Page 25 of Rider

I walked around the kitchen counter and wrapped my arms around her to give her a hug. I knew that feeling of being a scared, single parent not knowing if the fact that you had a child would change how someone viewed you. I patted her on the back and then looked her square in the eye. “No matter what, you’ll always have me and Lucia. If Ink can’t appreciate how great the both of you are then screw him.”

When she pulled away, the playful and fun Carmen was back. It was her way of changing the subject and avoiding her real issues. “What’s with that chick Hammer brought? She’s been eye fucking all the guys here since she walked in.” I burst out laughing.

Three hours later, we had finally shown our last friend out the door. It had been Detroit and after hearing all about his past Christmas in his hometown I found myself exhausted from a long day of entertaining and excitement. Colton had long since fallen asleep and Mrs. Lopez had excused herself and went home hours ago. It was finally just Rider and me. We were both hoping to spend more one-on-one time together tonight, but I could see on his face he was just as tired as I was even though there was no way he would ever admit it.

We slowly made our way to the bedroom as we turned off the lights and tidied up as we went along. It was going to be an extremely cold night tonight with temperatures dipping down into the negatives. I had gotten used to sleeping in one of Rider’s t-shirts and underwear but as I stripped off my clothes, I felt a chill and decided to put on an oversized sweatshirt and some sleep shorts. Rider would cuddle up with me and we could keep each other warm.

As Rider slid into bed, I curled up to him and laid my face on his bare chest, and wrapped my legs around his. He was only wearing his black boxer briefs. His skin was warm, and I found myself rapidly succumbing to sleep. The last thing I remembered was his large, warm hand stroking my hair as I fell asleep.

Rider

I blinked my eyes, trying to open them. I shifted in bed and heard a noise. At first, I thought it might be Colton, but as I lay there unmoving and listening, I heard it again. It wasn’t Rayleighn, as she was currently passed out on my shoulder. This sounded along the lines of something scraping a window. I slowly moved Rayleighn off my shoulder and onto the bed without waking her up. I slowly and quietly got up from the bed and slipped on my discarded jeans at the bottom of the bed. I padded across the floor in my bare feet and made my way to the hall. I quietly checked on Colton, confirming he was asleep in his room.

As I walked down the hall, I heard the noise again. I stopped mid-step to listen. It sounded almost like a zipper and when I heard the noise again, I moved faster down the hall. All the lights were off in the house, but the moonlight shone through the blinds giving me some light to see. When I stepped into the living room I paused to listen again and take in the rest of the house. From this vantage point, I could see the living room, the dining area, and most of the kitchen. I could also see the front door and the two windows that flanked the door. Smaller and higher windows sat on the left side of the door while a large picture window sat to the right.

It was the right side that drew my attention. On the other side of the partially covered windows, I could see the shadows of two men. I couldn’t make them out to identify them, but I knew they weren’t here for a social call. I heard the noise again and realized that they were cutting the screen on the window to get to the window sill. I was one out of a handful from the MC that could legally own a firearm, but since I had been staying here I hadn’t brought one over because of Colton. I also hadn’t broached the subject with Rayleighn even with everything that had been going on because I didn’t want her to panic, and bringing a gun into her home would have put her in a panic. Now I was kicking myself for that mistake because all I had to protect us was myself.

I quickly and quietly retraced my steps and back to the bedroom, grabbing my phone off the nightstand. I unlocked the screen and pulled up my text messages. I couldn’t risk trying to call someone to either be heard or it go to voicemail. I only had one shot so I did the fastest thing I could think of, I clicked the group text that all the members were in and sent them the fastest message I could type:

Rider: 911 ASAP Rayleighn’s house.

I waited for the delivered message to appear under my screen and threw the phone down. I went back into the hall and ran into Colton’s room, scooping him up off the bed. He was groggy and still sleeping and curled into me as I carried him. I stepped over to the bed and nudged Rayleighn with my knee attempting to wake her up. When she didn’t budge, I whispered her name, and she opened her eyes. She sat up immediately when she saw my appearance and a sleeping Colton in my arms. I whispered to her, “Don’t speak. Take him and get into the bathroom and sit in the tub. Don’t make a sound and if he wakes up do whatever you have to do to keep him as quiet as you can. Go!”

With wide, scared eyes and much to her credit Rayleighn didn’t ask any questions, just scrambled out of the blankets and grabbed Colton, and beelined it for the bathroom. I grabbed the knife that I always carried off the dresser and opened it. Then I walked back out into the hall. I could hear the two men now and knew they had gotten into the house. I had a few seconds before one of them would start down the hall, but I had the element of surprise. I wanted to keep them as far away from Rayleighn and Colton as possible, so I did the only thing I could think of. I ran down the hall to meet them head-on. These mother fuckers had messed with the wrong man, and someone was about to meet their maker if they thought I was going to lay down and go quietly into the night. With my knife in one hand and my other already balled into a fist, I charged out of the hall like a bat out of hell.

Both men were standing in the living room. The man closest to me was huge and easily had me beat in height and weight. At that moment with my adrenaline pumping through my veins I was hyper-aware of everything. He was wearing a black leather vest that had seen better days and I knew it was that of another MC. Which one I didn’t know, but I knew there would be hell to pay after tonight. He was a big burly-looking motherfucker, and before he could even turn around, I was on him quicker than lightning. He turned just in time to witness me plunging the knife in my right hand into his side as I threw a wild and wide left hook to his face. Howling out in pain and his face full of shock he reached down to clutch his side and bring his blood-covered hand back up to his face for inspection. Before he could react, I dragged the knife out of him and kept it in my grip. I watched him fall to his knees as he began to bleed out onto the floor.

The snarl behind me got louder and by the time I turned around the other asshole in the room was right on top of me. I didn’t have time to react before he was pushing his gun into my face, halting the knife in my hand. I let my eyes move from the gun in my face to the man holding it, not shocked to see Grayson. This motherfucker was dead. I knew that. Whether it be by my hand or another club member I could have cared less, but his time was limited. My eyes conveyed the murder and anger behind them. He could feel the weight and shifted on his feet.

“Drop the knife,” he ordered me.

I didn’t need my knife to kill him. I was going to do it with my bare hands. There were only a handful of times in my life I had ever felt such rage and I knew at this moment that I was capable of anything. The knife clattered to the floor and we stood there staring at each other.

“Get on your knees,” he ordered me.

“Fuck off. Not gonna happen.” I would never get on my knees for this man. Someone so worthless that he had to mentally and physically hurt a woman. Walk out on a pregnant woman and never look back. I still didn’t know the root of his intent for coming around now. As the seconds crept by, I could see the indecision in his eyes. I took a step closer to him and his unsteady hand on the gun.

“Stay right there. Don’t come any closer to me. I said get on your knees. Now.”

I shook my head. “That’s not going to happen.” I heard a sound to my right and the guy laying on the floor was gurgling and coughing. I had hit a major organ, maybe even more than one, and he wasn’t going to make it. It was just enough to get Grayson’s eyes off me for the briefest second for me to rush him. I reached out for the gun, raising his arm above his head. The shot that rang out was loud, but I wasn’t a stranger to gunfire.

My adrenaline went into high gear, and I was able to push the gun from his hand but it fell to the floor as we both struggled for control. I punched him square in the face and it stunned him enough for me to get his head into a chokehold. “What made you think you could come here? Did you think you could take them away from me?” I shouted, not expecting a reply. He fought in my arms for freedom, for air, but I could feel him fading. I let go of him and pushed him to the floor. He was wheezing and gasping for air. I reached down and got the gun and pointed it at him.

The next thing I heard was music to my ears. The rumble and roaring of so many motorcycles it sounded like we were in the middle of a Sturgis rally. “Now it’s your turn, asshole, get on your knees.”

Slowly he moved and got on his knees before me. I had maybe a minute before this house would be flooded with the members of the Mystic Venom MC and one thing I knew about my brothers was they would act first and ask questions later. A deep part of me needed to know, why? So, I asked him.

“Why come here? Why get a hold of her? Was it really about the boy?”

He looked at me and shook his head. “I need money. I owe the club because I got caught up in some drug running that went south and I lost them some profit. They said that I either had to pay them or bring them something worthwhile.”

My mind spun thinking about what he was saying without saying it. “You were going to take Rayleighn and her child to an MC for what—sex trafficking?”

He lowered his eyes to the floor and had the decency to look embarrassed. “Only Rayleighn. I didn’t even know if she had had the baby until a few months ago when I started to track her down. Then when I found out she did, I didn’t even know if she would be useful. But I talked to someone who knew her and told me she was looking better than ever, so I knew I had to take her.”

All the rage inside me radiated at that moment that this piece of trash thought he could come here and take her and sell her to a club for something that he had done. Take her from her life like it was nothing just to suit his needs. Fuck him.

I aimed the gun at his shoulder and pulled the trigger just as the front door crashed to the ground, knocked off its hinges. His screams were drowned out by the sound of boots running into the house.

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