Two tense days had passed since I’d been attacked on the roof.

Venturing through the compound, I heard rumblings that Harley was with Marini, and the already sweltering temperatures soared even more. My first thought was to go check on Sam, but up ahead, there was a lot of noise coming from the common room. The entire compound was in an uproar over the incoming verdict.

“Hey.”

I turned at the sound of Deluca’s voice. He was one of the biker’s who I hadn’t gotten to know very well. He worked on and off in the garage and disappeared on ‘club business’ more often than he was around to do an oil change. I remembered him carrying off Chaser the night we’d arrived, but other than that, he was a stoic shadow on the sidelines.

When it came to loyalties, Deluca’s were hard to pinpoint.

“You should let Butcher check out those bruises,” he said, nodding toward me. “He said you hadn’t been to see him.”

“I’ve been choked before. It’s fine.” I shrugged.

Like I was going to let that guy poke at my neck and not call it what it was. Copping a feel. Butcher was nice and all, as far as bikers called Butcher went, but Chaser would throw a tantrum if I let another man prod at me.

Deluca’s eyebrows rose. “If you say so.”

“I’ve kinda got bigger things on my mind than a bruised trachea.”

“You’re helping Sam?”

His question surprised me, though I wasn’t going to answer. It wasn’t his business.

“She’s well liked around here, but that won’t stop them.”

I sneered, my expression daring him to try.

“A brother goes down and what was his is pickings for who’s left,” he went on. “The guys are already talking. The moment Harley goes down, it’ll be on.”

“What do you get out of telling me?” I asked, facing him head-on. “Another shot a throwing me off the roof? I don’t like your chances.”

Deluca smirked, his Italian-ness really starting to bug me. Tall, dark, and handsome without the accent. He wasn’t all la dolce vita, but I was sure he thought he was all that and then some with the ladies. If he had his eye on making Sam his new plaything, he would have to go through me first.

“I see it now,” he said, backing away. “Addio, tesoro.”

Feigning puking up on the floor, I turned and made my way into the common room. Heads turned toward me, and not all of them wore friendly expressions.

Spike, Ratchet, Stewie, and Hopper were congregated around the pool table, talking among themselves. Gasket was leaning against the wall, watching me with a raised eyebrow. Ram, Watts, and Rhodes looked like they would rather be in the garage. Finally, Rocket and his gang of thugs were ready to crack some skulls. The smell of blood was in the air, and Rick was mysteriously absent.

Shondra, Emily, Raquel, Kelly, and Sierra were sitting in a circle, talking low. When they’d realized I’d appeared, they glanced up at me. Shondra glared the hardest, and I felt an overwhelming urge to punch her square on the nose.

They didn’t care Harley was beating on Sam. They thought it was her problem, but that was what the cycle of violence did to destroy people, even those outside the direct sphere. They got trapped in their narrow ways of thinking until they believed that it was how things were done. Maybe I was coming from a place of privilege, with my bitch of a mouth and inner strength, but I had the power to stand up and say something. Not just say. Do.

It was hard to ask for help. It was even more difficult to follow through and change the minds of those around them at the same time.

Problem was, I didn’t want to come across as a self-absorbed, clueless bitch, either. It could still go either way.

“Sloane,” Shondra purred. “How are you, doll?”

I didn’t like it when they called me pet names like babe, hon, baby girl, and especially doll. It made my eye all twitchy with rage.

Before I could answer, there was a lull, and everyone turned toward the door. Sam stood just inside the common room, her eyes red and puffy. She was dressed in a plain black top and denim skirt, and her hair was combed and done up in a ponytail. If it were any other day, she would look normal, but it was far from it.

“Hey, babe,” Raquel cooed. “Come sit here.” She patted the sofa beside her.

Sam gave me a tentative glance and shuffled across the room and sat with the other women. They proceeded to fawn over her with thin reassurances and fake compliments. Exchanging a look with Gasket, he shrugged. Women weren’t his thing.

I really wished Sam had stayed in her room.

Chaser was nowhere to be seen, and my heart sank. Would Marini make him—

Gasket appeared next to me and dragged me back against the wall.

“I know about you and Chaser,” he whispered in my ear. “We’re on the same side here, girl.”

“What?” I jerked away and glared.

“Shh,” he soothed. “Don’t get all hostile.”

Suddenly, it all made sense. Why I was drafted into working at the garage, how Chaser always held something back when we had our stolen moments together, how he’d conditioned me not to ask too many questions.

I hadn’t been in control at all. This whole plan I’d cooked up was a joke, and they were humoring me like a child playing at a grown-up’s game. Gasket had just taken a huge crap all over everything I was and thought I could be.

“You piece of shit.” I hissed at him, my hackles rising.

“This game is moving faster than you realize.”

“Don’t patronize me.”

“Marini will get rid of Harley, and Chaser will be next on his list.”

I froze, my heart stuttering in my chest. I asked him to come here. I asked him.

“Do you think he’d try to kill him?”

Gasket shrugged, which didn’t instill much faith in the matter.

“Chaser knows what he’s doing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“The less any of us know, the better. Knowing too much is a one-way ticket to getting us all six feet under, girl.”

I wanted to ask him ‘what now,’ but I clamped my mouth shut. I was supposed to already know, being the mastermind, and I didn’t want to admit that Gasket was right. I was in over my head.

“This is going to end badly,” I said, throwing a look at Sam. “You helped me once…”

“I can’t make any promises. You know that. I can’t do anything that could out me with your father. My leverage inside Fortitude might be the only thing that saves your ass if your plan blows up.”

I opened my mouth to counter, but something felt…off. A gunshot rang out, and everything stopped.

Heads turned toward Marini’s rooms as the boom echoed through the compound, silencing everyone.

“Oh, God,” Sam wailed.

I snapped into action. Striding across the room, I grabbed Sam’s wrist, hauled her to her feet and dragged her from the common room, ignoring the eyes following us.

“Sloane,” she cried, practically running after me. “They shot him… They… Sloane!”

“Shh,” I hissed. “Hurry up.”

I couldn’t chance taking her back to her own rooms, so I went in the other direction, taking the long route back to my own bedroom. We made it back with no one challenging us. Shouting and thumping echoed all around as I shoved her inside.

“Stay in here, and lock the door,” I said. “Barricade it if you have to, but don’t open it for anyone except Chaser or me. Got it?”

“Chaser?” She blinked, looking lost and on the verge of breaking down into hysterics.

There wasn’t time to explain, so I practically shoehorned her into the room.

“Promise me, Sam.”

She nodded. “I promise.”

“Is there anything I need to save from your room?”

Her bottom lip quivered.

“Sam.”

“M-my mom’s necklace. It’s on the bedside cabinet.”

“That’s it?”

She nodded. “Everything else… It’s poisoned…”

I grimaced and glanced down the hall. “I’ll get you out of this. Hold tight.”

I slammed the door shut and waited until I heard the lock click before I moved away.

Shit, shit, shit.

By killing Harley, Dad had sent a message. I was his daughter, and my fate was up to him and him alone. Anyone who got in the way, anyone, would suffer the same fate. It offered me a slight amount of protection, but it left Chaser wide open. First, I had to help Sam get the hell out of this cesspool, then I could worry about Chaser. He had more chance of defending himself than she did.

Besides, I’d promised her. Several times.

Gasket was still in the common room when I peered through the door. He was doing his best to pull bikers back into line before more bullets flew. By the looks of it, half were for murder and half were not. To my confusion, Deluca was going head-to-head with Rocket, who was up in his personal space shouting insults.

At any second, a full-blown brawl was going to erupt, and Marini was nowhere to be found. Gasket was doing what he could, but the only person who could end the tension was Fortitude’s president. I assumed he was too busy gloating over Harley’s corpse and breathing in the fumes of gunpowder to give a shit.

Diving headfirst into the madness, I clawed at Gasket’s arm, pulling him from the room and into a shadowy alcove.

“Sloane, what are you playing at? You’re the reason Harley’s dead, and right now, you’ll end up the same way regardless of Marini’s orders. Don’t be a happy accident, girl. Get back to your room.”

I wasn’t interested in self-preservation right now. Not when I was the only one who had the power and the guts to save someone who needed freedom more than me.

“I need your cell phone and Chaser. Now.” I clicked my fingers and held out my palm.

“What for?”

I clicked my fingers again. “Hurry the fuck up, old man.”

Gasket reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell but hesitated.

“What for?” he asked again.

“I need to keep a promise.”