Ride Hard (Raven Riders 1)

The only thing he hadn’t counted on was that Haven would be at the center of the danger.

Sonofabitch.

But now at least he knew exactly what the threat was. Dominic and these Iron Cross fuckers. And Rhett Randall and however many men he had at his side.

“Thanks, Walker. We’ll see you Friday,” Phoenix said, and then he hung up.

“They’re in?” Dare asked.

“A hundred percent,” Phoenix said. The Brothers were a newer, smaller MC that the Ravens occasionally crossed paths with, since they rode and lived in the same general region. Eager to build their reputation, the Brothers sometimes did business with the Ravens and had almost always followed the Ravens’ lead when the chips were down.

And they were fucking down. Right now.

Maverick punched a key and turned toward them. “Word’s out. I’ll handle assigning people as they make their way in.”

“Good,” Dare said, looking his cousin in the eye. If he had to walk through hell, there was no one he’d rather do it with. “I need to catch Doc up on all this.”

“Before you do,” Maverick said, looking from Dare to Phoenix and back again, “we really paying this money?” Skepticism was plain in his voice.

That right there was the hundred-thousand-dollar question, wasn’t it? Dare shook his head. “Fuck, no.” It wasn’t that he didn’t have the money. And it wasn’t that he wouldn’t pay it for Haven if he had to, because he would. In a heartbeat. Hell, he’d do it for anyone they took under their wing, because they knew the risks involved with taking on the world’s lowlifes.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Phoenix said, nodding.

Maverick’s expression took on a grim satisfaction, and not a little relief. “So what’s your play?”

“Caine gets us the identity documentation and relocation logistics on Friday. We move the women as soon as we have it. Friday night, we cancel Saturday’s exchange and tell Dominic—”

“He can go fuck himself,” Phoenix interjected.

Dare nodded. “That, too. We tell him to send Randall our way if that’s what he needs to do. And then we take care of the threat that’s going to keep on coming whether we pay off the Iron Cross or not. Paying them not to talk isn’t going to keep Haven’s father from finding her if that’s what he’s intent on doing. He’s too close as it is.”

Maverick nodded. “That’s right. The Iron Cross is a distraction in all this.”

“Exactly,” Dare said.

Phoenix shifted in his seat. “You think this Dominic fucker’s just gonna take that?”

“No,” Dare said. This whole train of thought had been spinning in his head since the phone call ended a half hour ago. “I think these assholes are gonna be a burr in our saddles from here on out. The question is whether we want to do something about them, too, because this sonofabitch is too fucking big for his skinhead britches. But I think we have a couple days’ breather on deciding. We’ll talk about it in Church tomorrow.”

Both men nodded.

“How’s Haven?” Maverick asked.

“She’s tougher than she thinks she is,” Dare said, swallowing hard. He’d hated the terror that paled her face as the call took place. And he hated Dominic for putting it there, for treating her like a pawn, and for trying to get him to do the same. It had taken everything he had not to go to her side as they’d strategized an immediate response. There’d been no way he could stay away after. Dare had needed to touch her, hold her, prove to himself that she was still there and unharmed.

Prove to himself that he hadn’t failed her. And wouldn’t. Because he couldn’t handle failing someone else he loved, like he had before.

Loved? Yeah. Fuck.

He’d promised Haven safety, a fresh start, a new life away from violence and chaos. And he was going to keep his word. It didn’t matter what it cost him—not his money, not his time, not his heart.

“You know,” Maverick said, “if the plan is to take out her father, maybe there’s no reason—”

“There’s every reason,” Dare said, knowing where Maverick was headed, because a part of his brain had been playing with the idea, too. If her father was out of the picture, maybe Haven didn’t have to leave. Except it wasn’t that goddamned simple, and Dare wasn’t taking any chances of her falling into the wrong hands if things didn’t go as planned. The consequences would be too dire for her. “Even assuming this thing with her father goes down like we want it, we are always involved in some shit here. Always. And now we’ve got the Iron Cross breathing down our necks, with her at the center of the conflict, which is going to lead to who knows what. That woman has been a prisoner of her father for the last eight years. He abused her and controlled her every way he could. She deserves a life free from violence, free from danger, free from all this bullshit,” Dare said, raking at his hair. His gut gave a big old check that he ignored like a motherfucker.