Page 89 of Baby for the Bikers

“They pull us back in,” I finish grimly.

Teller passes a file across the table. “Extra security rotations for the next two weeks. Your property, the garage, the diner—all covered twenty-four seven.”

I nod my thanks, though this feels crushing. It’s not just us at risk anymore. It’s Rowan. It’s our employees. It’s the whole damn town if Cypher decides to make an example of us.

“We should tell her,” Ryder says quietly. “Rowan. She deserves to know what’s coming.”

“And say what?” I counter. “That a drug-running MC president wants our heads on a platter? That we used to work for a black ops organization that’s now using us as bait?”

“If Cypher’s coming to Wolf Pike, she’s in danger too,” Maddox points out. “She should at least know that much.”

He’s right, but the thought of exposing our past to Rowan—revealing the blood on our hands, the darkness we’ve tried to leave behind—makes me want to vomit. What if she looks at us differently? What if she decides we’re not worth the risk?

“Let’s get through the next couple of days,” I decide. “See what else Cerberus digs up. Then we’ll figure out how much to tell her.”

My brothers don’t look happy with the compromise, but they nod in agreement. For now, it’s the best we can do.

The tensionfrom the meeting follows us home like a shadow, seeping into every interaction, every glance.

Rowan is waiting in the living room, lying on the couch with a book.

“Hey,” she says, her smile not quite reaching her eyes as she puts the book away. “Everything okay?”

“Fine,” I answer. “Just club business running long.”

She watches me carefully. “You’re all wound so tight I can practically hear you creaking,” she observes, standing to approach us. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

I meet her gaze, weighing the risk of truth against the comfort of protection through ignorance. “We have secrets too,” I say finally. “Things we’re not ready to share yet.”

The hurt that flashes across her face is brief but unmistakable. “I see.”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you,” Maddox interjects, moving to her side. “It’s just complicated. Club stuff.”

“Dangerous club stuff, from the looks of it,” she counters, crossing her arms. “I know dangerous when I see it, remember?”

Ryder steps closer, his hand settling on the small of her back. “We’ll tell you. Just need to figure some things out first.”

She studies each of us in turn, then sighs, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. “Fine. But know that whatever it is, whatever you’re dealing with, I’m stronger than I look.”

“We know,” I say, and I mean it. Whatever her past holds, whatever she’s running from, her strength has never been in question.

Maddox reaches for her hand, tugging her toward the couch. “Come here,” he says, pulling her down onto his lap. “Enough serious talk. I just want to feel you next to me for a while.”

She softens against him, letting him wrap his arms around her waist. “That bad, huh?”

“Bad enough,” he admits, burying his face in her neck. “But better now.”

I watch them from across the room, the familiar ache of desire warring with the cold dread that’s been my constant companion since seeing Cypher’s video.

I should join them and take comfort in the warmth Rowan so freely offers. But my mind keeps replaying that execution. It keeps imagining Cypher targeting her to get to us.

Maddox’s hands begin to wander, one sliding up to cup her breast through her shirt. Instead of stopping him, Rowan sighs and leans into his touch, her head falling back against his shoulder.

“This okay?” Maddox murmurs against her ear.

“More than okay,” she breathes, then glances at Ryder, who’s watching them with undisguised hunger. “Come here.”

Ryder obeys, standing before them as Maddox continues his attention. She reaches for Ryder’s belt, nimble fingers working the buckle open with practiced ease.

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