Page 62 of Claimed By the Biker Brothers

“Precisely,” I say. “And we need to agree that we’re willing to pay that price, because Marlo isn’t kidding, and Calvin is riding her coattails hard. He will take advantage of his position as soon as he sees an opportunity.”

My heart can’t fathom a life without Robyn or her precious daughter, but my brain still yanks at my conscience once in a while, reminding me of how hard we’ve worked to get to this point with the club.

“So many people depend on us,” I add, “not just Robyn and Kyra. There may come a moment where we might have to choose between them.”

“Say that again,” Jagger mutters, getting angry.

“It’s the fucking truth,” I hiss. “Listen to me, Jag. I’m laying it out now, so it doesn’t take us by surprise later. We need to be aware of this. How far are we willing to go to keep Robyn in our lives? I’m asking you. I know my answer; I know what I’m going to do. I just want to know how you feel about it.”

A heavy silence falls between us. Jagger looks around.

Diesel keeps quiet.

I think I know their answers before they even utter the words. I can feel their inner fires burning as brightly as mine. Their anger and their determination echo mine.

“We survived a couple of wars together,” Jagger says. “We took bullets for this country, for one another. And we found something incredible in Robyn, something we’re never going to find with another woman. That much is clear, right?”

“Right,” I say.

“We’ve also poured years of our lives into the club. The Rogue Riders rely on us. This whole fucking town depends on us,” Diesel hesitantly replies. He gets me. He understands my doubts, and he’s finally speaking his own truth on the matter. “At the end of the day, we can’t let anybody take any of this away from us, not the club and certainly not Robyn. The best we can do is fight hard for both.”

“And if we end up having to choose between one or the other?” I ask him.

The look of pure torment on Diesel’s face tells me everything I need to know.

“Then we’re set,” I say. “We know what we have to do next.”

“We just have to make our peace with it,” Jagger sighs deeply.

Redwood is about to delve into a bloody, ruthless war. Marlo is ambitious, and she’s got the financial means to bring the entire district back to the bad old days. With Calvin by her side, she has a notable advantage against the club too. It may not be enough to destroy us, but it could be enough to slow us down just enough to give the DEA the chance they need to deliver the final, devastating blow.

No matter which angle we approach the situation from, one thing is clear: Somebody’s going to go down in the upcoming fight.

We have to make sure it’s not one of us.

20

Robyn

He was so close.

Calvin was so close again. Damn the restraining order! Just being reminded that I’m in the same town as that man fills me with gut-wrenching dread. I can’t live like this. And I certainly don’t want my daughter growing up with the threat of danger looming over her.

“Kyra, honey, is your bag ready?” I ask as I come back into the bedroom.

For the past hour, I’ve kept her busy picking out her favorite clothes and shoes to put into a pink suitcase—we use it for the occasional trip out of town, but tonight, I decided we might be better off on our own and away from this place for good.

“Mommy, where are we going?” my little munchkin asks, giving me a confused look.

Most of her sweaters and pants are chaotically stacked in the suitcase, so I’ll chalk it up to progress, but I need to get the rest of her stuff ready so we can leave sooner rather than later.

“We’re just going to take a trip up to Oregon for a few days. You’ve been there before, remember? Last year. We visited the amusement park with the big clown roller coaster.”

“That clown was scary,” she says, scrunching her nose.

“Yeah, but the water slide was awesome. You loved it. And remember the cotton candy? The best cotton candy ever. You said so yourself,” I shoot back with a smile.

I’ve already packed my duffel bag. It’s waiting downstairs by the front door along with some cash and any important paperwork I may need.

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