Gina DiSalvo would fucking wreck me if I wasn’t careful. She stood there with that sassy, smart mouth, curvy hips, and lips that begged to be kissed. She tried to play tough, but I knew better. This girl was as innocent as they came, even though her family name was anything but.

I’d done my homework. Gina was Daddy’s little girl through and through. She’d been sheltered, protected. Sure, she had a streak of her old man’s toughness running through her, but she had no idea what she was getting into.

My eyes went to her mouth. Her tongue darted out, wetting her bottom lip. I curled my fist at my side to fight back the urge to take her and kiss her. She was flat out daring me to the way she thrust her tits out and raked her eyes over me. I swear she must have seen the lust flash through me because her eyes widened and a flush came into her cheeks.

“I don’t think you’re ready for a ride with me, baby,” I said. Her breath came quick. She bit her lip and took a step back.

“You don’t know the first thing about me,” she said, jutting her chin out. A hot breeze picked up, blowing her hair in front of her face. On instinct, I reached out and smoothed it back. Gina put her hand up and closed it around my wrist. I ran my thumb across her cheekbone, loving the way it made her blush deepen.

“I know you’re tempting fate coming out here by yourself,” I said. “It’s not smart, Gina. Lake Meredith is a tiny town, but never assume there’s no danger.”

“I never assume anything, Zig. That’s not your real name. What is?”

I let out a sigh. The less I let this girl in, the better off we’d both be. She was a job, pure and simple. Still, I couldn’t help wanting to get to know her. It might help me in the end. If she could drop the sass and just accept that I was going to be around as long as the club or her family wanted me to be, the smoother this whole thing would go.

‘Wallace,” I said. “Zig Wallace.”

“Zig?” she said. “Come on. That’s a road name.”

“What do you know about road names?”

Gina’s laugh had a raspy edge to it that sent heat spearing through me. There was a smokiness to her voice that didn’t quite fit a girl her age.

“Bear,” she said. “That’s your club president, right? My father said there was a story there but that I was too young to hear it.”

“He was right.” It was Bear Bullock who’d forged the alliance we had with the DiSalvo family at least a decade ago. It had been lucrative to say the least. It had also brought heat on us we didn’t always need. I just hoped whatever crap that put Gina in the line of fire wasn’t the start of some other shit storm.

“So,” she said. “What’s Zig short for?”

I climbed back on my Harley and slid my shades on. “Zachary Taylor Wallace,” I answered.

“Ah. I should have guessed. Well, Zachary. It’s been fun. But I’ve got a run to finish. You going to let me do that?”

“I’m not here to stop you,” I answered.

“Right. But you’re not planning on letting me out of your sight.”

I started the bike. I saw gooseflesh cover Gina’s arms as the sound vibrated over her. Oh yeah. She’d be hell on wheels if I ever got her on the back of my bike.

“Not until you’re back to civilization, honey.”

She nodded her head and chewed the side of that sweet mouth of hers. “Right. Well, get ready, Zig. I can run pretty fast.”

The roar of my engine drowned out my laughter as Gina turned and started running back down the hill.

* * *

Later that evening, I met part of my crew at a truck stop just outside of Abilene. I questioned Bear’s decision to pull me off Gina for that long, but knew from experience he always had his reasons.

Kade, Chase, and Axle were handling a run to one of our gun suppliers just outside of town. I pulled into the truck stop just after sunset, parking beside their bikes. They were already inside and halfway through their plates of fried chicken as I walked in. My presence drew stares from some of the patrons sitting in booths along the wall. I gave a wave to the waitress behind the counter and she pointed me toward the back.

Axle gestured me over. I slid into the booth next to him across from Kade and Chase. Axle slapped me on the back and jerked his chin toward the waitress. She brought another heaping plate of food and set a draft beer in front of me. It was cold and good going down after a long day on the road.

“How’s life at college?” Kade asked, sliding the back of his hand over his mouth to cover his laugh. I shot him a middle finger then dug into a drumstick.

“You sensing any heat up there?” Axle asked. His fierce gaze was the kind of thing that scared regular people. The dude was big, dark, and menacing. As our club enforcer, he had to be.

“Not so far,” I answered. “Just a bunch of frat idiots and sorority chicks.”

“Did she make you?” Chase, our tail gunner, asked. He reached across the table to grab his own beer.

“In a hot second,” I said.

Axle sat back in the booth. “Good. That’s how Bear wants it.”

The idea was, if there was anyone keeping tabs on Gina other than me, they’d think twice about making a move if they knew the Saints were watching.

“Any idea how long I’m gonna be on babysitting detail?” I draped my arm over the back of the booth and downed my beer. I wished I had the luxury of having a few more, but I’d need to get back up to Lake Meredith by midnight.

“No fucking clue,” Axle answered. “As usual, Mrs. DiSalvo is being tight-lipped on exactly what kind of trouble she expects. She’s still holding out on Bear about how bad off Gino Sr. is.”

“Fuck me,” I said. “How the hell long does the dragon lady think she’s going to be able to keep that up? Nobody’s seen Gino Sr. out in public or talked to him in over six months.”

“Which is exactly why we’ve got to watch our backs,” Chase said. He wasn’t wrong. If there were any signs of weakness within the DiSalvo crew, the vultures would start to circle. They already had. A few months back, Gino Jr., the oldest son, had tried to cut a deal with the feds that would have exposed our membership to some heavy shit. Christine DiSalvo had stepped up and dealt with it herself. But she wasn’t going to be able to put out many more fires on her own before word got out she was pulling the strings. Like it or not, the DiSalvo crime family was patriarchal. If they knew Gino Sr.’s old lady was running the show, shit would get complicated.

“Any word on who might have tried to take out Gino Sr.?” I asked.

“Nobody’s talking,” Axle said. “Mrs. D took him out of the nursing home she had him in. Somebody tried to get to him there. Rumor I heard was somebody also took a shot at Georgio DiSalvo. Drive by.”

My back went up. If someone was bold enough to try picking off DiSalvos out in the open, Gina would make an easy target. I’d warned her about going for solo runs in the fucking wilderness. Maybe I needed to be a little more forceful. The thought of anyone trying to lay a hand on her made every protective instinct I had flare hot. I ground my teeth together hard enough that Axle heard it sitting next to me.

“You okay, man?” he asked.

I let out a hard breath and willed my pulse to slow. This was a job. That’s all it was. Making it personal was the quickest way to fuck things up.

“Nothing, man. I’m good. I’m just thinking I need to stick close to this girl until Bear gets a handle on who’s doing the shooting.”

“That’s exactly what he’s thinking,” Chase said. He made a circular motion with his index finger when the waitress walked by. She gave him a nod and her cheeks flushed. Chase had the effect on women. He was prettier than the rest of us with surfer-boy blond hair and big gray eyes. Only we knew how dangerous he really was.

“Great,” I said. “So while I get to babysit the sorority girl, what’re the rest of you assholes going to be up to?”

Kade’s face went dark. A look passed between him and Axle. “We’re not quite done in Abilene,” he said. “The Hawks made a play for some of our buyers out here.”

The Devils Hawks were our main club rival based out of Laredo. They’d been trying to muscle in on our territory for years. By the look on Axle’s face, he was worried shit was about to flare hot with them again.

“Great,” I said. “So we’ve got some jack nut hunting DiSalvos. We’ve got the Hawks trying to flip our best customers. Did you fuckers bring me any good news today?”

Chase sat back hard against his seat. He held a half-eaten wing between his fingers and twirled it in the air. “This is some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted,” he said, smiling.

I threw my napkin on the table and let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah. I guess that’s about it.”

Axle patted me on the back again. “Cheer up. Head back to Lake Meredith and enjoy the scenery. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments down south. This shit can’t last very long. Whoever’s trying to rattle the DiSalvo cage is already getting sloppy. Two sloppy hits in less than a month. Either they’re just trying to scare Christine or they’ve hired sub-par people. This’ll be over in days or weeks, not months. Bet me on it.”

I had to agree with him. It made me think whoever was behind the hit attempts wasn’t real serious about getting the job done. Still, Gina DiSalvo was too easy a mark. She probably had no clue what kind of shit her father was really into. She was young and thought she was indestructible. It made her dangerous.

“I hope you’re right,” I said. “I’m itching to get back on the road with you assholes. I don’t like staying in one place for too long.”

Kade threw a few twenties on the table and we all got up. The waitress batted her eyes at Chase as we walked by. He leaned over the counter and put something in her hand. Probably his digits. Something told me he’d look her up before he left Abilene. Lucky fucker. I was going to have to find a way to blow off similar steam and soon.

Axle stood beside me as I mounted my Harley. His expression turned grave and he looked over his shoulder to make sure Kade and Chase were out of earshot. It raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

“Zig, man,” he said. “I know I don’t have to tell you, but watch your back. You see even a hint of anything weird, get your ass back home. I got a funny feeling about this shit.”

“What do you mean?”

Axle shrugged. “I don’t know. Like we’ve been saying. Christine DiSalvo is one tough dragon lady, but that family is ripe for a power shift. I don’t trust Gino’s sons as far as I could throw any of them.”

Axle had a right to be cautious. Gino Jr. had tried to mess with Axle’s girl. It earned him a bullet through the shoulder from us, and exile or worse from his mama. Though we’d never seen a body, I was pretty sure she’d had her own crew carry out the hit on Junior rather than risk him turning rat to the feds. It made her a special kind of cold. Her little shit son was willing to sell out his own mother and us to save his neck. Good riddance to him. But there was no telling whether Junior’s brothers shared his lack of a backbone. We sure as shit couldn’t afford to find out the hard way.

“Got it,” I said. “For what it’s worth, I meant what I said. I think Gino Sr. and Christine have kept their little girl far away from the family business. I don’t think she has any idea her daddy’s been paying her college tuition with blood money.”

“Right.” Axle nodded. “Probably better to keep it that way for now. Just make sure she stays out of trouble.”

I reached across the bike and clasped hands with Axle. He pulled me in close and bumped his shoulder against mine. “Take care, brother. See you back at church.”

I gave him a grim nod and revved my engine.

The sky was clear and the roads mostly open. It was good. Gave me a chance to clear my head. Ever since Bear sent me on this job, I’d had an uneasy feeling brewing low in my gut. Things had been quiet around the clubhouse for far too long. For me, it always meant a ton of bricks was about to drop on my head.

But maybe I was just jumpy for nothing. I did better around the rest of the crew. Solo wasn’t my style. That was more Axle or even Chase. I was used to noise. Chaos. I’d grown up in that trailer with two younger sisters plus my mom. My father was six feet under by the time I was thirteen. I knew that’s exactly why Bear picked me for this particular job. Looking out for the women in my life was second nature to me. Something just didn’t feel right about this gig. It might just be Gina herself. She was trouble, and I found myself thinking about all the wicked things I wanted to do to her way too much. I could never act on any of it though. Thinking about it might cloud my judgment.

The ride went fast and I made the turn toward L.M.C.’s main campus just before eleven o’clock. Gina’s dorm, Peterson Hall, was right on the edge of campus. It made it easier to case the place from the road since I couldn’t ride my bike further in. Bear got the intel from her mother that she lived on the third floor in the east corner. I could see it from the street so I parked my bike and slid off my helmet.

The lights were on in her window, but I couldn’t see any movement up there from the street. I stayed in the shadow of a large cypress tree so I doubted she’d be able to see me from the road. On the other hand, I was learning not to underestimate Gina DiSalvo. Though she might not be the shark her old man was, she had a certain cunning all her own.

I should have found a place to crash for the night. But that nagging sense of doom crept up my back again. The air around me seemed to crackle with it so I knew I’d never get a wink of sleep.

Across the street, a young couple walked arm in arm beneath the street lamps. She was blonde, fresh-faced, wearing an L.M.C. t-shirt and jeans. Her boyfriend snaked his arm around her waist and leaned in for a kiss which she playfully batted away. Then his eyes were drawn to the shadows where I sat. His step slowed and I swear I could almost see the hair rise on the back of his neck as he took me in. He tightened his grip on his girl and squared his shoulders. A low laugh erupted from me. I was an apex predator. This kid was a mouse. Still, I could respect how he wanted to keep his girl safe. She could do worse. I gave him a slow nod as they passed and quickened their step to get away from me.

I waited about a half hour before that sneaking sense of doom gripped my heart. Eleven thirty and the light was still on up in Gina’s room but there was no flicker of movement. Unless she’d fallen asleep with the lights on, it was starting to look like she wasn’t there.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed E.Z.’s number. He answered on the first ring.

“What you got?” he asked.

“A question,” I said. “You wanna remind me the name of that sorority Gino’s kid belongs to?”

“Shit.” E.Z. sighed into the phone. “What the fuck have we come to, man?”

“Tell me about it.” I couldn’t hold back a laugh.

“Hang on a sec,” E.Z. said. “I’ve got it written down somewhere. Here it is. Gamma Zeta Gamma. Fucking hell.”

“Right. I sure hope Bear’s double billing for this bullshit job,” I said. No sooner had the words come out of my mouth before I heard breaking glass and shouts coming from the east end of campus. I’d done my recon a few days ago and knew that’s where I’d find the fraternity and sorority houses. My back went up. I’d been a fool. It was Friday night. Why the fuck had I assumed Gina DiSalvo would be alone in her room by eleven o’clock?

“Trouble, Zig?” E.Z. asked.

“No, man. It’s probably nothing. I just gotta go check something out, is all. Thanks. I’ll check in tomorrow.”

“Make sure you do. Bear’s antsier than usual lately. He doesn’t like loose ends and this shit with Gino Sr. is about as loose as they come.”

“I hear that,” I said as I slid off my bike. It would do me no good to come in engine blazing if I did find Gina down the street. I hung up with E.Z. and kept to the shadows, walking straight for the sound of chaos on the other side of campus.

As I got closer, my fingers twitched at the hip holster where I carried my Nine. A few groups of drunk college kids staggered by me. I got a couple of sideways glances. One kid had beer muscles big enough to damn near get in my face.

“You lost?” he asked, though his eyes went in and out of focus as he swayed on his feet before me. I could flatten him in a split second, but he wasn’t worth the trouble.

“Let’s go, Brock,” his wiser companion said.

“Good idea, Brock,” I said. “But answer one thing for me. Where’s the noise coming from?”

Brock’s friend, a bearded, pot-bellied kid, looked over his shoulder. “Omega Pi’s are throwing a bash. Tons of prime Gamma Zeta pussy if you’re looking. Those girls are wasted. Head for the three-story gray house on the corner.”

My blood raged and my vision clouded over. Brock and Potbelly staggered around me, laughing. Clenching my fists, I saw the gray house in the distance. More glass broke and screams filled the air. The crowd swelled to mob-level proportions and bodies began to stream out of the front door.

“What the fuck?” Brock said, turning toward the commotion as I did.

Potbelly shook his head. “I fucking told those guys to keep it low key.”

He said other things, but I couldn’t hear it. My vision clouded and I headed for the Omega Pi house at a dead run. My heart stopped cold. Gina was there, in the middle of the chaos. Screaming. Her dark hair flew around her as hands came at her from all directions and she disappeared into the crowd.