Free Hell on Wheels (Four Horsemen MC Book 6) by Cynthia Rayne

didn’t know what had possessed him to ask for hers in the first place. Somehow, it felt right. Even though he had Charlie’s panties in his back pocket, he wasn’t sure if he’d actually tack them up for the world to see.
    Or maybe he’d wanted them for himself…
    Axel shook his head to clear it. No time for that right now.
    Think on your Sins , the club motto, was painted in blood red across the surface of one large wall. Those words had new meaning for him, especially considering what Beauregard was blackmailing them into. When the club had reformed following the RICO fiasco, they’d worked hard to do some good in the world. And now, they’d be smuggling heroin.
    Axel made his way down the back hallway to the boardroom through the steel doors. They’d been stamped with the image of a stallion’s head, along with the club’s name. A quote from the book of Revelation had been carved into the long oak table dominating the room: Behold a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death. And Hell followed with him .
    To match it, another Bible quote in a frame hung on the wall: And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.
    Words to live by. Words to die by.
    He was reminded of the beginning of that particular passage: The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children.
    The club was at the mercy of a truly evil man. And Axel was the one who had to shepherd this club through a dark and tumultuous time. He hoped he could find the wisdom to do this without any of them paying the ultimate price.
    He sat down at the head of the table and watched as his brothers filed in, one by one. The new Horsemen–Pretty Boy, Fetch, Crash, and Dash—now had seats around the table. Axel was proud of them. They’d all survived Revelation and come out the other side intact. He was sorry they had to start their time as brothers in the middle of this mess.
     And the old standbys were there, too: Voo, Shep, Ransom, Ryker, Ace, Jagger, Steele, Coyote, Cowboy, Duke, Justice, Wild, Renegade, Breaker, and Goat. Captain, the former president, was still in Corpus Christi with Eddie. Things were awkward as ass between him and Captain since Axel had deposed him when he took on the role of president. As soon as Cap got back to town, Axel intended to sit down with him. He wanted to clear the air and he hated to admit it, but he needed the man’s advice, as well.
    But he had to get this shindig started.
    He didn’t want to draw it out any longer than he had to, so he got straight down to business. “We got somethin’ real important to discuss. I met with Beauregard this morning.”
    There were some curses and muffled groans from the room. Beauregard had blackmailed Axel’s mother–her fingerprints were on a gun used to murder a fed. Beauregard had the gun in his vault, and he’d also stashed the body. It would be more than enough to get her the death penalty in Texas. They’d tried to steal it back, but it’d been a miserable failure.
    “Yeah, and it gets better,” Axel continued. “He wants us to smuggle some heroin over the border.”
    Another round of cursing and shouts.
    “I don’t like it any better than you, but he has us by the short hairs. We’re fucked on this one.”
    There was a lengthy, tense silence. They brothers nodded, getting it.They’d made a deal with the devil to protect Eddie.
    Axel surveyed his brothers.  “So, we can’t call this to a vote. It’s happening, and there’s no way around it. But I’m not gonna make anybody do this run. Volunteers only. And let me be clear, this is a first-degree felony on wheels. Texas doesn’t fuck around with hard drugs. If we get busted, we could get