like I had been there when they’d tried to kill him.

Chapter 17

Knox

Free man.

I was a fuckin’ free man.

I had no idea what the hell Monroe had done to get Paco to testify, but it had worked. The case against me was dropped and they were releasing me to go home.

I knew someone had struck a deal with someone else because the Latin Cobras weren’t trying to kill me. I’d ratted out one of their own and they were all acting like we were still friends. But when I talked to Diesel about it, he was insistent that Diego hadn’t asked for a deal. Hadn’t cashed in a favor or told us we owed him one in return.

Which left only one person who could’ve done something like that.

And that was Monroe.

I pulled on my clothes and threw my leather cut over my shoulders. Fuck, it felt good to have this thing on again. I grinned at all the guards and flipped off the one who had tossed me to the wolves. I eyed him down, letting him know I was watching him as he cowered into the corner. Yeah. He wasn’t a fucking big shot without The Black Saddles lying around somewhere.

It made me feel good to know he was scared of me.

I walked down the cement and saw someone leaning against a car. Long juicy legs and light strawberry blonde hair billowing around her shoulders. The guard opened the gate for me and I walked out, a grin ticking across my cheeks.

Monroe.

That beautiful woman had come to meet me.

I stalked towards her as she pushed off the edge of her car. She wore this tight pair of jeans and a shirt that fluttered around her body. Her flip flops graced her feet as she turned towards me, a grin on her cheeks and a fire behind her beautiful green eyes.

“Fancy seeing you here,” I said.

“Figured you could use a ride. Didn’t think they’d have your motorcycle parked somewhere for you to use,” she said. “Though I did expect to see more people here.”

“We don’t come near jails unless we have to,” I said.

“So how would you have gotten home if I hadn’t been here?” she asked.

“We have these things called cabs in Redding. Ever heard of it? Yellow and black. Looks like a car. Got someone driving it.”

Monroe playfully slapped my arm and I caught her wrist within my hand. She gasped at the touch, her eyes bouncing between our connection and my face. I brought the palm of her opened hand to my lips to kiss, watching the way her skin flushed.

I couldn’t wait to collect my prize after enduring that fuckin’ jail.

“I think I’d like a ride back to my place,” I said. “I’ll show ya the way.”

I got into Monroe’s car and directed her on where to go. We twisted and turned all throughout the town, making our way to the side that bordered the desert. There was a warehouse district that had been refurbished into a bunch of rented apartments, and as we pulled in I saw Monroe taking everything in.

“Are these old shipping containers?” she asked.

“They are,” I said.

“And you live in one of them?”

“A bunch of people do. They’ve been outfitted to be little rented studio apartments.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Nope. Cheap living and decent insulation. Though I pay a shit-ton for air conditioning in the summers.”

“Which one’s yours?” she asked.

“All the way at the end. The dark green container on the right.”

She pulled up to the side of it and we both stepped out. I looked over at her and saw her looking out over the expanse of the desert. Nothing but dry shrubs, cracked ground.

But for some reason, she was taken by it.

“Wanna see the inside?” I asked.

“Of a shipping container used as an apartment? Yes please.”

I grinned as she walked around her car and I put my hand on the small of her back. If she didn’t enjoy it, she didn’t make any move to show it. I led her into the place I called home and her eyes automatically lit up. I switched on the lights and closed the door behind us as she walked into the middle of the room.

“This is a massive container,” Monroe said. “You’ve even got a lofted second story.”

“Yep.”

“Why don’t you have any windows though?” she asked.

“I got them, they’re just up on the second floor. Looks out over into the woods.”

“I bet the stars are beautiful from that vantage point.”

“Maybe you could see for yourself sometime,” I said.

Monroe whipped her head around and her hair billowed out around her body. Her tits were blanketed underneath her baggy shirt, but I could still see their luxurious outline. I had no shame in devouring her with my eyes. I had no shame in the thoughts running through my head. She’d given me a tantalizing taste of what was underneath her clothes the last time we talked, and I had every intention of taking her up on her offer.

“Knox?”

Her soft voice ripped me from my trance and I took a step towards her.

“Yep?”

“I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“I’m glad I’m okay, too. But I have a question I have to ask you,” I said.

“What’s that?”

“What deal did you strike with Diego for Paco’s testimony?”

I watched her face pale as I reached out to take her hand.

“Striking a deal with a man like Diego is a risky choice. I wanna make sure you’re gonna be okay.”

“I told him I’d keep an eye on some potential fallout with this government shit that sneaked its way into your case.”

“And that’s it?” I asked.

“That’s it. I told Diego I’d keep tabs on it and do whatever I could to keep the official guys out of Redding.”

“You know that means he thinks you’ll keep them away, period.”

“I’m aware of that,” she said.

“You shouldn’t have struck that deal. What happened to subpoenaing him?”

“It was easier to get Paco’s testimony that way. Plus, you seemed pretty concerned with the heat that would come down on you for talking, so I tried not to stir the pot anymore.”

“I never said I was concerned.”

“You didn’t have to. It was written all over your face during our last conversation. You really struggled with it, and while I don’t understand it, I wanted to respect it.”

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. I’d never had a woman treat me with that type of respect before. Hell, I’d never had a woman who wanted to have a conversation with me before. I pulled Monroe’s body into mine, slipping my arm around her waist. Her emerald green eyes looked up towards me, her lips swollen with a want to kiss. I curled my fingers into her skin. I felt her heat penetrating my body. I lowered my face to hers and watched her eyes fluttered closed, her body waiting for whatever I had to give her.

Our lips connected and electricity shot through my veins. Her arms were slung around my shoulders, her hands fisting my hair. I walked her back into the couch, feeling her sit against the edge of it as I bent her backwards.

The two of us went tumbling as a giggle escaped from between her lips.

We ripped at one another’s clothing. Shedding layer after layer until nothing was there but our skin and vulnerability. Fuck. Monroe’s body was filled with curves I could’ve never dreamed in my wildest fantasies. A tight little waist and a small paunch behind her belly button. Glorious tits that overflowed my hands when I palmed them. Thick legs that rubbed together with every step she took.

I was going to devour every inch of her before she left my place.

We fell to the floor as my lips traveled down her neck. I wrapped my lips around her painful peaks, watching her moan and wiggle for me. Her legs parted to accommodate my naked form as I slithered down her body. Lapping at her with my tongue and massaging her excess with my hands.

“Knox. Shit.”

“Oh I like the sound of that, Monroe. Say it again.”

“Knox. Please. You have to… I need-”

“Tell me what you need,” I said.

I hovered my mouth over her juicy pussy as her eyes looked down upon me.

“Say it.”

“I need you to lick me. It’s been too long. Please.”

“My pleasure,” I said.

I dove into her depths and her back arched off the floor. I sucked and I licked. I pressed and I circled. I drew her throbbing nub between my teeth and pinched it with my lips. I pressed two of my fingers into her tight, wet heat as she began to buck into my face.

“Holy hell. Just like that. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

Her sounds rose goosebumps over my body. I lapped up her juices, watching them as they drenched my hand. I flicked my tongue as fast as it could go, watching her body jerk and shake for me. Her heels were digging into my back and her hands were curling tightly into the tendrils of my hair.

I was going to have fun with her.

“Knox! Yes!”

I slid my hand from her pussy and reached around to grip her ass. She poured her juices out for my taking as I held her hips in the air. I pulled her closer to me, feeling her thighs grip around my cheeks.

I looked up and saw her skin flushed with a deep red, her chest panting desperately for air.

Her body caved and I rushed up her body. Our lips collided together and I felt her tongue lick her essence off my skin. I grabbed my dripping cock and pressed into her throbbing pussy, groaning as I entered her.

“Holy shit. This has nothing on what I thought you’d feel like.”

I set a relentless pace, not allowing Monroe one ounce of ability to recuperate. Her body was mine. Her sounds were mine. Her salted juices and her gasping breaths were all mine. I tossed her legs around my waist and encouraged her to lock them. To pull me closer into the comfort of her body as I plunged into her with my cock. Wet skin against wet skin rang out into the room. Our bodies slammed together as her tits jumped in my face.

I buried myself in them, licking and biting and marking them as mine.

Her hands dug into the meat of my back as her pussy began to flutter. I felt my balls rising into my body as her juices dripped down my skin. Our lips collided once more in a sloppy kiss. All teeth and tongue and dominance. Her face was scrunched up in pleasure. I could feel her pussy about to pop. Her body tensed and her legs pulled me deeper, and soon she was rocketing to the stars as my name fell from her lips.

“Knox. Knox. Knox.”

It was like a chant for rain. A string of ‘thank you’s for the pleasure I knew her body was racked with. I plunged myself into her depths one last time, her pussy sucking me deep as I burst into her body. Threads of cum that had begged for release for weeks coated her throbbing walls. I planted my hands beside her head and watched as her hands raked over me.

She took in the strength of my chest, her eyes screwed shut as her fingers did all the talking.

Monroe’s body dropped to the floor as a sheen of sweat gathered against her tits. I bent down to the crook of her neck and kissed it, sucking on a sweet spot that made her pussy clamp around my cock. I shivered at the feeling as my cock rose back to life. Throbbing within her body as she shook underneath me.

But I wasn’t done with her yet.

Not after all she had done for me.

Chapter 18

Monroe

I couldn’t get enough of him. Even though my body was spent and even though Knox was puffing for air, I felt his cock rise back to life between my legs. His pleasure-clouded eyes darkened again as my eyes fluttered open, his cock pressing lewdly against my walls. He was growing thicker than he had done the first time, and I felt a surge of electricity spark my body back to life.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and rolled him over. His beautiful brown eyes widened with shock as I grinned down into his face. I planted my hands on his chest and swiveled my hips, feeling how our juices poured from my body. Every time I rolled, his cock hit this beautiful spot. It made me gasp for air and caused my thighs to jump, and his grin got wider every time it happened. I held his gaze, rocking against him as his hands gripped my hips tightly.

Then he sat up straight and pulled me close to him as his back sat against the couch.

My knees planted into the floor of his apartment as I slid up and down his cock. I gripped his hair and pulled him to me, his teeth nibbling on my skin. I loved how he bit down into me. How he commanded my body with his hands. I felt his calloused palms rake up my back and it sent shivers cascading throughout my body.

“You’re fucking gorgeous,” Knox said. “You know that?”

His words rumbled through my body as I felt him move again. Like I weighed nothing but air, he picked me up and carried me through his warehouse apartment. I felt my back being pinned to something cold as his hands grabbed mine, pinning my wrists above my head.

The wall.

Knox had me pinned to the wall.

His hips rolled into me as his cock pulsed with delight. Knox reached his arm down underneath one of my legs, hooking it underneath the bend of my knee. I gasped as he brought my leg up, his hand planting beside my shoulder. He opened me up to the cold of his apartment, but the moment he slammed into me I knew what he had done.

He had exposed my aching clit to his hard body, and I found it hard to catch my breath.

“I’m just full of surprises,” he said breathlessly. Taunting me, like I was his play toy.

I hated it.

And yet I couldn’t get enough of it.

I gripped onto anything I could find as he rendered me immobile. His tattooed forearms and his strong shoulders. His meaty thighs and his soft hair. His bruises were faded to bright yellows and soft browns, reminding me of the horrors I’d experienced that night. Tears rose to my eyes as I thought about him in that hospital bed. How badly he had been beaten and how worried I had been for him. I closed my eyes and felt his cock sloshing in and out of my body, my juices dripping down his balls and pooling on the floor beneath us.

His lips captured mine as a tear rushed down my cheek. I opened my eyes and found his blue orbs, his brow furrowed in concern. He slowed his pace, slowly slipping in and out of me so I could catch my breath.

I was so happy he was okay.

My head fell against the wall as his cock stroked my pussy. My walls were fluttering again as my gut began to burn. His hips started to roll harder as my back inched up the wall. Sweat dripped down my brow as my hands gripped into his tattoos, leaving crescent marks behind on his faded bruising as he gnashed his teeth at me.

“Monroe. Shit. I-... fuck.”

I felt Knox’s hips stuttering as my pussy pulled him deeper. I relinquished my body to his assault, taking in the way his cock split me in half. My juices soaked my ass crack and dripped down his thighs. With every thrust he made they splattered against his skin. Our foreheads fell together as he slammed into me one last time, stilling as his cock pumped my body full of him again.

His pulsing triggered my own release, throwing me over the edge into an endless abyss of darkness.

But before we could fully recuperate, a phone rang out into the room.

“That’s… not mine,” I said breathlessly.

“I know. It’s mine,” Knox said heavily.

He pulled away from my body and helped steady me onto my feet. He walked away from me, every muscle of his body flexing as I slid to the floor. I couldn’t stand. Not now. My legs were weak and my body was still shaking. The room was spinning and my head felt light. My thighs were sore and my pussy was swollen and I was still dripping out on the floor of his apartment.

I watched his glistening muscles flex as he dug around for his phone.

“Knox,” he said. “Yep, I’m home. Uh huh. It’s there? Figured it would be. Yep. Hell no, I don’t need a damn ride. I’ll call a cab or some shit. Uh huh. Thirty? Got it. I’ll be there.”

My head fell against the wall as reality crashed back over me.

“Hate to fuck and run, but duty calls,” he said.

“That was your club, wasn’t it?” I asked breathlessly.

“Calling church,” he said.

“Church. That a… code word for… something?” I asked.

“Struggling over there?”

I looked over at him and saw him grinning at me. That little shit-eating grin that knew he’d just rocked my damn world.

“Shut up,” I said. “Guess I didn’t do my job if you’re not.”

“Trust me. I’m struggling enough,” he said. “But I gotta go.”

“To church.”

“Yep.”

How the hell was I supposed to have feelings for a criminal? I literally just picked this man up from jail after he was booked for murdering someone. Granted he didn’t do it, but he was about to walk right back into the crew that got him into trouble in the first place. Go meet up with the guy that sent him into that mess in the first place!

“Don’t go,” I said.

Knox’s movements ceased before he pulled his leather vest on.

“Don’t have much of a choice,” he said.

“You always have a choice. You can make a better life for yourself,” I said as I got up off the floor.

“Who said I didn’t have a good life now?” he asked.

“The fact that you just got out of jail holds merit. You shouldn’t be part of that life. You can have something better.”

“What I got is fine by me,” he said.

“Knox, you can’t go.”

“And why the hell not?” he asked. “Because some pretty little naked thing told me I shouldn’t?”

“No. Because your fucking lawyer told you that you shouldn’t,” I said.

“You ain’t my lawyer anymore. You did your job and now it’s over.”

“So, that’s it? You’re going to go back to the people who sunk you into that situation in the first place? Who told you to go into the woods and put you in harm’s way in the first place?”

“That club’s the only thing I got, Monroe!”

“That club landed you in jail, Knox!”

I furiously pulled on my clothes as he made his way for the door.

“That club’s the only thing I’ve ever known. And if you don’t like it, then you can get in your car and outta here,” he said.

“You deserve better, Knox.”

I reached out for his arm and spun him around, our eyes connecting in their heated fury.

“You deserve better than people who will throw you to the wolves.”

“None of them threw me to the wolves,” he said. “None of what happened was my fault. We went in peace and they came at us in anger. And frankly, I don’t give a damn if you believe me. That club is my family, and you don’t abandon family. Ever.”

I reached for him again as he turned to leave, but this time he shook me off him.

“And if you think that a little ‘welcome home’ fuck gives you the right to tell me what I can and can’t do with my life, then you can forget where the hell I live.”

Then I watched as he stormed out of his apartment and left me to make my choice.

I charged out of his apartment and saw him standing at the sidewalk. A yellow cab pulled up and he got in, not bothering to give me a look as the cab pulled away. I slammed his door behind me and kicked at the metal of the warehouse, listening as it echoed in the confines of his living space.

What the hell was wrong with him?

Why the hell was he doing this?

There wasn’t anything else I could do. He had made his choice despite how hard I worked to get him out of jail. I slumped into my car and choked back my tears, then cranked it up and backed out of his driveway. I couldn’t stay here and wait for him like some desperate piece of ass, even though something inside of me wanted to. I didn’t want to leave things like this between us. Not after what we’d shared.

And despite what he said, I knew it was something special.

But it couldn’t be. The rational part of me kept yelling that I couldn’t have feelings for a criminal. I was a lawyer. I put men like him behind bars when there was evidence to do so. My mind felt conflicted as my pelvis ached. Ached with the reminder of what we had just done.

Never in my life had I felt so torn between two worlds before.

I made my way back to my apartment and stalked in through the front door. I shut it behind me and made my way for the fridge, pulling out the opened bottle of wine. I popped the cork out of it and tipped it to my lips, feeling the alcohol fill my empty stomach.

Rose had been right. My emotional attachment to this case should’ve ended the moment the case was tossed out.

I walked out onto my porch with the bottle of wine to my lips. His arousal was still leaking from me, staining my panties and wetting my jeans. I sat in the chair on my small little porch, then looked out over the horizon towards the desert.

I wondered what Knox was doing. What trouble he was concocting with his club again and when I’d have to bail him out of whatever the fuck they would make him do next. I swallowed deep pulls of the wine, feeling the lightheaded sensation overcome me as I sat there. The sun was hot on my face as it hung low in the sky. It felt like lunchtime, but the truth was that the sun was about to set.

I’d spent my entire afternoon in the arms of a criminal who didn’t have any passion to change the course of his life.

I felt tears crest my eyes as the sun drenched my skin. But this time, I didn’t try to hold them back. I let them slide down my skin and find their death on my chest as I drained the wine bottle of its contents.

“Welcome to Redding,” I said with a snicker.

Hell of a crash course, I guessed.

Chapter 19

Knox

I slammed myself into the cab and told him where to drop me off. I didn’t want this asshole anywhere near the club, and I wanted to make sure if Monroe followed me she wouldn’t know where the lodge was. This was why I didn’t get involved with girls that weren’t associated with the lifestyle. Or our club, in general. They didn’t understand and they never would. Girls outside of this world had some sick notion that they could change us. Fix us. Put us on a right path towards a white picket fence and two and a half children. Those who hung around and were a part of this lifestyle knew exactly what they were getting into. They didn’t freak out when they started coming to terms with the fact that they’d fucked a criminal and had the best time of their life.

I was fuming as Monroe’s words rattled around in my head. Whatever that woman thought she could sway, she couldn’t. She was a good time and nothing more. It was time for her to go back to being our on-call lawyer whenever we couldn’t get in touch with Rose. And even though I was worried about this deal she struck with Diego, it wasn’t my issue anymore. She blew up at me for stupid shit and I wasn’t going to change over some tight pussy and being freed from jail.

That was her damn job.

It wasn’t like she did me a fucking favor.

I turned around in the cab and saw Monroe slam into her car. I watched to see if she would follow the cab, but instead she backed out of the driveway and turned to leave. Served her fucking right. She was a young little lawyer who was new to the game and thought it would be fun to have sex with the bad boy. She probably had some stupid ass client fetish where she did me a favor and I paid for her services in sex.

At least I left her with a memory that would be hard to top.

The cab navigated through the sandy streets of the desert. I had no fucking idea why Diesel was calling church now, but I figured it had to be important. And I had business to attend to. There was a rat we needed to smoke out. Someone in our club who was opening their fat mouth and talking about shit to other people. Hell, we didn’t even talk about our families to one another on a regular fucking basis.

What the hell made this shithead think he could talk about this shit to a friend?

And anyway, even if I did wanna stay with Monroe and try to make this shit work with her, how the hell could I protect her? I couldn’t even fucking protect Canyon and my mother. I couldn’t keep this out of this world no matter how hard I fucking tried. I trusted the wrong person and now police and the club were checking up on them every damn day.

How the hell was I supposed to protect Monroe if I couldn’t trust the men I rolled with?

Canyon. I needed to know Canyon was okay. I knew I was taking a risk by calling her, but I needed to hear her voice. I needed to know she was alive and okay. With a rat in the club, I was struggling to trust anyone. Diesel. Brewer. Mick. All of them. I was struggling just knowing I’d have to sit in a room with them and talk shit over now that I was out. I had no idea who to trust anymore, and for all I knew Canyon and my momma were dead.

Shit. I needed to call them now.

The cab came to a stop and I slid out my wallet. I handed the man some money then told him to leave the same way he came. I dug my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through my contacts, going all the day down to the name I had for my mother’s landline.

‘Zippy’.

So, no one who got my phone would know who the fuck it was.

“Hello?”

“Canyon. It’s me,” I said. “Color?”

“Blue and green, with a bit of white,” Canyon said.

“White? Who’s sick?” I asked.

“Grandma’s got a cough. We just got back from the doctor.”

“What kind of cough? Is it a bark? Wet? Dry?”

“Daddy, you worry way too much,” she said.

“Just answer the questions, smart aleck.”

“It’s sinus stuff. Wet, but not in her lungs. The doctor gave her a daily pill to take to help her runny nose and her drainage.”

“Sounds… gross,” I said.

“It is. But I’ve got it under control,” she said.

“How are you guys doing?” I asked.

“Daddy, we’re okay. Stop worrying so much.”

“I’m going to worry because you’re my daughter and I love you. How are you doing? You getting grandma some soup?” I asked.

“Yep. There’s some chicken noodle in the fridge already. She made some homemade a couple of nights ago when she first started feeling bad.”

“Then heat her up some in the microwave.”

“I already am, Daddy. Geez.”

“Sorry, princess. Listen, are there still police officers checking up on you guys?”

“How did you know about that?” she asked. “Daddy, did you ask them to come? You have to stop being so overprotective all the time.”

“One, I’m not overprotective. I’m just as protective as I need to be for a man who has a beautiful daughter. And second, no. I’m not. But they are coming by to make sure you guys don’t need anything.”

“Yes, they’re still coming by,” she said. “One came by this morning. He was the one that helped me get grandma to the doctor.”

“Good for him. I’ll have to find out who it was and thank him.”

“His name on his badge was Alvez. I looked at it in case you wanted to know,” she said.

“You’ve always been a smart girl.”

“Daddy?”

“Yeah?”

“When am I gonna see you again?”

My heart dropped to my toes as I continued to walk along the street. I could see the lodge on the horizon with motorcycles lined up out front. This walk was a fucking death march in the heat of the sun, but I was close to making it.

Close to having my damn bike back.

“Soon,” I said. “Someone’s got a birthday coming up and I was thinking about coming to visit.”

“If you do, could you bring that awesome ice cream from the store across town?” Canyon asked.

“Don’t I always come with the good ice cream?” I asked.

“It’s so good. And it’s the only place around here that has raspberry and strawberry sherbet combined,” she said.

“Then I’ll definitely come with it,” I said with a grin. “Now, you take care of your grandma, okay? I’ll call soon.”

“You better. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, princess. What’s my speed dial number?”

“Two,” she said.

“Two? I got bumped?”

“No,” she said with a giggle. “The one on grandma’s phone doesn’t always punch in the first time. She moved it to two until we can get a new landline phone.”

“I’ll have one sent to the house,” I said.

“Grandma would tell me to tell you not to do that.”

“Then tell grandma the only thing she needs to focus on is getting better. I’ll have a new landline phone sent to the house by the middle of next week.”

“Thanks, Daddy. I love you.”

“Love you too, princess. We’ll talk soon.”

“Bye.”

I hung up the call and shoved my phone into my pocket. The clubhouse seemed to get farther and farther away, but it gave me a good deal of time to think. My mind kept going back to Monroe. To how adamant she was about me changing my life. That wasn’t the plea of some woman mesmerized by a good dicking. She really thought I could turn my life around. The issue was, I didn’t want to. I picked my family when I joined The Dead Souls. They were my brothers. My sisters. Men and women I did business with and thrived among. They had my back when no one else did, including the one-night stand that dropped Canyon off on my doorstep when she was no more than a year old.

If I knew where that bitch was today, I’d have a few words for her.

Her fucking loss anyway. Canyon was a wonderful, intelligent young girl.

And she certainly didn’t get any of those traits from her bullshit mother.

I didn’t know why Monroe was so adamant about changing me. The fire in her eye was unmistakable and the way she fought with me was unlike anything any other woman had done. Usually when I raised my voice, people backed down. I had a voice that could thunder across valleys and echo off fucking canyons. But she kept up with me. Toe to toe. With a fire in her eye and a point to prove.

I guessed that was the lawyer in her.

I walked up to my bike that was parked in the parking lot and ran my fingers along it. Fuck, I’d missed that thing. Sleek black with pale green accents and chrome detailing. I’d put a lot of money into this thing. I wanted to teach my daughter how to ride it someday. Maybe hand it off to her so we could do father-daughter weekend road trips or some shit. I wanted to take care of it so it could take care of her if she ever got curious about bikes.

But she sure as hell wasn’t gonna be a part of this lifestyle.

She was better than all this.

“Knox? That you?”

I looked up and saw Mick striding across the parkin’ lot.

“Holy shit, man. I’m so glad you’re back.”

“Hey Mick,” I said with a grin. “I hear ya tried keeping up my job while I was gone.”

I hugged the man and patted his back as he smiled into my shoulder.

“I hate your fucking job. You can have it back,” he said.

“That bad, huh? You gotta be strong when dealin’ with customer service. People will try to take advantage of you if you aren’t,” I said.

“Fuck that shit. I’d rather run the fucking numbers any day of the damn week.”

“Don’t worry. We all wanna let you do that shit. I hated math in high school and that shit hasn’t changed,” I said.

“Come on. Everyone’s waiting for you in the clubhouse.”

I walked with Mick as the two of us entered the lodge. The guys got up and hollered their hellos, then embraced me as Diesel sat and smiled. I was happy to see the guys. I really was. But I couldn’t shake the fact that I was hugging a damn rat. The only men in my club who knew about Canyon were the men I was sitting around.

And that boiled my fucking blood that one of them was playing nice.

“Good to have you back,” Grave said. “Thought I was gonna have to take out some guards to get you out of there.”

“You really like spilling blood, don’t you?” I asked.

“When the time’s right,” Grave said with a smirk.

“The fuck? I thought they killed you in there,” Rock said. “I hacked into the security footage. They fucking did a number on you.”

“Gonna take more than a few pussy assholes to take me down,” I said.

“How’d you like those guards on C-block?” Brewer asked.

“Ah, so you were responsible for the nice guards,” I said. “Why the hell didn’t I put that together?”

“You were too busy working through broken ribs, that’s why,” Diesel said.

I looked over at my friend and I could see a spark of frustration in his eye. Something had gone down between me getting out and me getting here. I embraced my friend and hugged him tightly, then he moved his lips to my ear and began to whisper.

“Whittling it down.”

I nodded my head, letting him know I knew what he was talking about. I was the last at church because he was trying to get a read on everyone. Diesel was a notorious softie. Didn’t enjoy the sight of blood, didn’t enjoy throwing punches, and sure as hell didn’t enjoy killing people like Grave did. He wanted to settle things over alcohol, food, and conversation. But what he was good at was reading people.

I mean, eerily good.

Someone could come in with a different-colored mud on their shoe and he could rattle off where they’d been, how long they’d been there, and who they had been with.

No fucking joke.

And that meant he was putting his skills to good use. Getting the guys alone with him so he could analyze them. Compare it to how they interacted when they were around me.

Smart ass man, that one.

“Okay, enough with the ass kissing,” Diesel said. “We got shit to talk about.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Short and sweet? The Black Saddles are being very quiet about Blaze’s death. There’s a body, and because of Brewer’s connections with the police in town he was able to get a copy of the coroner’s report.”

“Fucking knife wound in the man’s back,” Brewer said.

“So, Blaze was murdered that night. He was in that body bag,” I said.

“Yeah, but you didn’t put him there,” Mick said. “Someone else did. Someone else who was there that night.”

“I don’t wanna hold my breath on them being silent about it for long. I know The Black Saddles are shit, but they aren’t psychopathic. It takes some serious issues to kill one of their own, especially a prospect. I don’t suspect they’ll be silent about his death for long,” Diesel said.

“Either way, someone set Knox up to take that fall,” Mick said. “We can’t ignore that.”

“He’s right,” Grave said. “And that lawyer girl can toss around things like government attorneys all she wants. But someone had to set Knox up for that in order to keep him in jail as long as he was.”

“So… what the fuck do we do?” I asked. “We gotta figure out who set me up.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Diesel said. “You on board for something like that?”

“Hell yeah I’m on board. You think I was gonna let this shit go?” I asked.

“I didn’t know what the hell you were gonna be up for,” Diesel said. “Your bruises are still fading and you’re still walking with a slight limp.”

“I’m fine. Been through worse,” I said.

“Better man than I am,” Mick said. “I would’ve been begging for morphine and crying like a little bitch.”

“At least he ain’t scared to admit it,” I said with a grin.

“I think we could all use some food,” Diesel said. “Why don’t we head to the bar, get some sandwiches and some drinks, and start brainstorming what the fuck we’re gonna do from here.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I said. “Food in jail ain’t even fit to feed a fucking dog. I’m ready for a decent burger and something other than fucking treated sewer water.”

Chapter 20

Monroe

I was frustrated with Knox. How the hell could he just go back to a life like that? It was what put him in jail in the first place. Did he not give a shit about that? It was like a petulant toddler that put his hand on a hot surface and kept doing it. What the fuck was he getting out of this? Why would he want to continue living a life like that when he was given a second chance?

I had put my reputation on the line for him. Fought with my new bosses’ time and time again to get him out of that place. I had to do things I was nowhere near proud of doing in order to get the information I needed to set him free. Most lawyers would’ve helped cut him a deal and let him rot in prison. But not me. That wasn’t acceptable to me and I made it known.

And this was what he went and did? After fucking me against his damn wall?

It made me angry. Angrier than I’d been in long time. But as angry as I was at him for being involved with his club still, I couldn’t stay mad at him. Every time I allowed my mind to wander and every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. I saw his bruised and battered body lying in that hospital bed and I woke up with this fear in my chest. This panic that took forever to subside.

As much as I hated the life he lived, I felt a connection with him.

What type of connection, I wasn’t sure. But I couldn’t get him out of my mind. He was in my dreams and in my thoughts. There were moments that happened and voices I heard that made me think he was around the corner. There were points in my days where things happened and I wanted to call him and tell him about him.

Why?

Why did I want to fill him in on these things?

I sat in my office staring at his file. I scanned through the information on him, taking it all in. His height. His weight. His stature and his pictures. Those brown eyes and long, luxurious brown hair that had felt so soft between my fingers. I stared at the home address he had on file and scanned my eyes over the telephone number he’d given to us.

Was that really his number?

If I called it, would he pick up on the other end?

I closed the file and tried to get back to work. I had a few clients throughout the day. People who needed help with worker’s compensation claims and people who needed a lawyer for one too many traffic tickets. I had a couple of single mothers that wandered into my office, looking for a lawyer to have pity on them. I took one of the cases pro-bono and sent the other across the hall to Rose.

I couldn’t be certain, but I got the sneaking suspicion she was lying to me about something.

I sank myself into work and tried to get Knox off my mind. But it was hard to do. His file kept taunting me from the filing cabinet. Calling to me in a whisper that sounded eerily like his voice in my ear. If I chanced to close my eyes and take a breath, I could feel his lips on my neck. I could feel his body still pressing into mine.

Fuck. I’d crossed a line with a client I was struggling to come back from.

I knew I needed to forget him. I needed to toss him out of my mind and not think about him until The Dead Souls needed us again. I needed to heed Rose’s advice and keep my damn personal emotions to myself. I couldn’t get emotionally attached to every client we had. If I did, their personal stories and their own heartaches would sink me. It would drain me of all the energy I had and I would be unable to perform the job I’d chosen as my lifetime career.

But it wasn’t simply emotional with Knox.

At least, it didn’t feel like it.

Heaving a heavy sigh, I stood up from my desk. I ripped open my filing cabinet and thumbed through the files. I got to the one that had Knox’s name on it and ripped it from the masses, then flipped it open to find his number.

I committed it to memory before I turned the light off in my office.

Picking up my cell phone, I dialed his number. I sat on a chair in the corner of the room, keeping my voice down so Rose couldn’t hear me. The phone rang and rang on the other end, and for a moment I thought it was a dummy number. A burner phone or something that would endlessly ring until I finally decided to give up.

Until someone picked up on the other line.

“Hello?”

That voice. That low, rumbling, rib-shaking voice. I closed my eyes and bit back a sigh, relishing how it felt wafting over my ears.

“Hello?”

“Knox?”

“Monroe? Is that you?”

“Hey there,” I said. “I wasn’t sure if you were the one who was going to pick up.”

“How did you get this number?” he asked.

“Your file,” I said.

“Using your powers for evil. I can get behind that.”

“Thought you might be impressed,” I said with a grin. “How are you?”

“Doing good. Still healing up, but most of the pain’s gone. You?”

“I’m… okay.”

“That wasn’t very convincing. You all right?”

“I was wondering if we could get together and talk,” I said.

“You wanna talk.”

“Yes. Without the yelling, preferably.”

“About that-”

“No, just… tell me you’ll meet me somewhere,” I said.

“Depends on when you were thinking,” he said.

“When are you free? I can work around it,” I said.

“I’m full up today. Won’t get back to my place ‘til almost seven.”

“Not gonna lie, going to your place doesn’t sound like the most appealing thing right now,” I said.

“I got my bike. I can meet you wherever you want.”

“I have yet to see this bike of yours,” I said.

“Let me come over and you can see it.”

“To my place?” I asked.

“You got one of those, right?”

“Yes, I have a place. Asshole.”

“Screamer.”

“Somehow, I think that’s not really an insult,” I said.

“Never said it was, beautiful.”

I shivered at his voice as I curled my arms around my chest.

“Is this your cell phone?” I asked.

“It is. Though don’t go handing it out to anyone,” Knox said.

“If I text you my address, would you like to come by and talk tonight?” I asked.

“Gimme a time and I’ll be there,” he said.

“Great. I’ll text it to you later. Say, around eight? Do you want me to pick you up something to drink?”

“I’m good. I can bring a beer or two from my place if I need to.”

“It’s just I’m a wine drinker. Not really a beer girl, so I don’t have any at my place,” I said.

“Then I’ll bring some with me. Don’t worry. I don’t expect everyone to drink what I drink.”

I felt a soft smile spread across my cheeks.

“Well, I’ll see you tonight then.”

“See ya tonight. Get me that address. I’ll see you around eight.”

“See you then,” I said. “And Knox?”

“Yep?”

“Thanks for picking up.”

“I almost didn’t. I don’t usually pick up numbers I don’t recognize,” he said.

“Then why did you pick up this one?” I asked.

There was a beat of silence before I heard him draw in a deep breath.

“Because I was hoping it was you,” he said.

His words left me breathless as blood rushed hotly through my veins.

“I’ll see you tonight,” I said breathlessly.

“See ya then, Monroe.”

Chapter 21

Knox

The entire ride to Monroe’s was tense, at best. I’d had a long day with the guys, trying to dig into who the fuck set me up for this kid’s murder. Whoever the hell it was, they weren’t smart. I wasn’t even carrying a damn knife on me that day. All I ever carried was a taser and a fucking gun on my side. If anything else was required, I simply cocked my fist back and punched the shit outta whoever the fuck needed it.

I tried to prepare myself for this talk with Monroe, because I had a feeling it was gonna get bad. She was gonna try to change me again and I was gonna have to tell her that wasn’t how it worked. She was gonna cry or yell or hit me or do some shit she thought was worthy of her emotional state and I was gonna have to give her a hard reality. I didn’t live the kind of life growing up that allowed me a father I could be proud of. A man whose footsteps I could follow in. There was no damn business to hand down or job to take over once he was dead. There was no trust fund set up or money to take after he was gone.

My father was a pathetic piece of slime that hung my momma out to dry.

My mother couldn’t work. Not full time, at least. Her pregnancy with me had been rough, and she sustained a lot of injuries during labor with me. I was sitting so high up in her fucking body that when she contracted, I went up instead of down. My ass jammed right into her lungs and collapsed them on the fucking spot. They had to rush her into an operating room to get me out and save her life, but I’d done so much fucking damage that she couldn’t fully bounce back.

One of her lungs was permanently damaged, her spine was permanently misaligned, and her kidneys still didn’t function the way they needed to anymore. I messed my momma up, and that came with a lot of anger spewed my way. My father blamed me for our financial problems. Said he couldn’t float the family by himself and expected me to get a job when I was old enough. There was always some sort of fighting at night when I was in bed. My momma would try to tell my father to shut the hell up when it came to that kinda stuff and my daddy would tell her I was the reason we couldn’t pay our damn bills.

Another mouth to feed that couldn’t work.

He took off when I was fourteen. Tired of never having any money and tired of paying for my momma and I to ‘mooch off him’. He left one night and never came back and I’ll never forget how hard my momma cried. How many tears she shed that night wondering how the fuck she was gonna feed me. For two years after that, I watched her bounce around from one part time job to the other, never in the same place twice and doing whatever she needed to get money to feed my sorry ass.

That was when The Dead Souls came into my life.

That was when I found out what family was supposed to do.

I rolled with the club and got myself into some trouble. Tried to prove how tough I was and how no one could push me around. There were some men in the club, dead and gone now as I rose through the ranks, but they straightened me out. Taught me what it meant to be a real man. Taught me what it meant to provide for family and taught me a lesson or two in loyalty. I found my place in their charades and was made a prospect, and the moment that happened the money started flowing.

And it wasn’t long after that money started that Canyon was dropped on my porch.

Momma called me crying. Said someone had left a baby on her porch. There had been a note attached to her, signed by a one-night stand whose face I couldn’t recall until Canyon started to blossom into it. A random girl on a drunken night when I had money to throw around after paying off my momma’s house. A celebration to being inducted, being the provider my father was too pussy to be, and a celebration to the family I’d found.

And created that night, apparently.

I lived this life not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Because even through it all, those men at the clubhouse saw me through everything. Through the fights and the anger I held against my father. Through the confusion of having a baby girl I didn’t know about and being there when I yelled about what the fuck I was supposed to do with her. They had my back. Them. Brewer and Grave and Mick. Diesel and Rock and the rest of the gang.

All of them had been there.

And no woman, especially Monroe, was ever gonna get me to turn my damn back on them.

I pulled up to her apartment complex and grinned. Despite what I knew was coming, it would be good to see her again. That fire in her emerald eyes matched the glow of the sunset I’d watched on my way here, and her strawberry blonde hair reminded me of the sandy dunes of the desert I looked at every time I was at the clubhouse.

Damn. This was gonna be a hard conversation.

I walked up to Monroe’s apartment and knocked on the door. I had a couple of ice cold beers in my hand as I waited for her to open the door. I heard footsteps behind it and a light sigh, and it made me grin. I could tell she was just as nervous for this conversation as I was, and I figured I could leverage that to keep the conversation peaceful.

“Hey there,” Monroe said.

I raked my eyes down her form and took in what she was wearing. A dark green gown with a matching robe tied tightly around her waist. It matched her eyes and made her hair stand out. The hair that was piled high on her head with nothing but a clip and a prayer.

“Hey,” I said.

“Come on in. I figured we could talk on the porch.”

She led me into her apartment and it seemed very average for a woman like her. I expected vibrant colors or some sort of minimalistic shit furniture that wobbled whenever someone sat on it. But it was pretty bland. Tan walls. Popcorn ceilings. Laminate hardwood floors and hand-me-down furniture. No pictures were on the wall and there were no decorations on any side tables or anything. She had only what she needed and there was nothing else there.

It was almost like she didn’t regard the place as home.

I watched her sit down in wrought iron chair outside. Her eyes were cast towards the horizon as her fingers wrapped around a wine glass. The crimson liquid sloshed around in the glass as I stepped onto the porch, taking a seat beside her before I popped open a can.

“It amuses me that you actually brought your own beer,” Monroe said.

“Told ya I would, and I’m a man of my word,” I said.

“Which means you’ll still be going back to the club,” she said.

“Monroe, I get it. You wanna change me and help me find a new way of life and all that. But you gotta understand, these are my brothers. My family. The family I was born into, it wasn’t the greatest. I got a momma that can’t work well because of having me and a sister that relies on me to provide for them so they can live the life they deserve.”

“You have options, if that’s the issue,” she said.

“It’s not,” I said. “It’s more than that. I went through some shit in my teenage years, and they were there to help. Men in that club who have been dead and gone for years taught me lessons my own father should’ve. Lesson about loyalty and hard work and what it meant to really have a family. What it meant to be someone a person could lean on. They got me through hell and back. It’s not that I can’t turn my back on them. It’s that I don’t want to.”

“What’s wrong with your mother?” she asked.

“Bad back. Bad lung. Bad kidneys. Shit like that.”

“You said it was because of her pregnancy?”

“Yeah. I was a rough one.”

“Doesn’t shock me,” she said with a grin.

It lit up her eyes and I had problems pulling my gaze from her face.

“What happened to her?” Monroe asked.

“Long story short, I used her kidneys too much as a punching bag and when she started contracting, I started goin’ up.”

“Up?” she asked.

“Yep. Up. Right into her lungs. Collapsed them and killed her. They had to rush to get me out before they could revive her.”

“Holy shit, Knox.”

“She’s a tough woman, but it didn’t come without a price. She’s on disability and works when she can, but it isn’t much. It was barely enough to pay the bills until I paid off her house.”

“You paid off your mother’s house.”

“I did. The club helped me do it.”

“Hell of a gang,” she said.

“Hell of a family,” I said.

“I know what our reputation is around town. I hear the whispers. I get it. But whether or not people understand it, we’re trying to become more legit. Get ourselves out of some things and take on other ventures.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“Can’t talk about it. But we’re trying to clean up our act a bit.”

“A bit,” she said with a snicker.

“Yep. A bit. That’s how change works. A bit at a time.”

“Do you guys launder money?” she asked.

“Am I talking to my lawyer or a friend?”

“Would a friend get an honest answer?”

“Possibly.”

“Then I’m a friend.”

“It’s not my place to talk about that, but I can tell you this: we did used to do a lot of the things the whispers around this town accuse us of.”

“Of course,” she said with a whisper.

“I don’t expect you to understand, or even like it. But sometimes people gotta choose their own family. And I chose mine. It might not be perfect, and we might not be completely legal or whatever, but they’re mine. I trust those men with my life. Mostly.”

“Mostly?” she asked.

“We’re going through some stuff. All families do.”

“Uh huh. And what… stuff… does this kind of family go through?” she asked.

“Someone’s opening their mouth on something they shouldn’t. But we’re figurin’ it out.”

“I don’t even want to know.”

“I wouldn’t tell you if you wanted to know,” I said.

“You think I don’t get it, but I do,” she said.

“Which part?”

“They part where you have to choose your own family.”

“I’m interested to know how you understand that,” I said.

“My father left when I was a kid. Like yours did,” she said.

I turned my body towards Monroe as her eyes lost itself in the star-studded horizon.

“I never said my father left.”

“You didn’t have to,” she said. “I know how to read between the lines. Anyway, there wasn’t some grand fight or anything. No shell-shocking reason why he left. He just left. Went to work and never came back one day. There was nothing off about my parents or any unnecessary fighting. We still had family nights out and cuddled together and watched movies. I was nine when he left. That man gave me a smile and a hug before he left for work, and I waved him off.”

“Fuck, Monroe.”

“I begged Mom for years to tell me what happened. But all she told me was they just… stopped loving one another. Like that. Like, just overnight or something. But it never explained why I didn’t hear from him. Why Christmases and birthdays passed without phone calls or presents. It didn’t explain why all the family pictures were suddenly gone or why his side of the closet was tossed out the next day. I hated that woman for it.”

“You know she was lying to you,” I said.

“Until she got sick, yeah. Cancer’s a bitch sometimes.”

My heart ached for her. I could see her eyes glistening over with tears as her wine glass rattled in her hand. I reached over for her. Put my hand on her knee to try and steady her shaking. She was so stoic, despite the tears in her eyes. Despite the one that had escaped and was sliding down her skin.

“The first time she beat it, she was strong. But the second time, she didn’t have it in her. She was tired of crying and working all the time. She was tired of being strong without anyone to be strong for her. I watched her slip away from me, pound by pound, until the tumors growing in her lungs finally suffocated her one night.”

“Did she ever tell you what happened to your father?” I asked.

“She did. About an hour before she died. Turns out, we were the other family.”

“What?” I asked.

“Yeah. Can you believe that? All the business trips my father went on and the weeks away in another country doing whatever the hell it was he was supposed to be doing. But he was really with his other family. His first family. Two separate names, two separate lives.”

“Are you fuckin’ serious?”

“As a heart attack,” she said with a snicker. “My mother started getting curious when a woman’s name she didn’t recognize popped up on my father’s phone. And like the jealous woman she always was, she got into everything for answers. Looked through his phone. Went through his emails. It was why she was so eager to flush him from our lives.”

“Can you blame her?”

“No. No, I can’t. But unlike you, I haven’t chosen my family yet. I’ve been… wandering around trying to find it. Never planting myself somewhere for very long and never answering more questions than are asked of me. Somedays I feel like I’m running, and other days I feel like I can’t.”

“Monroe, look at me.”

She slowly turned her head to face me, her eyes filled with a deep sadness that made me sick. This woman didn’t deserve the life she had been handed. And the more she talked, the more I understood. I’d picked up a few things from Diesel over the years. Her becoming a lawyer was probably fueled by what happened with her father. She wanted to prevent people from getting swindled like her mother had been.

I rose my hand to her cheek and cupped it, watching at she nuzzled into my touch.

“I’m sorry, Knox,” Monroe said.

“You got nothing to be sorry for,” I said.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you and trying to get you to change into someone you weren’t. It wasn’t my place. I was just your lawyer. Some… woman who got caught up in your eyes. A nice fuck to return you back to the outside world.”

“Cut that shit out. Right now. You know you’re so much more than that. Don’t you?”

Her eyes danced between mine as a choking heat clamped down around my throat.

I ripped her up from her chair and pulled her into my lap. Our lips crashed together as my hands slid my pants down my legs. The nighttime sky blanketed us as her wine glass went crashing to the ground, shattering into tiny little pieces. I could feel her straddling me. Her hands cupping my cheeks as our tongues lapped against one another’s. I pulled my cock out and covered our bodies in her flowing gown, then grinned when I felt her nakedness underneath her clothes.

“Oh, the things you do to me, woman.”

“I’m sorry, Knox. Please forgive me.”

I captured her lips as my cock slid effortlessly into her pussy. On her porch, draped with the twinkling of the stars, she rode my cock in that wrought iron chair. Minimal movements with her lips pressed to mine. My cock throbbing against her walls as her pussy sucked me in deeper. I could feel her arousal dripping along my skin. Searing her mark into me as her scent wafted around my head. I was shivering against her body. Pressing kisses into her clothed breasts as her hands ran through the tendrils of my hair.

My hands snaked up and down her naked thighs, guiding her clipped movements as she moaned into my neck.

Her clit raked across my body. Her nails dug into the leather of my cut. Her lips nipped at my neck as I buried my face into her hair that smelled like lemon and honey. She encompassed me. Understood me in a way no other person had. There was a connection between us that needed to be spoken. Words that were aching to fly off my lips.

My toes curled into my shoes as my cock grew against her walls. She moved along my lap, faster and faster as her breaths came in short pants. I could feel her nipples poking into my chest from behind her gown. I could feel her moans climbing as she pressed deeper into my neck. My arms cloaked her back and my hands grabbed at her ass, rolling her deeper and harder as I approached my end.

I slammed up into her once, jolting her body as my cock began to paint her walls with my come.

Then, it fell from my lips. As easily and as effortlessly as my come dripped from my cock.

“I love you, Monroe. I love you.”

She kissed up my neck, nuzzling her nose against my cheek. Her body trembled with her orgasm as her pussy milked my cock. Her hips stilled and her hands twirled into my brown hair and her lust-hazed eyes connected with mine.

And a small smile spread across her lips.

“I love you too, Knox,” Monroe said. “I love you, too.”

Chapter 22

Monroe

The sun started to peek through the window and I shifted around in bed. My body was sore. Aching and throbbing in places I’d never felt before. My eyes fluttered open as I drew in a deep breath, trying to get my bearings as to where I was.

But the moment my eyes fell on Knox, everything came crashing back to me.

The conversation on the porch. The shattered wine glass. The encounter on his lap.

The words that fell from both of us.

I nuzzled into him mindlessly as I recounted our actions from last night. How he’s effortlessly picked me up and shuffled us back into my apartment. How he’d bent me over the couch and pinned me to my wall. How he devoured my pussy as my toes curled into his back. How messy we’d made my sheets and how wet my bed had become by the time we fell asleep in one another’s arms.

But my body still buzzed for him.

My heart still thundered with want for him.

I placed my lips against his chest and he groaned. Bruised crescent marks where I’d marked him the night before were staring me in the face. I kissed down his chest, my hands playing with the grooves of his abs as he drew in a deep breath.

“Mmm, good mornin’ to you, too.”

The sleep in his voice made his low tones gravelly. Like an eighteen-wheeler coming up a gravel walkway. I slid on top of him and planted kisses down his chest, slithering between his legs. I felt his cock pulsing. His hand came up and curled into the knotted tresses of my hair. He pushed me down to where he wanted me to be, taking command of my body in a way that shivered my entire being.

I wrapped my mouth around his massive cock, taking it all the way back as he groaned.

“Good… fuckin’... mornin’.”

His hips were already rising off the bed. I wrapped my arms around his thighs, pulling him closer to me. My jaw was already sore, trying to adjust to the girth of him. Spit was pooling on his skin as I hollowed out my cheeks. I relaxed and guided him down the back of my throat, holding him there as I nuzzled into the trimmed curls of his body.

I could feel his muscles contracting, ready to explode at a moment’s notice.

A phone rang out into the room and I tried to ignore it. I sucked on Knox’s cock, my eyes fluttering up to him. I watched his eyes whip open as his head turned to the nightstand, watching as the phone lit up.

“Hold on. Hold on, hold on… shit, Monroe. Ugh. Hold on. It’s yours.”

I sighed as I pulled his cock from between my lips, settling my chin against his chiseled stomach. I reached for the phone he was handing me and my eyes widened. Rose was calling. On a Saturday.

Why the hell was she calling me on a weekend?

“This is Monroe.”

“Wherever you are, you need to get into the office.”

“Rose, what’s wrong?” I asked.

Knox sat up in bed as I pulled the comforter around my naked body.

“That RICO case you said you’d keep an eye on. You weren’t doing a very good job. The assistant U.S. attorney is moving forward with it and we need to start preparing. Now.”

“When did you figure this out?” I asked. “I checked on the status of that thing just before dinner last night.”

“It came in early this morning. Around five. You don’t have to look pretty, but you have to be alert. It’ll take us all day to prepare for this thing. And they’re coming down hard.”

“Who else should we be notifying of this?” I asked.

I looked over at Knox as he cocked his head at me.

“No one, for now. But if it gets sticky, I’ll handle notifying the parties involved. Right now, our goal is to make sure they don’t have to get involved. It’s why they pay us the money they do. Now stop wasting time and get in here. Bradley and I are getting in the car now.”

I hung up the phone and quickly slid from bed. I could feel Knox’s eyes on me as I ran into the bathroom. I wet a washcloth and tried to clean myself down. Between my legs. Underneath my arms. My face. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t graceful, but things had just gotten serious.

Very, very serious.

“I take it you’re not staying,” Knox said.

I looked up at his reflection in the mirror as he leaned against the doorway. His body was beautiful. He was beautiful. Throbbing muscles and protruding veins and a piercing stare that weakened my knees even now.

“I can’t. Something’s come up at work,” I said.

“Figured as much. Can ya talk about it?”

“Not now, but I figured you would understand that.”

“Yep. But that’s fine. I gotta get back to my club anyway,” he said.

“You heard Rose on the phone, didn’t you?”

Our eyes connected before I whipped around. I still didn’t know what I was doing with him. What I was doing with a criminal who ran with a gang of biker outlaws. So we bonded last night. Over broken families and bullshit fathers. Plenty of people came from broken homes. That didn’t make us one and the same. And yes, I loved him. I don’t know how it happened or when it happened, but it happened. And I was woman enough to own up to that.

But I was a lawyer and he was a criminal. A known criminal. Who I’d met in jail several weeks ago when he was being framed for murder.

At a crime scene he had been at.

“We’re gonna have to draw lines and do… fuck… so much talking,” I said as I pushed past him. “But for now, just… try to not-”

“Get you in trouble? Never, Monroe.”

It was the way he said it that stopped me in my tracks. I slowly looked back at him and watched as his eyes took me in. He walked over to me and took me in his arms, pulling me closely into him.

Then his lips dipped delicately to mine, pressing the softest kiss I could’ve ever imagined against my skin.

“Never,” he said lowly.

“I have to get dressed,” I said with a whisper.

“Such a shame. Your body’s beautiful.”

“I could say the same about yours. And your bruises are almost healed.”

“They’re topical now. No pain,” he said.

“Good,” I said as I patted his chest. “That’s… really good.”

The two of us danced around one another as we got ready to leave. It felt natural to have him there. To get ready with him and rush out the door. I tossed him an apple before I grabbed one for myself, and he chuckled at me as we walked out the door.

“Breakfast?” Knox asked.

“Take it or leave it. Didn’t have time to cook anything.”

“Oh, so you cook, too?”

“Only for those who deserve it,” I said.

Without thinking, I kissed him goodbye when we got down the stairs. I looked up into his eyes, watching as the slightest bit of shock rolled over his face. I didn’t have time to talk about it now. And part of me didn’t want to. Things had been so perfect between the two of us last night and I didn’t want to ruin it with my stupid questions.

“I’ll call you,” Knox said. “When the dust settles.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll uh… be waiting?”

“You sure about that?”

“I think?” I asked.

“We can talk about that later. Drive safe.”

“You’re the one on the bike with your entire body exposed. You be careful.”

What I wanted to tell him was that I’d already seen him in one hospital bed, and I couldn’t stomach seeing him in another one.

I watched him ride off into the rising sun before I hopped behind the wheel of my car. I took a bite out of my apple as I raced to the office, my jeans and t-shirt covering the marks Knox had left on my body. My hair was up in a bun and I had my glasses on, and that was the best I could do under the time constraints.

I look one last look in the mirror, making sure all of my marks were covered before I went inside.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched.

Chapter 23

Knox

“Hey, Knox, What’s-”

“Call church, Diesel.”

“Knox. You okay?” Diesel asked.

“Call it. Now. Wherever you are, you need to call church,” I said.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Just do it, damn it!”

I shoved my phone into my pocket and rushed down the highway. I made my way out to the corner of the woods before going off-road. I didn’t want anyone following me, and if they were I wanted it to be as obvious as daylight. I looked around me to see if any cars were anywhere near my bike, but I wove through the canyons just in case. My mind was flooded with worry for Monroe. The deal she’d made with Diego and how he was going to perceive what had happened.

The guys needed to know all about it so we could figure out how to protect ourselves.

I rolled into my usual parking space and took off for the lodge. A dead sprint to get to where the guys were standing. Diesel gave me a hard look before I rushed up the steps, the guys on my heels the entire time.

“What the fuck’s going on?” Grave asked. “We don’t ever have church on Saturdays.”

“Had myself a nice girl last night,” Rock said. “So, this better be good.”

“You weren’t the only one with a girl,” I said. “So, can it.”

“What’s this about?” Diesel asked. “What’s going on, Knox?”

“Wait, you were with a woman?” Mick asked. “Who was she? You don’t ever stay over with the girls you fuck.”

“I was with Monroe,” I said.

The guys fell silent as Diesel’s eyes locked onto my face.

“What?” he asked.

“I was with Monroe last night and this morning and she got a phone call from Rose. Guys, the RICO case is still on,” I said.

“There was a RICO case?” Mick asked.

“What the fuck? What’s the government doing snooping around for?” Brewer asked.

I looked over at Diesel as his gaze hit the floor.

“Guys, I gotta fill you in on something,” Diesel said.

“You didn’t tell them,” I said. “How the fuck could you not tell them?”

“Tell us what?” Rock asked. “Someone open their fucking mouth and speak.”

“I know we’re trying to find out who framed Knox for Blaze’s murder, but we already know the reason he was framed,” Diesel said.

“Which was…?” Mick asked.

“The assistant U.S. attorney was gonna use Knox being in jail as a way to try and build a RICO case against us,” Diesel said.

“And you just… conveniently left that shit out?” Grave asked. “The fuck were you thinking, Diesel?”

“I was thinking it wasn’t important because Knox wasn’t guilty, we had a hell of a lawyer on our side, and even if they did get to Knox he would never roll over on any of us,” Diesel said.

“Monroe ever mention this?” Grave asked. “You know, while you two were screwing around?”

“Don’t get asshurt because I’m screwing our lawyer, Grave. You’ve had that dick in so many holes I’m surprised it hasn’t fallen off. And she mentioned it before, but she also knew they didn’t have anything on me so we stayed away from it. Focused on getting me outta prison first,” I said.

“Is this assistant whatever about to come into town? Do we need to halt the shit we got in the works?” Grave asked.

“I’m more concerned about what information they’ve got that’s bringing them into town,” Mick said.

“That’s a better question, yes,” Rock said. “I could see what I can dig up, but if they’re swooping in, they’ve got something.”

“They should,” Brewer said. “But we all know the fucking government doesn’t always work that way.”

“But if they did have information, how the fuck would they have gotten it?” Grave asked.

My eyes rose to Diesel as I held my breath. His eyes stayed with me as the two of us turned the thought over in our head. Should we tell them now? Was this somehow connected? Would someone in our ranks stoop to that kind of level?

I watched Diesel nod his head and I drew in a deep breath.

“We got a problem I think might be linked to all this,” I said.

“We got enough problems to deal with, but thanks,” Grave said.

“Fucker, you need to shut the hell up,” I said. “This is serious. When Blaze was kicking the shit outta me at that damn campfire they were having, he mentioned Canyon.”

The guys stopped and slowly turned towards me. Like they had just seen a ghost.

“What?” Brewer asked flatly.

“Yeah. He mentioned that I looked good on my knees like Canyon. Except when he saw Canyon, she’d be facing away from him,” I said.

“He fucking did what!?” Grave asked. “Holy shit, if that boy wasn’t already dead-”

“Don’t speak ill of the dead,” Diesel said. “It’s bad luck.”

“Fuck luck!” Grave said. “That asshole threatened the life of someone he should’ve never even known about! A ten-year old girl, Diesel!”

“And he’s dead for it,” Diesel said. “By who? No fucking clue. But he’s dead. We know that much.”

“We got a rat in our ranks,” Rock said flatly.

“Holy shit. What if this fucking rat’s selling us out to the government?” Brewer asked.

“It’s possible,” I said with a shrug.

“But the only people who know about Canyon are in this room,” Mick said.

“Exactly,” I said. “Which means we got a serious problem.”

The guys started to look around at one another. I watched all of them slowly put up their guards as Grave reached for his gun. One by one, we all armed ourselves, wary of the person standing next to us.

“I think that’s enough church for a Saturday,” Diesel said. “Knox, you got anything else you wanna spill?”

I wanted to tell them about the deal Monroe made with Diego. If she was gonna be working for us and protecting us, then we needed to be able to provide the same for her. If those assholes swooped into town, Diego would see it as her inability to hold up her end of the bargain, and who knew what the hell would come from that.

But we were all on edge and someone was two seconds away from getting pumped with lead.

“Nah. I’m good for now,” I said.

“Then let’s all get out of here and go our separate ways before someone else ends up dead,” Diesel said.

I left as quickly as I could before anyone got any fucking ideas. I hated that it came to this. I hopped back onto my bike and took the long way back into town. I wove in and out of canyons to try and lose any tail that might be on me and clear my head. I had to find a way to convince Monroe to keep me as abreast with this case as she possibly could without threatening her damn job.

The ride back to my place was long, but needed. By the time I got there, I knew how I was gonna handle Monroe. But not only that, I also knew how I was gonna handle Diego. The one thing the Latin Cobras respected more than honoring a deal was honesty. If I could feed them information to cover their own asses while Monroe was handing it to me, I could get them off her back and keep her safe. I could handle that kinda target on my body better than Monroe could, and the idea of her getting hurt over this shit made my palms sweat.

But when I pulled up to my place, I saw a woman standing in front of my front door.

“You Knox?” she asked.

“Who’s asking?”

“Just answer the damn question.”

This petite blonde woman had legs for days and eyes filled with a tepid fire. She looked tired. Worn down. Fed up with whatever had been slung across her shoulders. I scanned her body, making it look like I was checking her out when I was really checking her for firearms and shit.

But she was clean of any weapon, so I parked my bike and approached her.

“You got a name?” I asked.

“You got a place we can talk?” she asked.

“If you got a name, yeah.”

“My name’s Everly.”

“Pretty name for a pretty girl,” I said.

“I’m not here to fuck you, I’m here to talk.”

“Don’t worry. You’re not my type,” I said. “How do you know me?”

“Let me in and I’ll tell you.”

“No thanks. I’m not into harming women, and if you come at me in my home I’m not so sure I won’t put ya into a wall.”

“I’m not going to come at you. I’m not my brother,” she said.

“And who’s your brother?” I asked.

“Rex,” she said.

I felt my blood ice over in my veins as my eyes held her gaze.

“My brother’s name is Rex.”

Chapter 24

Monroe

I walked directly past the empty waiting room and stomped down the hallway. I was finally waking up after pumping my body full of caffeine and I was ready to get to work. I had to find a way to keep the government out of this town. The deal I’d made with Diego kept playing on repeat in my mind, and I knew if I failed my end of the bargain I’d be in for a world of hurt. I walked directly to Bradley Scott’s office and found him and Rose hunched over his desk. I came in and shut the door, then carried the three cups of coffee I’d picked up over to the desk.

“The RICO case is pending, so it’s all hands on deck,” Rose said.

“Thanks for the coffee,” Bradley said.

“And before you apologize, don’t. The only reason I got the message so quickly was because the screeching cat next door woke me up,” Rose said.

“Don’t ask. We’re still trying to figure out a legal way to get rid of it,” Bradley said.

“What do we have so far?” I asked. “If the RICO case is pending then that means they’ve got license to dip into the city. Which means they’ve got information we didn’t know they had.”

“I just got off the phone with the assistant U.S. attorney, and it’s not good,” Bradley said.

“They’re being fed information from within the club,” Rose said.

“Someone’s ratting out The Dead Souls?” I asked.

“Yep. But the name of the informant is confidential so we’ve got no idea who is it,” Rose said.

“And before you ask, there are ways of figuring it out, but it takes time and means that even in a legal court of law could be considered gray, at best,” Bradley said.

“So… what do we do? This is where my ignorance comes into play,” I said.

“A good lawyer can always admit when they don’t know, but a great lawyer ponies up and learns. Pull up a chair,” Rose said.

“A RICO case is always messy, but the thing is that they have to have concrete evidence of what’s going on,” Bradley said. “Even with an informant, that informant has to get them steadfast evidence.”

“Like being wired during a conversation or videotaping something,” I said.

“More than that. Because of recording laws, sometimes even those don’t hold up in court. The best course of action is a paper trail,” Rose said.

“Do clubs like The Dead Souls even have paper trails?” I asked.

“They do, but they aren’t always electronic,” Bradley said. “You know, if they’re guilty of what they’re doing.”

“Okay, we’re still playing that game? Sure. Got it. If they’re guilty of what RICO says they are, how would a paper trail like theirs work?”

“Everything is written down and stored somewhere,” Bradley said. “Nothing’s electronic. The only bank accounts those men probably have are personal checking accounts in their names. No investment accounts. No savings accounts. No accounts that are onshore anywhere.”

I hooked my eyes with Bradley and read between the lines. That meant this club had offshore accounts somewhere. Which was probably the first step in how they cleaned their laundered money. The government wouldn’t find it right off the bat, but once they did it would be used as circumstantial evidence against them in court.

Shit. This was getting serious.

“Okay,” I said. “So, everything is done by hand. Numbers are calculated and written down by hand. Names are probably in code and tracked by hand. Which means they probably have stashes of money waiting to be cleaned somewhere in their territory and they do it in small chunks so as to not send off warning signals.”

“You’re picking it up,” Rose said.

“What do we do with that information? Do we try to get them to give up their paper trail? Do we bring them all in here to talk? Do we go to them? Should we notify them?” I asked.

“This is The Dead Souls. There’s a good chance they already know about this,” Rose said. “But we involve them as little as we can.”

“Then how do we figure out who’s giving them up to the government. Shouldn’t we have the right to question him?”

“How do you know it’s not a ‘her’?” Bradley asked.

“With the time I spent around Knox in jail, I got the sense that the women and children are pretty much kept out of the loop from this lifestyle. So, it only stands to reason that the core group of people we’d be looking at are guys,” I said.

“She’s right,” Rose said. “We haven’t met the entire club. Only those who need help. But they’ve all been male.”

“I think it’s ignorant to rule out possibilities based on circumstantial evidence,” Bradley said.

“Fine. But tossing that aside, do we have any idea who actually killed Blaze?” I asked.

“The police have a lead on it, yes. But nothing has panned out so far. Until they have something concrete, we can’t run with that yet,” Rose said.

“Then what the hell can we run with?” I asked. “Because it doesn’t sound like we have much.”

“I know it’s frustrating, but this is our job. Until the police can follow the lead on Shepard’s death, we have to dig into the law and find some loopholes.”

“Loopholes,” I said.

“Yes. Anything to stall them coming into the city. Having them touch down here is going to mean serious trouble for a lot of people,” Bradley said.

“We’re not doing something illegal here, are we?” I asked.

“No. We’re not. But it’s going to get harder to defend the guys that keep us on payroll and it’s going to be harder to keep you out of Diego’s grasp,” Rose said.

I sighed as I flopped down into the chair behind me. I took a sip of my coffee as Bradley and Rose looked me up and down. A month. I was a month into my new job straight out of law school and I was already trying to find loopholes in the law and keep my head intact with a rival gang on the other side of the city. This wasn’t what I’d envisioned when I got my law degree. I thought I would be helping people. Saving lives. Keeping innocent people out of jail. And while Knox was innocent of that murder, he wasn’t an innocent man.

He had done plenty of things in his life, I was sure of it.

“We can give you five minutes to process everything, and then we need you to get to work,” Rose said. “I’m digging through this information the informant has been feeding the attorney and Bradley’s working on riding the police. Which means you have to rifle through the laws of California and see what you can find.”

“California has some of the strictest laws on this kind of thing in the nation,” I said.

“Then you’ll need a lot more coffee,” Bradley said.

I took one last pull from my drink before I sat up and got to work. I flipped the book open and uncapped a highlighter, ready to mark things up and take notes in the margins. My mind was spinning as I unpacked all the legal mumbo jumbo in this disgustingly long book. Did they expect me to go through this whole damn thing to find what we were looking for?

Every phone call Bradley made caused him to grow more and more agitated. Every piece of paper Rose flipped through to try and unpack made her sigh a little heavier. People were bringing in boxes of information from fuck-knew-where and would slam them onto the desk the three of us were sitting at. The hours ticked by without my highlighter running across any line of disgusting law code I’d read, and my stomach was growling louder than a tiger on the prowl.

“I think lunch would do us all some good,” Rose said.

“I’ll run out and get it,” Bradley said. “I’m going to make a personal stop to the police station. I think they’re withholding something from me and I’m not appreciative of it.”

“Sink your teeth into them, sweetheart,” Rose said.

“And bring back a burger and fries along with a giant bucket of concentrated caffeine,” I said.

“Got it. What do you want, baby?” Bradley asked.

“You know me. A large salad and a large french fry with a soda,” Rose said.

“I’ll be back in about an hour. Try not to make too much progress without me,” Bradley said.

“I don’t like your tone of joking,” I said.

Bradley walked out and shut the door. I sighed as I leaned back into my chair and felt Rose’s eyes follow me. She was eyeing me closely and it made me uncomfortable. I turned my gaze to her and cocked my head, committing to memory the way she was looking at me.

“I need to ask you a question and I need you to be honest with me,” she said.

“You have my word,” I said.

“Are you sleeping with Knox?”

I felt the blood drain from my face as Rose crossed her leg over her knee.

“Evidence. The hickey on the side of your neck. You wear that cheap foundation so it cracks and flakes off once it dries. Get a better one for the dry heat of California,” Rose said.

“Why would you assume it was Knox?” I asked.

“Circumstantial,” she said. “How adamant you were about getting him out of gen-pop. How long you stayed with him in the infirmary. The look in your eye when I told you to drop the case and keep it from getting personal.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m sleeping with him,” I said.

“I heard him in the background of the phone call this morning.”

“You could’ve started there.”

“Would it have made any difference?” she asked.

I clenched my jaw as I tossed my gaze out the window.

“If he heard this conversation-”

“He didn’t,” I said. “That’s why I was speaking in such generalities this morning.”

“But if he did, Monroe, it could compromise everything. And with this deal you have with Diego, it’s going to look like you’re giving him favor over your deal.”

“I take it that’s a bad thing.”

“If Knox overheard anything and took it back to his club and Diego finds out about it, yes. It’s going to look like you’re loyal to them-”

“I’m his lawyer. Of course I’m loyal to them,” I said.

“I’m two ticks and a hair away from pulling you off this case. Now I’m addressing this with Bradley out of the room because he would’ve fired you on the spot. But with all the things you orchestrated for Knox while he was in jail, I have to say I was impressed.”

“Thanks,” I said. “So since you seem to know more than you let on to the outside world, I take it you know how to fix this.”

“I can’t advise you on anything,” she said. “Because the advice I would give you would be way outside the boundaries of legality.”

“Uh huh. So what it is you think I shouldn’t do?” I asked.

“I don’t think you should tell Diego what’s going on, and I don’t think you should keep blabbing your mouth when it comes to Knox. I also don’t think you should be honest with Diego about what’s going on and why this case has been dropped into our laps.”

I held Rose’s eyes as I unpacked what she was telling me. Was she seriously suggesting I have another sit-down with Diego, stare him in the face, and feed him information? After admitting to him why this case was pending? He’d kill me on the spot with his bare hands despite the weapon he carried on his hip.

But Rose wasn’t joking. Her unwavering stare told me she was completely serious.

“Fine,” I said. “I… won’t do it.”

“Good girl,” she said. “Now, we need to get back to work.”

Chapter 25

Knox

I let the woman into my apartment and watched her carefully. What the fuck was Rex’s sister doing here? If my club knew anyone connected to The Black Saddles was in my fuckin’ apartment, they’d have a damn field day. She stood at my door and watched me as I crossed through my place, then I looked back and studied her.

“You come to the wrong place if you want me to offer you something,” I said.

“So I’m going to stand here at the door like an idiot?” Everly asked.

“You’re gonna do whatever the hell you wanna do. Sit. Stand. Get a damn drink. You’re a grown girl. You can move.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. Like I’d insulted her somehow. I pulled a couple of beers out of the fridge then made my way to where she was sitting. I offered her one and she shook her head, her body perched on the edge of my couch.

“Fine. More for me,” I said.

“I can’t keep secrets for my brother any longer,” Everly said. “It’s all… a bit too much.”

“What secrets?” I asked.

“Look, The Black Saddles don’t operate well. They bring in anyone they want to and frequently put their families in danger. I’ve been out and about in Redding and some guy will come up and flirt with me, then all of a sudden some asshole wearing a Black Saddles jacket will put his arm around me and claim me as his. They’ll scare men off in a heartbeat. I haven’t been on a reasonable date in years.”

“Not my problem,” I said.

“The Black Saddles are puny, at best. My brother thinks he’s tough stuff, but he’s got no idea. I can’t blame him. We were raised in a rough house. My mother left us with our drunk father and we frequently had to fend for ourselves.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t excuse what he’s done,” she said.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

“I overheard your name at one of their infamous campfires. I swear they’re gonna burn down the whole damn town someday. But some of his crew or gang buddies or whatever were talking and your name came up pretty frequently. A few online searches and a couple of newspaper articles later, and here I am.”

“My information’s in news articles,” I said.

“It took me a few shots before I found you. Not like your address is out there for the public. But I finally found you and that was the point,” she said.

I studied the woman as she slowly slid back onto my couch. She was as opposite from Rex as they came. Her honey blonde hair was wrapped in a perfect twist on top of her head. Hair sprayed and gelled down so not a flyaway was out of place. Her long legs peeked out from underneath a perfectly-ironed skirt, and her shirt was smoothed down so no wrinkles were showing as she sat. Her nails were perfectly groomed and her makeup looked like it had been applied with an industrial ruler.

I could only imagine the childhood she had that made her the way she was.

“Whatcha got for me?” I asked.

“Blaze’s death was a set up,” Everly said.

“I already know that,” I said. “Went to prison for it.”

“I know who framed you for it,” she said.

That phrase caught my attention. The woman’s hazel eyes connected with mine and I gave her a decent once over. Could I trust this woman? Her and the words she was spewing? Was she sent as some decoy to throw me off whatever trail my guys and I were on? Finding me through some internet searches and news articles seemed pretty far-fetched. But it wasn’t like I hid where I lived. I just didn’t know a lot of people who came over to shoot the shit.

Except Monroe.

And possibly Diesel.

“I know you don’t know if you can trust me, and that’s fine. Doesn’t change the information I have for you, though,” Everly said.

“So you’re sitting on a rival club’s couch looking at the man you know got framed and you’re about to roll over on your club?”

“Not my club. I don’t belong to The Black Saddles. I’m just related to an idiot in the group. I’ve got no passion to belong to it or know what they do with their lives or anything like that.”

“But you hang out with them,” I said.

“When I think my brother’s about to do something stupid, sure. It’s what I’ve always done. Tried to keep him out of trouble and deal with our mother leaving for years,” she said. “But he didn’t listen to me that night.”

“You were there?”

“I was. Sitting on a log bench off in the corner. They knew you guys were coming. I don’t know how, but they did. They kept talking about how a guy named Diesel or something would probably send a guy named Knox. Possibly with some other guys. I kept telling my brother to shut up and pay attention to the fire, but all he did was kick rocks at me.”

“He kicked rocks at you.”

“He’s an idiot. Trust me.”

“What happened next?” I asked.

“I didn’t understand exactly what was going on. I had no idea why they were excited about you guys coming, but they were. We heard you guys coming through the woods and the closer you guys got the further they pushed us into the forest. Said they didn’t want us being seen with what was about to happen next.”

“Are you saying your brother pinned this on me?” I asked.

“He did. The confrontation between you and Blaze happened, some of the guys in the back started talking. About how they could use that confrontation as leverage. When Blaze started beating up on you-”

I watched Everly pause as she gathered herself. She turned her face away from me and looking down at her hands. I studied her, waiting for her to gather herself. I could see tears glistening in her eyes and I saw the hurt roll over her face. Her hands started twirling up in her shirt and her leg started jiggling.

I drained the rest of my beer and waited for her to collect herself.

“Rex came running back to the edge of the woods where we were and said we needed to leave. The couple of other girls there turned to leave, but I was still trying to get to Rex. His guys were holding me back, trying to get me to run with the rest of them. Like the fucking cowards they really are.”

“Guess we agree on something,” I said.

“I saw Rex stab Blaze. When you hopped back up and knocked him to the ground, Rex was tiptoeing around the edge of the forest. Watching and just… waiting. Like some psychopath. I saw a guy grab you off him and once you guys disappeared Rex emerged. Slid a knife right into Blaze’s back. He just… stabbed him like it was nothing. In the fucking back.”

Her entire body was shaking as a tear streaked across her cheek. It took her makeup with it and it made her look even more tired than she already was. She was probably suffering from nightmares, watching all that shit go down. That was why our club kept family away from all this shit. They couldn’t handle the lives we lived, and that wasn’t a fault of their own. It meant they were pure and good. Filled with light and love.

That didn’t deserve to be tainted with the things she was talking about.

“Rex killed Blaze. I saw it,” Everly said. “And I was shocked. Because I never thought my brother would kill one of his own. The guys started to panic and Blaze was choking on his own blood. He kept saying ‘we’ll pin it on him. We’ll pin it on him. I had no idea what he was talking about until he came home one day. Pissed that you had been let out of jail. Had I known you were in jail, I would’ve come forward sooner. I was just… trying to forget everything and move on. Distance myself from Rex altogether.”

“Why would your brother wanna frame me?” I asked.

“I don’t know. He was always bitching like a child about how Redding was getting too crowded with people he didn’t like. As if he fucking owned the damn place. My brother’s always been too territorial for his own good. Even if the territory isn’t his in the first place.”

“Did he want to pin the murder on me? Or on my club?” I asked.

“I think just you. But I really wouldn’t put the latter past him. He always takes on more than he can chew, then pawns it off like it was someone else’s bad idea if it goes south. My brother is the epitome of what a coward tries to do to act like a man. My father was so drunk out of his mind most of the time that he didn’t know which way was up or where his own bedroom was. My brother had no male role model growing up, but a shitty childhood doesn’t excuse being a shitty adult.”

“Truer words were never said. But you know I gotta take this to my club, right? And they’re gonna wanna know where I got the information,” I said.

“I figured,” she said with a sigh.

“If I can get outta telling them who told me, I will. But if I can’t, we can protect you. It’s part of what we do.”

“I would say it’s not necessary, but with what I watched my brother do I’m not so sure,” she said.

“Gimme your number so we can stay in touch. I’ll let you know if my club wants to know where I got my information. You can’t stay here. It’s gonna be safer if you get outta here as fast as you can once I get your number. But you’ve got no idea how much you’re helping us out. We’ll owe you a favor in return.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll give you my number then.”

I put her number in my phone before I walked her out to her car. She was shaken up and beyond tired, and I watched as she drove away from my apartment. Her car was swerving a little bit, but I couldn’t concern myself with that. What I needed to do was call Diesel immediately and tell him what the fuck I’d just found out.

“Knox. My man. What’s up?”

“Diesel, I got some serious news.”

“Define ‘serious’,” Diesel said.

“It blows our entire investigation we’ve been doing outta the water.”

“How so?” he asked.

“I know who fucking set me up. And you’ll never guess who the hell told me.”

Chapter 26

Monroe

Bradley’s trip to the police station proved to be fruitless. Everyone there was tight-lipped and not saying a thing. He came back with lunch and we continued to pour through documents while my highlighter sat unused. California law was a beast, and every loophole I thought I’d found was then covered in the next paragraph. At this rate, it would take me two weeks to get through this damn book, and I wasn’t sure I would come out with a solution.

Our best bet was to actually figure out who killed Blaze. Because if it was one it was one of the Black Saddles, it would throw the entire RICO case off The Dead Souls.

I still had doubts about Knox. I loved him. I really did. I was worried for him in ways I couldn’t explain. But I still had my doubts. Looking for a loophole in all this still painted guilt across his forehead. What the loophole meant was that he wouldn’t be prosecuted for his perceived guilt. He ran with a club that was known in this area to work with some of the most notorious crime families when it came to running and laundering their money. That wasn’t something to easily come back from. One good altercation over a decent sum of money could lead to a murder, and with Knox head-deep in that world I couldn’t put it past him.

I was in love with someone I thought was capable of murder, and it made me sick.

There was something we were missing. I could feel it.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I need more coffee,” I said.

“Good idea. I’m expecting another call from the assistant U.S. attorney in an hour, so I could use the caffeine to fuel the argument that’s coming,” Rose said.

“You get the feeling there’s more to this than we know?” Bradley asked.

“There always is,” Rose said. “We just have to find it. Monroe, get us two large black coffees from wherever you go. Bradley keeps his own cream and sugar.”

“And Rose takes it black. Like her soul,” Bradley said with a grin.

“The two of you are too much. I’ll be right back,” I said.

I left the office space and headed in the exact opposite direction of the coffeehouse. Blaze’s evidence load was at the police station, and I was going to access it. I got into my car and drove up the block, then parked myself right in front of the station. I knew I didn’t need to be there and I knew I could potentially sink this entire case, but I had to prove Knox innocent.

I had to get this RICO case dropped.

I slipped into the building and made my way down to evidence. I avoided signing in at the front desk, just in case I got into trouble. I had no idea what the hell had overcome me, but I was out on a mission. If Bradley couldn’t get what he needed through legal means, then I had ways of getting what I wanted with means that were a little grayer than the ones he used.

I walked down the staircase to the basement of the police station. The man sitting at the desk was typing away on his computer. Beer gut. Scruff on his face. Crumbs on his uniform. The man didn’t look fit to be guarding someone’s cat, much less an evidence locker.

But a man who looked like him was more susceptible to the tactics I was about to use.

“Afternoon, officer,” I said with a kind smile.

“Hello there,” he said. “How can I help you?”

“I’m Monroe Williams. I’m the new hire over at Lowen And Scott. I was wondering if I could take a look at Andrew Shepard’s evidence box?” I asked.

“You guys must not communicate very well. Bradley was just by here a couple of hours ago. I can’t let you see that file because the case is closed for now. You’ll have to get a judge to sign off on a new warrant to reopen the box.”

“It’s already taped up?” I asked. “Wow, you must be an efficient man.”

“Well, it’s not taped up yet. But I’m getting around to it today,” he said.

“An efficient man on a schedule. I wish more men operated like that.”

“Eh, a lot of guys around here aren’t raised the way I was. Parents around here are sloppy, at best. My father kept me on a strict schedule and if I deviated from it in any way, there was hell to pay.”

“Military man?” I asked.

“Oh yes. Traveled a lot. Lived overseas a couple of times. And the schedule he kept our house on was for the sanity of everyone.”

“You come from a big family?” I asked.

“Five sisters. I’m the oldest.”

“Wow. You just keep getting better,” I said with a smile.

“How so?”

“You enjoy schedules. Routine. You’re the oldest, which means you probably have an innate sense of looking out for your family. Your father would be proud of you.”

“I’d like to think he would be, yes.”

“Your wife’s one lucky woman,” I said.

“Oh, I never married. When my father died in combat, I took up the requirement of taking care of my family.”

“Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry. When did he pass?”

“Years ago. But taking care of my mother and five sisters didn’t leave much time for a love life,” he said.

“What about now?” I asked.

I leaned forward onto the desk and shoved my boobs together. The man’s eyes descended to them and I watched him try to not lick his lips. His cheeks flushed and his neck began to redden. His eyes danced along the part of my body he could see before his eyes met mine again.

Then a grin slid across his face.

“You must really wanna see that evidence box,” he said.

“What evidence box?” I asked.

“I know what you’re doing. Women have done less for a peek in evidence boxes.”

I put on my best shocked face and kept my eyes open to the harsh air in the basement. They began to dry out then water, making it look as if I was about to cry. There were two sides to this man. The side that never got laid and the side that felt an innate sense to take care of a female. The flirting didn’t work, so the wounded woman would have to do.

“Miss Williams, are you okay?” he asked.

“I can’t stand that about you men,” I said breathlessly.

“What? That’s what you were doing, right?”

“No. I know what ‘no’ means. It’s not my fault you have beautiful eyes and a kind demeanor. Just because I come down here and want to talk with a guy doesn’t mean I’m trying to get something. You told me I couldn’t have it so I got the picture.”

“Miss Williams, I didn’t mean to-”

“You didn’t mean to what? Insinuate that I was using my body to get something for myself?” I asked. “Is that what you do to all women you encounter? Accuse them of some underlying notion?”

“No. Not at all,” he said.

“Because that’s probably why you don’t have a love life, if that’s what you do.”

Tears continued to rise in my eyes and the man wiggled around in his seat. I could tell watching me become so emotional was rough on him. Part of me felt bad, but part of me knew something in that evidence box hadn’t been communicated to us.

And if it wasn’t taped up yet, then that meant anything could’ve been slid into it.

“What do you want?” the man asked. “I don’t want you to cry. I can’t handle women crying. It’s not right.”

“Great. Now when I tell you I’d really enjoy seeing that evidence box, you’re going to think I threw myself at you to get it. When all I wanted was to ask you for your number so I could call you sometime,” I said.

“No, no, no. It’s fine. Look, the box isn’t taped up. I’m sure it won’t hurt if you take a look at it. And I’d love to hear from you sometime. You’re a beautiful woman, Miss Williams.”

“You mean it?” I asked.

The man got up and came around his desk and stood toe-to-toe with me. We were eye level with one another and I tried to blink away my tears. He studied my face intently, like he was trying to figure out if I was still lying to him.

Then he sighed and pulled out his keys.

“You’ve got ten minutes,” the man said.

“Thank you,” I said as I put my hand on his arm. “I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Never been able to resist a beautiful woman.”

“I won’t be a woman you regret,” I said.

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

The two of us shared a grin before I made my way into the evidence locker. I walked down rows of cardboard boxes, taped with that red tape that said ‘evidence’ on it. I ran my fingers along the names and numbers. Evidence of murders and thefts that had put people in jail in this area. My eyes scanned the shelves, looking for the few boxes that hadn’t been taped up yet.

And back in the far left corner was what I was looking for.

I pulled the box off the shelf and sat down on the floor with it. I slid the top off and began digging through everything. Pictures of Blaze’s body on the autopsy table and an official record of his autopsy report. Knox’s boot they collected off him when he was carted off to jail and some blood-covered sand in vials. DNA lab results that connected back to the vials of sand and all sorts of shit they’d recovered from the crime scene.

But there was something at the very bottom.

Something none of us had seen before.

I pulled out the evidence bag and found a knife. A blood-soaked knife. My eyes widened as I looked at the inscription on the metal, then I began to dig around for the autopsy report. It was a perfect match. The width and depth of the wound in Blaze’s back was an exact match to the bloodied knife in the evidence box.

And it was a knife we’d never seen before.

I looked around the evidence locker before I pulled out my phone. I began to take pictures of everything to take back to Rose and Bradley. I had no idea how long this knife had been in this box, but none of the possibilities were good. If the prosecution had this knife to begin with, then they were withholding evidence and obstructing justice. If this knife had been placed in this box after Knox’s trial, then someone was trying to wash their hands of the incident while still portraying a facade to the assistant U.S. attorney.

I put my phone away and began stuffing everything back into the box. I put the knife back at the bottom where I’d found it, then I slid the evidence back onto the shelf. I walked out of the evidence locker and found the desk empty, which meant the man was probably trying to give me some sort of privacy. I could only hope he had cut the camera feed into the corner I was sitting in long enough for me to do what I had done.

I walked up to the man’s desk and reached over for a piece of paper and a pen. I wrote my name and number down, then put ‘IOU’ at the top of it. Because I did. Had he not let me into that evidence locker, we would’ve never known about the knife. That blew this entire fucking case wide open and gave us a chance at figuring out who the hell was responsible for killing Blaze.

Especially if we could legally get that knife in our custody.

I ran back out to my car and raced to get us all some coffee. I was trembling with fear. Wondering what Rose and Bradley would do to me. I walked into the office and divvied out the coffees, and that was when Bradley started studying me closely.

“What happened?” he asked.

“What?” Rose asked.

“You guys are going to be upset, but just bear with me,” I said.

“What the hell did you do?” Bradley asked.

“I went back to the police station,” I said.

“Oh. That’s not so bad. Did they turn you away like Bradley?” Rose asked.

“Not exactly.”

I pulled out my phone and started flipping through the photos. Bradley’s eyes were wide as he ripped it from my hand. He emailed himself the photos before sitting at his computer, then he blew them up on the screen for us to zoom in and look.

“What the fuck is that?” Rose asked.

“It’s a knife. And it matches Shepard’s wound perfectly,” I said.

“Go get our copy of the autopsy report,” Bradley said.

Rose ran off into her office and left me alone with the man.

“I should fire you,” he said.

“I’m hoping you won’t,” I said.

“If this blows up in your face, I’ll have to,” he said.

“That’s fine. I can handle that. This was at the bottom of the evidence box. Just sitting there. We have to figure out how long it’s been in there.”

“Was the box unsealed? Or did you have to break the tape?” he asked.

“Unsealed. The man at the desk said he was going to be sealing it today.”

“That means it was probably snuck in after the fact. There’s a good chance the prosecution didn’t have this during the trial.”

“Any way to prove that?” I asked.

“No, which is why I’m coming at it from the other angle. If this was slipped in after the fact, then it means two things. One, someone in that police department is dirty, and two, whoever retired it feels we’re getting too close.”

“Okay. I’ve got the autopsy report, but I’ve also pulled a few other files,” Rose said.

“What other files?” I asked.

“I recognize the measurements on that knife. I’ve practically memorized them. A couple of years ago, The Dead Souls had a string of people in their club who were attacked and killed. Some survived, but most of them died. All within the span of a year, and all of them unsolved,” Rose said.

“Why unsolved?” I asked.

“We couldn’t find the murder weapon. Ever. It was all circumstantial and all the leads we had led to dead ends. But each wound was the same. Four inches deep and one and a half inches wide with a partially serrated edge. But The Dead Souls were adamant it was The Black Saddles. Every single time,” Rose said.

I looked over Bradley’s shoulders at the knife on his screen. The first two inches of the blade was a smooth blade before the last two inches were serrated. It was exactly four inches long and just shy of one and a half inches wide.

“Holy shit,” Bradley said.

“This is the murder weapon from all those crimes, isn’t it?” I asked.

“I think the prosecution had this the entire time. But they knew if they presented it, then it would land their clients in hot water for the rest of these crimes we had on file,” Rose said.

“Why didn’t this come up in trial?” I asked.

“No murder weapon,” Bradley said. “Can’t connect crimes if there’s no murder weapon.”

“This is all so…”

“I know. We didn’t expect to be bringing you in on this kind of case. We’ll tolerate your questions for now,” Rose said.

I giggled somewhat hysterically as I turned towards the window. My mind was racing, trying to put the pieces into their proper places. I closed my eyes and saw the knife. Knox’s boot. The autopsy report. I combed through every piece of evidence I saw in that box before Rose’s words echoed off the corners of my mind.

“You said The Dead Souls were adamant it was The Black Saddles.”

“Yes,” Rose said.

“Does that mean one of The Black Saddles killed their own?” I asked.

I whipped around as Bradley slowly turned my way. His eyes connected with mine as Rose looked me up and down. It was a logical question. A logical conclusion based on what Rose had said.

“We have to get that knife in our custody,” Bradley said.

“We’ll need a warrant from a judge,” Rose said.

“I have no connections like that around here yet,” I said. “If anything, I owe too many favors.”

“How do you think we made our connections?” Rose asked.

“Go down to the courthouse and do whatever you did on that officer in the evidence locker. You’ll owe favors for awhile, but eventually the tide will swing in your favor,” Bradley asked.

Were they serious? Did they actually expect me to try and throw myself at a judge?

But then, another thought crossed my mind.

“What?” Rose asked. “What’s that look?”

“You need a warrant? I’ll get you a warrant,” I said.

Then I grabbed my coffee and raced out the door.

I had a meeting with a certain Latin Cobra to arrange.

Chapter 27

Knox

I was glad I’d gotten Everly’s number, because once I filled in Diesel on what happened he wanted me to bring her by. I dialed her number and it took me a few tries to get her, but she eventually picked up. I told her she needed to come back because the guys wanted to see her.

She was hesitant, but I got her to agree to come.

The two of us hopped on my bike and away we went. She was clinging to me, trying to hold on for dear life. It was obvious she’d never been on a motorcycle, which told me right there how ‘close’ her and her brother were. We rode out into the woods and kicked up dust, riding around so I could make sure we weren’t being followed.

The two of us pulled up and the guys were all standing outside. I hopped off my bike and set it up, then I offered my hand to help Everly. She took it gladly and slid off, making some comment under her breath about how her brother needed to take a lesson from us.

I wasn’t sure what she meant, but I figured it was probably a good thing.

“This her?” Diesel asked.

“If by ‘her’, you mean Rex’s sister, then yes,” Everly said.

“You gotta name?” Grave asked.

“Everly,” she said.

“Pretty name for a pretty girl,” Grave said.

“Down boy. Not what she’s here for,” Diesel said.

“What? Can’t I admire the beauty of my surroundings?” Grave asked.

“I’ll tickle your fancy later,” Everly said. “Right now, I think you’re going to want to hear my story.”

I watched Grave’s face light up with her enthusiasm and retorts. She really was right up his alleyway. Sassy. Confident. Independent and didn’t take any shit. That was the kind of woman Grave needed. Someone who wasn’t afraid to rope his violent ass in.

“What’s going on?” Mick asked. “Why’s she here?”

“Because I’m proof Knoxy boy here didn’t kill Blaze,” she said.

“‘Knoxy boy’?” Grave asked with a grin. “I like it. Can we use that?”

“No,” I said.

“I was there that night,” she said. “I was on the other side of the fire, but I was there.”

“Fuck. I knew she looked familiar,” Brewer said.

“You saw her?” Diesel asked.

“I mean, it’s hard to miss that pile of blonde hair. You were wearing a green top, right?” Brewer asked.

“With some blue jeans, yes,” she said.

“And a fucking… um… damn, it’s not a coat. But uh…”

“Cardigan?” she asked.

“That. It was light pink. Yeah. I remember you,” Brewer said.

“What happened?” Diesel asked.

“Rex wanted me and a couple of other girls there to get out of dodge. But I didn’t want to leave him. My brother’s a hot-headed idiot who gets himself into more trouble than he can manage and I was prepared to bail him out. But when the fight started, I thought about running. Getting out of there and all that. I’m actually the one that called the police.”

“You didn’t tell me that before,” I said.

“Figured I stood less of a chance of you killing me over it if I was surrounded by other people,” she said.

“I wouldn’t have killed you over it,” I said.

“Then you work very differently from my brother and his club,” she said.

“Wait, so they’ve killed before?” Rock asked.

“Yes. They have. Some took. Some didn’t,” she said.

“How do you know all this?” Mick asked.

“My brother can’t keep his damn mouth shut. You guys have to understand, The Black Saddles don’t work the way you guys do. They’re loud and proud and have no issues boasting of the things they try to do. That night, when your buddy Knox here was kicking the crap out of Blaze, that was when my brother’s gears started to turn. He was creeping around the edge of the woods, watching everything that was happening. And when you guys ran away, I saw-”

We all stared at Everly as her eyes lined with tears. She shook her head and looked away, her hands balled up into fists. I watched Grave reach out for her, taking her hand within his and trying to comfort her.

It was weird. Seeing our burly Grave so weak for a woman.

“You’re good here,” Grave said. “Safe. What happened?”

“I saw him kill Blaze. In front of everyone. Just… a knife to the back. Easy as pie. He didn’t hesitate and he didn’t pause. It happened and everyone was freaking out and he kept saying ‘we’ll pin in it on him. We’ll pin it on him.’.”

“You saw your brother kill Blaze,” Diesel said.

“Yeah. Haven’t been able to sleep well since,” she said with a snicker.

I watched Grave squeeze her hand as she turned her watery gaze to him.

“Thank you for coming to talk with us,” he said.

All of us furrowed our brows as we watched the interaction.

“Yeah. It’s fine,” Everly said.

“You guys know what this means,” Diesel said.

“Can we discuss this after she’s gone?” Grave asked.

“Why the hell are you so concerned about what she feels?” Mick asked.

“Because she was brave enough to hop on the back of a bike of a rival gang and come talk to us without anyone with her. That’s why,” Grave said.

He was almost snarling at Mick.

“What does this mean?” Everly asked.

“It means we’re at war with The Black Saddles,” I said.

“Knox,” Diesel said.

“What? She’s gonna find out anyway,” I said.

“War?” she asked.

“In our world, what your brother tried to do is the equivalent of terrorism on foreign soil. He committed a heinous crime on our turf then tried to take us down with it,” Diesel said.

“We can’t let that stand. Redding’s in trouble with people like that in town,” Brewer said.

“Should I be like… leaving, or something?” Everly asked.

“No,” Grave said quickly. “I mean, no one will be harmed. No one’s dropping bombs or sending in military guys. But we do have to clean this up.”

I watched Everly nod as Grave finally dropped her hand.

“We’ll hold church in a while to figure out what our next move is,” Diesel said. “In the meantime, get Everly back to wherever she needs to be.”

“I can take her back,” Grave said.

“Her car’s at my place. I’ve got it,” I said.

My phone started vibrating in my pocket and I pulled it out. I saw Monroe was calling and I looked around at the guys. I turned the phone to Diesel and he nodded his head, shooing me off with his hand so I could take the call.

“Monroe. You good?” I asked.

“Knox. We need to meet up. And soon,” she said.

“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I’m not talking about any of it over the phone. Can you come over to my place?” she asked.

“I’m on my way,” I said. “I’m about thirty minutes out though.”

“Perfect. I’ll meet you there. Come in when you get here. The door will be unlocked.”

Chapter 28

Monroe

I was sitting on the porch of my apartment sipping on a glass of wine. The day had been long and it seemed as if the weeks were only going to get longer. I watched the sun set in the sky as my lips wrapped around the edge of the glass, my body trying to relax itself. I kept replaying the events of the day in my head. Everything I had done to try and secure information and everything I had done to try and convince myself Knox hadn’t been a part of any of this.

And once I had that proof, it made me sick that I could’ve doubted him in the first place.

I set my wine glass in my lap as the door of my apartment opened. I braced myself for whatever was coming. Whatever anger or sadness or upset was coming my way. Knox had sounded tense on the phone. And I knew he was out in the desert. The wind had been whipping around on the phone call which meant he’d probably been with the guys.

Doing something he probably didn’t need to be doing.

“Monroe?”

His voice fluttered over me as he stepped out onto the porch. I had a beer waiting for him, uncapped and ready to be drank. He sat down beside me and picked it up, his eyes watching me rhythmically sip on my drink.

I had so much to tell him.

“What’s wrong?” Knox asked.

“Nothing. And everything,” I said with a snicker.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” he asked.

“I flirted with the evidence locker officer to get a glimpse at Blaze’s evidence box.”

I felt his eyes harden on the side of my face.

“Uh huh,” he said.

“There was a knife. At the bottom. A knife we’d never seen. Never processed. It was covered in blood and an exact match to the wound found in Blaze’s back.”

“So, the murder weapon was in there,” he said.

“The box hadn’t been sealed yet. It was just sitting there. Waiting for anyone to stick their hands in it. I took pictures of everything and went back to tell Rose, but then she told me I had to go flirt with a judge to get a warrant for the evidence box.”

“Sounds like you made a lot of men’s days today.”

“Yeah. Well, I didn’t flirt with the judge. I met up with Diego instead.”

“What?” he asked, his voice hardening.

“I was straight up with him. I told him the RICO case was pending and even though it didn’t look like people were coming into town, I was now having to try and figure out what they had that was making them build their case.”

“What did you tell him, Monroe?”

“Rose is under the impression that the assistant U.S. attorney has someone on the inside, Knox. Someone talking to them and ratting you guys out.”

I looked over at him and watched him tense as anger barreled over his features.

“Rose said that.”

“Yes,” I said. “And if that’s the case, then the government probably has some serious stuff on you.”

“Did you tell Diego that?” he asked.

“No. What I told him was that the only way they could build this kind of case this quickly was if someone was feeding them something. I didn’t go into specifics. Diego asked me why I called the meeting and I told him that the more connections I could fry between you guys and the police, the better. He helped me secure the warrant I needed from the judge in exchange for keeping him in the loop on things regarding the RICO case.”

I watched Knox nod as he brought his beer to his lips.

“Anyway, we got the box. The knife was still there. We tested the blood and it’s an exact match to Blaze. But the fingerprints were too smudged to make a formal I.D. on anyone. So there still isn’t a connection as to who was wielding the knife.”

“I think I can help there, but you keep on going,” he said.

“I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that Blaze’s murder and this RICO case aren’t actually connected. I think the assistant U.S. attorney saw an opportunity with you in jail and tried to leverage it. What I think is that they’ve been trying to build this case for a long time, and they stumbled on something from whoever is talking to them that gives them solid footing. I think you being in jail was an exploitation. Not the start of this.”

“I agree with you,” he said.

“You going to tell me why?” I asked.

“Because Rex’s sister came forward and said she was the one who saw her brother kill Blaze.”

My wine glass tumbled to the concrete as I whipped my head over to Knox.

“You make a habit of breaking those, you know?” he asked.

“What happened now?” I asked.

“Rex, one of the guys I mentioned to you at the bonfire? His sister was there. Everly. She saw the whole thing go down and says it was Rex who killed Blaze. She heard him talking about how it was his idea to pin it on me.”

“Knox. When the hell were you going to call me with this?”

“When you called, I was only finding out about it then. This is news to me, too.”

“That’s huge. We can use her testimony.”

“But the case was dropped.”

“Not… not for that case,” I said. “Other cases. It’s a long story, but this knife can tie things up with other cases. Knox, that knife has been involved in other murders and attempted murders against your club for years. Two, to be exact. That same knife with those same dimensions and that same serrated blade.”

I watched fire boil in Knox’s eyes as he slammed back the rest of his beer.

“I gotta go,” he said.

“Wait, please. I’m not done,” I said.

“You just told me some asshole Black Saddle’s been killing us off and you think I can stay?”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

Knox’s eyes fell hard onto mine as I drew in a deep breath.

“The hell you apologizing for?” he asked.

“I had doubts about you. Even after I told you how I felt, I was somehow convinced you were involved in all this. That you were capable of something like this. And I was so wrong, and I’m so sorry.”

“I didn’t expect anything different from you.”

“But you should’ve. Because I love you, Knox.”

“I love you, too. Don’t mean we’re perfect.”

“I want to make things work.”

“Were we not trying to do that?” he asked as he reached out for my hands.

“I don’t-... I don’t know,” I said.

“I was trying to make things work.”

“You were?”

“Uh. Yeah?”

I snickered and shook my head as I stood to my feet.

“Why does it feel like I haven’t seen you in two months?” I asked.

“Because today’s been a long fucking day for the both of us?” Knox asked.

“Do you have to leave now?”

“Did you have something else you wanted to tell me?”

“Not… tell you,” I said with a grin.

I squeezed Knox’s hands. I led him through my apartment, leaving the porch door open so the breeze could get in. We walked into my bedroom and tumbled to the bed, our legs and arms and tongues intertwined. We slid each other’s clothes off, my hands running over every inch of his muscles. Gripping his shoulders and sliding along his back and running my fingertips over his chest. He was beautiful. The most incredible man I’d ever encountered. Toeing between light and dark and never once trying to drag me one way or the other.

His lips hit my neck and his name escaped from between my lips.

His cock throbbed hard against my thigh. I could feel him leaking onto my skin as his hands explored my body. He massaged my tits to life and tugged lightly at my nipples. He sucked welts on my shoulders and slid his body between my legs. He kissed and sucked and nipped and licked. He covered every inch of me in his touch before he stood to his feet.

“What a sight,” Knox said. “Spread for me like you are.”

“Take me,” I said breathlessly. “And don’t stop until you want.”

His eyes darkened as he took my legs by their ankles. He threw my legs over his shoulders and pressed his cock deep into my dripping pussy. He set a relentless pace, my bed rocking on its frame as my hands dug into his thighs. He pounded against me. Skin slapping skin filling the corners of my room as my body shook in ecstasy.

Then he pulled out of me and flipped me over.

My ass was in the air as he cracked his hand against it. I moaned at the pain, wiggling around as my skin burned at his touch. He connected his hand with my other cheek, sending shockwaves through my pussy. He slid slowly into me, filling every inch until he bottomed out against me. His hands were massaging my reddened skin and my hands were digging into my mattress.

He felt so good.

I never wanted to let him go.

He slammed into me so hard my whole body moved. My toes curled and my breathing became irregular as he leaned heavily into me. His strong chest pressed into my back, sending both of us to the bed. His hands hooked underneath my leg and spread them wide, leaving me helpless with my chest pressed into the bed.

His mouth kissed every divot of my spine as he sank his cock into my body.

“Knox. Please. I can’t take it anymore. I-... I can’t-... please.”

“Please what?” he asked.

My legs were trembling and my brow was covered in sweat. My pussy ached for release and my toes were curling so hard they were cramping. He pulled out from me and rolled me over, my body spread haphazardly along my bed. My hips were throbbing with his assault as he covered me, his lips dipping to mine as he slid back inside.

Then, his fingertips found my clit.

“Please let me come,” I said breathlessly. “I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” Knox asked.

“Anything. Yes. Anything. Oh. Don’t stop. I’m so close. Right there. Right there. Right there, Knox. Right there! Yes! Don’t stop!”

My back arched off the bed and I pulled his face into my breasts. My pussy throbbed around him, his fingertips pressing deep into my body. I felt myself take off. Soaring through the clouds as stars burst behind my eyelids. His lips wrapped around my nipple as he rolled deeply into my body, feeling my pussy pulsing with every movement. His body pulled taut and his hand fell away from my clit, bracing himself as he filled me with his hot cum.

Pump after pump of his arousal, coating me and marking me as his own.

The two of us collapsed to the bed, spent and sweating as the nighttime sky blanketed the small town of Redding. His lips mindlessly pressed kisses into my skin, his muscles sinking deeply into my curves. I wrapped my arms around him and drew him closer. Wrapping my legs around him to keep him inside of me.

I wanted him this close for as long as I could have him.

“Did you mean what you said?”

“Huh?” I asked.

“When you said ‘anything’’, did you mean what you said?” Knox asked.

His eyes rose up from the crook of my neck and met mine as his arms shook with exhaustion.

“I guess so,” I said. “Why?”

“I want you to come with me,” he said.

“Where are we going?”

“I wanna show you something.”

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

Knox rolled off my body and sat up in bed. He got dressed quicker than I expected him to before he held out his hand for mine. He helped me sit up and he gathered my clothes, setting them next to me as I watched him with a curious stare.

“Just come with me, Monroe. That’s all you gotta do.”

Chapter 29

Knox

Feeling Monroe’s hands around my waist as we rode out of Redding made me feel secure. This woman I’d somehow fallen in love with was about to meet the only other women in my life that meant anything to me. And for some reason, I figured she was gonna be upset. Up until this point, Canyon had been nothing but my sister. A force out in nature Monroe was aware of, but not present with.

But I wasn’t sure how she was gonna handle the truth.

The wind whipped through my hair and Monroe grabbed on tighter. The empty roads blanketed with the dark sky cheered us on with the stars that twinkled above our heads. The great red mountains were nothing but shadowed sketches against the horizon as we flew down the deserted roads.

The roads that connected Redding with Anderson.

I was prepared for the worst. Prepared for Monroe to throw her hands in the air and walk away. And I wouldn’t be able to blame her if she did. This was a part of my life I kept out of the way for very good reasons. This was a part of my life I didn’t trust with anyone except those I held close. And even though someone was spewing my life to people-- even though there was a rat in our midst-- if Monroe was serious about making things work she’d have to know.

She’d have to meet Canyon and be a part of her life.

The ride was long and it gave me time to think. About Monroe and the guys. The Black Saddles and Blaze. Everything Everly had told us and why Rex wanted to pin it on me. They could blame it on a turf war all they fucking wanted, but this wasn’t about territory. About boundaries and who owned what. This was more personal. Someone willing to kill one of their own and blame it on a rival gang had something personal invested in the matter.

The question was, what was so fuckin’ personal for Rex?

We passed signs for Anderson and I heard Monroe gasp behind me. She thought she had an idea of what was happening. But the truth was, she had no idea. We rode through the sleepy town, takin’ sharp turns that made her arms tighten against me.

I’d never get used to that feeling. That feeling of Monroe clinging to me. It made me feel alive. Strong. It reminded me of the protector I needed to be for those I had come to love. It reminded me of all the things that could happen to Monroe if her bosses found out about our relationship. I knew they were in the dark. I knew Rose and Bradley had no idea what was going on. Those two toed the lines, but never crossed them.

I knew our relationship could cost Monroe her career.

We pulled up to my mother’s house and I felt her arms relax around me. One day, I’d have to take this woman on a trip. A cross-country trip where she wrapped her arms tightly around me through all forty-eight continental states. Fucked in a hotel in every major city in this country.

I shook the thought from my head as I helped her off the back of my bike.

“Knox, are you sure about this?” Monroe asked.

“Do you trust me?” I asked.

“Fully and completely.”

“Then come on.”

I led her up to the porch and let myself in. My mother’s house smelled the same as it always did. Apples and cinnamon, with a hint of lemon cleaning product. I drew in a long pull of the smell as I shut the door behind us, then I heard the pitter patter of those little feet.

I would always recognize the sound of her coming.

“Daddy!?”

I crouched down and opened my arms as Canyon came running into them. My mother came around the corner and smiled, her eyes traveling to the woman beside me. I picked my daughter up and swung her around, taking in how her hair billowed around her head as we moved. She covered my face in kisses and I held her close, wishing with all my might I could risk seeing her more than I did.

“Knox, what in the world are you doing here?” my mother asked.

“Can’t a man stop by to see his mother every now and again?” I asked.

I reached out for my mother and I pulled her in. Canyon wrapped one of her arms around her neck and we shared a massive hug. For a moment, I forgot Monroe was there. I forgot she was standing in the corner, slowly putting the pieces together.

Slowly making sense of the lie I’d told her all this time.

“Who’s she?” Canyon asked.

I turned my head and took in the shocked look on Monroe’s face. Her eyes were bouncing between Canyon and I, probably trying to take in everything. I set my daughter down on her feet and went to Monroe and I expected her to back up.

But instead, she met me halfway as her eyes connected with mine.

“She looks so much like you,” Monroe said.

“I’m sorry. But I didn’t feel it was important-”

Monroe held up her hand before she crouched down to my daughter. The two of them were eye level with one another and I watched Monroe hold out her hand. Canyon took it and shook it with a fury before throwing her arms around Monroe’s neck, and I poised myself to scrape my daughter off her.

But instead, Monroe hugged her and smiled.

“You’re very pretty,” Canyon said.

“Not as pretty as you are,” Monroe said. “I’m Monroe.”

“I’m Canyon. And that’s my grandma, Lola.”

“Miss Lola, it’s very nice to meet you,” Monroe said.

“Nice to meet you, too. Sorry if I seem a little shocked, but Knox has never brought a girl home before.”

“Never?” Monroe asked.

“Nope,” my mother said.

“Do you like coloring?” Canyon asked.

“Depends. When’s your bedtime?” Monroe asked.

“A little later tonight. And I’ll deal with the fallout, Momma,” I said.

Canyon took Monroe’s hand and dragged her into the kitchen. I looked over at my mother and I saw the smile growing across her cheeks. We followed them into the kitchen and sat down at the table, and my mother started preparing cups of coffee for all of us.

“I like coloring princesses. But sometimes I like animals, too. Like bears,” Canyon said.

“Is that your favorite animal?” Monroe asked.

“Nope. My favorite are horses. I wanna ride one someday.”

“I used to ride them all the time when I was your age,” Monroe said.

“You did?” I asked.

“Mhm. There was a ranch up the road and I was friends with the son of the man who owned it. As long as I helped muck out the stalls, they didn’t charge me anything to ride.”

“What is ‘muck’?” Canyon asked.

“It’s when you shovel horse poop out of a stall,” my mother said.

“That sounds really gross,” Canyon said.

“No grosser than cleaning up after yourself,” Monroe said.

“Grandma, could I have some juice?” Canyon asked.

“Here, you guys sit. I can get it,” Monroe said.

“No, no, no. You’re a guest. Now after this visit you won’t be. But for now, you’re my guest. Sit,” my mother said.

I looked over and watched as Monroe and Canyon colored on the same page. The way my daughter looked up at Monroe was the way a daughter should look up at her mother. I held my coffee mug in my hands and sipped on it, watching the two of them continuing to interact. Monroe would make a joke and Canyon would fall apart in laughter. Eventually Canyon got sick and tired of coloring and made a tic-tac-toe board.

And of course, Monroe kept letting her win.

“What time is it?” Canyon asked.

“Almost eleven,” I said.

“Oh,” she said with a yawn. “Okay. Do we have time to watch a movie?”

“I don’t think we have time to do that,” Monroe said. “But we do have time for a bedtime story. Do you want me to read you one?”

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Can you read ‘Are You My Mother?’ to me?”

Monroe looked over at me and I nodded my head, urging her to answer any way she wanted.

And I smiled when Monroe said ‘yes’.

I watched the two of them cuddle on the couch while Monroe read my daughter’s favorite story to her. It was a bittersweet moment because I knew why she enjoyed the book. She thought she was a lot like the hatched bird in the story. Going around and looking up at people and wondering if they were her mother. I watched from the kitchen table, trying to keep a distance as Monroe bonded with my daughter.

Then once the story was over, I scooped Canyon up and went to tuck her in.

When I came back downstairs, I heard Monroe and my mother talking. Their voices were low at first, but as I got closer I could hear what they were saying.

“He does it to protect Canyon and I, but I know what he does,” my mother said. “Don’t be upset with him. Canyon was a shock to all of us.”

“I’m not upset with him. I couldn’t be with something like this. A father protecting his daughter is the fiercest force I’ve ever seen,” Monroe said. “Does he think I’m upset with him?”

“I don’t think so. But I don’t want you thinking he kept this from you intentionally.”

“He’s protecting his family. I can’t fault him for that,” Monroe said. “How old is Canyon?”

“Ten,” I said.

Monroe whipped her head around to see me as I leaned against the kitchen doorway.

“She was dropped on our doorstep by an ex of mine when she was almost one. Haven’t seen the woman since.”

“Not once?” Monroe asked.

“Nope.”

“How could someone do that to their own child?”

“I wasn’t known for picking winners, Monroe. I happened to get lucky with you.”

I watched her cheeks flush as she brought her coffee mug to her lips.

“Will the two of you be staying long?” my mother asked.

“The plan was to come in only for a couple of hours,” I said

“It’s pretty late, though. I’ve got a spare bedroom if the two of you want to get some sleep,” my mother said.

“I’m okay with it if Knox is,” Monroe said. “I don’t have to work in the morning.”

“What do you do for work?” my mother asked.

“I’m a lawyer,” Monroe said. “For a firm in Redding.”

“So, you bail my son out of trouble when he needs it?”

“I still don’t know how you found out,” I said.

“I’m your mother. I know many things you think I don’t know.”

Monroe looked up at me with that mischievous twinkle in her eye. She never did answer my mother’s question, but she did convince me to stay that night. The two of us curled up in bed together, my arms wrapped around her and holding her close. We fell asleep looking out the window on the outskirts of Anderson, with my mother at the end of the hallway and my daughter across the hall.

“You’re a good man, Knox. And don’t let anyone convince you differently.”

And for the first time in years, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

Epilogue

Monroe

Two Months Later

“Have a good weekend, Monroe. And remember, we’ll be closed Monday and Tuesday.”

“Thanks for the reminder, Bradley. You’ve only told me twelve times this week,” I said.

“I got Rose to take time off so we could go on a cruise. Sue me if you don’t like it,” he said.

“Can I? Really? Is that a thing?” I asked.

“Get out of here with that crazy talk,” he said with a grin.

“Enjoy your cruise. Take all the pictures.”

“Just make sure to keep an eye on your email. This RICO case is still breathing down our necks.”

I shut down my office and walked out with a cloud looming over my head. I hadn’t been feeling well the past couple of weeks and I was ready to get home and sleep. With the assistant U.S. attorney still preparing a case against The Dead Souls, the firm wasn’t getting much reprieve. Between that and our normal caseloads, all of us were pulling thirteen-hour days and still taking work home on the weekends.

It was rough, but it was what we had to do.

Every time I thought we had a way to get the government to drop their case, there was something else that popped up. Something else we couldn’t ignore that solidified the fact that they had someone on the inside. Which was why it was imperative that Rose and Bradley were kept in the dark about my relationship continued with Knox.

I didn’t want them thinking they could lean on it for leverage.

Even with Everly’s admission of what she saw her brother do, it didn’t get us any closer to figuring out how this RICO case was being built. It was bigger than we thought, and Blaze’s murder was just a small part of it. Blaze’s murder had been closed for a couple of months and there was no use in reopening it. The only thing it would do was cause more headache for the club and more work for the firm.

Neither of which anyone wanted or needed.

I got into my car and drove to the drugstore. I walked up and down the aisles, grabbing a few things here and there. A pint of ice cream. Some soda. Dill pickle-flavored chips. I didn’t know why, but that sounded good.

My mouth was watering just thinking about it.

I grabbed a couple of things for nausea and headaches before I headed to the shampoo aisle. I was out of almost everything, and I quickly realized I was going to need a cart. Hauling the small basket around in my hand was already causing me to break a sweat.

Which was odd, because I never sweat.

Even in the one hundred-degree temperatures of California.

I sighed and rested my body as I sat the basket down at my feet. Fuck. I’d have to go get a cart. And the mere thought of walking all the way back to the front of the store was excruciating.

I needed a nap.

I opened my eyes and drew in a deep breath, but not before I took in what aisle I was on. I was staring at tampons. Pads. Lube. Pregnancy tests.

That was it. I was about to start my damn period. Just what I needed for my long weekend.

I grabbed a box of tampons as a wave of nausea rolled over my body. I leaned against the shelving, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. This wasn’t my period. This was something else. I’d never gotten nauseous like this on my period.

Wait. When was my last period?

I took out my phone and scrolled through my calendar. Shit. I was a week late. I looked down at the items in my basket-- the pickled chips and the ice cream and the soda. Things I never ate on a regular basis. Things I would’ve never had a palette for.

Then, my eyes drifted up to the pregnancy tests.

I ripped one off the shelving and rushed back to the bathroom. I worked it out of the box as I sat there and waited for my body to prepare itself. I willed my bladder to empty itself. Prayed to whatever deities above that they would give me just enough to take this damn test. I held it between my legs then capped it off, my mind racing a thousand miles a second.

I couldn’t be pregnant. Knox and I were careful. Knox already had a daughter.

He didn’t want another kid, did he?

I washed my hands and eyed the test next to me. Two minutes was excruciating when someone was waiting on something. I paced the drug store bathroom floor, my heels clicking against the grimy tile flooring.

But when it was time, I suddenly couldn’t look at it.

If it was positive, that would be a problem. My career. My relationship with Knox. This RICO case. All of it was hinging on me being able to stay focused. And pregnancy kept no one focused. I had to stay in the loop with the case because of the information I was feeding Knox as well as Diego, and if I defaulted on my agreement with Diego it could spell disaster for the firm.

For my career.

For me.

I picked up the test in my trembling hands. My eyes watered as I read over the word that had popped up on the digital reading. I turned towards the mirror as the test dropped into the sink, my hands splaying out over my stomach.

Pregnant.

I was pregnant with Knox’s child.

Gripping the test in my hand, I rushed out of the bathroom. I grabbed my purse and left my stuff in the aisle, then tossed some cash onto the counter for the test. I barreled out of the drug store and raced to Knox’s apartment, swerving in and out of lanes and blowing through yellow lights.

I hoped to fuck he was there.

I skidded into his driveway and started pounding on his door. I had no idea how he was going to take this information, but I needed him. Tears were welling in my eyes and I felt my legs buckling underneath me. My hands were shaking and my knuckles ached from pounding on the metal warehouse door. I was pounding with both fists, yelling for Knox to open the door as tears cascaded down my cheeks.

The door ripped open and I fell forward. Directly into the arms of a very shirtless and tired Knox.

“Whoa whoa whoa. Monroe. Get in here. Come on. I gotcha.”

I stumbled into Knox’s apartment with the test clenched in my hand. I couldn’t speak. I could hardly breathe. My nausea was getting worse and my headache was blinding. I felt weaker than I’d ever felt and it was all too much. I felt Knox’s arm in the crook of my knees as he lifted me off the floor, the test falling from my hand as I leaned heavily into him.

“Come on. Calm down. What’s happened? Can ya say something?”

He sat on the couch and settled me in his lap as his chiseled arms cradled me close.

“Monroe? Look at me.”

I fluttered my bloodshot eyes up to Knox as his thumb smoothed over my cheek.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Please don’t be mad,” I said breathlessly.

“Never. Is it something with the case?” he asked.

“No.”

“Did Diego do something?”

“No.”

“Did something happen with your job?”

“No, Knox. I-I-I…”

My forehead fell into his lips and he kissed me softly. I sniffled hard, trying to regain my composure. My stomach was rolling and I couldn’t hold it back any longer. I scrambled off Knox’s lap and ran to his bathroom, throwing the toilet lid open just in time.

I heaved up the contents of my lunch, my body trembling as tears continued to stream down my cheeks.

I rested my cheek against the edge of the toilet as I breathed in through my nose. I heard Knox’s footsteps approaching the bathroom entrance. His heavy footfalls were sturdy. Sound. A noise I’d come to associate with protection and comfort over the past couple of months.

Was I going to lose that now? Was he going to leave?

I flushed the toilet and sat down, my back pressed against the wall. I grimaced at the taste in my mouth as Knox walked towards me. He bent down into my view and handed me an opened bottle of water, urging me to drink it.

And that was when I saw it.

The pregnancy test in his hand.

“Please don’t be upset,” I said.

“Drink.”

I put the bottle of water to my lips as he sat down next to me.

“You’re pregnant,” Knox said.

I felt my lip start to tremble as I took another sip of the water.

“I’m pregnant,” I said breathlessly.

The snicker that fell from his lips caused me to whip my gaze up to his. And when I took him in, I didn’t see the anger or the fear I thought I was going to see. I didn’t see the disappointment or the shock I figured would come with something like this.

Instead, I saw a smile.

A growing smile that bloomed so broadly it closed his eyes.

“We’re pregnant,” Knox said.

“We?” I asked.

“Holy shit. We’re gonna have a baby.”

“You mean, you’re not-?”

Knox reached out for me and pulled me into his lap. His arms flew around me, his lips peppering my neck with kisses. The bottle of water fell to the floor, spilling out everywhere as his arms cloaked my back.

I could feel his smile on my shoulder as I held him close.

“We’re gonna have a baby, Monroe. Canyon’s gonna have a sibling.”

“And you’re okay with that?” I asked.

Knox gripped my shoulders and held me out, his eyes connecting heavily with mine.

“Yes,” he said. “I’m very okay with that.”

Tears of relief rushed down my cheeks as I threw my arms around him. My lips planted into his as his hands roamed my back. I could feel his cock growing underneath me. I could feel his muscles throbbing against my chest. He got up off the floor, taking me with him as I wrapped my legs around his thick, strong frame.

“We’re gonna have a baby,” Knox said as he lowered me onto his bed. “A beautiful, wonderful, incredible baby. Who’ll be as smart as you and as strong as me.”

His lips nipped at my chest as his hands slid my skirt down my thighs.

“I love you, Knox. I love you so much.”

His lips nipped at my neck before his nose nuzzled against my ear.

“I love you too, Monroe.”

His hand slid across my stomach, cupping the place where my stomach would eventually grow. Where our child would nestle inside of me and feed until he or she was ready to greet the world. He palmed the whole of my stomach, his massive hand spread out. Like he was trying to communicate with our growing little bean.

Then he slid between my legs and planted his lips against my belly button.

“I love you too, little one. And I can’t wait to meet you soon.” He then looked up at me and took my face in between his hands.

“We’ll figure this all out, Monroe, I promise.”

THE END!

Want to get your hands on the next book, Grave? It releases on August 29th! Turn the page for a sneak peak!

These lawyers can go screw themselves.

If they think I’m going to let Everly go into witness protection, they got another thing coming.

Their right that she is in danger,

But I can keep her safe.

So she will move in with me.

At first, it seems simple,

But as the lies unravel,

I realize that Everly might be the only good thing in all of this.

She’s pure, innocent and everything I’m not.

But for her, I would change.

Be the man she needs me to be.

Forever.

Chapter 1

Grave

“Grave, you comin’?” Knox asked.

“Nope. Got shit to do,” I said.

“Like sit there with a bullshit look on your face and hope Miss Long Legs comes back.”

“She’s got a fucking name,” I said.

“She’s also got legs for days,” he said.

“Should you even be looking? With that pretty little thing of yours knocked up and strutting around?”

“Monroe’s the one who points it out every damn time we’re around her,” he said.

I shook my head as I stared out the window.

“Come on, Grave. She’s gonna be just fine.”

“I don’t give a shit how she is,” I said.

“Then you’re a fuckin’ liar,” Knox said. “But who cares. More beer for me.”

“Monroe know you’re going to drink with the guys?” I asked.

“Know? She’s the one takin’ me,” he said with a grin as he started to walk out.

“Hey Knox.”

“What?”

“You got yourself a good one there.”

My eyes whipped over to my friend. My brother. My confidant. He was standing in the doorway with his shoulders rolled back and his nose tipped out towards the front. I could hear a car pulling up. Probably Monroe. The two of them had become inseparable and I had vowed to make sure they were safe. If there was one thing these asshole Black Saddles weren’t going to do, it was fuck up someone’s life who had a child on the way. There were a lot of things I fucking tolerated in the world of bloodshed and mayhem, but harming pregnant women and children was not fucking one of them.

“I know I do,” Knox said. “Play your cards right, and ya might get one yourself.”

“What makes you think I want one?” I asked.

“The fact that you’re staring out that damn window instead of coming and drinking with us,” Knox said.

He was right. I wasn’t going to admit to his damn face that he was right, but he was. I couldn’t stop thinking about Everly. Ever since she rolled up into our lodge with information on her fucking brother, my mind started going. My cock pulsed with life and my veins ran hot with the fire in her eyes. That long blonde hair whipping around her shoulders and those kaleidoscope eyes. Yellows and blues and greens.

I still didn’t fucking know what color her eyes were.

Knox slammed the door behind him and I got up to go look out the window. I wanted to make sure him and Monroe got off safely. That was my role in this club. Making sure everyone was okay. I was the protector. The blood-shedder. The punisher, in any form it came. No one fucked with my club or the people they cared about outside of it.

Ever.

I wondered what Everly was doing. I knew her greatest concern was Rex finding out what she’d done. She’d been in a panic that day about it after spilling her guts to us. She was a brave woman, but she was scared as hell.

And she should’ve been.

This was some scary shit.

After Knox dropped her back at her car, he told her that our club would look out for her. Once Monroe found out about what Everly knew, her law firm convinced Everly to do a written testimony of what she saw. So, the firm could use it for the RICO case along with helping close some of cold cases they had in their files. We only convinced her because then she wouldn’t have to testify in open court. Her brother would never know it was her, until they were sealing his jail cell.

I watched as Monroe’s car fell into the horizon before I went and sat back down. I loved moments like this. When the lodge was quiet and dark, with no one there except me. Being bloodthirsty meant always hearing the screams of others. Them begging for their lives and to not be hurt. And silence was the only way to counteract the voices I still heard in my head. The soft darkness of silence was the only antidote I had to the harsh darkness of my mind after I closed my eyes at night.

But for a few days now, things had been different.

I didn’t see the faces of those I’d killed when I closed my eyes.

I saw her.

Everly.

With her fuller lower lip and her chameleon eyes and that beautiful blonde hair I wanted a fistful of.

Shaking her thought from my mind, I headed over to the kitchen. I was fucking hungry and I wasn’t gonna burn the gas heading into town to get food for one. I threw open the fridge and started pulling out some shit. Chicken. Grape tomatoes. Spinach. Cheese I could grate. I was glad Rock loved to eat well because I fucking hated grocery shopping. I learned how to cook from my mom when I was younger, but the grocery store was something I hated. Aisles and aisles of fucking food and people breathing down your neck to get to the latest deal their coupons boasted of.

Rock fucking did the grocery shopping. And I did the cooking.

I put some oil in a pan and seasoned the chicken breast on each side. I slapped it in there, the oil bubbling and popping. I dodged the white-hot bullets coming out of the pan before I split the chicken breast in half. Then I topped it with the grape tomatoes I’d chopped up, the spinach I’d shredded, and the cheese that would bind everything together.

I whipped up some mashed potatoes while the chicken slow-cooking in the pan. I made my mashed potatoes a little different. I peeled, salted, and boiled them. Then I drained the water and threw in sour cream and butter. Mixed that shit all up until it was smooth, then I added A-1 steak sauce.

Oh, yes. Right into my fucking potatoes. That shit was fucking good, and it made my mouth water every damn time I smelled it.

My father was a piece of shit, but my mother was wonderful. Her escape from her fucked up marriage was cooking. And she could hold her own with the rest of them. Her macaroni and cheese and fucking meatloaf were off the charts. But I always loved the holidays with her. She made this pineapple-and-honey glazed ham that outdid anything anyone could buy in a fucking store.

I’d inherited the binder of all her recipes when she’d died.

I set the mashed potatoes off to the side and began to cook up some asparagus. I took the two halves of chicken breasts and put them on a plate, then threw the vegetables into the chicken grease. A little salt, a little minced garlic, and I cooked them until they were a little charred. That smoky garlic flavors along with that crunch? There was nothing fucking better.

I grabbed a beer from the fridge and put everything on the kitchen table. Ours was small. Didn’t seat hardly four people. Probably because we never fucking used it. We had it in case we needed it, but it was the only piece of furniture in the damn lodge that still looked brand new.

I was the only one that actually cooked and ate here.

I popped open my beer with my hand and took a long pull. My mind drifted back to Everly. What she was doing. Where she was. Who she was with. Was she safe? Was she still scared? Shit, did Everly live with her brother? Was she having to dance around him and act like she didn’t know anything? Was she a good liar like that? Would she be able to contact us if she was in trouble?

Fuck. My mind was running away from me again.

My cell phone rang in my pocket and I groaned. A piping hot home-cooked meal and I couldn’t even get started on it. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and glanced at the number, then straightened up when I saw who was calling.

“What’s up, Diesel?”

“You weren’t with Knox,” he said.

“Nope. Not coming today,” I said.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Didn’t feel like drinking.”

“You. Grave. Didn’t feel like drinking.”

“Did you not hear me well the first time?” I asked.

“The attitude isn’t necessary. You good?” he asked.

“I’m good. Knox made sure I was good. I just didn’t feel like coming out today. Don’t know what the damn deal is.”

“The damn deal is that we all went drinking specifically so you would come out. You’ve been at that lodge for five fucking days, Grave.”

“I told you, I’m having my apartment bug-bombed.

“Except that’s not true.”

“What?” I asked.

“I rode by your place to see how the progress was coming along. Nothing’s been touched at your apartment.”

“Maybe they’re done and haven’t contacted me yet.”

“Cut the shit, Grave. You know how this works with me.”

“How long have you known?” I asked.

“Since the lie came out of your face. You know you can’t lie to me. No one can,” he said. “So, since I’m outside of the bar about to head in, you can tell me why you’re really staying at the lodge instead of your apartment.”

“Maybe I just want to be at the lodge. That such a bad thing?” I asked.

“Does it have something to do with Everly?”

“Why the fuck does everyone think it has something to do with her?”

“Because she’s the only factor that changed over the past week.”

“Has anyone told you that your deduction skills are bullshit and that they don’t like them?”

“Every day,” he said. “I’m not going to get into why I think you’re worried, so I’ll just say this. Stay safe. She’s going to be all right.”

“We don’t know that. What if she lives with Rex? Did anyone ask her that? Does anyone know where she lives at all?”

“Monroe has reassured us she’s keeping tabs on Everly to make sure she’s safe. Her law firm is trying to convince her to go into witness protection.”

“Witness Protection is bullshit. We could protect her better and you know that. I could protect her better.”

“So, what do you want me to do?” he asked.

“Lean on Monroe. Have her drop the idea of witness protection. Get her to tell us where Everly’s living. I can make daily drive-bys and shit.”

“And this has nothing to do with the overt flirting tactics you used on her when she came to us?” he asked.

“So, what if she’s pretty? I’m not getting my dick wet with Rex’s fucking sister. Are you insane?”

“Just making sure your head’s in the right place. But, no. I’m still not leaning on Monroe.”

“What?” I asked.

“She’s pregnant, Grave. She’s working one of the most high-profile cases of her career as her first one straight out of law school. She doesn’t need people leaning on her. She needs people trusting her opinion and supporting her.”

“That’s Knox’s job. Not ours,” I said.

“So long as I’m fucking President of this club it will be. You’re starting to sound a lot like the unethical asshole we bat out of this town, Grave.”

“I’m not talking about hurting her, Diesel Damn.”

“Good. You better not be.”

“But if Everly ever gets herself into trouble, it blows this entire damn thing out of the water. Don’t you think we should at least know where she is in case she doesn’t check in with Monroe or something?”

The silence on the end of the phone meant I had Diesel in a corner.

“That’s actually not a bad argument,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“Why didn’t you lead with that?” he asked.

“Because I didn’t think I would have to. I’ve never been denied the right to protect someone before. Didn’t think this club would start now,” I said.

“The only reason we’ve been putting you off it is because we all saw how much you flirted with her when she was at the lodge talking to us. How instantaneous your compassion was for her. You can’t fucking protect her to the best of your ability if you’re compromised.”

“Fucking watch me, Diesel”

“So, you are compromised.”

“Either get me the damn address or don’t. It was just a fucking suggestion,” I said.

“You really should come drinking tonight. We could all use it.”

“I’m good. Got dinner getting cold.”

“Shit. I missed a Grave dinner for this? I should come back,” Diesel said.

“There’s more than plenty.”

“You owe me one.”

“I always owe you one,” I said. “Talk to you later, Diesel.”

“We’ll be back after a while, Grave.”

I hung up the phone and sighed. I was tired of them giving me a hard time about flirting with Everly. It was just to put a damn smile on her face. Get her to calm down and talk with us. If she wanted to bang, sure. I’d get my cock wet between her thighs. But it wasn’t like it was anything serious. She was a valuable asset to our club and this RICO case and I was going to do anything I could to not only make sure she was safe, but make sure she knew she had testified for some good men.

Plus, it wasn’t my fault she was hot as fuck.

I dipped into the mashed potatoes and slammed some onto my plate. I was fucking starving. I scooped up some asparagus and picked up my fork, ready to fucking go to town. I’d worked my ass off through lunch with the guys trying to ride around town and put more pieces together. I was going to eat all this damn food and probably still have room for dessert.

Then, a knock came at the door of the lodge.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked.

I looked at the food growing cold on my damn plate. But then the knock came again. Faster and lighter. Like someone was in a hurry to get someone else’s attention.

“Hello? Knox? Are you there?”

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Was that who I thought it was?

Were my ears playing tricks on me?

“Knox? Anyone? There’s a bike out. Please. I need to talk.”

Everly.

Everly was at the fucking front door.

Want more of Grave? You can pre-order it HERE!

Excited about the Dead Souls MC Series? You can pre-order Brewer, Rock and Diesel all now!

More Books by Savannah Rylan

Series

Girth (Marked Skulls MC #1)

Rodeo (Marked Skulls MC #2)

Abe (Marked Skulls MC #3)

Oz (Marked Skulls MC #4)

Dash (Marked Sulls MC #5)

Hawk (The Road Rebels MC #1)

Talon (The Road Rebels MC #2)

Snake (The Road Rebels MC #3)

Fox (The Road Rebels MC #4)

The Road Rebels MC Box Set

Gunner (The Bad Disciples MC #1)

Hunter (The Bad Disciples MC #2)

Tank (The Bad Disciples MC #3)

Glock (The Bad Disciples MC #4)

The Bad Disciples MC Box Set

Fallen Idols MC

Warrant (A Righteous Outlaws Novel #1)

Bulletproof (A Righteous Outlaws Novel #2)

Dice (A Righteous Outlaws Novel #3)

Beast (A Righteous Outlaws Novel #4)

Bending All The Rules

Breaking All The Rules

Banishing All The Rules

Shattering All The Rules

The A List Complete Series

Standalones

Protected by the Biker

Taken by the Mob Boss

Nico (The Rossi Mafia)

Baby and the Biker

Bought by the Biker

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Savannah Rylan is a romance writer that spends most of her time writing and reading with her cat, Gris. When not penning the next great American novel, (HA), you can find her on the beach with a drink in her hand or at the gym testing out some strange new position. Yoga, obviously. She lives in Southern California with her husband and Gris, the true love of her life.

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