Page 58 of Ride or Dies

She stood up.

“And just so we’re clear,” he continued, “I mean completely out. You’re done. No Rider will have anything to do with you ever again.”

Her jaw dropped, and she stared at him like she didn’t believe what she was hearing.

Levi looked at me and then Tucker. “Let’s find Clayton Pierce.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Evie

Ismiled as I watched Jenna drive away. There was still a hell of a lot I needed to figure out, but I couldn’t deny how much lighter I felt now that Jenna knew everything. Well, almost everything. I didn’t give her details, because she was their sister and that would be gross, but I didn’t need to share what it felt like to be with all three of them. I just needed her to know the heart part of things, even if it meant admitting that I didn’t know what was going to happen next.

A figure came around the side of the house, and I nodded at Sweeper. I was glad he was the one watching out for me. I appreciated his laid-back way of doing things, but I knew he’d handle shit if he needed to. I also got the impression that the brothers trusted him not to flirt with me the way some of the other guys might, especially if everyone knew I’d been with all three Bradshaws. Regardless of where things went with them, I wasn’t ever going to be passed around from one Rider to the other. If that’s what the club sluts wanted, that was their choice, but I couldn’t do it.

“Everything looks good,” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Couple reporters tried to sneak into your backyard, but I may have scared the piss out of them…literally.” He grinned at me, his teeth flashing white against his dusky skin. “I won’t lie. That was kinda fun.”

I laughed, and for a moment, as I stood there in the warm early summer evening, I thought everything was going to be okay. The mess with the brothers. The insanity around that damn video. All of my problems with Randall and work and everything.

Headlights flashed as an unfamiliar car pulled into my driveway, making both Sweeper and me tense. He moved slightly in front of me, but the fact that the driver didn’t do more than just get off the road had me staying where I was instead of running to the house. Then the door opened and a rush of relief went through me, followed closely by annoyance.

Clayton Pierce.

I was glad it was him and not a reporter or whoever had broken into the house, but considering how pissed he’d been when RJ had asked me to play in the middle of Clayton’s set, I doubted he was here to suggest we collaborate on a song. I wouldn’t make Sweeper deal with him alone, but I definitely wasn’t in the mood to put up with any shit Clayton might want to shovel. I’d be polite as long as he was, but if he started in on me, the gloves would come off.

And, honestly, a part of me wanted that to happen. All the rage I’d kept bottled up—from Becca James’ slights about my weight, the snide comments from people who thought I’d slept my way to the top of the charts, being shot at and then locked in a room, to the obscene violation of my privacy—needed a good outlet. If Clayton stepped out of line, he was going to get the full brunt of it.

No matter how bad an idea that’d probably be.

“Hey, Evie.” Clayton waved at me as he strolled up the driveway, not at all appearing to be bothered by the massive man standing between us.

“Hi, Clayton.” I put my hand on Sweeper’s arm just to let him know that I was okay. “If you’re upset about RJ asking me—”

“You didn’t ask him to do it.” Clayton made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “Any issues I have about it are between me and him.”

That should’ve made me feel better, but it didn’t explain why he was here, so I was still cautious. We’d never been friends, so him just showing up here didn’t make any sense.

“Anyway,” he continued, when it became clear I wasn’t going to fill the awkward silence. “I heard about what was going on, the shooting at Rocky’s and then that video.” He shook his head. “That’s a lot to process, and I wanted to see if you were okay. Ask if you needed anything.”

I frowned. “You wanted to see if I was okay?”

“I know we’re not friends or anything like that,” he hurried to add as he came a little closer. “But what happened to you was really shitty, and I’m sure it’s making it hard to talk to Jenna Bradshaw since her brothers are involved.”

“You’re gonna wanna stop right there,” Sweeper said mildly.

“But I see they didn’t leave you unprotected.” Clayton smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. In fact, his eyes were pretty much unreadable, but I couldn’t tell if that was because I didn’t know him that well, or because he was still several feet away from me, or if he was hiding something.

“Well, someone did break into my mom’s house,” I pointed out. “That, on top of reporters trying to get comments and pictures after everything that’s just happened, means it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for me to be left completely alone.”

“The Thunder Riders don’t take kindly to people who harass or try to hurt women,” Sweeper said.

“Not very feminist of you, is it?” Clayton said, his smile at odds with the words coming out of his mouth. “I mean, doesn’t all that equality mean they can take care of themselves? That they shouldn’t get special treatment just because they have tits and a cunt?”

A trickle of fear slid down my spine, but I couldn’t react fast enough to stop what happened next.

One of Clayton’s hands had moved behind him at some point, and he pulled it out now, bringing a gun with it.

I saw the flash of the muzzle and heard the sharp crack of a gunshot. Sweeper’s body jerked, and Clayton fired again. This time, Sweeper went down and I couldn’t see where he’d been hit. I only knew that he had because he wasn’t shooting back.

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