Page 74 of Dangerous Love

Bow down to him, swear to his god you’ll never get in his way again, and take Sienna far away.

I pressed the voice activation on the console and called Trey from the speaker. Not that I wanted him involved, but he knew our father better than I did, and there was more in two heads than one when it came to getting Hal on my good side.

“Yo,” Trey answered the phone, his tone upbeat. “How did it go with your girl?”

“I’m taking her away. We’re going to get our own place.”

“Shit. You move fast. What’d I miss?” he teased as his kettle whistled in the background.

I puffed a deep breath, ready to scream my love for her on every goddamn rooftop. “She’s the only one for me, Trey. I broke her. That’s on me. But we love each other, and I want her out of where she’s been staying.”

The whistling stopped, and instead, metal against ceramic clunked as my brother slurped on his hot drink. “Where’s she been staying?”

“With some guy at work. Michael’s his name.” I paused, searching for the right words to break my plan to him. “Listen, I figured there’s only one way to get Hal off our backs.”

Trey grew serious. “Riley, you better be looking for townhouses right now, and not bracing to do something stupid. Where the fuck are you?”

“He’s only arking up because he feels cornered. Hal doesn’t do well when he thinks he’s being threatened, so I’m gonna put him out of his misery and give him what he wants in exchange for the club’s immunity.”

Banging noises echoed in the phone as Trey’s tone doubled in decibels. “Riley, you’re a fucking idiot if you think that’s how Dad works. You’re not going there to act on your moronic plan.”

I clenched my jaw, my knuckles growing white against the steering wheel. “It has to be tonight. They’re all in Kingscliff.”

“Then I’m coming with you. How far are you from mine?”

“Trey, it’s not your fight.”

“You fucking bet it is. How far?”

I glanced at the exit sign a few metres away and veered left at the last minute. “Less than ninety seconds now.”

When my tires crunched on Trey’s driveway, my brother waited for me, a duffel bag hanging off his shoulder. He jumped in the car and pushed his seat as far as it would go while he dropped the bag between his legs. “Go,” he said, as he loaded his first gun.

“Jesus, I’m going there to make amends. Why do you have your whole arsenal in my car?”

He glared at me while he chambered a round and ensured the .22 was loaded. “Seth was naïve, but holy fuck, you’re not far behind.”

He might have been right, but what choice did I have? I was done running. “If you have another option for how I can live my life while protecting my family, I’m all ears.” I glanced at the next firearm in his hands. “And point that thing away from me, would ya?”

He rolled his eyes, a small smirk curling his lips. “Bro, I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive. No one I don’t plan on shooting is getting shot.”

My glare back on the road, I took a deep breath as we drove off the highway. There were only a few minutes between us and my heart-to-heart with Hal. “Any last-minute advice?”

“I’m guessingturn aroundwon’t cut it?” he deadpanned.

“I’m done cowering, Trey. I’m ready to put everything behind me and start my life with Sienna. She’s done too. You get that, don’t you?”

A third gun cocked next to me as he grunted, “What do you plan on putting on the table?”

“I’ll give him all the intel we have on him. I’ll bow down to his almighty reign if I have to, in exchange for a fresh start and no link to either club.”

Trey’s voice dropped. “You really love her, don’t you?”

My heart swelled as Sienna’s face materialised in my mind. The way she smiled, the way she cried, and how I craved to hold her through both. “More than anything else.”

He slid one gun at the back of his waist and another on the opposite side, before he sighed. “Then, it’s worth trying to see if the old man still has a heart.”

I nodded, slowing down as we pulled through the driveway of Hal’s warehouse, and parked the car in the shadows. The place was dead. Instead of the usual ruckus, open drug deals, and enforcers checking each other’s balls, there wasn’t a soul in sight. Nothing besides my father’s BMW. “There’s no way he’s completely alone. He’ll have at least Fish or Alexandro with him.”

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