After cleaning up my shoulder, stitching it up myself, and helping a few of the guys tend to their wounds, I sat with Buck in the back room.

“What the fuck was that?” I snarled, taking another sip from my mug.

He shook his head. “Fuck if I know. Sinners don’t wear bandanas.”

“We eliminated the threat, so who the fuck is left the try to retaliate—and after all this time?” I slammed my mug down on the table.

“There’s nothing we can do tonight. Everyone needs to get some sleep, and we will make calls in the morning. Go home and check on Cass. Tell the guys to bring their families to safe houses. We’re going into lockdown until we can figure out what the hell is going on.” Buck got up from his seat and started to walk out the door.

“Just when I thought things were a little too boring around here.” I hammered down the last of my drink and dug the Bronco keys out of my pocket.

Buck blocked the doorway. “Leave that truck here. We don’t know who the target is and you brought that damn thing on the run with you. Take mine.”

I didn’t protest; he was right. “Thanks.”

“Take care of your girl—she’s a special one.” He gave me a quick wink before I walked out to his truck.

I knocked on Teresa and Witt’s front door, and Cass opened it with tearstained cheeks. I hated making her cry, and I hated that she had just gone through such a terrible experience.

“Baby,” I whispered as I pulled her into my arms. “I am so sorry.”

She cried in my arms in the doorway while Witt and Teresa watched from inside. I waved to them. “Thank you.”

Witt put his hand in the air, waving me off dismissively. “We’re just glad you’re all okay.”

I followed Cass into their living room.

“Why don’t you go lie down for a bit? Come on.” Teresa pulled her best friend into the back bedroom as I sat with Witt on the couch.

He sneered at me and didn’t waste any time with chitchat. “What the fuck happened?”

I ran my hand over my face. “Fuck if I know, man. It’s never happened before. No one has ever had the balls to hit us like that.”

“You have to pick one or the other. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

Right as I was about to defend my lifestyle to Witt, Kathleen ran out of her room and jumped into my lap. “Uncle Ryan, I thought I heard your voice.”

I kissed the top of her head, pulling her into a better position. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? It is a school night.”

The little girl stroked my beard as her doe eyes looked up at me. “I had to come say goodnight to you when I heard your voice.”

Her tiny arms wrapped around my neck briefly before Witt scooped her up. “Come on, Kathleen. Uncle Ryan and I have a lot to talk about, and it is way past your bedtime.”

It only took Witt a minute to put his little girl back down. “Do you want that?” He pointed back to his daughter’s room.

I nodded. “Yeah, with Cass. I want to have a family pretty badly.”

“I shouldn’t be the one to tell you this, but Cass is pregnant. She found out today, so it’s now or never. You have to choose what life you actually want to have. Cass isn’t going to stick around through this shit—I won’t let her. Don’t get me wrong, Ryan, I really like you, and I know how much Cass loves you, but this shit just can’t fly. You’re a damn Marine. You know how to be a better man than to let your woman be caught in crossfire.”

“She’s pregnant?” I started muttering the question over and over as the words sank deeper and deeper into my mind. A switch flipped—I was out. I was going to be the man Cass deserved. She needed a man she didn’t have to worry about having home at the end of the day. She was not going to have to worry about there being a time she’d be a young widow. She was never going to have to live another day without me.

I stood, marched into the bedroom, and grabbed Cassidy. I held her in my arms as I sank to the floor with her sitting in my lap. I kissed her hands, her cheeks, and her forehead.

“Ryan?” she muttered while sniffling.

“Don’t be mad, but I know about the baby.”

She pulled back quickly, her eyes wide. “I wanted to tell you myself.”

“I don’t care how I found out. We’re going to have a baby. I’m leaving the club. First thing in the morning, I’m turning in my patches.”

Her arms flew around my neck. “Oh, Ryan! Thank you.”

“Please, marry me. You know you’ve completely infiltrated my heart, and I want nothing else in this life other than you. I missed out on ten years with you, and I don’t want to waste another second. Let’s start a new life together and raise our baby. Let’s be happy and be a boring married couple—no military, no outlaws, no guns, no worry.”

“Ryan, I will absolutely marry you. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Cass. I always will.”