Viper began talking about their clubhouse in Ohio and the new recruits they had wanting to join.

“Got one wanting to go for the patch here,” Shade said, lacing his hand through Lily’s.

She lost her angry expression, rubbing her thumb back against his.

“Who?” Viper asked, his eyes going around the room.

“Dude against the left wall with the eight-ball tat,” Shade answered without turning his head.

Lily started to turn her head, but Shade’s hand tightened on the hand he was holding. Lily took the hint and remained still. That time, it was his thumb rubbing hers.

“Name?” Viper didn’t take his eyes off the recruit.

“Eightball.”

“How original,” Viper said wryly.

“I thought so. He had to think a couple of seconds when I asked,” Shade said, his voice unemotional.

“Anything else?”

“He’s good. Knows how to handle himself and his bike.” Shade paused, looking at Lily. “Too good for someone not patched.”

“Stud?”

“No. Stud doesn’t play that game, but even if he did he wouldn’t with us. He wouldn’t want to take a chance on Sex Piston finding out; she and Beth are too tight. He’s not going to get his old lady upset when she’s carrying his kid.”

“I agree, so who?” Viper demanded.

“Don’t know, but I’ll find out,” Shade promised his president.

“Now,” Viper commanded.

Shade remained sitting. The best part about being an enforcer was letting someone else do his dirty work.

“I’m on it,” he replied, nodding toward Cash at the bar who was watching Shade for his signal.

At Shade’s gesture, he set his glass of whiskey down then said something to Nickel who was standing next to him. When both men moved toward the left wall, Shade’s hand tightened on Lily’s, again silently warning her not to look.

Lily started trembling, and her bottom lip began quivering at the sound of the scuffle going on behind her between Eightball, Cash, and Nickel.

“Shade…”

He leaned forward, brushing his lips against hers as his hand picked up his beer.

“Angel face, I like that sweater on you,” he murmured against her lips.

“Don’t hurt him,” she pleaded softly.

“Have to find out if he’s here because of you,” he whispered before kissing her. It was too much of a coincidence that someone was trying to find out information on their club when someone was trying to kill Lily.

He lifted his mouth away from hers, leaning back against the couch as he took a drink of his beer.

Train came up to them then.

“Lily, a buddy of mine gave me two pieces-of-shit bikes he wanted to get rid of. I fixed them up. Don’t want them; none of the brothers do. If you want them, you can have them to sell for your store, or maybe someone needs a ride for work.”

“Thank you, Train.” Lily jumped off his lap.

Shade could read her intention to hug him. He leaned forward, sliding his arm around her waist before she could take another step, sweeping her back down onto his lap. She stared up at him with her mouth hanging open.

“Stop doing that shit. Do. Not. Touch,” he told her with his jaw clenched.

“What? But I was only going to thank him,” Lily protested.

“Then thank him, but Do. Not. Touch. And quit kissing,” he added as an afterthought.

“Quit kissing? But I like kissing you. I don’t want to stop that,” Lily protested. She turned red when Viper and Razer began laughing. Train was still standing, unmoving.

“That’s not what I meant.” Shade gradually regained control. “I meant when you kiss men on the cheek.”

“Who did I kiss on the cheek?”

“Viper.”

Lily looked thoughtful before she reproached, “You scared Pastor Dean,”

“You do not touch anyone, especially Pastor Dean,” Shade told her sharply, still glaring at a pale Train.

Lily looked at him. “Okay.”

She relaxed against him, rubbing his chest with her hand until his breathing returned to normal.

“Thank you,” he said, relaxing back against the couch.

“No problem.” Lily smiled gently up at him.

“Thank God. At least we finally got that shit straight. I didn’t think I’d have a brother left after Christmas.”

She had given each and every one of the brothers a peck on the cheek with a present she had picked out for them.

“You didn’t?” She looked at him suspiciously.

“No, but it was close,” Shade said unrepentantly.

She was shaking her head at him when Knox came in with Diamond. She was like Lily; she hadn’t dressed overtly sexy, either. She was wearing a dark jumper and a black pair of leggings with high-heeled boots.

Knox took a seat on the couch next to Shade, pulling Diamond down onto his lap. He wasn’t wearing his uniform, just jeans and a T-shirt. His huge frame crowded the large sofa. Lily sat up straighter, curling her legs on top of Shade’s.

“I put Georgia on suicide watch. Had to hire an extra policewoman from Jamestown, but at least I don’t have to worry about walking into her cell and finding her dead,” Knox said, looking at Lily. “You were right; I saw the marks on her wrist.”

“I wouldn’t have ever said anything, but I didn’t want her to hurt herself because she’d made a mistake.”

“It’s more than a mistake. She fucked up bad. She’s going to do some hard time for arson unless she can come up with a name. Cash is trying to trace the account, but he said whoever set the account up knows what they’re doing. He said it’s one of the best he’s ever seen,” Knox informed them.

“Fuck,” Shade exclaimed.

“Not only that, but Georgia says she doesn’t know the man who gave her the money. Said she was at the grocery store, and he drove a dark car up to her when she was putting groceries in her car. Handed her twenty thousand to do it then promised her the fifty thousand after it was done.”

“Did you check the store surveillance?” Viper asked.

“Sure did. The store erases the tapes after a month. I looked through them just in case we got lucky, but no such luck.”

“Damn,” Shade said. “I was hoping she had more information than that.”

“I’ll see if she can remember anything more in the morning. Maybe spending her first night in jail will jog her memory,” Knox responded, adjusting Diamond on his lap.

“We need to catch a break somewhere before whoever they are makes another move against Lily,” Shade said grimly. It was disconcerting to have someone so determined to hurt someone you love and not know why.

“I like your boots,” Lily said to Diamond.

That started a whole conversation about shoes which caused Knox and Shade to share a what-the-fuck look and roll their eyes. Finally, Shade could take no more of it.

“Let’s dance,” Shade interrupted them, his hand lifting her legs off his.

Shade saw her looking toward Train who had his hand between Bliss’s thighs as she sat on a stool at the bar. Several of the women who were allowed in the house were dancing suggestively with the members on the floor. Nickel was standing behind one, pulling her breast out of her top.