Page 21 of Root

What does that even mean?

I roll again as a redheaded punk lands in front of me, swinging a pink baseball bat. She hits Chris in the balls, then the face and the back, and then hits the next one getting up.

“You gonna keep grabbing your beauty sleep or help me?” she asks.

I grab the nearest one and start to punch him when she yells. I stomp him in the face and turn, just in time to see one of the thugs with a gun and Jess by the hair. She twists before I can move, and I see her give him the middle finger, right as a knife pops up.

Jess curls in her finger and slams the knife in his neck. “Fuck off, all of you. That means you, too, Chris. I’ll end you next time.”

He comes at her, but I take the bat and hit him in the face. He falls like a log.

I look at her and grab her hand. “Run.”

We leap into my car, and I rip out of there, heading for the mansion. “Here.” I toss her my phone. “Text the first number. ‘Hot Five.’ Got it?”

“Code?”

“Yes, he’ll know what it means.”

The phone slips a little, and I glance at her. She’s a little pale.

“You okay?” I ask and she nods. “Who’s Chris?”

“A drunk biker who beat his woman,” she says, looking up at me, daring me to fight her on this. “I beat him. End of. The other two, they, uh…there’s a new gang. Not biker, but they’re connected and mean, and they’re looking for Wilder and Rhodes.”

She hisses.

“You okay?”

“I’m gonna need some fucking super glue. Fucker cut me.”

“There were four fuckers. Be specific.” I sideswipe a car and press on the gas.

I’m not worried about being pulled over. Nikolai owns this stretch. If Nikolai and Rose are where I think they are, they might beat us back.

“Who?” Shit, she doesn’t answer. “How bad?”

“Chris. His rings are sharp.”

I take my eyes off the road, and there’s a dark patch spreading on her shirt. Shit. Fuck. I push the car harder and take the road to the mansion.

The gates are open, the lights are on, and men are already on standby. I pull up with a screech and a gravel shower.

Nikolai and Rose are there, her shoes off as she runs over, barely beating out Nikolai, who strides behind her.

Gangs… Fuck, if this…if this is all related to what he’s doing, I might have put my foot it in it. I might have brought shit down.

He knows I’m coming in hot, he knows there’s a situation with the potential for added danger, but it’s not life threatening. Yet. That’s what five is.

He’s a little pale, and Rose’s eyes cut to the passenger’s side, seeing Jess. She almost beats me there.

Niko’s voice makes me wobble. “What the fuck’s going on, Rush? I warn—”

“I was at Bunny Munroe.”

He closes his eyes. “Smith territory.”

We can unpack that later. With Rose hovering close, I ease Jess out of the car.

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