“Jacks are on the move.” Jagger heaved in a breath. “Shooter spotted three of them heading this way.”
“No.” Evie took a step back. “Viper said I had a day. He was going to…” She stumbled over her words. “Take me, and then T-Rex offered himself in my place. He thought Viper would trade to get his old lady back.”
“Well from the looks of it, he’s coming for you now,” Jagger said. “Zane stopped at the clubhouse to pick up a cage. He’ll be here any minute to take you and Ty to our safe house. I’ll make sure Connie gets home. Shooter and Tank are gonna try to intercept them and Cade is coming with some brothers.”
She stuffed clothes in her suitcase, glanced down the hall to make sure Ty was out of earshot. “I don’t want this, Jagger.” Her voice wavered. “I don’t want to be part of this world. And I don’t understand why Viper is doing this. I ended it with him last night. Doesn’t he realize if he wants me, hurting me and my friends and forcing me to go with him is entirely the wrong thing to do?”
“You’re thinking about him like he’s a normal man, a civilian.” Jagger pulled the curtains on her windows. “He might want you, but it’s in his nature to be cruel and violent. He might have been able to hide it, even enjoy playing the game, but there was only one way the game was going to end, and it was with you in his bed even if he had to hurt you to get you there. He’s a man who takes what he wants, and from the moment you caught his interest, he was never going to leave you alone.”
“Everything was fine until you and Zane showed up at the shop. Before that, he was a different man.” She zipped the case closed and grabbed her coat.
Jagger gave her a tight smile. “When we showed up, we just added politics to the mix. He wants you even more now because a Sinner wants you. And I wouldn’t put it past him to use you as a pawn in the bigger game. The Sinners and the Jacks have been warring over dominance in the state for years. He might not want to use you, but he will. He might not want to hurt you or break you, but he won’t be able to stop himself. He is who he is, Evie. He loved his daughter, Arianne, but he was prepared to kill her when he found out she was with me.”
“You think he would kill me?” She stared at him aghast.
“I think he would break you,” Jagger said. “And if he does, death would be a mercy.”
THIRTEEN
Just getting your repair started can be the hardest part of the whole job.
—SINNER’S TRIBE MOTORCYCLE REPAIR MANUAL
“Evie!” Zane bolted from the Sinner SUV and crossed the lawn to Evie. Ripping the suitcase from her hand, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Relief flooded him, becoming a shuddery ache as she melted into his body. She was okay. His Evie was alive. Even when he’d received the text from Tank, he hadn’t believed it. He had to see her for himself. Hold her. Assure himself it wasn’t all a dream.
“Zane, I can’t breathe.” She pushed gently at his shoulders and he loosened his hold, but he couldn’t let her go.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”
He tried to release her. But no. His arms weren’t cooperating. He wanted her here against his chest, feeling her heartbeat forever.
“Baby, you’ve got to let me go.”
Baby. She’d started using that term of endearment her last year of high school, when Zane would meet her after work, dirty from a day hauling lumber and framing buildings, when he looked nothing like a baby and more like the kind of man who shouldn’t be spending time with a girl like her. But he loved the term of endearment. Loved that it was only for him.
With a sigh he released her. Still unable to speak, he lifted Ty in his arms, and grabbed Evie’s hand, half dragging, half pulling her to the vehicle parked outside her house. The boy weighed almost nothing, and he wondered if Evie had been feeding him right. How much were eight-year-old boys supposed to weigh? Maybe he would ask Dax. With five boys under his belt, Dax would know everything about raising a son. Less, though, about relationship troubles he and Sandy had been happily married since they graduated from high school.
“Keys.” Evie held out her hand after Zane unlocked the door to one of the club’s black SUVs.
Zane settled Ty in the back seat, finally finding his voice. “I drive when there’s a woman in the car. That’s how it is.”
“I drive when my son is in the car. And that’s how it is.” She put her hands on her hips and glared. Zane fought back the urge to just lift her and deposit her in the front seat. This wasn’t the time for feminist bullshit. They were in danger and it was his job to protect them.
“You can fight me all you want,” he said. “But I’m in control of any vehicle I ride in, especially when I got you and Ty to look after.”
“So, it’s a macho thing?” She released a sigh. “Would you really feel that much less of a man if I drove?”