9. Duke
DUKE
Four days of quiet, and I almost believe there’s peace.
The lockdown lifted after Jinx’s fight. The Kings and Warriors called a truce.
For now.
Truces with the Crimson Warriors don’t hold. Other Hellborn Kings’ chapters across the country have been dealing with Crimson Warriors on their doorsteps, too. National is tracking it.
A truce bought us time. That’s all it bought us.
Violet went back to bartending at Bones and Bucks. Leo went back to terrorizing my house, fueled by a bottomless supply of energy. I went back to the books, reconciling the club’s accounts.
And right now, the numbers are looking good for us.
Violet is on the Thursday lunch shift. I’m in my room at the clubhouse, running payroll for Fireside Mechanic. Shelby is watching Leo, so I can get this done and the employees can get paid.
My phone rings. Trapper.
I pick up. “Yeah.”
“Duke.” His voice is wrong. Serious. Shaking. “Some guy grabbed Violet in the parking lot. She was walking over to the clubhouse, and he came out of nowhere. He threw her in a truck and took off. I tried to stop him. But he had a gun to her head.”
The chair hits the wall behind me.
“What did he look like?”
“Crimson Warriors cut. Young. Dark hair. He said,” Trapper is breathing hard. “He said your prospect killed his brother. Said he’s taking her until you hand Jinx over. A trade. He said to wait for his call.”
The dead Warrior from the cattle barn, the one Jinx stabbed and killed.
And now that fucker thinks he can get revenge by threatening my Old Lady?
“Which direction?”
“East. On the state highway. Gray truck, older model.”
“Are you hurt?” I ask.
“I’m fine. Go get her.”
I’m already in the hallway. Joker is in the common area, boots up on the table. Viper is at the bar, cleaning a glass. Both of them look up when I come through the door.
“Crimson Warrior took Violet. East on the highway. We ride now.”
Joker’s boots hit the floor. Viper sets the glass down. Neither of them says a word. We’re through the front door and on our bikes in under thirty seconds.
I pull up the tracker on my phone and mount it on my handlebars. Violet’s location is a blue dot moving east, and it’s slowing down.
The desert stretches flat in every direction. Late afternoon sun, no traffic. My throttle is pinned. Joker is on my left. Viper is on my right.
I’m focused on the blue dot. If he touches her, I will tear him apart with my bare hands.
The dot stops. A pull-off on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. He picked this spot because there’s nothing out here. No witnesses. No cameras. No one to hear anything.
That works both ways.
I cut my engine at the top of the dirt road and coast the last of the distance on momentum and gravity. Joker and Viper do the same.
The gray truck is parked at the end of the road. The driver’s door is open, and the engine is running.
He’s standing outside the truck on the driver’s side, phone in his hand, pacing. He’s in his mid-twenties with dark hair, wearing a Crimson Warriors cut.
He’s holding a gun.
Violet is in the passenger seat. I can see her through the windshield. Blood drips from her mouth. But her head is up, her eyes are open, and she’s alive.
The relief almost buckles my knees. I don’t let it.
Viper goes left. Joker goes right. I walk straight up the middle of the dirt road.
The Warrior sees me. His phone drops. He raises the gun.
“Stop.” He points the gun at me. “I swear to God, I’ll?—”
Viper materializes behind him. One hand clamps on the Warrior’s wrist. The gun hits the dirt. Joker pins his other arm. The whole thing takes four seconds.
I walk past them to the passenger door. Pull it open.
Violet looks up at me. Split lip. A bruise blooms along her jaw, and zip ties cut into her wrists.
The man who fucking dared to lay a hand on my Old Lady is ten feet behind me, pinned between my brothers.
“He grabbed me in the parking lot.” Her voice is steady. Steadier than it should be. “Trapper tried to stop him. But he had a gun, and he threw me in the truck. He said he wants Jinx. A trade. Jinx killed his brother.”
I pull my pocketknife and cut the zip ties. Her wrists are raw. I hold them in my hands, thumbs tracing the welts. I lift her left wrist to my mouth and press my lips to the red line where the plastic cut in. Then the right. She inhales sharply, and her fingers curl around mine.
I kiss her on the forehead. “Stay in the truck. Close the door. Don’t look.”
She grabs my arm. “Duke.”
“Close the door, Violet.”
She lets go. The door shuts.
I turn around.
The Warrior is on his knees. Joker has his arms pinned behind his back. Viper is standing to the side, hands loose, waiting.
I crouch in front of him. My forearms rest on my knees.
“You took my Old Lady.”
“Your prospect killed my brother.” He’s trying for defiance, but his eyes keep flicking to Viper. “I want the prospect. That’s all I want. Give me the prospect, and you get her back.”
“I already have her back.” I stand. “Your brother jumped a prospect four-on-one at the cattle barn. Jinx defended himself. Nitro settled the debt in the ring. It’s over.”
“It’s not over for me.”
“Yeah,” I say. “It is.”
I pick up the gun from the dirt.
He opens his mouth to say something.
He doesn’t get to finish.
I open the passenger door. Violet lifts her head from the dashboard.
My hands are clean. Viper made sure of that.
Her eyes search my face.
I help her down from the cab. Her legs are unsteady, and I hold her arm until she’s planted. My thumb traces the split in her lip. Gentle.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Her hand comes up and wraps around my wrist. “Duke. Is he?—”
“Don’t ask me that.”
She nods, and her fingers interlace with mine.
Using my other hand, I pull my phone from my pocket and call Saber.
One ring, then Saber answers. “Talk to me. What happened?”
“Crimson Warrior grabbed Violet from the parking lot at Bones and Bucks. It was the brother of the guy Jinx killed at the cattle barn. Acting alone. Wanted to trade Violet for Jinx.”
Saber asks about Violet. I give him the rundown of what happened and let him know she’s okay.
“The Warrior?” he asks.
“Handled.” I look out at the empty desert. “Joker and Viper are with me.”
Saber doesn’t hesitate. “They stay. They handle cleanup. Truck, body, everything. Get Violet back to the clubhouse.”
The line goes dead.
I pocket the phone. Joker and Viper are standing by the truck.
I catch Joker’s eye. “I want to get Violet back to the clubhouse. You got cleanup?”
Joker nods. Viper is already pulling on gloves.
I walk Violet to my bike. She climbs on behind me, her arms lock around my waist, and her face presses between my shoulder blades. Her fingers dig into my shirt.
I kick the engine over.
Her arms tighten. I pull onto the highway and ride west toward the clubhouse, and the woman on the back of my bike is alive and breathing and holding on to me, and that’s all I need to know.