Page 113 of Riot's Thorn
Riot sets me on the middle bench seat of the van as the kid slams the door shut before he moves to the driver’s seat and cranks the engine. My four new friends are in the back, and it’s like I’m seeing them for the first time. I didn’t have the chance to really look when I was placed in the container or after we got out.
They’re beautiful girls, but the trauma is written all over them. Physically, they look like hell, but it’s the vacancy in their eyes that tells me they’ll have to fight like hell to recover from this. I have an idea of how to get them help, though I won’t say anything until I know for sure. But if it falls through, I know the Sons will help figure out a place for them to go.
Rigger, Lucky, and the kid take off in all different directions. Riot obeys all laws as he drives us through the industrial area. Once gas stations and chain restaurants appear, he parks the van on the side of a Taco Bell and turns off the engine.
“Scoot,” he says, and I gingerly make room for him on the bench. “Let me see.”
I pull up the leg of the sweatpants, hissing. He pulls off his T-shirt, leaving him in only a ribbed tank, and uses it to dab away the blood. “It hurts like a bitch.”
I swear his lip twitches. “Two wounds. That’s good. Looks like it entered here and exited here.”
“It barely even went through me then.”
“I agree, but you still need to see a doctor. You all do.” He looks over his shoulder. “Can you all wait until we get back to Reno?”
“We can,” Louisa says, holding the hands of Thea and Anne.
“I’m okay.” I give him a tight smile.
“Okay. We need to wait for another vehicle. The cops will be looking for this one. It might take a bit, so get comfortable.” Riot moves to the other side of me and helps me to lie with my head in his lap. He inspects every bruise and cut he can find, his jaw ticking each time he finds a new one.
“I promise I’m okay.” I run my hand down his stubbly cheek.
He grabs it and kisses the inside of my wrist. “Just let me do what I need to do, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Tell me what happened.”
I go on to explain waking up in Bart’s house, his wife preparing me, and then my smart mouth pissing him off to the point of him losing control. He doesn’t look at me once, but his fingers pound a steady beat on the side of his leg, telling me his beautiful mind is processing it all.
“I hope those dock workers are okay. It’s not their fault. They thought they were helping.”
“I doubt they are. If they live through the explosion, they’ll suffer hearing loss, burns, and substantial wounds. Plus, I did shoot one of them.”
“We really need to work on your ability to lie.”
“If you didn’t want to know, why did you ask?”
“I was hoping you’d lie.”
He brushes some hair off my forehead. “You’re with the wrong man if you’re hoping for your feelings to be spared.”
“I know. It’s me who’ll need to adjust.” I close my eyes. “Are the girls okay?”
“Yeah. They’re asleep.” He bends down to kiss the tip of my nose. It’s so sweet, it makes my chest clench. “You should get some rest too. Someone’ll be here within the hour.”
“Okay. I’ll just close my eyes for a second.” I fall asleep within minutes, feeling safe and loved.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
RIOT
“You’ve got a good one,” Bones, the club’s doctor and weed grower, says with a grin. “She’s green.”
“Don’t start that shit with me, old man.”
“Old man?” He clenches his chest dramatically. Parker giggles, which makes me like him less than I did before. “I’m like five years older than you.”
