Rage surged through me instantly.
We rode another fifty yards before I turned the bike hard and circled back. The others followed me, pulling up in front of her and shutting off the engines. She immediately started backing away, terrified and shaking.
Boots hit the gravel as I stepped off my bike, slowly pulling my helmet off. “Easy there,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm.
Her eyes were wide with fear, and she kept backing away. “We’re not gonna hurt you.”
When I stepped out of the headlights and saw her clearly, my jaw tightened. Her face was a mess—tears, smeared mascara, and pure fear. The way she cradled her wrist told me everything I needed to know.
Something inside my chest snapped. “What thefuckhappened to you?”
Six
Emma
Hawk’s voice was low and rough, edged with a sharpness that made the tiny hairs along the back of my neck rise.
The question cut through the quiet road like a blade, and for a second, I just stood there, staring at him, my brain scrambling to catch up with everything that had happened in the last twenty minutes.
I opened my mouth to answer, but before any words could escape, another sound rolled through the night.
At first, it was faint—a low vibration that seemed to travel through the pavement beneath my feet. Then it grew louder.
Motorcycles.
My entire body went rigid as the rumble echoed across the empty road. The sound was distant but coming closer quickly, and the moment my brain recognized what it was, panic surged through my chest all over again.
My eyes darted down the dark stretch of road behind Hawk and the other bikers.
Headlights appeared in the distance.
Just a glow at first, then brighter.
The bike—or bikes—were coming toward us.
My stomach dropped.
What if it was him?
The thought slammed into me so suddenly that my breath caught in my throat.
The image of his drunken face flashed through my mind again—the way he’d pinned me against the wall, the way he’d laughed when I told him to stop.
My heart started pounding harder as fear crept up my spine.
I stood frozen for half a second while my brain raced through the possibilities. If it was him, I was completely exposed standing out here in the open.
The rumble of the approaching motorcycle grew louder.
I stiffened but didn’t move.
The men around Hawk noticed immediately.
Before I could react, Hawk’s hand closed firmly around my upper arm and pulled me a step closer to him. The movement was quick, instinctive. At the same time, his body shifted in front of mine, shoulders squaring and stance widening as he placed himself directly between me and the road.
The adjustment was subtle, but suddenly I was almost completely hidden behind him, like he was shielding me.
The rumble of the approaching motorcycle grew louder.
