Page 17

After Dean’s grandfather died, he and his brother, Kincaid, fought over rightful ownership of the land. As part of that battle, the mineral rights were evaluated, making it known just how much this land is worth below the surface. We’re sitting on more money than this town has ever known, and even though ownership of the land was settled, other parties are now interested.

“So what do we do about this?” East asks, tipping his beer toward the notice.

I look up at Lawson. “You know the city planner pretty well, right?”

“His son is in Max’s preschool class.”

“Think he could help us out?”

Lawson wipes his palm down his face, glancing to the living room, where Max has the volume on the television up so high he can’t hear our conversation. Max was a surprise to Lawson. And after his girlfriend died, he had no choice but to figure out how to balance family and club life. Which is why Lawson left Phoenix for Lanceleaf, hoping a smaller town meant fewer problems.

We were all wrong about that.

For Max’s sake, Lawson tries to keep the two separate, so I understand his hesitation at my question. It’s why I never plan on starting a family of my own.

“I know you hate club business intermingling with personal shit, but it’s our only option,” I point out. “Most local businesses are on Zander’s side, and they’re shutting us out. The city planner is our only in.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Lawson concedes. He might not like it, but I’m learning he’ll do what needs to be done for his club.

“Let me know how it goes. On another note, I’m meeting with Will and Kincaid later to see if they need any help from us around the ranch.”

“What the fuck? Are we bikers or ranchers?” East huffs out.

“We’re bikers living on ranch land, and we’re respecting that.” My eyes narrow, and he sits up straighter. “We all knew what we signed up for coming here, did we not? This isn’t like our clubs back home. If we want to make it work in a town like this, we need to do our part. We’re not running a clubhouse; we’re building a safe haven. Neutral territory.”

“Some neutral territory we’ve got,” East grumbles.

“I’m working on the ranchers. Will’s working on the ranchers. So be grateful they don’t all hate us, and fucking help the ones who are on our side.”

East nods, crossing his arms over his chest and biting back whatever else he wants to say. Of the four of us, East is the most resistant to doing actual work unless it’s for the club. At only twenty-seven, he’s still working shit out of his system.

“Anything else we need to worry about?” I lean back in my chair, glancing around the room.

“There’s been another break-in at the hardware store.”

“So?” My eyebrow hitches. “What do we care about a hardware store? It’s not one of our properties.”

“No, but Jackson was building a rapport with the owner, and this is the third break-in this month.”

“You think someone’s trying to send us a message?”

Aiden shrugs. “Just putting it on the radar.”

“Noted. I’ll ask Will what he knows about it. His brother’s the police chief or something⁠—”

“Firefighter.”

“Well, never mind, then. Either way, I’ll look into it.” Not that I don’t already have enough on my plate. “Keep me updated if you hear anything else.”

All three men nod, standing.

“You riding into town?” Aiden asks me.

“Yeah. I think I’ll grab a bite at the diner and see what people are saying.” Small-town gossip is annoying as fuck but helpful when they won’t talk to us directly.

“I’ll join you,” Aiden says, holstering his gun.

“Speaking of the locals…” Lawson scratches his jaw. “I know you just got to town, Shane, but getting on Zander’s radar with Harloe is trouble.”