Chapter 27
BISHOP
The second the first swing was aimed at Noelle, my blood rose.
Red covered my vision.
I was no longer the calm, quiet, and brooding second-in-command previous soldier.
That split-second that it took me to realize she might get hurt was all it took to send me into a tailspin.
My hands clenched into fists, and I moved without having to think.
A deep growl rose in my chest as I shoved the man back with enough force to stagger him.
The move destroyed his hold on Noelle, giving her a chance to pivot away from the edge of the bar.
She was the only thing that mattered.
My tunnel vision locked in as adrenaline fueled me into motion.
Rafe and Ash were moving on either side of me.
Their presence gave me a sense of calm even as the whirlwind of their movement shifted the energy in the room.
The leader of the rival bikers snarled.
He stepped closer with a swagger that almost covered his panic.
Almost.
Colt burst into the space beside me.
He might be younger than all of us, but that only meant he had more drive than we expected.
Noelle froze for a heartbeat, then ducked as a chair slammed into the man’s ribs.
I caught a flash of her expression.
Fear and fire.
Damn this woman.
She set off all my instincts.
Love. Protect. Wired for trouble.
She had no idea the effect she had on me, on all of us.
If anyone could survive this hell, it was her.
The fight spread across the entire room.
I focused on Noelle.
Thank fuck Colt had run back to the clubhouse and told us what was going on.
We’d arrived just in time.
I knew this gang, knew what they were capable of.
No one was hurting our Little Viper.
Men from our club poured into the room, changing the course of the fight.
We were no longer a three-man team taking down a rival gang but were fully immersed in a war.
A second chair sailed through the air.
Mugs crashed when I picked one man up and hurled him over the bar.
I followed up with a right hook at the man rushing me and Noelle.
He popped onto his toes when my fist connected and staggered.
His eyes rolled back in his head and he hit the floor with a thud that shook the building.
A greasy-haired man hooked an arm around Noelle’s waist.
The crowd closed in, constricting my movement.
Noelle cow-kicked the man in the kneecap and spun out of his arms when he fell.
Perfect opening.
I grabbed the man’s head and slammed it into my raised knee.
Noelle tried to stay close to my side.
I was tempted to grab her hand, but I needed both free. “Grab my jacket.” I barked the order at her. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
“I won’t.” Her words were a promise that steadied me.
The look of wide-eyed vulnerability made my chest ache.
I didn’t say a word, but I vowed then and there to do whatever it took to protect her.
Then she was behind me, out of my sight but gripping the back of my leather jacket tight enough to pull at my shoulders.
A guy wearing a stupid grin lunged at me.
I returned the smile and smashed my forearm into his face.
Rafe ducked beneath a sloppy punch and pummeled a guy’s ribs hard enough to crack bone.
I’d never seen him so savage, or Ash looking possessed as he grabbed two beer bottles and cracked them against the sides of a man’s head.
The woman we loved was in danger, and we’d cross Hell itself to protect her.
“Cops!” The shrill warning came at the same time I threw a booted kick at a man trying to sneak around behind me.
I checked the window before I believed a word out of their lying mouths.
Colt ducked his head through the open door. “We gotta go. Now.”
Rafe raised a hand in a signal we all knew. “Vipers, out.” His words hit the room like a bullet.
The chaos doubled as the brawl fractured.
The scent of spilled beer crashed against testosterone-fueled rage.
If we were still here when the cops arrived, there was a real risk of bloodshed.
I wasn't about to let that happen, and neither would Rafe.
The leader who’d cornered Noelle grabbed one of his guys by the back of the neck, and the two of them bolted for the rear exit.
I hauled Noelle to my side. “Stay with me.”
Icy wind stung my cheeks when we burst out into the snow.
I ran us toward my bike and hopped on.
Noelle swung in place behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
Her breath hitched when sirens screamed from one street over. “Hold on.”
It was all I could offer her as I revved the engine and tore out of the parking lot.
Snow blurred past us.
Headlights cut through the wall of snow and fog on the other end of town.
Red and blue lights whirled like some caricature of a carnival game.
I took the turn fast enough to lean the bike and cause a small squeal from Noelle.
I couldn’t let go of the handlebars long enough to pat her leg in comfort.
She clung to me, her cheek pressed into the ridge of my spine.
We’d made it out.
We hit the final turn, and I opened up the throttle a little more.
Almost there.
My adrenaline burned through me, the taste of it coppery on my tongue.
The red haze faded as the threat receded.
The gang wouldn’t follow us.
They knew better.
Yes, we’d gone into one of their establishments, but they had our woman.
We were justified, especially when we saw them manhandling her.
We all knew better than to snitch to the cops about what had happened.
They might hate us, but they wouldn’t put their own club at risk like that.
As long as we didn’t get caught, everything would be fine.
By the time we reached the clubhouse, the tension had eased enough that I didn’t feel like a coiled spring ready to snap.
I rolled up into the garage and killed the engine.
The others came in behind me in twos and threes.
Rafe and Ash remained hot on my tail, their bikes blocking me in from behind.
I shook out my hands and helped Noelle off the bike, scanning her from head to toe. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, brushing snow off her coat. “I’m fine.”
I caught the tremor in her hands and the way she worked the belt of her coat between her fingers.
Assholes.
They’d scared her.
Or maybe we’d all scared her.
I replayed the fight, looking for any sign that I had been the one to put that look in her eyes.
My jaw tightened until pain spiked down my neck.
Her fingers skated down my shoulder. “I’m fine, Bishop.”
Rafe shoved his way past me, moving right into Noelle’s space. “What the fuck?”
I stood so fast my head spun. What the hell?
“Rafe?” Noelle stared up at our leader, confusion plain on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” He glared at her in a way I never expected. “You walk into one of our rival’s bars, and you have the audacity to ask me what’s wrong?”
Pure, unfiltered anger blazed in his eyes.
Shit.
“What the hell were you thinking?” He dipped his head so they stood nose to nose.
I had to give Noelle credit.
She stood her ground, even put her hands on her hips and raised her chin.
Good.
“I was trying to get more information for my story.”
“Fuck your story. You were in enemy territory." His voice changed, deepened. “Isn’t this club good enough for you anymore?”
My chest rumbled with a need to respond.
Noelle’s safety was my priority, even over Rafe’s demand for answers.
“How was I supposed to know who they were?” Noelle’s chin notched even higher. “No one will talk to me about the club. No one has told me where I’m allowed to go.”
Like she would listen.
Noelle had a curious streak and a proclivity toward danger.
It stood to reason she’d have found her way there eventually.
Fuck this mess.
I rubbed a hand over my buzzed hair and stood to my full height.
Rafe moved.
It wasn’t a violent or even a threatening stance, but the way his mouth twisted pushed me between them.
I put Noelle at my back and faced Rafe. “You need to calm down.”
Energy crackled between us.
Ash and several others stopped what they were doing and closed ranks around us.
“Bishop.” Rafe said my name in a cold tone that any other time would have brought an apology to my lips.
He stabbed a finger in Noelle’s direction. “She knows good and fucking well what she was doing out there. Stirring up trouble. Do you have any idea the shitstorm coming our way because of this?”
He aimed the question at her, but I moved to block his line of sight.
I held him off, something I’d never thought I’d have to do. “I said, calm down.”
Stance wide, tone unyielding, I told him without words where my loyalty rested.
“Bishop.” This time, my name came from behind me.
From Noelle.
She slid a hand beneath my jacket to touch me through the thin shirt I wore. “You don’t have to do this.”
Yes, I did.
Someone had to.
Rafe was out of line.
I might not say those words out loud, but they hovered between us.
I’d never confronted Rafe before.
Not once.
And especially not with the entire crew close enough to see and hear everything.
Rafe’s chest heaved.
The air hummed with the rules I was breaking, the boundaries I’d not only crossed but obliterated.
I could be kicked out of the club for my insolence.
Loyalty went deeper than blood in the Vipers, and I’d wounded him by taking Noelle’s side.
“You’re making a mistake.” Rafe spoke too low for anyone else to hear.
“No.” I relaxed my hands, only then realizing I’d had them in fists as I prepared for another fight.
My bloody knuckles creaked with the effort it took. “We’re all on edge, and there’s no reason to have this conversation right now. Take a breath. We’ll talk when things have settled down.”