Page 43 of Pike
I spun around to face him before I took a step back. Distance was what I needed to get the words out. “There’s something I need to tell you.” The words left my lips just above a whisper.
Pike’s body tensed immediately. He stood a little taller, which drew my attention to the way the navy blue t-shirt stretched across his chest and hugged his biceps. “What’s wrong?”
I raked one hand through my hair and then the other, gripping the roots a little harder than necessary. “The Ghost Riders are getting bolder. Angier and more violent too.” I couldn’t look at him, so I turned my gaze to the sky. “Last night Angel was heading back to the clubhouse when he was hit by a car. Th- They killed him. I’m so sorry.” More tears fell but I ignored them because this wasn’t about me, it was about him and his loss. Another person close to him was dead because of me.
His gaze narrowed but otherwise he didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He stared at me as if I said the words in a foreign language.
I wasn’t sure what to do so I stood there, just out of reach, and waited for the words to filter in.
Eventually he raised his hands and slammed them down on the wooden banister hard enough to make the whole deck shake. “Fuck! Damn it to hell!”
I gasped and jumped back instinctively. Not because I thought he would hit me but because it was instinct to get the hell out of the way of danger.
Pike froze and turned to me and I flinched. He reached out and took my wrist. “I’m not mad at you,” he growled, his voice was low and gruff. “Don’t ever think that. God, Chloe, never.” He shook his head. “I’m just mad at the whole fucking world right now.”
“I’m sorry. I hate that this is happening, that you’ve lost someone else because of me.”
“Don’t,” he snapped, blue eyes flashing with anger. “It’s not your fault, it’s just fucking sucks.” His voice cracked with emotion, and I wrapped my arms around him, comforting him as best as I could. When he pulled back, there was something dark and unreadable in his eyes.
It terrified me but it also gave me clarity, or dumb courage. “Would it help,” I asked and then hesitated. “Would it help fix things if I just gave myself up?” It was something I’d been thinking about for months now. The thought of me and Gemma always hiding. My little girl deserved a better life than that, even if I couldn’t be a part of it.
“Don’t you dare,” he demanded.
“But if I—” I began but he cut me off.
Pike shook his head violently. “How could you even think about leaving that little girl motherless? Not fucking happening. You think they’d stop with you? You think this move would save Gemma? Because it won’t.” he gripped me tighter and real fear slithered over my skin at the cold and low voice he aimed my way.
“It’s just an idea.”
“A terrible fucking idea,” he answered, pulling back to answer his ringing phone. “I should get this, it’s Diesel.”
I nodded and loosened my grip, sliding away from him and headed back to the cabin.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Pike
Iwas still reeling from the news when my phone rang with Diesel’s name flashing across my screen. Fucking Angel was dead. Dude was a goddamn legend, a biker down to his fuckin’ bones. He had an old lady and two boys who looked just like him, and now he wouldn’t get to see them grow up. And it was all because of the Ghost Riders.
Fucking Vendetta.
I watched Chloe head back towards the cabin as I answered the call. “Diesel, I just heard about Angel.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. “Yeah, man, we’re all fucked up about it. Kendra is fuckin’ inconsolable and begging for vengeance.”
“Gotta say, I’m with her.” The low, static hum of white rage pulsed through my body. I wanted blood, lots of it. I wanted to fuck some shit up.
“Good,” Diesel sighed. “You’ll get your chance soon enough. We need you back in Steel City. ASAP,” his voice was low and strained, and I knew the brothers were reeling if they needed me back there instead of here.
With Chloe and Gemma.
Shit.
“You still there?”
I blinked away thoughts of mother and daughter and nodded. “Yeah, I’m here. Just thinking about the shit I gotta do.” Leaving the peace and solitude of this mountain for Steel City meant leaving them alone. Unattended. Unprotected.
My heart slowed as it sank to my gut. As much as I wanted revenge—and I really fucking needed it—walking away from them was like tearing out a piece of myself and leaving it behind. Chloe and I hadn’t put a name to what we were doing but even I knew it was different now. The nights with her now were nothing like those first few nights we shared a bed. It was intense fucking pleasure—it always was—but it was different. More intense. More connected. Fuck, it was justmore.
