Chapter 12
DRIFT
The clubhouse was silent except for the hum of the air-conditioning and the soft clink of a spoon in someone’s coffee cup in the kitchen.
I sat on one of the couches in the lounge with a mug of black coffee cooling between my palms. My eyes were fixed on the hallway that led to the guest rooms—more specifically, the one Alanna was behind.
I hadn’t slept. Didn’t bother trying.
I’d spent the night sprawled here, not far from her door, listening. Not for trouble, not exactly. Just…listening. As if I’d be able to hear the sound of her quiet breathing on the other side of her thick wooden door.
Now, the only thing I felt was the buzz of electricity under my skin. It wasn’t nerves. It was the same tension I got before a race—the kind that built in my gut and stayed coiled until the flag dropped.
The burn barrel outside still threw the faint scent of smoke through an open window. Leather and coffee floated in the air. The smells, the sounds, all of it was familiar. And still, everything felt off.
The front door opened and shut with a low thud. Kane’s boots crossed the room, his shadow sliding over the walls. I was surprised to see he looked rested, which meant he’d slept. Not a common occurrence with a one-year-old at home.
He stopped beside the couch, his green eyes cutting toward me. “You look like shit.”
I took a sip of my coffee and gave a short nod. “No argument here.”
His mouth twitched. “Get Alanna and meet me in my office.”
I didn’t move yet. “Something I should know first?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Jax has news. But you’ll want to hear it for yourself.”
That was all I needed. I stood and set my mug on the low coffee table. “Gimme five.”
The hallway was dim, with only sunlight creeping through the windows of the rooms that had open doors. My steps made no sound on the worn floorboards, my walk silent as a ghost. When I stopped outside her door, I didn’t hesitate and knocked once. “Alanna.”
There was a soft rustle, then the latch clicked. She cracked the door open, blinking up at me. Her hair was a mess of tangled waves, skin pale except for the faint flush on her cheeks. She was still wearing yesterday’s clothes—a wrinkled T-shirt and jeans creased at the knees.
She looked small and tired but not broken. And so fucking beautiful it nearly took my breath away.
“You all right?” I asked, quietly.
She nodded, smoothing her hair with one hand. “Yeah. Just…still tired.”
“Yeah.” I tilted my head and brushed a finger along her chin. “It’s been a lot to deal with. Can’t blame you for being exhausted.”
Her eyes softened, and a small smile curved her lips. “Thanks.”
I nodded and dropped my hand before stepping back. “Kane wants to see us. Jax is on the call.”
Her eyes widened a little. “Now?”
“Now.”
She looked down at herself and sighed softly. “I didn’t pack anything.”
“I’ll get your stuff later.”
That got her attention, and her eyes lifted, meeting mine. Whatever she saw there—whatever she heard in my tone—seemed to stop the argument before it started. She just nodded.
The clubhouse was waking up slowly as we passed through to the hallway that led to Kane’s office.
Tyre sat at the bar, coffee mug in hand, his voice rough as he talked to Rev about a supply run.
Cage—the club’s doctor—leaned in the doorway to the kitchen, a smirk ghosting across his mouth when he saw us.
He didn’t say anything, but the look was enough—he knew.
Kane’s office door was open. The blinds were half drawn, sunlight slicing across the desk in narrow strips. He was already behind it—cut open and the sleeves of his black Henley rolled up—and leaning back in his chair. The faint blue glow of his laptop cast a sharp line across his jaw.
Jax’s face filled the laptop screen—blond hair shoved under a backward ball cap, glasses on, expression sharp enough to cut glass.
The second his gaze landed on us, his jaw tightened.
His expression was calm, but his eyes were a few degrees colder than usual.
The kind of cold that meant he’d been digging deep and didn’t like what he’d found.
I stepped inside and shut the door, then nodded to Kane before resting one hand on the back of Alanna’s chair as she sat.
“Why does my sister look like she hasn’t slept in a week?” he demanded. His glare cut to me. “And why the hell does she look rumpled?”
Before I could open my mouth, Alanna’s eyes narrowed.
Her voice came out flat and dripped with sarcasm.
“Good morning, Alanna. How did you sleep, Alanna? You look great, Alanna. Even though you spent the night alone in a place you’ve only been to once, without any of your stuff, and a deranged stalker on the loose. ”
Kane leaned back in his chair, lips twitching.
I bit back a low sound that was halfway between a chuckle and a sigh. Her fire shouldn’t have amused me, but it did. Especially when she turned it on Jax.
He blinked, clearly caught between being pissed and begrudgingly impressed. “You always this mouthy in the morning?”
“Only when I’ve been rescued from a psycho,” she shot back.
Kane’s voice cut through the exchange, calm and deep. “You two can start the family therapy session later. Jax, focus.”
Jax’s jaw flexed. “Right. Focus. Fine. But I don’t like that she’s there without me.”
Kane’s tone didn’t change. “She’s safe, Jax. Safer here than anywhere else.”
“I know,” Jax muttered, but his eyes slid back to me. The look wasn’t subtle. It was the kind of warning that came from blood and brotherhood both. “You keep her that way.”
I just jerked my chin up in acknowledgment. That was all that was needed. Even if I hadn’t been half in love with Alanna, I would have kept her safe because she was family. We protected our own.
Kane reached forward, steepling his fingers on the desk. “Now that we’re all caught up, why don’t you tell us what you found, Jax?”
The screen brightened as Jax adjusted the camera, his eyes scanning something off-screen. “You’re not gonna like it.”
He leaned closer, his eyes flicking across something on his second monitor.
The light sharpened the angles of his face and reflected off his glasses.
“On paper, the kid’s clean. No priors. Decent grades.
Average social media. But that’s the problem—he’s too clean.
Not like WITSEC clean.” He smirked and winked at Alanna, who giggled because Jax’s new wife had been in witness protection when they met.
Then he continued, “But every online footprint’s been scrubbed.
Every IP masked. He’s good, but not that good. ”
Kane’s expression didn’t change, but a muscle in his jaw flexed. “How not good?”
“Good enough to fool a background check. Not good enough to hide from me.” Jax tapped something off-screen, and a set of data traces lit up on the monitor.
“His email history runs through multiple proxy routes—all tied to a flagged access ring we’ve been tracking.
They’re targeting university systems—specifically ones linked to state-sponsored research programs.”
My brows lifted slightly. “That’s not small-time.”
“Not even close,” Jax confirmed. “They’re mining credentials.
Access points. Anything that provides them with a secure access point into grant databases and academic firewalls.
They hit one system clean, they can piggyback into a dozen more.
If they pull it off, they can reroute millions without anyone noticing. ”
Kane leaned back. “And Alanna?”
“She’s not really the target,” Jax explained. “She’s the entry point. Ethan used her class project as a bridge into the system. Once she logged in from her end, he could trace the connection and slide into the network through her credentials.”
Alanna’s breath hitched. “He-he was using me?”
She looked horrified, and guilt swam in her stormy-gray depths when she glanced up at me.
Jax’s expression softened a fraction. “Hey, hey. You’re not to blame, Alanna.”
I caressed the back of her neck to give her comfort, keeping the gesture out of sight since now wasn't the time to be getting into shit with Jax. “You didn’t know. You weren’t supposed to.”
Kane’s gaze cut between Jax and Alanna. “The point is, if this ring’s as deep as it looks, that kid isn’t working alone. And if he thinks Alanna’s a loose end, someone’s gonna come back to tie it off. If not him, then another thug.”
Silence practically crackled in the air. I felt it crawl over my skin, prickling the nerves.
Kane scrubbed a hand over his face, then stared up at the ceiling for a minute. When he brought his face level again, a decision was written in his eyes. “Drift, take her to the safe house on Wild Oak Island. The beach house is remote. Secure. No one gets in or out without us knowing.”
Jax straightened. “Hold up. Drift?”
Kane’s voice stayed calm. “You got a better option?”
“Yeah,” Jax said. “Nitro.”
“Nella is teething,” Kane responded.
“Axle?” Jax offered.
“Mylo has colic.”
Jax huffed. “Edge, then.”
“Morning sickness. You gonna ask my crazy brother to leave his old lady while she’s on the bathroom floor throwing up?”
Jax grabbed at his hair in frustration, knocking his hat askew. Then he looked up at Kane with hopeful eyes.
“Forget it,” Kane snapped. Then he looked at Alanna and gave her an apologetic smile. “No offense. But we’ve got more men than we need who are trustworthy and capable of protecting you, and I have a business and a club to run.”
Alanna shrugged. “No offense taken…I think.”
“Fine!” Jax snapped. “I’ll do it!”
Kane’s tone never rose. “You’re in another fucking country and on your honeymoon. Drift’s here. He’s one of the best. You know he won’t let anything touch her.”
“It’s not anything I’m worried about,” Jax muttered, his eyes glancing at me before going back to Kane.
The tension between them could’ve cut steel.
Alanna finally spoke up. “You’re just deciding this for me? Don’t I get a say?”
Kane looked at her evenly. “That’s not how this works when someone’s gunning for you, sweetheart. You don’t get a vote until we know it’s safe.”
Her eyes flared, but she turned toward me, chin tilted high. “Don’t do this just because you feel sorry for me. I’m sure they can find someone else to babysit me.”
I met her gaze, steady and unblinking. “I don’t feel sorry for you. I feel responsible for you.”
The words landed harder than I meant them to. She blinked, jaw tightening, anger mixing with something else I couldn’t name.
Jax’s glare was hot enough to burn through the screen. Kane ignored it completely.
“It’s settled,” he announced, the decision made. “Drift takes her to the beach house. You two stay off the radar until Jax finishes tracing the network. If that kid shows up again, we’ll handle it.”
Jax didn’t answer, but the set of his jaw said plenty.
I nodded once. “We’ll head out within the hour.”
Kane gave a short nod back. “Good. And Drift?”
“Yeah.”
“Try not to kill him unless he gives you a reason.”
My mouth twitched, a ghost of a smile. “No promises.”
Kane’s eyes flicked between the three of us—Alanna, me, and the screen—and the room went quiet again.
When Jax finally spoke, his expression was serious. “Take care of my sister, Drift.”
I didn’t look away from the laptop, but my hand brushed against Alanna’s as she stood. “Always will.”