48. River

FORTY-EIGHT

RIVER

Charleigh was tucked against my side where we were all squished in the enormous booth. It felt good being there this way, my girl at my side while my friends shot the shit.

Telling old tales of our days back in LA, though everyone strategically left out all the sordid, condemning parts.

Funny that the bar fights and late-night rides sailing at a hundred miles an hour beneath the stars were the uncorrupted parts. The wild parties and scandalous shit we'd all always gotten ourselves into was fodder for the laughter that rolled around the booth.

"So anyway, this dumb fuck pulls his car into the parking lot of the bike shop we had," Trent said, voice full of a laugh where he sat in the booth next to me. "He dumped some girl in the middle of it and told her she could find her own way home if she was going to be a cock tease. Fucker picked the wrong damned place to be spouting that kind of bullshit. So, this asshole right here, who was little more than a kid, mind you…"

He jostled me in the shoulder before he continued, "He jumped on his bike and chased the fucker down, busted his windshield with a crowbar. Was the minute I knew he was one of us."

Trent slanted me a grin, and I chuckled under my breath. Remembering the way he'd taken us in. Given us a home. A purpose. "Don't act too proud. Just wanted to bust up some shit."

His grin deepened because he knew I was only talking shit.

Charleigh laughed beside me, half horrified and half aroused.

"What?" I asked her with amusement playing at the edge of my mouth.

She looked up at me, those cinnamon eyes doing wild, wild things. "So violent."

She had no fuckin' clue.

I tipped up her chin and pecked a kiss to her lips. "He had it comin'."

It was basically my motto.

The band's set had ended, and a DJ had taken their place, spinning dance music and the crowd into disorder.

Raven tossed back the rest of her frilly drink before she slammed the empty onto the table. "Time to hit the dance floor. All my girls, let's go!"

"Count me in!" Salem said, and the gorgeous woman shoved at Jud's shoulder to let her out.

My sister pushed out to standing, and everyone scooched out so Eden and Salem could get out of the booth. Trent followed and so did I, and I watched as Charleigh slid around, wearing that damned skirt that was going to drive me straight out of my mind.

She climbed to her feet. Needing to get my hands on her again, my palms went straight to the back of her bare thighs as I drew her to me and kissed her deep.

Fuck me.

She tasted good.

Cinnamon and spice.

The old fashioned I'd been sipping all night didn't come close to comparing.

"You have fun out there," I told her, still pecking at her lips, wanting to lap up every last drop of that sweetness.

Jud and Trent were too wrapped up in their girls to pay me any mind, but you could be damned certain the rest of my crew did. When Charleigh tore herself away, my eyes were hooked on her back as she joined the rest.

All the women linked their arms as they headed for the dance floor, Charleigh right in the middle as if she'd been a part of them forever.

My chest did that achy fucking thing. That pull of possession and the frantic desperation to keep her close.

My crew all settled back into the booth, and the server brought us another round of drinks.

Kane lifted his whiskey-filled tumbler, the cut glass glinting beneath the chandelier hanging from above the table. His gaze jumped between all of us before he started to speak, his voice just loud enough that only we could hear.

"Fuckin' glad to see each of you here tonight. It's been a long road for all of us, and the fact that we're all still here is a testament to our loyalty and devotion. Trent and Jud may not have Sovereign Sanctum tattooed on the back of their hands, but none of us would be here without the two of you, so first and foremost, this one is for you."

He lifted his drink higher, and Otto, Cash, Theo, and I each lifted ours and clinked our glasses together as we said, "To our brothers, Trent and Jud."

Both of them dipped their heads.

"It's always been an honor to stand at your sides," Trent said.

"Yeah," Jud agreed. "We always have, and we always will, so anything you need, if there is any way we can ever help, you know we're there."

Trent and Jud had overcome a ton of shit in their lives. Their past mistakes and sins nearly ending their chance at a good life. But they'd both triumphed over their tragedies and iniquities, fought for the good.

"We appreciate that more than you both will ever know," I said, "but we'll do our damned best to make sure we don't come dragging you two into any of our bullshit."

Jud shook his head with a massive grin. "Nah, no hesitation on our part. You need us, we're there."

"Yup. Just say the word," Trent added .

"Thanks," I said, and I could feel the intensity of my crew's eyes shifting to me. Jud and Trent must have picked up on it because they both slid out of the booth. "Think we're going to get a closer view of our women."

Kane gave them a nod, and in an instant, the mood changed. Each of my brothers stared me down like they might not recognize me any longer.

Got it because I barely recognized myself.

"Think we should take this downstairs," Kane said, and everyone nodded, slipping out of the booth and snagging our drinks. We followed Kane through the door that read employees only and down the hall to his office. He shut and locked the door behind us then moved to the secret panel.

When he opened the passageway, we all wound down to the room below.

Normally, I was the one in charge. The one calling meetings to order. But I had a hunch tonight that was getting flipped on me.

We all sat around the round table, and I fuckin' itched while they stared at me like I might be on trial. Finally, it was Kane cutting me what appeared an accusatory smile that broke into the dense quiet. "She seems to be something more than a fuck, yeah?"

There wasn't a whole lot of anger behind it, just steely speculation.

My chest tightened, an arrow of protectiveness spearing through the middle. "Guess so."

Issuing the response that way felt like some kind of betrayal. But I still didn't know how to handle this. What the fuck to say.

I knew I was in the wrong. Knew I was in over my head. I just didn't know how to stop it.

I pressed my fingers to the achy spot in the middle of my chest, a reminder that I didn't want to.

That I wanted to keep this feeling forever.

Possess it.

"Guess so?" Otto asked with a tilt of his head. "She's staying at your place. Pretty sure that warrants a whole lot more than a guess so ."

A ripple of unease rolled around the table .

Theo chuckled a low sound like the fucker he was, and Cash rocked back in his chair, frustration billowing off him in waves.

Kane sipped at his whiskey as he studied me for the longest time before he said, "Going solo is one of our number one rules. She sticks around long enough, she's bound to know there's something up with you."

My nod was affirming. I wasn't going to deny what was plain obvious. "Yeah, reason I made that rule in the first place."

"And what do you think she'll do if she finds out?" Theo asked, head cocked as he scratched at the side of his cheek.

Air huffed from my nose. "Don't know. Hasn't gotten that far."

"Are you going to let it?" Kane's brow rose.

Agitation shook my head, and I slanted a hand through the short pieces of my hair. "Don't know that, either. Only thing I do know is I can't let her walk away. Not like this. Especially when I think she might be in trouble."

I looked at Cash then, hoping he had news for me after I'd called him two days ago. It seemed like so much had happened between then and now. Charleigh going from this woman who'd captured my attention, twisted me up and made me chase after a girl for the first time in my life, to someone I wasn't sure I could live without.

"What kind of trouble?" Kane asked.

"She's been hurt in the past, by her ex. That's about as much as she'll give me, other than knowing she's been running from him for years and is afraid someday he'll catch up to her."

"So what? We take her under the protection of Sovereign Sanctum?" That was from Theo.

"No." It shot out of me like a bullet. That would mean her starting a new life. Not here, and sure as hell not with me. We never left a trace.

Couldn't fucking stomach the idea.

Aggravation rolled out of Otto as he scrubbed a giant, tattooed hand over his face. When he dropped it, his gaze ping-ponged around all of us. "Think we all know what this is, yeah? And I think we all should have been smart enough to know it eventually would come to this. "

"To what?" Theo asked.

"To a change. How long are we supposed to go on living this way? In fuckin' secret?"

"Only way we can do it," Kane said. "The more people we trust, the more people we put in danger. Including ourselves. We can't take that risk."

"But what about Raven? She knows," Theo tossed out, tracking what Otto was saying.

"She's the exception. She was already with us before we started," Kane argued.

"And maybe that's what Charleigh's going to be, too, an exception." It erupted from me without permission.

Kane blinked my way. "Are you insane, brother? You really want to bring her all the way in like that?"

"Don't know how I'm going to keep her if I don't."

Problem was, I wasn't sure how I was going to keep her at all. Either way I went, I was fucked. She'd be terrified of me if she knew.

A smirk lit on Kane's face, and he cracked up as he smacked a hand on the table. "You sappy motherfucker…you went and fell in love on us."

I screwed up my face like I could refute it.

"Guess that changes things," Kane added as he looked around the table. "Say we put it to a vote."

"Think you should know something before you all go running to welcome this woman with open arms," Cash said, speaking for the first time. Everyone went silent, and his intense green gaze turned to me.

"You asked me to dig around on her. Find what she was running from. But Charleigh Lowe? The one upstairs? I couldn't find one goddamn thing on her except for her place of work and her apartment here in Moonlit Ridge. Before then? She doesn't exist." His head barely shook. "Sorry to break it to you, brother, but she isn't being honest with you."

My spirit clutched. A fucking vise squeezing the oxygen from my lungs.

I didn't know what the fuck possessed me, but I was on my feet, my hands planted on the table as I leaned his direction, words breaking off like shards of broken glass. "Then maybe you need to look deeper."

Rationally, I knew it wasn't his fault. But fuck, wasn't sure I could handle it if Charleigh had been lying to me.

"I can't give you that part of myself."

Her words tumbled through my brain. Words I'd accepted, knowing she had secrets. How deep did they go? And how could I truly protect her if I didn't know?

I was storming back upstairs without saying anything else, and the rest of my crew scrambled to keep up. The second Kane had the basement access closed, I hurried to unlock the office door and ripped it open, flying back down the hall and out into the mayhem of the bar.

It was crazy packed. A riot going down on the dance floor. There were more people here than I'd ever seen before. I started to cut through the crowd, shouldering through, the need to go to her so severe I could taste the adrenaline that pumped through my veins.

I broke through to find the girls all in a circle, dancing without a care. Trent and Jud were at a high-top table off to the side, watching over them, though none of us were close enough to intercept the fucker who came up behind Charleigh and put his hand on her hip, moving behind her like he thought he was going to rub his junk all over her ass.

I was there in a flash, winding an arm around her, sending the drunk fuck the growl of a warning as I pulled Charleigh against me.

Think he pissed himself scrambling to get away, and I breathed out the first real breath I'd had since Cash had given me the update as I wrapped her up.

Her aura all around.

Cinnamon and spice.

I started to sway, pulling her into the crowd, hugging her close and breathing her in.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I was wrecked. Ruined. Destroyed.

Because I'd never felt so much relief than when I had her in my arms.

Charleigh giggled as she looked up at the rage that must have been playing out in my expression.

"Ah, I see you do dance, after all. All you needed was a little…motivation."

I buried my face in her hair and muttered, "Think you've become the motivation, Little Runner. You changed everything. Every. Fucking. Thing."

It was about fifteen minutes after two when we all spilled out into the parking lot. The mood was light, everyone chatting and laughing, our women giggling from the amount of alcohol they'd slung back over the night.

I kept Charleigh close to my side. Close enough that it felt like there wouldn't be any room for secrets between us. Like our spirits could reach out and read each other's minds.

The lot had cleared out since the bouncers had ushered the rest of the crowd out at closing.

We all headed to the row of motorcycles that were lined at the front. Cash, Theo, and Kane swung onto their bikes and kicked them over. Trent and Eden and Jud and Salem walked to a blacked-out SUV so they could drive over to Theo's motel where they were going to be spending the night.

Otto said he'd give Raven a ride home since her fucktwat of a date had gotten the hint that he didn't fit and had scurried off hours before.

"Be safe," everyone called as we said our goodbyes.

Otto cut a salute in my direction as he rode off with my sister on the back of his Harley.

I led Charleigh to mine, my insides rattling like chains, anxious to get her home so I could find a way to breach whatever cavern gaped between us. Reach into the places she insisted needed to be kept hidden.

But how could I blame her when I was keeping secrets of my own? When a million untruths were scattered between us.

We both climbed onto my bike, and I kicked it over. The loud rumble of everyone's bikes echoed through the crisp, cool air, the night thick and heavy.

In it, I felt the shiver of something in the distance. A blister of the foul. This sense of foreboding that drifted through the atmosphere and became one with the breeze.

A white SUV came flying up the road only to ram on its brakes, the windows on the front and back passenger side barely cracked as it slowed to a crawl.

But it was enough to see the barrel of the guns sticking out.

I dove onto Charleigh, pushing her off the backside. We hit the hard ground with a thud. A yelp of shock ripped out of her, and I could feel the confusion and panic radiate from her, though I kept her pinned, my weight fully on her, covering her with my body as the spray of bullets flew across the lot.

Bullets pinged and dust flew.

It was chaos and confusion and screams.

Panic ravaged my heart as I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to shield every inch of Charleigh.

To keep her safe.

It lasted for all of fifteen seconds before the dust cleared and the peeling of tires screeched on the road as the SUV raced away, though it was difficult to hear with the ringing in my ears from the gunshots and the loud roar of our bikes that still reverberated.

Or maybe I couldn't hear over the rage that screamed in my brain and set fire to my veins. Couldn't hear over the alarm and the fear. Couldn't hear over the reckoning that was coming.

I scrambled back, searching Charleigh where she was on the unforgiving ground.

"Are you hit?" I gritted it through clenched teeth, and my hands were fuckin' shaking as I ran them over her body. "Baby, are you hit?"

I didn't know if she could understand me through my turmoil and the disorder that battered her senses. Her eyes were wide, and when I found no blood, I pulled her up against me, relief obliterating all reason.

"You're okay. You're okay. "

"River." My name finally cracked, and she choked over a sob as the awareness of what had happened came raining down.

"Stay down," I told her as I stood, and my hands were in fists as I took in the scene.

Trent and Jud climbed out of their SUV, guns drawn as they scanned through the dust and debris, ready to dive straight back into depravity.

It was in our blood. In our bones. Wasn't sure any of us could eradicate who we were beneath it all.

"Is everyone okay?" I shouted.

A flashfire of fury burned through the middle of me.

Incinerating. Charring. Scarring.

"Everyone's okay here," Trent hollered.

"Get Eden and Salem to the motel," I shouted back.

"You sure, brother?"

"Yeah. Go. Get them to safety."

"Call if you need us." Trent and Jud hopped back in, and they took off, peeling out of the parking lot.

Kane and Theo were still on their bikes, though Cash's was tipped over and he was holding his leg.

"Fuck, Cash," I roared, and I ran to his side. "You're hit."

"It's nothin'. Someone get those bastards."

I sent a vicious glance to Theo and Kane who got the message and tore out of the lot, heading in the direction the white SUV had gone.

"You recognize anyone?" he asked, turmoil in his gaze.

The shake of my head was grim. "No."

It could be a million people. Our enemies long and deep though none of them should actually know our names. But it was a risk we ran with every job we did.

The truth that one day it was all likely to catch up to us.

"Let me check your leg," I demanded. I could see blood soaking through his pant leg.

I started to kneel, only he shook his head, his teeth gritted. "It's a fucking scratch. I'll be fine. You know I've had much worse. Get your girl out of here. I'll go back inside and clean it up while I wait for Theo and Kane to get back."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's what I fuckin' get for coming into town," he grumbled.

I would've laughed if I wasn't a second from going on a rampage. A second from hunting down the motherfuckers who dared to come at my family this way. I wanted to hop on my bike, track, and destroy.

But the twisted thing was there was a bigger part of me that wouldn't allow me to leave Charleigh. Charleigh who was still on the dingy ground, her fear and confusion coming off her in a crash of violent waves.

I started to stand before Cash fisted his hand in my shirt. "Be fuckin' careful, man," he raked through the pain.

My nod was tight. "I will."

I returned to where Charleigh was sitting on the ground on the other side of my bike. Tears streamed down her gorgeous face.

"Fuck, Charleigh."

Her eyes squeezed closed, and she buried her hands in her face as a guttural sob erupted from her chest. Carefully, I gathered her up, murmuring, "You're okay. I've got you. You're okay."

Without letting her go, I swung onto my bike, though this time I put her in front of me, her chest to mine, caging her in like I could act as a shield.

Knowing that's what I would be.

Her shield.

Whatever it took.