Page 108 of Mensa's Match

I grabbed the gun from the floor, turned, and saw him rubbing his chest and stalking toward me – his brown eyes enraged. I took aim and fired the gun. Blood bloomed across his chest. The music stopped and I opened the bedroom door.

To my right the hallway led to a common room, and to my left was a back door. I sprinted left and ran out to the backyard.

That guardian angel had to be working overtime today because nobody was in the back yard. I ran past all the bikes toward a chain-link fence.

In the distance I swore that I heard more motorcycles approaching, but I kept running away from the back door.

“Stop, bitch!” someone shouted behind me, and I zigged to the right.

Then there was a loud boom that most likely came from a shotgun. The ground to my left sprayed up. I heard the sound of someone approaching from behind, but I didn’t dare look over my shoulder.

“Whitney!” someone shouted from beyond the fence line.

I heard heavy breathing just before a heavy weight hit me and a man tackled me to the ground. It wasn’t a typical tackle, though. He sliced at my right arm, forcing me to lose hold of the gun.

We wrestled on the ground and he got an arm around my neck. I twisted my head and bit him on his exposed bicep.

“You fuckin’ bitch!” he yelled and pulled his arm away.

I used the distraction to jerk out of his hold, but three pairs of boots blocked my path.

Grimy hands reached down, hauled me to my feet, and shoved me forward so I faced Rod.

“For a cunt, you put up a decent fight,” Rod snarled.

It took all my willpower not to spit at him. I heard the faint sound of sirens, but there didn’t appear to be any homes around the clubhouse. My every instinct said my luck had officially run out.

Rod cocked a brow. “You got nothin’ to say… Whitney?”

“No,” I said with a reflexive lip curl.

Movement over his shoulder stole my attention. Five men had climbed the fence, and one of them I’d know absolutely anywhere… Mensa. Roman, Brute, Finn, and Gamble were running behind him.

Sadly, I must not have hidden my reaction because Rod and the two men at his side shifted and looked behind them.

“Stop or she’s dead,” Rod yelled.

Mensa and the other Riot members stopped in their tracks. The concern on their faces cut through the adrenaline and sheer bravado that had driven me.

“Let her go,” Mensa yelled.

Ever so slowly, I turned to glance behind me. The man holding me didn’t appear to have a weapon. I hadn’t seen where the gun went when I got tackled. I faced them all before they noticed I was looking around.

“I’m not letting her go, asshole,” Rod hollered.

The man behind me pushed past me and yelled at Mensa and the others. “You fuckers are trespassing. We’re gonna kick your ass.”

With nobody standing behind me, I wondered if this was a decent time to make a break for it. I recalled there had been nine bikes parked out here and the four others that rolled up made thirteen. My eyes darted around the area and I only counted seven other men since there were three men positioned to the side of Mensa and the Riot brothers.

Without law enforcement here, this stalemate wouldn’t end well. Five Riot brothers up against thirteen or more Corrupt Chrome members… the numbers were not in our favor.

I took a step backward and none of the Corrupt Chrome members noticed.

“She wants nothing to do with you, Rod,” Mensa said.

With the men focused on Mensa, I moved back another two paces.

“Not yet, but she will,” Rod said, turning to look over his shoulder to where I’d been.

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