Page 37 of Single Mom for the Bikers

“If nobody has a reason to fight, why bring my daughter into it?” Shelby asks, her voice rich with pain. “She’s just a little kid.”

“Who the fuck brought that bitch to the party?” Straw-hair spits on the ground next to his bike. “The grownups are having a fucking conversation.”

I put my arm on her shoulder in support, while Sledge steps in behind her. Phoenix is very obviously resting his hand on the grip of his gun.

Annoyance flickers across General’s face. “What are you talking about?”

“This is fucked up,” I say, too quiet for the Sons to hear. “I feel like someone’s playing a game and we’re the pieces.”

“Are you losing control of your boys, old man?” Eagle-eye asks with a half-smile that belies the deadly tone of his voice. “Yesterday, someone plucked this woman’s girl right out of her daycare and left her in a diner for us to find, with a note questioning our ability to protect our own.”

“The fuck?” Hellfire looks disgusted. “You really think we'd kidnap a fucking kid to make a point?”

General nods. “We play by the rules, Eagle-eye, you should know that. Our rules anyway. Come at me and I put a hole in your ugly head, but I’m not going target your fucking families.”

“You’re actually listening to them?” straw-hair snarls. “It's all a?—”

“Shut the ever-loving fuck up, Badger.” General cuts him off with a glare. Officer or not, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of fucking love lost there.

I grin at Badger, which only makes him look even more sour.

General fixes on Eagle-eye. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll back off and check my side if you promise to do the same. I find out that any of my boys are stirring up trouble, I'll toss ‘em over your fence with my own damn hands. I expect you to do the same.”

Nobody on their side looks happy, but most are nodding. Living outside the law doesn’t mean we don’t have rules. If anything, the ones we have are enforced quickly and brutally, so knowing what is and isn’t acceptable is even more important in our world. Last time we found a traitor in our midst, let’s just say the trial of his peers was fast and absolute.

Eagle-eye nods. “It sounds like maybe we both need to have some talks with our boys, doesn't it? And then you and me? We can discuss again, without the fucking circus.”

“Do we believe them?” Shelby watches them go until the last bike rides out of sight. “Are Mia and I safe?”

I shake my head. “I wish I could say yes but that was at best a first step. Until we know who was behind what happened yesterday and what they want, you need to stay here.”

She frowns, but this isn’t something she’ll fight us on. The risks are too high. “I’m going to go check on her.”

“Sure, we’ll catch up in a moment.” Phoenix looks pissed, and I wanna know what about. As soon as she’s out of earshot, I turn to him. “What’s wrong?”

“That asshole that kept trying to stir things up? Badger? I know that fucker. I don’t know how the hell he slithered his way into being an officer with the Sons, but he was in the Pit Vipers back in the day and I didn’t like him any better back then. Combine that with Grinder living down the street from Shelby and I don’t believe for a fucking second that they aren’t connected. Fuck if I know how, though.”

“Well. Guess we better find out,” Sledge says.

21

HELLFIRE

Something’s gotten fuckedand I wish I could say it was me.

General rides at the head of the pack, looking chill and relaxed on his ride, but I fucking know that old bastard. He’s pissed and I’m glad. This has gone on long enough.

Badger and his crew are like an open wound, festering in the club. He seemed like a great fit when he joined. Experienced, good in a fight, listened to direction, and he had contacts up north that brought in new business. Soon as he was promoted to officer, something shifted, though, so fucking slowly that I didn’t notice when the noose fell around my neck. But he’s been pulling it tight ever since, while being real fucking careful to keep his own nose clean.

I get why he’s got it out for the Eagles. He used to be a Pit Viper. I’d carry a fucking grudge too if they wiped my club out. Not that I miss them. No tears shed here. They were more trouble than they were worth, even if we picked up some of the surviving stragglers that seemed useful, Badger included.

Maybe that was a fucking mistake.

Like he can tell I’m thinking about him, Badger pulls up close, putting himself even with me like it’s a damn statement. He glances my way with a twisted grin that sets my teeth on edge. I flip him off, and he laughs, turning his attention back to the road and adjusting his visor to block the sun.

Three sharp cracks cut through the afternoon sky, one after another in quick succession.

My training kicks in before I even process that something’s happened, and fire burns across the back of my neck. General goes down hard, his bike suddenly leaning right and slamming over the highway divider into the center ditch.

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