Then, her voice sounded.
“I’m going with you guys,” Brielle said.
“Oh, no you’re not,” I said before I even turned around good enough to pin her with a look.
However, when I turned around, I found that I was the one being pinned with a look.
“Oh, boy,” Mav murmured.
“It’s not up for debate,” she said as she turned on her heels. “I’m going with you because you guys know I’m the only one she’ll stop and listen to.”
I shook my head. “I’m not letting you do this. It’s too dangerous. She’s already on the brink of losing her life.”
“And you don’t think I deserve to be there should my twin sister bleed out?”
I sighed as Mav walked up to her, abandoning his apple in a trash can as he passed by. He placed his hands on her shoulders, catching her stare when she pulled it away from me. I twirled my finger in the air, signaling to the guys that it was time to mount our bikes.
And as they inched around her, Mav drew in a deep breath. “You can’t go with us.”
She shrugged off his touch. “I’m what she wants, and if I walk in there, she won’t even point a gun at me. You know she won’t.”
“No,” Dee said flatly, “she’ll just come into a bathroom, knock you unconscious, strip you of your clothes, and steal you away again.”
“But she won’t kill me,” Brielle said.
I peeked over at Axe and watched his façade crumble.
“You’re not actually considering this,” I said, turning to face him.
“She’s got a point,” he murmured.
“See? Listen to your president. I’ve got a point,” she said.
Mav barked with laughter. “God damn it, I like your spunk.”
Brielle giggled, and I wondered if that was the last time I’d hear her giggle. If being in her presence at that moment, fighting with her on what she should do, was the last time we’d ever talk. The last time we’d ever have a disagreement. Panic gripped my heart in a way I’d never felt before. Images flashed before my eyes that had no origin. Images of Brielle’s face and her bubble-soaked body in that bathtub. I’d never be able to join her for one if things went south and she were with us.
But Axe apparently didn’t care about any of that shit.
“Fine,” he said, striding past us, “you can ride on the back with me. But what we say goes once we get there, got it?”
Brielle’s eyes lit up as she whipped around and fell in stride behind him. “Got it.”
“Everyone!” Axe bellowed as Mav came up to my side. “Roll out!”
“She’ll come back with us. She’ll be all right,” he said, trying to reassure me.
I simply turned around and slammed the storage locker door closed, however.
Before making my way toward my bike without another word falling from my fucking mouth.
Not like anyone listens, anyway.
27
BRIELLE
The sheer number of men that poured out of that clubhouse and into the gravel parking lot astounded me. There had to be at least a dozen of them, if not more, and the roar of their bikes as they all struck up at once rattled my ribcage. I studied their bikes as everyone tossed their legs over the leather seats, and I realized something.
