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“Oh, just that if you tell anyone about this little conversation, I’ll have to start coming after people you care about. Maybe I’ll even start with… ooh, Tate. Wouldn’t that just destroy your pretty little girlfriend and her brother? And then after that, I could send him the photo I have of you fucking his sweet little baby sister on your desk. Trauma like that, back to back, is enough to make anyone snap, don’t you think?”

My heart pounds in my chest and pain swarms my body at the thought of losing any of the people in this club. I fucking hate the idea of keeping this from everyone but what other choice do I have? Until we know who Warren truly is, I have to keep my mouth shut.

“Travis?” he asks and I grit my teeth and I nod.

“Fine.”

“Excellent!” he exclaims and I can hear the triumph in his voice. It tears through me as my anger flares out of control and I vow that I’ll do whatever it takes to find this asshole and put an end to him. “Well, I’ve got to get going. Plans to put into motion and all that but I’ll talk to you soon, Travis.”

He hangs up before I can say anything else and I throw the phone against the wall as I let out another scream, rage spiraling through me like a tornado and consuming everything else in its path. The door to my room opens and Rowan steps in with a shocked expression as she shuts the door behind her.

“What the hell is going on in here?”

I shake my head, holding my arms out to her and she eliminates the distance between us without a second of hesitation. Pulling her into my body, I bury my face in her hair and my body sags in relief.

“I’m sorry, Princess. I… was just frustrated that I couldn’t find anything from the surveillance videos,” I lie, the deceit seeping through my system like poison as she pulls back to meet my eyes. The concern on her face fucking kills me and my entire body aches to tell her the truth about what just happened but I think about Warren coming after her and it stops me. She presses her hand to my cheek and I lean into the touch.

“I know last night was…”

“Hell,” I supply and she nods.

“But we’re going to figure this out, okay? Don’t give up hope, Travis.”

I close my eyes as my name rolls off of her tongue, almost like her voice is erasing Warren’s from my mind, and nod. “I won’t, baby. I promise.”

“Good.” She leans up and presses a soft kiss to my lips as I tighten my arms around her waist. “Now, Storm sent me up here to get you. Blaze just called everyone into church.”

I nod and kiss her again. “Thanks. I’ll come find you afterward, okay?”

“You’d better,” she quips as I release her and when I turn to walk away, she smacks my ass. I turn back to her with a grin.

“Watch it, woman. You’re going to start something you can’t finish.”

She cocks her head to the side and smiles. “Actually, I think you’re the one who can’t finish it and besides, I still have tricks, remember? Now, go.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I tell her and her grin widens.

“Ooh, dirty talk, I like it.”

Laughing, I walk out of the room with her trailing behind me and I marvel at her ability to make me relax even after the most stressful, rage inducing situation I’ve ever been in. When we get to the bottom of the stairs, she shoots me a wink and joins Ali, Tate, Emma, and Nix at the bar and I slip into the war room, flinging myself into my usual seat across from Blaze, who walks in and shuts the door right after me.

“Okay, so we’re not going to be long today but we’ve got a job to do in four days that we need to go over,” Blaze says as he sits down in his seat and slaps a folder on the table. Kodiak shakes his head.

“I’m sorry but what? After what fucking happened last night, you really think it’s a good idea to take a job?”

Blaze sighs. “I don’t know but this mother and her children need our help and we only have a limited window to get them out.”

“Why?” Chance asks, scowling and on edge like the rest of us.

“Because they will be traveling through Baton Rouge in four days, on their way to relatives in Arizona and we’re going to get them out when they stop at a gas station right outside of town.”

Everyone starts talking, all at once, arguing with Blaze about why this is a terrible idea and while I agree with them, my mind jumps back to my phone call from Warren and the threats he made. Listening to them bicker about this seems so fucking stupid when I think about the things he vowed to do if I said a word about our conversation and I wish that his promise of violence made it easier to keep it to myself but it doesn’t. These are my brothers and every cell in my body is screaming at me to open my mouth and tell them what is going on. How would he even know if I did say something? He mentioned having a photo of Rowan and me together and I clench my fists as I think about him, standing outside the clubhouse and watching us together.

Fuck.

We need more security and we need tighter patrols around the clubhouse but, of course, I can’t say any of this to my brothers without telling them about the phone call.

“Okay,” Blaze barks, dragging my attention to him once again. “I understand y’all are concerned about us going out to do this job but one thing we are not going to do is let this animal control us. This club has always helped people and that is what we’re going to do now, Warren be damned. He doesn’t get to control our lives and that includes Fuzz and Piper’s wedding in two days. We are going to fucking party and celebrate them without looking over our shoulder and being scared. Do I make myself clear?”

Everyone nods and he turns to me.

“Streak, did you find anything on the surveillance videos?”

I shake my head. “Only if you’re into complete and total darkness.”

“Fuck,” he sighs and scrubs his hand down his face, the stress of this whole situation shining in his eyes as he turns to Storm. “And what about you? Did Rodriguez have any information for us?”

Storm begins recounting everything he told me upstairs about Warren and the club’s owner and I lean back in my chair, wondering how much hell we’re in for from Warren before this whole thing ends and the one thought that dogs me more than any other is wondering who will be left standing after the smoke clears.