Page 23 of April 5

Katrina frowned at him. "Jag?"

He thrust his hands through his hair. "You need to get out of here."

"Me?" She stood. "I'm staying in the van."

"You need to get out of town. Go back to Beaverton. Go back to Ruger." He cupped his cock, rearranging it in his jeans. "It was a bad idea coming here."

"I want to be with you."

He gritted his teeth. "We both know I should've stayed away tonight."

"I don't care what my dad says. I want—"

"This has nothing to do with what you want, Kat. This is about my loyalty to Havlin."

"Fuck Havlin." Katrina stood, ignoring her ripped panties hanging on one thigh. "Ever since I can remember, Havlin has taken you from me. If it's not the club, it's my dad. You're going to end up dead, having never had the chance to love me the way I know you want to love me. Damnit, Jagger. I can see how you feel about me." She patted her chest. "I know. Don't lie to me."

"You think what I want matters?" " He shut off the light, spread the blinds with his fingers, and peeked outside. "Wire and Cora are home."

"So." Katrina folded her arms.

"So...neither one of them is going to understand why I'm in the van with you." He slipped his shirt back on, picked his pistol up, and slid his arms into his vest. "If I didn't have a club to run, I'd let Ruger kill me and put me out of my fucking misery."

"That's not funny."

He took in her tousled hair. Any member of Havlin would take one look at her with her red, swollen lips, ripped panties, and his handprints on her bare skin and execute him on sight.

"For both our fucking sakes, stay in the van and let me handle Wire." He paused at the door, knowing it could be the last time he got to be alone with her again. He stepped in front of her and kissed her deeply.

When he pulled back, there were tears in her eyes. He cupped her face, strumming her cheeks with his thumbs. Forty-six years old, and this girl, this woman, was going to get him killed.

He walked backward, reaching for the door handle. The moment he opened the door, he jumped out of the van and closed it up tight. Katrina needed to stay inside.

His hope that Wire went inside with his wife ended as he reached his Harley. Wire stood several feet away. All he could see was the cherry glow of his cigarette in the night.

"Prez."

Jagger sat on his bike. "Is the party dying down?"

"Nah." Wire stepped closer. "Cora's covering for Maverick's old lady at the coffee shop tomorrow and has to get up early, so we left early."

He grunted and put on his helmet.

"Night." Wire slapped him on the shoulder. "Watch the road."

"Yep." He started the Harley and rode away.

Wire wouldn't say anything to Ruger about Jagger being in the van tonight with Katrina. As the president, his men would not turn on him. But Wire's old lady was another story. Cora, being big on family, would run straight to Ruger if she believed Katrina was in danger of getting used.

The two girls had only found each other, but if Cora believed Katrina would get hurt, she'd shout out to the world who was responsible.

He needed to talk to Ruger.

Katrina couldn't go on living under the impression that he was afraid of facing Ruger about their feelings toward each other. Throughout the years, he had never told anyone, not even the members of Havlin, what happened the night Ruger got arrested.

If Katrina found out he was responsible for her losing her dad for eighteen years, it would rip away any love she had for Jagger. She loved Ruger with the fierceness of someone who had lost the most important person in her life and had been blessed to get him back. She wasn't going to do anything to lose her dad again.

He pulled into the back of the clubhouse and parked near the door. Music replaced the rumble of his Harley as he shut off the bike.

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