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Lucy snorted. “Seriously?”

“And another one at the bottom of the stairs.” Kate picked up her wine and took a small sip before looking between Lucy and me. “They looked terrified when I asked if they wanted a cup of tea.”

Lucy laughed, going behind the bar, giving us each a glass and grabbing a bottle of wine.

“One of them actually looked like he thought it was a trick question.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “I bet Leighton.”

Kate pointed at me. “See? You know exactly which one.”

Lucy shook her head. “You’ve basically become the clubhouse mum.”

“I don’t know whether that’s a compliment.” Though it warmed me inside and eased some of the nerves running through me. Those men, their old ladies, hell, even some of the club girls had become my family. Looking after them had become second nature to me.

The baby monitor crackled softly. All three of us looked toward it instinctively. Then a sleepy little sigh drifted through the speaker before everything went quiet again.

Kate smiled. “Still asleep.”

We moved to a booth that had a view of the front door and Lucy topped up our glasses before finally sitting down herself, after all, we had nothing to do except wait.

45

RIOT

The coordinates took us twenty miles outside the city, down roads that got narrower and darker the farther we rode. By the time the barn came into view, there wasn’t another house in sight.

I slowed the bike as we turned onto the dirt track, my eyes moving over everything ahead of us. There was an old farmhouse to the left, with a barn straight ahead and two smaller outbuildings behind it. Plenty of places for the fucking cowards to hide. The farmhouse looked like it had been abandoned for years. Half the windows were boarded up, the porch sagged in the middle, the paint on the boards were worn, and part of the roof had caved in. Long grass swallowed what was left of the garden, moving gently in the night breeze. No lights, vehicles, or any signs of life, but I knew they were out there somewhere, watching and waiting.

I killed the engine and, one by one, the brothers did the same. The sudden silence made every instinct I had start screaming. I waited for someone to come out of the darkness, screaming and wielding a blade. Or would they just shoot us where we stood?

I climbed off my bike and pulled my gun from the back of my jeans. “They’re here,” I muttered.

Reaper looked toward the house. “You sure?”

“They brought us here.”

Which meant they were waiting, but for what? I’d spent too many fucking weeks waiting for them. Watching the same cars appear outside Maria’s clinic, outside our homes, and the clubhouse. Lying to my wife because I’d convinced myself keeping her in the dark meant keeping her safe. Then I’d seen the blood on her face, the cut across her forehead, and the fucking terror in her eyes, and even after all that, she’d looked at me like I was the one who’d broken her. Maybe I had, just in a different way.

I indicated for them to follow me behind a rusted old truck, waited for them to all join me, then started. “They hurt my old lady.” Nobody spoke, but I was met with nods and angry faces. I looked toward the barn. “They don’t get to breathe after that.”

“Agreed.” Reaper’s voice was quiet.

I glanced toward him. His expression had changed. The usual cocky grin was gone, leaving nothing but the President of the Dead Knights staring back at me.

“Maria means something to every man standing here,” he said. “She’s family. They pay for what they did.”

My fingers tightened around the gun.

“But you need to keep your fucking head.”

I laughed without humor. “Little late for that.”

“I’m serious, Riot.”

“So am I.”

Reaper stepped closer. “I don’t want to be the bastard who has to ride back there and tell her I let her husband get himself killed.”