Page 18 of Grizzly's Pride
Grizzly ordered their drinks just as Rage and two other Black Dogs lackeys sauntered into the bar. Grizzly had seen the email Whizz sent him, so he knew what Rage looked like. That red hair, mohawk, and Black Dogs MC patch weren’t hard to miss.
“Two beers,” the bartender said. The man looked from Grizzly and Piper, to Rage and his lackeys, who approached the bar. “I want no trouble here.”
“We’re just friends, talking among ourselves. Isn’t that right, Grizzly?” Rage said, flashing him an odious smile. “Three beers for me and my friends, bartender.”
“Coming right up,” the bartender muttered.
The guy looked unhappy, and Grizzly couldn’t blame him. Piper clung to him and didn’t meet anyone’s eyes.This bastard knows my name, Grizzly thought,despite never crossing paths before.
Unlike the Ruthless Reapers MC, where members held the same position for years, Rat frequently changed his roster.
Those at the top of the Black Dogs MC food chain were usually members Rat favored. Rage hadn’t been an enforcer for long, but he certainly didn’t waste time, carving a vicious reputation for himself on the streets. According to Whizz’s reports, Rage had been arrested far too many times by the police that he was no longer on Rat’s good side.
“So, that’s her, eh? She doesn’t look like Mervin at all. I can see why you took to her,” Rage said. The other biker snatched the beer off the counter and took a sip. Grizzly did the same, keeping his eye on the maniac. Piper seemed too nervous to drink.
“You and your MC are slow on the uptake. Mervin’s been taken care of. That scumbag won’t be causing either of our clubs any problems,” Grizzly said. He decided to go the diplomatic route for now.
“We know,” Rage said. The other biker lit a cigarette. He offered Grizzly one stick, but Grizzly refused.
“Then why the fuck are you still after Piper? She has nothing to do with her daddy’s business,” Grizzly said, trying to keep his temper leashed but failing miserably.
“Her daddy caused me some personal grievances. Mervin screwed over a profitable drug deal, lost me thousands of dollars,” Rage said.
Rage’s eyes turned cold with anger, and it finally struck Grizzly that there was no reasoning with a man like Rage. He’d dealt with all kinds of flavors of men while working for the Ruthless Reapers. Rage was the sort of bastard who played by his own rules and no one else’s.
Chapter Nine
“We can resolve this misunderstanding peacefully,” Rage said.
He moved his black gaze to Piper, and she tried her best not to wither under his hate-filled stare. Whatever her father had done to this man, Rage felt betrayed enough that he wanted to take his anger out on her.
Don’t show them you’re weak, she told herself. Piper took deep breaths and forced herself to look Rage in the eyes. She wasn’t alone because she had Grizzly by her side. Her man wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
Rage then smiled at her, showing her a mouthful of nicotine-stained teeth. “I thought you were a mouse, but I bet you’re a feisty little thing, aren’t you? The two of us are going to have some fun times,” Rage drawled.
“Piper isn’t going anywhere. She stays here with me,” Grizzly said in a firm voice that brooked no argument.
Rage scoffed. “She’s nothing to you. You really going to risk your neck over some cunt you just met?” Rage asked. “Just hand her over. There’s no need for this to turn messy.”
Grizzly bared his teeth at Rage. Her heart raced fanatically. This was it. The moment before all chaos would break loose. Why was she equal parts scared and excited?
“Here’s my answer. Over my dead body,” Grizzly said.
Rage’s expression soured and the biker reached for the gun in his belt. Grizzly already had his own revolver on the bar. When had he taken out his weapon? As if on cue, Rage’s men backed him up. Unfriendly faces looked at Piper and Grizzly.
“I’ve been lusting for a fight,” declared a new voice. It was the huge, inked, and blond biker Grizzly had nodded to earlier when they entered the bike. The same one who appeared in Grizzly’s apartment yesterday, asking for his help. Tank, Piper remembered. Tank didn’t come alone. He had three other bikers with him.
“Hey, assholes, take this outside or be prepared to pay for damages,” the bartender yelled.
Too late for his warning, because Rage fired several shots in the air. Someone, a woman, screamed. The people in the bar started shouting, shoving at each other. Some ran for the doors.
One of Rage’s men came at Tank, roaring, swinging his beer bottle at Tank. Another one of Rage’s lackeys broke the leg from a nearby chair and started for one of Grizzly’s MC brothers.
Panic took hold of Piper as violence broke out. She couldn’t understand. One moment, Rage and Grizzly were talking. The next, it had turned into an ugly fight.
“Piper, you with me?” Grizzly whispered in her ear.
“Yeah, I am,” she whispered.
