I settle into the leather couch in the dimness of Cindy’s living room. Silas stares out the window. The way his face is partially cast in shadow makes him look so vulnerable. He got too close to losing his mother in a senseless attack.

Because of me.

“Cindy’s going to be okay,” I say to him.

“I know.”

I glance out the window and when I look up again, he’s passing through the living room entryway, going off to somewhere else in the sprawling, ranch-style house. Idly picking up one of Cindy’s magazines on the coffee table, I flip through it. Jordan’s resting in one of Cindy’s guest bedrooms now. This is the last place I want to be, now that Jordan’s finally back out from under Lorenzo’s thumb. I should be thousands of miles away, with my best friend at my side, where Lorenzo can’t find us. I should be pleading for Jordan’s forgiveness because I’m to blame. By virtue of our friendship, he was dragged into this nightmare. Which is why I need Silas to listen to reason. Putting Jordan’s life and safety in Lorenzo hands is a dangerous move. Silas can’t afford to take that chance, and I’ll do anything to make sure it doesn’t happen.

I wait a few minutes, mindlessly leafing through some more pages of a gossip rag. Now, I’m restless. Waiting around won’t help anyone, so I make a snap decision and head off to look for him.

“It was the right thing to do, Ma.”

The sound of Silas’s voice makes me stop short. I don’t mean to, but they’re talking openly, and I don’t feel like turning away. Cindy must be further away as I only hear bits and pieces of her side of the conversation.

“It won’t jeopardize the strong ties we have with our Texas charter.” Silas says in a more urgent tone. “I’ve looked at it from every angle. It’s for the best.”

“Do you know how long this alliance has been in the making? You want to drop Riley on a whim for some girl you barely know? Someone who put your family and the MC in the eye of a hurricane? I thought I did a better job raising you to take his place.”

Crap. They’re talking about me. I should probably walk away right now, but hell, if they wanted to have a private conversation they should have shut the damn door. Fuck it.

“You know full well it was Riley’s decision. And I agree. We can be allies without a piece of paper. We’re better as friends, and she knows I’ll have her back no matter what.”

“You’re old enough to know that friendships evolve. Things can change.”

“That happens to married people too. And don’t point fingers at Sabrina. This decision is between Riley and me. It has nothing to do with her. She’ll be back to her old life in a few hours.”

“Bullshit. Whether or not you can admit it to yourself, that woman has more to do with your choices in the past few days than you know, Silas. Open your damn eyes. If you can’t admit it to yourself or to her, admit it to me.”

Neither of them said a word for quite a while. It’s not the best time for me to breathe, let alone make a quiet exit.

“I’m not saying she’s the best match for you, but she’s also not the worst, for a mobster’s daughter.”

“Drop it, Ma. We’re not talking about this.”

“No, no. Y’all got me shot so that gives me the right to lecture you for as long as I damn want. She’s got solid connections of her own. Her mother was a fantastic lawyer, God rest her soul. And Sabrina’s well on her way to becoming one too. Her mother’s passing was hard on her… In any case, you never know. Once we make it through this, having a decent law firm on our side can’t hurt.”

Wow. As nice as it is to know that Cindy approves of me, her words fucking sting.

My hands ball up in fists. There it is again. Is that all I am to everyone? If I’m not a lawyer, a mobster’s daughter, or useful in some way, then I don’t have anything to offer.

Silas quickly changes the subject. While he busies himself getting her settled in for much-needed rest, I search for the kitchen. After finding a glass and downing three glasses of ice cold water, I head back to the front of the house and decide I can try to pretend I never overheard a word. But I have no more delusions. I’ll have my talk with Silas, convince him not to take Jordan to Lorenzo, and after we all meet with Dad, that’s the end of it.

I’m still mentally repeating my to-do list when Silas returns to the living room. He surveys the spread of half-read magazines with a skeptical gaze.

“I’ll clean this all up,” I tell him, hoping I can maintain the neutral expression of someone who was indulging in celebrity gossip as opposed to eavesdropping.

“Okay. We’re leaving in a minute.”

“Silas, I really don’t want you to take Jordan to this meeting with Lorenzo.”

“We’re back to that again?”

“No, listen to me. If you do that, you won’t just be putting Jordan in danger. You’ll put Lorenzo on the defensive, and he’ll say anything to look good to my father. By now, he must know the Los Diablos don’t have Jordan anymore. He could have already set up your MC as responsible for the kidnapping. The best thing you can do is return Jordan to his father. It’s a win-win. You’ll collect the cash reward, and Governor Bain will know you had nothing to do with holding his son all this time. The reward has been public knowledge for weeks.”

Silas raises his hand and stops me. “Hold on. Back up a second. That kid is Governor Bain’s son? Governor Bain as in the Governor Harvey Bain, as in the Governor of Nevada?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck. I heard about it in the news. Bain took a lot of heat from the media for offering such a big reward. I didn’t think anyone local had the balls to pull it off. I mean, I can see why someone would try, but Giovanni? The Governor is a bigshot billionaire. He’s got connections everywhere with all his family’s oil money. Trust your idiot fiancé to be fucking short-sighted.”

“You won’t get any disagreement from me. Can we take him home? He’ll confirm you had nothing to do with what happened, other than rescuing him. Especially if you keep him away from Lorenzo and possible re-capture.” I scramble in my pocket for my phone. “Do you have a charger? I’ll show you what I mean about the reward.”

“What is it? Tate can check it out later.”

“It’ll really help if I call his dad from this phone. I have his house number in my contact list. He’ll take the call…and no one else has to know. The reward is just like I said. All cash, confidential, and with no paper trail. It’s half a million dollars, Silas. Money that rightfully should go to you for freeing him.”

“I didn’t break him out of that shithole for profit.”

There’s the badass biker hero with a heart that I met on the elevator. I’m moved almost to tears, and am grateful that his phone starts buzzing, stopping me from saying anything I’ll regret. Silas drags the phone from his pocket and checks the screen.

“Son of a bitch.”

“What is it?”

“You’re right about your fiancé. He just sent me a text.”

“Why? What did he say?”

“The meeting tonight is off. He now wants both of you turned over at the sit-down with Rizzo.”

“That’s exactly what I was trying to tell you! He’s covering himself. I’d bet money that he’ll accuse you of taking us both.”

“That fucking weasel.”

“Listen to me, Silas. Let me charge my phone. I’ll call my dad and Governor Bain. Tonight. We need to clear this up fast.”

“Fine. I’ll put Tate on it once we’re back to the clubhouse.”