Borden’s lips twitched, but his eyes remained cool on mine. “They get the port, Emma.”

My mouth went dry and an uneasy feeling came over me. “To bring their drugs in.”

“To bring their product in. Whatever product that is, that’s their own business.”

I raised a brow, sceptical. He wasn’t fooling me.

“Is it a one-time thing?” I asked him.

“No,” he answered. “It’ll be for as long as the deal is standing.”

“So…?”

“So it could be forever at this stage.”

“This is a strong alliance,” Hawke added, looking at me without contempt for once. “We could be impenetrable after this. That club has been owning the towns they’ve been marking their territory in for over two decades. They’re strong, and in a world where snakes hide in alleyways threatening to tear us apart, that’s what we need. Strength.”

I still felt unconvinced.

“Don’t you find this a little too serendipitous?” I replied, glancing between Hawke and Borden. “You get a text threatening my life, and the only people you want to turn to are the ones who have been trying to use your port to bring their product in. How do you know this President hasn’t orchestrated the entire thing just so they can have access to it?”

“While that’s an intelligent guess, I know that he hasn’t,” Borden said, firmly.

“How do you know that, though?” I stressed, pushing for a definitive answer I knew he couldn’t just give me. “He’s a biker and probably a criminal. How do you know you can trust him?”

“Because,” Hawke cut in, his face going hard, “he’s my brother.”

Three

Emma

There is shocked, and then there is shocked.

Shocked was what I was. The entire room fell silent, and a million more questions buzzed through my mind. I didn’t know where to begin. I stared at Hawke for several moments, and he turned away from me, as if concerned I’d read everything on his face. The guy had secrets, and judging by the way Borden didn’t react, I knew he was aware of every one of them.

With another sigh, Borden inched closer to me and took my hands into his own. He brought his face closer to mine, so close I felt his breaths against my mouth. So close I was swimming in the blue depths of his eyes as he searched my own.

“Stop overthinking it,” he whispered to me. “Hawke and I have gone over this, and I wouldn’t be here inviting a group of savages if I wasn’t sure about this guy.”

As he spoke those words, I glimpsed at Hawke again. He just nodded, agreeing with Borden’s words, and I hated to admit that it helped ease my concerns.

“Don’t worry,” Borden continued. “I promise everything will be alright. I know what I’m doing.”

His gentle words were soothing. I shut my eyes and leaned into him. He kissed me gently, communicating through his kisses that all was fine. I believed it despite the warning I felt at the pit of my stomach.

“Fucking hell,” Hawke cursed from across the room. “Get a fucking room or something.”

Borden’s lips shot up, and he let Hawke’s words slide like usual. I kind of wished he’d be a dick to him like he was with everybody else. He pulled away, and I resumed staring into his eyes like a lovesick puppy that I was. No shame in that either.

I felt a little foolish for questioning him. Of course Borden would know what he was doing, and who to trust. Why would I have doubted that for a second?

“Okay,” I whispered to him. “You know what you’re doing.”

“I’m touched you believe in me,” he replied, dryly.

“You’re the almighty Borden, I sort of have no choice right now.”

“That’s right,” he replied lightly, before quietly adding, “I like that you referred to my place as your home, by the way.”

My smile stretched wide at the look of gentleness in him. “Did that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?”

“Jesus,” Hawke interrupted again, “they really fucking carry on, don’t they?”

I rolled my eyes. “You need Borden’s attention, Hawke? Are you jealous?”

“Yeah, right.” He scoffed.

Tearing my eyes from Borden, I turned to Hawke. “So what’s your brother like anyway? He’s gotta be real tough to be the president, huh?”

He shrugged absently. “Hector is… Hector. I’m sure I’ll have to put him in his place at some point.”

“Why?”

He winced. “He’s...he’s got a few weaknesses, particularly never knowing when to keep his mouth shut.”

“Loose tongue,” Graeme added on a firm nod. “I’ve met that man. Not a big fan.”

Jeesh. The way everybody looked, you’d think the man was a complete asshole. You couldn’t find somebody more of an asshole than Borden, though.

As if on cue, a series of loud knocks interrupted us, signalling the arrival of a man I was suddenly itching to meet.

“That’ll be him,” Hawke said, striding to it.

Borden was too busy staring at me to acknowledge him. He kissed my hand before letting go and resituated himself at his desk. All signs of affection immediately evaporated. He was going into Borden-mode. Jaw locked, face impassive, lips drawn in a straight line. Borden-mode was sexy just as it was scary, and my heart jumped in my chest.

Hawke opened the door and a deep, gravelly voice immediately sounded out. “Well, shit, look at you.”

I watched the door widen and a tall and broad man stepped through, giving Hawke a few hard pats on the back. The man was younger than I’d have expected him to be for a President of an MC. He was probably in his early thirties, dark short hair, and a completely clean shaven olive toned face. I kind of expected a bearded man with a giant gut. Instead, it was a solid man the same mammoth height as Hawke, and for a split second, I could see the uncanny resemblance between them, but Hawke was more unkempt, whereas this man was just damn good looking all around. It kind of made me wonder what Hawke looked like underneath his dreadful garb that was his facial hair.

“It’s been a while,” he told Hawke, his eyes looking him over closely. “You look like a fucking homeless man.”

Hawke just shrugged. “I can’t just walk around with my face showing, now can I?”