Page 4 of Gray’s Surrender

“You didn’t ask what is inside.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Used to.”

Under King, Perdition moved stolen guns through Ransom. Kingdom Come kept the road clear, took its cut and asked nothing after the cash changed hands. Kane ended the standing deal when he took the gavel. Not because he objects to guns or money. But because no other club owns a route through our territory.

Bishop pushes away from the truck with a slow, confident smile. “No bikes at the landing. No call to Kane. After that, everybody gets paid and Cyrus stops wondering whether King left any men behind.”

“I said no.”

“You sure that’s your answer or Kane’s?”

My hands stay loose. “Same answer today.”

Bishop smiles with the scarred side of his mouth. “Just today?”

“Don’t come through Ransom. You are not welcome on our territory.”

“You’re starting to sound like Kane.”

“You came to me because you thought I didn’t.”

That wipes away the smile. For months I’ve watched Kane change calls that King would have made without blinking. Most of them worked. Some still feel like a man testing new brakes on a road with my daughter beside it. I’ve kept the doubt private, but clearly not private enough.

“Tell Cyrus the old road is closed. I’m not for sale,” I say.

Bishop studies me. “He thinks Kane forgot what club strength looks like.”

“He can test that himself.”

“Maybe he will.”

I take one step closer. “Then tell him he picked the wrong man.” Bishop gets into his truck and leaves without another word. I sit on my bike while the taillights disappear toward the highway. The correct move is simple. Call Kane. Tell him Perdition approached me and asked for a route through Kingdom Come territory. Instead, I start the engine and turn toward home. I refused. No route and no help. Bishop has nothing to carry back to Perdition except my answer.

Reporting it means explaining why he came to me. It means sitting at Kane’s table while every brother measures the doubt I thought I kept behind my teeth. I’ve handled it. End of story.

But Perdition would never have asked unless somebody had been watching me closely enough to see the doubt I’ve been hiding.

CHAPTER 2

MEG

Gray comes home at nine forty-seven on Friday night. Not that I’ve been watching the clock or anything. I’ve been listening to the low hum of his refrigerator, the occasional shift of the old house and the soft rain beginning against the kitchen windows. Those sounds happen to make the clock above the stove unusually noticeable. Ruby’s been asleep for an hour.

Kane called Gray back to the compound over trouble on the north road. What should have taken twenty minutes turned into three hours. Mrs. Lawson had already left for her sister’s house, and Tank and Tessa are two towns over on one of Tessa’s photography jobs. That left me. So I stayed on his couch with my shoes near the door and a book open to the same page for thirty minutes. The rumble of Gray’s bike cuts off in the drive, and the tension through my shoulders eases before I can stop it.

Gray enters through the side door wearing his cut over a black T-shirt. Rain beads across his close-cropped beard. His gaze finds me first before he glances around the room.

“She’s asleep,” I say.

He nods and locks the door behind him. “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Keeping you.”

“You didn’t. I said I’d stay.”