18. Riot
EIGHTEEN
RIOT
Ivy fills my thoughts. Her sweetness, her beauty… everything that makes me love her fiercely. I don’t deserve that softness from her, but I’ll take it anyway.
I glance up as a glass breaks and cheers erupt like we’re in a fucking student union rather than the clubhouse of the Untamed Sons.
When seats are filled again and the noise quiets, only then do I let my shoulders unclench.
Shit is fucking fraught today. I don’t know what’s going on, but I can sense the tension vibrating in the air.
It’s like the electric in the air before a storm hits, and it has me on edge.
So, I keep my usual spot at the bar, waiting. Watching. Hoping nothing goes south.
One day, I’ll be able to sit in this room without watching my back.
One day.
Since that ain’t now, I’m ready for this shit to be over. I just want to get back to my girls.
I meet Riley’s gaze over the bar and see his expression is just as tight as mine. Does he feel it too, the weight of whatever is coming?
His eyes flick to where Crank is sitting with Grub and a few other brothers, laughing as if they don’t have a care in the world.
I don’t know how much more I can fucking stand. The bands are wound tight around my ribs, pulling harder every day.
It would be so easy to break that fucker’s neck, so easy, and it takes all my strength to keep my seat.
It would sure as fuck put an end to his rule, but we don’t know how much support Crank has within our chapter. Brothers like King and Diesel, even Riley, could support him.
Crank could even have support in other chapters, brothers he can call on if we move too prematurely.
Months of work would be undone in an instant, though it would solve a big problem quickly.
It would also make a martyr of the dick, and that can’t happen. When we take him down, we have to make sure this divide in our club disappears with him.
More laughter, loud and obnoxious. It’s nails-down-a-chalkboard irritating.
Fuck I can’t sit here, pretending everything is fine, when the patch is bleeding.
I toss back my drink and am about to stand when a figure sidles up next to me.
Crank.
I snap my shoulders straight as he plants his hands on the bar and crooks two fingers in Riley’s direction. “Get me a drink.”
Riley looks like he’d rather spit mud but walks away to get him a bottle.
I stand, intending to be somewhere else, anywhere else, but he says, “Sit.”
It’s a command, but weakness flexes through the word. He’s not a man used to giving orders and not having them obeyed.
And I don’t want to fucking sit, but he thinks I’m loyal… and he needs to keep thinking it.
Even so, the urge to tell him to get fucked sits on my tongue, but I plant my arse back on the stool.
He doesn’t say a word, the silence stretching between us like a noose around my neck. Between my shoulders itches, as if I can feel the knives stabbing my back.
Riley places the bottle in front of him and eyeballs me before walking to the other end of the bar. That look says a thousand things.
Crank takes a slow sip of the beer, as if we’ve got all the time in the world, and watches me out the corner of his eye. He ain’t half as relaxed as he seems, and that gives me a little confidence.
I watch him pick the label off the bottle as if he’s pulling skin off bone. This show of dominance only serves to piss me off more.
Finally, he pushes the bottle away from him and slides his hard eyes towards me.
“You know anything about chickens?”
What the fuck? “No.”
He leans his elbows on the bar, and I slice my gaze towards Riley, who is watching from a distance.
“Farmers worry about foxes getting to the henhouse. They build fences, set traps, do whatever it takes to keep those fuckers out. But the fox? He’s just tryin’ to survive.” He gives me a smirk that sends waves of coldness down my spine. “And he ain’t the only threat. See, the farmer, he’s forgotten about the rats.”
My shoulders are so tight, they pinch.
Make your fucking point and piss off.
“They’ll take the chicks, pick off the injured birds,” he continues. “They’ll even steal the eggs before they’ve had time to hatch, and worse, they’ll spread diseases that can wipe out an entire flock. Those little rat fuckers gnaw through the coop, weakening the structure enough to allow the enemy inside.”
All the warning lights on my internal dashboard are lit up like fucking Christmas.
Am I the rat or the fox in his eyes?
Fuck. I want to scan the room, make sure no one is closing in on me, but I don’t dare look away. He’ll see that as an admission of guilt, and the next few seconds of my life are about to be decided here.
“You thinkin’ of gettin’ chickens?”
His smile is all teeth. “It’s just a curious observation.”
“I don’t know shit about farm animals.”
I reach for my glass, just to give my hands something to do to keep from throttling him.
“Hmm. I figured. You’ll be needed tonight.” This last part is aimed at Riley, who gives a lift of his chin before walking away.
Crank slaps my shoulder, and I almost recoil under his touch.
I don’t move until I’m sure he’s gone. Does he know what we’re doin’?
No, he can’t. If he did, me, Nic, and Mace would be fucking dead. Maybe Dash, too.
Crank’s always had a fucking flare for the dramatic.
“Woman! You can’t go in there! —Would you stop !”
I yank my head in the direction of the yelling, and my heart fucking stops.
For a moment, I blink, expecting her to disappear, but she doesn’t. Blonde hair wild around her shoulders matches the terror in her eyes, and a bundle is clutched to her chest like it’s part of her.
My whole fucking world is standing in front of me.
And we’re surrounded by enemies.
I thought I knew fear, but it was a parody of what it actually feels like. Because this? This is gonna end me.
As if she senses me, her gaze snaps to mine, and the relief almost knocks my feet out from under me.
A hundred terror-inducing scenarios pound through my brain. Fear drowns me. Why is she here?
I’ve been in a lot of dangerous situations in my life. I’ve walked on knife edges, flirted with death, but nothing compares to the barbed wire wrapped around my throat at this moment.
Ivy step forwards, towards me, but she’s yanked back.
And I see fuckin’ red.
My long strides eat up the space between us like it’s in my way, and as soon as I’m close enough, I shove the brother off her.
“Touch her again and I’ll fuckin’ kill you,” I hiss, pulling her behind me.
Shock reflects in his eyes, but the anger blazing in mine has him stepping back.
I don’t give him any space in my thoughts as I turn, scanning every inch of her in one quick flick of my eyes. No blood, no marks. Her eyes are red, though, and she’s only in socks. No jacket either, like the devil was on her heels all the way here.
What the fuck?
She looks at me like I’m her saviour, even as her breath hitches, choking the air from her lungs.
“I need to pay the cab.”
I glance at Riley, who is moving before I can ask. Then, I pull her against my chest, my heart racing. What the fuck happened to her?
I can feel the questions from Crank, from the others, but I ignore it all. My only concern is her and the baby she’s clinging to like a life vest.
Without a word, I guide her out of the bar and to my room. My body is vibrating with a hundred emotions I can’t name, but each one sticks to my throat like razors.
As soon as the door is shut behind us, she crushes herself into my arms and sobs.
Fuck…
“Baby, are you hurt?” My words are shredded, like shards scraped over stones. She doesn’t speak, just sobs. “Talk to me.”
She clings to my shirt like I’m the only thing keeping her anchored but not giving me anything. I press my forehead to hers, just soaking her in. “I’m gonna lose my mind if you don’t tell me what happened.”
Her breath is ragged. “I don’t know what to do. If it was just me, I wouldn’t care, but Seren?—”
The rest of her words are lost beneath shoulder-shaking sobs. “Babe, breathe. Just tell me slowly.”
She stitches her fear together, or tries to, swiping at her eyes. “It started with the teddy bear. Then the flowers.”
That fear in my belly turns molten. I fucking knew that prick did something.
“This is about that shithead kid?”
She shakes her head. “No. Yes. It wasn’t him.”
“Babe, I’m gonna fuckin’ kill him.”
“He didn’t send the flowers or the messages.”
What fuckin’ messages?
I don’t move, don’t breathe, just let her cling to me, Seren safe between us.
“He was in my bedroom.”
The world narrows to a pinpoint of red-hot anger. I don’t have a clue what she’s talking about, but someone was in her fucking bedroom? “Who?”
“Link.” The word scraped out of her throat, and my mouth goes dry.
The dread curling in my stomach is not because she’s in danger from him, but because the truth I wanted to shield her from is teetering on a ledge.
It can’t be him, but I need to know why she assumes it is.
“Babe, why do you think Link was in your bedroom?”
“He sent me a photograph of her cot.” I freeze, every muscle locked tight. “That stupid fucking bear was in the corner of it. He was in my room, Riot.” She sucks in breaths as if she’ll never get enough oxygen again.
“Show me.”
“I can’t. I dropped my phone and it smashed. I was so scared.” Her wet, damp lashes flick up. “You do believe me, right?”
I hold her face between my hands. “Yeah, babe, of course.”
She closes her eyes, relief flashing through them. “I thought it was Jackson sending those flowers. I assumed, but there was no name on the card. I just… assumed. I should’ve known better.” Her fingers curl deeper into my shirt. “He’s coming for us. This is his way of letting me know it’s not safe.”
My chest aches as spikes drive into my lungs.
It ain’t Link, but that doesn’t make me feel better. An enemy I don’t know is fucking dangerous.
“Please promise me you’ll take care of Seren no matter what happens to me.”
Is she fucking serious? I force her to look at me. “You’re gonna take care of our girl ‘cause nothin’ is gonna happen to you.”
“You don’t know what he’s like.”
The lie burns in my gut. I’m out of time, and options, but I’m scared to throw gas onto the already smouldering fire.
“Baby, you’re sure it’s not the fuckin’ kid?”
She shakes her head. “He got angry when I called him Jackson. It’s Link. I’m telling you, it’s him.”
She tries to pull out of my arms, but I tighten my grip.
Fuck. It’s now or never. I can’t let her believe this lie a moment longer. “It ain’t him, Vee.”
“He’ll use Seren any way he can to get back at me for leaving him.” Her words jumble together, frantic and fearful. She’s unravelling in front of my eyes. “I have to leave town. I can’t risk him taking Seren.”
The pain in my chest is so crushing, I’m sure I’m dying.
I’m standing on the ledge, knowing the moment I jump off, there’s nothing to catch me.
I scan every inch of them both, committing them to memory, fearing this might be the last time Ivy looks at me without hate in her eyes.
“He ain’t a threat to you.”
Ivy flinches as if I’ve struck her across the fucking face, and every part of me dies. I count the seconds until that love we were building recoils.
“You don’t believe me.”
She steps back, clutching Seren like she’s afraid I’ll hurt her. That crack in my chest becomes a chasm.
“I do. Fuck, baby, I believe someone is fuckin’ with you, but it’s not your ex.”
“I’m not paranoid.”
“I know. I’m not saying you are.” I scrub a hand over my face, and I give her the last knife to gut me with. “But it can’t be Link, Ivy.”
“Why not?”
“‘Cause he’s fuckin’ dead.” I spit the words out like rapid-fire bullets, and each one finds a target I never intended to hit.
She jolts back, her eyes guarded. “How do you know that?”
And then I deliver the final headshot. “I got rid of his body.”