Page 72 of Brage & Dinah

They were all alive. No visible injuries. No blood coated their vests.

Twenty minutes later, they crossed over the Columbia River Bridge and entered Portland. Within the city limits, they rode in pairs and kept to the speed limit all the way to the clubhouse.

Dag opened the gate. Roar rode in, followed by Brage. The rest of the Slag members on the ride rolled to a stop in the alley, one after another.

Brage tore off his helmet and walked down the line of bikers. "Is anyone injured?"

"Good here," said Glenn.

Viktor peeled off his gloves. "Nobody on my crew."

"Jesus Christ." Elling smacked Aron on the shoulder. "Look at your damn helmet."

Aron undid the D-ring. Brage stepped closer. There was a crack along the shell.

"Too close, brother." Elling cupped Aron's neck with his hand and bumped his head into his. "Too damn close."

"Ja." Aron stared down at the helmet.

Brage walked back to Roar's side and filled him in. "If Bantorus wanted to take one of us out, they wouldn't have missed."

"Agreed." Roar stepped out to the middle of the alley. "Everyone is off for the night. We'll get together tomorrow and discuss what went fucking wrong."

Brage pulled out a cigarette. He needed to check on Dinah, but she'd notice right away that something bothered him. Tonight could've been worse.

The Slag members lives were his responsibility. He inhaled and blew the smoke out violently. If he would've lost one of them, their death would be on him.

He paced back and forth. Sometimes, the risks he put the others through were too high. Half the men had a woman at home. Some of them had kids. One mistake could take them away from that.

It'd never bothered him to take the hazards of being the vice president. It was an honor. But he found himself thinking about Dinah.

Would she have missed him if Bantorus would've shot him dead?

He tossed the cigarette and strode across the alley. There was no doubt in his head that he wasn't finished with Dinah yet. Opening the door to the back of the bar, he strode inside. He wanted to make sure she'd miss him if he never came back.

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