Chapter 12
CENTURY
Ipicked up my phone to call Kane, but my eyes stayed locked on Saylor, where she’d drifted toward the window overlooking The Pit’s parking lot.
She stood with her arms wrapped around herself, staring through the glass, her brow furrowed like she was still trying to stack Sutton’s confession into something that made sense.
It wouldn’t.
Her twin had taken a bad decision, wrapped it in a worse one, and handed the consequences to my woman like that was a family tradition worth preserving.
Saylor felt too much to dismiss her sister completely, but she’d still come straight to me and put the truth in my hands, and fuck if that didn’t make something heavy lock tighter in my chest.
As if she felt my stare, she turned her head.
The smile she gave me was small, a little tired, and still carrying the shadow of everything she’d just told me, but the trust in her eyes hit like a wrench to the ribs.
There was something softer and deeper there too that I was almost sure was love, and it made my hand tighten around the phone hard enough that the case creaked.
I wanted the smile she gave me when she forgot to worry. The Diesel Serpents had put that shadow in her eyes, Sutton had dragged it there, and I was going to wipe the whole problem off the map so completely that Saylor could breathe without waiting for her sister’s chaos to find her again.
I hit Kane’s number.
He answered on the third ring, and a baby whimpered in the background.
Kane murmured something too soft for me to catch.
The sound should’ve been strange coming from an MC prez who could stare down a roomful of armed men without blinking, but it wasn’t.
Kane handled fatherhood the same way he did everything else—with absolute certainty.
“Sutton showed up.”
The baby fussed again, and Kane exhaled. “At The Pit?”
“No. School parking lot. Saylor came straight here after.”
The baby still made little restless sounds in the background, but Kane’s attention snapped fully to me in the way it always did when a line had been crossed. “She good?”
“She’s pissed, worried, and trying hard not to ask me to save a sister who keeps fucking her over.”
“Sounds like she’s smarter than Sutton.”
“Low bar, prez.”
A faint breath that might’ve been amusement came through the line. “Meet in Edge’s office. I’ll call the others and get there once Elianna decides my shoulder is an acceptable place to sleep.”
I glanced back at Saylor, who had turned toward the window again, her profile soft in the glass reflection. “You sound like shit.”
“I have a three-month-old who believes sleep is a negotiation tactic and a wife who keeps trying to do too much because she thinks I don’t notice.” His voice stayed flat, but the contentment beneath it was easy to hear if you knew him. “I’ve been better.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, watching Saylor shift her weight, the movement pulling my eyes down over her curves before I could stop myself. “You sound real fucking miserable.”
“Jealous, Century?”
I didn’t answer right away because my head had already gone somewhere.
My gaze caught on her full hips, the breasts I’d had my mouth on so many times I could still taste her skin when I thought too hard, and the still-flat belly I’d been imagining rounded with my kid.
I’d come inside her bare enough times already that the thought of a head start settled in my blood like a victory lap.
Kane clocked the reason for my silence because he was too damn perceptive. “Just tell me which safe house you’re taking out of rotation.”
My mouth curved despite the situation. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit, brother. You got quiet after I mentioned Elianna, which means you’re either contemplating fatherhood or planning violence. With you right now, probably both.”
“Efficient.”
“Get the property patch on her back first. The old ladies will pitch a fucking fit if their newest friend is kidnapped without one.”
I looked at Saylor again, picturing my name across her back, so every man in the room knew exactly who she belonged to before I ever had to open my mouth.
My cock gave a heavy pulse behind my jeans, because apparently my body liked property patches, pregnancy, and safe houses almost as much as it liked Saylor. “Noted.”
“Good. Edge’s office.”
The call ended, and I stood there for a moment with the phone in my hand, watching Saylor’s reflection in the window. She turned when I crossed the room, her eyes searching my face before she lifted her chin like she was bracing for whatever came next. I hated that.
“We’re heading to the clubhouse.” I slid my phone into my pocket. “You ride with me. One of the prospects will bring your car back to the compound. I don’t want you away from me right now.”
Her expression softened, and she whispered, “Same.”
That one word settled something inside me.
Every time she chose to lean into me instead of pulling away, trusting my instincts instead of treating my protection like a cage, another piece of her became mine in a way that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with love.
I still wanted to get her naked, bury myself deep, and remind both of us exactly how good we were, but that had to wait for now.
I caught her wrist and pulled her into me. “You did good, baby.”
Her eyes softened. “I didn’t do much.”
“You came right to me.”
“I don’t want you in danger. And I really don’t want you blindsided by this.”
“I know.” I cupped the side of her neck, my thumb brushing the pulse jumping under her skin. Then I gave her a soft kiss before taking her hand and leading her out to the parking lot.
The ride to the compound helped burn the worst edge off my temper, though not nearly enough.
Saylor stayed wrapped around me, and each time I felt her fingers flex over my stomach, I wanted to cover them with mine and keep riding until there was nothing behind us but road.
That wasn’t the play, though. My brothers had a plan that made sure the Diesel Serpents learned exactly what happened when they aimed their bullshit at a Redline Kings’ woman.
When we reached the compound, I parked near the clubhouse, killed the engine, and helped her off the bike, keeping a hand at her waist until she got her balance. Then I took Saylor to my room because I needed a minute with her before my mind was filled with strategy and violence.
The second the door shut behind us, I turned to her. “I have club business to handle.”
It wasn’t an unusual explanation. She’d heard it before. But this time, it didn’t sit well with me.
And Kane had always been clear that when it came to our women, if club business touched them, they got truth where it could be given. They weren’t treated like pretty furniture while men made choices around them. Saylor knew Sutton better than any of us, and that knowledge might matter.
I blew out a breath and dragged a hand over my jaw.
Then I stepped closer, lowering my voice even though we were alone.
“I need to fill my brothers in on everything Sutton told you. Jax has pieces. You’ve got pieces.
We put them together, we figure out what the Serpents want and how to make them regret wanting it. ”
She nodded. “If there’s any way I can help, tell me.”
My first reaction was no. Not because I didn’t trust her, but the thought of pulling her deeper into the dark side of my world made something protective rise in me. Turning down her help when it could give us even more of an advantage was reckless, though.
“Maybe you can. It would mean sharing personal shit about Sutton with my brothers. Some of that may mean sharing things about you too. I don’t want you feeling cornered into that.”
“I don’t.” She straightened, the worry in her eyes hardening into resolve. “If it helps you understand what Sutton might do or what she’s already done, I’ll tell them whatever they need to know.”
I caught her chin gently between my thumb and forefinger. “You sure?”
“Yes.” Her voice softened, but her eyes stayed steady. “This threat is tied to Sutton, me, and now you. I want to help.”
I nodded, and we made our way downstairs together. When I pushed the door open to Edge’s office with Saylor at my side, Jax, Axle, Shifter, and Nitro were there too.
Edge’s eyes went to Saylor first and softened just a little. “You good?”
Saylor smiled, and pink filled her cheeks at this scary biker caring. “Yeah.”
He nodded, then asked, “Joining us?”
“Levi thought I could help.”
“She knows more about Sutton than anyone,” I explained.
Edge nodded again, his expression clearly approving.
Jax looked at us over the top of his laptop. “Good. Because your sister’s digital footprint is a dumpster fire.”
Saylor winced. “That sounds like Sutton.”
I sat on the couch and pulled Saylor onto my lap. She relaxed into me when my arm locked around her waist, and I kept one hand spread over her stomach, anchoring her against me and reminding her I was there for support.
“Tell them what you told me,” I murmured against her ear. “Start with Sutton showing up.”
Saylor nodded, then looked around the room and repeated the whole story, leaving nothing out.
Edge’s gaze cut to me. “They were aiming at your custom work.”
I nodded. “Or my bikes. Or both.”
Jax typed quickly. “Did Sutton mention names? Patches? Road names? The guy she conned?”
Saylor continued to answer their questions without a waver in her voice and a fierce expression on her beautiful face. I was so damn proud of her. But she hadn’t gotten to the ugly part yet.
The room went quiet after she finished, and every brother there went still in that dangerous way they had when something touched too close to an old lady. Saylor didn’t know what it meant yet, but she felt it because her back pressed a little tighter to my chest.
I stroked my thumb over her stomach, soothing her while picturing the Diesel Serpents’ faces when they realized how badly they’d misjudged the men in this room.