Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 52851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 264(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Normally, I had Duke’s back, no matter what. Not this time. This time, I just stood there, arms crossed, watching as Noah strained against Blake’s hold. His breathing was ragged, his fury unchecked.
Hunter wasn’t as patient.
He moved past Noah and didn’t hesitate. His fist connected with Duke’s jaw so hard, the impact echoed in the space like a gunshot.
Duke hit the ground, and the kids—already shaken—burst into frightened sobs.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath, motioning for a few of our team to get the kids out of here. They needed to be away from this mess.
The rest of us stayed, because there was no walking away from this disaster.
Duke groaned, slowly pushing himself up. Blood dripped from his lip as he moved his jaw, testing it.
Still, no one spoke. Because whatever the fuck had just happened, whatever this meant for all of us, was only the beginning.
“She can’t be compromised. She’s finding locations for us,” Duke’s voice was firm, steady, but there was an edge to it, something tight beneath the surface.
Hunter wasn’t having it. He shot to his feet, fists clenched at his sides like he was barely restraining himself. “But you knew she was in there. You knew she’d get the mark and retreat.”
Duke didn’t flinch, just exhaled sharply and dusted himself off. “She’s not there to intercept and retrieve,” he muttered, brushing dirt from his jeans. “She’s there to find and pass the locations back to us. If she intervenes, her cover is blown. She’d be in danger, as would the innocents involved.” His voice dropped slightly on that last part, his meaning clear.
It made sense. Logically and tactically—it was actually a huge advantage to have someone on the inside. But logic didn’t mean shit when emotions were running this high.
Noah wasn’t buying it.
“She could be killed!” he snapped.
I snorted. If there was one person who didn’t need anyone worrying about her, it was Bo. She was more than capable of taking care of herself.
Duke smirked slightly, as if he’d been expecting that reaction from me. “You don’t actually believe that any more than I do,” he said, then nodded toward me. “That woman could give my beautiful niece a run for her money.”
I rolled my eyes, snorting again, but didn’t argue. No fucking way, not when he was telling the truth.
Noah wasn’t done. He stalked right up to Duke, practically vibrating with fury. “If anything happens to her, you son of a bitch,” he spat, his voice low and lethal, “I will fucking end you myself.”
And just like that, he turned and stormed off, heading straight for the bikes.
I exhaled, watching the tension simmering in the air. I hadn’t driven my bike to this location. I’d taken an SUV instead, expecting to have Perry in it when we left. Instead, I had three kids, an unexpected bonus. And now, I was begging every higher power that Bo had Perry somewhere safe, because if she didn’t… Fuck.
I turned my attention back to Mace, who looked about two seconds from combusting. His anger wasn’t just a simmer, it was volcanic. His girlfriend and his sister were tangled in this mess, and his body was coiled tight, a raw nerve waiting to snap.
I stepped toward him, catching his attention before he could say something reckless.
“I won’t let you down,” I said, my voice firm. “You have me.”
Mace met my eyes, searching them, measuring. Slowly, I watched the shift, the emotion bleeding out, the rage dulling into something cold, something controlled. It was the art of war, the tactic we all learned early on—shut it down. Remove the emotion. Focus on facts. Strike with precision.
His expression settled into the same blank neutrality I was wearing. Good. He’d still swing between logic and emotion in the coming hours, but for now, he could focus on being a warrior. Not a brother. Not a lover.
I gave him a brief nod, then turned back toward the SUV. We had a job to do.
JAGGER
The kids were safe, dropped off with the authorities, and the necessary reports filed. One of Kyle and Hunter’s contacts had taken over from there. The whole time, the guy had referred to her as Kai, though, and it was eating at me. I knew I had to get used to it, but to me, Kai was separate from the woman standing in front of me.
Kyle had always carried a masculine name. She owned it. She made it work. It had belonged to her grandfather—a man she idolized. Jagger had given it to her, and it fit.
But Kai? Kai felt… wrong. Like it didn’t belong to her. Like it was a shell, a shadow of who she really was. I doubted I’d ever call her that.
We were driving toward Mace’s town when she suddenly signaled for us to pull over. The second we did, she broke the news, Perry had been found in the same park where she’d been snatched. A fucking note had been left with her, saying the kidnapper had suffered a moment of madness—grief-driven, fueled by the death of their own child. A bullshit apology.