Fists and knees in the afternoon breeze, Dare and Maverick rode the circuit of guards they’d put into place. Dare’s thoughts raced as he and Mav checked on positioning, brainstormed contingency plans, and made sure their guys were ready for anything.
They were.
Still, dark anticipation hung over Thursday like a motherfucker, and the only thing that got Dare through was the five hours of peace he’d found in Haven’s arms. Her soft, affectionate touch had given his tired body solace. The tightness with which she’d held him had quieted his mind like nothing else. The trust she’d placed in him after he’d messed up so badly humbled him and just leveled him to the ground.
But when he’d woken up, he’d still had only one thought in mind—he couldn’t keep her.
He couldn’t subject her to a constant run of danger and conflict. The Ravens’ protective mission made enemies out of the abusers they guarded their clients against. The longtime tensions with gangs in Baltimore over lucrative sports-betting territory clearly hadn’t died with the Churchmen, and being involved in betting meant being involved in debt collection, too. And that could be a dirty fucking business. Sporadic scuffles with other MCs wanting to build their reps or expand their territory cropped up here and there. And even their trucking escort business occasionally earned them enemies out of those who coveted—or tried to steal—the cargoes they protected.
That was his life. He’d chosen to live with those risks. She hadn’t. More important, she’d lived with danger and risk enough these past eight years. That was really all he needed to know.
Despite the fact that she gave him things no other person ever had. And made him feel things he didn’t think he’d had in him. His head might’ve been settled on the right path forward for her, but his heart felt like it was caught in the middle of something he didn’t understand. Frankly, maybe it was better if it stayed that way.
Coward.
Maybe.
But the last time he’d loved someone—unabashedly, unreservedly loved someone—he’d lost them. More than that, it’d been his fault. And every time he’d gotten too close to untangling the bullshit in his heart these past days, the pain of that loss jolted through him in reminder. So it was better this way. Better to ensure she was safe than chance her life so he might know love. If fighting the fall made him a fucking coward, so be it.
He’d left her still sleeping, a kiss on her hair his silent good-bye.
Dare heaved a deep breath as he and Maverick sped along a country road heading back toward the compound. The warm breeze rushed over his skin, but the ride didn’t bring him the solace it normally did.
Thankfully, the day had been too damn busy to let him sit and spin on things that shouldn’t matter, like whether he should’ve left a note to say good-bye, like whether she’d found the same comfort in him that he had in her, like whether she was wishing she could stay.
Sonofabitch.
He had more immediate things to think about anyway. Dare couldn’t stop running through the events of the day in his mind, looking for things he’d forgotten, searching for other things he could yet do. This morning, Church had gone smooth as glass despite the buzz of adrenaline in the air. Everyone was on the same page where handling the Randall threat was concerned. Everyone was ready to do what they had to do—including to the Iron Cross, when that day came.
Jagger delivered the good news that the sheriff’s office was on board, which was a relief given that the Ravens walked a very fine line in their relationship with them—sometimes helping them out under the table with things the law couldn’t, and asking for a little looking the other way in return where the Ravens’ business practices were concerned. And, after apparently applying some pressure where it counted, Caine had delivered the even better news that the paperwork would be ready before race time on Friday evening—later than they wanted, but still in time to put Dare’s plan into place.
Just as they rolled back into the compound, Dare’s cell rang. He parked and killed the engine. “Yeah?”
“Dare. Nick Rixey here.”
“Nick, how’s it hanging?” Dare said, swinging his tired ass off his bike. He’d e-mailed the details of the new situation to the Hard Ink guys the night before.
“Better for me than for you, my man. Which is why I was calling. We wondered if you’d like us to come over tonight. Just to help strategize and put more men on the ground leading into tomorrow.”
“Shit, yeah,” Dare said, absolutely eager for anything that contributed to his people’s safety. And with their skills and their willingness to do what needed to be done, the Hard Ink team was fucking gold where that was concerned. “I appreciate the hell out of the offer.”
Maverick dismounted his bike and gave Dare a questioning look. Dare held up a hand, asking him to hang on.
“It’s the least we could do. Just a heads-up—it’s just the five of us from the team coming. We’ll reschedule the social visit for another time,” Nick said.
Dare nodded. He’d have made the same call. “Makes sense. We’ll have eats when you get here.”
“Sounds good,” Nick said. “We’ll shoot for six if the traffic’s not too bad.”
“That’ll work. Ride safe,” Dare said. They hung up.
“What was that about?” Maverick asked. The guy looked about as tired as Dare felt. Dare knew the deep lines on Maverick’s face were worry for the club, but also worry for Alexa, too. Alexa, who Mav couldn’t watch over the way he wanted, with all this chaos whirling around them. And didn’t that hammer home Dare’s own thoughts about Haven.
“Nick and his team are coming tonight,” Dare said.
“Damn if it isn’t nice to have a little good news.” Maverick started up the steps into the clubhouse.
Dare followed, intent on throwing his boots up on his desk and catching a little shut-eye while he could. “Yes it is, brother. Yes, it is.”
Two hours later, Nick was good to his word. The Hard Ink team rolled into the compound a little after six, and their arrival bolstered the spirits of the group rotating in for food at that moment—because you were always stronger fighting with someone at your back than going it alone. Which was the point of their MC in the first place, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t good to have friends on the outside, too.
Dare met the group of men as they got out of their cars and unloaded bags of gear. “Nick, good to see you,” Dare said, hand extended.
Nick tugged off his dark sunglasses as they shook. “You, too. Been a while since I’ve been out.”
“We’ll do it up right another time,” Dare said, moving on to shake the other guys’ hands—Shane, Easy, Marz, and Beckett each offered words of support. Maverick and Phoenix made the rounds of greetings right behind him.
“What was this place?” Shane asked, looking up at the clubhouse.
“The Green Valley Inn and Resort, built when the racetrack first went up,” Dare said. “My grandfather inherited it and kept the land after the business folded. Made the perfect home for the club as it started to grow.” He led them across the lot. “Come on in.”
Inside, Dare led them from the front lounge into the mess hall, where a dozen Ravens sat around the table eating dinner on the fly before heading out to relieve others on guard duty. Having worked together for several long weeks in Baltimore, introductions weren’t needed, but a hearty round of greetings went around the room as their friends settled in at the table.
“Dig in,” Dare said, taking his seat at the end.
“And here I thought we’ve been packing away a lot of food,” Marz said, piling meatballs onto a roll. “You always have this many people here?”
“This clubhouse is every member’s second home, so the door’s always open at mealtime. Usually busier on the weekends than weekdays,” Dare said.
Marz nodded. “I respect the hell out of that idea. Meals bring people together.”
“You just fucking like to eat,” Beckett said in a gruff voice, amusement clear in the crinkling around his eyes, even despite the scars he wore around one.
“You’ll never hear me deny that,” Marz said, grinning. No matter how much of a hard-ass Beckett had ever been, Dare had never seen Marz lose his cool with the guy. From what Dare understood, Beckett had saved Marz’s life in Afghanistan, though Dare had never heard the full story.
Just then, Haven came out of the kitchen, a serving dish in her hands. “Thought we might need more lasagna out here.” She leaned between Phoenix and Maverick to put it on the table, and Mav reached out to help her set it down.
“You are too good to us,” Maverick said, smiling up at her.
The shy smile she gave him in return was full of satisfaction. “No such thing.”
The words fucking slayed Dare. Just laid him out right there on the table. No such thing as treating his brothers too good.
“Haven?” Shane asked, looking over his shoulder.
“Hi, Shane,” she said, her cheeks going pink.
He rose and stepped out from his chair. “Your hair’s different,” he said, his Southern accent coming through just a bit.
Haven fingered at the brown waves and smiled. “Yeah. It’s good to see you.”
It looked like Shane was holding himself back from hugging her, and though Dare didn’t love the idea of the guy touching Haven—of any guy touching her—Shane was the one who’d found the women imprisoned in the basement of the Church Gang’s storage facility, so he had a special interest in them that Dare couldn’t fault. “You doing okay?”
“Thanks to you—well, all of you,” she said, her gaze scanning over Dare’s and Nick’s men both, “I am. Can I get you anything? Something to drink?”
“No, I’m okay,” Shane said. “Sara’s going to be really glad to know you’re doing good.”
“Tell her I said hello. And thank her for how kind she was to us that day.”
“You bet I will,” he said, sitting again.
Hands on the backs of Phoenix’s and Mav’s chairs, she asked, “Anyone need anything?”
“No. Stop taking care of us,” Phoenix said around a full mouth of lasagna. “You should come sit.”
“I ate already,” she said. “And I like taking care of you guys.”
More than one man looked up at her with affection on his face. Like she was part of the family. Their family. His family.
That’s when it really hit Dare—how comfortable she seemed with them. Or, at least, how much more comfortable. It was like he’d watched a butterfly come to life these past weeks—from cocooned chrysalis to learning to spread her wings to full-colored glory. And it fucking stole his breath.
She peered at him, a tentative smile playing around her lips. “You good?”
When I’m with you, hell yes. Not that he voiced that particular thought, especially as his mind spun on what that tentativeness was all about. “Yeah. Thanks.”
With a nod, she disappeared into the kitchen.
“So, can you catch us up on the plan?” Nick asked, pulling Dare out of his head. His e-mail from the night before had detailed the nature of the threat, because Nick’s people needed to know what these Iron Cross fuckers were all about, but Dare hadn’t laid out the plan, since they’d still been nailing down all the pieces.
Nodding, Dare passed his plate down for some lasagna. “In terms of security, we’ve got lookouts stationed around the property at all the access points and along the major ways in and out of Frederick. Thanks to Marz,” he said, giving the man a nod, “we have vehicle descriptions on all Randall’s men’s rides. We have the sheriff’s office on board with this, too.”
“You all work well with them?” Beckett asked, dark blue eyes maybe a little surprised. Sitting next to him, Easy’s dark eyes were curious as he listened in on the conversation, which was when Dare noticed the guy wasn’t really touching the little bit of food he’d put on his plate.
“Uh, most of the time, yeah,” Dare said. “Long history there. We’ll pull in some of those men and tighten the net around the property and track for Friday night, and we’ll also have the help of another MC from West Virginia. How many Brothers did Walker say are coming?”
Phoenix nodded and swallowed a bite. “He’s gonna try for a dozen.”
“How many people typically attend the races?” Easy asked in a deep, quiet voice.
“Capacity is two thousand, but average is usually twelve to fifteen hundred, depending on the type of event and which drivers are appearing. We never know the full number until race time, because we sell tickets at the box office, but advance purchases usually give us a decent idea. Tomorrow night looks to be a big crowd already.” Dare wiped his mouth with a napkin and dropped it next to his empty plate.
Easy nodded. “Plus drivers, pit crews, employees, and all of us. That’s a lot of bodies to police. We might want to divide the whole track area up into sectors and assign patrol teams.”
“Good thinking,” Nick said.
“I’ll pull a schematic of the venue for that after we’re done here,” Dare said.
“Sounds like we might want some monitoring of the parking lot that night,” Marz said. “Make sure no wheels get in that we don’t want in. You have security cameras out at the track?”
“Not on the lot,” Dare said. “But that’s a good idea.”
“I can get that up and running in the morning,” Marz said. “Stream it into a control room set up in an interior space near the lot?” Dare nodded, already appreciating everything these men brought to the table. “I can also see what traffic cams exist in the area and patch into the feeds of any we think might be useful. Might give us a longer heads-up if trouble’s en route.”
“That’s sweet,” Maverick said.
Marz grinned. “Love my toys.”
“What’s the plan for Haven and Cora?” Shane asked, nailing Dare with a gray-eyed stare.
“We were able to move up the production of their identity documents,” Dare said around a bite of lasagna. “Should have them Friday evening. We’ll send a detail of Ravens to relocate them as soon as we have those assets in hand. Once they’re clear, we call off the exchange with the Iron Cross. And prepare for whatever comes.”
Dare’s biggest regret in this plan was that there was no way he could be the one to see Haven to her new home. Not with so much going on here. Not with his people facing such a threat. And he felt the weight of the clock ticking down like an anvil on his shoulders. Less than twenty-four hours. Then Haven would be gone. For good.
As they talked, some of the Ravens finished up their meals and excused themselves from the table. Casual conversation broke out as some of his men said their good-byes, heading out to relieve others on guard duty.
When things quieted down, Nick braced his elbows on the table and asked, “So, how much do you trust that the Iron Cross hasn’t already double-crossed you?”
“Or isn’t yet going to,” Beckett added.
Dare shook his head. “I don’t trust them at all. That’s why we’re not entertaining the meet on Saturday. It’s pointless every way I look at it.”
“Agreed,” Nick said. His gaze scanned over his own men. “We’re gonna need to dig into these assholes, too.” Nods all around.
“Just let us be the ones who cross any lines that might need to be crossed over the next two days,” Dare said, meeting the gaze of each man from the Hard Ink team. He wanted their backup, but he didn’t need them to do his dirty work. “I don’t want that on any of you. You’re doing enough.”
“We’ll let that be plan A,” Nick said. “But you know as well as I do that plan A often gets fucked when it meets reality.”
Some laughs from around the table. “Ain’t that the truth,” Dare said. But he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that didn’t happen. Not this time. Not when so much that he loved was on the line.