Page 11 of Tempting Fate

Something feels off about this.

Bomb threat? At the compound. Doesn’t seem likely…

Our enemies wouldn’t threaten, they’d just blow us to Kingdom Come.

Although I previously told my brothers to comply, I raise my hand in the air to tell them to hold their position instead. With obvious distaste, I ask, “Got any paperwork to back this up?”

“Don’t need any,” the lead officer sneers. With a slow blink, I allow the full scope of my hatred for the pigs to show on my face. Officer Big Mouth swallows, then he blusters, “No one gives a shit what happens to lowlife bikers.”

The cop standing next to him directs the muzzle of his semiautomatic toward the scuffed concrete. “Get on the floor.”

Despite knowing they won’t think twice before opening fire if we resist, I still hesitate to do as I’m being told. The churning in my gut is fast enough to make me nauseous. I’m overwhelmed with the need to run back into the chapel and grab my phone, so I can call Lily to warn her.

It could be a fatal mistake.

Still, it’s a risk I need to take.

“Fuck it,” I curse.

Swinging around to follow my gut instinct, I haven’t taken more than a step when I feel a barrel prod my kidney. “Get on the floor, Venom.”

With a growl, I twist back toward the front of the clubhouse. “I’ll shove that fuckin’—”

My threat to tell this prick where his weapon’s going to end up if he pushes me again dies when a familiar face steps between the smashed doors. Every thought, every worry, every half-baked plan to take control of this situation flies out of my head, except for two heart-stopping realisations…

One: I underestimated Alex’s craving to possess Lily.

Two: My beautiful, barely healed woman is in imminent danger.

“Mr. Miles.” Joseph Kingsley greets me with a smirk. He steps over my club brothers where they’re lying face down on the concrete and comes to a stop in front of me. The malicious glint in his gaze turns devious as he quips, “Fancy meeting you here this evening.”

“I’m gonna kill you,” I spit from between gritted teeth. “Then I’m gonna carve that rapist son of yours into pieces and scatter him in the Indian Ocean.”

“I’m sure you’d love the opportunity.” He nods to himself as he scans my face with his weasel eyes. “But I think we both know Alexander and Lilianna are going to work through their little misunderstanding shortly, after which you’ll be relegated to the trash heap where you always belonged.”

“Keep dreamin’, motherfucker. He won’t get within a hundred feet of Lily ever again.”

Joseph bares his teeth at me in a toothy grin. “You sound so sure of yourself… it delights me to know how very wrong you are in your assessment of this situation.” Before I can retort, he makes a circle signal with the index finger of his right hand. “Apprehend him.”

I spring forward, ready to take out Joseph before he can get to me, only to be knocked down when two of Joseph’s uniformed minions attack me from both sides. My knees hit the floor. My chest follows a second later. Arms pinned to my body, a foot on the back of my head, I continue to fight to free myself. As I battle a kind of fear that I’ve only felt once before, mayhem erupts behind me. My club fights the cops. Hand to hand combat, even as I brace myself for bullets to fly. Although I can see anything other than the polished concrete floor beneath me, I know the Shamrocks are being overwhelmed by the seemingly never-ending stream of cops surging into the main bar. My brothers are taken down, one by one. The sound of someone grunting in pain as they’re thrown onto the concrete next to me invades my ears. Another scuffle breaks out but is quickly halted. When grunts and heavy breathing are all I can hear, I know we’re fucked.

I’m rolled onto my back with my zip-tied hands trapped underneath me and my worst suspicions are confirmed. Joseph has taken anyone who could aid Lily out of action. And there’s only one reason he would’ve done that.

Alex is going to take her.

If he hasn’t already…

“Cherub’s in danger,” Toker grumbles from next to me. “Need someone to let her know he’s out.”

The fear in his voice matches the terror coursing through my veins.

I push and squirm until I can raise my head high enough to yell, “Angelis!”

“Venom!” Slash’s father is being dragged outside. He wrenches one arm free and swings around to face me. He’s sporting a fat lip and a swelling eye that tells me he’s seen straight through this setup like I have, and is trying to find a way to stop the inevitable from happening.

“Call Gabriel. Send someone to?—”

A black boot collides with the side of my head and the world fades to black.

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