Page 28 of Striker's Yield

“I have everything under control,” she says, turning to face me. “And I need to get in there and help her finish getting everything ready.”

“I’ll be here to get you later,” I tell her again, pulling her into my arms. “You don’t leave here without me with you.”

“Why?” she asks, tilting her head back enough to meet my gaze.

“I’ll explain that tonight after dinner,” I answer, not about to get into it with her right now. Not when she needs to get to work and I’ve got shit to do. “Just listen to me and don’t go anywhere without me, okay?”

Autumn holds my gaze, seeming to look for whatever answer she’s looking for. Finally, she nods. “Okay, but you’re going to explain things tonight.”

“I will, Mama.” I dip forward and press a kiss to her lips. “I’ll be here this evening. We’ll go to my place, I’ll cook dinner for us, and we’ll talk.” It won’t be things I want to actually talk about, but it’s one we’ve got to have. She needs to know the threat against her.

Letting her go, I move away and head for the door. My gut tells me I shouldn’t leave her, but I need to get to Devil’s Nirvana. I figure if I head on over there, get my shit taken care of now, I won’t have to deal with it later. Then tonight, I can deal with other things. Like the talk I need to have with Autumn.

The sooner it gets taken care of, the faster I can get her ass back in my bed.

First, though, get my shit taken care of, get to the clubhouse for church, then I can get back here to her before she even thinks to leave and go to her apartment. I don’t care if we have access to the cameras there. I don’t want to take the chance of her going there and then some fucker getting to her when no one’s there to have her back.

“You work things out with your woman?” Horse asks brow cocked and watching me closely.

“Yeah,” I answer, taking my seat next to Brass and looking at my VP. “Lila get to school okay?”

“Kenny made sure she was up and out on time.” He nods and grimaces. “You know she told Kayla and Kenny last night that she got her acceptance letter to the University of Colorado?”

“Come again?” I jerk back, having not heard this yet.

“You heard me.” Horse smirks.

“Fuck.” I lean back in my chair, shaking my head. “The last thing I need is for Lila to go that damn far away for school.”

“I don’t envy your position.” Twister snorts. “The day Mercy even thinks about dating, let alone heading off to a college, I’ll lose my shit.”

Considering who his daughter is, yeah, I could see it. Everyone calls Twister’s daughter by her middle name rather than her first, which suits her. She might be a little girl, but she’s got the men in her life wrapped tight around her finger and could make them beg for mercy because she’s already hell on wheels. Just like her damn mother.

“I’d been hoping she didn’t get accepted there,” I grumble.

“You know the Colorado Charter would look out for her, keep her safe,” Hades mutters, tapping his fingers on the table.

“Yeah, and the last time Driver was out this way with Blue, I saw the way he looked at Lila.” There’s no way in hell I’m letting Driver anywhere near my sister. Brother or not, he’s a playboy, and I’m not going to let anyone hurt my sister, which is exactly what he’d do if he got his hands on her.

“Grinder will look out for her,” Twister says. “Then again, Driver knows what it’s like when it comes to sisters getting with a member of the club.”

“Yeah, he’s still pissed about Chelsea and Lucky,” Horse says and lets out a chuckle.

“How about we drop this subject?” I suggest, wanting to forget about the idea of my sister leaving for school in another state, for that matter. “Let’s focus on something else. If I have to think about my sister going away, it’ll just piss me off.”

“You’re gonna be pissed regardless,” Gadget states from behind his laptop.

“Did you find something else?” Brass asks.

“Yeah, you can say that.” Gadget nods. “Athena and Lucian gave me access to the security camera feeds. I’ve been going through them for the past two days. Last night, though, someone gave Autumn’s apartment another visit.”

I stiffen in my seat and focus in on Gadget. “And?”

“The security feed in her apartment showed them trashing it,” he remarks, grimacing. “Didn’t see the feed until just a bit ago, my fault . . .”

“You gotta sleep sometime,” Dragon mutters, speaking to his twin brother.

“Yeah, I know, but shit right now is real,” Gadget grumbles and glances around the table. “The men who broke into Autumn’s apartment, they didn’t go in just to trash it. They were there to take her.”

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