Chapter 12 #2
“Sutton asked you to get the information from Century?” Shifter reiterated, his voice calm enough to sound almost gentle if you didn’t hear the steel under it.
Saylor’s mouth twisted. “Yes. She acted like it was a brilliant idea. Since I’m actually with Levi, she thought I could save both of us by getting the intel for her.”
Edge’s brows rose. “Stupid, but bold.”
“I told her I’m done cleaning up her messes,” Saylor announced.
“Then?” Jax asked.
“She got angry. When I flat-out refused to betray Levi and the Redline Kings, she got a little mean.” Saylor looked down at her hands, then lifted her chin again.
My arm tightened around her as I repeated some of the things Sutton had said to Saylor.
She sat stiffly in my arms, probably wishing I hadn’t shared that part.
But I wasn’t protecting Sutton from consequences by softening her words.
Edge’s expression lost the last trace of amusement.
Nitro’s stare went flat, and Shifter looked furious.
Jax stopped typing for a moment, which told me plenty.
“She only said those things to hurt me because I wouldn’t do what she wanted,” Saylor whispered, as if she felt the need to stand up for her sister.
“Doesn’t excuse it, baby,” I growled.
“She’s probably jealous, too,” Jax muttered, fingers moving again. “Messy, desperate, jealous, and scared. That’s a fantastic combination for us.”
I couldn’t help feeling just a little smug—which probably made me a total asshole at that moment—when I urged her, “Tell them the rest, baby.”
The corners of her mouth curved up minutely. “I told her she doesn’t understand what’s happening between Levi and me because she doesn’t believe that kind of trust is possible. I told her he’s honest, loyal, protective, and he treats me like I’m the best thing that ever happened to him.”
Edge looked at me with a single brow raised. “You pay her to say that?”
“Fuck off,” I snarled, but there was no heat behind it.
Axle looked at Saylor. “How’d the conversation end?”
“She threw family first at me.” Saylor’s voice went quieter, sadness cutting through the irritation.
“I told her family isn’t using someone, stealing from them, manipulating them, or demanding they betray people who don’t deserve it.
Then I told her to leave, but she wouldn’t.
A prospect appeared and made sure she did. ”
Shifter nodded. “That was Mace. He’s one of the guys who had eyes on you after Brake Point.”
Saylor looked at me, one brow lifting. “Eyes on me?”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “Not gonna apologize for protecting my woman.”
“Okay.”
My brow rose at her calm reaction. “Not gonna yell at me?”
“No.” She glanced at the men in the room, then back at me, a smile playing around the edges of her mouth. “Not when I can’t say I wouldn't have done the same thing with you.”
There were a few coughs around the room, clearly covering up their laughter.
Before I responded, Saylor said, “Honestly, I was relieved.”
“Good,” Kane said from the doorway.
The whole room shifted around his presence as he stepped inside. He shut the door behind him and looked straight at Saylor, his green eyes calculating as he found a seat, then tipped his chin for her to continue.
I finished for Saylor, telling him how she drove straight to The Pit, giving me everything, and not asking me to help Sutton even though she was afraid her sister might be killed. Kane listened without interrupting, his face unreadable and his attention absolute.
When I was done, the room held quiet for a few seconds before Kane’s gaze drifted to mine.
There was approval there, subtle but unmistakable, and it landed hard because our prez didn’t hand that shit out to make men feel good.
I’d given him my oath, my loyalty, and my life if it ever came down to it, and knowing he approved of the way I’d handled Saylor mattered more than I’d ever say out loud.
Kane looked back at Saylor. “You did right bringing this to him.”
Saylor’s fingers tightened over mine. “I wasn’t going to betray him.”
“No,” Kane agreed with absolute certainty in his tone. “You wouldn’t.”
Edge leaned back in his chair. “So? What’s the plan?”
I already had one forming, ugly in the places Saylor didn’t need to see yet.
The Redline Kings lived in gray areas darker than most people could stomach, and this plan might push even deeper if the Diesel Serpents decided to keep breathing after they lost. I didn’t need her sitting here while we discussed which bones to break, trails to bury, or threats to leave breathing long enough to send a message.
I brushed my mouth lightly against Saylor’s shoulder. “You came straight to The Pit after school. You hungry?”
She turned her head and gave me a look that said she saw straight through me. “Levi.”
“Kitchen’s stocked. I can take you down, see what we can find.”
Her mouth softened, and instead of calling me out in front of my brothers, she leaned in and kissed me. It wasn’t hot enough to derail me, but it was sweet enough to hit home. A soft press of trust and understanding that made my chest feel tight.
When she pulled back, her eyes were warm, and I hated how badly I wanted to follow her out just so she wouldn’t be out of reach.
“I appreciate you offering to abandon the strategy meeting and babysit me.”
Edge made a strangled sound that he badly disguised as a cough.
Saylor ignored him, her gaze still on mine. “But I know you were trying not to let them kick me out in a way that made me feel unwanted. So stay. Figure out how to take those jerks down. I’ll go find food.”
I stared at her for a beat, appreciating that she was smart enough to see the truth, soft enough to understand the intention, and brave enough to walk out of the room without making me chase her. “Old ladies probably have something in the fridge you can heat.”
She smiled and shook her head. “I do know how to cook, Levi.”
“That so?” I asked, my brow raised.
Saylor smirked. “I have many talents you haven’t discovered.”
Well, fuck.
Saylor’s face suddenly flushed, and she glanced around as if she’d just remembered we were in a room full of my brothers.
“Go,” I told her with a grin. “I look forward to exploring those hidden talents later.”
I helped her off my lap, letting my hand drag over her hip as she stood because I couldn’t seem to stop touching her even when the room was full of men who’d absolutely give me shit for it later.
She headed for the door, pausing when Kane opened it for her with a quiet nod.
The second she disappeared into the hall, every instinct in me screamed to follow. I didn’t, but it was close.
Edge grinned before the door even shut. “Found yourself a good one.”
I shot him a look. “You’ve got your own woman. Stop looking so entertained by mine.”
His grin widened. “Exactly how I know what I’m seeing.”
Kane’s eyes were amused. “She understands you better than you deserve.”
“Probably,” I agreed. No reason to deny it.
Jax looked up from his laptop. “For the record, if Lark ever reads me that clean in front of all of you, I’m moving servers and changing my name.”
“She already does, and you know it,” Axle retorted.
Jax grinned. “True.”
I let the banter roll because it was either that or pace the office until Saylor came back. Then I planted both hands on the back of the couch and looked at Kane. “I have an idea.”
Edge’s smile sharpened. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“We challenge them to a race.”
Silence settled, but not because they were surprised by the concept.
Racing was our language, our power, and the easiest way to make men with more ego than sense walk into a trap because they thought horsepower could save them.
Kane leaned against the edge of Edge’s desk, arms crossing over his chest.
I continued, “Terms are clean. If I win, the Diesel Serpents leave Saylor alone permanently, wipe Sutton’s debt and offenses clean, get the hell out of Redline Kings territory, and never come back.”
Axle’s brows lifted. “And if you lose?”
“I don’t lose.”
Kane’s eyes narrowed. “Terms, Century.”
I looked at Edge first because part of what I was about to wager belonged to both of us.
“If I lose, they get access to some of the proprietary techniques and custom tools Edge and I developed. Not club security. Not routes. Not business. Nothing that puts the Kings at risk. Personal racing advantage. Tuning processes, calibration methods, a couple of tools that would help them run cleaner and faster if they had the brains to use them right.”
Edge didn’t blink. “Done.”
“You want to think about that for half a second?”
“No.” He rolled his knife between his fingers once, then set it flat on the desk. “It’s for your woman. I’m in.”
“Thanks.”
Edge groaned. “Don’t get emotional.”
I huffed a laugh despite myself. “I’d do it for you.”
“I know.”
“Mostly because nobody wants to be on the wrong side of your knife when you get that psycho gleam in your eyes.”
Edge smiled. “You’ve always been smarter than you look.”
“That bar is in hell,” Jax muttered.
Nitro tilted his head. “They’ll bite. Beating Century would give them bragging rights. Getting his techniques if they win gives them something valuable enough to pretend they’re not terrified.”
“Torque Ridge,” Kane suggested.
I looked at him. “That’s what I was thinking.”
Kane’s expression remained unreadable, but approval moved through the room like a current.
Torque Ridge was used often enough for illegal races that the Serpents would believe they had room to maneuver.
It also belonged to Kane’s world, which meant they’d never know how many eyes were actually on them until it was too late.
Kane’s gaze locked with mine. “Then we give them a race.”
Edge leaned forward, his elbows on the desk. “Now we just need to get in touch with those motherfuckers and set it all up.”
“That’s why you keep me around,” Jax boasted.