by Kayley Shaye
Ryder nodded and loaded his gun before he tossed it into the saddlebag of his red Harley. “Sage, are you sure you’re up to this? You can always stay here.”
“We ride together, we die together,” I replied. It was so cliché, but it was true. If I had to die, I’d want to die beside these guys. I hated to say it, but they were more like my family than my parents were. I had drifted from them since I joined the club, but that was bound to happen.
Ryder smiled a little. “I agree. Let’s move on. Sun’s coming up.”
Before I knew it, we were all straddling our bikes and pulling out of the driveway. We hit the highway and followed Ryder and Damien’s lead. The feeling of booking it down the road beside the rest of the club was unbelievable. I felt safe around them.
There were twenty-two of us in total. Cassie and I were the only women, though she wasn’t a sworn member. She had some kind of fling going on with Liam at the time, and she insisted on coming. No one argued because we knew we needed all the help we could get. I didn’t even know if she could even shoot well, but I guess we were about to find out.
Half an hour later, Ryder and Damien turned off Exit 82, and oddly enough I wasn’t nervous anymore. If I died, I would die. It was as simple as that.
We pulled up to an old abandoned store, and I was guessing it is what Ryder meant when he said ‘warehouse’ the previous. Either way, this worked. We’d have plenty of places to duck behind if things got out of hand.
“Remember the plan?” Damien asked.
“Go in guns blazing and don’t come back out until someone’s got the money,” Ashton said bluntly.
“I think we get it.”
“Good. Let’s go then,” Ryder announced.
Everyone took one last look at one another, and I knew why—there was a chance we wouldn’t see each other again.
I walked up to the back door as quietly as possible right behind Damien. I moved to his side as Ryder stood on the opposite side of the doorway. They took one look at each other and shoved through the doors with guns raised.
There were ten bikers standing in front of a table. On the table laid the bag of money. We had to get through them first, and it wasn’t going to be easy.
“Where the hell are the guns, boy?” I heard a familiar voice shout. Oh hell no, it’s Steve!
My eyes trailed over to the other guys, and they fell on the last man I wanted to see there. I mean, besides Steve, but that was for another reason. Jesse Miller. His bright blue eyes locked with mine.
“You’re not getting the guns,” Ryder announced, snapping me from my daydream. I had to stay focused, or I was going to get killed.
“What do you mean we’re not getting the guns? We had a deal!” Steve yelled. His bald head was starting to show a little bit of stubble.
“Well, I lied,” Ryder responded, “but we’re still getting that money.”
“Like hell,” Jesse tore his eyes from me and looked straight at Ryder. “I should’ve known you’d pull some crap like this.”
“Sounds like you, doesn’t it?” Ryder smirked.
“We just helped you out, man. What do you think I did, purposely put my guys’ lives on the line just so I could turn around and ask for 20k?” Jesse laughed. Here we go again.
“That’s exactly what you did. People just don’t help their rivals for the hell of it,” Ryder said.
“Doesn’t matter now. We took care of that. As for this,” he waved his arms around, “we aren’t done discussing this. You get us the guns and you get the money.”
“Sorry, brother. That’s not how it works,” said Ryder.
That’s when all hell broke loose.
Chapter Nine
Bullets started flying through the air, and before I could even comprehend what I was supposed to be doing, I was shoved to one of the aisles of the store. I knew exactly who it was. I’d know those tattooed arms anywhere. “Are you trying to get killed?”
“No, I’m trying to keep you from getting killed,” he yelled over the gunfire. I was pushed up against the shelves, and he was standing protectively in front of me.
“Our people are out there killing each other. Don’t you think we should be helping?” I asked, trying to get free from his grasp. I had to help them.
“I’ll go back out there,” Jesse said.
“So am I!” I protested.
“No, you’re staying here. I don’t want you killed.” Jesse looked me in the eyes, and I melted under his intense stare. “You better stay here.”
“Fine, fine! You sure as hell better not kill my people though!” I raised my voice.
“Die! Die!” I heard someone yell.
Little dramatic there, aren’t we?
Jesse slipped away from me and I crouched down. Pulling my gun around, I leaned over the side of the shelves and focused on one guy who had managed to shove Liam against the wall with a knife to his throat. I pulled the trigger and smirked as he fell to the ground.
Jesse told me not to go anywhere, but he didn’t tell me not to kill his people. That was just common sense, and my guys came before anything else. Also, I wasn’t the best at listening to directions, if at all.
I watched as Liam pulled himself together and grabbed his gun before ducking down on another aisle, out of the line of fire. Thank God.
I slipped back behind the shelves, out of view, and slowly stood up to head back in the other direction to see if my help was needed anywhere else. I crept along quietly and reached the end of the aisle in no time.
Glancing around the corner, all I could see was a dead man. Black hair and bright blue eyes still wide open. I shivered, closing my eyes and kneeling down on the ground. I had seen a fair amount of dead people in my time, but that didn’t mean I was ever going to get used to it.
The gunfire ceased no less than five seconds later, and I heard the doors slam. They were going to leave me!
In my attempt to scramble up from the floor, I slipped on some blood that managed to trail over towards me from the dead man’s corpse. I hit the floor hard, cursing to myself.
Why do these things always happen to me?
Two arms wrapped around me, and I would’ve screamed if they weren’t helping me up. “Are you okay? Did you get shot, stabbed, anything?” Jesse asked.
“I’m fine,” I told him, looking down at the fresh blood that coated my shirt and hands.
I felt him slip something into my pocket, but I didn’t bother looking to see what it was. I had to get out of there before the guys think I’d been killed and then leave me. Jesse pulled me to the side exit, and I assumed he didn’t want his people seeing me. I mean, if any of them were still alive. “Get out of here and be safe.”
“I’ll try.” I looked back at him once more before he slammed the door. My kidnapper probably just saved my ass. Isn’t it funny how things work out?
I ran around the side of the building like my ass was on fire, and as I did, I realized the guys had left. I didn’t blame them though. I’m sure they thought I was dead, but that didn’t mean it didn’t piss me off.
Three bikes were left where we had parked them, including mine. That meant two people had been killed, and if I had to guess, I’d say Cassie was one of them. I too would have been toast without Jesse.
I jumped on my bike and sped off. It was a good thing I had paid attention on the way to the location to go back home alone.
I sped down onto the highway. All I could think about was Jesse. Why did he care if I lived or died? I wanted to know. I also wanted a cigarette, but we don’t get everything we want in life, do we?
I rode for about five minutes until a group of bikes came into view in front of me. I had caught up with them. I moved into the next lane, so I’d be right beside them.
When I was finally close enough, I sped past them, but before I did, I gave Ryder the middle finger. I changed lanes again, so I was in front of them, leading everyone. I felt like I was on top of the world.
That didn’t last very lo
ng though because the clubhouse came into view before I knew it. The guys weren’t even behind me anymore since I drove like a speed demon. I was lucky that the cops hadn’t caught a glimpse.
I got off my bike and went over to the wall and leaned against it while I waited for everyone else. I dug around for my cigarettes, but instead, I pulled out a crumpled card. What is this? I thought. I opened it up, finding a number printed on it with Jesse’s name. This had to be his business card. I knew what that meant. He’d take care of other people’s dirty work for some cash. I smiled lightly to myself and stuffed it back into my pocket.
Should I call, or leave it alone?
“I’ll be damned,” Ryder’s voice cut through the air. I snapped my head up. I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t even heard them pull up.
“You bastards!” I walked towards them. “I can’t believe you left me! I mean, seriously?”
“We thought you were dead. We waited for a few, but we had to get out of there.”
“Damn, I got a whole five seconds. Glad to know my life is worth that much to you,” I muttered.
“Oh, shut up and give us a hug,” Ryder said.
I tried to hide my smile, but I failed when Ryder pulled me tightly into him. Sometimes, it amazed me how one minute he could be a complete asshole and the next, he could be sweet like at that time. We all have two sides, I guess.
“Liam, I hope I don’t have to save your ass again.”
“I had it under control,” Liam muttered, his voice unusually low. That’s when I saw his blood-soaked shirt and jacket. Something was telling me it wasn’t his blood though.
“Cassie?” I asked.
Liam shook his head and said, “Didn’t make it. Steve got to her before I could.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. I didn’t know Cassie at all, not many of us did, but I could tell she meant a lot to Liam even if they were just hooking up. “Who else did we lose?” I glanced around.
“Ashton.” Damien kicked out the kickstand on his bike.
“What? How?” Ashton was a tough son of a bitch, never mind the gun shot two weeks ago.
“I don’t know. I didn’t see,” Damien answered. As usual, he was calm.
“One of the Rebels came up behind him and stabbed him before he even realized they were there,” Devin started. “He bled out. I tried to help him, but there wasn’t anything I could do.”
I ran my hands over my face, shaking my head. Of course, I knew that it could happen, but I guess I hadn’t really expected it to. A lot of us think that we’re untouchable. We think that something could never happen to us until that something happens and we wake up and face the reality of it. I suppose that’s what we were all doing then.
I opened my eyes and glanced around at everyone else. They had a few cuts and bruises, but other than that, they were fine. Plus, they had the money.
“Come on, I think we need a drink.” Ryder tossed me the keys and I unlocked the door.
***
“Did you kill all of the guys?” I asked while we sat around drinking and smoking.
“I don’t know but I do know that Jesse and Steve got away,” Ryder said.
“I shot Steve in the leg, I think,” Devin announced.
“Still wouldn’t have killed him. I think we took the other seven or eight down,” Ryder said, “and now we just have to stay low in case they try to come over here and shoot the place up or whatever. We just need to be careful.”
“I thought that’s what we were already doing.” I exhaled a mouthful of smoke.
“You know what I’m saying,” Ryder answered.
“Don’t get your panties all in a twist,” I shot back, then crushed the cigarette in the ashtray. “Anyway, I need to head home. Who’s coming with me?” I asked, knowing there wasn’t any way in hell they’d let me leave on my own.
Ryder rolled his eyes and pointed to Damien. “You go with her. I can’t handle much more of that cocky attitude.”
“Now you see what I have to live with every day, times twenty.”
***
I found myself stepping into the house at around 11 PM. It was pretty late, but at least I made it home when all I really wanted to do was stay with the guys after what went down.
I walked into the living room to find my mom asleep on the couch with the TV on. I found the remote and turned it off, covering her up with the blanket that was over the recliner. My dad must’ve gone to bed earlier than usual.
Moving back into the kitchen, I got myself a glass of water and locked the doors for the night before I headed off into my bedroom. I felt around in my pocket and tossed my cigarettes on the nightstand. I stared at the card with Jesse’s number. I thought, should I call him? What could possibly go wrong? Besides the clubs finding out and killing us both for betrayal, that is. Then again, I’d like to hope they’d know better than to mess with Jesse. His reputation was no joke.
I dialed the number and slid into my bathroom just in case my mom happened to wake up and hear.
“Hello?” a rough voice asked.
“Hey, it’s Sage.”
“I knew it won’t be too long until you give me a call,” he said, causing me to roll my eyes.
“Why did you give me your number anyway? Have a thing for me?” I teased.
“I want to see you,” Jesse muttered as if he didn’t believe himself.
“Why?” I asked suspiciously.
“I just do,” he said. “If I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t have looked after your ass today, would I?”
Well, he was, like, reading my thoughts. Creepy. “You . . . want to see me now?”
“Yeah, are you busy?” Jesse asked.
“I . . . no, I’m not busy,” I replied. Good thing I didn’t have school the next day.
“Where do you live?” Jesse asked. I heard rustling in the background like he was getting into a car.
“Does it matter?” I asked, once again suspicious.
“Yeah, it does. I’ll come over. Sage, I’m not going to hurt you. You need to trust me.” His voice was sincere, which was a shock.
“Why should I trust the guy who kidnapped me? Not to mention, the most well-known criminal in the state.” Well, I wanted to know. I didn’t really believe that he’d hurt me, but you never know.
“I didn’t know you then, and I still have two sides sweetheart.”
He was right with that one. All bikers had two sides. “You still don’t know me.”
“I want to know you. You know what I meant, so stop being difficult. Just give me your damn address!” he shouted.
I smirked at his forceful tone. “145 Vance Road. Hurry up.” I hung up and stepped out of the bathroom.
Oh God, what am I getting myself into?
Chapter Ten
I saw the lights of a car flash through my window, and I was grateful Jesse cut them off quickly. I didn’t want him to wake my parents, not if I wanted to possibly get out of the house. I had to climb out of the window if I didn’t want to be caught by them. Talk about pathetic.
I walked over and slid the window up, then landed on the ground with a thud. “Ugh!” I whispered to myself as the agonizing pain coursed through my legs.
A low chuckle pierced through the air, and I heard footsteps approaching me. However, I was too busy trying to keep it together to look up. “Well, that was graceful,” Jesse said.
“Screw you,” I hissed. I finally stood up from my position. I held my hand up, cutting him off before he got the chance to comment. “Don’t even start. We’ve already been through this.”
A smug look crossed his face, and he stepped closer until he was inches from my face. “We could go over it again anyway.”
I let out a shaky breath. He was so, so close, and it was making my stomach flip. “I . . . uh, yeah, so why did you want to see me exactly?” I stuttered. Snap out of it!
“I just did.”
“Why did you do what you did today? Why did you pull me out of the line of fire whe
n I’m a part of the rival club?”
“I told you that you were different, didn’t I?” Jesse answered, one of his hands leaning on the side of the house, right next to my head. God he was close.
“I knew you had a thing for me,” I joked, confidence coming out of nowhere. I reached out and trailed a finger down his chest, smiling.
“Hmm, yeah? You thought right . . .” Jesse said slowly, looking down at my finger.
I was sure my eyes doubled in size at his words. Jesse Miller . . . liked me? No, it couldn’t be. He must have been messing around with me or just trying to get in my pants.
Looking up into his eyes, I was surprised when he leaned down and started kissing my neck. I leaned my head back, allowing him more room, and gripped his shirt tightly. His lips trailed down to my collarbone and then back up my neck gently. I couldn’t have suppressed the moan if I wanted to.
He pulled back, that typical panty-dropping smirk on his face. “Like that?” he asked.
“Of course,” I said. He knew I did, but you know how men are when it comes to these things. They wanted to know they were making a woman happy. Men and their stupid egos. “I, uh, better get inside . . .”
“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere.”
“Yes, I need to get some sleep. I have a lot to do tomorrow,” I lied. Truth was, I was just scared not only of him but just of everything. It felt so wrong like I was betraying my club. Actually, I kind of was.
“Don’t make me tie you back to that chair,” his husky voice replied.
Damn. That was hot, not going to lie. There was something about a possessive man that drove me insane.
“Fine, be that way . . .” My hand went under his shirt, trailing over his six-pack. I leaned up on my tippy toes, pressing my lips to his. At first, he didn’t respond, but when he did, he pushed himself up against me even harder.
We probably went at it for about five minutes before I pulled away for much-needed oxygen. We were both breathing heavily, and I could see lust in his eyes.
