Addictive (The Houston Defiance MC Series Book 2)

fell for the daughter of a club member.
Where did that get him? I can’t help but feel for the guy.
I take a seat watching Kevlar as he turns and walks over to us. Dipping my chin to him, he sits next to me. I slap his shoulder. “Don’t spend time worrying about what they think. You made the right choice, Kevlar. You have two beautiful kids to prove it.”
He slumps into his seat, his eyes focusing on his blood brother. “Yeah, I do, but they’re not with me, are they? They’re living with my law-abiding brother. So, do I really have them when it all boils down?”
I’m not really sure what to say to that because it’s the truth, he doesn’t have them. Sure, Kevlar sees his kids all the time, but it’s not the same as having them with him at the club. Having them grow up as a part of the brotherhood and being part of our family.
Their mother grew up in the club.
Their grandparents are in the club.
Their father left the force to join the club.
And now Kevlar’s brother is holding it against him. I get Ethan’s doing it out of love for Sadie and Lucas. He truly believes the kids will suffer at the hands of the club, but Ethan hasn’t taken the time to get to know us. If he did, he would know his fears of the kids being harmed are unwarranted.
Ethan has blinders on. The club stole his brother from him. He won’t let it take his niece and nephew. In being so fucking firm about that fact, Kevlar has limited time with his kids. It’s crap. He’s a fucking good dad. The best. Those kids love him more than anything. But when your cop brother threatens to call in child services on you if you take them to the clubhouse, you damn well listen. At least this way, Kevlar still gets to see his kids whenever the hell he wants. Every day even. He just tells Ethan when he’s coming over. The arrangement works, but it’s not the same as having your kids with you. So, I get why Kevlar always has that sad demeanor about him.
“One day, brother, the kids will be old enough to make up their own minds about where they want to spend their time. Remember that.”
Kevlar weakly smiles.
Finley saunters out and over to us. I widen my eyes in shock. That didn’t take anywhere near as long as I thought it would. I stand as she holds her hand up to halt my barrage of questions. “Before you start, he’s okay. But the Baron has some video evidence against Zero. That’s how he was able to have him arrested.”
I jerk my head back. “What kind of video evidence?”
“Pretty fucking shitty evidence if you ask me. It shows grainy footage of a woman who looks like Rayne at the Dallas Market Center, it’s date and time-stamped the day Zero brought her back to the clubhouse…” She shakes her head. “Anyway, she’s browsing… there’s a guy wearing a hoody, but you can clearly see his hands, they’re tattooed, but you can’t make them out clearly enough to define the lines. It may or may not be Zero, it’s not conclusive. So, the woman who kind of looks like Rayne heads down a side alley and the guy in the hoody grabs hold, putting her into the back of a black van with no plates. Honestly, the whole thing looks so fucking staged, it’s ridiculous.”
I snort out a laugh. “Why the hell do they think it’s Zero and Rayne? They’ve never been to Dallas together.”
“They’re saying Rayne’s credit card was used there on that day. I say that was doctored, too. This whole thing was set up by the Baron. Honestly, if you look close enough, the guy who’s playing Zero isn’t even tall enough to be him. They’re actors playing a part to get him arrested. The Baron wanted Zero tried here in Houston, so he could watch every detail play out. That’s why he didn’t have him charged for taking Rayne in Chicago because he would have had to have been extradited back to Illinois and sent to jail there. The damn fucker orchestrated this whole thing so he could sit back and watch.”
My lip curls up in anger as I let out an angry huff. “Motherfucker. Will he get away with this?”
“We won’t let him. I’ll find a way, Wraith. It will be relatively easy to discredit the footage using specialists in the field. The major hurdle we face is that it depends greatly on how long before we can get it debunked under the law, and how much pull the Baron has in the judiciary system.”
Letting out a long exhale, I run my hand through my hair. “How’s Zero taking all this?”
“He’s more concerned about his girl than anything.”
“Cherry’s being taken care of. I hope you told him that?”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course, I did. My job is to keep him in a good frame of mind while kicking everyone else’s asses. So, yes, I told him Rayne is fine, that you’re taking care of her. I also told him Prinie was rattled, but Phantom was caring for her.”
I tense.
How did she gather from her short time at the clubhouse who’s watching over Prinie?
“And I see by the look in your eye, Wraith, you’re wondering how I know that… well, it’s because I’m damn good at my job, that’s how. I watch. I observe. I take in all the information around me using it to my advantage. I was at the clubhouse for just under an hour being briefed before we came here. During that time, I learned a lot about your club. Trust me… I know plenty about you and the brothers no one could tell me. Intuition, analytical