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“It means that motherfucker isn’t ready for the ruthless riot coming his way.”
THIRTY-THREE
Scarlett
There’sno time to clean up or to put a plan together. As much as my heart is beating wildly as we head back to the compound, I try to rest against Ryker with my eyes closed. I’ll be useless without my strength, and the knock to the head is causing me more problems than I expected.
Ryker presses his lips to my forehead, and I flutter my eyelids open to see we’re close to the compound. I can imagine Emmett and Shift are going crazy waiting, but Ryker was right to make the call that they couldn’t meet us at the diner. They would have acted before we got there, and we don’t truly know what we’re up against from this stupid fucking man, so it’s better to face it together as a unit rather than divided.
My body aches as I push off Ryker to sit up, but I shake it off. Night has fallen and this could either be to our advantage or it could bite us in the ass, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re about to go to war. Darkness surrounds us, apart from the lights coming from the main building, as we slow to a stop in the driveway.
Shift is standing with his hands tucked into his pockets, Maggie murmuring into his ear as Emmett paces back and forth. Needing to check on him, I step from the vehicle and rush to him as quickly as I can. It's slow going, my brain trying to move me quicker than my body can withstand.
“Snowflake,” he breathes, taking me in. He catches me as I launch myself at him, and his warmth wraps around me like a second skin, heating my soul. “What the fuck happened to you?”
“None of the blood is mine. I just have a really bad headache,” I explain, and he lowers me back to my feet slowly, running his hand over my head delicately.
“There’s blood all over your fucking chin. What happened?”
I grimace, wiping at the dried stain. “I may have accidentally, on purpose, bitten the bottom of Kincaid’s right ear off.”
I’m not sure if he’s going to be sick at the thought or not, but Axel steps up to my side and interrupts.
“That’s my fucking girl,” he declares with a wide smile, and I remember that he bit Gray’s ear.
“Nope, it's not the same. I bit the enemy, you bit my blondie.” I wag my finger at him, but it doesn’t wipe the grin from his lips.
“Are you heading out?” Everyone whips their head to the man peeking through the double doors. I don’t know his name, he’s part of Graham’s crew.
“In a minute, yes,” Emmett states, uncertainty thickening his tone as the door swings open further and seven or eight men clamber out.
“Do you need some extra men?”
There seems to be something I’m completely missing with everyone, but I don’t really have time to ask. “With Declan gone, Graham is already heading home. We refuse to stick with a club that operates like that. If you’ll have us, even just for tonight, we’ll assist with whatever you need.”
It almost feels too good to be true. If this guy seemed shady at any other time, I would be calling bullshit, but the way Emmett nods in acceptance says he believes him.
“We can discuss things further tomorrow, but for tonight, you can ride,” Ryker states, cutting the distance to shake each of their hands.
“Are we ready to go now?” Shift asks, jaw tense as he approaches, and my heart breaks for him. It feels like this morning was an eternity ago, but it wasn’t. We’ve been on a wild goose chase ever since, and this man right here had to spend his time pretending like he wasn’t madly in love with my best friend for god knows however long they’ve been keeping it a secret. Now she’s in danger.
“Yes,” Maggie answers, rushing down the steps as she straightens her leather jacket. The look on her face begs anyone not to question her involvement, and to my surprise, no one speaks a word about it as we all shuffle into the waiting vehicles.
Ryker organizes the prospects to divide between protecting the club and coming to the diner with us. but I don’t hear him properly as I’m bundled in Gray’s lap this time so there’s enough space for us in the vehicle.
Axel doesn’t fuck around getting us moving as soon as we’re all seated, we’re heading off into the dead of night again. Gray’s hands draw circles on my thigh, while Emmett is squished up against us to my left, and he trails his finger over my palm.
Despite the storm that still continues to brew in front of us, I feel calm right now with my men close. Thankfully, the town roads are pretty quiet, and the diner light shines like a beacon in the distance, before we roll to a stop at the back of the parking lot.
Taking a deep breath before I step out of the vehicle, I squeeze Gray’s hands as the wind whips around me. If the adrenaline wasn’t keeping my bones warm, I’m sure I would shiver. Rows of bikes line up beside the three packed SUVs.
I take a step around the back of the vehicle to get to Ryker, when a whistle sounds, short and sharp from the tree line to my left. At the noise, my men instantly appear around me, while the prospects stand guard by Maggie at the other SUV. When a man steps out from behind the big oak tree, Ryker’s shoulders seem to relax as he steps toward him.
“Paisley, isn’t it a bit beneath you to be hiding in bushes?” Ryker muses, but his tone is tight.
“There are Brutes lining the exterior of the diner, protecting Hartman inside,” he explains, making my eyebrows quirk in surprise. He clearly knows why we’re here, but how?
“Of course there is,” Gray grunts, swiping a hand down his face as he sighs.
