Shade had seen a lot of sick shit in his life, but seeing Lily in a submissive pose she had obviously done many times in her young life was possibly the sickest. It churned his gut that such a beautiful young girl hadn’t been protected by those who were supposed to keep her safe.

“Did that shit continue until the bastard got killed?” Razer asked Cash.

“No, by then the new sheriff was in town, and from what my grandmother wrote me, he had heard of what was going on, but no one would talk. Beth and Lily were home-schooled, so he couldn’t get the girls alone to talk to them, either. It wasn’t long after he was appointed that Beth disappeared for an afternoon. When her parents searched for her, they found her at the restaurant across from the sheriff’s office where she was sitting, eating a sundae. Granny wrote she was frightened for Beth that following Sunday until the new sheriff showed up before church and had a talk with Pastor Saul. After that, the sheriff was there every church meeting, rain or shine. The girls both entered school the next school year, too.”

“The sheriff probably threatened them with social services,” Bliss guessed.

Cash gave an evil grin. “Bet he threatened to kill him if he touched them again.”

“She won’t forgive me, not after what I did. I humiliated her in front of everyone, just like he did. She was hurt, and I ignored her just as those people stood around and didn’t do a damn thing.” His hands clenched into fists. “She begged me to talk to her in private…” Razer didn’t continue.

The women’s smothered sobs could be heard in the silence of the room while the men moved to stand by their brother who sat staring sightlessly at a broken television.

Shade witnessed Razer’s laid-back attitude disappear and a new man appear, one who realized he might have lost the woman he loved for good. The Last Riders gathered closer to Razer’s side, doing what they always did when one of their own needed support—come up with a plan of action to save his ass.

The young Beth they had seen treated cruelly on the television screen had needed a hero to protect her when she was younger, and no one had stepped forward. The woman she had become was one who would have your back for the rest of her life.

Chapter 12

“Going somewhere?” Shade asked Razer when he saw him grab his leather jacket.

“Going to The Pink Slipper.”

“What the fuck for?”

“To get something that belongs to me,” he answered grimly, putting on his leather gloves.

The other members stood and started getting ready, as well. They weren’t sure exactly what was going on, but they never let a brother go alone into what obviously was going to be some kind of battle. Razer only wore his gloves when he was going to whip some serious ass.

Razer took the lead with thirty club members at his back. When they turned into the Pink Slipper’s lot, Shade saw just as many bikes already parked.

Beth was sitting at a large table with four biker chicks sitting close to her while the rest of the table and chairs were filled with angry bikers and others stood blocking the table. Beth couldn’t hide her frightened expression as the other women started arguing with the men.

Razer came to a stop at the table as Shade and the rest of the Last Riders followed behind. Shade noticed half of the patrons at the bar started motioning the waitress for their bills; the other half were raking cash out of purses and wallets, throwing it down on the table without waiting for their tickets. Shade couldn’t blame them for not wanting to get caught between the two clubs.

Shade gave a mocking smile to the bikers he recognized from the gas station.

“Beth.”

Beth’s eyes widened. “Razer?”

“Let’s go.”

“Bitch isn’t going nowhere with you or your men. Y’all need to get back on your machines and leave us to our fun,” a bitch with her hair teased and crazy eyes answered for Beth.

Shade had always told The Last Riders they were lucky they didn’t have any female members who liked to bust their balls. He had a feeling those bitches were about to prove his point.

“Beth, let’s go. I’m not telling you again.”

Beth’s eyes narrowed in anger. “You don’t have the right to tell me shit. Crazy Bitch is right; you guys need to leave us alone. We were minding our own business until everyone interfered.”

“Minding what was in the pants of those pussies you bitches were dancing with when we showed up is more like it,” Ace from the gas station spoke up.

“Yeah, I don’t care what you think, Ace. We came to celebrate my shop opening Monday. The same one you, or any of you assholes, didn’t want to help paint or do shit to help with. I don’t want you guys here tonight; you don’t deserve to be part of our party.”

“I didn’t see that douche bag whose throat you had your tongue down doing any hammering there, either.”

“Yeah, well, he was going to do plenty later tonight.”

Shade didn’t pay any attention to the woman talking, looking for an opportunity to grab Beth and get her out of there before the verbal fight escalated into a physical one. However, the other bikers were standing too close.

“Was he or were they?” He jerked his head toward The Last Riders. “Did you plan on hitting their clubhouse next?” Ace asked in a menacing voice.

Shade could have answered that question for him. Fuck no.

“You kidding me? We were going to fuck around, not betray the club. If we were going to do that, we would have picked one worth the punishment of breaking a rule.”

“Did she just put us down?” Knox asked.

Shade wanted to punch the brother for being so slow on the uptake.

“Yes, she did, dumbass,” Sex Piston mocked.

Evie, Dawn, Jewell, and Natasha pushed to the front of them, standing by their club members.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Viper questioned.

“Loker James?” Beth questioned.

Shade thought wryly that the secret was out when he heard a gasp from a nearby table. Everyone turned to see Winter Simmons, who Viper had been pretending to date since he had come to town, staring at Viper in recognition.

“He’s Viper,” Evie explained.

“Well, that’s none of my business, is it?” Beth said, picking up her drink with a trembling hand.

“To answer your question, if Beth was in trouble, we were going to be here to help,” Evie answered Viper’s question and ignored Beth’s.

“Who the fuck are you?” a snide voice asked.

“Evie,” she answered in her toughest voice.

“You’re the bitch who left Beth high and dry! Damn, girl, you got balls to stand there after you fucked her man then watched her man fuck these other bitches.”

The other club was beginning to look at The Last Riders’ members with dawning respect.

“How’d you manage that, man? My bitch would cut my balls off in my sleep if I touched another bitch.”

Shade didn’t doubt the biker’s words.

“We did it to protect her. We had a brother who was a crazy fuck, and the only way we could protect her was to put space between us,” Razer answered.

“Yeah, was the hand that was playing with that girl’s titty imaginary? Any one of these fucks do that to one of my bitches, I’m gonna cut his hand off.” The bitch looked mean enough to do it, too.