“Are you trying to cause trouble in here, asshole? Because if you are, there are plenty of guys willing to give it to you. Leave the lady alone.”

Pax stood and leaned toward Larks, obviously pissed off and ready to do battle.

He didn’t know, didn’t understand. The last thing Teresa wanted was to start a war between these gangs because of her.

“Pax. It’s okay.”

Pax kept his focus on Larks. “It’s not okay.”

Larks must have realized that Pax would be backed up by Joey and the Thorns, because he held up his hands. “Hey, not looking for trouble here. Just want to drink my beer.”

“Then drink it and leave,” AJ said, moving next to Pax. “I don’t think you’re that stupid. You have to know no one wants you here.”

Larks made a show of heaving a great big sigh. “I guess you’re right. Come on, guys, let’s go. We know when we’re not wanted.”

Right. Like they didn’t know that the minute they stepped through the door. Teresa didn’t care though, because the Fists were leaving, as was the tight band squeezing her chest. She exhaled a breath of relief when the door closed behind them.

“That’s done,” she whispered to herself.

“Now. You need a break, and we’re going to talk.”

She hadn’t realized when AJ had stepped behind the bar with her, or even that he had. He linked his fingers with hers.

“Okay.” She could use some air, even if it was August and the heat and humidity were brutal. “Heather, I’m taking a few minutes.”

“No problem,” Heather said, waving to her as she carried an armload of beers and started passing them to the customers, obviously as relieved to see the Fists gone as Teresa was.

Teresa followed AJ, and on the other side of the bar they met up with Pax, who apparently was going with them.

“Let’s go out the back. There’s a table and some chairs there. The smoke hole for the other girls.”

She led them through the back door and into the sweltering heat. There was an old picnic table and a few aluminum chairs out there. Teresa slid into one of the chairs and let the tension drain from her body. It was over. Nothing had happened. It wasn’t ever going to happen. Not again.

“You want to tell me what upset you in there?” AJ asked.

“The Fists and the Thorns have a rivalry going for territory and it’s getting pretty intense. I worry for Joey and the guys. Plus they were in my goddamned bar. Did you want me to be happy about that?”

“You were tense as hell.”

She shrugged. “Who wouldn’t be, AJ? I don’t want to fight and don’t want to be in the middle of a fight. And I don’t want my bar wrecked.”

“It was more than that.”

She turned her gaze to Pax. “Like I said, the whole thing that went down in there pissed me off. They have no right to be here and just wanted to cause shit. I wanted them to leave. Joey being the leader of the Thorns puts him in a dangerous position. I was worried for him.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing else?”

Okay, enough was enough. She stood. “Who the hell do you two think you are?” Her gaze shot to AJ. “You’ve been gone ten years and you pop in here for an hour and suddenly you’re worried about me? You lost that right the night you dumped me and left town.” She shifted her tirade to Pax. “And you don’t even know me. I can take care of myself. I’m fine. Both of you leave me the hell alone.”

She started toward the door and AJ stopped her. “You’re right. We are just passing through. But you’re still someone I care about, Teresa.”

“You walked away easily enough ten years ago, didn’t you?”

She wanted to bite it back as soon as she’d said it, but it was too late. The words were out and she couldn’t take them back.

“Ten years ago I was a messed-up kid who didn’t know what he wanted.”

She laid her hands on her hips. “And now you do?”

“I didn’t say that.”

She laughed. “I need to go back inside.” She pushed past both of them and toward the back door, but Pax moved in front of her.

“Hey. I don’t know you at all, but I know trouble when I see it. If you need help, we’re here for you.”

His body was so . . . big, covering the door frame. He should have intimidated her, frightened her. Reminded her of things all too unpleasant.

But he didn’t, because he had his hand on the doorknob, turning it to open it for her, not to stop her.

She gave him a curt nod. “I’ve got a handle on it.”

The air-conditioning inside cooled her off. She felt bad for going off on them, but she didn’t need their concern. She didn’t need them at all. She didn’t want a man looking out for her. It was bad enough Joey practically shadowed her every move. She didn’t need AJ and Pax worrying over her, too.

Pax and AJ came in a few minutes after she did. Instead of coming back to the bar, they moved off to find Joey and Russ. They huddled around one of the tables at the back, whispering together, no doubt about the Fists and what had happened. Teresa went back to work, relieved that it was all over.

She expected Pax and AJ to hit the road as it got later in the evening, but they didn’t. Weren’t they headed off somewhere? Why hadn’t they left yet? They’d stayed, played more pool with Joey and Russ, left only long enough to run out to grab something to eat with Joey and a few of the other guys, but then they had come back and now seemed to be having a great time hanging out.

She didn’t want them here. Having AJ around . . . and Pax, too . . . made her uncomfortable.

But not uncomfortable in the usual way guys made her uncomfortable.

This was different. AJ was part of her past, the part when she was still interested in men . . . that way. And Pax was just way too much testosterone for her to handle.

They needed to go.

She wasn’t ready to dredge up old history . . . or start new.

She just wanted everything in her life to remain as it was right now. She was content, if not happy. And considering how bad things had been a few years ago, content was a damned decent place to be.

A quick glance at the clock told her it was about fifteen minutes to closing time, which suited her just fine. Time to get everyone out of here so she and the girls could clean up and she could close and get home, lock herself in, take a shower and climb into bed, where she could pass out and hopefully fall into a dreamless sleep.

Tomorrow AJ and Pax would be gone and life would be back to normal.

She liked normal.

Aside from AJ and Pax, there were only a handful of people left, all Joey’s guys. She knew she could shuffle them out easily enough, so she sent Heather and Shelley home. Hopefully by two she’d be out of there, too.

She had her back turned to the bar and had just finished drying the last glass, about to tell Joey to move his guys out the door, when the front door opened.

“Hey, we’re closing,” she hollered as she turned around, hitting the main switch to shut off the music.

Dread sent her body into instant tense mode. It was Larks walking through the door, with more than a dozen of his guys.

“We’re closed,” she said again.

Larks ignored her, making a beeline for Joey, his intention clear on his determined face. He was smiling, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. The last guy through the door flipped the lock closed.

Shit.

Her gaze riveted on Joey and Larks, she reached for the phone, intending to dial 911. She yelped when someone grabbed her wrist and jerked the phone from her hand, tossing it across the room.

“No calling the cops, sweet tits. This is private business.”

As he moved away with her phone in his hand, Teresa swallowed past the terror threatening to squeeze her throat closed.

This was not going to happen. Not in her bar.

But as Larks jumped on Joey and all hell broke loose, she knew it already had.

FOUR

AJ AND PAX HAD BEEN IN BAR BRAWLS BEFORE. AJ KNEW THEY could handle themselves. Biker gangs often got into tiffs over territory. This wouldn’t be a first. And since they were here, they were going to get into the middle of it.

The middle of it happened fast, because Larks’s guys were in the door throwing the first punches before any of Joey’s guys could even blink. Joey and Russ and the others pushed right back. It didn’t take but a fraction of a second before Joey and Larks went at each other. Suddenly the shit was going down. There’d be no talking them out of it now. There was no way AJ and Pax could stay out of it, either, and it was a given they were going to take Joey’s side, especially since the Thorns were outnumbered two to one, since most of Joey’s gang had already left for the night.

AJ pulled a guy off Joey’s back so he could be free to fight Larks.

Man, he didn’t want to be doing this, but they had no choice. Bringing the cops in would just put the Thorns in trouble, too, and AJ didn’t want that—not if they could put an end to this fast. He threw a punch and ducked as one came flying his way. He missed seeing a fist flying from his left, though, and took one to the chin. He winced and shook his head to clear the pounding. Son of a bitch, that hurt.

But he had to admit, fighting exhilarated him. It had been a long time since he’d gotten into a fistfight, and it felt damn good. AJ caught sight of Pax, who had hold of two guys. Pax was good with martial arts. When they’d learned it at Wild Riders, Pax dove in and earned his black belt, which he was putting to good use here by kicking the shit out of a guy. He swiveled and knocked the dude behind him in the back with a hard shove from his boot. The guy crumpled, the wind knocked out of him. Pax knew not to give a lethal kick unless his or someone else’s life was threatened. The idea was to defuse the situation.

AJ knew Pax could take care of himself.

But the Thorns were outnumbered and the situation was not anywhere close to being defused. If anything it was getting worse. Bodies were everywhere in tight piles, fists flying.

AJ’s gaze skirted to the bar. Unfortunately, Teresa was stuck behind it. He couldn’t tell if she was scared or not, but she wasn’t moving. Her exit was blocked with fighting at either end, so she couldn’t get out of there, but he’d make sure no one touched her.

He made eye contact with her, signaled her to stay where she was. She nodded. Then someone landed a punch to his back and he winced, his kidneys throbbing. He pivoted and two guys slammed into him.

After that he had no idea what was happening, because it was one giant pile-on, the entire fight moving to the middle of the bar. All AJ knew was that he was getting pummeled and he was fighting one guy after another. He couldn’t check on Teresa or even Pax and Joey. All he could do was try and hold his own. His knuckles hurt, his ribs hurt, he was pretty sure his nose was bleeding, but he was giving as good as he got. And no shots had been fired, so his gun was still in the holster at his back.

Then he heard the sirens and the squeal of tires.

Shit. That’s not what he wanted at all. So much for defusing the situation without the police getting involved.

The cops busted through the door before anyone could make a break for it. Someone must have called it in, because there were about a dozen cops in riot gear breaking things up. AJ shoved one of the Fists away from him, backed the hell out of the way and raised his hands, wanting to let the cops know he was ready for this to be over with. They were all pushed outside in a hurry.

Everyone was patted down and weapons were confiscated. AJ could have pulled his federal ID, but he wanted to avoid that if at all possible. They’d get their weapons back soon enough.

He stood outside with the rest of the Thorns and took in heaping gulps of hot summer night air to clear his head. His muscles hurt, his knuckles were raw and bloody, and his lungs ached from the effort it had taken to fight the Fists. He wiped the blood from his nose and did a quick search for Joey, didn’t find him. “You seen Joey?” he asked as Pax came up alongside him.

Pax shook his head, his gaze scanning the parking lot. “Maybe he’s inside with Teresa because she hasn’t come out yet, either.”

That wasn’t good. He and Pax went to the door, but a cop blocked his way. “You can’t go in there.”

“My friends are in there.”

The cop looked down on him. “You can’t go in there. Everyone’s going into the station to give statements. Permits for weapons confiscated need to be checked. Some of you will be arrested.”

A van pulled up and started hauling both Fists and Thorns into the van. And in the meantime, Joey and Teresa were still inside the bar.

“What happened in there?”

The cop stood at the door and remained mute. AJ saw a couple cops go in with police tape, followed by a van pulling up with the word “Coroner” stamped on the side.

Coroner? Son of a bitch! AJ turned to Pax, who shook his head and shrugged. “No clue, man. It was a major f**king brawl in there, but I didn’t see anyone go down. Then the cops came and pulled us all out of there.”

“Teresa and Joey are still inside.”

Pax’s expression was grim. “I know. We need to get in there.”

“IDs?”

Pax was already pulling his out of his back pocket. “It’s the only way.”

Grange was going to have their asses for blowing cover. At the moment, AJ didn’t care.

AJ flipped his open at the same time Pax did. “Federal agents. We’re working a case here.” An outright lie, but the police officer guarding the door didn’t know that.

The cop scanned their badges, looked at their faces, and nodded, stepping aside to let them in.