Page 25 of Craved By Gray

He laughs. “You got it, brother.”

I hang up the call to share my location before leaning against the wall to catch my breath. More than ever, I’m assured the mission to get Scarlett out will be successful. Priest is Saint’s cousin and the president of our sister MC based in Austin, the Steel Order. The man has a reputation that rivals the devil and runs a tight ship, not unlike how Saint does things here.

As I wait for the men, I allow my thoughts to wander back to the girl inside that building. I know that I need to move away, walk a bit further from where I’m currently standing. If the Vipers decide to do a search for me around the perimeter of their building, they would find me in seconds, and then it would be over, but...

I can’t move. Every step I take away from the building sends what’s left of my heart breaking away, chip by chip.

“I hope to never see you again.”

Leaving without Scarlett is not an option. I’ll beg, if I have to. For love I don’t deserve. For forgiveness and a promise to spend the rest of my existence making it up to her.

My nerves are frayed when I finally catch a rumble of engines coming from the opposite direction, and relief washes over me. They’re here. My bet is on Saint bringing a small group of guys with him. Eight, ten perhaps? It’s mid-morning after all, and we don’t need to attract more attention than absolutelynecessary. Still, with that number, we’d be able to take them down despite having the disadvantage of being in their territory. But when I emerge from my cover, my jaw drops.

I am met by a sea of leather and chrome; a biker army, it seems like. I recognize most of the bikes as those of my club members with the skull insignia in all forms.Ranging from insignia on bikes to patches on black leather jackets and vests. There are others, the crossed bones symbol that belongs to our sister club, the Steel Order. The roar of the engines is deafening, a thunderous announcement that echoes through the street. There is no possible way the Vipers could have missed the arrival of such a massive force. With this crowd, they are devastatingly overpowered.

Saint pulls up in front of me, tossing me a shirt with a whistle when he gets a good look at me. I slide it on and take the handgun he passes me. “Rough morning?” He laughs, leaning back on his bike with a smirk. “They did a number on you.”

“Nothing but a few scratches,” I say, showing him the flash drive. “Scarlett gave this to me.”

Something flashes in Saint’s eyes at the name. “Brooke’s friend, Scarlett? How’d she get this kind of intel? What haven’t you told me, Gray?”

I hide a wince in the face of my president’s anger. Saint trusts me to act as I see fit during my missions, but I should have told him about Scarlett’s connection to the Vipers. We all love Brooke like our little sister. Well, except Axel. He definitely doesn’t see her like a sister.

“Yeah. Turns out she’s Stone’s daughter, but there is no loyalty there. She wants to take down the Vipers as much as we do, maybe more. I trust her,” I say, meeting his stare head on. “She’s the one who’s been taking care of her father’s finances.She slipped this to me when she helped me get out. It should have what we need. Enough, I believe, to take him and the Vipers off the streets for good.” Enough for the Steel Rebels to claim this side of town too.

Saint looks at me with an unreadable expression. He wants to avenge the pain his partner went through when kidnapped and forced into an auction, but more than that, there’s power too. With the Vipers destroyed, many groups will be fighting for this territory, but the Rebels will have the upper hand.I have no doubt Saint has thought about that too.

“Good enough for me,” he says finally, reaching for the flash drive, but I step back. His brows furrow in confusion at the move.

“You’ll have it, but first, we need to get her out,” I say.

Something like fury flashes over my president’s expression. “Are you using that as a bargaining chip so I help you save your girlfriend?” Not fury, I realize. He looks insulted, hurt. “Since when do you think we need an incentive to help out one of ours? We would have come, even without the flash drive. You’re family, which means Scarlett is too.”

Ten years with the Rebels, and the thought of these people being my family has always seemed out of reach. Unlike my MC brothers, I spend a lot of time away on my own spying for the club, and don’t visit the clubhouse much to protect my undercover identity. As a result, I’ve always felt like a bit of an outsider, even among them.

Family?

“Hey, are we getting some action or what?” calls out a voice that I recognize as Priest’s. “I was promised a good time.”

Right.

Without second thought, I pass Saint the flash drive which he slips into a hidden pocket in his jacket. “The Vipers are likely already on the defensive. If you guys can cause a distraction at the front, I’ll take the back and try to get to her first. I wouldn’t put it past her father to use her as a shield.”

A look of disgust crosses Saint’s face, and he nods, beckoning for the men to follow. I don’t wait to see what they’ll do, trusting they have my back as I hurry back to the fence I jumped to escape. With a surge of adrenaline, I vault over the fence landing silently on the other side. The chaos will be at the front, but that doesn’t mean I won’t run into anyone at the back entrance. But as I approach, a thought occurs to me. There’s a broken lock on a second story window I’d observed when making rounds through the building. It’s my luck that the window is a fire escape. Being as quiet and fast as possible, I hurry up the fire escape to the window. The weight of the gun in my hand reassures me that I have nothing to worry about even if I do run into a Viper.A part of me hopes that happens.

The window creaks open, revealing the dimly lit interior. I hold my breath, gun at the ready as I scan the corridor. Empty. There is noise and chaos, but it’s all coming from the front of the building. But there’s no guarantee that it will last when the Vipers realize that they’re vastly outnumbered and decide to make a run for it.

Scarlett.

I need to get to her before someone else does.

I move with practiced stealth, steps silent on the wood floor. I quickly creep to the stairs, taking two at once as I make my way up, hoping she’s in Stone’s office. Praying like I never have for her to be safe.

Please be safe.I would lose my mind if something happened to her. Kill every damn one of these slithering Vipers if they touched a strand of her hair. It’s the panic that sends me at a dead run down the hall, kicking her father’s office door open before I realize I’m doing it. I slam my foot against the door, a forceful kick that has the frame creaking in protest before giving way with a splintering crack after a second kick. It falls open, and I step in, my eyes darting across the room, searching, desperate.

“Gray?”

A broken voice from behind the leather desk chair has my heart careening against my chest, and the relief that slams in leaves my knees weak. She’s safe. Thank God.

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