Page 30 of Diesel
Anger flashes as he snaps his attention to me. “Are you fucking serious?”
His gaze cuts over my shoulder and I react before I engage my brain. I twist, expecting to see Makenna standing there, but she’s not and when I turn back, Riot has a gun pointed at me. His eyes are cold, his stance a threat wrapped in a promise.
My mouth dries instantly and I freeze. Betrayal burns through my veins as I stare at a man I thought I could trust. I’ve never seen Riot twitchy like this, like a man already preparing to kill his brother before he’s proven his guilt. That puts me on edge instantly
“If you’re going to point that thing at me,” I growl, “you better be prepared to use it.”
“Oh, I’m prepared,” Riot assures me. “I’ve got too much to lose.”
He’s not the only one. We all have stakes in this game.
He doesn’t move either and he hasn’t fired. That tells me he doesn’t want to kill me. So what does he want? My attention? Because he has that. My supplication? No.
“So do it.”
He scoffs and his finger hovers over the trigger. “The only reason you’re still breathin’ is because Dash vouched for you.” He did? That surprises me. We’d… bonded, I guess, but enough for him to put his neck out like this? I don’t know.
“I’d hate to see how you’d turn up if he hadn’t.”
“You’d already be in the ground,” Riot says it casually, like he’s not threatening to kill me. “Dash has got a good heart, thinks the best of everyone. Not me. I don’t trust anyone. I definitely don’t trust someone who goes dark the same night Grub tries to kill three of our brothers.”
I hear what he says, but my mind doesn’t really take it in at first. Then the words filter down. Grub tried to kill…who? Our vice president… I blink. Then I do it again. What the fuck? Does he… does he think I had something to do with this?
Oh, fuck, he does. I angle my body toward the door. Makenna is still inside and I’m facing a man who thinks I’m a traitor.
An enemy.
“Who did he try to kill?”
Riot sneers. “You think I’m stupid? You disappeared off the fucking face of the earth right after that prick set them up. We only managed to track you because we got word that you’d kidnapped some girl and it wasn’t hard to guess you’d bring her here.”
Fuck. That loud mouthed dickhead in the car park must have called it in, like he threatened to.
I was sloppy, and now it’s going to cost me. Every part of me wants to glance back at the house, check Makenna’s still hidden, but I don’t dare.
“She a part of whatever plan you and Grub are cooking up, or should I saywascooking up since Nic sprayed his fuckin’ brains all over the tarmac.”
Sweat beads on the back of my neck. Everything I feared is staring me in the eyes and I’m standing here like a complete idiot unable to protect even myself, let alone her.
My mind, usually calm, is racing. My thoughts collide with each other, but the only one ringing out loudly is I have to get Makenna out of here.
Riot has no idea the turmoil swirling inside me or the lengths I’ll go to for her. There’s calculation in his stance that says he’ll end me right here and won’t hold an ounce of remorse about it.
“You don’t seem surprised,” Riot remarks, the gun still levelled at me.
“I’m not.”
“Because you knew Grub was going to hit us?”
I grit my teeth. Is he really this fucking blind? “Because this has been on the cards from the moment the Pioneers first hit us. Look around, Riot. Our chapter has been imploding for years. The resentment, the power plays quietly simmering in the background while everyone is moving chess pieces around as if no one notices. You think I didn’t see you, Mace, Nic, and now Dash have been playing the game too.”
He pushes his tongue against the inside of his cheek. “You sell us out?”
“No.”
I don’t elaborate. He’s either going to believe me or he’s not.
“Prove I didn’t make a mistake keeping you alive. Because I want to trust you, man, but I’ve got to think about my family. If you’re a risk to them?—”
