Don’t move.

Do not fucking move.

Don’t go for the gun, Ayda.

Don’t you dare fucking move.

Those were the thoughts running on repeat in my mind once he’d asked her for her next move in this game none of them knew he was playing. I stayed frozen still. Around Trigger Gatlin, you didn’t move an inch until he gave you the all fucking clear. I’d seen him at work first hand when dealing with an enemy. I just couldn’t believe that I was now on the receiving end of his wrath.

I heard Slater mutter something to Ayda, and I prayed to every god that pretended to exist that he was telling her to stand back. Not that she’d listen…

I swallowed harshly, my eyes rising up to Jacob who was stirring. His fingers twitched, and his legs moved before he slumped back down and fell asleep again. Too bad he wasn’t dead.

Travis’ feet crunched the gravel as he began to move away from me, but I stayed still. Always still.

“Come on, guys,” Travis challenged them all softly. “I’m playing the game. Tell me! What’s. The next. Move?” He paused, and I heard the creak of the leather as he folded his arms. “Or shall I tell you what’s going to happen here?”

There was a subtle shift from behind me. From the angle I was at, I could see Slater putting himself in between Ayda and Travis, forcing her behind him so she was protected.

“Club business, Ayda,” Slater muttered, but it was also for Travis.

“I think this goes a little beyond club business, don’t you, Portman?” Travis hit back at Slater. “I mean, my little brother was just being beaten half to death by your club president. Let’s not cry club business now because I’m staring at the pretty little blonde you’re all hell-bent on dying for.”

My fingers curled tight into my palms, and I almost contemplated spinning around and knocking that fucker to the ground, when Travis carried on with his little speech.

“How about I put my hands up in the air like this for you. Does that make it easier for you all to shoot me when you know I can’t get my hands to the guns strapped to my body?”

I heard Slater move, and I couldn’t stop the growl that erupted from the back of my throat.

“Don’t fucking move, Slater,” I commanded, breathing heavily. “Don’t move.”

“Fuck,” Slater growled.

“Slate, this is the Navs. They have the word rifle in their club name. You think he’s the only one who has a gun pointed at my head right now? Take a look around you? My guess is that there’re at least one or two guys on top of the storage units. Maybe a couple more hiding in the shadows waiting to pop out and surprise you.”

Travis’ low burst of laughter sounded anything but funny.

“Damn it, Tucker, I forgot how much I enjoyed being around you. Turn around for me, let me see that handsome face for a while.”

Grinding my teeth and pressing my lips together, I turned in a half circle until I was looking up at Travis, Slater, and Ayda in front of me.

Travis hadn’t changed much over the years. His hair was shorter, and his eyes looked darker, more in control than they once had, but he was still the same. His confidence in his abilities shone like no one else’s. If people thought I was a cocksure asshole, I had nothing on this guy.

“There he is,” Travis said through a smile, raising his hand in the air and delivering a signal to someone we couldn’t see. “You got me. I’m not here alone.”

Ayda’s eyes closed for a moment. Too long for a blink, so I had to assume it was a prayer. Her gun wasn’t pointed at Travis’ head anymore. It was pointed at the ground, the cold steel against her thigh where her dress stopped. Her finger was still pressed flat against the gun, but when her eyes opened again, chaos reigned behind the blue.

If ever there was a time for us to do the whole silent communication thing we did so well, this was it, and I only hoped she could see the stern look in my eyes when she glanced my way. The one that told her I loved her. I thought she was brave. I thought she was incredible. But if she got herself hurt, I’d be picking up the nearest gun and following her to wherever she went.

“I have to say, Tucker, it seems like your club is traveling on roads it doesn’t belong these days. First, you’re assaulting Babylon High’s football coach for no good reason—”

“Oh, I had my reasons,” I assured him.

“Remind me what those were again…” He tilted his head to one side, narrowing his eyes at me.

“I think you already know, Trigger.” I inhaled slowly. “He attacked a minor.”

“The Sutton chick, right? The chief’s daughter?”

I gave him a sharp nod, unable to say anything else.

“The chief of police who is letting his town go to shit. The one who now spends most of his days letting The Hounds of Babylon pull his strings so he can be the puppet who lets them get away with, I dunno…” His brows rose high as he leaned forward. “Murder?”

I frowned in confusion, my eyes searching his wildly as I tried not to swallow or show any signs of panic.

If Trigger Gatlin knew we’d been responsible for the explosion at the warehouse, it would mean disaster for all of us. It would mean the end of The Hounds. It would mean every Navarro Rifleman would question who we were and what we stood for, and I had a feeling it would mean every other charter of The Emps outside of Texas would now know, too.

I tried to remain cool, letting my confusion speak for me.

Travis’ smirk grew stronger as he continued to play with me. “Don’t worry, Tucker. I’m no snitch. I’m not going to tell the world what Sutton is covering up for you.”

“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugged, leaning back and standing taller again. “We’ve already put things in place. Sutton is probably being stripped of his badge as we speak.”

“Stay away from him. He’s a good man.”

“Opinions vary.”

I didn’t know what that meant, either, but that wasn’t the time to be worrying about Sutton. Right then, I had to figure out a way to get us all out of this shit.

“I know you didn’t come to Babylon to start a shootout and talk in riddles, Trigger, so why don’t you get to the point and tell us all why you’re here because I sure as shit know this ain’t just about your little brother. I know you’re not sloppy enough to confuse petty feuds with MC rivalries.”

Jacob stirred behind me again, and Travis attention slipped to him lying on the ground as his groans of pain grew louder and he woke from his temporary slumber.

Trigger’s smirk was ever present as he whistled abruptly, the sound cutting through the air before I heard the sound of two new arrivals. Their boots charged like they were military, each footfall in time and precise until they’d gotten hold of Jacob and were hoisting him to his feet.

“That makes three,” Slater muttered quietly, giving me chance to glance up at Ayda.

Her eyes met mine briefly. I expected to see fear shining back at me, but there was only resignation and calculation as her eyes moved to the new addition and back to me, asking silent questions.

The two men dragged Jacob to stand behind Trigger. His arms were limp, hanging over the broad shoulders of the two men in dark clothing, their faces hidden under baseball caps. I couldn’t look at Jacob’s face. If I saw one flash of smugness or arrogance there, I’d get us all killed.

“I’m never sloppy, Tucker. I always make sure I have backup. Army life as their best sniper had me well trained for that. You, however, seem to be jumping from one boiling pot straight into the fucking infernos lately.”

He took a step toward me, his eyes assessing my face with the usual interrogation he liked to give his victims.

“Tell me, why were the Emps trying to blow up you and your entire MC?”

I met his gaze, hard and firm. “Maybe because they were always too scared to stand toe-to-toe with me and fight like real men.”

“Maybe.” Travis turned his smile upside down briefly. “Or maybe it’s because they found out you’d been lying to them.”

I raised my brows and waited, not saying a word.

“Maybe they found out you’d been responsible for the death of one of their brothers. Or, wait; was it two of their men? I mean, I guess some would say you had a right after what that asshole Ramirez did to your precious Pete, but I doubt The Emps would see it that way. Cortez loved his revenge, right?”

My heart began to hammer beneath my chest.

“And maybe he found out you’d tried to trick them all into believing you had the backing of a rival MC in your corner, and they fled for a while, thinking it was true. But when they found out it had all been one big lie, they came back.”

His eyes widened as he waited for me to react. I gave him nothing. He already had everything he needed.

“Maybe they realized you’d been imitating the Navarro Rifles by killing the Emp men while wearing the Rifles’ mark upon your skin.”

My nostrils flared.

“And maybe they were pissed. Really pissed.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve got yourself quite the little story there,” I pushed out.

His smirk came to life again, sadistic and unafraid. “Maybe.” Trigger sighed, blowing his breath all over my face before he took a slow step backward and turned to his right, staring into the darkness and whistling again.

I didn’t follow his gaze. My eyes were trained on him as he turned back to me and stared straight into my eyes.

“There’s only one way to get the truth out of someone who has spent his whole life lying, and that’s to bring an innocent into the mix and threaten to take their life with two bullets shot straight through both ears unless the person you’re interrogating speaks up and saves them.”

My eyes shot to Ayda instantly to check that she was safe. At that point, she had both Jedd and Slater covering her, and I found myself exhaling in relief that they hadn’t somehow gotten to her…

Until I heard the whimpered, gargled cry of another female voice being forced my way from the opposite direction.

When Autumn’s tear-filled eyes found the moonlight, and her face shone with fear, my heart sank straight into the pits of my stomach. Two other men dragged her without any delicacy, pushing her toward us as she choked on a dirty rag that had been shoved in her mouth.

Ayda’s quiet gasp didn’t go amiss. Trigger’s smug smirk said he had the reaction he wanted, and when Slater had to nudge her back farther, Trigger snorted in derision, making it clear how he felt about women in general.

I took a moment to close my eyes and breathe.

“You don’t need to do this,” I told him quietly.

“No,” he agreed. “But I wanted to.”

“Women and children…” I shook my head at him. “You know we don’t go there. So far you’ve crossed both lines. Jacob with a minor. Now with my brother’s old lady.”

“Jacob is a law unto himself. Don’t associate him with my club because he’s my brother. Blood doesn’t always run thicker than MC loyalty.”

I scowled again, and so did Jacob, his frown deepening as he stared at the back of Travis’ head. He didn’t say anything, though. I was pretty sure he couldn’t even speak. The only satisfying thing about the whole situation was seeing the blood trickling down Jacob’s face.

Turning my attention to Autumn, I tilted my head to one side and gave her the deepest apology I could muster with my eyes.

She whimpered behind the rag, and it ended up with her coughing as she tried to push it out of her mouth.

“Trigger, I’ll talk,” I told him as I stared at Autumn. “Just take the rag out of her mouth.”

“This rag?” he asked, pointing to it and walking closer to Autumn. “With pleasure.” In one swift move, he’d reached into Autumn’s mouth and ripped it out. She inhaled sharply, her tears falling on the ground as she bent forward and collected some air. Her chest sounded tight, and the thought of what they’d done to her in the darkness made my blood boil even hotter.

“You—”

Trigger cut me off by waving the rag around in front of my face.

“We thought it would be some kind of poetic justice to let one of your own taste the very death your club caused.”

“What?” I asked, frowning hard. It was a tatty old piece of cloth, too covered in dirt to be recognizable.

Trigger held it, opening it up wider with the tips of his fingers until it all fell into place.

In the corner of the bandana was a small scripted H.O.B, and like a montage of bad memories, it all came flashing back to me at once.

“We found this on the dead body that was dumped on our land not too many months ago.” Trigger waved it around before he began to circle me like a vulture. “Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, Tucker. If you’re going to bury an Emperor on our turf, be sure not to leave any obvious traces on his body when you leave. Although, I have to admit, you fucked him up good. He was hard to recognize or track when he was dug up. But we found this under his T-shirt, wrapped around a wound on the top of his arm.”

“Sounds like a setup to me.” I swallowed while he was behind me, showing no emotion.

“Maybe.”

Those maybes were starting to get on my last fucking nerve, but I stood strong, unmoving as I stared ahead at the two guys who were holding Jacob up.

“I’ve made mistakes in my time, Trigger, but I’m just not that fucking stupid.”

“I must admit,” he said through a heavy sigh. “It doesn’t sound like a mistake you’d make. Or at least I thought not. But then I sat back and thought about all the mistakes you’ve made over the years, Tucker. The drug runs you used to do. The underground fighting. The underhand deals with guns and money, all for a quick fix to try and make your club richer and your legacy shine brighter. All that led to the death of your most loved brother.”

The thought of Pete had my jaw tensing again as Trigger continued to circle me.

“Then you spent five long, stubborn, lonely years on the inside, cut off from your club and taking beatings for fun because it stopped you from feeling the grief and the guilt that had taken over your life because of all… your… mistakes.”

I closed my eyes.

“Then you got out and, instead of laying low for a while, you got an innocent woman and her kid brother involved in MC life so you could mess their lives up, too. Big mistake.”

Ayda snorted and looked around the group as every eye fell to her.

“You really think that wasn’t my choice?” she asked, leaning around Jedd. “Don’t add me as one of his transgressions, Travis Gatlin. I’m right where I want to be.”

Trigger rolled his eyes in her direction as he came to a stop in front of me again. “And you made the mistake of sticking a ring on her finger and making her believe that it’s actually a good idea, too.”

The humorless laugh that came from Ayda was full of derision. “What part of my choice don’t you understand?”

“She always was a bit stupid when it came to the men she chose,” he whispered, leaning closer to me and wrinkling his nose.

I took a sharp step toward him. It was instinct, not thought. It knocked him off balance temporarily and made him stumble to the side as he backed away and began to laugh.

“I forgot how quickly you pups could snap your teeth.”

“You’d be wise to remember,” I snarled through gritted teeth. “Real fucking quick. You’d also do well to remember that we’ve been threatened so many times in the past, it’s almost becoming a little boring, so if you’ve got something to do, Trigger, get off the fucking stage, quit performing, and snap to it, because I’m real fucking close to breaking someone’s neck… and you’re the nearest guy I can see.”

“Now we’re talking.” He grinned big.

Autumn’s scream was instant as one of the guys beside her swiped the back of his hand across her cheek, using the full force and weight of his arm to stun her and knock her to the side.

“Let’s play.” Trigger snapped his fingers, and the two men pushed Autumn down to her knees, each one producing a gun on either side of her head and pressing it down, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut and cry.

She cried so hard, it felt like her sobs had the power to make the ground shake.

Maybe they did.

Or maybe the ground was really shaking because of the army of my brothers who were now charging around the corner as backup, including Deeks.