Page 39 of Pike

“Just one of you.”

“I got this,” Rooster states, eyeing the guy up and down.

“Fuck that, Rooster.”

“What? I can take his ass,” he adds as the man chuckles and stares at me. Why is he looking at me so hard? I’m not about to fight his ass. I was just hit by a fucking car and beaten. I’m in no shape to fight him.

“Shut the fuck up, Rooster.”

“Let the man talk. He could be your way out,” the asshole instructs.

“Or you’re just lookin’ to play fuckin’ games. What’s the point in takin’ us if you’re just to let us go?” I ask in a condescending tone. He shrugs and looks between the three of us.

“From what I can tell, you three aren’t shit anyway,” he says. My stomach tightens as I think about the other two. The prospect hasn’t even moved since I woke up. He may very well be dead at this point.

“What’s the point?” I ask once more.

“You’ll see what we’re capable of, what we can do. You’ll see you’re never safe from us,” he says as two more men walk into the room. They’re just as big as him, if not bigger. I know bigger doesn’t always mean shit but damn it, they are bigger than we are and uninjured. I eye both of them before glancing over at Rooster. He does the same, eyeing them both before he looks back over at me.

“I can do this,” he says. I shake my head. There’s no fucking way he can take three on. No way in hell. Not alone anyway.

“No. Fuck this, Rooster. They’re just fuckin’ with our heads,” I tell him. Just as the words leave my mouth, I see the gun in the asshole’s hand. He raises it and shoots the prospect in the back of the head. I close my eyes, not wanting to see that shit. Not wanting to know he’s dead.

“The fuck is wrong with you?” I roar.

“You want to play games. Now, we’re down to two. One of you will live; one will die if you follow our rules.”

“What rules?”

“A fight. One of you will walk out of here to tell your little friends. The other, well, you see my men.” He motions to the guys next to him as I shake my head. There’s no way we’re walking out of a fight with them. No way in hell.

“No.”

“No? Then I’ll shoot you in the fucking head just like your friend there. I’ll grab three more assholes from your club and do the same thing. I’ll work my way through them until they’re all gone. Then I’ll turn to the women.” Anger flares in my chest a the mention of women. That would leave Feather unprotected. I can’t do that.

“I’ll let you boys talk it out,” he says before turning and leaving me and Rooster. I look over at him and see the slight fear in his eyes.

“I can do this, Pike.”

“You won’t walk out of here, and you know it.”

“I don’t have an old lady to go home to. Let me do this,” he argues as I shake my head.

“No. I got this,” I tell him.

“Fuck no, brother. You got a woman who’s waitin’ on you. I won’t let you do this. I got this,” he repeats.

“As an officer of the club, I can’t let you do this, Rooster.”

“I already made the decision.” I don’t know what to say as Rooster calls out to the guys who have us hostage. My heart aches. My chest hurts. I feel like I’m going to be sick as I glance over at the dead prospect.

“Made a decision that quickly?”

“I’ll fight them,” Rooster announces as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. I huff out a breath, but it does no good. The man nods and grabs Rooster off the ground, hauling him to his feet before unhooking the chains. The other guys stand in the center of the room, ready to end this shit. My stomach drops when Rooster walks over and holds out his hand to me.

“Been a good run, brother. A damn good run.”

“Don’t do this, Rooster. We’ll figure this out.”

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