Page 32 of Omega's Vengeance

“Do you even have the key?” I ask, glancing uneasily at the cabin.

“It doesn’t use a key” he says breathlessly. “Most dirt bikes don’t. It has a kick starter and a kill switch.” As he speaks, he straddles the bike. He places his foot squarely on the kick pedal, and says, “Come on you mother fucker,start.”

I have no faith the bike will start. Fear surges inside of me and I take a step toward the forest. “You’re a fool, Alessio. I don’t want to die with you.”

“Then go.” He pushes down hard on the pedal, and nothing happens. He tries it a few more times, and still nothing. Swearing under his breath he tries again, and the bike sputters to life. It instantly splutters out again, but the excited look on Alessio’s face stops me from leaving.

I once more look to the cabin, hope of survival sinking. I know it’s a matter of seconds before those guys come out back. They probably heard the motorbike starting up. We’re fucking doomed and I’m still unable to do the smart thing and just leave Alessio. I study his young face as he grips the handle bars tight, gritting his teeth. Something inside of my chest aches painfully. I don’t want to die and I don’t want to see him die, but I can’t leave him.

“Come on, baby.” He pumps the starter pedal hard two times and the bike starts. He tweaks something on the handlebar and the bike roars loudly. A plume of blue smoke puffs out of the tailpipe, and I cough, waving it away from my face.

The surprise on Alessio’s face is obvious and then he grins at me. We’re probably about to be murdered in cold blood and the idiot is grinning like a fool because he got the damn bike started.

“Get on,” he yells over the noise of the bike. I hesitate and he scowls. “Dario, get the fuck on the bike.”

“They’ll shoot us as we pass them,” I say hoarsely.

“They’ll shoot us for sure if we stay.” He revs the engine impatiently. “You have two seconds to get on the bike, or I’m leaving you behind.”

I have no reason to doubt he’ll leave me. Cursing, I relent and climb behind him on the bike. I wrap my arms around his slim waist, and he revs the engine again. The blue smoke once more puffs from the back of the bike. If Carlo’s guys don’t shoot us as we drive by, with our luck the bike will malfunction and drive us off a cliff.

He presses the gas and the bike jerks forward. We almost tip over because neither one of us has any idea how to ride a fucking motorbike. But Alessio somehow manages to keep the bike upright, and we speed toward the front of the cabin. The smell of gas and burning oil fill my nostrils as we roar toward the dirt road.

Just as we pass the cabin, two men in black suits come running out of the structure, guns drawn. Alessio guns the motor and the bike speeds past them. I can’t hear anything over the roar of the engine, but I fully expect to feel a bullet rip through my body. I should have run into the woods and let Alessio distract them by driving off on the motorbike. Instead, I’m clinging precariously to him as we speed down the bumpy dirt road that leads away from the cabin.

When a bullet doesn’t tear through me, I glance back over my shoulder. I see the SUV in the distance, dust churning from it’s tires as it follows us. The road is uneven, and we’re able to go faster than the big SUV over the ruts and dips. Still, our balance is precarious, and we almost tip the bike many times. When I glance back at the SUV, they’ve gained ground.

“They’re following us and they’re closing in,” I yell.

Alessio nods and speeds up. The wind whips my face and I hug Alessio’s slim body harder. I’m still in shock he managed to get the bike running. It was foolish to keep trying, but he succeeded. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if he’d failed. Those guys didn’t hesitate to shoot at us just now. They’re not interested in capturing us. They’re definitely trying to kill us.

We pull far enough ahead of the SUV that I lose sight of them. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but thanks to Alessio, we may actually make it down the hill alive. When we reach the main road, Alessio shocks me when he turns to go further up the mountain instead of down it.

“What are you doing?” I growl.

“They’ll expect us to go down. I’m trying to throw them off.” His husky voice carries to me on the wind. He leans forward as the bike races up the road, carrying us even further from the city. “Trust me, Dario,” he calls out.

Trust me?

Gritting my teeth, I hold back my angry retort. Asking me to trust him is asking a bit too much. Our relationship, so far, hasn’t been based on anything even close to trust. We’re working together purely out of necessity. Two heads are better than one in a situation like this. But seeing as he’s the one driving, I have no option other than to hold on while he does what he thinks is best.

I also have to acknowledge his move is probably smart. The guys chasing us have probably already contacted anyone working with them who’s positioned further down the hill. They’ll no doubt be waiting to intercept us on the main road. I long to get off this fucking mountain, but I’ll have to be patient for now.

At one point, Alessio turns onto a side road. Eventually, he pulls over, coming to a stop beneath a big pine tree. He cuts the engine and groans, “That was too fucking close.”

“That was a huge risk.” I get off the bike, stretching my back side to side.

“Yeah, but it worked.” He pats the fiberglass side panel of the bike. “Now we have a way to get to that gas station quickly.”

“If the bike keeps running.”

He grimaces. “Well, yeah. I think it should. Either way, they’d have picked us off easily if we’d gone down the mountain just now.”

“Now they know we’re on a dirt bike. That might make it easier for them to spot us.”

“We’d have been sitting ducks on foot as well.” He gets off the bike and stands near me.

The breeze flutters his blond hair, and I inhale his honied scent. As I study him, that weird aching need to shield him comes over me again. Are these protective feelings because I gave him my bite? That’s the only thing that makes sense. Other than Valentino and his family, I don’t tend to feel it’s my duty to shield anyone else.

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