When Gus called for the lockdown, I didn’t have much time to get things in order. I knew the routine. Take care of the family, then tend to the garage. Once I had Kevin and my folks packed, I brought them over to the clubhouse and made sure they were settled in. They’d been there enough to know their way around, so I knew they’d be okay while I took care of things at the garage. Since we’d be shut down indefinitely, I needed to close out all the orders we’d completed over the past week. I’d also have to make arrangements for the two orders we weren’t able to finish, but we had plenty of connections. It didn’t take long to get everything covered, especially with Murphy there to give me a hand. After we had everything sorted, we started locking everything down, securing every window and door from front to back. I’d just closed the final pulldown gate, when I heard a strange click, one that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand tall—like someone had just walked across my fucking grave. Knowing something was about to go down, I took a step back, and an explosion sent Murphy and I sailing backwards, with debris and fire coming right towards us.

When my brothers got us back to the med room, I quickly realized it wasn’t just the garage that had been hit. I couldn’t believe my fucking ears when Moose told us about the diner. A fucking drive-by in the middle of the day when we had surveillance at every corner just didn’t make fucking sense, but as I watched Mack work frantically to save Runt’s life, I couldn’t help but accept it. Since I wasn’t as bad off as the others, I was taken to a room off to myself to wait until Mack could get to me. They’d given me some painkillers and I was doing alright until Riggs brought Kenadee here. As soon as I saw her beautiful face standing there in the corner, I saw red, and when I realized that the man I trusted most was responsible for her being there, I wanted to ring his fucking neck. “What the fuck were you thinking bringing her here?”

“I thought she could help.”

“We don’t need her help!”

Riggs glanced out in the hall as he said, “I think you might be wrong there, brother. We’ve already lost Runt and Lowball. I’d say we need her help more than you think.”

“We lost Runt and Lowball?”

“Yeah, Mack did what he could, man.” Riggs leaned towards me as he said, “But Runt was DOA, and Lowball was just too far gone. There was nothing he could do, and it’s fucking with his head. He’s doing what he can to save Gauge now, but it’s touch and go. Then, there’s you, and we’ve got Murphy in the other room. He’s not too bad off … just a couple of burns on his hand, a few cuts and bruises, but it’s still too fucking much for Mack to handle on his own. We need her help, brother.”

I looked over to Kenadee standing in the corner with an angry scowl as she listened to our conversation, and I could only imagine what she must be thinking. I knew she’d seen shit like this before. Hell, she’d been working in the trauma center for years, but this was different. In here, her life was on the line. I had no way of knowing what these motherfuckers were going to pull next, none of us did, and looking at Kenadee made my stomach twist into knots. While I didn’t know exactly what, I knew in my gut she meant something to me, and I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her. “And if she gets hurt in all this?”

“I won’t let that happen. You’ve got my word,” he promised.

“Give us a minute.”

He nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. After several seconds passed, she finally looked over to me. She was trying to hide it, but I could see the hurt in her eyes as she said, “So, I guess you were right about it being bad timing.”

Damn.

She had me by the balls, so I had no other choice but to come clean. “I fucked up. I should’ve called a hundred times, but too many things were going on … and I wasn’t sure how all this was going to play out.”

“What is all this exactly?” she pushed.

I knew she would have questions, questions that I couldn’t answer, but I’d have to find a way to set her mind at ease. I grimaced as I replied, “Can’t really talk about it.”

She rolled her eyes. “I seem to be getting a lot of that.”

“I’m sorry about earlier. It’s not that I …”

“Don’t. I get it,” she told me as she walked over and started to examine my wound. Fuck. She looked just as beautiful as I remembered. I could smell a hint of her perfume, and it was fucking with my head. As she glanced down at the gash in my thigh, she asked, “Should I even bother asking how this happened?”

“An explosion at the garage.” She sighed as she turned her attention back to my chest, and when she started pressing down on the wound, I groaned, “Damn, woman.”

“Yeah. It looks pretty bad.”

“Hurts like a bitch,” I groaned

She quickly withdrew her hand. “I’m not sure I can do this. It’s in there pretty deep. You’ve lost a lot of blood, and there might be muscle damage and—”

“Just do what you gotta do, Kenadee. I trust you.”

“I don’t think you get what I’m saying,” she argued. “I’m not a doctor, Sawyer. I just don’t have the experience to handle this kind of thing.”

She was starting to freak out, so I shouted, “Riggs!”

When he stuck his head through the door, I said, “I know he’s got his hands full, but see if Mack can tell her what to do about this shit.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” He motioned for her to follow. “Come with me, Kenadee.”

With a groan, she followed him out of the room, and twenty minutes later, they both returned with their hands full of medical supplies. Kenadee put on a brave face as she came over to me with what looked to be an IV. “I’m going to give you something to put you out. It won’t be like general anesthesia that you’d get at the hospital. It’s pretty strong, so I won’t be—”

Knowing it’s what Mack had given her, I urged her on, “It’s fine. Just do it.”

“Oh, okay.”

I felt her hands trembling just as she was about to prick me. “Kenadee?”

“Yeah?”

“You remember that morning when I took you on your first ride on the bike and how nervous you were?”

She started to smile. “I do.”

“And, when I kissed you … do you remember how you forgot about how nervous you were?”

She started to smile. “Um-hmm.”

“Well, I’d kiss you now, but …”

“Thanks, but I think I can manage,” she told me as she quickly inserted the needle into my vein. “See. I managed just fine.”

“There’s my wildcat.” I smiled.

Riggs peered over her shoulder and said, “Good job. Now, if you can just get that big piece of shrapnel out of his chest without letting him bleed to death or causing him permanent damage, we’ll be set.”

“Gee thanks, Riggs.” She shook her head. “Maybe it would be best if you just stopped talking.”

“Yeah. I can do that.”

“Thank you.” Kenadee looked down at me and said, “Are you sure about this?”

The pain meds doc had given me were wearing off, and my entire body was on fire. At that point, I was desperate for it to stop, so I replied, “Absolutely.”

She took a needle and as she stuck it into my IV, she said, “Okay. Here goes nothing. I’m going to give you this shot, and in a few minutes …”

Within seconds, my eyelids grew heavy, and it became difficult to understand what she was saying. And then, everything went dark.

I had no idea how long I’d been out when I started to come back around, but it took me some time to pull my wits back together. The room was spinning, and my head throbbed like I’d been hit by a fucking truck. I tried to open my eyes, but everything was blurry. I heard someone calling out my name, over and over. I wanted to respond, but my mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Eventually, the haze started to clear, and I was able to force myself to wake up. It seemed like it had only been a few seconds, but when I opened my eyes, I found Kenadee hovering over me with tears in her eyes. “Sawyer! Thank God.”

I swallowed, and my voice was low as I replied, “Hey.”

She ran her palm across my forehead, and as she moved it down to my cheek, I found myself leaning into the coolness of her hand. As she wiped the tears from her face, she looked at me and said, “I can’t believe you’re finally awake.”

My throat burned as I told her, “Hey … don’t cry. I’m alright.”

“Don’t try to talk. Try to take a sip of this,” she ordered as she offered me a drink of water. “I’ll let Mack know you’re awake.”

I nodded and watched as she slipped out the door, and a short time later, Mack came in. He looked like death warmed over as he walked over to me and asked, “How ya feeling, brother?”

“Been better.” Knowing they were probably wondering how I was doing, I asked, “My folks know I’m alright?”

“They do. I just had words with Dan.” I winced when he started to peel back my bandage, and as he examined my wound, he announced, “Looks like your girl did a damn good job. Don’t know what we would’ve done without her tonight.”

“And Murph and Gauge?”

“We’ll talk about them later. For now, you focus on getting some rest.” With that, he left the room and turned out the light. It wasn’t a good sign that he wouldn’t tell me how my brothers were doing, which didn’t exactly make it easy for me to rest. Every time I’d start to doze off, my mind would go back to them, and I’d find myself wondering if they were okay. A couple of hours later, I was relieved to see that Kenadee had finally returned. She eased over to the side of my bed and asked, “You doing okay?”

“Getting there.”

“That’s good. ’Cause for a while there, you had me scared half to death.”

“Why’s that?”

“You were out for a long time.” Her voice trembled with concern. “I was worried you might not wake up.”

I looked down at the bandage on my chest. “But I did, and from what Doc said, you did alright.”

“You got lucky. It wasn’t as deep as I thought.” She sighed. “There’s still a high risk of infection. This isn’t exactly the most sanitary place I’ve ever been.”

“Kenadee, I’m gonna be fine.”

She shook her head. “You’re not out of the woods yet.

“But thanks to you I’m getting there.”

“How can you be so calm about all this? You could’ve died tonight. And your friend … the one who was shot at the diner, he’s hanging by a thread in there. And Murphy … even though they aren’t as bad as I first thought, his burns need to be seen by a specialist,” she argued. “I just don’t understand. You should be in a hospital, a real hospital, and so should they.”

I understood why she would question the club’s decision to bypass the hospital, especially when things were as bad as they were, but we’d learned from experience, that it was too much of a risk to put our trust in people we didn’t know. The last thing we needed was for people knowing our business—like the club’s connection to the diner or the fact we’d just lost two of our brothers. We’d managed to stay off the cops radar by keeping all aspects of our lives guarded, protecting ourselves from any outsiders. An attack like we’d just experienced at the garage and Daisy’s would definitely send up red flags, and that was the last thing we needed when a war was about to erupt. It was simple. In our world, trust was not easily given. “We didn’t have a choice.”

“But why?” she pushed.

“I’ve already told you. It’s club business, and you don’t talk about club business. Period.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” she snapped. “I put my neck on the line for you and those men out there! With one slight infection, all that hard work will go up in flames. It’s just not right.”

I was still trying to clear my head from all the drugs, and with her pushing so hard, I let my guard down. “Like you, people at hospitals ask questions.”

“So?”

“Questions lead to more questions, and then we have a problem. It’s best not to have a problem. That’s why we have Mack. With him, we have less problems.”

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at me with anger. “Seriously? That’s all you’re going to tell me?”

“That’s all I can tell you, and even that’s too much.”

“Well, that’s just not enough,” she huffed.

“I get that you’re upset, babe, but—”

“Oh, no,” she snapped. “Don’t you babe me, Sawyer Mathews! This whole thing is way over the top. Unexplained drive-by shootings, explosions, a clubhouse with an in-house doctor, and God knows what else, and I ask one question. One question. Babe—my ass!”

It seemed like such a simple thing to her, but it was far from it. The brothers kept club business under wraps for a reason. It kept the people we cared about safe, and whether they liked it or not, it was something we needed for their protection. I looked up at her and noticed the dark circles under her eyes. “Have you gotten any sleep?”

“Don’t try to change the subject.”

“Answer the damn question.”

“No. If you must know. I haven’t.” She inhaled a deep breath. “But I have the next few days off, so I can sleep late.”

Damn. They hadn’t told her. When she found out, it was going to send her for another fucking loop. “Kenadee.”

“I know. I’ll go home soon. I just couldn’t leave until I knew you were okay,” she replied innocently.

“Kenadee.”

“What?”

I tried to keep my voice calm and steady as I told her, “You can’t go home.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The club’s on lockdown. No one can leave … Not now. It’s not safe,” I tried to explain.

“You can’t make me stay here, Sawyer.” She didn’t even sound mad. It was like she actually believed what she was saying. “I get that all of you are worried about all this gunfire and mayhem, but I’m not involved in any of that. There’s no reason for me to stay.”

“You’re not leaving.”

Her cheeks flushed red with anger. “Yes, I am.”

“Kenadee, there’s no way in hell that I’m letting you walk out that goddamn door when those men … the same men who’ve already killed two of my brothers and left two more fighting for their lives are still out there. Not a chance in hell I’m gonna let that happen. So, you might as well get that thought out of your pretty little head.”

“And who the hell are you to tell me what I’m going to do?”

“In this clubhouse, you’re mine, and I’m damn well gonna take care of what’s mine.”

“I’m not some kind of plaything, Sawyer,” she chided. “I can’t take any more of this right now. I’m too tired to think straight. I need to get out of here.”

She turned, and when she started for the door, she face planted right into Gus’s chest. When she looked up at him, he smiled at her and said, “And where you running off to so fast, darlin’?”