The Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club, Books 1-3 (76 page)

Christ
. Blackmailed by a seven-year-old. And with witnesses. He'd never live it down.

“Okay. Just for a minute.” He removed his cut and tugged his shirt over his head. The two girls stood to stare at his tat.

“Can we touch it?”

“No.”

Maia frowned. “Why? Are you poisonous?”

“Not that I know.”

She stood up on tiptoe and poked his chest. Cade froze. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He lunged forward and the girls shrieked and ran away.

“Hey, Cade. You're losing your touch,” Tank yelled. “Girls are supposed to run toward you.”

“Fuck off.” He pulled on his shirt and cut and grabbed a polishing cloth. Dawn was due home any moment and he'd already run out of things to do. They'd watched TV, played a video game, and eaten the box of donuts he'd brought with him. But when they asked him to play princesses, he took them out to help him with his bike instead. Bike polishing had seemed a safe and useful activity. Now he wished he'd put on that princess crown.

“Can we sit on your bike?” Maia rested her little hand on his seat.

Cade shook his head. “Only a biker sits in his saddle. His old lady rides in the pillion seat.”

“Is Mom your old lady?”

Unable to resist her pleading look, he lifted her onto the pillion seat while he scrambled for an answer to her question. She was so small and light he was almost afraid he would crush her with his big hands. “You'll have to ask her.”

“She is,” Maia settled on the seat. “We saw her leather vest. It says
PROPERTY OF CADE
. That means she belongs to you.”

“I guess that's right.” He lifted her off and held out his hands for Tia, but she shook her head and backed away.

“So if Mom belongs to you, we belong to you.” Wise beyond her years, Maia continued with the awkward conversation despite Cade's less-than-forthcoming answers.

“It's not really like…”

“So you have to protect us.” She cut him off. “You have to look after Mom and us because that's what you do when someone is yours.”

Cade dropped to a crouch in front of the two little girls. “I'll protect you and your mom. If something bad happens and you need me, I'll be there.”

“Even from Jimmy?”

“Even from Jimmy.”

Maia cocked her head to the side. “Promise.”

“You have my word,” Cade said. “A biker's word is his bond. That means you can count on it.”

She smiled, the same devastating smile as Dawn. “Then I won't tell Mom you swore at Tank and T-Rex.”

“Thanks.”

“Since we're yours, can we have our own bikes so we can ride with you?”

Cade closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He so knew what was coming.

“No. Even if you were old enough to ride, I wouldn't let you have a bike.” He polished the chrome until it gleamed in the sunlight.

“Why?”

“Because they're dangerous and I promised to protect you.” He braced himself to be called out on his hypocrisy but she just kept going.

“What about a leather vest? I want one that says
PROPERTY OF TREVOR
.”

He squirted more polish on his cloth. “Who's Trevor?”

“My boyfriend. He pulls my hair in class and chases me around the playground at lunch.”

Cade put down the bottle of polish, his brow creasing in a frown. “Does he live nearby?”

“No.”

“I'll come by the playground tomorrow. Point him out to me and I'll make him stop.”

“I don't want him to stop.” Maia put a hand on her hip and gave an affected sigh. “Don't you know anything about girls?”

He thought he did. Apparently, he was wrong.

*   *   *

“Mommy.”

Dawn waved to Maia and Tia from the back lawn. She'd been watching Cade polish his bike with her girls ever since she got off the bus and her heart warmed at how well they got on together. Even Tia, although she didn't talk, stayed by his side.

A family. Just like you always wanted
. Jimmy's taunt flitted through her brain. She bet he'd never imagined she would have a family like this, albeit a temporary one.

Or was it? Their talk last night was all about a future together. But they hadn't addressed the elephant in the room. What would happen when it was all over? Was he really thinking of becoming a one-woman man and settling down?

Tank and T-Rex were chatting at the far end of the lane, looking less than enthused that they'd pulled guard duty. Dawn crossed the grass and stepped out of the small gate separating her property from the back lane. She'd taken the evening off so she could spend time with the girls, and she could hardly wait to tell them.

She closed the gate behind her, startling when she heard the rev of an engine. A black van sped down the lane so fast it left a trail of dust behind. Cade reached out and yanked the girls to safety. Dawn froze when the van screeched to a halt. Moments later the back door opened and a body rolled out and onto the gravel.

Shocked, Dawn could only stare as the van took off down the lane, racing full tilt at Tank and T-Rex. They scrambled to safety and then took off after the van, the rev of their engines echoing through the alley.

Maia and Tia ran across the road and into her arms. As the dust cleared, Dawn took in the body, now slumped beside Cade's bike, with the letters
MD
spray-painted on his back. She knew that sign.
MD
for “Mad Dog.” Her muscles went taut and she shoved the girls behind her.

“Go inside.” Dawn tried to keep her voice from wavering. “Go to your bedroom and lock the door.”

“But is he okay?” Maia tried to look back over her shoulder. “Should we call 911?”

“No. Cade and I will look after him. Inside. Now.” She hadn't meant to shout, but the words came out in a rush of fear.

When the girls were safely in the house, she joined Cade. He slowly turned the body so the man's face was clearly visible, and Dawn gasped.

“You know him?”

“He's the private investigator from the video Jimmy produced in court to win custody.”

And then the weight of what Jimmy had done hit her hard and she swayed on her feet. “I'll never get the girls back for good now,” she said with dawning horror. “Not under civilian law. Not unless Bunny can find out who filmed the video, and that's a long shot without the investigator.” She scrubbed her face with her hands. “God, what have I done? He's totally lost control. The risk he's taken to do this … And in front of the children…”

Cade pulled her into his arms. “We'll call Wolf. We'll make it clear that he'll have to do more than just sanction Mad Dog or he'll risk losing Sinner support for his election bid.”

“He's not afraid of Wolf anymore,” Dawn said, her voice rising in panic. “Don't you see? This was as much a message for Wolf as it was for me, and he clearly has men who are willing to defy Wolf as well. If he's prepared to do something like this, either he's left the club, or he knows he's going to win with the Black Jacks' backing. And if he wins, nothing will stop him. He'll come for me. And the girls … he doesn't want them. What if…”

“Dawn.” Cade grasped her shoulders. “I'll protect you. You're a Sinner now. The club will look after you and the girls. You don't have to worry.”

“You can't protect me.” She pulled away, letting her fear spill over in words. “You weren't there when he broke into my house, or when he caught me on the street. The Sinners didn't stop him from coming into town again the night he attacked me. Tank and T-Rex couldn't stop him from throwing a body in front of my children. No one can protect me. No one ever could. I was a fool to think I could stand up to him. I'll call Doug. He'll get me into witness protection. I can't lose my girls again.”

She knew she'd hurt him when his eyes hardened. “You're panicking. We'll deal with this. Together.”

“There is no dealing with this.” She was shaking now, her words coming thick and fast. “There's a dead body in my back lane, Cade.” She gestured behind her, unable to look at the man again. “Not just dead. Murdered. Jimmy murdered him just to make a point.”

“I'm not going to lose you because of him.” Cade cupped her face between his palms. “Trust me, Dawn. I won't let anything happen to you. I love you. I didn't want to, but I do. I didn't think it could happen, but it did. There isn't anything I won't do for you and the girls. I'll give my life to keep you safe. Just don't run away. Give me a chance to make this right.”

She stared up at his handsome face, trying to memorize every plane and angle, the scars on his cheeks and chin, the way his nose was slightly off center as if it had been broken and never properly set. His lips were perfectly shaped, full and firm. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine those lips on her body, feel his breath on her skin. She leaned forward and brushed a kiss over his cheek. His eyes darkened almost to black, and she wanted to drown in that inky sea.

“Please, Cade. Don't make me choose.”

She'd made the biggest mistake of her life getting involved with the Sinners, thinking she could beat Jimmy at his own game. She'd forgotten how clever he was, how ruthless, manipulative and totally unforgiving. Jimmy played to win and he would never give up. Not until he had her back. Not until the girls were gone. Not until Cade was dead.

Never.

 

TWENTY

I will strive to understand myself and my machine so that I rely on no one but me.

SINNER'S TRIBE CREED

Dawn laced her fingers together under the wooden table. She'd never been in an interrogation room before, but it was much as she'd imagined—four white walls, a one-way mirror, cold fluorescent light on the ceiling, camera in the corner, and Doug seated across from her, clearly uncomfortable, as evidenced by his constant shifting in his seat.

“Where exactly were you when you saw the body?”

“In the back alley behind my house.”

He tapped on his laptop his eyes focused on the screen. “Who else was there?”

“The girls. Cade. And two Sinners.”

Doug's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly when she mentioned Cade's name. “Did you know the deceased?”

“He's the private investigator from the video Jimmy showed at court to win custody of the girls. My lawyer has a copy if you need to see it.”

“And the mark on his shirt?”

She'd never seen Doug so cold and detached. Professional. A little part of her died inside. He'd always been a good friend to her and he clearly felt hurt and betrayed. “
MD
for ‘Mad Dog.'”

He stopped typing and looked up. “You think Jimmy did this?”

“I know he did. It's a message. He's angry because…” She cut herself off just in time.

“Because you've taken up with the Sinners.” Doug slammed his laptop closed. “I can't believe it myself, Dawn. I mean, what the hell were you thinking? After what you've been through—what you're going through now—how could you do this? How could you put your children at risk? How could you go back to a world that caused you so much pain?”

“Doug…” Nausea gripped her belly. He was right. About all of it. She'd spent three years trying to get away from the biker world and live like a civilian. And now, not only was she fully immersed in the life, her children were, too. “I want to take you up on the witness protection offer. I want to testify against Jimmy.” Bile rose from her throat as she spoke the words.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong
. She felt it in her gut, but she didn't have a choice.

Almost instantly his face softened. “Dawn … I don't know what to say. You've made the right choice, of course, and I'll be with you every step of the way.” And then his smile faded. “But what about … Cade? I won't pretend I don't know you're close.”

“He's a Sinner. He'll stay with his club.”

“And your cut?” He gestured to her leather vest.

Dawn swallowed hard, curling her hand around the soft leather. “I'm giving it back. I have one more thing I have to do for the club—a party I organized—and then I'm done with the Sinners. The whole biker thing was never real. It wasn't me.”

*   *   *

“You're gonna love these twins.” Gunner showed Cade a picture of two young women in a hot tub, one blond and one brunette, both with what Cade knew to be surgically enhanced breasts. Real breasts floated.

“Just what you need to get out of your black mood,” Gunner continued. “So things didn't work out with your girl. You just gotta get back in the saddle.”

Cade studied the picture as he sipped his beer in the clubhouse kitchen. The blonde was cute but she had nothing on Dawn. Her hair was too short, her face too thin, and her eyes hazel and not brilliant green. She had the look of a pampered princess who had never done a day of work in her life, unlike Dawn who worked three jobs. But maybe Gunner was right. He needed someone to take his mind off Dawn. He needed to go back to having casual hookups where he could have his fun without the emotional burden or intimacy of a relationship dragging him down.

“When are you going?”

“Tomorrow night. They're bringing some friends. But you're gonna have to sober up. You don't want to have to ride out there in a cage. These chicks dig our bikes.”

Gunner jabbed him with his elbow but Cade couldn't even muster a smile. He hadn't heard from Dawn since the police showed up to investigate the body outside her house. And, of course, Benson was with them, and everything went downhill. Benson promised to protect her and arranged for a police detail to watch her house. Benson assured her he would find out who was responsible, and if it was Mad Dog, he would lock him up for good. Benson took her away in his police car after she'd arranged for Martha to look after the kids.