“Nothing scares you,” Kickstand muttered. “You should’ve been the Hades prospect, not me.”
“Are you coming with us?” Lana still couldn’t believe the risks Kickstand had taken for her. Rex would see his actions as a betrayal. Banishment was the least of the punishments Kickstand would face.
He shook his head. “I’ve got things I gotta do.”
“Why did you help me?” Lana asked softly. “I mean…the repercussions…”
He shrugged. “I owed you. Not just for the time you warned me about the colors, but because it was my fault the Wolverines found you.”
“You were just following orders,” Lana said softly.
“I shoulda thought it through. I mean, why would someone like you associate with the Wolverines? You’re sweet and funny and kind, and you treated me with respect. You aren’t like the other old ladies. When I find an old lady, I want her to be just like you.”
Lana frowned. “You’re staying with Hades? Do you think that’s safe?”
His face fell. “Nah. I’m not staying with them. It’s not what I thought it was—money and glamour and riding kick-ass bikes with the guys. I didn’t sign up for the murder and drug running and selling women as slaves. I don’t want to wind up in jail. You must think I was pretty naive.”
“I think you’re a hero.” She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.
He swallowed and his cheeks reddened. “I don’t know how you married Levi, knowing what it was like to live the biker life.”
A cold ache seeped into her bones. “I didn’t have a choice. The day after they marked me, Levi found out the mark meant I could be shared around. He didn’t care what they did to me or what they made me do, but that was a line for him. I had been his since I was sixteen. Marrying me was the only way he could keep me for himself. Bikers have a strange code of honor.”
“What?” Jackie jumped out of the car and grabbed Lana by the shoulders. “You married the bastard? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lana shrugged as the memories rose like bile in her throat. Levi storming into their room at the Wolverine clubhouse and dragging her semiconscious body off the bed. His hands rough on her cut, bruised skin as he hid the rope burns on her wrists and ankles with bandages. A painful truck ride later and they were at the local marriage registry. Dazed from pain, her voice raw from a night of screaming, she couldn’t even call for help.
“The house mama held a gun to my back, concealed in a bouquet of flowers, and his buddy stood between me and the door. Levi had to hold me up because I was in so much pain I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t even say the vows. My wedding clothes were a T-shirt covered in bloodstains and a pair of torn sweats. They paid the registrar a small fortune to look the other way.”
Kickstand scratched his head. “Ice know all this?”
“No. And he never will. Marriage means something to him. He’ll think I made him betray his beliefs. He’ll never forgive me for lying.” Tears welled up in Lana’s eyes as she rounded the car and pulled open the door. She should’ve been honest with him from the beginning, but the temptation of being with him again had proved too strong.
Kickstand grabbed her arm before she could slide into the seat. “I think you’re wrong. He gave me a message for you in case something happened to him. I’m guessing now, with the Wolverines and Rex wanting him dead…” He choked on his words and then took a deep breath. “I think you should have the message now. He said to make sure you knew he sent it after he found out you were married.”
A trembling formed deep within her, working its way from her core through her limbs. “What did he say?”
James awoke to a loud crack and a sharp pain burning across his cheek.
“Wake up, sunshine.” Ryder peered down at him and frowned. “You need me to slap the other cheek?”
Still groggy, James pushed himself to a sitting position against the wall. “You fucking touch me again and I’ll rip off your hand.”
“Finally. Back to normal.” Ryder squatted against the wall across from him, his hands dangling between his legs. “I was beginning to wonder if Dawg had caused some permanent damage when he hit you over the head with that metal pipe. You’ve been lying there moaning for a couple hours.”
James frowned. “Where’s here?”
“Storage room at the clubhouse. You’ll notice the lack of windows, the steel fire door and the interesting fact that Rex’s secret drug stash is missing. I guess he and the boys didn’t want us to overdose since they’re planning to torture and kill us. Not as much fun when the victim doesn’t know what’s going on and can’t feel any pain.”