Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
She laughs, and I hand her the spare helmet. “Get on, brat,” I say out loud.
She slips it on while I swing a leg over the bike. A second later, her hands settle around my waist, light at first, then tighter as I pull away from the curb.
The ride back is only four minutes, just long enough for my pulse to finally start slowing, but not long enough to stop looking.
Every few seconds my eyes find the mirrors. The sedan never appears.
At the first set of lights, I check the cross street.
Nothing.
Another intersection.
Still nothing.
I don’t trust it.
Not yet.
People paid to watch don’t usually quit because someone tells them to.
The clubhouse comes into view ahead, and only when the gates slide closed behind us do I finally let some of the pressure ease out of my shoulders.
Not all of it, just enough.
Piper climbs off behind me, giving my shoulder a quick squeeze before pulling off her helmet. I don’t miss what she’s saying. ‘Thank you.’
I answer with a nod.
No words needed.
I spot Sin standing at the clubhouse doors, watching, but standing back, giving us the space we need.
Sage reaches us before I’ve even pulled my gloves off.
She doesn’t look at me, because she’s too busy running like a maniac toward her sister.
“Piper!” She’s across the parking lot in three strides, cupping Piper’s face between both hands before running her gaze over every inch of her like she’s expecting to find something hidden. “Are you okay?”
Piper smiles, trying to sign around Sage’s hands. ‘I’m fine, chill out.’
‘You sure?’
“Sage…” Piper says out loud.
Her hands slide to Piper’s shoulders, turning her one way, then the other, checking her arms, her jacket, her face again. ‘I swear to God, Pipe, if they’d touched you…’
Piper catches both of Sage’s wrists, gently stilling them. ‘They didn’t.’
Sage searches her face for another long second before finally letting out a shaky breath and pulling her into a fierce hug.
Piper hugs her back just as tightly.
Over Piper’s shoulder, her eyes meet mine. ‘See what I deal with?’
A small laugh slips out before I can stop it.
Sisters.
Eventually, Sage steps back, one hand still gripping Piper’s forearm like she’s reluctant to let go.
Sage finally glances at me. “So, tell me what happened?”
I answer before Piper can. “They followed her from the coffee shop.”
Sage’s head turns immediately. “They approached her?”
“No.”
“They spoke to her?”
I hold back my laugh. “No.”
“What did they do?”
I shrug. “They watched.”
Sage furrows her brow at me as though she is becoming annoyed. “And you?”
“I told them they need to stay the fuck away.”
She studies me for a moment. “They listen?”
“They’ll think twice before trying again.”
Another moment. “You sure about that?”
I decide to be honest with her. “No.” I don’t soften it. “I think they’ll report back, which means we assume this isn’t over.”
She nods once. No argument, no pretending otherwise, just acceptance. “I’ll update Sin.”
“I already planned to.”
Her eyes hold mine for a second longer before she nods again. “Good. Thank you for getting her.”
I tighten my hand in hers. “She’s family.”
Sage smiles, leaning into my side, her eyes locking with mine. “So are you.”
Piper makes a gagging sound and puts her finger in her mouth like she wants to vomit.
‘Why were you out there alone?’ Sage signs what we are both thinking.
Piper shrugs, shoving the carry bag into Sage’s arms. ‘I wanted a good coffee, and to get you one of those chocolate croissants you like. Thought you could do with some spoiling. Sorry I scared you. Hopefully, the calories will help.’
Sage opens the bag, looks inside, and her eyes do brighten, if only just a little. “Fine,” she says out loud, then starts to sign the rest. ‘Just promise me you won’t go out without a brother again, please?’
‘Yes, Mom!’
I chuckle, and Sage rolls her eyes, turning to face me.
“I swear she is like a teenager rather than a woman in her twenties!” She looks past me toward the clubhouse, where Piper has already gone inside, texting on her cell like nothing happened, because that is who Piper is.
Sage cuddles into me without either of us commenting on it, and we stand there in the lot for a while, not saying much else, because there is not much else that needs saying, and as we head toward the clubhouse, Sin dips his head at us.
That night I close the Travis Cole file and open the one waiting beneath it.
Calloway.
Every shell company, every financial trail, every connection he’s spent years burying behind layers of paperwork sits in front of me with nowhere left to hide.
Sin already has the meeting scheduled. Forty-eight hours from now, the man who’s spent years manipulating everyone around him is finally going to run out of places to stand.
I save the file, close the laptop, and let the room settle into silence.
My eyes drift to Sage.
She’s asleep on the edge of the desk, her head pillowed on her folded arms, completely unaware she’s still holding a pen between her fingers.
A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. She will complain about the crick in her neck tomorrow.
Forty-eight hours.
Then we finish this.