Page 5 of Bombshell

Micah nodded once. “That’ll work.”

No, it would not work!

“I want to go home. In a car,” I demanded.

Micah ignored me and walked over to throw his leg over an intimidating-looking motorcycle. I just stood there and watched as he ignored me. The man wasn’t even acknowledging that I had spoken.

“When did you start acting so ugly, Micah Abe?” I asked, my eyes narrowed as I stared at him.

He smirked as he finally looked my way again. The dimple in his cheek still made my stomach do weird things. “Sugar, ain’t no woman ever called me ugly.”

I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips. “You know what I mean.”

He chuckled just before the roar of his bike drowned out anything else I was gonna say. The other bikes seemed to take that as their cue, and the entire parking lot became a deep rumble that vibrated the ground under my feet.

“Better go get on the back of Tex’s bike,” the man Micah had called Levi said from behind me. Even though he was basically shouting over all the dang noise that I barely heard him.

I turned my head to look over at the men on shiny death mobiles. I had been too scared to ride on Canyon’s. Momma had said getting on a bike was asking for a funeral. I believed her, but it didn’t look like I had much of a choice in the matter. A tall, lanky guy with short brown hair approached me then and held out my purse for me to take.

I reached for it and said, “Thank you,” even though I couldn’t hear my own voice.

He simply nodded and walked over to an unoccupied bike and climbed on it. Just like the others, he was wearing a leather vest that said Judgment on the back, above half of a skull that wore a crown and had angel wings with lightning bolts surrounding it. Fighting back tears from the pure frustration and horror this day had turned into, I glanced out at the men, trying to figure out who Tex was and if this was truly my only option.

A man with dreadlocks and brown hair, bare arms covered in tattoos, and a dark pair of sunglasses held up a hand to me, then motioned with a nod of his head to come on. Great. I was not only getting on a death trap, but the driver also looked like he belonged in prison. Perhaps this day could get worse.

My only other option was going inside to beg Canyon to believe me. But I had a feeling if I did that, then Micah and these men would retaliate. I didn’t want anyone hurt. Especially Canyon. Sighing in defeat, I walked over to the scary biker. He held out a hand to me, and I stared down at it. He had more rings on his fingers than my momma, and that was saying a lot. Momma loved her jewelry. I could hear her voice clear as day, telling me that I couldn’t trust a man who was covered in tattoos and wore rings.

Well, Momma, looks like I don’t have a choice, I thought bitterly.

Placing my hand in his much larger one, I let him steady me as I tried to climb on the back of his bike with some dignity. Which was impossible with these heels on. I looked more like a toddler trying to get up on her first tricycle.

When I was finally on the back and felt steady, Tex called back to me, “Hold on to me, darlin’.”

I frowned, thinking there was no way I was wrapping my arms around some strange man.

When I didn’t do as instructed, he turned more this time and pulled his sunglasses down so that I could see the green of his eyes. “You gotta hang on to me if you don’t want to fly off the fucking back of my bike.”

Oh. Well, in that case, I guessed I was wrapping my arms around a strange man. I nodded, and the corner of his lips twitched in amusement before he turned back around and revved his engine. I shoved my purse down between the middle of my legs before scooting closer to him and putting my arms around his very hard middle. Sure, I had seen his muscular arms, but it was still shocking. I felt his body vibrate from a deep chuckle, and I winced.

How had I ended up here? Why did I have the worst luck in the world? Why wasn’t I more like Pepper? She would have told all of them to go to hell and walked away on her own two feet. Not caring what they said or threatened. My best friend was a force of nature. I was not.

When the death machine I was on pulled out into the pack of other bikers, I closed my eyes, afraid to watch.

My life couldn’t end like this. It just couldn’t. I had things to do. Losing my virginity was at the top of that list. Yes, I had a list. I’d written down my goals the day I turned twenty-one, and I was slowly checking them off said list. I’d moved out of my momma’s house in Stuart, Florida, three months ago and into an apartment in Coral Gables. I was registered to start classes at the University of Miami in a few weeks. I had cut off five inches of my hair; although it was still long, it wasn’t all the way to my waist—the way my momma had wanted it. I even had layers in it now. Something she had frowned upon, but I felt it made me look older, sexier, stylish. I still had ten more things on that list to accomplish, but I wasn’t sure I would see another day. How tragic would that be?

3

Micah

Fucking piece of shit. Canyon Acree.

Five years, I had waited to get back what he’d taken from us, but even more than that, I wanted revenge for what he’d done to my sister. The fucker had been expecting me. His acting sucked. Knowing he had gotten close enough to Pepper to figure out an obstacle infuriated me further. I’d need more protection put on Pepper. She was too damn smart for him, but he had found someone who would work at throwing me a curveball. Someone who wasn’t so smart.

The sight of those amber eyes staring at me in shock, blinking, with that perfect heart-shaped mouth of hers had been like a damn slap in my face. Dolly Dixon was all grown up, and she’d turned into the beauty her youthful features had once promised. Not that it mattered. She was off-limits. Pepper would cut off my balls if I touched her best friend. She’d been protecting Dolly since they had been kids. Pepper was a wildcat that feared nothing, smart, quick-witted, and often terrifying. Dolly was sweet and a touch slow; she smiled easily, and there was a kindness in her eyes that you couldn’t manufacture. It was real. The girl was too fucking easy to manipulate, and Canyon had taken advantage of that, knowing I wouldn’t take him down when he had something so precious to my sister in his possession.

Bastard.

Now, I was faced with explaining this to Pepper without her taking her own gun and hunting down the VP of the Crowns herself. I wasn’t planning on killing Canyon. Just getting the hundred grand he owed The Judgment. If he touched one hair on my sister’s head again or even threatened her, then he was a dead man. I’d kill him myself. There would be no need to take Gage Presley with me to do the job.

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