SEVENTEEN

I may not always agree with my brother, but he is always my brother.

SINNER’S TRIBE CREED

A family.

Yes, she’d always wanted a family like she’d had before the car crash, but when she imagined a family it was much like what she’d had at the zoo: her children playing in the sunshine, and a partner who made her laugh, someone who respected her need for independence, but was there when she needed him.

“You don’t know what a family is.”

A shadow crossed his face so quickly she wondered if she’d imagined it, but when he spoke, his voice was gentle, the same voice he’d used when he coaxed her off the streets with promises of a better life, the voice he used on the good days just before everything turned bad.

“I’ve got a gun in my cut, love. If I wanted to kill you I would’ve done it already. But I want you back. I miss you … and the girls. A president needs a family so the old boys think he’s stable and … settled. And … the money. It doesn’t all belong to me.”

As if she would ever believe him. The red wheal on her hand from his belt and years of hospital visits had taught her that the soft words were usually followed by a hard beating, and she hadn’t missed the hesitation before he mentioned the girls. He didn’t want them. Never had. And he was crazy if he thought she had any money.

“Slide your weapon across the floor to me. And your belt. When I’ve got them, I’ll call Wolf and he can send someone to pick you up.”

Jimmy’s smile didn’t reach his ears. “That’s my girl.”

A loud thud on the door startled them both. Jimmy froze and drew his weapon. Resting against the wall directly across from her in the living room, he was in clear sight of the door.

“Who the fuck is that?”

“Dawn!”

She recognized Cade’s voice and her lips quivered with a smile. “Maybe it’s the mailman.”

“It’s Cade. Open the door.”

“I knew it.” Jimmy’s harsh voice echoed in the tiny room. “You are fucking that Sinner. You betraying little bitch. That’s why you wouldn’t come back. You were spreading your legs like the whore you really are. Open the damn door. I’m gonna blow so many holes in him you won’t be able to find his dick.”

Dawn glanced around the room, assessing potential places to hide. The kitchen lay behind her, visible through the opening at the breakfast bar, but accessible only if she could make the ten feet to the door. The small hallway leading to the bathroom and the bedrooms was directly across from the front door and also in Jimmy’s line of fire. If Jimmy started shooting, her best bet for cover was the couch beside her.

Jimmy put a finger to his lips. His black eyes gleamed and she knew right away if she’d gone to help him he would have found a way to hurt her. Drawing in a ragged breath, she threw herself behind the couch and screamed. “Jimmy’s here. He’s down but armed and at nine o’clock from the door.”

Silence.

And then the door splintered and Jimmy fired.

*   *   *

“You can’t kill him.”

Plastered against the walls on either side of the front door, Gunner and Cade shared a glance.

“He just fired at us.” Cade kept his voice to a low murmur. “We have to defend ourselves. My old lady is a hostage inside. Of course we can kill him.”

“Jagger says no.” Gunner lowered his phone. “He gave his word to Wolf that we wouldn’t touch Mad Dog. He wants us to go in, rescue her, and get out before the cops show up.”

“Do you hear sirens?” Cade checked his magazine. “The cops aren’t coming. No one heard the shot. There’s no one on the street and I didn’t see any lights go on. Not even a dog barked.”

Gunner twisted his lips to the side. “How ’bout we do as Jagger said and try and get her out without killing him?”

“He’s a threat to my old lady. I have a right to defend her and Wolf’s not gonna be able to say dick about it. No one fucks with a biker’s old lady.” Cade peered around the corner and a bullet zinged past his head, embedding itself in the wall behind him.

“Fuck.” Gunner sighed. “Where is she?”

“She’s behind the couch in the middle of the room, directly across from him and slightly to the right of the door, maybe twenty feet away. There’s a small hallway between the living room and us. She’s got her gun.”

“I’ll distract him and you get her out.” Gunner took a step toward the entrance.

“You get her out and I’ll kill him.”

“Jesus, Cade.” Gunner exhaled an exasperated sigh. “He’s down and injured, and we’ve got a clear run to Dawn and out again. We won’t be able to spin this in a way that justifies taking him out. The Brethren election is only a week away. We’ll patch them over and then we’ll go after him together. We’ve come this far. Why risk it all now? If Wolf calls Jagger out for breaking his word, we’ll be done for.”

Sirens wailed in the distance. Maybe the neighbors were more vigilant than he thought. And although he wanted Mad Dog dead so badly he could taste it, Gunner had a good point. Could he put the club at risk over a matter of seven days? But how could he let Mad Dog live after what he’d done? Never had he been so conflicted about his duty to the club. Never had he questioned the creed.

Sensing his hesitation, Gunner checked the magazine in his semi-automatic and raised his weapon. “She’s your girl. I’ll cover. You rescue. And by the way, you’re gonna owe me big time if the twins ditch us tonight.”

“Get over it. You love shooting things.”

“This ain’t the weapon I was planning on shooting tonight, brother.”

Brother.

He couldn’t let his brothers down. I will follow the creed before I follow my heart.

Cade tensed, adrenaline pounding through his veins as he mentally prepared himself to go in, grab Dawn, and get out with succumbing to the almost overwhelming desire to get rid of Mad Dog for once and for all. “If your aim is a little off and you hit Mad Dog by mistake…”

“I don’t make mistakes.” Gunner stepped into the doorway and fired, his bullets thudding into the wall above Mad Dog’s head. Cade dived past him and landed behind the couch beside Dawn. Although pale, she appeared remarkably together given the circumstances.

“Rescue time. Stay low and head for the door.” He jumped up and fired a few random shots to keep Mad Dog occupied while Dawn crouched and ran. Mad Dog grunted and the gun fell from his grip.

“Fuck. I shot him.” Gunner slammed a hand on the doorframe.

“No, I shot him.” Cade half rose from behind the couch, his weapon still trained on Mad Dog.

“Are you fucking kidding?” Gunner raced across the room to kick the bastard’s gun away. “You didn’t have a clear shot.”

Cade knelt down beside Mad Dog and pressed two fingers to the pulse on his neck. “Damn. He’s still alive.”

“It’s our lucky day.” Gunner heaved a sigh. “We woulda started a war and been kicked out of the club.”

“Um … boys.” Dawn motioned them to the door, but Cade didn’t move.

“I would have been kicked out,” Cade said. “It was my bullet.”

“You can’t shoot for shit.” Gunner tugged at Mad Dog’s shirt to check the wound. “No way would I let you take the fall.”

Dawn raised her voice to a shout. “The police are almost here. I can see flashing lights. You have to go.”

“Fuck.” Gunner slapped the bullet-ridden wall. “He was wearing a vest. He’ll be bruised but not broken. Let’s go.”

“You can’t leave him here.” Dawn’s voice rose in pitch.

Cade frowned. “Why not? Break and enter, assault with a deadly weapon? Taking a hostage? Even our lawyer wouldn’t be able to get us off without some jail time.”

“We’ll do time together,” Mad Dog mumbled. “You bastards don’t get me outta here before the cops show, I’ll tell them I came to visit my wife to talk about our kids and Dawn stabbed me unprovoked. Then a buncha Sinners tried to off me. My bullets are near the door. Makes it look like I was defending myself. By the time the cops sort it out we’ll have spent months cooling our heels in jail.”

“I’m not your wife,” Dawn bit out. “We’re divorced.”

“And look what happened when you pulled that shit.” Mad Dog gave a bitter laugh. “Not that a civilian piece of paper means dick all. And that cut you’re wearing is a joke. You’re still my old lady until I’m dead or I let you go.”

“Your call, brother,” Gunner said.

Cade pointed his gun at Mad Dog’s head. “I wanna shoot the fucker dead.”

Dawn looked at Cade aghast. “We have to let him go. There’s not enough time to clean up and hide his body. I can’t go to jail, Cade. I can’t leave the girls with Shelly-Ann and no one to watch out for them.”

“Can you walk, fuck face?” Cade shoved Mad Dog’s head back with the gun barrel, his finger itching to pull the trigger.

“Just get me to my damn bike,” Mad Dog spat out. “I’ll call someone to pick me up.” He turned to Dawn. “Bitch. Gimme my phone. And go get the money.”

Cade jabbed his knee into the wound on Mad Dog’s leg and Mad Dog screamed.

“You disrespect her again and I’m gonna say fuck the MC, fuck the cops, and fuck you breathing another fucking breath.”

“I need the money, dammit,” Mad Dog leaned on Gunner to pull himself up. “I know she has it.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Cade smashed the butt of his gun into Mad Dog’s head. Maybe if he hit the bastard enough times, he would do Cade the favor of dying.

“Take him out the back door in case someone sees him.” Dawn handed Mad Dog the phone and Gunner half dragged him through the kitchen.

Cade looked back over his shoulder at Dawn. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” But she didn’t sound good, and she didn’t look good either. He’d never seen her so pale.

“Put your gun away,” Cade said softly. “Don’t let them know you have it. Call me if they take you to the station or arrest you. Club’s got a lawyer, Richard—”

“I can’t afford…”

“I’ll take care of it.” He had a healthy bank balance from the work he did for the club, and without a family and no desire to spend it on flashy cars, or fancy digs, he was more than able to pay Richard’s fees.

“We gotta go,” Gunner shouted over the wail of sirens.

“I’ll ride around the block and come back when the cops leave,” Cade called out to Dawn. “Then I’ll take you to the clubhouse. You can’t stay here with a broken-in door.”

Gunner grunted his disapproval. “I thought we were gonna … you know … we had plans.”

“Plans change.” Cade took one last look at Dawn, and then he turned and dragged Mad Dog away.

*   *   *

“Fucking hell.” Jagger scrubbed a hand over his face and glared at Dawn, Gunner, and Cade, seated in front of his enormous oak desk like recalcitrant children. Zane, Sparky, and Dax leaned against the walls behind them along with Shaggy and T-Rex for an impromptu and unofficial board meeting.

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

Dawn forced herself to meet his gaze. With her head still spinning from how quickly the Sinners had arranged for her door to be fixed, and the bullet holes repaired after she’d put the police off the scent last night, a confrontation with Jagger was about the last thing she was up for this afternoon.

“I was thinking Jimmy … er … Mad Dog had broken into my apartment and intended to assault me and then bring me back to his clubhouse.” She raised a hand to block out the light streaming through the wall of windows beside him so she could more clearly see his face. Such a beautiful office for someone with such a menacing scowl. Dark wood shelves lined the wall behind him, and a matching credenza sat to his left beneath a polished mirror. Clearly the Sinners hadn’t done much to renovate this room; its historic patina was marred only by the prints of motorcycles hung on the worn, papered walls.

“Not you.” Jagger waved at her dismissively. “The two idiots beside you. What part of ‘don’t engage the Brethren’ did you two not understand?”

“He engaged us first,” Gunner said. “And he was holding Cade’s old lady hostage. We had a duty to rescue her.”

“Don’t spin me that bullshit.” Jagger thumped his fist on the desk. “You shot him. If he hadn’t been wearing a vest, he would have died.”

“Actually, I shot him,” Cade interjected. “Gun was very expertly shooting around him to provide cover for Dawn to get out.”

Gunner sniffed. “You know Cade couldn’t hit a target right in front of his face. I shot him.”

“I stabbed him,” Dawn said, feeling left out. “In the leg. That’s why he was down.”

“Well, according to Wolf, he told the Brethren executive board that Cade and Gunner attacked him when he visited his wife to talk about their kids.” Jagger pushed his chair away from the table. “So now we got a problem. Wolf says I broke my word, and now he can’t negotiate with us without looking weak, like he’s not supporting his brother.”

“Did you tell him about the Jacks backing Mad Dog?” Dax always liked to know his intel was being put to good use.

“Yeah, I told him. He wasn’t surprised, but he’s reluctant to raise the issue before the election in case it backfires, or the Black Jack puppets outnumber his supporters. He needs us to clean house, as much as we need Brethren support.”

“That might be part of the reason why Mad Dog accused Cade and Gunner,” Dawn said. “He’s afraid you’ll actively back Wolf. With the Sinner support clubs and resources behind him, Wolf will be sure to win. By accusing Cade and Gunner, Jimmy effectively cuts Wolf off from any potential Sinner support, makes the Sinners look bad, and wins himself the sympathy vote. Wolf’s only hope now is if you back him openly.”

Gunner scrubbed a hand through his buzz cut. “I dunno. Then it’ll look like we tried to off Mad Dog so Wolf would win. Could turn everything against us.”

“Or it could be just what Wolf needs.” Dawn hesitated, acutely aware that she was now the center of attention. The Sinners were listening in a way the Brethren never had. All those years sitting quietly in the corner at the Brethren clubhouse hadn’t been a total waste. She’d listened and learned, watched the political game and understood the players.

Worthy. And it felt damn good.

“Keep going,” Jagger said. “You know them better than we do.”

“If the Brethren think Wolf is cunning and powerful enough to enlist the Sinners to take out Mad Dog, they’ll vote for Wolf. Yeah, they might grumble that Wolf didn’t support Mad Dog, but in the end they aren’t hung up on rules or creeds or honor. The only thing they respect is power. And if the Sinners come out and show their support for Wolf instead of hiding in the shadows like the Jacks, they’ll see Wolf as the strongest candidate and the Sinners as the strongest club, and they’ll vote for the man who can bring a patch over to the table.”

“We got intel that Mad Dog might be paying off supporters,” Gunner said. “If that’s the case, it won’t matter who they think is stronger. They’ll just follow the money.”

Dawn sucked in her lips, considering. “Mad Dog came to my house demanding money. He seemed almost desperate. If he needs money that badly, he must not have paid off enough supporters yet to win the election.”

Jagger’s eyes narrowed. “You got any ideas?” he asked. “A good way for the Sinners to show their support for Wolf?”

“The Brethren love a good party.”

“Done.” Jagger slapped his hand on the table. “You organize it. Tell Banks we’ll need the bar on Saturday.”

Dawn’s gaze flicked from Jagger to Cade and back to Jagger. She’d given them information that could tip the balance in the Sinners’ favor, now it was time for payback. Only a few weeks ago, she’d considered the idea and dismissed it out of hand, not just because she lacked confidence, but also because she had nothing to offer. Now she had both.

“I want something in return.” She swallowed hard and firmed her voice. “I want my girls back. Now. Wolf is president. If he tells Mad Dog to keep Shelly-Ann and the police off my back, then he’ll have to do it; otherwise he risks being kicked out for disobeying his president and he’ll lose his chance at running for election. He’s put me at risk by making Mad Dog untouchable, and you’ve seen how Mad Dog took advantage. I’ve had enough. No more talking about it. No more negotiating. I’m a Sinner old lady and they are Sinner girls and I want them to come home.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding,” Zane spat out. “We’re not getting involved in a fucking marital dispute.”

Dawn dropped her hands to her hips and stiffened her spine. “And I didn’t want to get involved in a biker war, but that’s what this is. The Brethren are a pawn in the war between the Sinners and the Jacks. Yes, you can take the information I gave you, ignore my request, and help Wolf win the election so he’ll patch his club over to the Sinners, but it’s not the right thing to do, and it’s not how our world works. I’m calling in my mark and I expect you to honor it.”

“I vote in favor,” Cade said. “Anyone opposed?”

Not even Zane lifted a hand.

Jagger nodded. “I’ll talk to Wolf.”

She thought her heart would burst.