“One thing I’ve learned in life is you can’t make promises that are impossible to keep.” She had learned promises were as useless as a two-dollar bill—no matter how much people wanted to keep them, life ultimately took what it wanted.
“I’ve kept every promise I’ve ever made.”
“Then I want you to remember the one you made to me. If this goes bad, I want you to do whatever you have to do to get yourself out without me.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“You swore to me.” Ginny had no intention of letting him off the hook from his promise. “I expect you to keep your promise.” He might not be able to keep his promise about her safety, but she would make sure he protected his own life. “Jonas and Mika would be devasted if anything happened to you,” Ginny emphasized, reminding him why it was so important he survived.
“You’re just as important.”
Ginny didn’t respond. She would be missed by T.A. and her brothers if anything happened to her, but she wasn’t important to them. T.A. had Dalton and her friends, and her brothers had each other. She wasn’t so important that losing her would make a difference in their lives. It was just one of the reasons why she made the deal with the FBI—she was expendable. Gavin wasn’t. And even though Viper had Winter and Aisha, he needed Gavin to make him whole.
“You’re important to me.”
Ginny stared at him ruefully. “No, I’m not.”
“Believe me; you are. If anything happens to you under my watch, Reaper will kill me.”
“No, he won’t. I know Gavin,” Ginny assured him.
“You might think you know Gavin, but where Reaper is concerned, you don’t know jack shit.”
“They’re the same man.”
“Tell yourself that all you want, if it makes you feel better.” Hammer gave her a rueful look. “You’re going to find out the truth for yourself.”
“When?”
Hammer’s expression turned into one of determination. “When I bring your ass home.”
Chapter One
Waving at Matthew and Isaac as they headed inside their shop, Reaper got inside Viper’s SUV.
“We’re late,” Viper snapped before Reaper could even shut the door.
“I got that message two honks ago,” Reaper snapped back.
“When I talked to you this morning, I told you we couldn’t be late to the meeting with the FBI. Now we’re not going to have time to meet with Diamond beforehand.”
“We already know what she would have said—be quiet and let her do the talking. I plan to follow her advice, even though she didn’t have time to give it.”
“You’re in a good mood.” Viper looked at him suspiciously.
“Do me a favor; if I swear not to off myself, will you quit looking for signs that aren’t there? At least not anymore. I feel good. Actually, I feel fucking great.”
“You back on your antidepressants? If so, pass me a couple. I had to listen to every brother in the club offer to pack Taylor’s shit back into her car. Then Knox called and told me the FBI were waiting for him when he came in this morning. They want us brought in for questioning.”
“I’ll bring Taylor’s shit out to her car myself after our meeting, and we can let Diamond do the talking to the FBI. They have to build a case against us. They have to prove we’re responsible for Slate’s disappearance. That’s going to take time.”
“What about Memphis? They have the tape to prove what happened to him.” Viper parked in the police parking lot.
“I think I have a plan for that. We’ll talk after the meeting. Then I’ll go see the brothers and get Taylor out of your hair. At least Ginny doesn’t know about her being at the club,” he said, getting out of the car and then caught Viper’s expression. He knew when he was fucked. “She knows Taylor’s at the club?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck. Thanks, big brother.” He slammed the car door shut.
“I was worried about how you would react. I thought Taylor was part of the reason you wanted to kill yourself—” Viper snapped his mouth shut. “Okay, I fucked up.”
Gavin laughed, slinging a brotherly arm around Viper’s shoulders. “Welcome to my world.”
Any visage of a smile disappeared before walking into the sheriff’s office where the desk clerk sent them to the courthouse. “Knox and your lawyer will meet you in Room 2, in the lower level. They are waiting for you.”
Reaper and Viper shared speculative glances as they went back out the door, then headed for the courthouse.
“We’re fucked.”
Reaper’s good mood rapidly disappeared hearing Viper’s worried curse.
Viper had been mired in the shitstorm Memphis had created. The betraying bastard deserved the death he had been dealt after the greedy fucker was about to blow the whole fucking club up before thankfully being caught.
Finding Room 2, Reaper saw a state trooper guarding the door. Another state trooper was stationed outside another door farther down the hall. The trooper checked their IDs before opening the door. “Make sure you keep several feet apart.” Motioning them inside, he then shut the door behind them.
Knox and Diamond were waiting inside.
“Thank God you two finally showed up. They were threatening to issue warrants for your arrests if you didn’t show in the next ten minutes.”
“Time got away from me.” Reaper took the hit for being late. “If they’re so anxious for our arrival, where are they?”
“The commonwealth attorney is speaking with the special agents. They’ll call us in when they’re ready.”
Diamond stared at Knox worriedly as time passed and no one came for them.
Cognizant of possibly being recorded, they didn’t discuss any of the variety of reasons they could have been pulled in for questioning. Assuming they were there to discuss Slate, everyone was wary to mention his name. The longer it took, the harder it was to keep silent, which Reaper took for a stalling tactic.
“Is this even fucking legal? Keeping us waiting this long?” Viper asked.
Diamond, just as frustrated as everyone else in the room, went to the door to pull it open.
The officer broke off from speaking into the radio on his shoulder, telling Diamond, “I was just informed to bring you to a larger room upstairs. If you all will follow me.”
The four of them filed out of the room.
Reaper’s gut clenched as they went up the steps, preparing himself to be arrested. Weeks ago, he couldn’t have cared less, still having felt as if he belonged in jail, but Ginny changed him—even before he realized it was her voice that had strengthened his will to survive while in captivity.
She had kept him so busy falling for her, he had lost the desire to end his life—she’d made it worth living again.
They entered a courtroom, but there was no judge sitting on the bench, only four suited men waiting for them in the front of the judge’s bench.
“Please, take a seat and keep a safe distance apart,” an older agent directed them to the seats in the front row.
“I made my clients available at the FBI’s request, despite no advance warning. Since you’re now playing games, we’re leaving.” Diamond firmly stood in front and blocked the men from going down the aisle.