Chapter 30
ASH
I’m lying on the couch in Gabe’s apartment waiting for him to finish up at the shop.
He should be closing up right now. I sound needy, counting the minutes until he’s back with me.
It’s just that I’ve never been around someone who makes me feel like Gabriel does.
Like I’m important and he genuinely wants me around.
I’ve spent the night with him damn near every night for the last eight weeks, and every night he still asks me if I’ll stay with him.
Like he wants to make sure I know that he wants me here.
Pop!
I sit straight up at the sharp crack coming from downstairs and pause the TV.
Silence.
I settle back onto the couch, chalking it up to someone dropping something.
Pop!
This time I recognize the noise as a gunshot.
I stand, scrambling across the room to slip on my shoes as my heart pounds against my sternum. I rip open the door and race out of the apartment, shooting down the stairs. My pulse speeds up, matching my feet. After I make it to the last step, I barrel down the hall in the direction of the shop.
Pop!
I jump and quicken my pace.
As I round the corner, a large arm wraps around my shoulders, his forearm pressing on my throat. Cold metal presses into the side of my head.
“Don’t fucking move, bitch,” an unfamiliar voice demands. He smells like cigarettes, and his hot breath on my face reeks of whiskey. “If you say a word, I’ll shoot you.”
I look out of the corner of my eye. His deep brown gaze narrows, and he smirks. When he opens his mouth again to speak, his words snake out between crooked yellow teeth. “Do you understand?”
I nod, feeling all the blood rush from my face.
He pushes me forward. My feet shuffle, and my hands tremble at my sides.
As we get through the doorway and around a car, my heart sinks.
“Oh my god,” I mutter under my breath. The man’s grip tightens, and I swallow the sob building in my throat.
A few feet from us, Rider’s kneel on the concrete floor with their hands up.
A dozen men I’ve never seen litter the shop with guns drawn.
I frantically rake my eyes over every face, taking inventory of the men I’ve spent my summer getting close to.
At the front of the pack are Gabriel, my brother, and JT.
My chin quivers, but I don’t make a peep. JT’s eyes full of pain flick to the side before closing, a deep crease forming between his brows. I follow his line of sight and bile churns in my stomach.
No.
My legs start to buckle, but the arm around me tightens, holding me up.
Blood pools, slowly inching away from the body lying face down.
His blue work jumpsuit is darker in the places where the blood soaks into it.
Crimson paints a chunk of his light hair in the back.
His head’s turned so I can’t see his face, but I know him.
I’d know him anywhere because he’s my friend.
Akers.
I don’t have to see that his chest isn’t rising to know he’s gone. There’s too much blood for him not to be, and I can’t hold back the whimper that bubbles up from my core.
“Look what I found,” the man says from behind me, pulling my racing thoughts out of the tundra of pain I’m paralyzed by.
I have to peel my eyes away from Akers, my chest burning.
Shane sees me first, flinching as his eyes bulge. His hands clench and release as his chest rises and falls faster with each ragged breath.
I drag my eyes down the row of Riders until they land on Gabriel. He shakes his head, his whole body tensing—frozen for a moment with his eyes glued to me. The terror clears from his stare, replaced by something darker. His nostrils flair, and he grinds his teeth.
“If you don’t get your fucking hands off her, I will kill every fucking one of you.” He’s not yelling, just cold. He looks every bit the criminal he is.
A man my dad’s age steps forward, running a tattooed hand through his slicked-back dark hair and snorts a laugh. “Now, I don’t think you’re in any position to be making threats, boy.”
He’s in a leather cut, but he’s not a Rider.
“No?” Gabriel glares at him. “I’m telling you right now, Tony, if you want any chance at an agreement with us, you will let her go.” He trembles, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Now!” Gabriel shouts.
I jump. Everything feels too loud, too bright.
“I don’t know.” Tony paces in front of him, his boots clomping on the ground like the steady rhythm of a leaky faucet. “Your piece-of-shit dad can’t even control his own guys. Why would I want to do business with Rider scum? I think I’d rather rid myself of the problem altogether.”
His eyes flick to me. When they return to the boys, he smirks.
He chuckles, taking a couple of steps in my direction, his eyes only landing on me when he stops.
“Or…” He pauses, pretending to think about something, tapping a finger against his salt-and-pepper beard.
His mouth spreads into a wide grin, sending a chill up my spine.
“I could take the pretty one with me. She seems like an efficient leash for a couple of you.” He spins to face the boys again.
“Who would you choose, Gabe? President daddy or the pretty one?”
I squeeze my eyes closed, warm tears rolling down my cheeks.
Gabriel stares at me, the muscles in his jaw flexing. When I open my mouth to say something, the brute shoves the gun against my temple harder, making my lips clamp shut.
My breath hitches, and I can’t get my hands to stop shaking. The compulsion to look back at Akers, brushes against my subconscious, but I keep my eyes trained on the boys, moving from Gabriel to JT.
Tears glisten in his eyes as he mouths,“You’re okay,” with a nod, trying to blink them away.
“If you take her, it’ll be a war,” Shane spits.
I want to tell him, it’s okay like he used to when I watched him get brutalized by our father.
Don’t worry. Don’t cry. Everything’s okay. I’m gonna be okay.
We’re gonna be okay.
Run. Don’t worry about me.
Just run.
Tony’s lip curls. “It would seem it already is, gentlemen.” He takes a final step toward me, until his clove cologne overwhelms my senses. “You are quite pretty, sweetheart. No wonder these boys are in such a tizzy over you.”
Bile rises in my stomach. Pretty coming off his tongue feels like battery acid.
He runs the backs of his stubby fingers down my face, and I jerk away, my lip curling.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” Gabriel yells while JT shouts, “Get your hands off her.”
He scoffs, glancing back at them. “Put her in the truck.”
The man lifts me off the ground. I scream and thrash, but he’s got an arm wrapped around my middle. No matter how I flail, I can’t break loose. The feral sounds coming from my throat don’t even sound like mine. If he gets me in that truck, that’s it.
“Fucking bitch,” he grumbles, when my elbow catches his cheek. It does nothing to help my escape.
“Get the fuck off my sister!” Shane jumps up and surges toward us.
He collides with the man holding me.
Pop!
The air whooshes from my lungs as we hit the ground.
Pain erupts through my leg. My gut churns.
Someone screams.
No. That’s me. I’m screaming.
“Shane!” My voice is drowned out by shouting and gunfire.
Flat on my back, I stare up at the ceiling and try to breathe through it, but it’s closer to a pant. The cold concrete nips at my back. I turn my head, watching as feet run by under the truck that blocks my view of the chaos.
“Gabriel!” This time my voice is no more than a broken sob.
Trying to roll onto my side, my leg screams in agony. I manage, but when I try to sit up, my hand slides across the floor.
My fingers are painted scarlet with blood.
My blood.
The room sways. My head feels heavy. I melt into the floor, my muscles giving in to the gravitational pull.
I’m going to die.
Sirens wail in the distance.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My vision blurs, and I close my eyes.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Warm amber fills my nose. Hmmm. I love that smell.
“You’re okay. Ash, you’re fine,” a voice filters through the fog, and fingers run through my hair. “Ashton, can you hear me?” When I pry my eyes open, JT’s kneeling in front of me. His brows are furrowed and a tear snakes down his cheek.
I smile.
He grabs my hand, squeezing it tight. It’s nice—warm.
Then he’s gone, replaced by black.
“Ashton, baby girl. Open your eyes.”
It’s hard, but I do.
“You’re okay.” His voice cracks as he says it.
Big brown eyes bore into me.
JT, a great friend.
His mouth moves, but a soft pitter patter fills my ears, drowning him out.
Rain. I love rain.
Except I can see the sun still shining in through the windows behind him.
Blue eyes appear in my line of sight. They fill with tears when they lock onto mine.
Gabriel. That’s love. A song plays in my head, or maybe I’m singing it—I don’t know. Something about a butterfly. Gran.
I’m in my bed. She’s sitting on the edge humming the Dolly Parton song. Her hand runs through my curls. The scent of Marlboro fills the room mixed with the night cream she puts on just before bed. I’m so happy.
I smile.
“Ashton, baby! Come on! Open your eyes! Please!”
When I open my eyes, his face crumples, and his chin quivers.
Why’s he crying?
When I try to move, I’m ripped back to reality by fire tearing through my leg.
Shit. My chest squeezes. That look. He looks—
No.
My eyes close.