Page 32 of Dane

“We seem to always be meeting here, Knight.” Hannah sat back in the chair, her legs crossed.

“Uh-huh,” he answered. “I need a bigger office. Brynn informed me you guys are cutting into her Fortnite time.”

Lana flipped through a stack of files while Ethan leaned against the far wall, sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up past his elbows, a scales-of-justice tattoo on his inner wrist catching the light every time he turned a page. They’d been at this for hours. I could tell by the way Lana’s usually perfect twist now had wisps of red hair free and curling around her face.

“What do you guys have?” Knuckles asked, as soon as everyone was seated.

“Gregory Norris,” Ethan began, “Seems clean. He also doesn’t have any legal tie to your grandmother, Brielle. If she had him or his firm file a will or any other kind of legal document tied to her name, I can’t find it.”

Lana picked up the narrative. “I called Norris’s office directly and got his paralegal. The woman said he’s out on an errand as the last wish of a deceased woman. Anything he’s doing now is not in any kind of official capacity.” She shrugged, shaking her head in bafflement. “It honestly looks like this man knew your grandmother personally and is delivering on a promise he made to her.”

“I’ve looked at everything I can think of to link Norris back to Sutton and came up empty. Either he’s exactly what he says he is, or Sutton is better than I first thought. Once we found the thread Brielle brought us on Sutton, I realized just how sloppy the guy was.” He shrugged. “My gut tells me he’s exactly what he says he is, but it’s a hell of a risk.”

“I’m still going,” I said, softly. “I know it’s not what anyone wants, and I’ll accept that and go by myself. The last thing I want is anyone in Kiss of Death getting hurt because of me.”

Knuckles stood at the head of the table. He’d been so still I’d almost forgotten he was there, which was saying something since the man towered over everyone I’d met in the club except Tiny. His arms were crossed over his chest. “Not a good idea,” he said.

“I’ll go with her.” Hannah spoke up without moving from her position in the chair. Her eyes were on Knuckles and only Knuckles.

“Not happening, Hannah,” Knuckles growled.

Hannah didn’t raise her voice. “You promised her,” she said. “Whether or not this guy has what he says he does, Brielle needs to find out. If he does, then she has things from her deceased grandmother that will mean the world to Brielle. If not, she’ll need someone at her back. Besides, the first morning she came here at the compound gates, you looked that woman in the eye and you told her nobody here would make her face anything alone.” She tilted her head, considering him. “You want to be the one who breaks your word in front of the whole club?”

Knuckles’ jaw tightened. I saw the muscle jump, a flicker of restraint. “You know, your brother’s still recovering from the last time things went to shit. Not only are you my woman, you’re his sister. You think my VP will take kindly to me letting his sister take this kind of risk?” He continued before Hannah could answer. “And if you think Gunnar would be all right with this, ask yourself if your fuckin’ husband is all right with it. Because as your fuckin’ husband, I can assure you I am decidedly not all right with this.”

“I’m not asking, Knuckles,” Hannah said quietly. “I’m telling you what I’m doing. I promised Brielle I’d have her back and that’s what I intend to do.”

Knuckles looked at her for several seconds. Then he swore under his breath. “Fine. Tiny and Hawk,” he said. “They ride with you guys. You don’t leave Brielle’s side, Hannah. And you make Goddamned sure the two of you keep the two of them between you and Norris. If he has more than one person with him, you bug out. Got me?” He sat next to Hannah, so he reached over and grasped her hand. “You will do what I say in this, Hannah. There is no scenario where you don’t come back. Understand?”

Hannah’s gaze softened. She nodded, then leaned over to kiss his shoulder.

“I’m going too.” Dane lifted his chin, daring anyone to deny him this. Unfortunately for him, Knuckles was having none of it.

“Don’t even fuckin’ think about it, Dane.”

“Prez --”

“My wife gets a pass on arguing with me,” Knuckles said, his gaze steady on Dane, brooking no argument. “You do not.”

Ethan spoke up. “If you ride in that escort and it is a set-up, your PO will have no choice but to put you back in prison. Once this is all over, Lana can take care of everything, but we’re both putting in extra effort to help both you and Brielle. Don’t make my job harder than it has to be. I’ll get cranky, and then things tend to go to shit fast.”

Dane clenched his jaw, but I saw the resignation in his eyes. The frustrated look on his face told me what not being there cost him.

“All right, then,” Knuckles stood, tugging Hannah to her feet. “I’ll let Tiny and Hawk know they’ve been volunteered. Tiny can look the route over. He and Hawk can come up with a plan once Knight has more information.”

Dane stood, pulling me to my feet much as Knuckles had Hannah, and led me back to his apartment. I went to the balcony overlooking the courtyard and stared out into the sunset across the river.

Dane came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. His thumbs dug into the muscle at the base of my neck where the afternoon’s exercise had left my muscles hard and knotted.

I leaned back into him. Felt his chest against my back, his thighs behind me touching the outer side of mine. I turned to face him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I stood on tiptoes and kissed him.

My teeth caught his lower lip, and he rested his hands on my hips. I needed this. Needed the grounding of his body, the brushing of his skin against mine.

He broke the kiss, breathing rough against my mouth. “Slow down, sweetheart.”

“No.” I pulled his shirt up to find his stomach, his muscles jumping under my palms. “I don’t want slow. Not tonight.”

He caught my wrists and held them. “Then tell me what you need.”