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A current strong enough to knock me off my feet.

I fought against the tide, trying to keep myself on the shore where I knew I belonged. Sure of how easy it would be to get dragged out into Elena’s languid waters.

Smart.

Sweet.

Sexy.

Driving me out of my ever-loving mind.

“How is she handling it?” Silas asked.

I scraped a tattooed hand through my hair, praying to fuck that it wasn’t shaking. “Resilient as always and refusing to let it deter her.”

Regret shook his head. “Only way she knows how to be. Bullshit she’s had to face down in this life.”

“Elena’s not gonna let some twisted fuck hold her down. Woman is as fierce as can be.” Phoenix rumbled it as he stood from his bike.

“No,” I agreed, the single word a lash.

I tamped all thoughts down and forced my focus on the task at hand, eyes skating the area like I’d find my answer standing at the edge of the forest.

“Any trace of that bastard in town?”

We might have embarked on another mission, but Shayne Ellison was not forgotten.

The shake of Silas’s head was sharp. “Not yet. We have surveillance everywhere, and I’m going to have detachments riding around town. Scouring every inch and showing this bastard exactly what’s waiting on him when he decides to show his face.”

I didn’t know if I was relieved or frustrated.

“That’s why we’re here,” Silas grumbled. “To show him we are not daunted and are very much ready and waiting. We will not be intimidated by some ambiguous threat left at my sister’s door.”

Silas’s gaze roved over the mass of his men who were climbing off their bikes and rising to their beastly heights.

Foreboding and just plain mean.

You had to be when you lived this life.

“Good,” I grunted.

Silas eyed me straight. “Church, tonight at eight. Take Elena to the house beforehand. I’ll have a couple prospects standing guard there. We’ll have full updates on all jobs and should have more details about last night’s job and anything else Cash has dug out on Shayne.”

I scrubbed a palm down my face.

I didn’t know if it was dread or guilt that was the thickest. The blotting on my soul.

Silas reached out and squeezed my shoulder, and his voice dipped into a muted tremor that the rest of our crew couldn’t hear. “I know you’re worried about her, brother. Hell, I know you worry almost as much as me. You’ve taken her on as your own responsibility when I needed someone to step up to help when I couldn’t be in two places at once. You’re the one with her because you’re the only one I fully trust to do it. Because I know you have her best intentions at heart. You won’t let a thing happen to her.”

Did I?

Did I fucking have her best intentions at heart?

Because I could feel my intentions slanting in a direction I couldn’t let them go. In a direction that would bring me to my demise.

Could feel my restraint slipping.

A crack running straight through my foundation.