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Chapter Thirty-Seven

MERRICK

I could shout and fight with these bikers in the back of the van, but what would be the point? They know who I am, and they’ve taken me anyway. Jerking my chin in the air, I suck in a breath and hold it for a moment, then let it out slowly.

There is a man watching me, sitting across from me in the van. He tilts his head to the side, his eyes searching mine, and then he speaks after a few moments of silence.

“You’re the big bad Merrick Steele,” he says.

My lips twitch into a smirk. “Funny you know me, but I got no fucking clue who the hell you are,” I say.

He grins, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter who the hell I am. You’re about to meet Prez, and he’s the only one who actually matters.”

A few moments later, the van turns a corner, and I go sliding to the side. A few minutes after that, the van comes to a stop. I open my mouth to start demanding some fucking answers when the door flies open. There is another biker in front of me. His eyes find mine, and he smirks.

“Welcome to the Night Devils MC,” he announces. “You can call me Prez. Come inside. We need to have a chat.”

I want to tell him to fuck right off. But out of a sense of self-preservation, I don’t. Instead, I clear my throat and stare at him, expressionless. Because honestly, I have not the first fucking clue as to why I’m here.

Prez turns around and walks into the metal building in front of us. This whole area is nothing but woods, and then there is this clearing with a metal building in the middle.

My car pulls up, and I turn my head to the side, watching as a man unfolds from the passenger seat. He’s tall, about my height, with a beard and messy hair. His eyes meet mine, and I watch as his lips twitch into a smirk before he jerks his chin in my direction.

Nobody speaks. I’m seconds away from marching over to them and figuring out what the fuck is going on, but I don’t get the opportunity. Colette unfolds from the car, her eyes finding mine across the roof.

Another man in a Night Devils vest takes her by the arm and tugs her toward the building. I follow behind her, ready to end any of them if they try to hurt her. Colette’s gaze finds mine from over her shoulder. I jerk my chin in the air, and my eyes find and hold hers.

She gives me a small smile but doesn’t say anything. I watch as she turns back around, then makes her way into the building. I can hear the men around me talking behind me and inside of the brick building, but the moment I step inside, there is complete silence.

“Usually, I would have this meeting in a different room, but since there is a woman present, I figured this would be a good place,” Prez announces.

He’s sitting at the far pub table with just one chair in front of him. I watch as he lifts his hand as if to motion for me to sit across from him. I don’t move. Colette is too far ahead of me to reach out and touch her.

“Bring a chair over for the woman, prospect,” he calls out to one of his men.

Someone rushes over and sets a chair down next to the other empty one. “Please, sit,” he calls out again.

Colette moves toward the empty chair, and I do the same, keeping an eye on her back, although I’m pretty sure that, at this moment, I would be a goddamn shitty protector. I swore to always keep her safe, to never allow anything to ever happen to her again, and here we are, less than a fucking week later—in danger.

She sits on the barstool, and I take the one next to her, lifting my hands onto the table and pressing my palms to the cool surface. I wait for the man across from me to explain why we have been kidnapped and why the hell we’re sitting here across from him.

When he doesn’t speak, I shake my head once before I begin. “Want to explain what all this is about?” I ask.

His lips twitch into a smirk before he schools his features. “In detail? No. But loosely, sure. You are on a kill list. Several men have attempted to take your lives already for the chance to get their hands on some cash. But there is no cash, is there?” he asks.

“The man who put us on that list is dead,” I say, my voice flat and with zero emotion.

“Nobody will get paid, then?” the biker asks.

“Not unless you can figure out how to hack his banking system and pay yourself. That being said, I would guess it’s all gone already. The new man in charge likely has access to it all.”

My words are firm and the truth. I’m not sure this guy even knows who I am and that I’m part of Securus. I don’t know if he realizes my brothers will find me. They know how to find almost anyone. Even if it takes a few years, they will figure out who the fuck killed me.

Prez leans back in his seat, his gaze searching mine. I’m not sure if he’s trying to figure out whether I’m telling the truth or not.

I am.

Then he strums his fingers on the table, his gaze focused on mine for a silent moment. “I knew who you were when I saw your name on the list.”

“But you didn’t kill us, why?” I ask.

He shrugs his shoulder, then shifts forward in his seat and places his elbows on the table. I’m not sure if he doesn’t want anyone else to hear or if he’s leaning forward for dramatic effect.

“I could lie and say it’s because I knew you were from Nights, and we should stick together.”

I snort at his words because I wouldn’t give a flying fuck where someone is from, and I can’t imagine he would, either.

“But in reality, I knew that you and your men were more useful alive. Plus, my sister talks highly of you all.”

Fuck.

I wonder if his sister is my normal fuck… my in-between Colette fuck. I suck in a breath, holding it while he continues and hoping to shit he doesn’t say her name, although I’m not sure I even remember her name. A lot of shit has happened, but then he says a name I was not expecting at all.

“Nadine.”

Nadine? Theron’s secretary, Nadine?

“Nadine?” I ask.

His lips curve up before he jerks his chin. “Nadine. My sister. She speaks highly of all of you at Securus. So I told her I would help, but not for free.”

“What do you want?” I ask.

“Security.”

COLETTE

I’m not sure what’s happening right now. However, I do feel it when the tension leaves the room. Maybe it’s just my own tension that vanishes when I realize that, yes, these people kidnapped us, but it seems as if it was in an attempt to save us.

“Nadine?” Merrick asks.

An instant sensation of pure jealousy slams into me. Who is this woman? Flicking my gaze between Merrick and this biker, Prez, across from us, I wait for someone to explain to me what’s happening here, but neither of them does.

“What kind of security? You’re pretty well isolated out here,” Merrick says as he lifts his hand and extends his finger, swirling it in a circle.

Prez leans back in his seat. “Oh, not here,” he says as his lips curve up into a deeper grin. “At my construction company.”

I stare at him for a moment. Construction company? I cannot imagine this man owning a construction company. Merrick, to his credit, doesn’t balk for even a moment at the idea of this man owning a construction company.

“We do this, Securus does this security monitoring for your construction company, and we’re square?”

My heart races inside of my chest, and I can’t help but wonder what is going to happen. I’m listening intently because I can’t imagine that it’s going to be so easy. If it is, then why hasn’t it already been done?

“After a signed contract, we’re square,” Prez states.

I open my mouth to ask a question, then snap it closed as soon as there is a commotion behind me. Turning around, I look over my shoulder to the doorway and watch as Vaughn, Grayson, and a woman walk through together.

The biker across from me stands and walks over to the woman, embracing her with a kiss on the cheek. Before he even has to demand it happen—a table and three chairs are whisked over.

Vaughn, Grayson, and the woman sit down while Prez makes his way back to his seat. I listen to Merrick explain the situation, and Vaughn dips his chin in what I assume is understanding before he speaks.

“I don’t have the availability to edit that system. Otherwise, I would have done it a long time ago. Are you telling me that you have someone who can hack that site?” he asks.

Prez clears his throat, then lifts his hand and points to the woman. “I can hack it,” she whispers.

If a pin dropped right now, I’m pretty sure we could hear it and every bounce it made on the concrete flooring. Merrick lets out a whistle, but it’s Grayson who stands abruptly, sending his pub chair flying behind him.

“Nadine?” Vaughn asks.

Grayson storms out of the room, but the rest of us stay seated where we are. All our attention is focused on Nadine. She presses her lips together, rolling them a few times. Then she flicks her gaze to her lap before she lifts it to meet Merrick’s.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I changed all my information on my application in order to get a job at Securus. I needed to be on the inside.”

“Why?” Merrick demands.

She shifts her gaze to Prez, who jerks his chin toward her as if to give her the permission she needs to continue. She shifts her attention back to Merrick before she speaks again.

“I was hiding from my ex-husband. If I were here with my brother, he would have found me in an instant. I had to erase everything about myself and plant seeds in other places. It was the only way I could live an almost-free life.”

My brows snap together as I look around. “But you’re here now.”

She dips her chin. “I have to help. I can’t see something happen to Merrick when I know I can stop it.”

Merrick stands beside me, placing his hands on the table, his gaze connected to Prez’s. “Get the contract. I’ll sign whatever needs to be signed.” Then he swings his attention to Nadine. “And we’ll also be doing free surveillance on your apartment.”

She opens her mouth, likely to protest. But doesn’t need to because Grayson’s voice booms through the room, interrupting whatever she is about to say. “She’ll be moving into the safe house tonight.”

My gaze swings to her brother’s, this big badass biker, and I wait for him to tell Grayson to fuck all the way off, but he doesn’t. Instead, he jerks his chin up and smiles. Holy shit, I can’t help but wonder if this was all planned.