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“Well then,” I said, holding her gaze. “You die.”

Gasps erupted around me, but what else could I do?

I had once thought about it. I had once entertained the notion of dragging the women out of here, consequences be damned.

But then the blinking red light of the camera would catch my attention. And I see it.

Not the fear. Not the women. I’d see him.

The way he would smile. The way he would tilt his head like he was amused. The way he would toy with people before he executed them.

He’d make an example out of her if she didn’t comply. There was no point sugar coating it. And he’d do it in front of them all.

The rally would still go ahead, just with one less woman to please the men. The more women, the less work each of them had to do. The sooner they realised they were a team, the easier this would be on them.

And then, when the rally was over, he’d come to me. And either my body would pay the price, or, if he really wanted to prove a point, he’d bring out his leverage.

My mother.

“The sooner you all realise your old life is over, the happier you will be. You have each been chosen as a club bunny for a reason. You can make the most of it, or you can die at their hands. The choice is yours.”

Faces around me crumpled, and I felt something in my chest crack alongside them.

But I didn’t move. I didn’t offer any comfort. Didn’t soften for them.

And it was then that I saw realisation dawn on some of them.

You don’t survive a place like this by asking questions. You survive it by learning which ones not to ask, and doing as you’re told.

Chapter 13

Gabriella

Now

I walked down the hallway, feeling as though I were walking through a fog, my movements heavy and sluggish.

It should have been so simple. So easy. All we needed to do was smile, serve the drinks, and be polite.

The bikers should not have been so rowdy that early. They shouldn’t have been so… handsy.

But the girls should have known. I told them what would happen. I told them the consequences of disobedience.

I shook my head as I came to my mother’s room, wanting to free myself of the images before I entered.

My mother was fragile at the best of times. The past two years with Nico in charge hadn’t been easy on either of us. But my mother was struggling not just with the current situation, but everything she had lost too.

Her husband had been president of the Riders. Then her son. Both died at the hands of the Devils. And then Nico came along, and she thought with him being my cousin—the son of her ownhusband’s brother—that her position here would be more or less unchanged.

She couldn’t have been more wrong.

Nico wasted no time in establishing himself as the new president, and with that came all of his new rule changes.

Within an hour, he had declared me his old lady. Within a day, he had his new rules implemented, half of the old ladies murdered, and me and my mother under lock and key.

Visions flashed before my mind—my mother being smacked whenever I disobeyed. Her body tied to the wooden beams on the ceiling, sobbing as she was viciously abused by Nico and his group of sick followers.

Nico knew the one way he could keep me here, the only thing forcing my hand, was my mother. She knew nothing else. And whilst Natalie would whisper in my ear, telling me Vienna would save me, my mother would never go for it. This place was all she knew. The Riders were all she knew. And though we were worlds away from the Riders my dad once ruled, we were still her home. This place, the members, the club, and all its rules… they were her safety net.