Even after a twenty-minute bike ride back to the clubhouse, I could still smell her on my skin, making it impossible not to remember how good she felt in my arms. I never dreamed anyone could get to me the way she did. I’d been void of feeling for so long, I didn’t know I was even capable of letting someone in. I’d spent years guarding myself from all the pain and heartache that came from getting too close, but without even trying, this woman had torn down my walls and shown me a world I’d forgotten even existed. They were feelings I thought I didn’t need—thought I didn’t deserve—but now that I’d gotten a taste of just how incredibly good it could be, I only wanted more. As much as I hated to admit it, Alex had become an addiction, and I was already jonesing for another hit. I’d still be at her place satisfying that craving if I hadn’t gotten the call from Blaze telling me that two more of our dealers had been found dead.

By the time I made it inside the clubhouse, all the guys were already gathered for church. I made my way over to my place at the table, and once everyone else was settled, Gus called us to attention. “B.W. and Michaels were taken out tonight. Killed in their own fucking homes before they even had a chance to get on the streets. I’m done with this shit. I want to know who the fuck is responsible, and I want their fucking head on a goddamn platter.”

Riggs turned to him and said, “I was about to track down Jasper’s cousin, Milton. Got his address and linked into his phone.”

“Good. I want eyes on him tonight.” He paused before continuing, “I don’t want prospects on this. It’s too fucking important. Blaze and Murphy take the first shift, then you and Shadow can take over in the morning.”

“Understood. Once we have Jasper, maybe we can get it out of him who he’s working with.”

“Oh, we’ll get it out of him. I’ll make damn well sure of it,” I assured him.

Moose leaned forward and added, “I have no doubt that you will, but in the meantime, we gotta do something more to protect our guys. The rotations clearly aren’t enough. These motherfuckers are going into their homes … with their wives and children. That’s fucking bullshit. We need to bring them in for a lockdown before anyone else ends up getting hurt.”

“Agreed. We’ll have them all come in, and they don’t go anywhere without one of the brothers by their side.”

Moose nodded. “I’ll make the call and have them all here by morning.”

Gus’s face grew grim as he said, “As you all know, we’re still trying to get a handle on everything that went down with the Culebras. Riggs has been busting his ass to find intel on them, but even with everything he’s been able to uncover, there’s still so much we just don’t know yet.”

“You think they may be behind this?” Blaze interrupted.

“Got no idea. The fact is, we cost those motherfuckers millions when we took out that warehouse. I don’t know when or where, but there’s going to be blowback from that. Keeping that in mind, I hate to think we have another war approaching, but with what’s been going down, I’ve got no doubt that we do.”

Murphy clenched his fist as he barked, “Then, we do what we’ve always done. We find these motherfuckers and shut them down.”

“That’s exactly what we’re gonna do, but until we find these assholes, we’ve gotta be prepared. Keep your eyes and ears open, and never let your guard down for any reason.”

Gus dismissed church, and using the information that Riggs had provided, he sent Murphy and Blaze to start their surveillance of Milton. While I was completely invested in bringing down the men who were threatening the club, that didn’t mean I’d forgotten about my concerns over Alex’s apartment. Her security was subpar at best, and it was only a matter of time before it became an issue. Knowing I couldn’t live with that, I followed Riggs out into the hall. As the club’s computer hacker and security guru, I hoped that he’d be able to help. He was caught by surprise when I said, “Hey, brother, I need a favor.”

“Really? What kind of favor?”

“I got a place that needs an upgrade on security.”

“Okay. What kind of upgrade are we talking about? Cameras? Locks? Lights?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled. “Gonna need more than that, Shadow.”

“It needs the works. I need to know she’s safe.”

Sounding fairly shocked, he asked, “She? Who are we talking about?”

“A friend, Riggs.”

“Is this a special friend?” He smirked. “I need to know what I’m working with here.”

“Can you update the security or not?”

“Yeah. I can do that. Just need the address. I’ll get the guys to install it first thing in the morning. Will that suffice?”

“Morning will be fine. Her name is Alex. I’ll text you the address.”

When I turned to leave, he teased. “I’ll take care of your girl for ya, brother, but that shit’s gonna cost ya!”

“Never doubted that for a second,” I grumbled as I headed back to my room. After a long, hot shower, I lay down on my bed, and it wasn’t long before my mind started to drift back to Alex. A warm feeling crept over me as I thought about the soothing sound of her voice, the soft caress of her lips, and the incredible feeling of her hands on my body. She had me completely captivated, and as I closed my eyes, I wanted to remember every detail of our night together, hoping the memories would be enough to keep the nightmares at bay. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. As I finally started to doze off, that familiar uneasiness started to weigh down on me. I knew the dreams were coming. I had no idea where they planned to take me, but I knew it wouldn’t be a pleasant memory. None of them ever were. Between my childhood and my time in Afghanistan, I had no good memories. I tried to fight my latest nightmare, but my exhaustion won out and in a matter of seconds, I was drifting into the past.

I was standing on the front porch of my fourth and final home with Ms. Haliburton by my side. It was a quaint, two-story brick home, and while it looked like a decent place, there was something about it that gave me an unsettled feeling, but then all the foster homes did. I was eleven years old when my family was taken from me. There was no one to take me in, no family or friends waiting with open arms to love me like their own, so I was placed in foster care and forced to live with complete strangers. I thought losing my parents and sister, the people who I loved most in the world, was the worst thing that could possibly happen to me, but I was wrong—very, very wrong. After Ms. Haliburton knocked on the door, she looked over to me with a reassuring smile. She had good intentions, but it didn’t help the anxiety growing in the pit of my stomach. We’d only been waiting a few seconds when the door eased open, revealing an attractive blonde wearing a plaid button-down and a pair of dark denim jeans. A smile spread across her face as she said, “Well, hello there. You must be Mason. I’m Janice Ridley. It’s so good to finally meet you. Mrs. Haliburton has told me so much about you.”

Just as the words had come out of her mouth, a man stepped up behind Mrs. Ridley. His salt and pepper hair was brushed perfectly to the side, and he wore a navy suit. He forced a smile and said, “Mrs. Haliburton. Nice see you again.”

“Hello, Cal. I know I’m a little early, but I was eager for you to meet Mason.”

“And we are eager to meet him as well.” He looked down at me and smiled. “Hi, Mason. I’m Cal Ridley.”

It took me a moment to respond, but I finally managed to mumble, “Hello, Mrs. Ridley. Mr. Ridley.”

She motioned us both inside. “Come on in, and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the crew.”

Mrs. Haliburton placed her hand on my back, nudging me forward, and my heart started to race as I walked inside the house. I took a quick glance around and was relieved to see that the inside was just as nice as the outside. It was far from fancy, but it was much better than the shabby apartment I was staying in just a few nights before. As we stepped into the living room, we were greeted by the Ridleys’ other foster children. They were all sitting on the sofa, each of them silently staring at me as we approached. Mr. Ridley stood by his wife as she said, “Kids, this is Mason … the young man I’ve been telling you about.”

I lifted my hand in a slight wave and said, “Hey.”

“Let me introduce you to everyone.” She walked over to a young boy who was about seven or so with blond hair, blue eyes, and a smile that was filled with innocence. “This is Grady. You’ll be sharing a room with him, but don’t worry, there’s plenty of space for you both.”

I nodded and replied, “Nice to meet you, Grady.”

“The twins are Brooklyn and Brea. It might take you a little while to tell them apart, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” She was right. The two brown-headed girls were dressed in the same blue-striped shirt and denim shorts with their hair pulled back using the same colored ribbon. Their facial features were nearly identical, but I noticed one of the girls had freckles on the bridge of her nose. My focus was still on the twins when Mrs. Ridley turned to the oldest of the children and said, “And finally, we have Michele.”

At thirteen years old, Michele was the oldest of all the children in the house, and she was quite beautiful with long dark-brown hair and crystal blue eyes. She gave me a half-smile as she straightened her back and said, “Hi, Mason.”

There was something odd about the way she looked at me that made me think she was trying to warn me of something, but I had no idea what it could be. Shaking it off as my imagination, I replied, “Hi, Michele.”

We spent the next half hour trying to muddle through all the small talk, and once Mrs. Haliburton felt like I was ready, she slipped out, leaving me alone with the Ridleys. It didn’t take me long to figure out that there was something very different about my new family. Even though there were five children in their home, the house was eerily quiet. The kids stayed locked away in their rooms, spending their entire day in complete and utter silence. With each moment that passed, I became more and more curious about their odd behavior. Hoping for answers, I walked over to Michele’s room to ask her what was going on. She was sitting at her desk, working on her homework, and didn’t even look up when I walked into the room. “You can’t be in here, Mason. Go back to your room.”

“But—”

She turned and with an intense expression, she warned, “No buts. It’s getting late. You need to be in bed. Besides, if they find you in here, we’re both gonna get it. Now, do what I said and go back to your room.”

“Gonna get it? What are you talking about?” I pushed.

“I hate to break it to you, kid, but you didn’t just move in with the Brady Bunch.”

Just as the words came out of her mouth, her blue eyes widened with fear as she listened to the sounds of his footsteps creeping down the hall. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s coming,” Michele whispered to me with warning in her voice. “You’ve gotta get out of here. Now!”

I was just about to turn to leave when Cal appeared in the doorway. As soon as he saw me, his face twisted into an angry scowl and I could smell the alcohol on his breath as he barked, “What the hell are you doing in here?”

“He was just asking me about school,” Michele lied.

“You really expect me to believe that?” he growled. “I know why he’s in here. He’s hoping to get himself a piece, and that shit isn’t gonna happen!”

He reared back and slammed the back of his hand across my cheek. When I stumbled back, he reached for my throat, squeezing tightly as he slammed me against the wall. “Cal, don’t! He didn’t know any better!”

“Well, he’s about to learn how things work around here!” He pounded his fist into my side, nearly breaking several of my ribs, and I fell to the floor. His foot came crashing into my side as he shouted, “You’ll do as you’re told, boy, or you’ll pay the fucking consequences.”

After several more firm kicks, he reached down and grabbed a fist full of my hair, dragging me over to Michele’s closet. He opened the door and tossed me inside. He slammed the door, and I was left cowering on the floor like a wounded animal. I was completely stunned. My parents rarely ever spanked me, and they certainly never hit me like my new foster father had just done. I didn’t know what to think, and as I sat there wiping the tears from my eyes and the blood from my mouth, I heard the sounds of whimpering coming through the door. It was clear that he was hurting her and even though I was desperate to help her, I could only sit there and listen. Eventually, the room grew quiet, and I heard him stumble out of the room. I sat there for hours waiting for someone to let me out of the closet, but it wasn’t until the following morning when Mrs. Ridley finally came.

The door flew open and she towered over me with a cold, angry scowl as she snarled, “Get up! You’re late!”

The dream ended there. I wasn’t forced to remember the events that followed, but those memories clung to me like a wet blanket as I lay there staring at the ceiling. Eventually, I rolled over and managed to go back to sleep, if you could call it that, but after a couple of hours tossing and turning, I woke up to the sun blaring through the window. I lay there for another half hour then pulled myself out of bed and got dressed. I was eager to see if there had been any word from Murphy and Blaze, so I went to find Riggs. When he wasn’t in his room, I headed to the kitchen and found Cyrus, T-Bone, and Gunner sitting at the table eating breakfast. I made a cup of coffee then sat down next to Gunner. He looked up at me and asked, “How’s it going, brother?”

“It’s going. You seen Riggs?”

After months of healing from an almost fatal gunshot wound, it was good to see that he was finally getting back to his old self, even if that meant he was back to running his mouth. Gunner’s mouth twisted into a mischievous smirk as he announced, “Yeah. He left about a half hour ago with a couple of prospects. Said he was going to install a security system for a friend of yours.”

“Riggs talks too fucking much,” I growled, stopping him midsentence.

Just as he was about to respond, Jasmine, one of the club girls, came over and asked, “Hey, Shadow. You want me to fix you a plate?”

“No, I’m good,” I grumbled.

She spun around and headed back to the stove as Cyrus turned to me and said, “Riggs said your friend owns the bookstore on Broad Street. She any relation to Hallie?”

While I knew there was more behind the story, I repeated what Alex had told me. “Hallie was her grandmother.”

“Hmm ... Don’t guess I ever knew she had a granddaughter, but I remember a few years back when this girl—”

Before he could finish his sentence, our burners all chimed at once. We reached into our pockets to pull them out, and I looked down at the screen and saw that the message was from Gus. Blaze and Murphy had tracked down Jasper at his warehouse, but there was a hitch—he wasn’t there alone. There were armed guards surrounding the building, and it was up to us to help them get Jasper out of there. As soon as we finished reading our orders, T-Bone stood up and said, “Looks like it’s party time, boys.”

We all stood up and rushed towards the parking lot. When we got outside, Moose, Vet, and Mack were already on their bikes. T-Bone went over and joined them, and once Gunner and I got in his SUV, the guys followed us towards Jasper’s warehouse. While we were all ready to get our hands on Jasper, I was feeling especially eager. I knew it was just a matter of putting the pieces of the puzzle together, and then we’d finally find out who was fucking with the club. The day of reckoning was near, and I looked forward to executing our revenge.