Free Ignition (Black Legion MC Book 2) by Kathryn Thomas

ready to lay waste to the intruder when she stopped sort at the sight of a familiar figure stepping from his bike. Artie’s bald head came into view, and Lena lowered the gun as she fell into his arms. “Oh God!” she moaned. “I’m so sorry, Artie!”
     
    The bald man shrugged as he took her into his arms and brought her close to his barrel chest. Lena kept the gun in her hands as her ear rested against the sound of his pounding heart. At the right time and in the best place, she would ask the question without fear. But right now, something was still wrong. Because as good as it was to see Artie again, there was no Jax.
     
    “Where is the kid?” Artie asked.
     
    “He’s heading for his mom’s camp,” she said. “Thinks we’ll find some help there.”
     
    Lena hoped Artie would get on board with the plan. And it was something – a way for them to find help when they were nearly adrift. But Jax had to be there now, pleading his case and aiding their cause.
     
    “Lena?”
     
    The sound of her name passing through his lips perked her ears, and she clutched his arm as she peered into his eyes.
     
    “Eric’s wise to the idea,” he said. “He’s coming after you. Both of you.”
     
    She shuddered as she took his hand. “Will he hurt Jax?” she asked.
     
    “I’m afraid so,” Artie confessed. “But he had plans for you, too.”
     
    Lena trembled and started to sink to the ground when Artie pushed her body to his chest and pressed his brow to hers. “Artie, what…?”
     
    “I heard him say he wants you spread and shred,” he started. “So Jax can see he’s the man in charge.”
     
    Lena had no desire to give him that chance, but she still pressed Artie for Eric’s intentions when it came to Jax.
     
    “Don’t make me---”
     
    “You started to say it,” she said. “Now finish it, Artie.”
     
    The bald man was slow to speak, and Lena could not contain herself. As she hit him hard, Lena watched him hold his cheek, and at the sound of his groan, she reached for his arms and peered into his eyes.
     
    “I’m sorry,” she insisted. “But I have to know.”
     
    Artie sighed heavily as he summoned the strength to continue. “And according to the Big Boss, that’ll be the last thing he sees. Lena, Jax is a marked man. Eric says there’s no way that he’s leaving him breathing. Not gonna take a chance that he might come back to settle old scores.”
     
    The thought of Jax dead when she had only just found him again forced an anguished sigh from her lips, and she fell to the porch as she held her head in his hands.
     
    “Lena? Hey, Lena.” Artie was at her side, and he awkwardly placed an attempt at a comforting arm around her shoulders as he tried to lift her head from her palms. “Eric’s ready to infiltrate the Silver Horses’ hideaway,” he said. “And if what you say is true… I mean, if Jax is already in bed with the enemy.”
     
    “Enemy?” Lena demanded as she met his gaze with flashing eyes. “The only enemy is your fucking Big Boss.”
     
    “I get that,” Artie said. “But I’m like a lone wolf in this, Lena. I can’t fight all his firepower all on my own.”
     
    There was some sense to that, and she slowly asked Artie what was his idea of Plan B when he averted his eyes and looked down at his hands.
     
    “Not that I don’t wish I could,” he continued. “If not for the kid, then at least for his old man.”
     
    “You were his friend, right?” Lena asked, and Artie nodded his head.
     
    “Now Nathan Monroe was a stand-up guy,” Artie said. “He would have led the charge.”
     
    “Okay. So then that’s what we’re going to do.”
     
    She was on her feet, the gun nearly back in her hand when Artie was at her side, shaking his head. “But it ain’t me, Lena. And the odds are not stacked in our favor. Only thing to do now is---”
     
    “Is what?” she asked. “Run?”
     
    Artie struggled to force the words out, and Lena kept her stare