I was on my feet, rushing toward the window to look outside.The sirens grew louder, a discordant symphony that set my teeth on edge as I tried to make sense of the unfolding chaos.
Flashing red and blue lights illuminated the late afternoon overcast, casting eerie shadows across the front of the compound.Police vehicles screeched to a halt, doors slamming open as officers exited the vehicles, their weapons drawn and voices raised in urgent commands.
“Everybody stay where you are!Hands where we can see them!”
“What the shit?”Tillie moved beside me, her hands balled into fists as she took in the group of police officers with weapons ordering the men in the compound into passive positions.
“I said, on your knees!”One big, burly man in a bulletproof vest shouted over the megaphone in the cruiser he was hiding behind.
One of the men shoved a cooperating Xavier so he stumbled.Another officer moved his foot into Xavier’s path so Xavier had no hope of keeping his footing.
“Oh,hellno.”Tillie shoved away from the window and ran across the room to the door that led to the lift.
“Tillie, wait!”I hurried after the pregnant woman, acutely aware she didn’t need the stress or the physical activity.I barely got inside before she shut the gate and hit the button to go down.
“He wasn’t doing anything wrong!”she snapped.
“Tillie, you can’t run out there like this.What if you get hurt?”
“I’m not letting them take Xavier away, Nadine.”
“Stay in the doorway, then.”I needed to compromise my way out of her charging into the middle of a police raid.“If not for yourself, for your baby.If you got hurt, you’d never forgive yourself.”
“Nadine.”She clutched at my arm, tears now spilling down her cheeks.“Please, don’t let them take Xavier.I need him here.”My new friend looked at me like I was the only one who could fix this situation.Why me, that was anyone’s guess.Probably because I washere.I understood her fear because I felt the same fear for Pain.Her hormones were likely running rampant inside her and she was terrified.Hell,Iwas terrified!Tillie was a strong woman.Seeing her clutch her belly, tears sliding down her cheeks, stirred my protective nursing instincts and made me determined to fix this for her.
I hurried out into the yard, still under the camo netting but not out of sight of the greater area.A couple of the officers roughly shoved several of the guys to the ground, forcing them to their knees with their hands behind their head.With each passing second, the police grew more aggressive.I could see a couple of the guys in Kiss of Death losing their patience.
“Hey!”I called out with more aggression than I probably should have.But Goddamnit, they were making the pregnant woman cry!“They’re not resisting!What’s wrong with you?!”
An officer turned toward me, his eyes narrowing.“Step back, miss,” he warned, his tone leaving no room for argument.
But I couldn’t step back.Not when I saw Pain being forced to his knees by two officers, his jaw clenched tight as they zip-tied his hands behind his back.Not when I could see the barely controlled rage in his eyes the second he caught sight of me standing there.
“Get back inside, Nadine!”Pain’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp with command and fear.“Now!”
This was exactly what Pain had warned me about.The new police chief was targeting them, using any excuse to harass the club.My heart hammered against my ribs as I took in the aggressive posturing of the officers, the way they were treating these men like animals instead of human beings.
“If you’re trying to get a reaction from them, you won’t get it,” I said as I moved toward the group of men in the yard.“You should also know we’ve put in a call to their lawyer.”Not exactly a lie, because I knew Knight, or Hannah or Pippa would be all over that the second these guys breached the gate.It had been part of the protocol handed down to us by Knuckles.
A tall, imposing man in a crisp uniform standing apart from the other officers watched the scene unfold with cold satisfaction.His dark hair was slicked back, and there was something cruel in his smile as he surveyed the result of the controlled chaos he’d orchestrated.I had no doubt this was the new police chief.
“I seriously doubt this lot has a lawyer on retainer.”He chuckled lightly as he reached for something from the officer beside him.The next thing I knew, he pointed the orange-handled Taser at me.Then pulled the trigger.
Chapter Ten
Pain
The second I saw Nadine crumple, her face contorted in pain, a cold, sickening dread settled in my gut.Along with white-hot, burning rage.I was on my knees, hands zip-tied behind my back.I hadn’t felt this helpless since my first day in prison.Now, in my home, surrounded by my family, with my woman -- who I’d given my property patch to but hadn’t properly claimed yet -- the feeling of helplessness and being completely out of control was so much fucking worse than it had ever been.
“You fucking bastard!”The words ripped from my throat as I watched Nadine convulse on the ground, her body rigid from the electrical current.“She’s not even part of this!”
The police chief -- Roscoe, had to be -- stood over her with that same cruel smile, like he was enjoying every second of her pain.“Interfering with a police investigation.Resisting arrest.”
“She wasn’t resisting shit!”I roared, straining against his restraints.
I struggled against the zip ties, feeling the plastic bite into my wrists as I tried to get free.Nadine stopped convulsing but was still on the ground gasping for breath.Every instinct I had screamed at me to protect her, to get between her and all these fucking bastards, but I was completely fucking useless.
“Pain!”Knuckles’ voice cut through the chaos.“Stay down!”I bared my teeth at my president but did what he said.
