Page 95 of Claimed By the Biker Brothers

“If that stuff was planted, then it was, what, an inside job?” He looks horrified.

I nod slowly. “Probably, yeah.”

“Who would do such a thing?”

“I have no idea. But I hope they catch them before this gets worse.”

Paulie tries to reassure me. He takes me by the shoulders, giving both a good squeeze. “You’re gonna be okay, Robyn. You made it this far. Nobody knows where the cabin is. Not even Samson or me. You have your GPS thingy, right?”

“Yep, right here.” I pat my jacket pocket and smile.

I give Paulie a warm hug. We linger in it for a while as memories of a past life come back to the center of my focus, flickering somewhere in my mind.

“I’m sorry Calvin is still making your life difficult,” Paulie sighs as he pulls away.

“He’s got an agenda, and if he can use any of it to get back at me, he will,” I reply. “The Calvin you and I knew never existed. He was always a snake in the grass, pretending to be one of the good guys. I saw the real him every night at home.”

“He’ll see,” Paulie says. “He’ll learn this lesson the hard way; I’m sure of it.”

“Well, he’d better learn it as far away from us as possible, because I’m done being one of his victims. Kyra and I deserve peace and quiet, love and happiness. We almost had it every day for the past four years. I intend to keep it that way.”

Paulie gives me a wide smile. “You’re brave, Robyn. I’ll give you that. I can see why the guys care about you so much.”

I blush and get behind the wheel.

“See you later, alligator,” I say.

“In a while, crocodile,” he replies.

Gone are the days when we used to be real friends. What Paulie and I have today is the husk of an old friendship. The warmth of familiarity and the comforting weight of the Rogue Rider club keeping us grounded. But that’s it.

He’s a part of my past.

And as I see him shrinking in the rearview mirror, I admit…

It’s where he needs to stay.

31

Jagger

We find Patches in Merlin, working at a chop shop on the southern edge of the city. Precaution dictates we watch the place for a while before we go in. It’s early morning, and they’ve only just opened for business.

“Rory was right,” Diesel says, sitting casually on his bike. “Patches didn’t go too far.”

“He’s probably holding on, hoping,” I say. “Waiting for Marlo to take him back.”

“Not with Calvin in the picture,” Knox grumbles, briefly checking his phone. “Robyn’s okay. She and Kyra are at the cabin. So far, so good. I asked her to text us every other hour or so.”

I nod slowly. “Good. At least they’re safe.”

“How do we do this?” Diesel asks as he gets up and stretches his arms. He yawns, steam rolling from his lips, as he grunts and gets his blood moving. “We don’t have all day.”

“I saw Patches and two other guys in there,” I say.

“Yeah, and those two look scrawny as hell, not muscle, so Patches is pretty much on his own,” Diesel replies.

I dismount my Harley and look around once more. It’s pretty quiet at this hour. A few workers make their way across the street—there’s a diner that’s open by the looks of it. I can smell the fried eggs and bacon from here. A couple of shops are in the middle of rolling up their shutters, but that’s about it.

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