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I closed my eyes for a second. For fuck’s sake. Not now.

Maria’s shoulders slumped. From the corner of my eye, I saw her look away, and the guilt hit me like a punch to the gut.

It looked like I was walking away from her again. I wasn’t . . . I couldn’t . . . not after tonight. I told her years ago that I wouldn’t stray again and I hadn’t. I wouldn’t risk losing her, and I was kicking myself that I hadn’t seen what she’d been thinking when I hadn’t been going home. Why the hell didn’t I just tell her? Then again, I hadn’t been around enough to say more than hello.

Spider took the black envelope from Keno and carefully opened it. Inside was a worn Dead Kings patch. He turned it over and scrawled across the back in black marker were three words.

Come finish it.

Beneath was a set of GPS coordinates. Silence settled over the road.

Tiny frowned. “They’ve given us a location?”

Spider studied the coordinates before handing them to Reaper. “They want us there.”

“Why?” Finn asked.

Tiny shrugged. “‘Cause they’re fuckin’ idiots?”

The knot in my stomach tightened. “It’s a trap.”

Nobody argued. If the Kings wanted us dead, they weren’t stupid enough to ride through our gates a second time when the first nearly wiped them all out and sent the remaining members to prison. They’d lure us somewhere they controlled.

“They wanted us angry enough to follow.” My jaw clenched as I looked back toward Maria. They hadn’t just attacked my wife, they’d used her. She’d been bait.

The thought made my blood boil. I crossed the distance between us again.

She folded her arms across her chest before I could say a word. “Well?”

I hated how defeated she sounded. “I have to go.”

She gave a humorless laugh. “Of course, you do.”

“Maria . . .”

“No.” She shook her head. “Don’t.”

“I’ll explain.”

“When?”

“As soon as I get back.”

“You always say later.”

Every word landed exactly where it hurt. She wasn’t wrong. I stepped closer. That time, she didn’t move away. Slowly, I reached up and cupped her face. She tensed beneath my hand but didn’t pull away.

“I haven’t been with anyone else.”

Her eyes searched mine. “Then why won’t you tell me where you’ve been?”

Because if I told you, you’d spend every second I was gone terrified they were still watching you. Because I’d promised the club. Because I was trying to protect you.

All I could say was, “I promise I’ll tell you everything.”

“I don’t know if I believe you anymore.”

The words stole the air from my lungs. I’d faced guns pointed at my head, knives pressed against my throat, but none of it came close to hearing that.