Page 2 of Pike
But this time she hadn’t come to me, she hadn’t told me she needed help. She never even told me that she’d been hiding a woman and a small child in her little house.For three fucking years.
The object of my blame and anger, Chloe Dunning, stood twenty feet away with her daughter clinging to her side. The tear-stained cheeks of the little girl should’ve been enough to make me keep my cool, but the sight of her mother, with her golden blonde hair pulled into an intricate braid, her bright green eyes red from crying, had my anger flaring all over again. How the fuck could she stand there in her prim black dress when she was the reason my sister wasn’t here? The reason I’d never hear Ash’s tinkling laughter again?
“You’re staring,” Gio whispered, elbowing me in the side.
Damn right I was staring. “She shouldn’t be here,” I growled, my voice was low but my entire being radiated anger and frustration, my default setting since Faith gave me the news about my sister.
“Man don’t do this shit. Not today.”
I turned my glare to Gio. “Seriously? My sister is in the ground because ofher, when should I do this shit?” I raked a trembling hand through my hair.
Rocky stepped in front of me, not to protect his brother but to shield me from the others. “Be cool, Pike.”
I shook my head. There was no fuckingbeing coolwhen the woman responsible for Ash’s death stood there, crying as if she gave a fuck about her. Yeah, okay it might have also had something to do with the nonstop sips from the flask inside my vest. “Fuck that. Why’s she here? Who the fuck told her shecould come?” The question came out louder than I intended but I didn’t give a shit.
Rocky’s big hands gripped my shoulders, his glare held a warning I was too pissed off to notice in time. “Stop it.”
I should’ve stopped but I couldn’t. I looked around at all the people who Ashley touched in her short life, many of them were still crying as they left.
And the woman who was to blame was headed this way. I shoved Rocky away and yanked my flask free, taking a fortifying gulp to prepare myself for her approach. The whiskey burned my throat and stomach before the warmth settled deep in my bones. I was ready for this shit, at least as ready as I would ever be.
Chloe’s steps were hesitant because she knew as well as I did that she didn’t belong here, but she stood tall with her shoulders squared before she stopped a few feet from me. “Will,” she began in a soft tone. “Ashley was a wonderful woman, and I miss her every single day.”
It was a kind sentiment, but it was total fucking bullshit. My anger exploded and I reached out grabbing her arm a little rougher than I intended but didn’t care. “This is your fault! Your fucking fault and you think I give a shit thatshe will be missed?” I let out a bitter laugh as my brothers rushed forward, peeling my hands off her and yanking me back. “Fuck you and fuck your condolences!” I glared at her with as much hate as I could muster, which was a lot of fucking hate, waiting for her to wither under my anger.
But Chloe didn’t wither, she stood there and took every angry syllable as if she deserved it. She did, but I didn’t expect her to acknowledge it. She nodded as if she understood, guiltweighed heavily on her petite frame and that only pissed me off even more than I thought was possible.
“Okay.”
The word came out so quietly I wasn’t sure if I heard it or just imagined it.
Faith stepped into my line of sight, her green gaze angry and disappointed, which yeah… kind of made me feel like shit. Faith had stepped up when the Ghost Riders came after her sister, and she’d avenged my sister’s death in a way I’d never be able to thank her for.
I knew it.
She knew it.
Faith scooped up the crying little girl and held her close, offering soothing noises.
I watched Chloe walk away, a feeling settled in the pit of my stomach I couldn’t describe and didn’t want to analyze too fucking carefully. Her delicate shoulders were hunched forward, and her head was down, every step seemed to cost her so much.
I shook off anything resembling sympathy and stared at my brothers with betrayal in my eyes. “What?”
It was our Prez, Diesel, who spoke first. “It’s not Chloe’s fault that Ashley is dead. What would you have had Ashley do, sell out their location to the Ghost Riders? We both know they would’ve killed her anyway.” His words were slow and even, not a hint of the anger that radiated from Rocky, Gio, and T-Bone. “And even if it was her fault, we’re protecting her, so you need to do better.”
Not gonna lie, I felt like a chastised fucking child after that dressing down. Diesel was a man of few emotions, it’s what made him a great MC president, he didn’t let his emotions guide his actions. Whether I liked it or not—and I goddamn well didn’t—Chloe was family, and we would protect her with our lives.Same as Ashley.“Yeah,” I finally muttered. “I got it.” I shook off Gio and Rocky’s hold and reluctantly went after Chloe.
I wouldn’t apologize to her, goddammit. I didn’t owe her an apology. If anything she owedmeone. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to apologize but I could acknowledge that our situation couldn’t be changed.
Not yet.
I crossed the expansive cemetery until I spotted her, but to my surprise, she wasn’t alone.
“Son of a bitch!” I muttered, feeling justified in my anger. She wasn’t just some helpless victim, not if she was keeping company with the men who allegedly wanted her and her daughter dead. The two men wore their Ghost Riders vests and when they saw me, they smiled and took off at a full run. With a triumphant grin, I stalked over to where Chloe had fallen to the ground on her hands and knees. “I knew it,” I growled, grabbing her by the arm and yanking her to her feet. “What the fuck—” I began but the words died on my lips at the sight of her.
Tears streaked down her cheeks, eyes red and puffy and so fucking sad I felt it deep in my gut. My gaze slipped from her crying eyes to her full lips, pink and pillowy, and the bottom was split on one side. Her petite frame vibrated in my grasp as if she was worried I’d hit her too.
“Chloe, what happened?”
