“At least I do something useful in the darkness,” Zane shot back. “I’m not holed up in bed banging Arianne’s friend. You do to her what you do to your other women, and Arianne’s gonna give you a belly full of lead.”
“How about a little respect?” Cade snapped. “She’s my girl.”
“Your girl?” Jagger’s voice cracked through the stillness.
“Yeah.” Cade checked his weapon, an M107 .50—caliber long-range sniper rifle, in the stunned silence, unwilling to share his rationale for his split—second decision to involve Dawn in the chase and his even more uncharacteristic decision to claim her in the parking lot. He barely understood it himself. But after listening to her story in the police station, and then looking down at her beautiful, bruised face in the alley while her attacker hovered nearby, he’d been seized with an utterly overwhelming need to protect and avenge her. And that meant keeping her close, taking her with him, and then claiming her in the most primitive way.
Mine.
“You have a girl? What does that mean in Cade-speak?” Zane’s incredulous voice grated on him even more than Jagger’s curious stare. “Just one?”
“Lotsa brothers got just one girl. Why not me?”
“’Cause you’re you,” Gunner said. “Voted ‘Least Likely Ever to Settle Down’ five years in a row. Winner of the ‘Most Sweet Butts in the Bed at One Time’ prize. ‘Biker Manwhore of the Year.’ Author of ‘How to Get Laid in Less than Thirty Seconds and Leave Your Friend Drinking Alone at the Bar.’ The man who researched beds big enough for six. The list goes on.”
“And I’ll be taking those prizes home again this year.” Cade bristled. “It’s not like I’m making her an old lady. Not interested in that level of commitment, or becoming an old man. Hell, I almost got her killed when we stopped at Big Bill’s bike shop and Big Bill came around the corner with a shotgun.”
“I can fucking imagine what you were doing at Big Bill’s at that time of night.” Gunner snorted a laugh. “How much did you have to pay him off?”
“Five hundred.”
And it had been worth every penny.
Laughter echoed around him, dying quickly when Shaggy whistled to let them know the convoy had entered the valley.
“You’re fucking obsessed with this chick.” Zane called it straight as he always did. “She dumped you a year ago, and still you still warned the brothers away. You meet her again and suddenly she’s your girl? Just get over her, and be glad she didn’t rip out your fucking heart, rub it in salt, and stomp it into the ground while she fucked every other damn guy on the planet.”
“Christ. He’s at it again.” Gunner sighed. “Sometimes I want to hunt down the bitch who hurt Zane so bad just to put him out of his misery.”
Cade rolled to his side and drew his pistol, aiming it at Zane’s chest, fighting back an unexpected burst of anger. “I’ll put him out of his misery now.”
Zane drew his own weapon, and adrenaline surged through Cade’s veins. This wasn’t about sex. He didn’t just want Dawn in his bed; he wanted more. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to hold her and keep her safe. His want was a craving, an addiction that had only grown worse since he’d met her again.
“Stand down, brothers.” Jagger barked. “Save it for the Jacks.”
Cade lowered his weapon and Zane did the same.
“Fucking bastard,” Zane muttered.
“Come here and say that.” Cade gestured Zane forward, but as he did, he caught the flash of headlights on the road below. “They’re here.”
All their differences vanished in a heartbeat, and they took up their positions. Cade, Zane, and Jagger were on point. Shaggy, T-Rex, Tank, and Gunner had their backs. They’d ambushed protection runs before and everyone knew what to do.
The first Jack went down under Zane’s gun, but before Cade could get a clear shot at the Jack in the lead, a bullet pinged off the rock near Jagger’s head.
“Fuck. They’ve seen us.”
“Scouts,” T-Rex shouted. “They’re off to the side. Two Jacks and a civilian.”
Another bullet thudded into the dirt only two feet from where Jagger was now crouched and ready to run for cover.
“They’re after Jagger.” Cade jumped to his feet and moved between Jagger and the shooter. “Zane. You and Gunner get him out of here. Tank, T-Rex, and I will cover.”
“Jesus Christ,” Jagger growled. “I’m not running away from the fucking Jacks. Bring them on.”
“The Sinners need their president.” Cade kept low and followed Jagger behind the cover of a large rock at the edge of the outcropping. “Especially now. Without you…”
“They’ll have you,” Jagger said, checking his clip. “You can lead them. I trust you.”
Cade swallowed past the lump in his throat. Jagger’s faith had pulled him out of a nightmare and into a world of friendship, honor, loyalty, and brotherhood. He’d helped Cade bury the past and look to a new future where he had something to live for beyond the bottom of a bottle and a mountain of guilt. But he had no desire to replace a great leader and a true friend.