I was beginning to regret the dress I was wearing. It was beautiful but too short and tight to be comfortable in. Only the leather jacket that Drew had bought me as a replacement settled me, so did the Sig Sauer tucked in the shoulder holster that the leather was hiding. Being able to escape to the big cooler we were keeping in the office was a blessing, especially now that Jacob had decided to join us.

If I hadn’t been worrying before, I was now. I remembered that look in his eyes… slightly wild and manic as they twitched around the room trying to take everything in at once. I’d left Drew to handle him because I knew he would have started even more trouble with me there, and I would have split Drew’s attention. If he beat the shit out of him, who was I to get in the way?

I grabbed two beers from the cooler with one hand and tried desperately to make the dress longer with the other—a useless endeavor, which meant it was time to head back out there and avoid Jacob like the plague that he was.

I slipped through the swinging doors and winked at Janette as I almost walked straight into Tate and Rubin, who were standing shoulder to shoulder with cheesy grins.

“What are you two up to?”

Tate shrugged, but the smile stayed in place, while Rubin shifted from one foot to the other in what, I could only assume, was excitement.

“Come on,” I cried, my free hand on my hips.

“Oh, shut up.” Tate rolled his eyes, nudged Rubin with his elbow and nodded at me again.

“Right.” Rubin flushed as he held out a package that looked like it had been wrapped in pages from his algebra book. From Tate’s snort, that’s exactly what it was. “Tate and I wanted to get you something for your engagement. He couldn’t get away, so I was tasked with picking it out. I don’t know much about this kinda thing so—”

“Shut up, dude,” Tate groaned, grabbing my hand and swapping the box from Rubin’s palm to mine. “From us. To you.”

I placed the beers I was holding on the counter next to me and looked from one boy to the other before trying to find the end of the tape that had been dragged around it several times. It took me a while, but I got there eventually and discovered a small box under all the wrapping.

The box had the Harley Davidson logo on the top, which only made my smile brighter.

“Would you stop smiling so goofily at the box and open it,” Tate cried impatiently.

I rolled my eyes but did as I was told, pulling off the top to reveal a Harley Davidson emblem cut into two, each half with a keyring loop attached. It was something so small, but I was ridiculously touched.

“Awe, guys, you’re going to make me all emotional.”

“No crying.” Tate wrapped his arms around me briefly, and the gesture was mirrored by Rubin before they took off to the booth where Sloane and Libby were sitting, leaving me to push the box into my pocket.

I stood watching them with affection for a moment too long. Before I had a chance to scoop up the beers I’d grabbed, Jacob had appeared and pulled one from the counter for himself.

“You avoiding me, Ayda?”

“Every chance I get,” I snapped back coldly.

He looked down me in one motion that made my stomach churn, and the feeling only got worse as he dragged his eyes all the way back up. I was only able to school my face in an emotionless mask seconds before his glassy eyes met mine again. “You’re going to miss me one day.”

I laughed and shook my head as I plucked the other beer from the counter. I could see Drew glancing in and sweeping the room for me, and I wasn’t going to kick shit off because this asshole didn’t know when to shut up. As I brushed past Jacob, my shoulder hitting his, I replied, “How about you do us all a favor and hold your breath until that happens, yeah?”

Jacob started laughing maniacally, and spun with the nudge to his shoulder, before taking a long pull from the beer he’d stolen. “Always did like that mouth of yours.”

I didn’t bother turning around. I flew the bird over my shoulder and grinned at Harry who was watching me with concern. I made my way over to Drew so I could hand him the only beer I was holding, before pressing my lips to his to calm myself down.

“We were given our first present.” I ignored the fact that I’d bumped into Jacob for now. Some things were just more important.

Drew’s eyes were on Jacob only briefly before he let them drop to me and frowned. “Present?”

I dug into my pocket and pulled the box out, spinning it between my fingers as I waited for him to pluck it from my grip. “An engagement present from Tate and Rubin.”

Tucking the bottle under his arm, he reached for the box and raised a brow. “Who the fuck is Rubin?”

“Tate’s best friend? They play football together. He’s been to The Hut a couple of times.” I tipped my head in the direction of the booth they were using. “I think you called him Roland last time he was there.”

Drew took a glance in Rubin’s direction and faked recognition, but I could tell he didn’t have a clue who the hell Rubin was. Remembering names had never been his strong point—not unless you mattered to him. Then he never forgot a single thing about you.

He opened the box and stared down at the two halves of the Harley Davidson logo, turning his smile down and nodding in approval.

“Kinda sweet. What’s Tate wanting?”

I slapped his arm playfully and shook my head. “He doesn’t want anything. At least, I don’t think he does.” I looked over my shoulder and earned myself a smile from my kid brother before he engrossed himself in conversation with Sloane again. “I actually think he’s just happy. He idolizes you, and now you’re his brother in more than one sense of the word.”

I looked back at Drew again but closed my eyes to draw in a steadying breath as Jacob’s laughter drowned out the din of conversation. It was a burst of sound that dragged out the last syllable and grated on my nerves. From the look on his face, Drew heard it, too.

“I really hate him.”

“There’s only one reason he’s still breathing right now. We need him here,” Drew whispered.

“I know,” I said quietly, resting my forehead on his shoulder. “He just grates on the nerves more than I thought he would.”

Drew wrapped his free arm around me, pulling me closer to his body. “How has Sloane been around him? Or any of the guys? Any signs of her being nervous? I know Tate is keeping guard, but the first sign of her being distressed and I want her out of here.”

I looked over his shoulder as I pressed myself against him. Sloane was between Tate and Libby, her eyes following the conversation between Tate and Rubin as one of their tandem stories of growing up together was told. She wasn’t as relaxed as Libby, but she was smiling and laughing naturally, her eyes not straying from the group.

“So far, she seems fine, but she hasn’t left their little group. Even when Rubin and Tate gave me the gift, she was sitting with Libby. Tate promised that the first sign of distress, he will take her home.”

“I hate that we’ve had to put her in this position in the first place, but sometimes you’ve got to put the cheese on display to weed out the rat.”

“You’re right, and even though she won’t tell us who he is, I’m pretty sure she wants us to know. Poor kid. She’s trying so hard to deal with it all, but she’s jumpy.” I leaned back and looked up at him, smiling a little. “You’ve made it easier on her. You all have. She feels safe at The Hut, and that’s been her saving grace. I even think her and Libby could become friends.”

“Good.” He nodded once and took a slow, controlled sip of his drink. I could see his eyes kept flickering in Jacob’s direction. It was hard to miss, but I had a feeling he didn’t want me to know he was bothering him so much. “I should go check on the guys outside, see if they’ve seen anyone that doesn’t belong in Babylon. Can I trust you not to kill your ex while I’m gone?”

“I can’t make any promises.” I sighed dramatically offering him a small wink. “How about I send the band on stage and get the party started? And don’t forget, future husband, you owe me a dance.”

“A dance?” he asked, eyes wide with genuine fear for the first time all night. Which, considering who we were hoping would turn up, said everything.

My smile grew as I patted his chest with my palms then backed away deeper into the diner. “A. Dance. Or swaying works just as well.”

Before he could respond, I disappeared into the crowd to look for the band that we’d hired to play. They weren’t hard to find. Most of them looked like younger versions of the guys from ZZ Top. Long hair, long beards, and a style that could have had them blending in with the MC.

It only took them ten minutes to get everything where it needed to be, the first song filling the space and drowning out the conversations. A small crowd began to gather around the stage almost immediately, and Deeks surprised me when he grabbed my hand and spun me out onto the black and white checkered tile we’d cleared as a dance floor. Pulling me close, he kissed my cheek before pushing me out again, teasing a nervous laugh from me as he worked us between the other gathering dancers.

“Where did you learn to dance?” I asked after a dip.

“Autumn. She told me it was a deal breaker, and I was already attached by then.” He pulled me close to him and led me in what was a four-count, from what I could gather.

“She has you wrapped around those delicate fingers of hers.”

“She sure does,” he agreed without shame. “Just like you got Drew around yours.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that.”

Deeks chuckled. “He already knows it, kid. He just ain’t telling you.”

“You bikers and your reverse psychology.”

The guffaw that came from him was cut short, and every person in the diner seemed to drop into a crouch in perfect unison as an almighty explosion of sound rent the air just beyond the open doors.