Page 20 of Chasing Redemption

I grabbed my bag and marched through the clubhouse, ignoring the brothers hanging out in the common room as I passed them on my way out the door.

These assholes had to be kidding me.

Bikes surrounded my car, completely blocking me in on all sides. Why the hell would they trap me here if they so clearly wanted me gone?

I put my stuff on the ground and circled my car, noting the bikes I recognized, which were few, and the majority I didn’t.

There was only one bike parked behind me, and I knew it was my brother’s becauseBoomerangwas painted along the side. He’d done away with his name, Ethan, when he came to Redemption, too. But he left me behind a long time ago. Without bothering to look around, I grabbed the switchblade from inside my boot and yanked the wires out. After a few cuts and twists of the wire, the bike roared to life. I swung my leg up and over and straddled the massive seat. The bike was too big for me to handle, but I only needed to move it out of my way.

Boomerang ran out of the building and waved his hands at me, screaming words I couldn’t hear over the noise of the engine. I jumped off the bike, and it kept going until it toppled over, engine still revving, a few feet from Boomerang. Continuing to ignore whatever he was shouting, I headed back to my car, ready to do the same to the bike that blocked my driver’s side door.

I was reaching to pull the wires on the second bike when a large hand gripped my upper arm and jerked me backward. Bikes roared in the distance, but I was too focused on my asshole brother to pay attention to who was coming down the drive.

“Are you outta your fucking mind?” he screamed.

Bringing up both arms, I shoved him and broke his hold. He started to step back to catch his balance, but I snapped my leg out and kicked his foot, causing him to crash down to the ground.

“Screw you, Ethan,” I said, using his real name to really piss him off. “I’m fucking done with all you Redemption assholes. Stay the fuck out of my way, all of you.” I started to turn around but froze at his words.

“Look at you, walking away. Again.”

“Walking away again? What the hell do you mean by that? It was all of you”—I pointed at the clubhouse—“who decided to pretend like you didn’t know me when you passed me on the streets.”

“You left.Youwalked away, and we didn’t see you again. Didn’t hear from you. Not for fucking years. You moved back two fucking years ago, Peyton. Two years, and this is the first time you’ve been back.” I’d never wanted to punch him more than I did right then. And he was my brother, so that was saying a lot.

I might not have been able to call while I was in Ghost Unit, but I was allowed to receive messages. Not one of them reached out to me in eight years. And they’d ignored me for the past two. “I must have imagined being ignored then. Must’ve lost the messages the brothers sent asking me what happened or where I was. It must’ve been guys wearing fake Redemption cuts who walked past me on the street without so much as a nod.” All the hurt I’d fostered, not just from this morning or the last ten years, but from a lifetime of having my only sibling treat me like gum he had to scrape off his shoe, all that pain coalesced into one fiery ball of rage, and I had no hopes of reining it back in.

“It was me who was delusional, thinking you all liked me. Well, not you. You never even bothered to pretend, so I don’t know why you’re acting like I stole your favorite toy. But all the rest of yourbrothers, what the fuck is their deal, huh? It was on me to come back, and what? What did they want from me?”

I turned to our audience. Looked like most of the club had come out to watch the Linwood family drama taking place in the driveway. “What the fuck did you want from me, huh? Yeah, I left. But not a single fucking one of you thought to check on me. And when I came back, I tried to say hi, tried to take that first step, but you all chose to ignore me. I don’t owe anyone here a goddamn thing. Not an apology, and not an explanation. If you wanted something from me, maybe you should have tried asking where I went. Or what I had to do.” I hated the way my voice cracked on the last word, but I wasn’t used to yelling.

I lowered my voice so only my brother could hear me. “I left for eight years, and I came back with a gun that I knew how to use on my hip and five of the scariest women I’ve ever met in tow. I started working for the most dangerous woman in the city. But you didn’t think to ask where I went or if I was okay.” Shaking my head, I blinked back tears. No way I was going to let them see me cry. “Some fucking brother you are. But then, you were never really my brother, were you,Boomerang? You’ve made it clear to me my whole life that you’d rather be their brother than mine.”

Out of words, out of energy, and out of fucks to give, I spun around and snarled at the sight of Reaper holding the handlebars of the bike that had blocked my driver’s side door. Dickface probably thinks he deserves my gratitude for giving me space to get in my car, but he was lucky I wasn’t taking his balls with me in a jar after leaving me to the wolves this morning.

I climbed into my car and hoped the gravel spray from my tires took out an eyeball—any eyeball, I wasn’t picky—as I hauled ass out of their driveway.

ChapterEleven

REAPER

A toothglistened in the pool of bloody saliva that landed next to my boot. Pure satisfaction swelled through me at the sight.

Boomerang’s right eye was swollen shut, and his body swayed as he tried to bring his arms back up to block my hits. He was still on his feet, and I couldn’t decide whether I was impressed or pissed about that.

“You touched her. Sorry isn’t gonna fucking cut it.” I snarled, thankful I had something, or someone, to focus my rage on. The scene I’d witnessed when I drove up earlier kept playing on a loop in my mind. Boomerang grabbing Peyton hard enough to bruise and screaming in her face. Who the fuck did he think he was?

After Peyton had burned rubber out of here, I went inside and started asking questions, giving myself time to get answers before I challenged Boomerang to an honor fight, as was my right as enforcer. But those answers had only led to a whole mess of other problems. Problems I’d deal with when I got done with this motherfucker here.

Boomerang wasn’t the only one I had beef with, he was just the one I’d had beef with the longest. He’d gotten away with treating Peyton like shit for too long, and he went way over the line today. I needed to send the message that I would kill anyone who hurt her, even if it was her brother.

I wasn’t an idiot—I knew that Peyton could and would take care of herself. But that didn’t mean I was going to let anything slide. Every member of Redemption needed to know that this shit wouldn’t fly. They never would have pulled that stunt shit if I’d been here. And I should have fucking been here, but I was called away to deal with a situation that couldn’t wait.

I’d taken note of all the bikes surrounding her car when I got back, and I had a list of the brothers I’d be dealing with before the night was over. They needed to prove themselves worthy of the cuts they wore.

What they’d done today was unacceptable. It wasn’t only that they screwed with her, they also made it that much harder for her to cover our tracks. They went against the club by refusing to help her, and that couldn’t be tolerated.

A punch glanced off my jaw, and I realized I’d stopped throwing punches and blocking. I shook my head and refocused.

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