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It really was the end of an era. After today, the Lakeview clan would be out of the weapons business entirely. No more special orders at the shop. No more cross-border shipments from Michel. No more hiding evidence when Forest decided to pay a visit. With the profits from this shifter distillery investment, the clan would be set for life, and then some.

Outside, Zoey started barking playfully, and the sound was echoed by Dylan’s familiar laugh. My dragon snapped into alertness, and Striker chuckled at the speed with which I whipped toward the clubhouse door.

Harley stepped inside. Her jeans accentuated the curve of her hips, and she was wearing one of my button-up shirts tied into a knot to reveal a tiny strip of her tan skin. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail.

Gorgeous. Even after she’d been so shaken up yesterday, she was still effortlessly beautiful, effortlessly graceful.

“What’s going on in here?” she asked, glancing around at the bustling clubhouse.

“Little celebration later today,” Striker said with a smile. “New business venture.”

“Business venture?” She blinked at me. It was a cute gesture that made her look like the twenty-year-old I’d fallen in love with.

I nodded. Striker stepped away to help Mia and Hawk hang the banner evenly, but it was really to give us a little space. She leaned against the bar next to me. “What kind of business?” she asked.

“Booze for shifters,” I said with a half-smile.

“I thought shifters couldn’t get drunk.”

“Exactly. So, there’s a hell of a market for it. Hawk found some guys who figured out how to distill spirits and brew beer that works on shifters, and we jumped on the investment. Projections look really good.”

“So, it’s a legitimate business,” she said slowly.

I nodded. “Yep. More than that. This is the clan’s way out of the criminal life. Permanently.”

“Seriously?” Her eyes widened. “You’ll bedone?”

“I didn’t want to tell you before everything was locked in,” I said. “Just in case something fell through. But all the paperwork is signed, the soft launch went insanely well, and now…” I gestured around the bar. “Now we’re celebrating the beginning of the rest of our lives.”

Harley exhaled a big breath, and tipped forward so her forehead was against my shoulder. “Wow. That… That’s huge, Steph.”

“I know. I want this life to be safe for you, and for Dylan and Bella, too.”

“I’m glad I won’t have to worry about you getting carted off to jail,” she said. Then she leaned back with a sigh. The concernedexpression on her face rekindled the disappointment and guilt in my gut. This was a step in the right direction, but I knew it wasn’t enough.

“But what about Sean?” she asked. “What are we going to do about him?”

“I’m working on it.”

“What if he shows up tonight?”

“He won’t. He’s not that stupid.”

“How can you predict what he’ll do? After what he did yesterday?”

She was right. I hated that she was right. My dragon growled with frustration. Sean was hard to read, but he was still my brother—my twin. I hadsomeinsight into his behavior. Didn’t I?

“If anyone else had done that to me and Dylan, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Harley said. “They’d probably be dead in a ditch somewhere, like those guys Strikertook care of, right?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Steph, it kind ofisthat simple,” Harley said in a small voice. “I know he’s your brother, and I know this is hard for you, but I can’t have Dylan in that kind of danger. Ever. If I had any sense…” She sighed and cut her gaze to the side. “If I had any sense, I’d be on my way back to Atlanta right now. That’s what any reasonable woman in my position would do.”

“Harley—”

“I told you we’d leave if there was any danger like this. I told you that, and still…”

“I know,” I said. “I’m handling it. I promise.”