Page 46 of Arrow: Riding Rebels MC

I didn’t mean to question him, but inviting Gideon into the peace we had created had my nerves going haywire. My heart dropped at the possibility that this had been a setup. No… not a setup, because I was the one who suggested the mall. Why would he offer up his address if not to give me back to Gideon?

I had to get me and my baby out of here.

Arrow gripped my face and brought his face to mine, so close that our foreheads touched.

“Chill. I’ve been coming up with strategies to get him on his turf, but her snitching ass bringing him—and possibly my father—to me means shit going down in a place he’ll walk into and never come out of. Gideon is cocky, especially if my father is in his ear. They will believe they have the upper hand, and that’s what we’ll need. You relax and let me take care of us.”

“You’re sitting here trying to blame me for not helping you, but it’s clear you need some correction. You are married, or did you forget?”

Unable to hold back any longer, I backhanded Helen so hard it turned her head.

“You better pray I don’t run into you ever again because I promise you, it’s on sight. No conversation will be needed because you’ll know exactly why you’re researching plastic surgeon offices for face realignment surgery.”

Arrow dragged me away from her and out of the store.

I wanted to show her how messed up she had me, coming at me like she didn’t ruin my life. Granted, Gideon was to blame for a lot, but I didn’t know how Helen slept at night. When we got outside, it seemed to take no time for us to reach the car. Arrow settled me inside and got Hendrix strapped in. Once we got in the car, I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut the radio on.

It wasn’t loud enough to drown out my words but a statement that he wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Two Hours Later

“Did you ever give her the address?” Boss asked after Arrow told him all that went down.

“Nah. Things got physical quick, but she did take a video of me talking to Cecilia, so once ol’ girl shows Gideon… they’ll be on the way. I need to get Cecilia and the baby out of here tonight. I don’t?—”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, making my presence known.

For the past twenty minutes, I had been eavesdropping.

Arrow made himself clear in the mall, but I still needed to know how to move. I didn’t think I was ready to face Gideon, but I had to think about my son. Gideon had proven that he would use Hendrix against me.

However, no part of me wanted to run.

“Honestly, when it comes to you and that little boy upstairs, I don’t care about what you want to do. It’s my job to project you, and I will do that no matter the attitude you have.”

“But who said that’s your job, though? Gideon is my husband—” Arrow’s head jerked back, and immediately, I regretted my words. “Wait, I didn’t mean…”

He chuckled. “Nah. We cool. What I said is still flying though. By the time yourhusbandand my father get here, you and Hendrix will be tucked away.”

I cringed at Arrow calling Gideon my husband like I hadn’t just done the same thing.

Boss shook his head, but no words left him. My emotions were all over the place, and it was causing me to speak out of turn. From the beginning, Arrow spoke about what would happen to Gideon, but now that the time had come, for some reason, I couldn’t settle my nerves. What I wanted to say was that I deserved to be part of whatever they did.

I had no feelings toward the man I said vows with, but how could I explain that I wanted to bear witness to his final breath?

I turned to Boss and asked, “Can you go check on your namesake for a second, please?” He looked at his little brother instead of me making me feel even worse. Once we were alone, I turned toward Arrow and took small steps toward him. “My words came out wrong, and I hope you know that these last two months have shown me that everything you have to offer, I deserve. I am worthy of it. However, I feel like I can’t truly be free until Gideon is no longer on this side of the dirt. I want to handle him exactly the same way he handled me over the last seven years. You are one hundred percent correct in wanting to protect me and Hendrix. No one has ever done that before. However, he needs to pay me back in blood.”

Arrow shook his head.

“I can’t let you do that.”

“You have to, Arrow.”

Both he and I turned at the sound of Boss’s voice.

The hardness of Arrow’s eyes left me and went toward Boss. He didn’t like the idea of me in harm’s way, and that made me fall in love with him even more. Arrow had seen firsthand the results of what Gideon could do to me, so I understood his hesitancy. When he dropped his head, my stomach lurched because I knew he was about to agree. There weren’t many times that Arrow could say no to me, and I was grateful that this was one of them.

Sighing, Arrow walked into my personal space and gripped my hands.

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