Page 21 of Tank's Temptation

The ballroom erupts below us. Judge steps from behind the stage pillar and disarms the man covering his position before the asshole can turn. Cash blocks the river doors with his gun leveled while Gray drives another man out of the maintenance passage and onto his knees. Near the main entrance, one of Harlan’s crew dives for a discarded weapon, but Griz puts a round through his shoulder and kicks the gun away.

Kane walks into the center of the ballroom as the last two men raise their hands. His voice carries over the groans and settling dust when he orders them facedown.

The fight is finished before Harlan’s body stops moving.

I’m already crossing the gallery.

Tessa pushes onto her hands and knees. I put my weapon back in my waistband, lift her to her feet and run my hands over her arms, shoulders, ribs and back, searching for blood. A red mark is rising where Harlan jammed the muzzle against her side, and his fingers have left pale crescents across her stomach beneath her top.

I turn her toward the light and ask whether she’s hit, then keep checking after she tells me the bullet struck the rail. Tessa closes both hands around my wrists. “Look at me, Tank. I’m bruised and shaken, but I’m not shot. I’m safe.”

I make myself stop searching. Her face is pale and her breathing uneven, but she’s standing. Alive, angry and close enough for me to feel her shaking.

Behind her, Harlan lies with his eyes open.

Tessa follows my gaze. I wait for her to recoil now that she has watched me kill a man without hesitation. Instead, she lifts one hand to my face, thumb brushing the tight muscle beside my mouth. “I knew exactly what you were before I climbed on your bike tonight. I was counting on it.”

The pressure in my chest releases hard enough to hurt. I pull her against me and kiss her in the middle of the wrecked gallery, one hand buried in her hair and the other locked around her waist. It isn’t careful. I need her mouth, her breath and the solid proof of her body against mine.

She kisses me back just as hard.

Kane calls my name from below. I lift my head but keep Tessa against my chest. “We found Morrow and the records,” he says. “Get her out of here. We’ll finish this.”

Cash reaches us. “There’s enough evidence here to keep Sheriff Miller busy for months. You’ve done your part. The rest is making sure none of us were ever here.”

She looks past me to Kane. “Harlan’s men saw you.”

“They came armed to help Harlan bury a murder and burn the evidence,” Kane says. “By sunrise, they’ll be too busy trying to save themselves to tell Sheriff Miller anything about us.”

There’s nothing heroic about the room. Harlan is dead, his men are bleeding on the floor, and Kingdom Come will leave behind a version of events Sheriff Miller can prosecute without ever learning the truth. Tessa sees that too. She nods once and comes with me toward the stairs.

We strip any evidence of Kingdom Come MC out of the hotel and leave Harlan’s crimes where they happened.

Cash collects our spent casings and radios while Gray wipes down every surface we touched along the routes we used. Griz and the others bind Harlan’s surviving men near Morrow’s body, leaving their weapons, the accelerant, the black case of money and Harlan’s gun exactly where Sheriff Miller will find them.

Once the last bike is behind the gates, Cash makes an anonymous call to Sheriff Miller. He gives him the Rivermark’s location, tells him where to find Morrow’s body, and warns him about the armed men waiting inside. Tessa’s photographs follow from an untraceable account.

By the time the law arrives, Harlan’s whole operation is waiting for them. Kingdom Come isn’t. Harlan’s surviving men can tell whatever story they like. The evidence tells a stronger one.

Tessa rides behind me on the return to Ransom, her arms tight around my waist. Every time I check the mirror, I see her helmet tucked behind my shoulder and her body moving with mine through the curves. I should be thinking about what I just did and how badly Tessa could’ve been hurt.

At the gates, Kane sends Judge and Cash into church while I bring Tessa straight to my room. I pause at the threshold out of habit. She looks back at me.

“Tank, get in here.” I follow, and she shuts the door behind me.

Tessa sets her camera down on the dresser. The body cracked when she hit Harlan’s man, one side hanging loose beneath the lens, but she handles it with the same care she always does. When she turns, I’m still watching the red mark along her ribs and she notices.

“It’ll bruise, but I’ll live. You killed him before he could do worse.”

“Harlan touched you. I would’ve killed him for pointing the gun, but putting his hands on you made me enjoy it.”

There’s no accusation in her face, only recognition. Her fingers trace the ENFORCER patch on my chest. “I suspected that. You aren’t going to become less alarming now the danger’s over, are you? It would ruin the attraction.”

“No chance.”

The dry answer catches at something inside me, but this isn’t a moment I can hide behind wanting her. I take the room key from my pocket and set it beside her damaged camera.

Tessa looks down. “I know it’s a key. I’m less certain what you’re offering with it.”