Page 132 of Riot

I collapse onto my ass and Star pulls me into her arms.

“Is she okay?” I hear Tilly. She made the ride as well. All of these people in my life that I’m so grateful for are here for me.

“She’s gonna be fine.” Star holds me until I’m out of sobs.

“Why did this happen?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“And the explosion?” I sob.

“Let’s not worry about that.”

I pull back from her. “Don’t lie to me, Star, we’ve always been able to be honest with each other.”

Her face is grave when her eyes flick to Tilly, then back to me. “It was the Airbnb. The important thing is you’re okay.”

“And Cookie. Where’s Cookie?”

“He’s right here,” Tilly says, crouching down to pat his head.

Of course, my mascot is never far from my side.

“We could’ve all been killed.”

Star sighs. “I know that, but the important thing is, you’re not and it’s all going to be okay. We’ll take you to see Riot, babe.”

“What about Antoine?”

“Your dad and Nevada went to look for him. We hope nothing happened, and we’ve no idea if he was really involved. Until we know more, Antoine could be innocent in all of this.”

“I can’t see him giving these assholes our address,” I whisper. “How would he even know…”

I trail off, looking over Star’s shoulder at my mom. She’s been close by, and supportive.

Maybe it’s because of my dad’s words earlier, I’m not sure, but right now, my mind is reeling.

“I told him where you were staying,” Mom says. “But it was only because he wanted to stop by.”

I shake my head. “He wasn’t happy when he found out Riot was here.” Yeah, I’m using his biker name from now on and I don’t care. “He was so nasty about everything. He told me you were trying to save my soul.”

“Antoine wouldn’t,” Mom maintains.

“What if he had no choice?” Star raises a brow.

I don’t add that according to the surveillance, it seemed as if Antoine wasn’t coerced into anything. Then again, maybe he was threatened. These people have no morals, they’ll stop at nothing to get what they want. Just because my brother happens to be a spiteful, vindictive ass, doesn’t mean he’d knowingly have anything to do with this.

But I’m still worried because nobody’s seen him since the van drove off from his house.

I swallow hard. I can’t think about that. “We need to go,” I whisper. “I need to get to Riot now.”

“Daddy and I will drive down as soon as we find Antoine.” Mom moves toward me. “I promise.”

I nod. “Thanks, Mom.” She doesn’t deserve it, but I pull her into a hug. “I’m sorry we brought this here. It was never meant to be like this.”

“As long as you’re okay, Lourdes, that’s all that matters.” For the first time in a long time, it sounds like she actually means it.

I just want to be with Riot. I want to see my dad before I go, but Riot’s hurting and he needs me.

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