Page 51 of No Mercy

“After information.”

Clay snorted at Ned’s comment. “Do ya think?” Snorts from other brothers filled the room. “Why do you think we passed that bogus information around about the run we’re taking to Last Hope?”

“Man, maybe you need to lay off the fucking fights for a while,” Painter suggested, looking directly at Ned.

Ned took offense to Painter’s remark. “What the fuck you implying, asshole?”

Painter shrugged. “Maybe you’ve taken too many hits in the head.”

“Give the brother a fucking break,” I barked out. “He’s beat to shit for the fall he took the other night.” No one could argue with the possibility that he’d taken one too many in the head. Personally, I thought Ned wasn’t paying attention half the time during church. I blamed his fucking woman for that. She was always riding his ass.

“Getting back to tonight--” Hawk brought everyone’s attention back to him. “That’s why we’re doing a mock run, only the merchandise will be us in the truck. Maybe we’ll get lucky and take them all out.”

“Just how far are we willing to go?” Big John questioned.

Shit, I already knew the answer to that. That’s what he’d meant about going to Last Hope. That was a fucking four-hour ride one way.

“As far as we fucking have to,” Hawk snarled. “We can expect them to hit at anytime.” He directed his next comment to Big John. “I want prospects on all the old ladies.”

His gaze swung to me. I wasn’t surprised. I knew what he was waiting for, and this was his way of forcing me to address the issue of making an announcement about Allie. I can’t say what I was waiting for, because I didn’t intend to give her up.Ever.My gaze moved around the room, meeting the eyes of each of my brothers. Their expressions revealed that they were waiting for a declaration, though most already expected what I was about to announce. “I claim Allie as my old lady, brothers.” Shouts, laughs, and loud congratulations went around the room. I couldn’t keep the grin from my face. “Pass the info on to our soldiers and prospects,” I added when the ruckus had died down.

“Allie on board with this?” Hawk asked. I gave him a chin lift, and then he moved on. “Clay and Painter, I want you and three soldiers inside the truck. Ned and Jumper will be riding protection. Snake and Fox will stay here to run shit while we’re gone.”

“Only two of us riding protection?” Ned questioned with a frown.

“That’s all we usually use, brother,” I said before Hawk had the chance. “Anymore than that and Blue Knights might get suspicious and back the fuck off. You want to ride in the truck, brother? No one will blame you.”

“Don’t worry,” Hawk began. “We’ll have your backs. Rock, Big John, and I will be traveling further behind you in case of trouble. You won’t see us. We want to make sure there’s enough distance between us so it looks like it’s just you two. Everything goes like usual unless we’re hit. Don’t want to give anything away. I want these fuckers out of commission before they do any real damage. We need to make a point that we won’t tolerate them messing with us.”

“We wearing our cuts?”

“Fuck yeah, we are! Everyone except BK.” I snarled. BK would be driving the truck, and we didn’t want his cut visible from anyone who might be watching. We didn’t drive the merchandise, just offered protection by riding behind the truck. “We’re Phantom Riders, we’re not afraid to show who we are or what we’re willing to fight and die for.”

“BK will take the usual route we take to Last Hope. Hope like fuck we don’t have to go all the way there for this.” Hawk got to his feet. “Stay sober, make sure your bikes are ready to go, and make sure you’re packing. We leave at four.”

Chapter 28

Allie

I’d just returned home from picking up Sam and two of his new friends, Nolan and Johnny, from school. I was sitting on the porch while they played nearby. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear them, their little voices and screeches of laughter bringing a smile to my face. He’d adjusted so well to the move and to his new school, as well as the relationship between me and Rock. It suddenly seemed as if everything was the way it was always meant to be, and I was totally happy for the first time in a long while.

I wanted to believe that all the pieces of the puzzle had finally fallen into place. So much time had been lost on foolishness and pride, and much of it was my fault. Though Rock was not without blame, too, it was best to bury it in the past and just move on. In the end it didn’t really matter how we’d dealt with things seven years ago. We couldn’t undo it. What mattered was that now we were moving on and building a life together with our son.

I didn’t miss Cedar Key as much as I’d thought I would, only the friends I’d made there, mainly Tom, and my waitress friend, Jenny. While I hadn’t heard from Tom lately, I could only hope that it meant he’d finally accepted that all I’d wanted was to be friends. Maybe he’d met someone else and that was why he hadn’t called. He was a good man and deserved to be happy.

My phone rang and I picked it up from the side table next to me. A big smile spread across my face when I saw who it was. “Ohmygod!I was just thinking about you and Tom!” I squealed in a high-pitched tone.

“Both of us at the same time? Ouch for Tom. I guess that means he’s been bumped from the boyfriend zone into the friendship zone,” she teased, laughing. “How have you been, girl?”

“Fine. Things are really working out for us here.”

“For you and Sam, or you and your sexy biker dude?”

I laughed. “All three of us,” I clarified. “Sam’s happy and adjusted. He’s outside right now playing with his new friends. My biker dude is off doing whatever it is he does in the club. I’m just sitting here on the porch enjoying my afternoon, sipping tea.”

“Well, aren’t you the pampered lady of the house?” Jenny quipped. “You sound happy.”

“I am, Jenny. Moving away seven years ago was stupid, I was wrong for not giving Rock more time.”

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