Page 127

A bid for humanity was expected at this point.

“I heard your old pal King blew up my docks. That true? Where they found Ricci.” Cold eyes roved over Saint’s face, icy and pale. “What brought him back? Huh? He has no business here. No connections. Except you.”

Saint stared back. It occurred to him that he might have played this all wrong, and that the club pres fully intended to scatter his brains across the gravel yard. He believed in doing his own dirty work.

At least the afternoon sun was shining, a break from the relentless fucking rain. If Saint died here and now, he’d appreciate it—the warmth.

Nothing Cooper had said or done indicated he’d even heard of Riley, and that was enough.

Saint’d made the call, done what needed to be done without bringing Cooper down on all of them. Just him.

Wheeler and Aaron would be left out of it. Riley would be safe. Even if Saint wasn’t the one who made sure of that. Under the calm darkness, something screamed near his heart.

“Answer me,” Cooper snarled. “That wasn’t a rhetorical fucking question.”

The hammer cocked with a loud click.

“I don’t know.” Saint was nothing and no one. “We don’t speak anymore.”

Saint could feel Cooper’s breath on his skin, the smell of stale tobacco almost overwhelming.

He was nothing.

Moments passed, and they could have been minutes or hours.

Cooper took a breath. “See that you don’t. He’s not welcome here—or I’ll be back, in the middle of the night, and raze this place to the ground, and I don’t give a shit who’s inside when it goes up.”

The hair on the back of Saint’s neck stood straight up. “Understood.”

Cooper snapped upright as he holstered his gun. He scanned the area and then spat, and it landed an inch from Saint’s knee. No one looked up at the roof.

Saint didn’t move.

He stayed on his knees, sun on his back, until the three bikes were well out of sight, and the engines had faded into the distance.

He exhaled the full contents of his lungs, did it again, then got to his feet. Gravel crunched, and the birds started up. He shook the adrenaline out of his hands.

Metal glinted where Aaron had set up on the roof. Saint walked into his shop, blinking the spots out of his vision. He really needed some sleep.

The second he was past the threshold, a warm body slammed into him. Wheeler wrapped his arms around Saint, holding tight and strong, and he relaxed into it, for a single breath.

“Next time we play chicken with goddamned bikers, can we do it on the highway, like normal?”

Saint laughed, a strained sound. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Wheeler squeezed him hard before letting go.

Footsteps on the roof echoed in the shop, and a gasp brought Saint’s gaze to the stairs.

Both Riley and Kristi sat at the top, staring at him.

Not where I left you.

He moved up the stairs and took their chins in each hand, savouring the warm skin for a second.

“What happened to staying in the fucking room, huh?” he asked, voice still dark and flat. Footsteps came from above them.

Kristi’s eyes went wide, and she tugged out of his hold. “Was Aaron covering you from the roof?” she asked. “Because that was definitely a good idea. Very cool.”