Concentrating on traffic and reaching Roar, he cut in front of a semi, leaning into crossing two lanes. At ninety-eight miles per hour, he reached the front of the group.
Roar waved him off, knowing what the message was. Together they stayed ahead of Bantorus.
Going through Woodland, the Bantorus members exited, dropping off. Slag kept going. Only when they'd reached the outskirts of Vancouver when they were forced to slow their speed, could Brage get a good look at the members.
They were all alive. No visible injuries. No blood coated their vests.
Twenty minutes later, they crossed over the Columbia River Bridge and entered Portland. Within the city limits, they rode in pairs and kept to the speed limit all the way to the clubhouse.
Dag opened the gate. Roar rode in, followed by Brage. The rest of the Slag members on the ride rolled to a stop in the alley, one after another.
Brage tore off his helmet and walked down the line of bikers. "Is anyone injured?"
"Good here," said Glenn.
Viktor peeled off his gloves. "Nobody on my crew."
"Jesus Christ." Elling smacked Aron on the shoulder. "Look at your damn helmet."
Aron undid the D-ring. Brage stepped closer. There was a crack along the shell.
"Too close, brother." Elling cupped Aron's neck with his hand and bumped his head into his. "Too damn close."
"Ja." Aron stared down at the helmet.
Brage walked back to Roar's side and filled him in. "If Bantorus wanted to take one of us out, they wouldn't have missed."
"Agreed." Roar stepped out to the middle of the alley. "Everyone is off for the night. We'll get together tomorrow and discuss what went fucking wrong."
Brage pulled out a cigarette. He needed to check on Dinah, but she'd notice right away that something bothered him. Tonight could've been worse.
The Slag members lives were his responsibility. He inhaled and blew the smoke out violently. If he would've lost one of them, their death would be on him.
He paced back and forth. Sometimes, the risks he put the others through were too high. Half the men had a woman at home. Some of them had kids. One mistake could take them away from that.
It'd never bothered him to take the hazards of being the vice president. It was an honor. But he found himself thinking about Dinah.
Would she have missed him if Bantorus would've shot him dead?
He tossed the cigarette and strode across the alley. There was no doubt in his head that he wasn't finished with Dinah yet. Opening the door to the back of the bar, he strode inside. He wanted to make sure she'd miss him if he never came back.
Chapter 29
Brage chuckled against Dinah's lips. The vibration tickled her, and she pushed at his shoulders until he rolled off her, taking her with him until she could breathe again.
"Did I wear you out?" She propped her head up on her hand and trailed her finger along the tattoo on his chest.
"Exhausted me, babe." He inhaled deeply.
"You were quiet last night when you got back from your ride." She put her head down on his chest. "Everything okay?"
"Mhm." His arm tightened around her. "I've got a lot on my mind."
"Want to talk about it?"
Several seconds went by. Dinah kissed his skin. He wouldn't confide in her if the things that distracted him had to do with club business and she understood and respected his choices. During the time she'd lived at the clubhouse, she had come to realize that it wasn't only a lifestyle he participated in, Slag MC was his family.
For Brage, family meant taking care of all three hundred of the members.
"Okay, if you don't want to talk, I'll talk for you." She flopped onto her back and looked up at the ceiling.
He remained quiet.
She cleared her throat. "How'd work go last night, babe?" Laughing at her imitation of his deep voice, she changed the tone back to normal. "Oh, you know, busy. I made a fool of myself when I hinted that Coco and Lizzy both belonged to Roar and they were involved in a three-some."
The bed shook with Brage's stifled laughter. Encouraged, she glanced at him. He lifted his arm and rested his forearm on his forehead, cutting her off from seeing his face.
"Oh, I didn't tell you about their relationship, babe?" she said deeply, answering for him.
He rolled toward her and wrapped his arms around her, dragging her body onto his. She smiled down into his face. His gaze softened, and she sighed. He was such a beautiful man. All hard edges, perfectly in place.
"You doing all the talking gives me time to do all the fucking." His deep voice much sexier than hers warmed her despite having sex minutes ago.
She wiggled. "Really? You're going to go at it again right now?"
"Ja." He rubbed her hip. "After I take a breather."
She laughed softly. "You're such a stud. I noticed that the first night we met."
"I know you did."
She slapped his chest. "Your ego..."
He fingered the hair out of her eyes. She stared into his blue eyes, amazed that she found him. Or, he found her. However their one-night stand happened, or who made the moves first, she couldn't imagine not knowing him.
"Why hasn't any woman ever snapped you up?" she asked quietly.
His brows shrugged instead of his shoulders. "Don't know what to say to that."
"Have you ever had a serious relationship where you thought it was going to be long term?" Her heart beat faster.
A small part of her didn't want to know about his life before she stepped into it. He was quite a bit older than her and had many more years of experience. But a bigger part of her wanted to know every detail about him.
"I've lived a hard life." He pulled her down and kissed the end of her nose. "I've worked my way up within Slag, and I've never had any desire to give a woman more attention than I could afford to take away from the club."
"You're
