Shade pulled out Lily’s bags as the sisters said their goodbyes.
He kept his face impassive when he heard her soft voice addressing him.
“Thank you for bringing Beth. Goodbye.”
Shade’s heart sank further with every step she took away from him.
“Brother, she’s too young.”
Shade turned his mirrored gaze to Razer. “You think I don’t know that? It’s the only reason I’m letting her go back inside,” Shade admitted. Loyalty ran deep with Shade; he wasn’t going to lie to another brother. “I can wait.”
“You sure?” Razer’s doubt-filled voice questioned.
“I’m sure. I won’t touch her until she’s twenty-one,” Shade promised, seeing the dubious look didn’t disappear from Razer’s face. “Have I ever gone back on my word?”
“No, but I’ve never seen you look at a woman the way you do Lily.”
“I can wait,” Shade repeated his words. “But when she turns twenty-one, despite whatever is going on with you and Beth in the future, I expect you to keep out of my business with Lily.”
Razer’s hands went up in surrender. “I wouldn’t think of interfering. Besides, I won’t even be seeing Beth then. That’s years away.”
Shade didn’t reply. His intuition told him the blond had Razer by the balls, but if Razer didn’t realize he was in ass-deep with Beth, Shade wasn’t going to be the one to tell him. He didn’t stick his nose in other brothers’ business, and he didn’t want them in his.
Shade was going to miss sharing a woman with Razer, but he saw the advantage of Razer forming a deeper relationship with Beth.
Shade wouldn’t have to lure Lily into the club. Beth would.
Chapter 8
Shade was woken up by a rough hand shaking his shoulder.
“Beth’s disappeared.” Shade was instantly awake at Knox’s words.
He slid from his bed, taking his jeans off the chair and pulling them on before tugging on his boots. His hand reached for his shirt as Knox strode from the room, and then Shade pulled it on over sore muscles as he followed him up the steps. It had been a while since he had fucked so many women in one night, and his body was feeling the after-effects.
“Who saw her last?” Shade questioned, coming to a stop in the kitchen where all the members were gathered.
“I did,” a pale-faced Razer told him, running a hand through his long hair. “I packed a couple of boxes to my room for her. She said she was going to organize them for Mrs. Langley. I went for a run and when I came back, I went out back to get the work schedule before going to my room to take a shower. She was gone.”
Shade studied the occupants of the room. “Anyone else missing?”
The members stared at each other, trying to figure out who wasn’t there.
“Where’s Sam?” Shade asked sharply, knowing Knox had been with her until late in the night.
“I don’t know.” Knox frowned. “I haven’t seen her since breakfast.”
“Find her,” Shade ordered. “Evie, call the sheriff.”
They were about to search through the house when Razer’s cell phone rang. Shade froze at Razer’s response to whatever was said to him.
“We’ll be there as fast as we can. Wait for us.” He disconnected the call.
“Viper saw Sam force Beth inside a house he was watching with Bedford in it. Sam had a gun on her,” Razer warned as they ran from the house to their bikes.
Razer took the lead with a trail of bikers following.
As they passed the sheriff’s office, he saw his father running to his patrol car. They rode by in a burst of speed Shade knew it would take him valuable time to catch up.
He nearly lost control of his bike when he turned down an unpaved driveway. The brothers parked their bikes at the end of it, taking off at a dead run. Then they saw Viper and Cash giving the signal to be silent and the brothers lined up beside the house, waiting for Viper’s orders.
Once Viper pointed at him, Razer, and Cash, they moved stealthily to the back of the house, going up a short flight of steps. Viper reached for the doorknob yet paused when the loud voices could be heard clearly from the outside.
“I didn’t have time. The box was closed when I went in the room. How was I supposed to know she was smart enough to take the papers out?”
Shade twisted his body so he could look through the dirty window. It looked like the box in question was sitting on a table.
“You check!” Vincent Bedford screamed at his daughter.
“I can go back and get the papers.” Sam turned to Beth and smacked her across the face. “What did you do with them?”
Shade watched as Beth touched her stinging cheek, refusing to answer. He was surprised she was strong enough not to give in to their demands.
“I will shoot your kneecap. I can look if I have to, but it will be quicker and less painful for you if you tell me where they are,” Bedford threatened.
“I put them in the closet.” Shade could tell Beth was lying, and they knew it, too.
“She’s lying.”