Page 11 of Brake's Intent

“Lawson, step back and let me go,” I growl.

“No.”

“What’s going on here?” Chains says at the same time, joining us along with Tyres.

“Brake here is going off the handle after Faye told us something and he’s gonna get his ass killed,” Lawson answers for me without breaking eye contact.

“And that would be?” Tyres drawls.

I break my gaze from Lawson’s to look toward Tyres. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it.” I turn my attention back to Lawson and grip his wrist with enough force not to hurt him but to make him release the handlebar of my bike. I ignore those around me and start my bike, backing out of my spot. I don’t bother looking behind me as I hit the throttle and take off. The prospect barely gets the gate open enough for me to pass when I go speeding through.

I know Lawson’s right. I can’t go on a witch hunt, but I can’t stay there right now either. I’ll blow, and that’s not something any of them need to witness.

I ride out of town, heading north. My mind fleets through everything I’ve been through.

From all the timesIrène took her hands to me and Tyres, blaming us for ruining her life. How she nearly drowned me if not for Chains’s dad, Reno, coming to my rescue. After that,Irène learned to hurt Tyres and me in other ways, her favorite was burning us. Mostly, she did that to Tyres. Me, well, her favorite thing was to restrain my hands and pull my hair. Back then, Tyres and I both had long hair, and because of her, I now keep my hair cut as short as I do. I won’t give anyone a chance to do something like that again. And I refuse to be restrained in any way, shape, or form.The dayIrène took her last breath, I thought it would take the demons away, but it didn’t.

My thoughts shift fromIrène and what she did, to losing Reno and his mom. Of course,Irène had something to do with that back then. Shifting to times as we got older, life wasn’t easy, but we did what was best for us, and when we were old enough to join the club, we did. After a while, we worked our way up, proving ourselves to the other club members.

When my mind works through what happened with all the ol’ ladies, how Chains was shot, and then Nora giving birth in the back of a truck to Lyrica being kidnapped and abused. Fuck me . . . I can’t wrap my mind around it all. It would drive me insane trying to figure it all out. It’s hard enough to believe we’ve survived so much already.

This club has been through hell and back again, and I swear it’s never gonna be over. Not until the threat is fully neutralized. Then again, how can you neutralize something so big when you don’t know what’s in a person’s head? There’s no way to possibly do something so drastic without taking out hundreds, if not thousands, of people. In doing that, you’d take out even more innocent than evil. Talk about one hell of a conundrum, if there were any. I guess you can’t live in a world full of good without bad.

I stop at a gas station to fill up and, for the first time, realize I’m not alone. Chains, Tyres, Breaker, Pitch Black, Lynch, and Speed pull in behind me. I turn my bike off, swing a leg over, and straighten. Grabbing the fuel pump handle, I uncap the fuel tank and start pumping.

“You okay, brother?” Breaker is the first to ask.

Am I okay?I ask myself. Shaking my head, I glance at each of them. “Are any of us?”

“Brake, what’s going on?” Chains demands.

I release a harsh breath and tell them what Faye said. About how they gave her back in good faith. How Shawna beat her with a belt and choked her with it to get a reaction. I don’t leave anything she said out.

“Fuck,” Pitch Black grumbles. “Does she know where they kept her?”

“No, the fuckers drugged her. She woke up when they dropped her off, and she had to walk the rest of the way here.” Just the thought of her suffering through all the pain is enough to drive me mad.

“What else is bothering you?” Chains asks, cocking a brow, watching me closely.

“What do you mean?” I don’t want to get into it with him. One thing about Chains I learned a long time ago is he’s smart and doesn’t let shit get past him if he can help it.

“We all know something’s going on with you. And you’ve got something going on with Faye and Lawson.” He puts it out there. “We also know that you ain’t been the same since you got back from Florida. So, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I mutter, really not wanting to have this talk. Not here. Not ever. I’m not some woman who sits around sharing feelings. I’ve got a dick and don’t need to do that shit.

“Brake, you ain’t alone,” Speed remarks.

“In this, I am.” I turn away from them, remove the fuel pump handle from the tank, and put it back in place. I look over my shoulder as I replace the cap and straddle my bike. “I’m not gonna stand here and talk feelings and shit. I’ll work it out in my head and take care of it. As for Lawson and Faye? Yeah, I claim them. They’re mine, but that doesn’t mean shit when I don’t know what I’m dealing with completely. And until I do, there’s not shit anyone can do about it.”

“Brake,” Tyres calls out, but I ignore him and start my bike. I kick up the kickstand and hit the throttle.

I should head back, but I still need time. Time to get my head together, and that’s not going happen right now . . . at this moment. I need the road. Maybe a couple of days of being away will help me. When I stop tonight, I’ll let Lawson and Faye know that I need some time to figure my head out and that I won’t do anything stupid to get myself killed.

Figure while I’m on the road, I can possibly find some leads on where to find Shawna and make her pay for the bullshit she’s pulled. If I can’t take out all the evil in the world, I can at least maybe take on one demonic bitch who needs to be put down.

CHAPTEREIGHT

FAYE

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