When Suzy left the house, I headed straight to ALFA. I could’ve sworn I saw something or someone in the woods behind my house, but I couldn’t tell if it was just paranoia creeping in or reality.

Thomas hadn’t given us a full update since we had our meeting last week. Information had come in via text and was limited.

“Hey! Sit.” Thomas shuffled papers around on his messy desk. “I really need to have Angel organize all this shit. It’s out of control.”

“Maybe if you stopped sticking your dick in her during business hours, she’d get more work done.”

He laughed and shrugged. “Sometimes I can’t help myself. You try working with Suzy all day and resisting her.”

“You’re a sicko.”

“No argument here.”

“So what’s going on with the Sun Devils? I swear I saw someone in the woods behind my house this morning.”

His demeanor changed instantly. “Are you sure it was a person?”

“I can’t say for sure, but something was out there. I felt like whatever it was, it was watching us.”

“I spoke with my contacts at the DEA. They lost track of a few of the members.” His fist slammed down on his desk. “They’re good for nothing.”

“Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary? It could’ve been an animal and my mind playing tricks on me. I’m so fucking on edge that I could’ve made the entire thing up.”

“I haven’t noticed anything, but I know exactly how they are. I’m more worried about the people I care about than myself.”

“We need to know more, Thomas. Everyone needs to know what’s going on. You need to get more information as quickly as possible and share it with us.”

“I’ll find out more today and get the guys together for a quick meeting tonight around seven. Good?” He picked up the phone and pressed a button. “James, get Sam and come to my office, please.”

“It’ll have to be. I’ll let the guys know. You just find out the info. We can’t be left in the dark if our lives are in danger.”

Using both of his hands, he rubbed his temples and sighed. “Hopefully, tonight we’ll know enough to get a plan together to keep everyone safe. I refuse to let them rule our lives and hurt anyone we love.”

“Maybe they’ll take Sam as a sacrificial lamb.” I grinned because he’d pissed me off since the day I learned that he and Izzy had a thing.

“Don’t be an asshole. You know we need him.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Maybe you do.”

“He came in handy before. Remember he did take a bullet for us.”

It was my turn to sigh. “Fine. We won’t offer him in exchange for our safety. We’ll figure out another way.”

“What are we exchanging?” Sam said from the doorway.

It was my cue to leave. “I have to get to work. See you tonight at seven,” I told Thomas before turning to face Sam and James. “See you guys tonight.” Pushing past them, I nudged Sam just a little bit.

“Fucker,” he muttered.

“Sit. We have some shit to talk about,” Thomas said before the door closed.

As I walked to my car, I took in my surroundings and looked for anything or anyone that didn’t belong. Nothing seemed out of place. I chalked up this morning to an overactive imagination and fear.

Nothing usually scared me… But the thought of the Sun Devils coming for the people I loved had me on edge. By the time I pulled into Inked, my nerves had calmed and I felt more at ease than I had since I saw movement in the woods.

“Yo!” Mike greeted me at the door. “Where have you been?”

“I ran to ALFA for a bit to talk with Thomas.”

Mike’s face morphed and grew serious. “What’s up?”

I placed my hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “I don’t want to talk about it here, but we’re meeting tonight at seven.”

“I’ll be there and I’ll text Anthony to let him know too.”

“Where’s the lazy bastard?”

“With Max at the doctor. It’s her yearly checkup and ataxia evaluation. Dumb fuck,” he said before punching me in the shoulder hard enough that my body rocked backward.

Guilt flooded me. “Shit, I forgot.”

“Way to go, champ. Way to be a douche.”

“Who’s a douche?” Izzy asked as she walked into the front of Inked, wiping her hands with a paper towel.

Mike thumbed toward me over his shoulder. “Joe.”

“Usually, it’s you being a douche, Mikey. It’s nice to have someone else at the helm for a bit, isn’t it?”

I pushed past Mike, shoving him off-kilter in the process. “Fuck off, Iz. I don’t need your shit today.”

“Someone pissed in your Wheaties this morning, didn’t they?” Izzy laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder and following me toward the back.

“I just have a lot of shit on my mind.”

“It seems to be the norm around here. If I didn’t know better, I’d think your cycles are in sync.”

“Cycles?” Mike plopped down in Anthony’s chair and started to leaf through the latest issue of Tattoo magazine.

“You’re like a bunch of chicks…all PMS’ing at the same time.”

“That’s sick, little sister.”

“All of you have been grouchy as fuck for a week now. I want to gouge your little eyes out and sew your lips shut.” She closed one eye and pretended to be doing just that from a distance.

“We put up with your cranky ass our entire lives. We’re entitled to a few days out of the year.” I started to prep my station for my first appointment of the day. It was a back piece and would suck up most of my shift, but it was completely worth it to see the finished product.

“I know something’s going on. Even James is acting weird. Suzy called me the other day and asked me a few things that had me curious too. So, what gives? Spit it out, boys.” Her eyes moved between us while she waited without saying a word.

When neither of us replied, she said, “I’m talking to both of you. I want answers.”

“There’s nothing going on, Izzy,” I told her with the straightest face I could because she always seemed to know when we were bullshitting her.

“Michael?”

He cleared his throat and hunkered down below the top of the magazine. “Nothing at all.”

“You bitches are hiding something, and I’m going to figure it out. When I do…you’re going to be sorry.”

I turned my back to her, grinding my teeth together. I hated hiding stuff from her. I hated doing it to anyone in the inner circle. But knowing Izzy like I did, she’d go off half-cocked and get all the ladies riled up and cause more problems than she’d solve.

---

When we finally sat down at the conference table at ALFA that night, I heard the words I’d been dreading come from Thomas’s mouth. “They’re in town and they’re looking for us.”

I no longer believed it was an animal in the woods outside my house, but someone watching us—someone lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.

“Goddamn it,” I growled.

“They’re not getting through us,” Morgan said, slamming his hand down on the conference table.

“We need to come up with a plan to keep everyone safe.” Bear put his hands together and rested them against his lips. “One that requires killing anyone who gets near them.”

“We have to tell the girls,” James groaned and dragged his hands down his face. “They’re gonna flip.”

“Break it gently.” Thomas stood and paced in front of the table. “We need to have protection on the women at all times. From here on out, our lives change until we’re in the clear.”

“You need to stay out of sight, brother,” I said with my jaw clenched tightly.

“I’ll do no such thing.” He shook his head and picked up the pace. “I’m the bait. We have to draw them out. If I stay hidden, this may never be over.”

“You’re right.” I grimaced at the though of dangling him out there as the sacrificial lamb. But he was right, he was the only way to get them to show themselves.

By the time we left ALFA, we had a plan in place. It was time to alert everyone to keep them safe. We spent all night forming a plan to do just that…for us all to get out alive.