Page 112 of Riot’s Revenge

My stomach rolled. I pressed a hand against it and forced the thought away, before I emptied the contents of my stomach onto the pavement.

Leighton opened the rear door of Reaper’s truck and gestured toward the seat. “Maria.”

I glanced toward the road one final time before walking to the truck. Every part of my body had started to hurt now that the adrenaline was fading. My shoulder throbbed where the seat belt had caught me, my palm burned from the glass and a deep ache had settled across my ribs.

I could still feel the impact. The violent twist of the steering wheel beneath my hands. The airbag exploding in my face. The certainty that I was about to die. My knees weakened, and I shifted my weight quickly before anyone noticed.

Leighton opened the rear door of the truck for us. “I’ve got you from here.”

I looked toward the line of bikes one last time. Riot was already pulling on his helmet, he never looked up.

A lump formed painfully in my throat. Without another word, I climbed into the back of the truck beside Kate while Noah slept peacefully beside her. Lucy climbed into the front passenger seat, and Leighton started the engine.

Outside, Reaper pulled his helmet on and started Finn’s bike. Our eyes met briefly through the windscreen. He nodded once toward Lucy. A silent promise. Then he turned and disappeared after the others.

Leighton started the truck, and nobody spoke as we pulled away. The headlights swept over my car one final time, illuminating the crushed passenger side and shattered windows. It barely looked like the same vehicle I had climbed into a few hours earlier.

A shiver ran through me.

Kate’s hand immediately covered mine, her fingers were warm. “You’re freezing.”

“I’m fine.”

She gave me a look but didn’t argue, she had one hand on Noah and used her free hand to tug the edges of Tiny’s jacket more tightly around me. The gesture nearly undid me. I turned my face toward the window before she could see the tears gathering in my eyes.

The road passed in dark stretches beyond the glass.

Leighton drove faster than usual but not recklessly. Every few seconds, his gaze moved from the road behind us to the hedges and empty junctions we passed. Nobody felt safe anymore.

Noah released a quiet sigh against Kate’s neck and shifted his face closer to her warmth.

Lucy glanced over her shoulder. “He still asleep?”

Kate nodded. “Somehow.”

“Definitely takes after Caleb.”

Kate’s lips twitched faintly.

The brief moment of normality faded almost as soon as it appeared.

Lucy turned back toward the windscreen, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. Kate stared down at Noah. Leighton kept both hands locked around the steering wheel.

All of us were thinking about the same thing. The coordinates. The trap and our men riding directly toward it.

I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes, but that only brought back the image of Riot’s face when I accused him.

The shock had been real, I knew it had, I’d seen it with my own eyes. For one second, he had looked as though I’d struck him, but shock didn’t mean innocence. Did it?

My mind returned to the empty bed, the late nights and the perfume clinging to his clothes. I hated that I still wanted to believe him. I hated that a part of me already did. Mostly, I hated that he had left before giving me the truth.

44

MARIA

The gates to the clubhouse opened before Leighton reached them. Two prospects stood on either side, weapons visible beneath their kuttes as the truck passed through, with the second truck right behind us. The heavy metal gates began closing behind us immediately, grinding across the concrete until they met in the center with a loud clang. The sound traveled straight through me.

Lockdown.