Page 39 of Property of Indiana

“Thank you, Zoey. Thank you for giving me a second chance and giving me a daughter. I didn’t think this was the way my life would turn out, but you’ve made things better by being with me.”

“Someone above was watching over us and made sure we ran into each other,” she says, kissing me above my breast bone.

“Whoever it was, has my gratitude,” I note.

“I’m just glad you didn’t settle for someone until I could make it back to you,” she states.

“There’s no one for me but you, Zoe. I would have waited an eternity if I knew I’d end up with you right here,” I confess.

My phone pings and I reach into the other pocket and drag it out. I have a text message telling me we have church in twentyminutes. I sigh because that barely gives me time to shower before jumping on my bike and heading to the clubhouse.

“I gotta go, Zoey. Come to the clubhouse when you’re up and moving.”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon,” she claims, snuggling the pillow to her as I climb out from between the sheets. I longingly look at her as I shuffle into the bathroom and take care of business. “Damn, that’s a sexy sight.”

I wiggle my ass at her as I close the bathroom door. Her giggling has me grinning. I can’t wait until her old lady cut arrives so I can slide it over her shoulders. I remind myself to ask Booker when that’s expected to come in. I shower quickly, give her a peck on the lips, then head to my bike. When I start it up, a feeling of euphoria wraps itself around me. My life may not be perfect, it’s full of death and destruction, but it’s mine and I’ll happily claim all aspects of it.

EPILOGUE

INDIANA

“The Dragons have declaredwar and I’ve accepted,” Rip starts, addressing the room immediately after banging his gavel and calling church into session. “You guys know usually I bring this to the table for a vote and put out feelers to the other presidents of the Kings. However, they didn’t give me a choice in the matter.”

“How’s that?” I ask him, leaning forward in my chair and giving him my attention.

“They took Sphinx’s sister and have used her to keep him in line,” he informs us through gritted teeth. “I don’t know how they figured out he was a King, but they have and they sent me back a piece of him.”

“They sent you back a piece,” Icer gnarls. “What ‘piece’ did they send you, pres?”

“His eye,” Riptide says, his skin growing white. “And a picture of him holding a news article with the date on it as proof of life,zeroing in on his socket that had blood dripping down his face. We accept the war or we continue getting him back one chunk at a time.”

My gut clenches at what my brother went through for the club. We’ve gotta get him back before they cut anything else off of him. I’m sure they’re not worried about proper medical care, so the likelihood of a massive infection is strong.

“What else do they want?” I ask, my jaw locking because I’m afraid I know the answer to that question.

“Elodie,” he reluctantly answers. The entire room blows up and Icer tosses his chair across the room where it splinters into fragmented pieces.

“They aren’t getting my princess!” he roars, and the room goes deafeningly silent. “They’re out of their fucking minds if they think that’s gonna happen. We need to save our brotherwithoutgiving them one fucking thing.”

“If it’s war they want, it’s war they’ll get because they aren’t going to lay a single finger on my daughter!” I thunder.

“Agreed,” Riptide agrees. “But now we need to put the word out that we’re officially at war with the Dragons to the rest of the Kings and start doing some recon.”

“Who’s going?” I ask.

“Since it’s your daughter, Indiana, and your niece, Icer, I thought I’d let you two pick who is going to man this operation for you while you two stay behind here at the clubhouse keeping her safe,” Rip briefs us. “I won’t be standing on the sidelines, but you two are the ones who are knowledgeable on who can get the job done quicker and stealthier.” It’s our place in the club totrain the men, and who’re intimately aware of what they can do and what they can’t.

Icer and I glance at each other and he nods his head, already knowing who I’m going to pick. “Shade, Ozzie, Rebel, and Renegade.”

Rip nods his head and glances around, making eye contact with the men. When they all accept the decision by bobbing their heads, he turns back to me and says, “Sounds good to me because that’s who I’d put in those positions too. Time is crucial here, guys. We need to know where they go, who they see, and where they take a shit. I want to know every goddamn gruesome detail.”

“Everyone else is dismissed,” Slayer says, his chin pointing toward the door. When the rest of our brothers file out, he runs his hands through his hair. “I don’t want to lose another brother, fuck knows we know what we sign up for when we put on our cut, but Sphinx was this close to being patched.” He holds his fingers up where there’s hardly a space between them. “We need to find out where they’re holed up. I don’t give the first fuck if you take Patrick’s mother or Jerome’s father into custody if it brings them out from their hidey hole.”

“I agree with our VP,” Icer grinds out. “And since we found out that Zoey’s parents are in on this bullshit, we could bring them in too and interrogate them.”

“Was going to suggest the same thing,” I convey. “They know more about the happenings with the Dragons than what they let on.”

“And that church they’re involved with, there’s something fishy going on there too,” Renegade reminds us.

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