Page 31 of Diesel
“I’m not.”
“Right, and I guess it’s just coincidence that you went off grid the moment this shit went down?”
I drop my voice low, and when I speak every word is measured. “You think I’d run from this?”
His gun lifts higher, moving from my chest to my head. “I think you picked a side, and I ain’t sure if it’s the right one.”
I risk taking a step forward, slow and deliberate, careful not to spook him. “I’ve bled for this club, killed for it, sacrificed for it. If I wasn’t loyal, do you think you’d still be breathing?”
If Riot really believed I’m dirty we wouldn’t be talking. He’d have put me in the ground the second he rolled up. The fact he’s in front of me alone tells me more than his words and actions do. Mace would never have let his brother come without back up if they all really thought I was a threat. This little show of fucking dramatics is a test, a sanity check. He’s being cautious, of course he is. He’s got Ivy and their daughter at home. He’s walking the line between duty and survival. I would do the fucking same in his shoes.
“I think you disappeared the moment things went to shit.”
I need to calm him, distract him. Move him the fuck off the property. I’ve never been one to use words to fix things, but right now that’s all I have. “Coincidence. Bad timing. Pick your poison,” I say.
“I don’t believe in coincidence, Diesel.”
The space between us tightens, like the air is shrinking around the weight of the accusation against me. “I don’t have to prove to you that I’m loyal to the patch.”
“From where I’m standing you ain’t doin’ that anyway.”
My control snaps. He’s looking in the wrong fucking direction, and even though I understand why he thinksI’m the problem, I don’t have the patience for this. “You don’t know shit about where I’m standing.”
He opens his mouth to reply, but then his gaze lifts behind me. I almost don’t look, not falling for that shit again, but then I hear the crunch of gravel, and my stomach drops through the floor.
Makenna is running toward us, barefoot. Her hair is a tangle around her face, the hoodie I put on her before we tried to sleep is drowning her.
She is fucking beautiful, but also a nightmare. My heart stutters as she throws herself in front of me like a shield and wraps her arms around me like a vice. Her back is protecting my chest from the very real, very dangerous gun still pointed at me.
“Don’t shoot him! Don’t!”
I’ve never felt fear like this. I didn’t know it was possible to be this scared. The one thing in my life that means everything is standing in front of me, trying to save me from a bullet.
I twist her away from the danger, even as she clings to me like a barnacle. My pulse is roaring in my ears, and I’m shaking so hard my teeth rattle. I fold around her like a protective blanket.
I brace for the pain, but he doesn’t fire.
I grab her face between my hands, unable to hide my terror. “Get inside!”
“No. I’m not going to let him kill you.”
Her eyes are wet, wide and wild. Panic claws at my throat, and I glance back over my shoulder at Riot. “You point that gun at her again and I swear on my fucking life, I’ll make you eat that bullet yourself.”
Riot stares at Makenna, then at me. “That what you’vebeen doing up here while the club is fucking imploding? Getting laid? You chose pussy over the patch?”
It’s oil on a burning fire. I keep Makenna behind me as I prowl toward him, ready to rip his throat out with my fucking teeth. “Talk about her like that again and Ivy won’t find anything of you to bury.”
I’m snarling, more beast than man right now. My fingers itch to fight, to protect.
The disbelief on his face would be funny if I didn’t have Makenna pressed to my back. Her fingers dig into my sides like she’s not sure whether to pull me back or hang on tighter.
I track every twitch of Riot’s fingers like a bomb tech watching a countdown to detonation. There’s betrayal burning in his eyes, and I get it. If I was in his shoes this wouldn’t have been a discussion. He’d be bleeding out on the ground. But he wants to understand. I see it beneath the hurt. He wants blood, but righteous blood.
“Who the hell is she, Diesel?”
“None of your fucking business.”
I glare at him, expecting that to be the end of it, but then Kenna throws another match onto the fire.
