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“It’s a good look for you,” I told him, standing so I could return the gesture.

“You could have the same,” he proposed. I instantly shook my head, already walking away when I responded, “Nah, too close to science fiction.”

A wife?

A family?

Just the thought was hilarious. Especially the idea that back then, I would’ve been able to fathom anything close to a “happy ending”. But wasn’t his fault that we were on wildly different pages where it came to the possibilities of shit like that.

Back then?

Living past the next day was the pipe dream for me.

I’d just stepped outside the community center, and was halfway to my bike, when a sleek black Benz whipped with into the spot beside it.I was on high alert, already reaching into the little drawstring bag I’d tossed my gear into until the window slid down, and a familiar face clad in oversized shades peeked out at me.

“Get in,” Alicia called out. “I need to talk to you.”

“I’ve got a cell phone; that’s what most people use these days when they wanna talk.”

Her head dropped back against her headrest, annoyed. “I like to talk in person,” she said. “Can you get in?Please?”

I pushed out a heavy sigh and then glanced around, considering it a small price to pay for the fact that she was housing Kev’s criminal ass at her compound until we were ready to deal with him. After a moment, I dropped the stubborn shit and took the short walk around to her passenger seat to climb in.

“How did you know where I was?” I asked as soon as the door was closed.

I already knew she wasn’t going to give me a real answer, so it was no surprise when she just smirked.

“I always know where you are,” she teased. “Now tell me, what doyouknow aboutJardin D’origine?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I shrugged. “Never heard of it.”

“Yes you have,” she said, shaking her head as she peered out the front window and waved to Isaiah as he passed, heading to his car. “You just didn’t know the name.Jardin D’origineis the first garden program, headed up by Renard Belrose.”

“Here we go with this motherfucker again,” I groaned.

“Yes, here we go. I dug into him being stateside, trying to figure out why. He was looking into motorcycle clubs.”

That made my shoulders tense.

I frowned but nodded. “If we think about howThe Gardenwas connected to the Santiago cartel, whose territory was taken over by theRenegados, it makes sense.”

Alicia shook her head. “It’s deeper than that. I think he’s taking advantage of the Santiago-Rojas connection to dig into thePredators. Rojas is theMarauders’ supplier. Just before the ambush that took out the leaders of thePredators, theMaraudershad an influx of new members. New members that are mysteriously nowhere to be found now.”

With my elbow propped against the door, I propped my chin in my hand, processing her words. “Are you saying… you think it wasThorns?”

“I’m not ruling it out,” she said. “We might need to talk to them. Their leader is retiring, and his son, Jake Lincoln, is taking over. You familiar?”

I nodded. “Thought I was going to have to kill him one day.”

Alicia’s eyes went wide. “Can younotbe killing people willy-nilly? I thought we discussed this?”

“I said Ithoughtabout it.”

“Uh-huh.” She chuckled. “Anyway, I don’tthinkit wasThorns, but they were definitely hired guns, one way or another. Remember us talking about how it seemed strange for theMaraudersto do something like that, when Rojas is their supplierandally to thePredators?”

“Yeah. It’s seeming more and more like a setup of some kind.”

“Exactly.” She nodded. “Renard being here doesn’t feel coincidental. Especially since he’s not here alone.”

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