He saw the way Jude wasn’t able to resist twisting in his seat, looking behind him to see if they were being followed. He knew the compulsion too well—the same feeling he’d gotten back when they first met, and they were nearly gunned down on the side of the road.
But he knew Hydra and his club hadn’t come down this far yet. But he was getting closer, and the road was getting shorter.
“This means it’s almost time, doesn’t it?” Jude asked.
Kicks gave a stiff nod. “Yeah, babe. I think it does. Nate’s back, and this was a bold fuckin’ move. Signs only point in one direction.”
“I’m scared,” Jude admitted, and Kicks loved him just a little bit harder for that honesty.
“No one is gonna fuckin’ touch you. I’ll protect you with my last breath.”
“I know,” Jude said very softly, and he reached for Kicks, laying his hand on his thigh. “That’s what terrifies me the most. I don’t want to do this without you, but I also can’t ask you not to throw yourself in front of a bullet to save the people you love.”
Kicks had no answer to give him—at least not one that would make any of this feel any better. So instead, he lifted Jude’s hand from his thigh and pressed a wet, messy kiss to the center of his palm. “We’ll get through it. I might not really know shit about God or fate or any of that. But my gut tells me I didn’t come this far, and find you when I needed you most, only to lose you at the end of it.”
“Your faith might be just a little bit stronger than mine is right now,” Jude said in a shaking voice.
Kicks couldn’t help a small grin—not mocking, just braver than he felt before. He kissed Jude’s hand again, then laid it against the beat of his heart. “That’s alright, babe. That’s what we do, isn’t it? When one feels a little bit weak…”
“The other one can be stronger for a little while,” Jude breathed out. “I love you.”
This time there was no hesitation as the words left his lips. “I love you too.”
The End
Coming Soon
Hawke doesn’t talk about his past—and it’s not because he has a stutter that rarely lets him speak more than three words at a time. The shadows of what was haunt his every waking hour, but the Broken Chains MC have been a sanctuary he never expected.
And Hawke is the sort of man who knows better than to cross lines, especially when it comes the safety of his brothers. But when Jax, the VP of the Cobras, looks at him like he’s a whole man instead of shattered pieces of the person he was before he left his home behind, he can’t help but want to be just a little bit wicked.
Acknowledgments
I want to take a moment to thank all of the people who have spent countless hours over the years, indulging me with theological and philosophical debates. But in particular, for this book, I want to thank Luke and Shona who I have known almost all my life, and who constantly give me the courage to be the person that I am.
Afterword
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Also by E.M. Lindsey
Broken Chains:
Book One: Tidal Wave
Book Two: Backfire
Book Three: Broken Wings
Baum’s Boxing:
Book One: Below the Belt
Book Two: Fortune and Fate
Book Three: Fringe Contender
Breaking the Rules:
Book One: Renegades
Book Two: Temptation
Book Three: Forsaken
Irons and Works:
The Complete Series With Bonus Content
Book One: Free Hand
(In German)
Book Two: Blank Canvas
(In German)
Book Three: American Traditional
(In German)
Book Four: Bio-Mechanical
Book Five: Stick-and-Poke
Book Six: Scarification
To Touch the Light- An Irons and Works Holiday novel
Love Beyond Measure
The Edge of Heaven
Love In Slow Motion
Magnum Opus Series:
Verismo
Staccato
Stand-Alone Novels:
Like Water Catching Fire
Forget-Me-Not
Heartbeat Repeating
The Other Side of Here
Paranormal Romance as Ariel Millar
Carpe Noctem:
Book One: Cold Hard Ground
About the Author
E.M. Lindsey is a non-binary author who lives in the southeast United States, close to the water where their heart lies.