LOGINCOLEI couldn’t let her walk down there alone.The second Vex raised his hand and every gun on that flat seemed to come up, I broke cover and moved fast down the ridge behind her. Raine didn’t turn around, but I saw her shoulders tighten. She knew it was me. I couldn’t even hide anymore.I caught up to her just as she reached the open ground. My hand brushed the small of her back for half a second. She grimaced, but didn’t pull away. Vex stood twenty yards ahead, flanked by his top guys. Dahlia leaned against her bike off to the side, her arms crossed, watching us like we were her favorite show. The only thing missing was popcorn.“Raine,” Vex called out, his voice carrying across the flat. “At least you still know how to follow an order. Your shadow, though…” He looked straight at me. “I didn’t expect him to have the balls to show.”Raine stopped in the middle of the no-man’s-land between the two clubs. I stayed right beside her, close enough that our arms touched. Both sides had the
COLEThe rain kept hammering the tarp as the kid spilled everything. Vex wanted a summit at the deep desert flat tomorrow at dusk. The prospect looked ready to piss himself waiting for our answer. I let Ronn drag him off to tie him down for the night as we think about it.Raine’s hand stayed locked in mine, tight enough to hurt. She didn’t say anything until the kid was gone from our sight. Then she pulled me away from the others, back under the shelter where the rain sounded louder.We moved out before the first light. The crew packed and loaded only what we needed. Raine rode behind me again, her arms around my waist like she was holding on for dear life. The desert stretched endless ahead of us, all red rock and dust. We rode carefully, changing directions twice to shake any tails. By midday the heat was brutal, but nobody complained. We just shared water tanks between us, our throats patched from the scratching heat.We stopped in a narrow canyon to rest the bikes and stretch. Rai
COLE POVThey tried to kill us twice before we shook Dahlia’s tail.Bullets sang past my helmet as I hugged the bike low, throttle pinned until the engine screamed. Raine was a shadow ahead of me, weaving through the scrub with the kind of instinct only someone born to this life possessed. Dahlia’s crew was fast, reckless, but Raine was better. She cut sharp across a dry wash, kicking up a blinding rooster tail of sand that forced two of them to brake hard. I took the gap she left, firing two shots over my shoulder that pinged off Dahlia’s fairing. Her curse carried on the wind.We lost them in a narrow canyon where the rocks sang with ricochets, doubling back through gullies only locals would know. By the time we killed the engines at the old outpost, my shoulder burned from the graze and my heart hammered like it wanted out of my chest. Raine killed her bike beside me, breathing hard, eyes wild with adrenaline and fury.The crew swarmed us immediately. Isla grabbed her sister in a f
COLEVictor’s voice still burned in my ears like bad exhaust as the crew scattered into defensive positions around the outpost. Ten grand and a personal favor for our heads. The old bastard knew exactly how to light a fire under the greedy ones. Raine stood rigid beside me, her eyes already calculating escape routes and next moves. That was my girl, and I was so damn proud of her every minute.“We can’t stay here,” I said, scanning the horizon. “It’s exposed now.”Raine nodded sharply. “Ruiz is our best shot now, Cole. If anyone has proof about the shipment, it’s him. It’s best just us two go.”Isla protested, but Raine shut it down with a stern look.“Just don’t make babies alomg the way.” She mumbled quietly and went inside. I stifled a laugh.Ten minutes later we were peeling out on the modded bikes, our engine humming rapidly. The desert stretched wide and merciless under the midday sun, heat waves shimmering off the blacktop like ghosts. I rode behind her at first, watching her l
Cole POVRaine’s nails dug into my arm like she was trying to anchor us both against the storm Dahlia had just unleashed. The garage air felt thicker, charged with the echo of that venomous voice still ringing in our ears.My blood was ice, but my body was already moving on instinct. I grabbed the radio and smashing it silent against the workbench before another word could even slither through.“Our cover is blown,” I said, my voice low and rough. “Grab what you can. We roll in five.”Isla was already stuffing ammo into a duffel, her face stotic. Raine gave my arm one last squeeze, her storm-gray eyes flashing with a mix of fury and fire I’d fallen so damn hard for, then she was moving too, snatching tools and anything that could keep us alive another day. The betrayal burned in her. I saw it in the tight line of her jaw, but she refused to say anything else.We were on the bikes and gone before the sun had fully set. My crew cut across back trails, thw engines growling low matching o
Cole POVThe rain had finally eased into a miserable drizzle as Trey leaned against the weathered post, the cherry of his cigarette cutting through the dark.“You got something eating at you, Trey, and I’m not in the mood for whatever that is tonight,” I said, my voice low but but steady. “You’ve been watching us too close, and I’ve been watching you too close. What are you up to, Trey?”Trey took a long drag, letting the smoke curl around his face before he met my eyes and smirked.I grabbed the front of his jacket before I could stop myself, pulling him close enough to smell the cheap tobacco and cheaper whiskey on his breath. “If you’re feeding information to the wrong people, I will end you myself and make it slow enough that you feel every second of it. Raine is not a bargaining chip, and she will never be your ticket to favor with Vex. She’s mine to protect, and I don’t ever miss when I pull the trigger. Are we crystal clear on that?”“Crystal, boss. Loyalty above all, right?.”
Cole's POVAmbrose stumbled backward, his hand clutching at his chest where the bullets had split through his skin. Blood bloomed across his shirt, spreading quickly, and he hit the table behind him before crashing to the floor. The sound echoed through the room, followed by a split second of stunn
Cole's POV"You're going to what?" Raine gasped.I turned away from the mirror and looked at her directly. "Look, you heard me. And you need to get your sister and leave this place immediately. What's about to happen in the next few hours is going to be brutal, and I don't want you anywhere near it
Raine's POVCole Maddox sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, before replying. "I need you to listen to me.""Get the fuck off me so I can leave!" I yelled, shoving at his chest.He didn't budge. "I don't want you to go."Something in his voice made me pause. It wasn't aggressive or demanding. I
Raine's POV"I'm telling you, something is going to happen at this Conclave," I muttered, staring out the window of the car as the venue came into view. "I can feel it."Isla glanced at me from the other side of the backseat. "Oh, God. Raine, you say that every year.""Yeah, well, this year I mean







