and was hugely protective of her.
‘I know Justin’s a dick, but he could make life difficult for you.’ I didn’t add that he could also make life difficult for the rest of the Knights, too, but I didn’t need to.
Smoke looked down at me, his face unreadable. ‘He’ll get what’s coming to him, Cat. Nothing you can do to stop it. Especially if he tries pulling any more of this kind of shit.’
I swallowed, my throat dry all of a sudden. ‘It’s not him I’m worried about.’
Something shifted in his guarded dark eyes, but I couldn’t tell what it was.
‘Yeah, I know. Don’t worry.’
He smiled. and I knew then that he was furious. Because he only ever smiled like that when he was angry.
‘I’ll let him live.’
And for the second time that night I shivered.
Smoke
I’D KILL FOR that kid. I’d kill for Cat.
And as I headed out of the clubhouse and got on my bike I wanted to. Wanted to wrap my hands around that motherfucker Justin’s neck and choke the living shit out of him.
He’d never pulled anything like this before, and I knew it was a bad sign. So far he’d kept his hands off Annie, but it was only a matter of time. Pricks like that were all the same—and I should know since I’d grown up with one.
As I slammed up the kick stand Tiger came over. He looked stoned, which was unsurprising given the smell of weed wafting around the clubhouse entrance.
‘Whatcha doing?’
‘Cat’s got a problem with Annie,’ I said shortly. ‘Going to deal with it.’
‘Need a hand?’
‘Nope.’
The fewer people involved with this the better. Especially if that fancy-ass fucking lawyer was going to start throwing his weight around. He was the son of the local police chief, and that was the only reason he was still walking around and breathing.
Keep, the Knights’ president, didn’t want any situations escalating with the cops since the Knights had got them sweet a year or so ago. A few favours here, a few favours there and they left us alone.
The chief’s son ending up dead would kill that arrangement.
Which was a big fucking pity for me.
He’d hurt Cat once before—hurt her real bad. I’d have killed him for that alone and screw the fucking peace agreement if she hadn’t told me to back off.
I’d never understood that. But she was my friend and I didn’t want to fuck up her life any more than it was already.
‘Sure?’
Tiger liked to be involved when shit went down, but tonight he could stay here. He’d had too much to smoke anyway.
‘I’m sure.’ I started up my Harley, the roar of the pipes filling the night air. ‘But keep an eye on your phone in case I need backup.’
He gave me a salute with two fingers near his forehead and I took off, heading out onto the streets.
I knew where Justin lived. Sometimes I used to ride past his townhouse just to remind him that I was out there, looking for an excuse to end him. A warning to stay away from the two people I cared about most in the world.
What the fuck he was doing with Annie tonight, I did not know. But one thing was for sure: he’d made the biggest fucking mistake of his life.
I must have got lucky or something, because as I pulled up to the kerb outside his house, the door opened and out the prick came—Annie in one arm, the handle of a giant suitcase bumping down the stairs in the other.
He didn’t see me at first, obviously in a hurry to get both the kid and the suitcase into the back of his fancy BMW. So I gave him five minutes to let him think he was going to get away. Then I got off my bike, walked up to the car as he was closing the door after him, and wrenched it open before he could get it shut.
‘What the hell?’
He looked up at me from his place in the driver’s seat, his face a mask of rage. That soon turned to fear as I leaned an elbow casually on the roof of the car, my other arm on the open door to stop him from getting out.
‘Hey, Justin,’ I said, smiling. ‘Going somewhere?’
His mouth twisted. ‘Get away from the car or I’ll call the police.’
I laughed. ‘Yeah... See, I don’t think you want to do that.’
‘Smoke!’ Annie was wriggling in her car seat. She was six and didn’t know her daddy was an asshole. ‘Why are you here? It’s really late and we’re going on a trip. Just Daddy and me!’
‘Hey, kiddo.’ I kept my voice low and friendly, at the same time giving her a quick scan. She looked fine, grinning at me in that way she always did, like she was having the time of her life. ‘How’s it hanging back there?’
She giggled. ‘Nothing’s hanging. Is Mom coming soon?’
‘Soon, honey.’
I glanced back at her father. The guy was furious, his mouth gone tight and mean. Cat had told me once that she thought he was good-looking, but I couldn’t see it.
‘Annie needs to come home now,’ I said flatly. ‘You unstrap her, give her to me, and nothing else’ll happen.’
‘Like hell.’ Justin reached for the keys. ‘She’s my goddamn kid, and I’ll do what I goddamn like with her!’
Fuck. The prick just didn’t listen, did he?
I leaned in and grabbed the keys before he could move, pulling them out of the ignition and throwing them as hard as I could over to the other side of the street. ‘Go fetch, motherfucker.’
Justin looked like he was going to explode. ‘Touch her and—’
‘You’ll what?’ I cut him off, sick of this bullshit. ‘Go running to Daddy? Hide behind your fucking laws? Or are you actually going to man up and take a swing at me?’
I wished he’d take the swing. I wanted an excuse to punch him so bad it was like a pain in my gut.
But it was like he knew—like he could see how much I wanted to do it—because he suddenly leaned back in his seat, all the tension bleeding out of him.
‘All right,’ he said. ‘Take her home, then. But you can tell Cat that I’ll be back.’ The asshole had the gall to grin at me. ‘With a court order.’
I
