Zak pulled the bike to the front of the bakery. Sophie could see Bella inside waiting on a customer. It was nice to have her there full-time now, her first actual paid employee. It gave her time to do silly stuff like this... Go to lunch on the back of a badass Harley with her badass, but freaking hot biker boyfriend.

He planted his boots on the pavement, backed the bike to the curb and kicked the stand down.

She slipped off her helmet AKA brain bucket. Yes, she had her very own now. A badass black one with a tinted face shield so she could go incognito. Not that she needed to. They hadn’t been hiding their relationship for the last month.

And so far, everything was quiet in Shadow Valley, for the most part.

Well, except for the wild-assed pig roasts, and parties that happened way too often. So often, that most times they didn’t even show up at the clubhouse for them, preferring the quiet of her apartment. Well, not so quiet when he had her screaming with orgasms. Not to mention, his grunting could get a little loud.

A smile curved her lips.

The sex was hot, her man was hot, and the business at the bakery was picking up. She might even have to hire a second employee soon.

“You gonna sit back there an’ daydream or you gonna get your sweet ass off an’ get to makin’ me one of those chocolate cakes with those chocolate curly things on the top?”

Her man had a sweet tooth. Especially loved anything chocolate. But then, that shouldn’t have surprised her since his brother did as well.

Though, now she was pretty sure Axel was sweet on Bella, too.

“We going to the party tonight?” she asked him as she dismounted the bike, trailing her fingers along the back of his neck as she did so.

“Band’s gonna be there,” he said as he got off the bike and stood next to it.

“Dirty Deeds?”

“Yeah.”

Well, there was her answer. They’d be at least hitting the party for a couple hours. Nash, one of the brothers, played the drums in the AC/DC cover band and whenever they played one of the roasts or parties, most of the brothers showed up. At least, the ones that weren’t working or doing security at the strip club or The Iron Horse. They usually set up a camera with a live feed into the bar so the patrons could enjoy the music, too. But they made sure the lens only focused closely on the band and not some of the debauchery that happened out in the courtyard. Like the head jobs by the fence given by some of the “sweet butts,” the biker groupies who wanted to be more than just that. Or the sex that happened on the picnic tables under the open pavilion. And some of that could get pretty creative.

Sophie got used to seeing it, so now she ignored it. Mostly. Sometimes she dragged Zak upstairs to his room at the clubhouse when he least expected it. He certainly didn’t go up the steps kicking and screaming like she did that first night. No, he was usually laughing and murmuring about the dirty things he was going to do to her which encouraged her to go faster.

He took her into his arms, grabbing her ass and squeezing while he planted a kiss on her lips. Then he smacked her ass hard before letting her go.

“Want me to pick you up later?” he asked.

“Nope. I’ll drive over. I’ll bring some goodies to the party.”

“Some of the brothers are gonna try to steal you away if you keep doin’ that.”

“I know. That’s why I do it. To keep you on your toes,” she teased, smiling up at him.

His eyes flashed as he smiled back at her. “No one else is goin’ to taste any of your sweet honey. My sweet honey.”

“Just you?”

“Just me, babe.” He gave her a gentle push. “Now get that sweet ass of yours back inside. Bella’s starin’ at us.”

As Sophie turned to look in the large front picture window, Zak yelled, “God-fucking-damnit!” which made her freeze and her head spin back around. What happened next took seconds but felt like it happened in slow motion.

A bike sped up the street, the biker’s face covered in a black bandana, dark goggles, and a black leather skull cap as he closed in towards Sophie standing by the bike. She watched in dismay as his arm snaked out to snag her. Zak was faster, pegging the guy’s body with the bottom of his boot and putting all his weight behind it.

The biker lost his balance, Sophie jumped back, the bike skidded out from underneath the guy who rolled into the middle of the street.

A black handgun skittered across the pavement, across the two lanes of travel before sliding to a stop along the curb.

Before the motorcycle and its rider came to a complete stop, Zak was running, leaping over the downed bike and landing on top of the guy, pounding the shit out of him, kneeing the guy in the gut, slamming the other man’s head into the pavement. Over and over.

Sophie felt like her feet were stuck in concrete. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t scream, she couldn’t move. Watching Zak violently pound the other biker made it worse. She’d never seen him this out of control before.

And never wanted to again.

Bella came running out of the shop, cursing, coming to an abrupt stop in the middle of the street, just feet from them, eyes wide. “What the fuck!”

“Call Diesel,” Zak shouted to her as he slammed the guy’s skull one more time into the pavement.

“I’m calling Axel,” Bella shouted back.

“Call Diesel, Izzy!” Zak shouted even louder, his impatience clear.

“No! I’m calling Axel!” She rushed back onto the sidewalk and closed in on Sophie, her hands shaking as she jabbed a finger at her cell. She mumbled, “This needs to stay on the up and up.” Cell to her ear, she said, “Axel? Yeah. Hey—” Then Bella stepped back inside the shop.

Sophie realized she hadn’t moved an inch. Still frozen in place, she was unable to peel her eyes from the scene before her.

She shook herself mentally. She had to do something before Zak killed the other biker. “Zak!” she screamed.

He ignored her, giving the guy a solid punch in the jaw. The guy’s head flopped to the side. He was out. No longer a threat. He needed to stop.

“Zak!” she screamed, running to where Zak straddled the unconscious man. “Don’t kill him! Jesus! You’ll end up back in prison!”

Zak froze, his fist cocked back, the skin on his knuckles broken and bleeding. He twisted his head to look at her, his eyes wild, chest heaving. “Sophie,” he said almost in a trance.

“Is he out?” Of course, the guy was out. She just wanted him to recognize that fact.

He dropped his gaze to the man beneath him. “Yeah.”

“Let him be.” Her eyes flicked to the gun still in the street across from them. “Get the gun.”

There was no way she was picking it up. She knew nothing about weapons, and the last thing she needed was to accidentally shoot someone by handling it.

Zak pushed to his feet, then gave the Warrior a boot to the ribs for good measure. “Can’t touch the gun, Sophie. They’ll throw me back into that hell quicker than shit if I do.”

They couldn’t just leave it there lying in the street. There was a crowd gathering, and the cars were skirting around them since they were blocking one lane of the street.

“Bella!” she screamed, and the woman rushed back out of the bakery, pulling her phone from her ear and disconnecting. She pointed. “Gun.”

Bella’s eyes flew to where she pointed. “Fuck,” she muttered. “Don’t touch it. Could be stolen.”

Well, then it was just going to remain where it was until law enforcement arrived. Her attention went back to her man. “Zak… Come here, baby,” she pleaded, a hand outstretched, wanting to get him away from the biker before he decided to change his mind and do more damage. His gaze bounced from her to the downed biker back to her.

He approached the Warrior’s bike which laid on its side against the curb and turned the key, cutting the engine. He jerked the keys out and whipped them down the street as hard as he could. As he approached where she and Bella now stood on the sidewalk, he asked Bella, “Five-oh comin’?”

Bella only nodded, her expression worried.

“Fuck,” he muttered. He turned to Sophie, his expression strangely void of any emotion. “Maybe you should go back to Philly. Club will help you with your expenses since it’s club business that caused all this.”

Her heart seized in her chest. “What? You convinced me to stay. I don’t want to leave now. I’m not letting them,” she jabbed a finger toward the downed biker, “run me out of my business.”

“Babe.”

“No, Zak. No more about that right now.” Her eyes flicked toward the people gathering. “You need to get out of here?”

“Can’t run, babe.” He lifted his chin towards the crowd. “Too many eyes. Need to stay an’ face whatever happens.”

“You had a good reason.”

“Right,” he answered, then looked up the street.

She heard what he saw. Sirens, racing engines. Then they were there, parking at an angle to block the street, lights flashing.

Sophie lost her breath and her stomach dropped as doors flew open, guns were drawn. She watched in horror as Zak automatically dropped to his knees and laced his fingers behind his head.

What!

“Cross your ankles,” one of the officers barked, pointing his gun at Zak. He complied immediately, his jaw tight, his eyes avoiding Sophie. The other officer, also a gun in hand, went to check on the unmoving Warrior.

Sophie was unsure what to do, unsure what to say.

The cop squatting by the injured biker, reached up to the radio mic on his shoulder. “Dispatch, get a bus en route. Code three. We got one subject down, one in custody.”

As the first officer closed in on Zak, Sophie shouted, “He was only protecting me. The guy tried to grab me. He had a gun.”

The cop ignored her, slapping cuffs on Zak’s wrists. “Get up.” He yanked Zak up by his arms. Zak got to his feet and twisted his neck toward Bella.

“Bella, this is what happens when you call Axel. Call Diesel. Take Sophie to church and keep her there until you hear otherwise. Do as I say this time.”

Bella, pale, nodded.

“That’s enough.” The cop barked, walking Zak to the car and with a hand to the top of his head shoved him into the back, slamming the door shut. Then he approached Sophie with a notebook and pen in hand.

“That’s Mitch Jamison’s son. He was only trying to protect me.”

“Ma’am, I know who he is. I need your information. And yours, too,” he said to Bella.

“Are you going to arrest him?”

“He’s in custody right now until we get this all sorted out.”

“I want to talk to Mitch or Axel,” Sophie demanded.

The officer, whose name tag said Miller, nodded. “I’ll let them know.”

That didn’t make Sophie feel any better. But she cooperated and gave him all her info and Bella did, too.

Sophie fought back the tears as the cop drove away with Zak in the back. It was made worse when Zak didn’t look back at her, instead keeping his face forward.

“Will he go back to prison because of this?” she asked Bella as the ambulance arrived. As did Mitch in another cruiser. Followed quickly by Axel in his personal vehicle.

“I don’t know,” Bella whispered, her voice sounding as shaky as hers. “Fucking hope not.”

She squeezed Bella’s arm. “You did the right thing.”

“No, I just got your old man arrested. Fuck.” Bella turned and headed back toward the bakery. When Axel rushed after her, she spun around, had some low, angry words with him that Sophie couldn’t hear, then Bella slammed both palms into his chest, shoving him off the stoop of the bakery.

Oh shit.

He caught his balance, grabbed her arm and yanked her inside, slamming the front door behind them, hard enough that the large picture window even rattled.

Sophie thought it might be better to stay outside and talk to Mitch, who stood watching everything that just transpired also, eyebrows knitted and a deep frown on his face.

Fuck.

She turned to Mitch and began to plead Zak’s case.

* * *

“Was only protecting my woman,” Zak mumbled as his father stepped into the room where he was being held. Mitch’s eyes were hard, and he looked pissed.

Couldn’t be more pissed than Zak, though. He’d been sitting here for hours, unable to leave even after giving his statement. Being treated like the criminal everyone at the station thought he was. Including his own father.

What-fucking-ever.

“Sophie already went to bat for you. Explained everything. Axel heard the same story from Bella. Once we finish getting statements from witnesses who’d have no reason to lie, we’ll get this all sorted out.”

They needed to hurry up and get it sorted. He needed to check on Sophie. Bella had better have listened and taken her back to church where she’d be protected until they figured out what the fuck was going on with the Warriors.

“They didn’t lie. He fuckin’ tried to grab Sophie and I kicked his ass. Had a damn gun.”

“We recovered the gun.”

“Stolen, wasn’t it?” Zak asked, narrowing his eyes at Mitch. When his father didn’t answer, he said, “Knew it would be. Serial numbers probably wiped. He coulda killed her. Killed me. Maybe even Bella. Drove right outta town. An’ all you blue avengers woulda been scramblin’ to find who did it. Buncha bumbling boys in blue,” he spat, trying to get a rise out of the man who sired him. “Can’t figure out who done the real crime.” He wanted to remind his own flesh and blood that he’d been wrongly convicted. Not that the man probably cared.

Mitch’s jaw hardened, his blue eyes turned a shade of steel, but he ignored the taunting, to Zak’s disappointment.

The older man pointed a finger at Zak. “You need to leave her be, boy. But you won’t listen. You never do, never had. Maybe if you had, you wouldn’t have a felony conviction on your record right now. Plus, wouldn’t be sitting here now secured to the wall like a dog.”

A muscle ticked in Zak’s jaw and he ground his teeth before grumbling, “Shit happens.”

“Shit happens,” Mitch repeated, shaking his head. He jammed his hands on his hips, his mouth tight. “Your mother loves you and it killed her when you went to Fayette.”

“Why didn’t she visit then?”

His father’s chest expanded when he sucked in a deep breath. “Because I wasn’t going to let her see her son like that.”

“What about you, Mitch?”

He winced when Zak called him by his first name. “What about me?”

“You still feelin’ the fatherly love? Didn’t see your ass during visiting hours. Hell, you’re law, you could’ve come any hour.”

His father’s lips flattened and his mouth got tight again.

“Right,” Zak continued, “I get not bringin’ Jayde. But you, Axel, Mom.” He shook his head. “You believe I did that shit? Had that shit?”

“Doesn’t matter what I believe. You were convicted, Zakary. You were found guilty. Guilty or not, you put yourself in that position the moment you patched into that fucking club. I told you not to do it. I told you it would fuck up your life. You did it anyhow. I only ever wanted what was best for you and you fucking spit in my face. That’s what you did.”

Zak’s head jerked back, and he pushed to his feet, the metal ring he was cuffed to clanging against the steel bracelet. Chained like a damned, dangerous animal.

By his own blood, too.

“Unless you’re here to set me free, cop, get the fuck outta my face.”

“Zak...”

Zak tightened his jaw and looked away, shaking his head.

He heard a strangled noise and when he looked up, his blood was leaving him still restrained to the wall.

“Fuck you, Dad,” Zak yelled down the hallway at his father’s retreating back. He sank back onto the metal bench, and dragged his free hand through his hair and down over his face, finally covering his mouth so he wouldn’t beg his father to come back.