“Oh, really? Then why don’t you have a helmet on?” was her snarky reply. My answer was another swat to that sexy ass that ended in me clutching it tight in my grip as I pulled her snug against me.
“Don’t push me. I will bend this ass over my bike and fuck you compliant right here.”
She waggled her brows and grinned. “That seems to be your solution to everything. Threat or a promise?”
A bark of laughter escaped me, I shook my head, and we mounted up.
In the quiet night, we headed down the road. The music was playing on my bike, and my hand rested on her thigh. Wind blew past us and carried all my worries away for the moment.
Though I loved having her on the back of my bike, I wanted to get her back to my bed as quickly as possible. So I took the most direct route that would get us home quicker since traffic was almost nonexistent.
There were very few people on the road at that time of night, so when a single headlight came up quick, I wondered if it was one of the brothers, but put both hands on the grips. “Babe, get my phone out of my pocket,” I shouted to her over my shoulder. Something seemed off, and I wasn’t taking chances again. “If I say so, you text Venom where we are and what’s going on. Okay?”
Her wide eyes met mine in one of my rearview mirrors as she nodded.
The bike came up on us faster than I was comfortable with, so I turned off on a side street. It made the same turn, so I turned back toward the main street. When it made the same turn, I made a signal for her to send the text.
As I sped up and made a few more turns, the bike kept up with us. The second I saw his clutch hand rise and caught the glint of the gun in the streetlight, I yelled to her, “Hold on!”
Taking the corner much faster than I should’ve, I at least bought us a few minutes, because he needed to use his clutch to downshift on the turn, then accelerate. My heart was racing, and adrenaline was pumping through my veins.
My bike was a bad bitch. Without Kira on the back, I was fairly confidant I could outrun or at least outmaneuver the guy. With her, it complicated things. We zipped up and down the streets—barely staying one step ahead of him.
“Shit!” The truck that pulled out in front of me and slowed down told me I’d inadvertently played right into his hand. With cars parked on both sides of the road, I couldn’t make it around them. The bike was closing in fast. We weren’t going to make it out of this, and I was sick to my stomach that I’d put Kira in danger.
“When I stop, you get off and haul ass! Take my phone with you! Call Venom!” I yelled back to her.
“No!”
“Goddammit, don’t argue with me! I’ll hold them off as long as I can!” It was difficult to argue with her and try to operate my bike.
Not waiting for the two fuckers to force my hand, hitting the brakes hard, I stopped on my own. Kira jumped off before I was completely stopped. My heart lurched as she stumbled and fell. She rolled a bit from the momentum, but she got to her knees and ran. The bike behind me nearly hit me, and we both laid our bikes down. I’d have time to worry about the damage later.
Praying she was safe, I grinned when I heard pounding boots behind me.Dumbasses.Leading them in the opposite direction, I ran to the other side of the street. Blood pumping and mind racing, I hoped they would continue chasing me. The last thing I wanted to do was pull out my gun and start shooting in a residential neighborhood. No matter how run-down and shitty it was.
Another guy shot out from the shadows in front of me, and I made a quick turn down a side street. Every time I thought I was one step ahead of them, they had cut through a yard or a back street and cut me off. It was okay though, because we were still moving away from where I’d left Kira.
There was an old warehouse not far from where we were. If I could lead them out of the neighborhood, I’d blow a fucking hole in them so big, I could drive my bike through it.
Skating to a stop, I darted through an opening in the fence. Jumping over junk that was scattered around the lot, I headed toward the back. Except as soon as I hooked the corner of the building to pull myself around it, I skidded to a stop.
If I thought my heart was racing before, it had nothing on the out-of-control rhythm that hit me when I was met with a wall of Bloody Scorpions.
Goddamn it. I’d been herded and didn’t see it coming.
In fact, that I could’ve actually handled. Knowing you’re going to die isn’t the best feeling in the world, but seeing the guy we all knew as Mule with a sick smile was another.
Because he was holding a struggling Kira at the center of their ranks.
To make everything fifty thousand times better, one of their members pushed through to the front to stand next to Mule. My lungs seized. The evil grin on his face was a memory I’d tried to forget.
It was the man I’d thought dead for years.
“My son, you’re a hard one to track down,” he said as he twirled a piece of Kira’s blonde hair around his finger.
Fuck. My. Life.