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  “Sit the fuck down,” Phoenix ordered. “I know where you’re coming from, Carbon. I get it, but maybe Copper has a point. What could it hurt to meet with him and see what he has to say before we go in guns blazing? I promise you will get your turn when and if the time comes.”

  Carbon dropped back into his chair, silently fuming.

  “We’ll leave Melissa in the cells for now. I’m going to send two of the prospects to the farm. Duke and Carbon, go get whatever Reese and James will need to stay here for a few weeks. I’m going to go to the hospital to check on Mrs. Martin. I’ll give Boar a call in the morning.” Phoenix banged the gavel and we were dismissed.

  ***

  It was damn near three o’clock in the morning when I finally fell into bed beside Reese. I thought she was asleep, but she rolled toward me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”

  I pulled her into my arms, kissing her temple. “Yeah, sugar. Just tired. It’s been a long damn day.”

  “I know.” She moved closer to me and pressed her lips to mine. She kissed me softly at first. Then, she started kissing along my neck and down my chest. Her lips on my bare chest were driving me crazy. She mumbled against my skin, “Let me make you feel better.”

  My tired brain didn’t register what she meant until her hand wrapped around my shaft, pulling me out of my boxers. Her hot lips surrounded the head of my cock before she took me all the way to the back of her throat. “Oh fuck, sugar,” I groaned. She bobbed her head up and down, each pass sucking and licking my cock. It was taking all my willpower not to thrust my hips and fuck her mouth.

  She cupped my balls and gently massaged them while she continued working my cock with her glorious mouth. “Come on, Duke, fuck my mouth. I know you want to.” Fuck, she didn’t have to tell me twice. I grabbed her head and roughly thrust my hips forward. I plunged in and out of her mouth with quick, harsh thrusts. She moaned low and deep. The vibrations were too much for me. “I’m going to come in your dirty little mouth. You better swallow every last drop,” I grunted right before I shot my load down her throat. Being the good girl that she was, she did just as I asked and swallowed all of it. Then, she licked me clean.

  I flipped her onto her back, shucked her shorts and panties off, and dove face first between her legs. I feasted on her pussy like it was my last meal. I ate her until she came twice. Then, I pulled her into my arms and fell asleep not even a minute later.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Phoenix

  I pulled up to the little hole in the wall bar, Badger and Judge right behind me. Since this was too close to home for my SAA, Copper offered up his own SAA to fill in. Boar agreed to the meeting much easier than I had anticipated. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

  We walked into the bar and spotted Boar and his men right away. We couldn’t have missed them since there were only two other patrons in the whole place. Boar stood when we approached the table. “You must be Phoenix.” He held out his hand to shake mine. “Nice to finally put a face with the name. I’ve heard a lot about you over the years.”

  I shook his hand. “Is that right?” Not expecting an answer, I gestured toward the table. “Shall we?”

  He nodded and took a seat. “So, what’s this all about?”

  I rubbed my chin with my thumb and forefinger then leaned back in my chair. “We’re not here to start trouble, but I’m not going to ease into it either. My brother’s son was kidnapped last night by your Old Lady’s sister. We caught her on her way to your clubhouse.”

  Boar pushed back from the table but remained seated. “Fuck man! Is the kid okay?”

  His reaction caught me off guard. I was expecting him to be pissed and immediately go on the defensive, not to be concerned about the kid. “Yeah, kid’s fine. I need to know, why was she bringing him to your clubhouse?”

  He held his hands out as if that would ward me off. “I don’t fucking know. What makes you think she was headed for the clubhouse?”

  “A text from your Old Lady telling her to bring him there,” I answered pointedly.

  Boar turned to the man on his right. “Have a prospect bring Shannon’s ass up here right now. Not a word about why.” He turned back to face me. “The club had nothing to do with this. We’ve stayed out of each other’s way for years and I would like to keep it that way.”

  “And I would like to believe that, but there’s a little more to this story. Do you know who that baby’s parents are?”

  He shook his head. “Not a clue man. Should I?”

  I schooled my expression and told him, “The baby’s mother is Tank’s daughter and the father is your Old Lady’s husband.”

  Boar jumped to his feet, causing everyone at the table to stand, both SAA’s reaching for their guns. Boar cursed and then realized the tension he had created. “Calm down, boys. I’m just fucking pissed is all.”

  “You didn’t know she was married?” I carefully asked.

  “Fuck no. Who the hell is she married to?”

  I cleared my throat, “My SAA, Duke, also known as John Jackson.”

  He turned his angry eyes toward Judge. Judge just smirked and said, “We ain’t that stupid. I’m the Devil Springs SAA, filling in for my cousin today. Name’s Judge by the way.”

  Boar dropped back into his chair and leaned forward, elbows on the table. “You said the baby’s mother is Tank’s daughter?” I nodded. “This being Reese, my son’s ex-girlfriend?” I nodded again. “I see. All roads led to me and here you are.”

  “That about sums it up.”

  A woman walked through the front door and made her way straight to Boar. “Honey, is everything okay? They said I needed to come here but wouldn’t tell me why.” So this was Shannon.

  Boar pointed to a chair. “Sit down.” She did, her eyes widened in fear. “Got anything you want to tell me about your sister?”

  She dropped her eyes to the floor and sucked in a sharp breath. “What has she done now?”

  “I think you know what she did,” Boar barked.

  “Last night, she said she had taken John’s baby. I told her to bring the baby to the clubhouse. I didn’t believe her at first. Then, I thought if I could get her to bring the baby to me, we could get him back to John. She never showed up and she stopped answering my calls and texts, so I thought this was one of her usual shenanigans,” she explained through her tears.

  “That’s a good start,” Boar snapped. “Now, you want to tell me who the fuck John is?”

  She wrapped her arms around herself and sniffled. “He’s my husband. I’m sorry I never told you. I haven’t seen him in 10 years. We weren’t married for very long, but I never did anything about the marriage. I’m so sorry,” she wailed.

  “Shannon, I’m going to ask you this one time and you better give me the damn truth or these men right here just might kill us all before it’s over with, you hear me?” She sat up straighter in her chair and rapidly nodded her head. “Did you arrange the kidnapping or have anything to do with it?”

  She shook her head. “No! I would never do anything like that. I didn’t know until after the fact. I didn’t even know John had a baby until last night. You know she says crazy shit all the time, but she’s never actually done anything.”

  “That you know of,” Boar added.

  I studied the woman sitting before me. She appeared to be giving honest answers and her tears seemed genuine. Damn, part of me wished Carbon was here, he was far more skilled at reading people than I was. “Where is your sister now?”

  She turned her head and seemed to notice me and the two men beside me for the first time. She looked back to Boar, unsure if she should answer me. “You answer any questions they have with absolute honesty,” Boar ordered.

  “I don’t know where she is. After I told her to bring me the baby, she stopped taking my calls. Wait. Are you here because…? Did she…? Please tell me she didn’t.”

  I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake, but I believed that she didn�
�t know anything about the kidnapping. “She did.”

  She crumpled over, her body shaking with violent sobs. She said something, but I couldn’t make out what it was the way she was carrying on. Boar had no sympathy for her, though I can’t say I blamed him. “Don’t ask me. You ask them,” he barked.

  She lifted her tear-stained face. “Is the baby okay?”

  “He’s fine. He’s been returned to his parents,” I said. I quirked a brow, “You don’t want to know about your sister?”

  She wiped the tears from her face and resolutely said, “No, I don’t. She’s been nothing but a pain in my ass for years, always causing trouble, threatening to pull some stupid stunt like this. She got herself into this and she can get herself out of it as far as I’m concerned.”

  Boar tugged on her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Go back to the clubhouse with the prospect. We have some other shit to discuss when I get back.” He turned to face me. “Unless you need her for anything else?”

  “Nope. The rest we can discuss with you.”

  Shannon quickly exited the bar. Boar sat down with a sigh, “I know this looks bad, but she’s telling the truth about Melissa. Shannon’s said before that she’s always had problems. I’ve only known her for a few years, and during that time, she’s been nothing but trouble. Honestly, I can’t say I’m sad to see her shit finally caught up with her. Is there anything we can do to smooth this over?”

  “The way I see it, it wasn’t your doing, so there’s nothing to smooth over, but maybe you’d be willing to help us out by answering some other questions.”

  “Depends on what those questions are, but I’ll answer if I can do so without endangering myself or my club,” he carefully stated.

  “Where’s your son?” I bluntly asked.

  His face contorted with disgust. “Who the fuck knows. That boy is a disgrace. I kicked his ass out of my house and out of my club almost two years ago. I ain’t seen or heard from him since.”

  I couldn’t hide my surprise at his answer. “No shit. You mind if I ask why?”

  He grunted. “Not something I like to discuss, but as a show of good faith, I’ll tell you. About two weeks after he was patched in, he beat up one of the club girls and tried to force himself on her. One of the other girls came to get me, told me she heard her friend screaming behind a locked door. I got there in time to stop him from raping her, but I have no doubt that he would have had he not been interrupted. I don’t condone raping and beating women. He was stripped of his cut, beat within an inch of his life, and sent packing.”

  That was interesting coming from him, especially after everything Carbon said about him and his club. Boar interrupted my thoughts, “I know what you’re thinking. You wouldn’t expect that coming from me because you’ve probably heard that I was behind the murder of Tank and his family.” He looked down at his lap and lowered his voice, “I loved Heather, but it wasn’t a healthy love. She came along right after my mom died and I latched onto her. When she left me, I tried to stop her and lost my head for a bit. It was like losing my mom all over again. I’m not proud of it, but I can admit that I crossed some lines I shouldn’t have crossed where she was concerned. I never did anything to hurt her. Later on, I recognized our relationship for what it was, an unhealthy attachment on my part. She moved on, I moved on, and that was that. Still, it cut me deeply when I learned of her death. I was hell-bent on finding out who did it, but when the fingers started pointing in my direction, I thought it was best to keep out of the limelight.”

  “You think it was a setup?” I asked.

  “I’ve always thought that and I’ve carried that guilt with me every day since it happened,” he told me.

  I knocked my knuckles twice on the table. “I think that about wraps it up for us. Thank you for coming out and answering our questions.”

  “No problem. Thanks for bringing some things to my attention. Your boy will be getting divorce papers soon. Should I have them sent to the clubhouse?”

  I smiled. “Please do. He’s been trying to find Shannon’s whereabouts so he could send some to her.”

  “Oh, well if he already has some drawn up, send them to my clubhouse. I’ll make sure she signs and returns them,” he said.

  We shook hands and left the bar. I stopped beside my bike and took a deep, cleansing breath. That did not go how I expected, at all.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Duke

  I was about to lose my mind waiting for Phoenix to get back from his meeting with Boar. I had so much pent-up rage and nowhere to direct it. I hoped like hell Phoenix came back with answers.

  “You want to get in the ring, brother?” Carbon asked.

  “With you? Hell no. You’re just as keyed up as I am and that won’t end well, especially for me.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. Hey, where’s your sister?”

  “She’s with Ember and Reese. Why?” I asked. He better not be making a play for my sister.

  “Just curious. Didn’t know if she went back home or if she was staying around for a while,” he shrugged, seeming casual, but I wasn’t sure I was buying it.

  “She’s staying for a bit. She wants to spend some time with James,” I said, eyeing him curiously.

  “Where’s she staying?”

  “Why?” I asked, defensively. He had no reason to be asking anything about my sister.

  “What is your deal? I’m just trying to have a conversation with you.” He chuckled. “Oh, you think I’m after your sister?”

  “I don’t know, are you?”

  “So, you can get with my sister behind my back and knock her up, but your sister is off limits?” he spat.

  “Will you two knock that shit off? I swear, every time I turn around the two of you are bickering like little children,” Phoenix shouted. “Now get your asses up and get to Church.”

  When everyone had arrived, Phoenix filled us in on his meeting with Boar. I couldn’t believe what Phoenix was saying. Shannon had nothing to do with having my son kidnapped and it was all her little sister’s doing? Was she also the one who ran Reese off the road? What about the letters, who had sent those? I just couldn’t wrap my mind around any of it. It made more sense for the culprit to be Shannon, not Melissa.

  Carbon’s outraged bellow brought me back to the present. “And you seriously believe that lying sack of shit? Of course he denied it and fed you a good story, he’s had nine years to come up with it.” Carbon’s face was red and he was pacing the back of the room. He looked like a bull ready to charge.

  “I’m going to let that slide because I know how hard this topic is for you, but consider that your one and only warning. I will not tolerate disrespect from you or anyone else. Now sit your ass down and listen to the rest of what I have to say,” Phoenix ordered.

  Carbon grunted, blew out a long breath, and hesitantly returned to his seat. Phoenix continued sharing the details of the discussion he had with Boar and his men. “What do we know about the Disciples of Death MC?” Phoenix asked.

  Heads shook and a few murmured something along the lines of “not much.” Shaker leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m sorry, Phoenix, but I’m kind of leaning toward Carbon on this one. He’s had plenty of time to come up with a good story. If the Disciples of Death had enough of an issue with our club or Boar’s to kill a brother and his family, don’t you think we would have heard more from them over the years?”

  “No, I don’t. We moved, remember?” Phoenix asked flatly. He had a point. Right after Boar became president of the Manglers and Carbon’s family was killed, Phoenix became the president of Blackwings and moved the club to Croftridge.

  “Right, but it still doesn’t make any sense,” Shaker continued. “Let’s say they did kill Carbon’s family to try to pin it on Boar. They left absolutely no evidence indicating the Manglers were responsible, which is like rule number one in trying to set someone up. On top of that, they just let it go whe
n their plan didn’t work out? Why go to all the trouble of killing four people and then say, ‘That didn’t work out like I thought, so I guess I’ll just give up.’?”

  Phoenix cleared his throat. “Let me clarify what I am saying and what I’m not saying. I’m not saying the Manglers didn’t kill Carbon’s parents and I’m not saying the Disciples of Death did. What I am saying is I believe Boar didn’t do it, didn’t order it, and knew nothing about it.”

  “You think someone in his club did it?” Shaker asked.

  Phoenix sighed. “I have no fucking clue who did it. Don’t misunderstand me, I want to know and hold them accountable for murdering our brother, his Old Lady, and two of their children in cold blood, but that was nine years ago. There were no leads back then and this new information is all speculation. We need to focus on the things happening right now and get that shit handled before it escalates any further.”

  Carbon asked, “Do we know if the bitch downstairs is the one who ran my sister off the road and tried to kill her?”

  Phoenix shook his head. “No, I don’t know that. I plan to question her again as soon as Byte is finished going through her phone. Where are you on that, Byte?”

  Byte looked up, said phone in his hand. “Almost finished. Found some things of interest, but nothing indicating she was the one who hit Reese or sent the letters. I haven’t had a chance to do a full search on her yet, but I can get started on that ASAP, assuming it’s okay to drop the searches on Shannon and Boar.”

  “Yeah, put them on the backburner for now and see what you can find on Melissa. What things of interest did you find on her phone?”

  “Her texts with her sister are sporadic and it does look like she only texts her when she’s causing trouble, which is consistent with Shannon’s story. She does text someone she has saved as Nemo frequently. I’ll run a trace on the number and see if it gives me anything. They communicate frequently, but I can’t figure out what they’re saying to each other. It’s like a foreign language, but not one I’ve ever seen,” Byte told us.