"Come on, prospect! Work that grill!" Chibs snapped the dishtowel against Half-Sack's backside. Kip jumped and gave Chibs a dirty look. The Scot replied with another whip of the towel. "What? We're hungry, here!" Chibs draped the towel over his shoulder and dumped another bag of ice into the beer cooler. Balling up the bag and stuffing it in his pocket, he scooped a beer bottle from the icy slush.

"One for me?" Hap asked. Chibs tossed his brother the one he'd already selected and then grabbed another one. He slouched in the chair closest to Hap's. "Don't know what you were worried about, brother." The Tacoma Killer used the neck of his bottle to gesture at the targets still tacked to the fenceposts in the field. "Your old lady can shoot. At least all of her rounds actually hit the target." Hap threw an evil grin in Tig's direction.

"Fuck you," Tig retorted with a middle finger salute. "I was shooting with my off-hand, you bastards." He stood up, fists already clenched.

"Oh, hell, no. No brawling on my old lady's porch." Chibs jumped up and stood in front of Tig, one hand lightly resting on the man's upper arm. "Calm the fuck down, Tiggy. We're just busting your balls. No brawling tonight." The Scotsman leaned in close to Tig. "I've got weed over there in the little shed. Middle drawer on the workbench. Why don't you go roll yourself a joint? It'll help."

Tig cocked his head and stared at Chibs, his ice blue eyes unblinking. Then he nodded. "Okay. Thanks, man."

"We could all use a peaceful night out of the clubhouse." Chibs commented, retaking his seat and pouring more cold beer down his dry throat.

"Amen to that, brother," Juice saluted with his beer bottle from his spot on the chaise lounge.

"I still can't believe Jax didn't want to come over." Half-Sack commented from his station at the grill. Chibs and Hap exchanged a look. Chibs loved Jax like a sibling, but he'd sighed with relief when Jax declined the invitation to come over for dinner. The Teller-Morrows were all at each others' throats right now, and the conflict threatened to boil over and scald the whole club. The boys loved all three of them - Clay, Gemma, and Jax. No matter whose side Chibs found himself on any particular day, he kept his mouth shut, because he saw that there was no winning - only gradations of loss tempered with Pyrrhic victories.

"Hey, boys, I need a few extra hands in here!" Aoife's Irish lilt floated out the open kitchen window.

Juice hopped up from his spot. "Go on, Prospect." Chibs commanded. Half-Sack surrendered the tongs to Hap and followed Juice into the house, leaving the Scot and the Tacoma Killer momentarily alone. "You didn't get a chance to tell me about your phone call earlier," Chibs said in a low voice.

Hap flipped the steaks. "Bastard's got no fuckin' clue. He called to tell me he's on his way." Chibs chewed his thumbnail. "Relax. We'll get him from the docks, bring him somewhere secluded, and that'll be it." Hap's eyes bored into Chibs'. "I got this, brother. No worries.

Tig puffed away on another joint as he leaned back in the lawn chair and propped his feet up on the porch railing. His head lolled to one side as he caught Aoife's eye while she stacked the dirty dishes. "God, I'm so fucking full I don't think I'll eat for a week. That shit was fantastic, doll. You sure you don't want to be the club's personal caterer?"

Aoife smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, Tiggy, no can do." She slid the dirty cutlery into an empty plastic cup while Half-Sack lugged the dishes into the house.

"Get your ass over here and stop hitting on Chibs' ol' lady," Happy growled at Tig. He motioned for Aoife to join them at the table. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's talk about this."

Aoife surveyed the faces at the table – Hap, Chibs, Juice, and Tig – all waiting for her to speak. She snuggled closer to Chibs on the bench, and he wrapped a comforting arm around her. "Don't know where to begin."

Chibs tightened his grip around her waist and kissed her temple. "Start with what happened to Thomas, love."

"Aye, as good a place as any." Aoife took a deep breath and bit her lip. "Straight to the point. About a month before I moved here, I watched two IRA members kill my brother Thomas. They were supposed to be his friends. They took him out on a tear, got him drunk, and then dragged him behind a pub and beat him to death. I got revenge. I killed them both. But it turned out my boyfriend had orchestrated the whole thing because he thought he could get his hands on my family's money."

"Family money?" Tig asked.

"Aye. Skerrett Booksellers is the biggest chain of bookstores in Ireland. Founded by my great-grandfather and still privately owned. Seems that my bastard ex thought that once I was the only heir, he could get me to marry him and he'd have control of the business."

"And if she got in the way, he'd just kill her. Greedy son of a bitch," Chibs spit out the words.

"I turned down his proposal, and it pissed him off. I guess he decided that if he couldn't have me, nobody would."

Tig's eyes burned with cold fire. "So that's the fucker who arranged for the guy who attacked you in the shop?"

Aoife nodded. "Aye. And the car accident. And the arson."

"And now he's on his way here." Hap filled in for her. "So we're going to help her take care of her little problem."

Chibs pulled an envelope from his cut. He slid the photos out and fanned them out. "This is what Finnbar looks like."

"Holy shit!" Tig cursed. "He looks like – shit, never mind, that's why I'm here, isn't it? Because that asshole looks just like me."

"Aye, Tiggy," Chibs agreed. "Your looks are going to help."

"But there's one rule," Aoife interrupted. "I'm the one who pulls the trigger. I need to. For my brother."

After the prospect finished washing the dishes and the rest of the brothers had formulated a rudimentary plan for Finnbar's arrival, the visiting Sons rose reluctantly from their lawn chairs. Chibs hugged each of his brothers and then they bid their goodbyes to Aoife. Hap cupped her face with his hand. "We're going to bring that bastard right to you. Okay?" She nodded, and he pressed his lips fiercely to her hairline. "We got this, Aoife."

Tig followed next. "Whatever you need, dollface. You just say the word." He wrapped an arm around her, the crook of his elbow catching the back of her neck and pulling her roughly into an embrace. He kissed her temple.

Half-Sack followed Tig awkwardly. "You can count on me," he mumbled. He seemed indecisive as to what he should do, so Aoife caught his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.

"Thanks, Kip."

Juice pulled Aoife into a bear hug and kissed her on the cheek. "You need anything, you just call, sweetheart. I can't wait until you make that bastard pay." Bringing up the rear, Juice was the last to fasten his helmet strap. The four nodded as they started up their bikes and roared down the dusty lane.

Chibs walked up behind Aoife and put his arms around her. She leaned into his muscled frame and put her arms on his. They watched the bikes disappear down the dusty lane. Finally, he kissed the shell of her ear and whispered. "Doing okay, lass?"

"Aye. Thank you, Filip. I feel a lot better knowing your brothers are behind me."

"Good. We got this, love."