Chapter 4
4
SANDY
D awn breaks over Albuquerque like a fever dream.I've been staring at the same surveillance photos for an hour, trying to make sense of what's coming.The Kings aren't just moving weapons anymore--they're moving something bigger.Something that has Handler spooked enough to call three times since we crossed the state line.
"You're up early." Reaper's voice startles me.I quickly slide the photos under the motel's cheap tourist map as he emerges from the bathroom with dangerous grace."Plotting our escape route?"
"Something like that." I force my eyes away from the water droplets trailing down his chest.Last night's kiss is still burning in my memory, making it hard to focus on anything but the urge to trace those droplets with my tongue."Sleep well?"
"Would've slept better if someone hadn't stolen all the blankets." But his lips twitch, undermining the complaint."And if that someone hadn't snuck out at three AM for a mysterious phone call."
Shit. "Restless night."
"Seems to be going around." He moves closer, leaning over my shoulder to study the map.His scent--soap and leather and pure male--wreaks havoc on my concentration."Any particular reason we're taking the scenic route through Colorado?"
"Besides avoiding Kings territory?" I tap a point on the map, desperately trying to ignore how his proximity makes my skin hum."This route gives us more cover, more escape options if things go sideways."
"And what things might go sideways that you're not telling me about?"
Before I can deflect, my burner buzzes.Handler's code flashes on the screen.
Reaper's eyes narrow. "Popular girl."
"Club business." The lie tastes bitter."Devil's Wings like to keep tabs on their treasurer."
"Yeah?" His hand settles on the back of my chair, effectively caging me in."That why you're carrying a federal-issue burner phone?"
My blood runs cold. "What?"
"Five years as Road Captain means learning a few things." His voice drops lower, dangerous."Like how to spot an undercover agent in my convoy."
"You're paranoid." But my heart races as his other hand slides the surveillance photos out from under the map."Reaper--"
"ATF?" He studies the photos with an unreadable expression."DEA? Or something deeper?"
"It's not what you think."
"Really?" Steel edges his voice."Because what I think is that the woman I loved--the woman I just kissed--has been lying to me.Again."
"I never lied about us." The words burst out before I can stop them."Everything between us was real."
"Was it?" He turns me to face him, hands branding my shoulders."Then tell me the truth now. What are you really doing here, Sandy?"
My burner buzzes again, more insistent this time.Everything in me screams to answer it, to maintain my cover.But the hurt in Reaper's eyes cuts deeper than any mission brief.
"I can't." The words feel like glass in my throat."Not yet. Please, just trust me."
"Trust you?" He laughs, but there's no humor in it."Like I trusted you five years ago when you walked out?When you threw my ring in my face and disappeared?"
"I did that to protect you!"
"From what?"
"From this!" I gesture at the photos, at the mess I've created."From having to choose between your club and your conscience.From watching you die because you're too damn noble to walk away from a fight."
Understanding dawns in his eyes."You were undercover then too."
"Not officially." I slump in defeat."But I was already recruited.They wanted me to inform on the Saints, on your dad's operation.I couldn't--I wouldn't betray you like that.So I left instead."
"Jesus, Sandy." He drags a hand through his hair."Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I know you. You would've tried to help, tried to fix it.And they would've arrested you for interference." My voice cracks."I couldn't watch that happen.Not to you."
The room falls silent except for the persistent buzzing of my burner.Reaper stares at me for a long moment before grabbing the phone and answering it himself.
"She'll call you back." His voice carries that commanding tone that makes even hardened bikers snap to attention.Then he ends the call and tosses the phone aside.
"That was stupid." But my protest lacks heat."They'll think my cover's blown."
"Maybe it should be." He steps closer, backing me against the wall."Maybe it's time to stop running from whatever's coming."
"I'm not running." My hands come up to brace against his chest, but I'm not exactly pushing him away."I'm trying to stop a war before it starts."
"Then let me help." His thumb traces my bottom lip, sending shivers down my spine."We're stronger together. Always were."
"It's not that simple."
"It could be." He presses his forehead to mine, and all those years of distance evaporate like morning mist."Just tell me what we're really facing."
My burner buzzes again. This time it's a text.
Kings moving product tonight.All agents in position. DO NOT BLOW YOUR COVER.
"Sandy." Reaper's voice pulls me back."Talk to me."
I look up into eyes I've trusted since I was seventeen, and something inside me breaks."The Kings aren't just running guns.They're moving something bigger tonight.Something that has every federal agency in three states on high alert."
"What kind of something?"
"The kind that gets entire clubs put away for life." I swallow hard."The kind that could start a war that would destroy everything you've built."
Understanding floods his expression."That's why you wanted to reroute through Colorado.Keep us clear of whatever's coming down."
"I can handle the Kings. What I can't handle is you getting caught in the crossfire." My fingers curl in his shirt."I lost you once because of this job.I won't do it again."
"You never lost me." His mouth hovers inches from mine, his words a dangerous promise."I was just waiting for you to come back."
This time when he kisses me, there's nothing gentle about it.It's all heat and hunger and years of pent-up need.I arch into him, gasping as he lifts me against the wall.His hands slide under my shirt--another one of his shirts--palming bare skin as his mouth devours mine.
"Tell me to stop." He nips at my throat, making me moan."Tell me this isn't what you want."
"I can't." I wrap my legs around his waist, drawing him closer."God help me, I can't."
His answering growl vibrates through me as he carries me to the bed.We fall together in a tangle of limbs and half-shed clothes, hands relearning familiar territory as if no time has passed.
Then Reaper's club phone rings.
"Ignore it," Reaper murmurs against my collarbone.
But the ringtone is Timer's, and he never calls unless it's important.With a frustrated groan, I reach for the phone and hand it to him.
"This better be good," Reaper growls, putting the phone on speaker.
"Kings are on the move." Timer's voice carries an edge I've never heard before."Full crew headed toward Devil's Wings territory.They're carrying heavy artillery."
Ice floods my veins. "How heavy?"
"Military grade. Whatever's going down, it's happening now."
I meet Reaper's eyes, seeing my own conflict mirroredthere.Duty wars with desire as his hands flex on myhips.
"We'll be right there." He ends the call with asigh.
"Reaper--"
"I know." He presses one last searing kiss to my mouth before rollingaway."Dutycalls."
We dress in tense silence, the weight of unfinished business hanging betweenus.Just before we leave, he catches myarm.
"This isn't over." His voice carries a promise that makes meshiver."Whatever's coming, whatever you're mixed up in, we face ittogether.No morerunning."
I should argue. Should maintain my cover, keep my distance, protect him from what'scoming.
Instead, I rise on tiptoes and brush my lips acrosshis."Together."
His smile is pure sin. "Seal that promise properlylater?"
"Count on it." I grab my cut, already shifting into agentmode."But first, we have Kings tohandle."
"Lead the way, AgentMitchell."
The title should worry me, should make me questioneverything. As we head out to face whatever chaos is coming, however, all I feel isrelief.
Because for the first time in a long time, I'm not facing italone.
Now I just have to make sure we both survive what'scoming.