Page 75 of Fighting a Riot

“He did?”

“He saw that, for whatever reason, she idolized me. I said she had a lousy way of showing it, but bottom line, he knew that foster home was no good for anyone –especially not a fourteen-year-old girl.”

I shook my head. “Wait. How much older than you is Fred? He looks like he’s at least forty.”

Yak drove through the gates of the compound and parked near the back door of the clubhouse. “He’s forty-five if I’m not mistaken. Syd’s thirty-three. Twelve-year gap between them, and Fred met her when he was twenty-six.” He blew out a breath. “Trust me, I never saw things going where they did with those two.”

“Wow,” I whispered.

He dipped his chin and met my gaze. “Yeah, but they work.”

I nodded. “Absolutely. I mean, after five minutes in that shop I can see that they’re right for each other. It’s just amazing to me how life works out.”

He grinned. “Good. Let’s go inside.”

As I shut the car door, I took in all the bikes in the lot. The first time I’d ever been here, there had been maybe six bikes, now there were at least a dozen more. Considering how many there were, it surprised me he found such a close spot.

With his arm around my shoulders, Yak pulled me to his side and we walked toward the clubhouse. I saw Trixie standing in the open back doorway.

A smug grin lit her eyes. “If I’m wrong, don’t fuckin’ tell me, but it looks like you two finally got your shit together.”

My lips pursed to hold back my laughter. After a beat, I asked, “Why don’t you want us to tell you if you’re wrong?”

“Because Trixie never admits when she’s wrong,” Yak muttered, shifting our bodies so I walked in front of him.

At the same time, Trixie said, “Because my man waking up at one-fucking-thirty to board up a broken window always starts my day on the wrong foot, and you two admitting you’re hot for each other would be the best damn news I’ve had all day.”

Yak’s body grazed me from behind. His lips brushed my ear. “Go ahead and make her day, Nora.”

I grinned. “You’re not wrong, Trixie.”

She tossed her hands up in the air above her head. “It’s about fuckin’ time.”

I lost Yak’s body heat. “You’ve said your piece, Trix. No more gloating, and let us inside.”

Chapter 12

Getting Out of Hand

Yak

“Wait, wait, wait. Where’s Rage?” Blood demanded after Cal called church to order.

Volt shook his head. “I filled him in, and unless something new is brought to light, he’s voting by proxy.”

Beast leaned forward. “I thought you had to be in the hospital to vote by proxy?”

A few brothers nodded their heads and made murmurs of agreement.

“Rage is concerned for his ol’ lady since it was the Devil Lancers who showed up at Yak’s place. If they’ve been tailing Yak, they’ll have seen him coming and going from Lisa’s shop. Rage isn’t taking any chances with that, and considering how that shit went down months ago, I don’t blame him.”

“But they went after Yak’s woman,” Liar said.

“Or so he says,” Prime muttered.

Yak clenched his jaw and slid his eyes to Prime, who sat across the table and four seats down from Yak. Every brother at the table tensed.

“What are you saying?” Blood asked.

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