Page 9 of Danger

“And who won that bet?” Declan groaned.

“I did,” Lil said. “So, how about it, did I win the second bet too?”

“Yeah, you did,” Bowie said. “Savage has already paid me my twenty, so pay up, Cillian.” His brother groaned and pulled his wallet from his back pocket.

“Viv is gonna kill me for making bets with you again, Lil.” He handed her the twenty and she triumphantly took it and looked it over, as if checking to see if it was real. “Don’t be a bad winner,” Cillian insisted.

“I am not a bad winner,” Lil grumbled, making all the guys laugh. “Shut the hell up. Where is Danger anyway?”

“She’s out in the bar drinking her coffee,” Declan said.

“I’m going to go out and join her,” Lil said. She patted Declan on the arm as she passed him. “I’m proud of you for keeping it in your pants for once,” she teased.

“Shut the fuck up, Lilliana,” Declan grumbled. He followed her out into the bar to find Danger sitting up at the empty bar, sipping her coffee.

“Is everyone here?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Declan said. “They are just grabbing coffee and they’ll be in.” He sat a few stools down from her and didn’t dare look in her direction. He was worried that she had heard their conversation in the back room.

“Hi Danger,” Lil said, sitting next to her, “I’m Lilliana.”

“Yes, I remember you from last night,” Danger said. His sister looked like she was about ready to ask the poor woman if she wanted to be best friends and braid each other’s hair or something. His little sister was always eager to make friends. Sometimes, she was a bit overly eager, but that was part of her charm. She was one of the nicest people that Declan knew, and he didn’t think that just because Lil was his little sister.

“How was your night?” Lil asked.

“Long,” Danger whispered. “I’m afraid that I’m a bit grumpy since I didn’t get much sleep last night.” She shot Declan a look as if her sleepless night was his fault and he shrugged.

“That’s what you get for sleeping in your car,” he grumbled. She looked like she was about to speak up with Savage, Bowie, and Cillian walked into the bar.

“Ready to get this meeting started?” Savage asked. Declan wondered who was going to take charge of the meeting, but he should have known it would be Savage. From what he remembered about the guy, from when he was a kid living in town—Savage liked to be in charge.

“I have new intel from one of my contacts at MI6. We texted this morning and she told me that the Dead Rabbits are holding my brother about two towns over. She said it’s called Athens. Do you know of it?” Danger asked.

“Yes,” Savage said. “Are you sure that you can trust your contact?” he asked.

“Of course,” Danger insisted. “June is one of my closest friends. I trust her with my life, and I trust her with Anthony’s life too. I’m going to look for him and if you want to tag along, you’re welcome to do so.”

“Now, hold on,” Lil said, “you can’t go running into wherever they are keeping your brother and dare the Dead Rabbits to do their worst. I’ve seen what their worst is, and I can promise you that you don’t want that. I almost lost my husband because of them. You would be risking your life as well as your brother’s life if you go in there halfcocked.”

Declan wondered when his little sister had gotten to be so smart. “Lil’s right,” Declan agreed. “We will need a plan if we’re going to help your brother.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Danger asked. “We just sit around and wait for a sign that we should go in there?”

“That’s exactly what you’re going to do,” Savage said. “You two need to lay low,” he insisted. “I have a guy on the inside. He’s been working undercover for me, trying to get intel since Lilliana showed up here, asking my club for help. She and I have been working with the local FBI office to bring down the Dead Rabbits. If you go running in there, guns blazing, everything will go to hell.”

“You can’t be serious,” Danger spat. “You just want me to sit around here and wait for you to come up with information from one of your guys?” she asked.

“Exactly,” Savage growled. “That’s exactly what I want you to do—both of you,” he said, pointing between Danger and Declan. He knew that arguing with Savage wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Besides, the guy was right. This thing with the Dead Rabbits was bigger than any of them and they could use all the help they could get.

Danger

She wanted to protest, but Danger knew that doing so would get her nowhere. Savage was being a bully and following his rules was really rubbing her the wrong way. Everyone around her agreed with the burly biker, and telling him that he was wrong wasn’t going to happen. She’d just have to wait for him to look the other way and then she’d go to Athens to find her little brother.

“We can’t stay here at the bar,” Declan insisted. That was the first thing that anyone had said that made any sense all morning. They were all screwing around in the kitchen while she drank her coffee. She could hear them settling bets about whether or not she and Declan had slept together. They were barbaric and the only bright spot in any of the group was Lil. She seemed nice but had an edge that Danger couldn’t explain but knew well. Women like Lil lived on the edge, and Danger could relate. And Lil did bet that she wouldn’t fall into bed with Declan, so she had that going for her too.

“We’ve already thought about that,” Savage’s husband, Bowie said. “We have a safe house about four hours from here. You and Danger will leave after the meeting to head out. You’ll take my truck,” he said, tossing Declan the keys, “and you’ll need to leave both of your vehicles here. We’ll take care of them so that they don’t draw any unwanted attention, sitting in our parking lot overnight.”

“Don’t you think that we’re being a bit too proactive?” Danger asked. “I mean, the Dead Rabbits don’t even know that we’re here yet.”

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