Page 97 of What Is Love
When I got out of the car with it, Roe, Wyatt, and Reid were running over. They saw me carrying it as I headed toward the beautiful lineup of motorcycles.
“Lottie, what are you doing?” Roe asked, sounding worried.
I didn’t respond as I made my way to Bram’s bike. The only one that was chrome and dark metallic orange.
“Holy shit,” I heard Wyatt say as he and Reid froze in shock at what I was about to do.
Roe was still coming toward me. “Lottie!” he yelled as I lifted the crowbar in the air.
As I brought it down, Bram’s thunderous voice yelled out for me. But it didn’t stop me. I knocked off one of the mirrors with that first swing. It wasn’t enough and I kept swinging.
I didn’t feel like I was in my body. I didn’t hear metal bang against metal. Or feel the impact of each blow. I felt like I was floating above myself, watching me smashing and hitting his motorcycle over and over.
I kept swinging until my wrist was grabbed so hard, I let out a yelp.
Here it is. The proof I needed that he wasn’t as good as I’d thought.
I was yanked to face him and when I did, I realized it wasn’t Bram. It was the Rebel who’d hit on me at Noble’s Pub, the one who Bram had saved me from.
“Donnie, no!” Bram yelled, his voice closer than before, but he wouldn’t make it in time.
Donnie yanked the crowbar out of my hand and tossed it to the ground. “Stupid bitch,” he said right before I saw his fist.
Pain exploded from my jaw up behind my eye and into my ear. Blood coated my tongue. My vision spotted. I didn’t know I was falling until I hit the ground.
“Hey!” I heard Bram yell just before I heard a grunt, then another.
“Lottie!” I heard Roe say before arms lifted me to sit up. “Let me see,” he said as he cupped my face, but I didn’t turn my head toward him. No. I wanted to see what was happening to Donnie.
He was on the ground and Bram was punching him again and again.
“What the fuck, man?!” Donnie cried out, making Bram pause and step back. “She was fucking up your bike! Why are you not beating the shit out of her?!”
“Because she’s my kid!” Bram roared down at him. “You just punched my daughter, you piece of shit.”
Bram kicked him in the face. Donnie’s head whipped to the side and blood went flying out of his mouth. Some Rebels, including Noble, came over to pull Bram away.
“We should go,” I heard Wyatt say behind Roe.
“Lottie, please,” Roe pleaded, and I finally looked at him. He grimaced at whatever damage he saw. Then he quickly got his arms under me and scooped me up.
I held the side of my face as I rested my head on his shoulder. Roe carried me with Wyatt walking ahead of us. We were going to pass a stunned Reid, but as we approached, he snapped out of it and walked ahead with Wyatt toward the car.
“Was that how you expected shit to go down?” Wyatt snapped at him.
“No,” Reid said with a quiet but angry voice.
“Maybe if you had told us what you knew, we could have told you how fucking dumb your plan was,” Roe snarled, sounding more pissed off than I had ever heard him. “Then Lottie wouldn’t have to carry around another fucking bruise!”
Reid stopped walking, Roe’s words clearly affecting him. Roe didn’t slow down as we passed him.
“Monroe Walker!” Bram yelled, making the whole compound go silent.
Wyatt, who was almost to the car, stopped and glanced back. Roe slowed to a stop, his jaw clenched. Slowly, he turned.
Bram was standing ahead of the crowd that had formed around him and Donnie. He was fuming. He reminded me of an angry Viking ready to shed blood.
“Bring her back to me right now,” Bram ordered.
