“This isn’t the time for compassion,” Zane snapped. “This is our chance to win the war. If our roles were reversed, I’d already be dead. People don’t change, Evie. He is who he is, and if we don’t deal with him now, he’ll come after you.”
“I changed. So did you.” She crossed the room toward Jagger and the exit, leading Ty by the hand. As they passed Viper she looked back over her shoulder mentally urging him to say something to save himself. But he remained silent. No assurance that he would leave Evie alone. No begging for his life. No refuting the fact he would have killed Zane if he had him under his gun. And yet she saw pain flicker across his face, so fleeting she wondered if she’d missed it.
“Jesus Christ,” Jagger spluttered. “I knew Arianne was up to something. Damn old ladies sticking their noses into club business. But this is my call, Evie. I heard what you had to say. You take Ty out and Zane and I will—”
Viper moved in a blur, darting around the counter as he pulled a gun from the holster beneath his vest and aimed it at Jagger. But Ty was in the way.
“No!” Zane dove in front of Ty as the shot echoed in the room. He hit the floor hard as momentum carried him down. Viper barreled through the back door and Jagger took off in pursuit.
“Dad!” Ty raced to Zane’s side. “Mom! Call 911.”
“I’m okay.” Zane wrapped his arms around his son. “The bullet went over my head, and Viper won’t get far. We’ve got men all over the yard.”
“Lean on me, Dad. I’ll help you up.”
Zane put a hand on Ty’s shoulder, although he didn’t need the help. He looked over at Evie and smiled.
“He called me Dad.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Once you figure it out, try to return the favor. Spread your repair knowledge around.
—SINNER’S TRIBE MOTORCYCLE REPAIR MANUAL
While waiting for the preliminary hearing, Zane rented the house across the street from Evie and Ty. Although Evie said she understood why he handcuffed her to the radiator, she wasn’t quick to forgive. The stunt cost him, but as long as he could be near her and Ty, he was willing to pay the price. And it was just a matter of time. He knew this because she let him sleep at her place at least five times a week. Not that he was counting, but he’d managed to push it up from one night, undoubtedly because of his skill in bed. Yes, he could make his Evie scream.
Of course he’d had a bit of a setback when he erected a giant fence around her property. He’d also installed a security system in her house and changed the locks, all with the landlord’s consent, of course. Evie hadn’t been pleased he’d gone over her head, yet again, and his weekly nocturnal visits were reduced to two. But now he was back up to five, so that was an improvement.
The car had been another setback. Evie wanted her own transportation so she went out and bought an old junker from a used-car dealer without consulting Zane. He checked out her purchase while she slept and decided it was a piece of crap. The next day, while she was at work, he and Gunner hot-wired her car and drove it back to the dealer. After a brief discussion, and only two broken fingers, the dealer switched it out for a brand-new, safe, red Volvo. Evie liked the Volvo, but not the subterfuge. She also didn’t like it when he said vehicle selection was a man’s job because women didn’t know shit about vehicles.
Arianne showed up at his house the next day with her new SIG Sauer P226.
Zane spent the night at the clubhouse with his door locked.
He hadn’t been invited to spend the night at Evie’s place for an entire week after that, so he’d spent his evenings sitting on his porch watching her house, wondering if she was wearing that silky nightgown she’d bought to celebrate the one-month anniversary of the opening of her new shop. Damn, he loved the feel of that silk, the way it covered her, hinting at what was underneath—which was nothing, just the way he liked it.
Today was going to be another one of the days where his sex quota would likely be reduced, but he was ready to do what had to be done, and if he was cut back to two nightly visits, he’d just have to work his way back up.
His closest brothers and their old ladies had arrived at his place earlier in the afternoon to get ready for the party. Tank had the barbecue going in the backyard, and Connie was helping him marinate the meat. Zane had asked Tank to bring her along, just in case things didn’t go as expected, but Connie hadn’t shared his sense of doom.
“It’s not gonna be as bad as you think,” she said to Zane, as she brushed Tank’s secret sauce over the tray of steak. “I mean, the Ty part will be bad. But the Evie part … I don’t think you’ve got to worry. Of course you will have to worry ’cause she’ll be pissed about Ty, but I think you’ll get her to come round. I hear you can be very persuasive once you get her out of her clothes.”
Zane didn’t want to think about what she and Connie discussed regarding his intimate time with Evie, so he stared at his watch. “Did she say what time she’s leaving the shop today?”
“She was just waiting for a shipment of new bikes and then she was gonna pick Ty up from his friend’s house. She should be here soon. You want me to text her?”
“Jagger’s not here yet, so no rush.”
Where the fuck was Jagger? He was supposed to be at the party an hour ago and he didn’t have the Jacks as an excuse to keep him busy. Viper had managed to slither away yet again, disappearing down some kind of rabbit hole that none of the Sinners could find. They’d heard from National that Viper’s decision to kidnap Ty had earned him a stern rebuke from the Black Jack national president, and a forced cessation of hostilities between the two clubs for six months. Arianne had also come under fire for her trip up to Ennis. Jagger had managed to get her off with just a warning, and the only real rebuke she’d received had been from him. In private. Zane would have loved to have been there that night.
He joined Arianne on the back steps, and she broke off her conversation with Dawn to greet him. “You’re looking for Jagger; I can tell from your scowl.”
He made the mistake of sending Shooter down to the shop to pick up the order and Shooter got a little riled when it wasn’t ready. Jagger had to go make good with the owner and pay to have the bullet holes removed from the walls.”
Dawn ruffled the hair of one of her twin girls. Zane couldn’t tell them apart, but they were around the same age as Ty and they all enjoyed playing together. Although when one of them chased Ty and tried to kiss him, Zane had to put his foot down. He knew better than anyone the dangers of eight-year-old girls and how easily they could capture a boy’s heart. “You think he’s gonna change his mind about Shooter?”
Shooter was due to receive his cut tonight. The board had decided that despite being trigger-happy, Shooter was more an asset than a liability and, except for the occasional mess Jagger had to clean up, he had made a significant contribution to the club.
Arianne laughed. “You know Jagger. He’ll rant, shout, and scowl, but in the end, Shooter is good for the club and he’ll get his cut. Plus, the club now has Benson as a prospect and that’s just going to be all kinds of fun. A cop as a prospect. Jagger’s got all sorts of humiliation planned for him.”
“You hear what he’s planned for Shooter’s patch-in?” Zane gestured to a big painted target near his back fence. “He had Evie paint the Sinner’s Tribe logo on that target. I folded up an old cut to fit in the middle and pinned it there. He’s gonna tell Shooter that’s his real cut and he only gets it if he can shoot through each one of the skull’s eyes without hitting it.”
“Bastard.” Dawn pressed her lips together. “Sometimes his sense of humor borders on cruel.”