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“Yeah, they’re nice, but they’ll be better when they aren’t in my hands.”

“Heard that. Long prison sentence there.” I nod toward the guns still being loaded into the back of the van.

“You see why I need the protection,” he says. I do see why. Anyone could be tipped off about the assortment of guns he’s running right now, and they could be ambushed. Not that it doesn’t happen when there’s a security team in place, it has, but it’s less likely than if the truck was traveling alone.

“I see why,” I tell him. He walks over and checks the van and the rest of the guns as they’re being loaded. I glance over at Mask.

“You got a bad feelin’?” I ask him. He shakes his head.

“No. You?”

“A little. Somethin’ off in the pit of my stomach, brother.”

“Could it be the girl?”

“Possibly. I don’t like leavin’ her alone like that. She’s still new.”

“She’s been there a few days now. She’ll be okay.”

“Yeah. As long as Bunny keeps her hands off her,” I tell him. He laughs this time, throwing his head back.

“Bunny have a type now, too?”

“Yeah. Apparently, she likes redheads as much as I do,” I tell him. I didn’t know that at the time, but I do now. She let it slip while I was out in the main room listening to the girls having a chat about Addison. Bunny made it clear she wanted the first go at her, but I don’t know if Addison rolls that way. I suppose it would be interesting to see once she gets the drugs what she’s willing to do and with who.

“That why you bought her? For yourself?”

“No. I just liked her picture the most. All the others looked the same. She stuck out like a sore thumb, man. It was an obvious choice.”

“She is pretty hot.”

“Yeah, she is.” I won’t tell him how cute she looks when she’s asleep, either, since I’ve watched her the past few nights. She curls up on her side in a little ball and falls asleep with her lips slightly parted. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a long time. I know I shouldn’t get attached to the girl, but there’s just something about her I can’t get past. Something more than what I can see.

I shake my head and scrub my hand over my face to get myself back in the game. When Marco is done loading his van, we head back out to the bikes.

“Pike, you and Van take the back. We’ll take the front,” Mask tells them. They nod their heads in agreement as we climb back on our bikes. I slide my helmet on, pull up in front of the bay doors, and wait. When they open, me and Mask take the lead. We pull out of the warehouse and out onto the road.

The ride is nice. Calming. It gives me a sense of peace being back on my bike and just riding. Not that it’s been a long time, it hasn’t. We ride every day, but something about the open road just does it for me. I love it. I love the speed, the way I can do what I like with no one to bother me.

The ride is going smoothly until it’s not. I hear the revving of engines just as two cars speed past us on each side. It doesn’t take us any time to realize what’s happening when the windows roll down. Shots are fired, and Mask and I do the best we can to weave past them.

Steering with one hand, we pull our guns and fire back with the other. We shoot at the cars until one runs off the road and disappears behind us. The other continues to fire when a sharp pain rips through my arm.

“Fuck!” I roar as I try to keep from wrecking my bike. I put my gun back into the holster and use my good arm to steer the bike off the side of the road, motioning for the others to keep going. If they stop, they’re fucked.

I grab my gun and walk back toward the first car that went off the road, ready to shoot someone in the face for what they did. When I reach the car, I see a female climbing out, dazed and confused.

“You bitch,” I say, raising the gun and aiming it directly at her.

“Don’t shoot, please.”

“Beggin’ already? You shot at us first, you crazy fuck!”

“I don’t have a choice!”

“Yeah, you did. Drive past us,” I tell her as calmly as I can. I don’t like shooting women. I truly don’t, but I will if I need to.

“Oh yeah, that would have worked wonderfully!”

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