Stance wide, tone unyielding, I told him without words where my loyalty rested.
“Bishop.” This time, my name came from behind me.
From Noelle.
She slid a hand beneath my jacket to touch me through the thin shirt I wore. “You don’t have to do this.”
Yes, I did.
Someone had to.
Rafe was out of line.
I might not say those words out loud, but they hovered between us.
I’d never confronted Rafe before.
Not once.
And especially not with the entire crew close enough to see and hear everything.
Rafe’s chest heaved.
The air hummed with the rules I was breaking, the boundaries I’d not only crossed but obliterated.
I could be kicked out of the club for my insolence.
Loyalty went deeper than blood in the Vipers, and I’d wounded him by taking Noelle’s side.
“You’re making a mistake.” Rafe spoke too low for anyone else to hear.
“No.” I relaxed my hands, only then realizing I’d had them in fists as I prepared for another fight.
My bloody knuckles creaked with the effort it took. “We’re all on edge, and there’s no reason to have this conversation right now. Take a breath. We’ll talk when things have settled down.”
28
NOELLE
I froze under the weight of Rafe’s glare.
His anger radiated around us.
I couldn’t blame him, though it wasn’t really my fault.
I’d disappear if I could. Melt right into the floor, never to be seen again.
Except I couldn’t.
Anger stirred low and hot as I stared at the broad expanse of Bishop’s back.
One look at the gathered crowd’s shocked expressions and what I already knew of Bishop proved that this was not normal.
Guilt stabbed deep and with such savageness, I lost the ability to breathe.
My choices put them at risk, and it forced Bishop into this protective stance against his leader.
His skin burned beneath my fingertips.
