I dug for my pack. “Born fuckingready.”
“Well there’s some shit that went down before your time that you might need to be aware of before you head outtoday.”
I lit up and braced myself for the worst. “Allright.”
“The day that you rolled into town is the day our last president was run off the road and killed. We had no idea who’ddoneit.”
“That was Crickett’s dad and your stepdadright?”
Abel nodded before continuing his story. “It took me about a year to figure out that it was all because the Sinners wanted to get Rave out of the way so they could swoop in on a guns trade deal my old man had been working on for a while, completely without us knowing. Apparently, from the journals he was writing in to keep organized, he was worried about a snitch in the club and he didn't trust anyone with the information because of how badly the Sinners wanted to take it from us. He had good reason to hide it, but if he had let me in on the deal, I might have been able to help andprotecthim.”
He paused, took a few long drags, and then continued. “The snitch my old man was worried about was Trent. He knew that while Tre was using, he’d never be able to be completely loyal. So after the old man passed and I figured all this shit out, I got Trent sober and threatened him within an inch of his life that if he ever used on my watch again, I’d fucking gut himmyself.”
“But why would they fuck with Trent now, after allthistime?”
Abel smiled a bit. “Because a few months ago, I found the bastard that murdered Rave. I hogtied him to the hitch of my truck and dragged that fucker all the way to their club’s front door. No one talks about it, but it started a war, and I have been waiting for their retaliation ever since. What happened with Tre was the beginning, a warning that they know about our shit and they will play to our weaknesses. It’s not something to be taken lightly. That’s why I need you to go with Red. Out of all of us, the two of you will be the leastnoticeable.”
“Anything you need, Abel, I’myourman.”
He flicked his cigarette butt onto the ground and stomped out the ember with his steel toed boot. “That’s what I amscaredof.”
“You cantrustme.”
He dug his hands deep into his pockets. “I know that, son, and that is what scares me the most. My fucking baby girl is going to go through what her mother, Crickett, and my mother went through, that never-ending fear of whether or not their man will make it home at the end oftheday.”
“I’m not going to let her down.” I gritted my teeth. There was no fucking way I would put Raine through the pain oflosingme.
“You can’t fucking promise that, Ryder. No outlaw can. Our women fight alongside us every goddamned day and there is no way to ease their minds. That’s a burden we all mustcarry.”
“Until my last breath, I am going to fightforher.”
Abel grabbed my shoulder. “I know. Now let’s go catch a fuckingbadguy.”
Raine
“Hey, Raine!”Keira started to walk through the front doors of the bar for the nightshift.
“Hey girl, how’s itgoing?”
She threw her purse next to mine under the counter. “Eh. Trying to get used to the slow pace of smalltownlife.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, it’s a far cry from a big city, that’s for damn sure. Where are you fromagain?”
“Chicago, the windy city—good fucking riddance to thatshithole.”
I started counting out my tips from the day shift to get our drawer ready for her to jump in with me. “How are you liking Vilassofar?”
Her face lit up a bit with crimson. “To be honest, I don't know if this town is for me, but I think I metsomeone.”
Girl talk time! FuckingFINALLY!
Being surrounded by bikers for ninety percent of my life, it was a breath of fresh air to have another person with tits and a vagina who was remotely close to my age and wasn’t so far into the biker lifestyle yet totalkto.
“Spill. How’d youmeethim?”
The flush on her cheeks deepened as she bit her lip. “Tinder.”
She said it so shyly and I had no idea what the ever loving fuck she was talking about. I raised an eyebrow and Keira gasped. “Girl! You haven’t used Tinder before?” She whipped her sassy, perfectly curled, bleach-blonde hair around her boneyshoulders.