Chapter 1

My first semester at college turned out to be a lot harder than I'd expected. Although I was an art major, all but one of my classes fulfilled my general education requirements, so it felt like high school all over again. Only much harder.

It also didn't help that I was homesick. I'd been so excited to move away from home—and "spread my wings" as my mom liked to put it—but I had been ready to come back home for a visit after the first month. Unfortunately, my classes had kept me too busy for trips to see my parents as often as I wished I could. I'd barely made it back for Thanksgiving. The trip before that, I'd only been able to pop in quickly for a couple of days, and I stopped to have lunch with my dad at the courthouse on my way out of town since it felt as though I'd barely seen him while I was there.

Now that winter break was finally here, I had a whole month to spend with them. After pulling my Mini Cooper—a high school graduation present from my dad—into the garage, I jumped out and raced into the house. I was so excited to be back that I left all my stuff in the car and headed straight for the kitchen. "Mom, I'm home!"

"Shh, keep it down." She lifted her wineglass toward the hallway that led to my dad's office before taking a healthy gulp. "Your father is working from home today."

My brows drew together. "Really? I saw his car in the garage, but I figured you dropped him off today or something. I thought I'd have to go to the courthouse to see him if I didn't want to wait until tonight."

"You definitely won't find him there today." She polished off the rest of her wine and poured another glass. "Or anytime soon, for that matter."

I blinked a few times as I moved closer, my excitement quickly turning to concern. My mom had wine with dinner every night, but I couldn't remember ever seeing her drink during the day by herself. My dad being at home was just as strange since it was the middle of the day during the week. He should have been busy presiding over a case. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, dear." She dropped the empty wine bottle in the recycling bin. "Everything is fine, just like it always is."

She didn't sound very convincing. Her high-pitched tone was the same fake one she used when talking to someone she didn't like but felt she needed to impress. "Then why are you having a liquid lunch? And what's Dad doing at home when he should be at the courthouse?"

"Those damn bikers have driven me to drink," she muttered.

My eyes widened as my head reared back. My mom hardly ever used swear words, and I didn't think she had any clue motorcycle clubs existed. She didn't watch the same shows as I did, and the people she hung out with were more likely to drive a Rolls-Royce than a motorcycle. "Bikers?"

"Your father went up against a local biker gang during his last case." She rolled her eyes with a huff. "And he failed miserably."

Staring at the bottle of wine she was opening, I wondered if it was the alcohol talking. "That doesn't make any sense. How could Dad lose? He doesn't try cases; he's a judge."

"No, he was a judge."

I felt a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. "What do you mean?"

"He's been suspended from the bench."

My chest tightened as I shook my head. "I don't understand. Everything was fine the last time I visited. How could all of this have happened in such a short time?"

"It feels like forever to me," she grumbled. "You were lucky to be at school because time has been moving in slow motion for me with all of this going on."

"I was literally just here for Thanksgiving."

"You were only here for a few days, and we didn't want to worry you. But there's no point in trying to keep it from you any longer. Not when you're bound to notice that your father isn't at the courthouse all month. " She heaved a deep sigh. "The suspension is temporary while the judicial commission determines whether there's sufficient evidence for disciplinary action. If those bikers manufacture more evidence against him, the decision may very well go against your father. Even if they don't, he could still be removed from the bench and disbarred."

"Disbarred?" I sputtered.

"But hey, at least a grand jury hasn't been convened…yet." She lifted her glass as though she was toasting the good news. "So he might not end up in jail."

My knees felt weak, and I reached out to grab the marble counter to steady myself. "There's a chance he can go to jail? Is one of his lawyer friends representing him?"

"Absolutely not! The proceedings have been kept confidential so far, but there are already enough rumors about why your father isn't presiding over any cases. The last thing we need is for some office busybody to gossip about our business." Wrapping her fingers around my wrist, she hissed, "You can't tell anyone what's happened, Kiara. I'm doing my best to keep this situation out of the limelight while your father figures out a way out of this mess."

Appearances had always been important to my mom, so I wasn't surprised she was more worried about me blabbing than my reaction to the fact that my dad might lose his position on the bench. "You don't have to worry, Mom. I won't say a word to any of my friends. I don't want to make this any worse than it already is."

"Good." She gave me a jerky nod before lifting her glass to her lips again.

"I'm going to check on Dad," I mumbled.

There wasn't any sound coming from his office as I neared. I knocked on the door and peeked inside, my heart dropping when I saw him slumped over his desk as he ran his fingers through his hair. His head lifted, and his eyes lit up with joy when he spotted me in the doorway. "Kiara, you're home!"

"I am," I whispered, walking toward him as he got up and rounded his desk to hug me.

"I'm so happy to see you." He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "How was your drive? I hope you didn't speed to get here early."

He sounded like his usual protective self, making my lips curve into a small smile. "Of course not, Daddy."

"Let me get a look at my girl." Gripping my shoulders, he took a step back and stared down at me. "I swear, you get prettier each time you come home for a visit. Even with the stress of finals."

"They weren't too bad," I assured him.

"I don't want you to worry, Kiara." He patted my shoulder before rounding his desk again and dropping onto his chair. "I knew when I became a judge that it could earn me some enemies."

I wasn't surprised that he was trying to downplay the situation. Odds were good that he hadn't said anything over Thanksgiving because he didn't want to cause me any distress. "Yeah, but Mom said some motorcycle club was behind all this?"

"Your mother shouldn't have bothered you with the pesky details." He shook his head with a deep sigh. "You only have a month before you go back to school. Enjoy your vacation and leave the Silver Saints to me."

"Okay." I wasn't happy as I brushed my lips against his cheek, but I knew from the determined gleam in his eyes that the subject was closed as far as he was concerned.

I didn't understand how any of this had happened, but there was one thing I knew…the Silver Saints weren't going to get away with what they'd done to my dad. For that to happen, I needed more information.

I tried to ignore the fact that my mom was still drinking wine when I walked past her on the way out to my car. Seeing her like that made me sad, so I slid into the driver's seat instead of grabbing my cell phone and heading back inside. I figured it would be difficult to find information about a motorcycle club, so I was surprised to find several news stories about the Silver Saints when I did a quick internet search. Even more shocking was that they were all positive.

Clicking through the first couple of links, I found reports on the classic car restorations that one of their guys had done and the tattoo shop they owned. None of that mattered to me—except they demonstrated that someone in the Silver Saints was good at making the club look as though they were squeaky clean—so I kept scrolling until I hit a story that mentioned the location of their clubhouse.

When I plugged the address into my maps app, I realized it wasn't that far away and decided to do a quick drive past. I didn't plan on doing anything other than getting a glimpse of their property as I pulled out of my parents' garage, but my anger against the bikers grew as I drove. By the time my phone announced that I'd reached my destination, my temper was boiling over.

Instead of doing the smart thing by not drawing attention to myself—and possibly making my dad's situation worse—I yanked the wheel to turn into their drive. The gate was closed, but a guy in a little booth jerked his head up when my tires squealed on the turn.

I threw my car into park while I waited for him to stride over to me. He was huge—tall and muscular with dark hair almost buzzed and a short-trimmed beard and mustache. My breath caught in my throat when he got close enough for me to take in his features, but not because I was intimidated—like I definitely should have been. Considering the situation, my purely feminine reaction to his piercing blue eyes was completely out of place. But that didn't stop my nipples from pebbling as his gaze raked over my face.