Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
CB pulled into the driveway of his childhood home and sat for a moment, hands on the wheel.
Last night played through his mind—Regan in his arms, the way she'd finally let go and trusted him to catch her. He could still feel the warmth of her skin, hear the soft sound she'd made when he'd kissed the curve of her neck. Traced his tongue over her tatt.
She'd given him something rare, and he knew it. But that gift came tangled with complications he couldn't ignore. Her investigation threatened to bring down the only family he had left. His protection of her had put a target on his father's back.
And somewhere in the middle of all of it, he'd fallen for her—the woman who might destroy the Briggs name for good.
He didn't regret it. He just wished the path forward wasn't so damn unclear.
The house looked the same as it always had.
Two stories, white clapboard, a wraparound porch his mother had loved.
She’d spent summer evenings out there with a glass of sweet tea, watching the sun drop behind the mountains.
He could still picture her in the rocking chair, her hair loose around her shoulders, humming.
That chair was gone now. Someone had gotten rid of it after she died.
CB climbed out of the truck and headed for the front door. He didn’t knock. The key turned in the lock the way it always had, and he stepped into the foyer.
Maria appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was in her fifties, sturdy and calm. “Mr. Briggs.” She smiled. “Didn’t expect you today. Is everything okay?”
Not in the least. “I didn’t get to stop by yesterday because of the assignment I’m working.” He glanced around. “How is he?”
“He’s having a good day. You’ll find him in the study.”
“Thanks, Maria.”
Wade was in his leather chair by the window, a book open in his lap. His father looked up when CB entered, and for a moment his expression was unguarded—surprise, maybe even pleasure, flickering across his weathered face.
Then the walls went up.
“Clive.” Wade’s voice was slower than it used to be, the words requiring more effort, but today they came clearly. “Is it Thursday?”
“Friday. I should have called.” CB crossed the room and sat in the chair across from his father. The same chair he’d sat in as a boy, receiving lectures about responsibility and legacy and what it meant to be a Briggs. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a man who had half his brain shut off. Takes me twice as long to read anything as it used to.” Wade closed the book and set it aside. “What do you want?”
No pleasantries, no pretense of a normal father-son visit. CB appreciated the directness, even if it stung.
“I need to talk to you about Ryder.”
Wade’s expression hardened. “What about him?”
“He’s in trouble. The kind that’s going to blow back on you if we don’t get ahead of it.”
“Ryder runs the organization now. Whatever trouble he’s in, he can handle it.”
“Not this.” CB leaned forward. “He’s been extorting Regan Hill, Henry’s daughter. Threatening her, sending men to hurt her. And when she didn’t back down, he escalated.”
Wade was quiet for a moment. His right hand, the one that still worked properly, gripped the arm of his chair.
“That’s business,” he said finally. “Sometimes you have to apply pressure.”
“This isn’t pressure. It’s assault and intimidation.” CB held his father’s gaze. “The FBI is involved now. They’re building a case.”
Wade’s eyes flickered with concern. Or maybe calculation. But his voice stayed flat. “Ryder wouldn’t do that. You must be wrong.”
“I wish I were. He’s been covering his tracks with your name.”
Wade stared at him, and CB watched his father’s face cycle through confusion, denial, and anger. “That’s a lie.”
“It’s not.” CB pulled out his phone. “I recorded a conversation with him last night. You need to hear it.”
“You’re just saying this because you’re jealous of him.”
CB held in his frustration. “I never wanted to lead the Outlaws, and you know it. Why would I be jealous?”
Wade leaned forward, the corners of his eyes narrowing. “You’re jealous that he and I are close.”
CB leaned back. It was true—no denying that. “I wish our relationship were better, yes. That’s not what this is about, though.”
Wade looked out the window, chin raised. “You need to leave.”
“I’m not leaving until you listen to this.”
He played the audio. Ryder’s voice filled the study, laying out his ultimatum, his threats, his plan to make Wade the fall guy for everything he’d built. CB watched his father’s face as the recording played. The tightening around his eyes. The white-knuckled grip on the chair arm.
When it ended, the silence was thick enough to choke on. Wade stared at the phone.
CB said nothing, allowing his father time to process it.
“That boy,” Wade said finally, “has been like a son to me.”
While CB had known it, it still hurt hearing his father say it out loud. “I know.”
“I brought him up in the organization. Trusted him. Gave him everything.”
“I know, Dad.”
Wade’s jaw worked. His good hand trembled slightly against the chair arm. “And this is all over Henry’s daughter? Because of what she did to Ray?”
“That’s part of it. The other part is because he isn’t you or Granddad. He doesn’t see the heart of the Outlaws. He sees power and money.”
“And you’re telling me he’s been setting me up? In case he gets caught?” He stopped, his breath coming harder. “While I sat here useless.”
He hated to confirm it, but it was necessary. “Yes.”
“And you expect me to believe this?”
CB felt the frustration rising in his chest, but he kept his voice level. “I’m not asking you to take my word for it. You just heard him admit it. His own voice, his own plan. He’s been using you, Dad. The same way he uses everyone.”
Wade turned his head toward the window again. His profile was sharp against the light, the strong bones of his face unchanged even as the rest of him had weakened. CB remembered looking up at that face as a child, thinking his father was invincible.
He didn’t think that anymore.
“You left.” Wade’s voice had gone quiet, but there was venom underneath. “You walked away from this family, from everything I built. You joined the military, played soldier, pretended you were better than us.”
“That’s not?—”
“You weren’t here when your mother died.” Wade turned back to face him, and his eyes were wet with something that might have been grief or rage or both. “You couldn’t even be bothered to show up for her funeral.”
CB absorbed the blow. He’d heard this before, from Wade, from others. The whispers that followed him through town. The son who abandoned his family. The heir who wasn’t there when it mattered.
“We’ve been over this.” And he was so damned tired of repeating himself. “I was deployed undercover in another country. They couldn’t get word to me. I didn’t even know until?—”
“You should have been here! For her.”
Behind those words, CB knew what he really meant.
Y ou should have been here for me . “Maybe.” CB didn’t look away.
“But that’s not what we’re talking about right now.
We’re talking about Ryder, and what he’s done—and what’s going to happen to you if we don’t find a way to separate your name from his illegal operations. ”
“Ryder is a good man.” Wade’s voice rose, his good hand slapping the chair arm. “He kept this family together when you ran off. Even after Ray was thrown in prison. He held the organization steady when I couldn’t lead anymore. Whatever mistakes he’s made?—”
“Mistakes?” CB stared at his father. “He’s threatening to frame you for crimes he committed. He’s setting you up to die in prison so he can walk away. That’s not a mistake . That’s betrayal.”
Wade’s face contorted. For a moment, CB thought he was going to argue, to keep defending Ryder despite everything. But then the fire in his eyes dimmed. His shoulders sagged. The fight drained out of him like water from a cracked vessel.
“I don’t...” Wade trailed off, his gaze drifting. “I can’t...”
“Dad.”
No response. Wade stared out the window, but CB could tell he wasn’t seeing anything. His mind had closed down—whether from the stroke, the stress, or simple denial, CB wasn’t sure. But the conversation was over.
He sat with his father for a long moment, watching the shallow rise and fall of his chest. This was what Ryder had done.
He’d taken a proud man—a hard and complicated man, but still CB’s father—and turned him into a pawn.
A shield. A name to throw under the bus when the consequences finally caught up.
CB’s phone rang with a security alert from the bar, followed by a text from Lynx. Trouble , it said. And lots of it .
He opened the camera feed and felt his blood go cold.
Motorcycles. A dozen of them, maybe more, pulling into the lot and lining up in formation. Outlaws. And more arriving every second.
CB stood. His father didn’t react, still staring at nothing, lost somewhere CB couldn’t follow. “I have to go.”
He held up his phone, showing Wade the screen even though he knew his father probably couldn’t process it. The line of bikes. The men climbing off, studying the bar’s entrance.
“This is what Ryder’s doing right now. While you’re sitting here defending him, he’s sending his people after the woman I’m protecting.” CB’s voice was steady, but anger burned beneath it. “I won’t let him hurt her. And I won’t let him destroy you, either. Whether you want my help or not.”
Wade didn’t respond. Didn’t even blink.
CB pocketed his phone and strode out of the study. Maria looked up as he passed through the kitchen, her face creasing with concern. “Is everything all right?”
“Keep an eye on him. I’ll call later.”
He was out the door and in his truck before she could respond. The engine roared to life, and he peeled off.
The bar was twenty minutes away. He could make it in fifteen if he pushed.
His phone sat in the cup holder, the security feed still live. He glanced at it as he drove—more bikes arriving, men gathering near the entrance, Sebastian’s figure visible just inside the door. Holding position. Waiting for backup that was still too far away.
CB pressed harder on the gas.
Regan was in there. Regan, who’d trusted him with her investigation, her family, her body. Who’d agreed to be his partner less than twelve hours ago.
Ryder had given him twenty-four hours to decide, but he hadn’t waited. He was sending a show of force to prove he could reach her anytime he wanted.
CB’s hands tightened on the wheel. His father was lost to him, at least for now. Maybe forever. But Regan wasn’t. And he would be damned if he let Ryder take her, too.
The truck ate up the miles between them. The mountains rose dark against the afternoon sky.
Ryder had stepped over the line one too many times. As he drove, CB started making phone calls.