Page 109 of Claimed By the Biker Brothers

“So, what was it, Paulie?” Jagger changes the subject without taking his eyes off Marlo. “Better pay? Loyalty to an old friend? Fear that we might not withstand the Hughes expansion? What drove you to betray the club?”

“Look, Jag, it’s not as simple as that,” Paulie says by way of an explanation.

“Itisthat simple actually,” Jagger replies. “What was it? Knox might not want to know, but I sure as hell do.”

“Are you stalling?” Marlo smiles.

“For what? No, I genuinely want to know. I mean, we’re already here. Calvin saw fit that Paulie should be present for this,” Jagger says. “I assume this was supposed to be some kind of dramatic reveal.” He shoots a cool grin over at Calvin. “You’re so bad at this, buddy. It fell so flat; it’s almost ridiculous.”

“I swear to God, I will kill you right here, right now,” Calvin snaps.

Marlo raises a hand to stop him from taking a step forward. “Remember what we talked about,” she says to her unhinged lover.

“I don’t know why I’m surprised to see you whipped by a woman,” Jagger says with a chuckle.

I understand what he’s doing, pushing Calvin’s buttons like this. They need chaos in this room, and the idea makes every muscle in my body tighten in anticipation of something either life-saving or catastrophic. Whatever happens, I need to be ready to fight my way to freedom, to my daughter.

Marlo groans with frustration. “Jagger, stop it! The situation is simple! Enough beating around the bush, enough stalling,” she says. “Hand over the Rogue Riders MC, and you get Robyn back. That’s it.”

“Yeah, it does sound simple enough,” Knox mutters. “Were you expecting us to bring over some legal paperwork to attest to the club’s new ownership?”

“You’re smart enough to know the answer to that question.”

“And my daughter?” I ask, playing along with what I know is a crock of shit.

“Kyra stays with her father and me,” Marlo replies.

“Knox, they mean to kill me,” I say.

Marlo chuckles softly. “No, darling. I’ll admit that I did say that upstairs, but that was just to mess with you. I’m a woman of my word. I get the club; you get to walk out of here alive. But Kyra stays with us.”

“You’re delusional,” Knox tells her.

“What I am is the leader of this fucking county,” she hisses. “I have the power and the money, and I call the shots. And you, you’re all my bitches. You all will do as I say. That’s how it works. That’s how it has always worked.”

Calvin scoffs, drawing a sideways glare from Marlo.

“Wait, did she promise you a seat at the table?” Jagger, still laughing, says to Calvin, quick to pick up on the strife lingering between them. He’s hell-bent on pushing every single button Calvin has. “Buddy, you can’t tell your head from your ass, which is why you never advanced in the club, why we were never sorry to kick you out. You contributed absolutely nothing.”

“I contributed here,” Calvin says.

“Paulie did most of the work by the looks of it,” Knox replies. “Planting the drugs, tipping off the DEA, all that crap.”

“He didn’t need to tip anybody off,” a man’s voice cuts through the room.

Our heads turn with a collective snap as Agent Frank Spalding steps in from the hallway. I didn’t hear the front door opening, so he probably used the back entrance. His self-satisfied smirk irritates me beyond belief. He’s supposed to be a federal agent.

“Ah, the man of the hour,” Knox says. “You soil that badge you flaunt with every breath you take.”

“Spare me the morality lesson,” Spalding retorts. “Let’s get back to the issue at hand here. I don’t have all day.”

Jagger exhales sharply. “What’s your take in all of this? Twenty percent? Thirty?”

“None of your goddamn business,” Spalding says.

“The club’s paperwork,” Marlo tries to veer the conversation back on topic. “Did you bring it?”

“Not even twenty percent?” Jagger says to Spalding before looking at Marlo. “Good grief, Marlo, you really played these two for absolute idiots, didn’t you? Hats off to you, girl. I am genuinely impressed.”

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