Page 8 of Property of Indiana

“This isn’t our normal, but let’s vote by show of hand. Raise it high in the air if you are for this and keep them at your sides if you’re against it. Who here agrees to let these two lay claim on this woman and her daughter?”

Icer swivels on his feet as he glares at them, daring them to decline his request. Nobody is dumb, of course they’re going to agree so they don’t feel his wrath. Every hand in the room shoots up, some even double hand it, meaning it’s unanimous.

“Fine, looks like the club has its first princess inducted into our ranks. Indiana. Icer, I expect them to be here for introductions and you both explain to Zoey what this means. Don’t let her be blindsided by the importance of the role you two have given her and her daughter. What’s her name?”

“Elodie,” I answer.

“Princess!” Icer yells over me. “Her official club title is princess. Got it?” Everyone nods their head, some of their jaws hanging open. “Good.” He knocks his knuckles on the bar top and walks away. “I’m gonna go watch their house. I don’t trust those fucking dragons.”

“If he has the overnight shift, one of you needs to accompany him.” As I go to follow him, Rip places his hand on my shoulders, halting me. “Not you, Indiana. We need to talk. Renegade, go with him. You’re the only one who has a chance of keeping up with him if he loses his shit.”

“Got it, pres,” Renegade states, rushing out behind Icer as the door slams shut behind him.

Rip turns toward me and points his finger at his office. The silent command is enough for me and I go that way. As soon as we make it through the doors, he slams it shut and his eyes laser focus on me. “What the holy fuck was that?”

“You know what Zoey meant to me before she disappeared,” I explain.

“No. Not that. What was up with Icer? I’ve never seen him be so passionate about another person in all the years I’ve known him. His grandfather was my Paps’ enforcer and they both have been as cold as Ice. That’s where he got his name from, he hardly tolerates us, what’s so special about this girl that has him wrapped around her finger?”

A maniacal smile crosses my face as I pull out my phone. I was saving it for blackmail material, but this is something he’ll have to see to believe. I find the first clip I filmed and press play on it. Rip’s eyes become saucer wide as he flops down in his chair, not even noticing that it rolled back on its wheels as his face leans closer to the screen. He scrolls through each reel, and with each one played, he grows paler.

“You know what this means, right?” he asks me.

“We’re fucked?” I question, leaning forward and taking a peppermint out of his candy dish.

“We’re fucked,” he mimics. “Did he seriously help her pick out school clothes and match outfits?”

“Oh, yeah,” I say, grinning. “He almost threw down with a dad over a pink leather jacket. Lucky for us, and everyone else in the shop, he found another one in the right size and color tucked behind a stack of shirts.”

“Shit, we better remember the combo we gave him then because I’ve never seen him this chill in all the years he’s been around,” Riptide states. “Hell, he’s back to his normal self right now and is still hellbent on protecting the little girl. She must have made a huge impression.”

“She knew the song he was humming and then started singing it,” I admit, snickering. “I swear to God; it was hysterical watching how he maneuvered Zoey into letting him buy all the shit he did. He even managed to toss in a backpack as well as a lunchbox fit for a princess as he started calling her.”

“He’s going to be unbearable if anything happens to either of them,” Riptide muses. “Plus, since it’s documented that the Onyx Dragons were likely behind Zoey’s assault, he’s gonna have a huge hard-on for taking them out. They’re pretty connected,” Riptide reminds me. “If we find out who hurt Zoey, we’re going to have to finesse the fuck out of it so it doesn’t blow back on the club.”

“No shit,” I rumble. “But unless we get ears to the ground, I’m sure no one is just gonna drop that intel in our laps.”

The fact that someone hurt my shy, innocent girl in such a vile way guts me. We had been friends and she hadfinallyagreed to go out on a date with me. While I still wasn’t sure if she could handle club life, I knew I wanted her in mine so I was willingto exercise the patience needed to explain all of it to her. What’s worse is this is a small town and once people realize Zoey is back and hear how old Elodie is, there’s a good chance they’ll connect the dots. The last thing I want for her or her daughter is for the Onyx Dragons to set their sights on her once again.

Because not only will the town have to worry about the damage Icer will cause, but they’ll need to be concerned about the mayhem and destruction I’ll bring to the fight. That little one is obviously the apple of her mother’s eye, regardless of how she came about. The concerning thing to me, however, is that Zoey was adamant that her parents are no longer a part of her life, and subsequently, Elodie’s, which makes me wonder just how they reacted to Zoey’s assault and pregnancy.

“We need to get one of our guys to go undercover in their organization,” Rip decides, pulling out a bottle of whiskey from his desk drawer along with two shot glasses. “Who do we have that could pull something off like that?”

I mentally go through a list of our prospects. They’re not as well known throughout town in regard to their association with us. Many of our probies stick to the clubhouse, doing odd jobs and keeping stuff around here clean.

“Sphinx is close to patching in, this could be his loyalty test. His sister is the hairdresser in town that hooked me up with my beard regime. We could have him put in those hair extensions just in case they’ve ever seen him around town in his prospect cut. We could have her dye it to a color that’d make him unrecognizable and buy him some of those colored contacts as well. Either that or a pair of glasses,” I suggest.

“Clark Kent the shit out of him, huh?” Rip jokes. “It’s not a bad idea. Things have been quiet up until now and I wasn’t sure if Ishould send him to Rio for his loyalty test. But if he can do this, and you think he could pull it off safely, then I’m all for it.”

“Nothing in our life is done safely, pres,” I remind him. “We all know that the day we sign on that we put ourselves on the line. We risk everything for the club, it’s what the brotherhood is all about.”

“True, but I’d rather not lose one of our brothers, Indiana.”

“Not trying to sound cold here, Rip, but he’s not a brother yet,” I inject.

“Not officially, no. But he’s still one of us,” Rip argues.

Leaning back, I steeple my fingers and place them under my chin, trying to figure out how to say this with some tact that won’t have Rip ready to rip my balls off. “He’s not seen as a brother, Rip. He hasn’t earned that respect and hasn’t earned his patch. Until that day happens, he’s disposable and you know it. Again, I’m not trying to be a heartless bastard about this, but that’s how it’s seen by those of us who’ve earned our stripes.”

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