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CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
*Lace*
“Go! He is more worried about me than you. Get away while you can.” I jump off her bike and start scrambling away backward.
Remi starts to argue, but Zane rolls up, and our pursuer has turned around and is approaching fast. Not wanting to rile Coyote even more than she already has, Remi takes no more chances and hightails it out of here.
Heart spiking faster than their RPMs combined, my vision a watery red, the fingers of one hand clenched tightly around the crumpled docket, and the knife buried in the palm of my other hand, I grit my teeth and run into the building, past the bouncer and DJ booth, through an establishment full of dancers and patrons, and storm straight into their quaint little meeting, not even bothering to knock.
Stoney never added a lock because in his words, “It is my every right to come in when I please,” especially to watch when a dancer is serving an extra. Not to mention, no one would dare go inside without at least knocking first if any MC club member, no matter which club, is in there.
Except for me.
But I am tugged backward and restrained against an extremely large body just as the door goes slinging wide open. I recognize the big beefy tattooed arm locked around me right away — Rosco, our main bouncer.
Arms secured against my body and vibrating vision darting around the blurry room of men dressed in all black and standing with defensive postures, I pop the knife open with my thumb, spin it around in my palm, an— “Let her go!” Kal roars. For being a giant of a man, Rosco is fast as hell and narrowly escapes the wedge of my knife into his thigh.
“Move, goddammit!” Coty roars behind the giant who is now taking up the width of the narrow hallway.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I barge inside and launch straight at Kio, slamming the docket against his chest with one hand and holding the tip of the knife under his chin with the other.
His hand immediately comes to my knife wrist, but other than wrenching my hand away from him, that is the only defensive move he makes before yanking the paper away and slamming it down onto the desk next to him.
The entire time I waited for Remi and the entire ride here, regardless of how fast it was, I conjured a million and one things to say to Kio in this moment, but none of them come out of my mouth.
Instead, I pathetically scream, “How could you!” and push him hard away from me. But with his grip around my wrist, he yanks me back toward him, spins me around, and slams my back against his chest, facing me toward the watchful room. Coty and Zane are here now, too. The only two men missing are Vee and Brodi.
“Drop the knife, Lace,” Kio whispers hot and menacingly against my temple.
Tears and snot pouring down my face, I shake my head maniacally.
“I am not the one who betrayed you!” he growls. “I found the original docket when I brought Jess to her place after the brawl Wednesday night. It was on their dresser.” With each word, my fight dies a little. “We suspect Gabe did it.”
My anger sparks again. “No! I r-ran through that s-scenario every possible way, h-he never got close enough to Bae! Y-you’re lying!” I screech then slam my head back against his chin, make my body limp, fall to the ground, and scramble toward the most accessible section of the room.
Knife still held tightly in my hand, I flip over onto my bare ass and automatically slash the blade through the air, uncaring who it might come into contact with.
No one is close enough, but black boots do approach, keeping some distance, then light-copper hair and eyes come into view as Bae eases into a squat in front of me. He holds out a hand. “Give me the knife, baby.”
“No,” I grind out.
He wiggles his fingers.
I shake my head.
Another pair of boots approaches, and I wildly swing my arm from man to man. Coty is the new victim. He dares getting even closer to me than Bae, his cloudy moonlit eyes locking in.
“Stay away from me,” I choke out.
Coty moves fast, scooping his arms around the back of my shoulders and under my armpits, lifting me off the ground slightly, then flopping me between his legs and into a hold from behind, where his back is against the wall for extra support. His hands clasp around my forearms and cross them over my chest, pressing me against him and, as a result, making my knife hand useless.
Bae duck walks closer, and I clench my teeth and let out a loud, long screech as he pries the knife from my fingers. Once my throat is raw, he speaks again. “You are right; Gabe couldn’t have gotten the docket. He had help. I figured it out, Lace. We all did.”
My gaze casts past him to Kio.
“Not Kio, little siren,” Coty whispers behind me, a quiet shake in his tone.
“Not anyone in this room,” Bae states, his copper eyes locking on mine, golden strawberry eyebrows curving in, and jaw ticking over clenched teeth.
