“So you had an interesting night,” Jax said as he tipped his chair on its rear legs at Ryder’s back patio table. He was running his thumb along his jaw, and what I first mistook for amusement was actually irritation.

Which was the general mood of all the men sitting around me.

I sighed. “Yeah. Interesting is one word.”

Jax snorted.

Ryder was sitting at the head of the table as per every meeting we’d ever had, and his expression was unreadable. If he was pissed, he was playing it close to the belt. He also didn’t have all the information yet. So far all I’d told them about was the fight with The Hand and how he’d gotten away. I also told them about Evelyn hitting him in the head with a fire extinguisher, which brought a wave of snarky comments.

“She put up a better fight than you did, man.”

“Maybe you should have let her handle things for you, and The Hand wouldn’t have gotten away.”

“What’s her number? We should see if she’s free to help us catch the bastard.”

“Sounds like my kind of woman.”

“Noses down,” I growled.

Sabian arched an eyebrow. “Did we hit a nerve?”

I rolled my shoulders to shake off the annoyance settling in my muscles. “No. Just leave it alone. We have more important things to talk about than just a girl.”

“Is she just a girl, though?” Sabian asked with a cocky grin.

The others chuckled until Ryder leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “I agree with Derek. Enough chitchat about this woman. Dani went in to interview her at The Stokes. She seems trustworthy enough. Minus the fact that she lied about how the night ended.”

I didn’t say anything.

But Sabian, ever the curious bastard, said, “Oh?” It was innocent enough, but it was all Ryder needed to continue.

“She said she and Derek parted ways after the fight and both went home separately. Which, I’m pretty sure, was a lie. Wasn’t it, Derek?”

“Perhaps.”

“You sly dog,” Jax said.

“Fuck off,” I growled.

But then even Ryder got in on it. “Did you go back to your place or hers?”

I glared at all of them from beneath my eyebrows as they gave me sheepish looks. “Hers.”

Sabian rocked back like he’d been punched in the chest. “You went to another woman’s house for the night? That’s a fucking first. What happened to the whole ‘I like to have the control, and you can’t have that unless you’re in your domain’ shit?”

“I wanted her to feel safe.”

“Uh-huh,” Sabian snickered. “And just how did you make her feel safe? Did you bend her over to help her forget?”

“Enough,” I said. This time I wasn’t fucking around. I was done with this. “You’ve all had your laughs. Leave it.”

Sabian shrugged, and his smile was gone. He leaned forward to rest all four legs of his chair back on the ground. “Fine.”

I looked to Ryder. “I haven’t told you everything yet.”

Ryder’s eyebrows lifted. “Don’t keep me waiting. Let’s hear it.”

“Jason was there before I showed up. When Evelyn called, she said he was there with The Hand. He seemed agitated. At least, that’s what she said. He grew uncomfortable when The Hand hit on her, and he got up and left. When I was alone with the bald bastard later, I asked about Jason.”

Ryder was watching me closely. He was hanging on every word. I didn’t want to tell him the rest of it, but he needed to know.

“He’s working for him, Ryder. There’s no doubt about it now. I’m sure The Hand has something on him, but I offered to get him out of it when he shot me in the parking lot. That was his chance, and he didn’t take it. That scares the hell out of me.”

Ryder ran his hand down his face and then rested his forehead in his hand. He didn’t say anything.

Jax piped up. “Why does that scare the hell out of you?”

I glanced from Ryder to Jax. “That was the best chance Jason was going to have to get away from The Hand. I gave him a handout. A peace offering. All he had to do was get in my truck with me, and I’d take him back here. I gave him my word we would protect him. Instead, he shot me and took off running.”

“So …?” Axel said slowly from the other end of the table.

“So,” Ryder growled, “Jason is more afraid of The Hand than he is of us. He doesn’t believe we could keep him safe from the bastard. He thinks we’ll lose. I know the boy. He’s a damn coward. He’ll choose whatever side he knows is going to win. And it’s not us.”

Silence settled around us. It was heavy and thick, and not a single one of the Lost Breeds at the table dared to break it.

Ryder slammed his fist down on the table. I hated myself for jumping. “Fuck!” he roared.

Axel grimaced and shifted in his seat. “Jason has always been a terrible judge of character, Ryder. And he’s young. This means nothing. He’s the one who chose wrong. We can still get him out of this.”

I intervened before Ryder blew his lid. “I want to take the lead on tracking him down again. I can apply more heat to my old boss. He’s a weasel. He’ll break if I use the right force.”

“I’ll help,” Caleb offered.

I glanced up at him. “I’d rather do this solo.”

“Why?” Caleb asked, his eyebrows drawing together.

I looked around the table at my brothers. “Because you all have someone depending on you to come home at the end of the day. I don’t and I can’t fucking speak for Caleb. If anyone’s going to—”

“No,” Ryder said. His voice cut through my words like acid. “Nobody is going to die. I’m done losing people. You hear me? I’m done. You can track him down, but you do not move on your own. Not again. It didn’t work last time, and it won’t work if you try again. You find him, and you call me. Got it?”

I nodded.

“Good. The same goes for the rest of you. Derek got lucky last night. Lucky that the cops showed up. Lucky that the girl had the balls to step in and keep The Hand from killing him when he had the chance. She’s lucky too. She had no idea who she was pissing off. Derek, don’t let her near this shit again. She’s an innocent in all of this.”

I nodded again. “I know.”

“And the rest of you,” Ryder said, “tell your women what you’re involved in. If anything happens, they can’t be caught unprepared. You should all have plans in place of what to do if shit should take a wrong turn.”

“Ryder, is this necessary?” Axel asked. “This fucker isn’t going to take us down. We’re the fucking Lost Breed.”

Ryder looked down the length of the table to meet Axel’s eye. “This man has surprised me more than once. I’m not getting caught again. And you’ll do as I say. Tell Ellie what we’re walking into. If it scares her, good. She should be scared.”

Axel didn’t seem to like that answer very much, but he didn’t say anything. It was an order. We all knew that truth. I was thankful for the first time in a long time that I didn’t have a woman like they did. Caleb was single too, but this one was on me. I wanted it to be.

Then, my mind was assaulted with a flash of Evelyn’s smile, followed by flickering images of her naked body. The way she’d arched her back while I licked her pussy had driven me over the edge with need. She was a masterpiece, and try as I might to think of her as just a girl, I couldn’t. She was my girl.

So I did have things to lose like they did for the first time in a long time.

Fuck me.

Ryder got to his feet and told us to get the fuck out. Everyone cleared out pretty quickly. Caleb paused to tell me to keep him posted on how things went after I harassed Warren again. I assured him I would.

I was the last one at the door after everyone left. I nodded at Ryder, who was leaning one shoulder against the wall with his arms crossed. I wasn’t sure if he realized it, but he was scowling at the ground like it had offended him. He was more pissed than I thought. “Is Dani having any luck finding more information on this asshole?” I asked.

We’d been after The Hand for too long not to know his damn name. He’d been arrested, and he had a criminal record, but everything was sealed. Dani had been pushing to get access to it so we could at least know his name. I, for one, was sick of referring to him as “The Hand.” It made him seem like he was more than just a man.

“She’s trying. She’s been feeling under the weather since you were here for breakfast the other day. I’m starting to get worried about her.”

I blinked. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Ryder ran his hand over his head. “We have enough shit to worry about without me unloading on you guys about my personal life. She keeps telling me she’s fine. But I can see it in her. She’s tired all the time. Something’s up.”

“Have you taken her to see a doctor?”

Ryder shook his head. “She’s stubborn as a mule. Like me. She really believes it’s nothing. A flu that just won’t leave her alone or something. She says I’m worrying over nothing.”

“Maybe you are.”

“Probably,” he said, forcing a thin smile. “Watching your woman suffer is worse than anything else, man.”

I wouldn’t know, I thought bitterly.

“You have your hands full already, Derek, but watch out for this Evelyn girl. She’s something special, throwing herself into a fight like that to protect you. It’s not something to overlook. And you need a woman like that in your life. Someone like my Dani.”

I opened his front door. Shit was getting too personal for me too quickly. This was new territory for Ryder and me. “Yeah. We’ll see.”

Ryder smirked. “Don’t be a pussy. You like her. So don’t fuck it up.”

“But the timing—”

“Is never good,” Ryder said simply.

“But it could be better.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. But if you wait, she could be gone. With this life of ours, there’s always going to be something. If it’s not The Hand, it will be somebody else who wants to take what’s ours. And we will forever fight to protect it. So, claim what’s yours and fight for it. It’s what we do.”

There was a flame that suddenly lit in my chest. I couldn’t explain it, but it felt really fucking good. It felt like hope.

I shook my head, wondering what the hell was happening to me, and stepped out through the open door. “Go check on Dani, man. And make her go to the fucking doctor. She’s one of us. Don’t give her a fucking choice.”

Ryder nodded and chuckled. “Get the fuck out of here.”

I grinned, and he closed the door on me. I marched out to my truck and got in. My blood was still dried to the leather seats. I would have to get it detailed. Maybe I could take it to the shop and see if they’d clean her up for me. Or I could just do it myself.

Something told me I should wait. The chances of getting more blood in my baby seemed higher than normal.