Page 26 of Dirty Salvation

Fuck it all.

He sighed and braced his own fists to his hips.

"You don't agree with my decision. Fine. Don't. Nothing about the plan has changed, we move forward as we talked about, we pick them off one by one. Meanwhile Red Light is on his way down to the dirty sombrero to fish out who is feeding Hades his supply and help the man make better decisions before another shithead steps in and traffics powder through my city. Fucking Mexican Kingpins. As for Zara, you can leave any and all things to do with her to me."

Oh, Rider saw clearly everything Hawk wasn't saying. The VP might be a locked safe within a steel panic room but he'd known his friend long enough now to know when he was fucked off.

Something to do with what he'd said, bringing up old shit.

He wouldn't offer an apology, the same as Hawk wouldn't expect one or accept it. Instead, he stepped forward into Hawk's space, saw how he tensed. Wouldn't be the first time they'd gone through an outbreak of bloody violence, they were both volatile men, Hawk more so, but tonight wasn't the time, he had enough shitstorms at his door without having a rowdy fucking fight with Hawk.

Instead, he clapped a hand briefly to his shoulder. Felt him stiffen.

"I need you on the same page as me, bro. I fuckin' rely on you to be my right hand when my left is busy killing some bastard."

That got Rider a slight snort.

The closest Hawk came to humor.

And just like that, the tension swept away. Hawk nodded.

"Just…just be fucking careful, Rider." He said no more. Turning on his boot Hawk marched out.

Careful. What did that even mean for an outlaw? Rider hadn't been careful even as a teen when he became serious about joining theSouls.

He had a feeling, for Zara, he would be less than careful to keep her safe.

Waiting a few minutes, he too strode out, a tense spine, he was tired, almost dawn now. But sleep wouldn't come yet. Not with his club on lockdown.

Not with sweetness asleep in his bed.

******

There was no staggering gentle rouse from sleep for Zara. She came awake all at once in an anxious heart tapping rush and as always, her first thought was dread.

Ow. Ow. Ow.

Her face hurt. Her body hurt. But as she calculated her limbs, turning them in circles she found none were even a little bit broken.

That was always a good start to the day.

She fingered her index digit around her eye socket. God, that hurt like a bitch, the skin tender, swollen and throbbing. That asshole with the meat-hook hand, she was going to spit in his dinner. Just wait you see, fucktard with your gimpy leg.

She swore to God she was going to do it just as soon as------ her mental recollection slotted into place and within an inhalation Zara vaulted up out of the bed like she'd been stung by electricity, her heart hammering remembering everything with startling clarity.

And then she saw him.

The sight of her rescuer did nothing to calm her raging heartbeat. It went into overdrive making a simple thing like breathing hard.

"Hey, babe. It's just me, Rider, remember? Try to relax. Didn't want you to wake alone and not know where the fuck you were. Do you remember last night?" The words were said quiet and kindly, but in a way, that suggested he meant to be listened to.

When the alarm lessened to a dull roar in the back of her skull, Zara's momentum died away, making her catch a seat suddenly on the edge of the bed.

There was no motivator like fear to move a person and nothing like the relief to sap you of energy.

She pulled in calming air, nodding quietly.

Noticing his stature at first. Hard to freaking miss. Had he grown an extra foot since she'd last seen him or was Rider always this big? He was tall as a tree, but so much more wide in the shoulders. Hunched over his knees, both of his arms braced to his thighs his relaxed pose wasn't any less intimidating. His size took up the whole chair.

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