“It’s cold outside,” Beckett said. “Mom said it might be too cold to ride.”
“It is cold, but we’ve got coats. And hey, I’ll be riding my bike this week. It goes way faster because of the motor, and I’ll be okay.”
Beckett took a moment to watch Parris closely, then nodded. “Then I’ll do the same. I don’t know how to ride, though.”
“I’ll teach you,” I said, wanting so much to fix the world for him. Knowing I was a poor substitute for the father he’d never had.
“Mom,” Beckett whined, which was exactly what I’d expected from him. “This is a boy thing.”
Parris nodded once, a firm look on his handsome face. “Totally a guy thing.”
As if learning to ride a bike was somehow gendered. I must have frowned or huffed or showed my irritation, because Parris chuckled quietly.
“I promise,” he said, still holding on to Beckett’s shoulder. “When I get back—if your mom hasn’t already taught you everything you need to know about bike riding—I’ll teach you.”
“Deal.” Beckett dove in for a hug, hanging on to Parris with a grip that defied his little body. My throat tightened as I watched the two men embrace, as I let the reality of what was happening settle over me. Parris was leaving us. He could claim all he wanted that he’d be back, but he’d inserted himself into our life only a few days before and was already walking away.
Just like Beckett’s dad had done.
Parris was promising he’d come back.
Just like Beckett’s dad had done.
One more man failing my son, and this one was all my fault because I’d known from day one that being with a biker was a bad idea.
Parris rose to his full height, a red-faced Beckett on his hip and those light eyes locked on mine. “I have to go now, but I’m coming back. And I’ll have answers to all your questions when I do.”
“Sure,” I said, eyeing Beckett. Not able to say what I really wanted to because I didn’t need to take away the boy’s hope so soon. “Be safe.”
“Take care of each other, okay?” Parris kissed Beckett on the forehead before setting him down, his voice rough as he said, “You should reach out to the Kennards if you need anything.”
Because he wouldn’t be available to me. “I know.”
He gave Beckett one last fist bump. “You take care of your momma.”
Beckett—my baby, my heart in human form—nodded. “I will.”
Parris stepped in front of me, trapping me against the counter with his big body. Looking down at me with an expression that totally gutted me. “Three o’clock. Don’t forget.”
For the bikes. “We’ll be here.”
He leaned closer, pressing his lips to mine. Kissing me slow and deep and in a way that screamed I was his before pulling away once more. “I’m coming back.”
I could barely hear my own voice as I whispered, “You’d better.”
But I knew right then he might not. Probably wouldn’t. Men left. Even good men, and Parris wasn’t what I would have ever considered a good man. He’d tried—put in the time and really given Beckett and me a taste of what we’d been missing. But he wasn’t going to stay. And no matter what words fell from his lips, I had a feeling he wouldn’t be coming back to us.
“The bike guys have my card,” Parris said as he moved toward the door. “Beckett can get whatever he wants.”
I nodded, trying hard not to watch as he opened the door. As he stepped outside. As he shut the slab of wood and formed that barrier between us. As he—
“Oh, and Mercy?”
I looked. Couldn’t help myself. “Yeah?”
His eyes burned into mine as he said, “When I get back, I’ll have everything we need to finish what we started here last night, so be ready.”
With a thud as he closed the door, he left, and my heart shattered right there in my kitchen.
But I had Beckett to worry about, the little boy with the brave face but the teary eyes. The one who had jumped at the chance to welcome Parris into his life, had shared his heart with the man, and might have to learn that his acceptance hadn’t been enough.
We hadn’t been enough.
“Mister Parris brought donuts.”
I turned my back on my son, unable to hold in the tears a moment longer. Not wanting him to see me break. “Yeah, buddy. He did.”
Beckett had always been a smart, sweet boy, though. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, hugging me. “I like Mister Parris, Mommy.”
I sighed and patted his back, wishing for things that likely could never be. Wanting so much to have the right words to say to explain what was happening and how much it sucked. But I couldn’t find them. All I could think about was the man who’d just walked out the door on us. About his flaws.
Unstable.
Demanding.
Likely a criminal.
And heartbreakingly mine.
“I like him too.”
Chapter Fourteen
PARRIS
I LEFT my heart in that little apartment over the hardware store and headed toward the county line, needing to pick up Deacon before we could enact part one of my withdrawal from the life I’d been living. Before I could kick off the plan I’d been working on all night as my beauty had slept. I was ready, I had a solid strategy, and I was willing to do just about anything to escape my past and head for a future in Justice. It was just going to take a murder or two.
Deacon was standing outside when I got to his place, ready for me. But looking rough.
“You look like shit,” I said as soon as I turned off the engine on my bike.
Deacon could only shrug a single shoulder. “I haven’t been sleeping much. Everything good? I’m not used to my team being late.”
That was a dig, but one I deserved. I was late. Just a few minutes, but he was telling the truth—most military men weren’t late. My only excuse was a little boy with a big heart and eyes that could see straight down to my soul. “I had to make sure my birthday present to Beckett would make it.”
“What did you get him?”
“A new bike.”
Deacon’s lips kicked up in a sort of half smile. “The biker bought the kid a bike. Fitting.”
“Yeah, but I was supposed to take him to the store to pick it out. This mission threw that option out the window, so I had to make arrangements.”
“Mercy taking him instead?”
Mercy. My girl. The woman who might never forgive me for walking away, even though I was doing it for all the right reasons. The one who had looked at me with so much relief when I’d walked back into that apartment. Relief that had quickly turned to disappointment. Hopefully, she’d realize soon enough that everything was for her. Every action, every minute away, everything.
“No, I didn’t want to add anything more to Mercy’s plate. I’m having the store brought to him this afternoon.”
Deacon’s smile shifted to a full-out laugh. “You’re whipped already.”
Completely and totally. I’d do anything for those two, and I really didn’t give a fuck who knew it. “There’s no shame in my game, Gramps. That’s one hell of a woman and her son is important to her, so he’s important to me.”
He nodded, seeming almost proud. “That’s the best way to look at it.”
It was, but work wouldn’t wait because we wanted to gossip about our love lives. We had a meeting to get to. One that had been my idea and still filled me with a sense of unease. “All right, enough jawing. Let’s go deal with this shit.”
I started my engine and walked the bike backward, managing a three-point turn in Deacon’s sad excuse for a driveway before rolling up the hill. He followed me in his truck, both of us heading toward Sterling as we’d planned. It was time to deal with Cartel.
Sterling sat just past the city of Crystal Falls—home of the bike store I was supposed to take Beckett to. As much as it killed me to break my plans with the little man, I knew he was safer in Justice. If any of
my crew or the Black Angels leadership in Crystal Falls had spotted us, rumors would have exploded through the club. I’d be putting Beckett and Mercy in danger, and that wasn’t fucking happening. I’d left them behind to make sure danger wouldn’t come their way, to cut off the head of one of the monsters at their gate.
I could only hope no other beasts came for them while I was dealing with this one. I’d burn the entire town of Justice to the ground if they didn’t keep my little family safe while I was protecting their asses and getting mine out of the situation I’d ridden into. Just a couple of days—that was all I needed. At least, I hoped it was.
We pulled up outside the same diner where I’d met Cartel before, but we didn’t go inside right away. Instead, I hopped into the passenger seat of Deacon’s truck.
“What’s the plan?” he asked, looking straight ahead, his jaw hard. The soldier ready to go to war.
Thank fuck for that. “From what I can tell, the Black Angels aren’t working well with the Soul Suckers. I think Cartel wants to demand they pull out but can’t or won’t for some reason.”
“So, we need to push him.”
“Yup.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
Fuck. “The man’s responsible for the death of my sister, helped get me my nomad patch so I could hunt down the men who killed her, and holds the fact that there’s still one murderer out there I haven’t found yet over my head.”
Deacon nodded, looking deep in thought. “So basically, the man’s a boil on the ass crack of humanity.”
“One with a lot of power in the club.”
“Will he be missed?”
If we killed him. A definite option depending on how things went. “Yes, but not enough to bring in the law.”
“Just more bikers.” Deacon let out a deep breath and opened his door. “Let’s get this done, then.”
Calm, smooth, and ready to fight. Damn, I loved that man. We walked into the diner together, neither of us talking. Not needing to. This wasn’t a social visit; it was a mission. One I was determined to be successful at.
“Parris,” Cartel said when he saw me, that oily smile of his sliding up his face as he noticed I wasn’t alone. “And you brought a friend.”
Cartel didn’t stand up, so I took a seat in his booth, Deacon slipping in beside me. The two of us stared down the man across the table, serious and solid. Cartel didn’t look a damn bit worried, but he should have been. He had no clue what he was up against.
“The team in Justice knows the Black Angels are working with the Soul Suckers,” I said, starting off the conversation.
Cartel shrugged. “We knew that would happen. It’s not as if we’d ride around in their colors.”
“True. But Justice isn’t going to sit back and take the invasion like most places. There are already plans in the works to start picking off bikers as they roll past town.”
Cartel’s smile fell. “No Black Angel dies because of the Soul Suckers. Period.”
“Then you’ve got a problem. You’ve also got a club president out of control.”
“Edge again?”
I nodded, knowing the exact button that would set him off. Aiming right for it. “He’s bringing attention to the club because of his…predilection.”
“What predilection is that?” Cartel asked, as if he didn’t already know.
“Women and making them bleed. He drugs them, carves into their skin, then kills them when he gets bored. He’s back at it. Here.”
Cartel didn’t look convinced, which was why I nudged Deacon’s boot with mine.
“This ain’t Vegas, son,” Deacon said, picking up right where I’d left off. “Girls go missing around here, you’ll have more law on your ass than ticks on a dog. I’ve got the acting sheriff asking a whole lot of questions already.”
Cartel pursed his lips, looking from Deacon to me. “You got one out. Why can’t you handle the rest?”
Jinx. He was talking about Jinx and how I managed to keep her safe from Edge…for a while, at least. “I knew Jinx because of my connection to her mother. She trusted me, which is how I pulled her from Edge’s circle. She’s not out, though. He’s still looking for her.”
Cartel sat back, tapping his finger against the table and watching the two of us. Silent for a long moment before he said, “Bring her to me. I want to talk to her about what happened with Edge.”
He wanted to see Jinx. My reply shot out of my mouth as Deacon stiffened beside me. “Not happening.”
The warlord didn’t like being told no. “Are you disobeying a direct order?”
“The girl isn’t involved,” Deacon said, taking over the conversation and laying down one hell of a hard line. “We’ve been tracking Edge with other women—ones who are likely to turn up addicted to something or dead. He doesn’t keep them around long, and this place doesn’t offer the anonymity of Vegas. His connection to the girls will get out.”
“Which is why I need the girl—Jinx. I want to hear her story directly.”
No, he didn’t. He wanted to find a bargaining chip to use with Edge. Something to offer him to make him calm the fuck down. I wasn’t letting Jinx be gambled away again. “Her presence isn’t an option.”
The warlord looked ready to kill, and he turned that evil gaze on me. “You failed your sister, you tried to protect this girl’s mother and lost her, now you’re doing the same for the daughter. Do you really think I’m just going to let you hide her away from me?”
I didn’t get a chance to answer—not that I would have had one other than a simple and direct fuck you—before Deacon took over again.
“The girl is under Justice watch now,” Deacon said, his voice harder than usual. His line in the sand growing stronger and deeper. “You come for her in any way, and you’ll die. Period.”
Cartel turned the full force of his snakelike stare on Deacon. “Is that a threat?”
“Of course not.” The bar owner sat back, spreading his arms over the back of the booth and…chewing on a toothpick, of all things. “I’m just letting you know how that’ll work out if you try it. Jinx is nonnegotiable.”
The warlord looked ready to flip the fucking table. “Who are you, anyway?”
The grin Deacon shot the man looked about as wide and big as one could get. “I’m Sniper.”
The man had just given himself a road name. That wasn’t done in this world—road names were assigned by the club—but he looked calm and cool and sure as hell about breaking that protocol. Cartel would have no reason to even question the lie, and I sure as hell wasn’t outing him.
“Sniper,” Cartel said, accepting the name as true, leaning forward and pointing at the man beside me. “The girl belonged to the Black Angels until her ownership was transferred to the Soul Suckers, from what I understand. I don’t remember seeing anything about Justice in her file.”
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law, and that girl is in Justice.” Deacon moved the toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other, looking thoughtful. Cagey as fuck, but thoughtful. “I’m not an unreasonable man, though. I want her off the books, and I’m willing to earn that freedom for her. How do we make it to where she doesn’t belong to the Black Angels or the Soul Suckers?”
Cartel inched back, interest making his eyes that much brighter. “Are you really a sniper?”
Deacon didn’t miss a beat. “Yup.”
“I’ve got a proposition for you, then.”
“Let’s hear it.”
I waited, keeping my face neutral as Deacon went down a road we hadn’t planned on. Cartel sat a little deeper, eyeing the sniper like a spider about to trap a fly in a web. I couldn’t imagine Deacon being the type to fall into a trap.
Cartel would likely try, though. “Beyond our own internal issues, we’ve run into a few problems with a couple of Soul Suckers that are in town.”
“What sort of problems?” Deacon asked.
“Let’s just say their trafficking efforts didn’t stop at the n
orm.”
The norm…as in normal. That wording struck me. He wouldn’t care too much about women being trafficked. He didn’t participate in such ventures, but just like with Jinx, some members were allowed to take liberties so long as things were kept quiet and didn’t bring attention to the club. If he wanted these men dead—
“Kids,” Deacon said, picking up the same thoughts I had and sounding more disgusted than I’d ever heard him. “They sold kids.”
My entire body lurched, my muscles locking down as the world went red. I could only think of one thing, one kid—Beckett. And if anyone had even thought about taking that little boy from his momma, I’d have torn the world apart to get him back.
Jesus, these fuckers deserved what was coming to them.
Cartel kept his snake stare on the sniper, his face hard. “Three children that I know of. One was the great-niece of a brother of ours, which brought attention to our club. Still, the brother reached out to the big prez looking for retribution, and we’ve agreed to provide that.”
Translation—the Soul Suckers had stepped onto Black Angels turf and taken a big shit, causing issues with law enforcement and fucking with one of our own. Either incident could really mark a man for death, but seeing as how the victim here was a child, I had a feeling that was the reason the warlord was out for blood. No wonder he hadn’t wanted to pull the crews out—he’d been working his own revenge this entire time. Had been keeping his enemies close so he could find the perfect time to strike.
Perfect time and perfect weapon. Cartel had definitely found the perfect weapon in a former Special Forces sniper.
Deacon may not have known club rules, but he was smart. He’d been picking up what Cartel was hinting at. “So we take care of these problem Soul Suckers. What do we get?”
Cartel spun that web a little bigger. “The girl.”
I had to jump in there. “Black Angels don’t own her—Soul Suckers do.”
Cartel glanced my way. “You take care of these couple of men, and I’ll personally pay that debt.”
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