by Hart, Rebel
I coughed again. “Well, it sounds much better in your voice.”
“My concern is that you’ve punctured your lung or something like that.”
“And again, no. I’m not coughing up blood. The blood I’m tasting is from my lip. I’ll be fine. Get us out of this damn parking garage, though. We need to head back to my place. All this chit chat is making my head hurt.”
“Because you’re concussed.”
“Dani, damn it. Just do as I’m telling you to do.”
She sighed. “Which direction am I turning when--”
I groaned as I sat up. “Just pick one!”
She jumped. “Fine. Don't have to be so pissy about it.”
I shook my head as I forced myself upright. The pounding was relentless. The higher my head got above my feet, the more it hurt. And I felt that damn knot behind my head forming into a nice little dragon egg of a lump. But I needed to see where the hell we were going so I could guide her in. I mean, even I had the sense to admit when I wasn’t in any condition to drive myself.
And this was one of those times.
She took a left out of the parking garage and made her way off campus. The road shifted from brick campus buildings into trees lined with babbling brooks. My favorite road. I loved this road. It was my favorite place to ride whenever I was by myself. A little slice of heaven dropped right into the middle of Ann Arbor. I leaned against the passenger’s seat, keeping my eyes out the windshield as I rested my head. If I could just take a small nap…
Dani patted my upper arm. “No, keep your eyes open. Focus on me.”
I looked at her face and registered how terrified she looked. I even felt it in the way she patted me to open my eyes again. Soft, fluttering strokes from her shaking hands. I watched as her eyes darted around, even though we were only going twenty-five miles an hour. So scared. So paranoid. Part of me felt guilty for putting her in this position.
Then again, she didn’t have to come after me. All she had to do was stay upstairs in the safety of her own damn dorm room.
Faster, Dani. Come on now.
I needed her to step on it, but with the way she was white-knuckling her steering wheel, I figured I’d cut her some slack. She was very nervous, and I felt bad. Apparently, this head contusion had knocked some guilt into my gut.
You have to get home. And quickly.
“Can you pick up the pace a bit?”
She snarled. “I’m going as fast as I can.”
“It’s forty on this road.”
“And I’m doing--!”
Her eyes fell to the speedometer before I felt the engine revving.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
I placed my hand on her thigh. “You’re doing great. This road ends at a small highway. Take a right when you get to it.”
She nodded. “Can do.”
I had to get to my brother. I had to call our doctor. But, more than that, I had to talk to him about what the hell just happened tonight. I was almost certain this was a hit of some sort. With explicit instructions to only rough me up. What if I wasn’t the only one with a hit out on me right now? And where the fuck was Benji? Had they gotten him, too?
I have to call Rupert.
Hell, I needed to call the rest of the guys. Check up on them. Make sure this wasn’t some rival gang trying to reach out and intimidate us on our own territory.
What if this is your father?
My eyes fell back onto Dani and my mind swirled with what that might mean for her. Had my father sent a team after me because she was still in my life? Because if so, that meant this was personal. Good for the guys, bad for me.
And her.
Very, very bad for her.
“Max?”
I groaned as my eyes slipped open. When the fuck had they closed in the first place?
“Where do I go now?”
I blinked slowly. “What happened?”
She sighed. “I took that right turn onto the small highway. What now?”
Fuck, that felt like ages ago. “Uh, two miles, road to your left called ‘Sandy Ridge.’ Take a left on it.”
“Thanks.”
Every time Dani called out my name for another direction, my eyes ripped open, with absolutely no recollection of them ever closing in the first place. Was I slipping in and out of consciousness? Sleeping? Was this a bad thing? Did I need to keep my eyes open?
Fucking hell, this is bad.
“Max?”
I grunted as I opened my eyes yet again. “What?”
“Why no hospitals?”
I groaned. “Where are we?”
“Sitting at a stoplight. Why did those guys jump you?”
“Which stoplight?”
She sighed. “The one you told me about that we’d hit before the left I needed to take. Now, answer my questions.”
I paused. “When did I give you those directions?”
“Who are you, Max?”
She turned toward me, her eyes finding mine for the first time since we’d gotten into the car. I craned my head back to look at the stoplight. Still red. Trapping me in this hellhole of questions I had no intention of answering for her.
“Please, Max. Who… who are you?”
I cleared my throat. “When you take the left--”
“No, Max. Now. I want an answer. Something to go on. Who are the Red Thorns? Is this connected to your motorcycle… whatever?”
I grinned as my eyes fell closed again. “Bambi, I’m the man of your dreams and your worst fucking nightmare. Now, step on the gas pedal. I’ve got shit to do, and you’re standing in the way of it.”
* * *
Thank you for reading RED THORNS. Don’t miss RED ROSE, book 2 in Max and Danika’s love story, and be sure to join my SMS list below to don’t miss any of my future books!
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About the Author
Rebel Hart is an author of Contemporary and Dark Romance novels. Check out her debut series Diamond In The Rough.
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