Page 34 of A Christmas Surprise for the Biker

That I can give her. “You won’t be,” I promise, squeezing her hand.

She turns back, her eyes locking on mine. “I trust you.”

“Fuck.” Smashing my lips to hers, I send up thanks to the gods for bringing her back to me.

After a long, heated kiss, I lead her inside. “Wait for me here. I'll fill you in on everything as soon as we're done.”

With one more quick kiss, I leave her in the common room and head down the hall to the meeting room. I find Viper and Sparrow inside, going over some paperwork. They look up as I enter.

“You got a minute?”

“Yeah,” Viper motions to the vacant seat beside him. “What's going on?”

I take a deep breath, steeling myself. “This situation with Turner. It's worse than I thought.”

“Go on,” Sparrow motions for me to continue.

For the next half hour, I lay out everything Braelynn and I have discovered. I show them the evidence of Turner's corruption, his ties to half of the criminals in the city, and the extent of his vendetta against me and the club.

When I finish, a heavy silence fills the room. Viper's face is a mask of controlled anger, while Sparrow looks troubled.

“This is serious shit,” Sparrow finally says. “If Turner's got his hooks in this deep, we could be looking at a full-scale war.”

Viper nods, his eyes dark. “We need to handle this carefully.”

“What do you suggest?” I ask, tension coiling in my gut.

Viper stands, pacing the length of the room. “We take him out.”

Sparrow chuckles darkly, the sound sending a chill up my spine. “Always quick to feed someone to my gator.”

Viper narrows his eyes. “It fucking works.”

Sparrow nods his head nonchalantly. “That it does.”

Viper shakes his head at the Veep before training his eyes on me. “Give us a few days and we’ll handle it.”

My brows shoot up. “That fucking easy?” Not that I’m complaining because Turner has been a pain in my goddamn side since our first meeting. Everywhere I go outside of these gates, the asshole always seems to be there—watching, like he’s waiting for something.

Now it’s my turn to feel the wrath of his pissed-off gaze. “Yeah. That fucking easy.” As much that has changed in the last year, I’m glad to see the rabid fucking badger of a man has stayed the same.

“He’s a fucking peach, huh?” Sparrow laughs, not the least bit phased by Viper’s surliness.

My lips twitch as my hands go up. I’m not touching that comment with a ten-foot pole. “My bad, Prez.”

“Damn fucking right. Now get the fuck out of here.”

The sound of Sparrow laughing follows me out the door where I find Braelynn waiting anxiously. There are a million questions in her eyes, but I won’t be able to tell her the truth. “Let's take a walk,” I say, putting my arm around her. On the way home, I try to gently explain that there are some things when it comes to the club and the decisions made behind church doors that she will never know about. I expect a fight, but to my surprise, she accepts the way things are.

We're almost back to our place when I see a car I don't recognize parked near the compound gates. My instincts go on high alert.

“Brae,” I say quietly, “take Ryder and go inside. Now.”

She opens her mouth to argue, but something in my expression convinces her otherwise. She nods, taking Ryder's carrier and quickly heads into the house.

Disappearing behind the brush so the driver won’t see me coming, I move along the fence and slip out the gate. I approach the car cautiously, my hand resting near my gun at my waist. When the driver turns, I catch his reflection in the sideview mirror.

Turner.

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