The Biker’s Forbidden Temptation

No Safe Distance

Elena stared at the photograph on Roman’s phone until Maya’s face blurred.

Her sister stood beside her car, unaware that someone had watched her closely enough to capture the exact moment she reached for the driver’s-side door. The red target drawn across her chest looked almost childish.

The threat beneath it did not.

Bring Elena beneath the city before sunrise, or her sister dies instead.

Elena snatched the phone from Roman’s hand.

“I’m calling her.”

Roman caught her wrist before she could unlock the screen.

“No.”

“That is my sister.”

“And whoever sent this may be waiting for you to contact her.”

“She needs to leave.”

“She will.”

Roman looked toward Knox. “Send a team. Quietly. No club cuts, no bikes. Take her somewhere secure.”

Elena pulled against his grip. “You are not kidnapping Maya too.”

“We’re protecting her.”

“You expect me to believe that after tonight?”

His gaze hardened. “I expect you to understand that the people threatening her already know where she lives.”

The truth silenced her.

Knox stepped into the hallway, phone pressed to his ear. Roman released Elena only after she stopped fighting him.

She immediately called Maya.

Roman took the phone again and ended the call before it connected.

Fury surged through her. “Give it back.”

“No.”

“You do not control who I speak to.”

“Tonight, I control anything that can get you killed.”

Elena stepped into his space. “You have spent two years controlling my schedule, my workload, and practically every hour of my day. That did not give you the right to control my life.”

Roman’s expression changed at the accusation, but his voice remained cold.

“This is not the office.”

“No. At the office, you only pretend not to be a criminal.”

Silence stretched between them.

Elena expected anger.

Instead, Roman looked almost disappointed.

“You should be afraid of me.”

“I am.”

The admission escaped before she could stop it.

His eyes searched hers.

“Then why are you still standing this close?”

Because retreating would feel like surrender.

Because fear was not the only thing making her pulse race.

Because the man beneath the suits had always been there, and some reckless part of her had recognized him long before tonight.

Elena stepped back.

Knox returned. “Team is moving. They’ll have her within fifteen minutes.”

“I’m going with them,” Elena said.

“No,” Roman answered.

Knox glanced between them and wisely remained silent.

Elena folded her arms. “You said she would be moved somewhere secure. I’ll stay with her.”

“The message demands you beneath the city before sunrise,” Roman said. “Until we know why, putting you together gives them both targets in one place.”

“Then what are you planning?”

Roman took his phone back and enlarged the photograph.

Elena forced herself to look beyond Maya. Her apartment building filled the background. Across the street, a reflection shone in the window of a closed café.

Roman zoomed in.

A black van sat behind the photographer.

A white symbol had been painted near its rear wheel.

Knox leaned closer. “That’s not Cole’s mark.”

Roman’s jaw tightened. “No.”

Elena looked between them. “Whose is it?”

Neither answered.

“Roman.”

“The Hollow Saints.”

The name meant nothing to her, but Knox’s reaction did. His shoulders stiffened, and his hand drifted toward the weapon beneath his jacket.

“I thought they were gone,” Knox said.

“They were.”

“Who are the Hollow Saints?” Elena demanded.

Roman lowered the phone. “A club that used the tunnels beneath the city before the Kings controlled them.”

“Used them for what?”

“Moving weapons. Drugs. People.”

Her stomach turned.

“And now they want me underground?”

“They want me to bring you there.”

“Why?”

Roman looked at the threat again.

“Because they think I’ll follow their instructions if your sister’s life is the price.”

Elena understood the part he had not said.

They were right.

A chime sounded from Knox’s phone.

He read the message and swore.

“What?” Roman asked.

“The team reached Maya’s building. Her car is there.”

Elena’s chest tightened. “And Maya?”

“Gone.”

For one second, the room tilted.

Elena grabbed the edge of the dresser. “No.”

“They found her phone beneath the car,” Knox continued. “There’s no sign of a struggle.”

“She would have called me.”

Roman took Elena by the shoulders.

“Listen to me.”

“Do not tell me to calm down.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

His grip tightened just enough to anchor her.

“Panic wastes time. We know what they want, and they gave us a deadline. That means Maya is more useful alive.”

Elena hated the cold logic.

She clung to it anyway.

“What do we do?”

Roman released her and looked at Knox.

“Open the old maps.”

Knox crossed to the wall and pressed his thumb to a hidden panel. A section of dark wood slid aside, revealing a digital screen.

A map of the city appeared.

Roman selected a layer beneath the streets.

Lines spread across the display like veins.

Elena moved closer.

“These are tunnels?”

“Some were built for utilities,” Roman said. “Others were used during Prohibition. Most entrances were sealed decades ago.”

“And the club uses them?”

“We control what remains accessible.”

Knox highlighted three sections in red. “The Saints used the eastern network. Church Street, the old railway depot, and the abandoned courthouse.”

Elena stared at the last location.

“My apartment is near the courthouse.”

“So is Maya’s,” Roman said.

The realization settled heavily between them.

The enemy had not chosen her because she happened to witness Roman in the garage.

Someone had already been watching her.

“How long have they known about me?” she whispered.

Roman’s face became unreadable.

“We’ll find out.”

Elena looked at him. “You knew there was a connection before tonight.”

“No.”

“That pause says otherwise.”

“It says I’m considering every possibility.”

“You asked who knew I was working late. You thought I might be involved.”

“I thought someone might be using you.”

“Are those different things to you?”

Roman stepped closer, lowering his voice.

“I have never believed you were my enemy.”

The certainty in his tone struck deeper than she expected.

Knox cleared his throat. “There’s another problem.”

He enlarged the abandoned courthouse on the map.

“The main tunnel entrance collapsed eight years ago.”

“Not the service shaft,” Roman said.

Knox shook his head. “Too narrow. We can’t take a full team.”

“How many?”

“Three, maybe four.”

Roman reached for his leather jacket.

Elena understood immediately.

“No.”

He slid it on. “You’re staying here.”

“The message specifically asks for me.”

“That does not mean they get you.”

“If you arrive without me, they could kill Maya.”

“I’ll make them believe you’re close.”

“How?”

Roman did not answer.

Elena looked at Knox.

His expression gave her the truth.

“They want to use me as bait,” she said. “So you plan to offer them something else.”

Roman checked his weapon.

“I plan to end this before they realize the difference.”

“You don’t even know where Maya is.”

“I know where they want me to look.”

“And what happens if you are wrong?”

His gaze met hers.

“I’m not.”

It was the same confidence he carried into negotiations, but Elena could now see what lived beneath it. Roman did not believe himself infallible.

He simply refused to show doubt where anyone could use it against him.

She moved between him and the door.

“I’m going.”

“No.”

“You said Maya is useful because of me. I may be the only reason they keep her alive.”

“You are also the reason they can control the room.”

“Then stop letting them control it.”

Roman’s eyes narrowed.

Elena forced herself not to retreat.

“Take me with you,” she said. “Use what they expect against them.”

Knox looked almost impressed.

Roman looked furious.

“You have no idea what you’re volunteering for.”

“I know exactly what happens if I stay here while my sister is underground.”

“You’ll remain alive.”

“I’ll never forgive you.”

The words landed harder than she intended.

Roman went still.

For several seconds, he simply stared at her.

Then he stepped forward and gripped the back of her neck. Not painfully. Possessively.

“You stay beside me,” he said. “You move when I move. If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to get down, you do not argue.”

Elena’s heart hammered.

“And if you tell me to stay behind?”

“You’ll ignore me. You’ve established that.”

Despite everything, a breath of laughter escaped her.

Roman’s thumb brushed the side of her neck.

The touch lasted only a moment before he released her.

Knox handed Elena a slim bulletproof vest.

She stared at it.

“This goes under your shirt.”

Roman turned away while she pulled it on, though the mirror showed his gaze lifting once.

Knox’s phone vibrated again.

He read the new message.

“President.”

Roman faced him.

Knox held out the screen.

A live video showed Maya tied to a chair beneath a hanging light. A masked man stood behind her.

Elena stepped closer, relief and terror colliding inside her.

Maya was alive.

The masked man lifted a knife to her throat.

Then a distorted voice came through the phone.

“Bring the woman your empire cannot afford to lose.”

The camera shifted.

A rusted sign hung on the wall behind Maya.

Elena recognized it from the map.

COURTHOUSE ACCESS — LEVEL FOUR.

The screen went black.

Roman took Elena’s hand.

“Stay close.”

Together, they headed beneath the city.