Page 109 of Queen of Anarchy (Dirty Broken Savages 2)

Her expression tightens. “I already told you I’m not leaving without Cody.”

“I know.” I hold up my hands, guilt flashing through me again. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand that at first. I know why you won’t leave him behind, and I won’t ask you to.”

Even as I speak, my mind is already racing, trying to come up with something,anythingthat could work to get them both out.

Julian will let Hannah go if Knox marries Natalie and he gets to keep Cody. That plan is already in place. But Hannah doesn’t want to leave without Cody, so we have to get Cody out with her somehow. And since Julian definitely won’t agree to that…

It’ll have to be done without him knowing.

“Wait.” I sit up a little straighter, my pulse kicking up as a flood of adrenaline rushes through me. “I think I have an idea.”

The thought is still taking shape in my head, but it gets clearer by the second, and as it does, my excitement grows.

“How?” Hannah looks pensive, like she’s trying not to get her hopes up. “He’s not just going to let us both go, River. You said yourself he only cares about keeping Cody.”

“I know.” I lick my lips, my mind racing at a mile a minute. “I know. Just… come with me for a second.”

I scrape my chair back from the table and Hannah follows me in to the living room. As I expected, the guys are all in there, talking in low voices. Knox and Ash are awake now, either because they wandered down on their own or because they got woken up by me and Hannah yelling at each other in the kitchen.

Priest and Gage must have filled them in on what’s going on, because they don’t look surprised to see Hannah in their house.

They all glance our way when we walk in, expectant looks on their faces.

“There’s been a change of plans,” I announce.

“Okay.” Gage draws the word out slowly. “I think we need more than that.”

“Hannah won’t leave without Cody. Her son. She doesn’t want Julian to raise him, and I support her in that. He’s just a kid, and he needs people in his corner to look out for him. So instead of Knox marrying Natalie to get Hannah out, I think we should use the wedding as a cover to get them both out. HannahandCody. It’ll be a whole big event, and everyone from Julian’s family will be there, so it’ll be the perfect time.”

The guys are quiet for a bit, taking that in. Gage frowns, but it’s his thoughtful frown, meaning he’s turning over my plan in his head, examining it from all angles to see where the dangers might be and how it might work or not.

“It’s more dangerous than our initial strategy,” he says eventually. “But if it works, it’s definitely the better plan.”

Priest nods. “More risk up front, but less risk in the long run. The idea of tying our business to that family was… not great.”

“Understatement.” Ash snorts, adjusting his glasses with one hand.

Knox looks relieved, and it hits me that hereallydidn’t want to marry Natalie at all. He would have done it for me, though, because it seemed like the only way to get Hannah back.

“So we’re good, then?” I ask, a little bubble of hope expanding in my chest. “We’ll do it this way instead?”

“We’re good,” Gage replies. “We’ll need to hammer out the details, but this option is definitely a better one.” He gives me a little nod, and I grin and nod back.

“I need to go,” Hannah says, cutting into the conversation. There’s a strain in her voice that wasn’t there a moment ago. “I think I’ve pushed it as long as I can. If Julian finds out I left…”

No one needs her to finish that sentence. Even though I’m so fucking glad she came, my stomach twists with worry that she’ll get caught and punished for sneaking out.

“Yeah, okay.” I turn toward her quickly. “Let’s get you out of here.”

As I walk her to the front entryway, the guys stay put in the living room, giving us a moment alone.

Fuck, I don’t want to let her step out that door.

Some part of me feels like if she walks away now, I’ll never see her again, and it makes me nauseated just thinking about it. But if she stays, it’ll fuck things up even worse. So there’s nothing I can do right now but let her go and have faith that our plan will work.

We stop just inside the front door, and Hannah wraps her arms around me in another tight hug. I hug her back just as tightly, fighting down the tears that burn the backs of my eyes. She’s so real and solid in my arms, and I never want to let go.

“You know,” she says when we finally release each other. “In all the time we were talking, you didn’t explain about you and them.”

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