Chapter 22
KNIGHT
“I gotta go, Angel. It’s almost four.”
Aiden locked his arms around my neck to keep me in bed. “Nooo. Your lip is finally healed enough for proper kissing. You should kiss me more.”
I sank into another lengthy kiss, unable to deny him, before breaking away. “Mm. I missed that too. Let’s pick this up when I get back.”
He pushed his lip out in a pout. “I’ve got to run some errands.”
“So do them while I’m gone. Then we can both crawl into bed for the rest of the evening.”
He tilted his head, considering. “Fine. I’ll allow it.”
I pecked a kiss to the tip of his nose and rolled out of bed. Ever since the sex Friday, we’d both been insatiable. Not that we hadn’t been into each other before, but it was like a switch got flipped, pushing us into a higher gear.
I grabbed my jeans from the floor and tugged them on. There was no time to shower, so hopefully the guys wouldn’t notice me reeking of sex.
“Be careful,” Aiden said. “Those guys are still out there. They might be looking for you.”
“They won’t come back yet.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if they wanted me dead, I’d be dead already.”
He didn’t look reassured. I shouldn’t have told Aiden as much about my situation as I had. I’d only worried him.
I tugged a tank over my head and returned to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Angel, I know how these guys think, okay? I used to be one of them.”
He gnawed on his bottom lip. “You didn’t know they were coming for you the first time.”
I shrugged. His eyes narrowed in a glare, reading me perfectly. “Wait, you did know?”
“I knew they might. Puck spotted me at the tattoo parlor. I asked him to keep his mouth shut, but given my ex’s record of stabbing me in the back….”
“Will!” Aiden exclaimed, horrified.
Even in that tone, hearing my real name on his lips did things to me. I leaned in to cup his face. “Angel, I promise you I’ll be as careful as I can, all right?”
“Maybe I should drive you.”
I shook my head. “The guys will have my back. Besides, the Serpents are lazy bastards. They never do shit on Sunday.”
Aiden finally cracked a smile. “They follow the Sabbath?”
“Nah, they just get drunk as fuck on Saturday night.”
He laughed, eyes lightening a bit. “Sorry. I know you’re a big boy. Seeing you get pummeled freaked me out.” His voice went distant. “It’s been a long time since I saw someone take a beating like that…”
Something about his tone clued me in. This wasn’t about me. At least not entirely. Aiden had a violent past. Sometimes I forgot, because he seemed so well-adjusted.
“I’m sorry. I never considered…”
His gaze met mine, direct and challenging. “What?”
“How this would affect you,” I said carefully. “Seeing the violence.”
“This isn’t about me.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t have feelings about it.”
He shook his head, looking away. “You should go, Knight. You’ll be late.”
Damn. I’d probably just pushed Aiden back behind his walls—and right as he was letting them down, too.
This weekend, we’d spent more time together than we had since he moved in.
Partly for sex, yes, but we’d also talked a lot.
Aiden had relaxed, showing me his affectionate and playful side, like maybe he was done trying to keep his distance.
I tugged on my boots, then grabbed my jacket from the closet and headed for the bedroom door.
“Wait,” he said.
I paused in the doorway and looked back.
Aiden gave me a small smile. “I should have called you Will. Sorry.”
“That’s all right. I’m just glad you’re calling me.” I winked playfully and headed for the front door.
“That’s horrible!” Aiden called after me. “You’re not supposed to tell dad jokes until you’re a dad!”
When I rolled up to Lucky Strike, still smiling at Aiden’s parting shot, Joyride’s ugly Hummer was already in the lot beside Hollywood’s more tasteful car. No sign of Ghost yet.
I walked down the row of lacquered bowling lanes. Joyride held a yellow bowling ball at chest height. Hollywood stood behind him, assessing his form.
“Loosen up this time,” Hollywood said. “Visualize where you want the ball to go.”
“I got it,” Joyride said impatiently.
He drew his arm back at an angle. Hollywood shook his head, cringing a little. Joy let fly, and the ball went far right, barely clinging to the lane before taking out one pin.
Clearly, the coaching was going well.
“Goddamn it!” Joyride whirled, eyes furious. “I did exactly what you said.”
“Not really,” Hollywood said.
“Yes, I did! I relaxed and—” Joyride stopped as his gaze landed on me. “Shit, man. You look even worse than I expected.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly.
Hollywood turned, surveying me with his head tilted. “Flynn wasn’t kidding. Damn, man.”
I’d hoped my bruises might fade before this meeting, but they were lingering in a sickly greenish yellow state.
“Eh, you should have seen me a few days ago,” I said with a chuckle.
“Well, we would have if you hadn’t kept making excuses to blow us off,” he pointed out.
I grimaced. “Yeah, sorry. Been kind of busy.”
Mostly with fucking Aiden, but priorities and all. Plus, I didn’t really want the guys to worry about me.
Flynn had worried enough for everyone, popping by the house a couple of times to make sure I was recovering. One time, he’d nearly walked in on Aiden blowing me. Not an image any brother wants.
He was pretty cool about the fact we were involved, though. I was relieved that secret was out of the bag. I didn’t like keeping things from friends.
Ghost came in the door, flicking us a glance as he passed by on his way to the snack bar where we gathered each week. Matteo was already over there, setting out a pizza and a couple of pitchers of soda.
“I guess we should head over,” I said. “The gang’s all here.”
“You forgettin’ about me that easy?” Tex’s voice sounded behind me. “I’m hurt.”
I whirled, grinning. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Damn, Knight, you really did take a beating.” He embraced me with a hearty backslap. “I thought I was the one who was supposed to get into trouble.”
I drew back. “Yeah, well, I saved you the trouble.”
Tex’s gaze flicked over my shoulder. I turned to see Hollywood’s tight expression and stormy eyes.
“C’mon, Joy,” I said. “Let’s go help Matteo and let these two talk.”
“But I want to—”
“Now,” I said.
“No, I’ll go.” Hollywood pivoted on his heel. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
He walked away, shoulders rigid. That was not a happy man.
“You should talk to him,” I urged Tex.
“Nah, he’s right. I’m not staying, anyway. No point dredging up shit.”
“Why did you come if you’re not staying?” I said.
“Had to make sure you were okay, didn’t I? You had my back last week.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You did enough.”
Matteo turned, waving a hand toward us, so we headed toward the snack bar. We joined the others, lining up at the table to claim our share of pizza and soda before sitting at a collection of plastic booths.
Ghost sat on his own, as always. Hollywood slid into the booth behind him, brooding hard over Tex’s appearance. I grabbed a table with Tex, and Joyride joined us.
When we were all settled, Matteo got started.
“Well, we’re off to an interesting start today. I didn’t think we’d see Tex again.”
“Don’t worry. I’m just visiting,” Tex said. “I know I blew my spot in Redemption Road.”
Matteo looked pensive. “If you want back in, maybe we can work something out.”
Tex looked surprised. “Why would you offer that after I fucked off?”
“Because this program is about second chances. If you want one, we’ll figure out a way to make it happen.”
Tex glanced over at Hollywood, who was studiously staring at Matteo, giving nothing away. “I appreciate the thought, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Matteo frowned. “If you change your mind, let me know.”
Tex gave a hesitant nod, still looking thrown by the offer. Had it really been such a surprise Matteo would step up for him? Or was it that Tex didn’t think he deserved it?
“Okay, then, let’s get on with the meeting.” Matteo shifted gears. “How about we start with you, Knight? I got a call from your parole officer, and your face is telling me the rest of the story.”
I winced. “Sorry I didn’t return your calls earlier this week.”
“That’s all right,” Matteo said. “You had a lot to deal with. But I think we should talk about your future and whether it’s wise to stay here.”
“What does that mean?” Joyride asked, bristling on my behalf.
“You’re going to invite Tex back while kicking Knight out the door?” Hollywood said, sounding indignant. “What the fuck?”
Tex cleared his throat. “I’m with Holly on this one.”
“You don’t get a say,” Hollywood shot back.
“He was agreeing with you!” Joyride protested.
“Matteo might be right,” Ghost said. His quiet, calm voice shut everyone else down. “He’s on the wrong side of a biker gang. That assault the other night was just the start. It’ll only get worse.”
My stomach turned over, and I pushed my plate of pizza away, no longer hungry. Hearing Ghost say what I already knew made it real. I was fucked.
“Knight’s in real trouble,” Matteo said. “We have to think about what’s best for him.”
I held Matteo’s gaze. “I’m not leaving.”
“What other options do you have?” Matteo asked.
“To fight.”
Matteo shook his head. “That’s suicide, isn’t it?”
I seesawed my hand. “I’ve got a shot of surviving if I go to them and ask to be jumped out.”
“What is that?” Joyride asked.
“The gang beats the shit out of him in a massive assault and leaves him to die,” Ghost said. “If he survives, he’s free.”
“That’s way too risky,” Matteo said. “They could kill you, Knight.”
“I know.” I looked around the room at the guys. “But if I leave, I’m letting them win, and I’m done letting the Serpents dictate my life.”
Matteo looked unhappy, but he moved the meeting along to other topics.
Joyride had finally gotten a job at Griddle, the diner where Dalton had taken him the night he got into trouble.
Ghost was doing well at the junkyard, though his living situation was in flux.
Apparently, his neighbors were driving him batty and his lease was nearly up, but he wasn’t sure he could afford to move.
Hollywood was still working at the barbershop and taking night school classes to get properly licensed.
The meeting wrapped up, and I slid out of the booth.
Ghost intercepted me. “Knight, sorry. I don’t want you to leave.”
“I know.”
“This is serious,” he said, eyes intently boring into mine. “If you stay—”
“I know,” I said.
“We’ll have your back,” Joyride said. “Right, guys? Isn’t that what Knight would do for all of you?”
Joyride was young, and compared to the other guys in Redemption Road, he was naive. He didn’t know what he was signing up for.
I shook my head. “I can’t ask anyone to stick their neck out for me.”
“You did it for me,” Tex said.
“No more trouble with your sister’s ex?”
“Nope. Your threat worked.” He smirked. “Plus, I paid a few bikers in town to roll by his house and workplace periodically. He’s stayed far from my sister ever since.”
Joyride laughed. “That’s genius, man. I bet he’s shitting his pants.”
As someone who got the shit kicked out of him by the Serpents, I couldn’t really blame him.
I’d used the threat as the only leverage I had to help Tex.
But now I couldn’t help feeling like I’d summoned them back into my life.
Maybe it was karma that they’d shown up only a couple of days later to jump me.
“If we can help, we will,” Ghost said.
“We’ll escort you place to place,” Hollywood said. “Be your personal bodyguards.”
“What that pretty face?” Tex joked, earning a glare. He raised his hands. “Holly’s right. I don’t have to guard my sister now, so I’ve got some free time.”
“Thanks, but no,” I said. “That would just get more people hurt.”
“But you can’t just face it all on your own,” Joyride argued.
That was exactly what I had to do, though. The only thing worse than the Serpents taking me out would be them hurting one of the guys I’d come to think of as family.
“I appreciate the offer, but it would seriously infringe on my sex life,” I said. “I’ve gotta find some joy while I can.”
They all laughed, as I’d intended.
“Seriously, though, I know how these guys work. They won’t be back right away. I’ve got some time to come up with a plan.”
I hadn’t been bullshitting Aiden about that. The Serpents wouldn’t come back for a little while. They’d let me heal. Let me think about my options, of which there were few to none.
They wanted me looking over my shoulder.
Wanted me jumping at shadows.
The dread of when they’d return would do half the work for them. I knew, because while I was a Serpent, they’d used the same tactics against a biker who went AWOL. He’d tried to leave for his girlfriend’s sake, and they’d made him regret it.
I hadn’t been part of the group that stalked him, harassed him, beat him, and then waited for him to break.
But I’d heard all about it from Puck. Had realized with a sinking gut that I was stuck with the Serpents for life. That there would be no escape.
Little did I know that getting arrested and thrown in prison would actually be my best way out of the life.
At least until now.
Because I was the Serpents’ new prey. And they wouldn’t stop coming for me without a fight.