Chapter 4

“She’s seven kinds of trouble,” Drake mutters once Nadia is far enough away from our table.

“We promised Quicksilver we’d protect her, not fuck her,” I remind him.

“If we’d settled down in our twenties, we probably would’ve had daughters the same age,” Kai chuckles almost bitterly, but I know it’s just his way of convincing himself that it’s better if we keep her at arm’s length.

It’s going to be hard to keep that promise if I’m being honest. We hadn’t seen Nadia since before we were deployed, back when she was just this little thing in strawberry-blonde pigtails, still losing her baby teeth. When she walked into the clubhouse a couple of months ago, we’d already told her father that she could work here, that we’d keep her safe.

Keeping her safe would be easy. Keeping our hands off of her was going to be the hard part.

Nadia doesn’t remember us. We were just kids ourselves, barely legal enough to drink when Mike and Cassandra brought her over for a visit long after he withdrew from the club. Our dads told us that she was precious, that even though Mike was no longer a member, he was still family. Therefore, Nadia was family.

The minute I saw her behind the bar after Paddy hired her, I knew she’d be a challenge.

“She’s definitely all grown up and feisty as hell,” Kai grumbles.

When Nadia returns with our drinks, we swallow our words. I give her a muted “Thanks” and watch her leave before speaking again. “Regardless, she’s off-limits, boys,” I say. My stomach growls.

“Besides, she’s all bark, no bite,” Drake chuckles. “Girls like her, they talk a mean game until you ruffle their feathers.”

Kai can’t help but smile. “Well, Orry ruffled her feathers and then some the other night. And look at her now, pining for more.”

It’s true. I didn’t expect her to react the way she did. I thought I’d scare her enough to keep her away from us, but then Nadia came all over my hand, and I damn near exploded in my pants.

The sound of her ragged breath, her slick heat, her tightening core before that sweet release. My body silently responded in ways I didn’t think were possible. I’m still not sure how I kept my cool that night.

She’s a beautiful creature, I’ll give her that. A buxom nymph with full breasts and golden hair, bright blue eyes, and the kind of ass that begs for a slap.

But there’s more to Nadia than her looks. She reminds me so much of her mother. Cassandra’s strength flows through her. Mike’s resilience, too. Nadia may be young, but she’s a hard one, a fighter, the kind of girl most guys wouldn’t want to mess with. Yet there are moments when I catch her off guard, as soft as a rose in bloom.

It”s why I almost killed Kyle that night.

How dare he try to ruin something as precious as Nadia? And for what? The fucker was so drunk that I doubt he could even get it up at that point.

“So, let’s get down to business. What do we know about Kyle Jennings?” I ask my friends and business partners.

Kai narrows his eyes, staring at a text message on his phone. “Our guys say he’s still at Abby’s, drinking and moping about losing his slot with the club,” he says. “He’s been there every day since we kicked him out.”

“Good. He can stay there for all I care,” I reply. “He’s lucky we didn’t do worse.”

Drake smirks. “You were so insulted when Nadia asked you not to kill the bastard.”

“He would’ve died that night had she not intervened,” I admit, harboring a smile of my own.

We were right to warn her, though. We may entice her as men, but she has no idea what she’d be getting herself into. We’re hard asses. We’ve been to hell and back together and running a club like the Blackthorn Riders MC takes an awful toll.

We are violent. We are ruthless. And we will kill anyone we perceive as a threat against us and against those we’re sworn to protect. It’s written in our club’s constitution.

Quicksilver knows it. He warned her about getting too close to us, but Nadia insisted. She thinks she can handle it, though I’m not sure she can. Time may soon tell. In the interim, it’s getting increasingly more difficult to keep my head clear whenever she’s around.

We’ve been lusting after her since she started working here, and her response from the other night … Christ, my jeans get tighter every time I remember that moment. That gruff sound escaping her throat at the peak of ecstasy. The feel of her pussy clenching around my fingers.

“We’ll handle Kyle if he tries anything again,” I say. “Nadia doesn’t need to know anything about it.”

“She’s softening you up,” Kai taunts.

“Look who’s talking.”

Drake exhales sharply and takes a long sip of his Diet Coke. I know he’ll enjoy that cold beer later. “I don’t think it’s a question of if with her. It’s a question of when.”

“And the answer is never,” I insist, but even I’m aware of the bald-faced lie coming out of my mouth. “Kai, keep eyes on Kyle in the meantime.”

“Will do. We’ve got bigger fish to fry, anyway,” he says. “Colton Harrow is inching closer to our turf. Dangerously close, for that matter.”

The mere mention of his name is enough to take the fun out of every meeting. It’s enough to wipe the good humor from Drake’s expression, which is a hard thing to do. This man will laugh in death’s face, yet Colton Harrow and the Black Devils make his eyes turn darker than midnight without a moon. “What has he done, now?” he asks.

“We’re still a few months away from weaning off certain aspects of our club’s business, as you both know,” Kai says. “Most of our partners were made aware, and while they weren’t happy with the path we’ve chosen, they did agree to a generous payout in exchange for their cooperation.”

“Meaning a payoff to keep them away from us once we go legit,” I say.

“Yeah. The Locos were particularly upset about losing their prime runners in Orange County, but they do have a rival club in line and eager to pick up where we leave things,” Kai replies. “I estimate we’ll wrap everything up nicely by the end of autumn if we stick to our monthly targets. But the Black Devils have been muscling in on their territory. Colton is a brutal bastard.”

“He hit another MC, didn’t he?” I ask, feeling my brows pull into a tight frown.

“Hard,” Kai sighs deeply. “The Low Riders down in San Clemente. Three of their guys were killed. Colton took over their drug routes, and he’s working directly with the 457 Gang on supply. The Feds have already been alerted, but they don’t have enough to build a RICO case against him. Their undercover agents keep showing up dead.”

“Colton knows what he’s doing. He’s been down this road before,” Drake shakes his head slowly.

“What have we learned about him?” I reply.

“Our contacts in the PD are stumped. There’s no record of the guy prior to three years ago, and what they do have is slim, at best. He’s had a few run-ins with the law, but nothing that the AG could make stick,” Kai says. “I’m betting it’s not his real name. He probably jumped on a Social Security number before crossing state borders. Started from scratch here in Orange County and worked his way up through the Devils until their former president was gifted with a Columbian necktie two Aprils ago.”

“We know he doesn’t like taking no for an answer,” I add. “We also know he’s going after our rival clubs across the county. He’ll be knocking at our door soon enough.”

“We’re trying to leave all this shit behind, though,” Drake says. “He has no reason to pick a fight with us. We are actively dropping our suppliers and our routes, one deal at a time. All Colton has to do is reach out to them and offer a better deal. It still works for us, and the suppliers will be twice as happy. They’ll get our payoff and a new deal from Colton.”

“I don’t think it’s just about business with this guy,” Kai says. “I think it’s more about muscling in, setting an example, and bringing the whole county to its knees before he starts expanding.”

Drake curses under his breath. “And if nobody stops him, he’ll be too much, even for the Feds. That’s not right. It’ll be a blood bath.”

“A blood bath right here at the clubhouse,” I conclude, my gaze slowly wandering back to Nadia.

She’s behind the bar, polishing glasses while stealing glances at us. She’s curious. Feisty. Yearning for more. It’s written all over her face. I can tell from her faltering breaths whenever she’s close. I dread the thought of her getting caught in the middle of this particular issue. We’ve dealt with men like Colton before, albeit overseas and out of our government’s reach and oversight. Out there, we were sanctioned to do things that would immediately land us in federal prison for life in the States.

We can’t deal with Colton Harrow the way we dealt with various warlords south of Mexico or east of the Persian Gulf. We need to figure out another method of cutting the head off the snake before it bites us before its poison destroys the Blackthorn Riders MC.

If he were still in charge, my father would rally the troops and bring out every gun. He’d take the war to Colton’s doorstep and fill his bike shop with lead until no one was left standing. Even as old and as helpless as he is, cane in hand and blood pressure medication in his pocket, he’d fight as though it’s Vietnam all over again.

It would rattle the whole county, though. It’s not the ’90s anymore. We can’t do that. Not without getting the club disbanded and consecutive life sentences in some supermax where Colton’s allies and buddies would be able to reach us.

Besides, my blood brothers and I survived the Navy SEALs. We survived the first ten years of this club, picking up where our fathers left off. We’re not destroying our livelihoods and losing our freedom for this.

I’d like a few more years ahead of me so I can make the most of them. So I can maybe see if there’s more than just lustful fireworks between Nadia and us. I could work things out with her old man and get him to loosen up a little bit.

Maybe it’s just wishful thinking. Nadia isn’t the kind of woman who the three of us can just fuck sideways and drop when we’re bored. She’s unlike any woman we’ve ever known before, and she’s not someone we’d ever get bored with.

She’s the kind of woman we’d fall hopelessly head over heels with. And that makes her more dangerous than a thousand Colton Harrow’s put together.