“How the hell did it happen?” Shelby’s father boomed throughout the kitchen.

He was so loud and angry it even made her jump, and she was more than used to seeing him like this.

“We don’t know,” Hammer said sternly. “But we were out of there within minutes. Your daughter was never in any danger.”

“Dogs ripping men to pieces, gun shots, my art collection trashed. It sounds like things got pretty wild over there to me!” He slammed his fist down on the table and all the empty cans and glasses jumped and scattered.

“Dad, it was the middle of the night,” Shelby spoke up. “It was all a blur. Hammer did everything he could to get me out of there as quickly as possible.”

“Yes,” her father snorted. “And he brought you here, to a goddam bikers club house. Jesus, I could smell the whores the moment I opened the door!”

Shelby crunched up her face and winced, and Hammer stood tall and cricked his neck.

“This place is safer than your own home. She should have been here all along,” Hammer said angrily and Shelby looked at him with wide eyes and a rush of gratitude.

She had never heard anyone talk back to her father before and it was making her heart race. Hammer really was brave and strong, and he didn’t give a fuck. He was true to himself and he wasn’t going to be spoken to like that. He would stand up for himself and for Shelby. She felt her heart swell.

Her father bit his tongue and rubbed his head. Outside, she could see a selection of his blacked-out cars and his goons waiting beside them.

“She’s not going back to the estate,” Hammer said. “I know you employed me, but to do my job properly, you’re going to have to listen to what I have to say. She isn’t safe there. They knew she was in the house and they were looking for her. They were going to bait you with her and do god knows what else.”

Shelby felt the tears welling again.

She really was fucked.

She had a gangster for a father, an outlaw biker as her bodyguard, and now, she had the Russian mob after her to use as bloody revenge.

She got to her feet and went to walk toward the door and Hammer instinctively went after her.

“Don’t,” she said as she held back the tears. “I just want to be alone…”

He hung back reluctantly and she marched out of the kitchen and back up the stairs and went straight back into Hammer’s room and slammed the door.

Being in the quiet and the dark didn’t last long; below, she could hear them slamming things around and shouting. Hammer was insisting he knew where she would be safest, and her father was saying he wanted her back home on the Petrov Estate.

The truth was, if Shelby could have chosen herself, she would have stayed with Hammer in Slate Springs. Since she had gone back to the house something hadn’t felt right and now that she had experienced someone breaking in and ransacking the place, she knew she would never feel safe there again.

The Forsaken Riders club house was old and grimy, but she was surrounded by outlaws and she had Hammer to protect her. She could lock herself away in his room for a few days until things blew over. Surely, if the Russians were going to do any immediate retaliation, it would be within the next twenty-four hours and they would do it in Iron Hill, not Slate Springs.

Shelby composed herself and quietly left the room and walked back down the stairs. There were men milling around that she didn’t know; other big, muscular men covered in tattoos and the same kind of skull rings Hammer had been wearing. They eyed her suspiciously but they let her through and into the kitchen.

Hammer looked up at her with relief and gave her a secret, affectionate smile.

“I’m not going back to that house, dad,” she said. “Surely, you must be able to see that these people wouldn’t look for me here? They’d think I was somewhere in Iron Hill, with an Iron Rider, if anything. Not hidden over here in Slate Springs at The Forsaken Riders club house, I mean, come on! You guys have all been at each other’s throats for years and years.”

Her dad raised his eyebrows at both his daughter’s knowledge of the situation and for her clever deductions.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Ever since we lost your mother I have vowed to do everything in my power to keep you safe,” he said before he paused for breath. “But maybe, this time, I was wrong.”

Shelby looked at him with hope in her eyes. She was terrified and all she knew was that wouldn’t feel safe unless Hammer was with her. He had saved her so many times already, without even realizing, and she knew if she needed him to, he would certainly save her again.

“If you stay here,” he said as he raised a finger and pointed at Hammer. “He never leaves your side. Do you hear me?”

Shelby nodded and she looked up at Hammer who looked stern and had his massive arms crossed over his chest.

“You have my word,” Hammer said with a nod.

“And there will be extra men here,” Shelby’s father continued. “In disguise as your own. For my own peace of mind.”

Hammer looked to the other bikers in the room who didn’t seem thrilled with the idea, but she could already tell they were going to agree.

“You’ve been a great ally to us, Petrov,” one of them spoke up from the back. “You have our dedication to keeping your daughter safe, you don’t have to fear about that.”

“Whatever you need,” Hammer reiterated. “The extra men, a different safe house. We can provide anything.”

“She’ll be safest here,” another Forsaken Rider stepped forward. “They won’t come looking here, of that, I know for sure.”

Shelby’s father nodded in agreement and sighed before he rose to his feet. He crossed the room and held out his arms and pulled Shelby into a hug.

“I’m sorry, Shelby,” he said. “This is all my fault. Everything has always been my fault.”

She couldn’t tell him it wasn’t, so instead, she stayed silent.

“I’ll be safe here, I know it,” she told him. “Hammer has been incredible, you really have no idea.”

The way she said the words were almost too full of adoration and her father looked over her shoulder and shot Hammer a cold and warning-filled look.

“I’ll be leaving town,” her father said. “I’m going back to Iron Hill to see the state of things and then I’ll be laying low until I figure out what their next move is going to be.”

Shelby nodded.

“I’ll be in touch as soon as I can,” he said.

Shelby reached out for him and gave him another hug. She didn’t want him to leave but she knew he had to go, they were more at risk together than they were if they were apart, and her dad would be fine back at the estate or in one of his own safe houses. They didn’t want to harm him, they wanted to get him on their side. They wanted to convince him or trap him into working alongside them, and so far, he was outmaneuvering them expertly in every way.

“Goodbye, dad,” Shelby said as he left the room and went toward the front door of the rickety old house.

“Look after her,” he said as he glared back at Hammer. “If anything happens to her again, I’ll have your head.”

The bikers surged forward and Shelby gasped as Hammer pulled her back and out of the crowd. 

“All right,” her dad raised his hands. “No need to all surge.”

Hammer smirked. For all of Mr. Petrov’s bravado, he still knew when he had gone too far.

They waited and watched as he climbed into his long, gleaming, blacked out car and was driven away into the desert. Shelby looked up at Hammer and realized his arm was still wrapped tightly around her, even though she wasn’t in any danger. But she liked the way it felt. It felt right, as if she always should have been there.

When he realized and pulled it away, she felt a sag of disappointment but she brushed it off and pretended like she hadn’t even noticed.

“Come on then,” he said to her as he motioned toward the stairs. “We better get you some kind of setup going on.”

Shelby smiled and nodded, following behind him. As they climbed the stairs and went back up toward his bedroom, she could hear the hushed conversations of the other Forsaken Riders, all of them speculating as to what was happening or what was going to happen next.

They can feel it too, Shelby thought with a wry little smile. They can see it between us and they’ll be scared to death, just like we are.

Hammer pushed opened the door and stood back and waited for her to follow him in. As she passed him, she felt a rush of want but she closed her eyes and willed it away.

Being trapped in this room with him is going to be torture, she thought. So wrong, but oh so right…