“Ry?” Her voice was weak. Something was wrong.
“Soph? What’s happening?” Because I knew something was.
“There’s someone here,” she whispered, and my heart picked up another rhythm.
“Where?”
“Outside. They’re outside in the street.”
“Ok, Grey. Who are they?”
“Two bikers. Are they yours?”
Something swelled in my chest. Anger. Rage. And fear. I took a breath and steadied my voice.
“No, Sophie. They’re not. All my guys are here.”
“Oh, God.” A whisper again.
“I’m on my way, Soph. I need you to stay in the house. No matter what. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
“You come out for no one but me.”
“Yes.”
I ended the call and turned. Straight into Indie.
“Tell me.” The instruction in his voice was clear, and I didn’t have time to argue.
“Sophie. Two men on bikes outside her house. That’s not coincidence.”
I saw the look on his face. The way it crept across his eyes. The purse of his lips. I knew we’d talk about this later.
“Take Magnet and the Twins. Get her somewhere safe, Reap. Don’t bring her here.”
I nodded.
*****
We roared over the bridge. Weaving our way through any traffic in our way. Switching lanes again and again. I led, pushing us faster. The Rocket growled underneath me, as angry as I was that some fuckers had turned up at my girl’s house. I didn’t care what cut they wore. They wouldn’t be riding away. I’d have their cuts off their backs and the wheels from underneath them. If I felt nice enough, I might let them limp home. Otherwise, they could crawl on the broken legs I was going to fucking give them.
My hand squeezed the throttle in anger, the bike surging forwards, the engine dragging the world with it like it had teeth sunk into the road. Power rolled through it. Low, brutal, relentless. Nothing frantic, nothing desperate. Just force. Two hundred-odd newton metres of it, rolling through the frame and straight into my bones.
It didn’t scream. It didn’t need to. It growled. Deep. Certain. And it knew exactly what it was capable of and didn’t give a fuck who was in its way. And that’s exactly why the bike worked for me.
The street came into view quickly, and I raced on, the engines behind me sounding like battle cries as we rode towards her. But this wasn’t going to be a battle. This was punishment. I spotted them further down the road, just where Sophie’s flat would be. Their bikes were already lit up. Pinpricks of red and getting smaller. We needed to be closer. Close enough, we could see whose cut they wore.
I yanked at the throttle. The bikes behind me joining in the fierce roar too, and I knew my brothers already had the same thought as I did. We had speed and momentum as an advantage, but the unidentified riders in front of us were getting away fast.Magnet waved the Twins past us and then motioned for me to pull over.
“Go see to your girl,” he shouted over the noise of the engine. “Chaos and Carnage can sort those two out.”
“I’ll rip their fucking eyes out for even looking at her,” my blood pumped thick and heavy in my veins, the ride still vibrating in my ears.
“You can do that later. Let’s get her somewhere safe first.”
I nodded, kicking out the stand and killing the engine. I leapt up the first step, running up the path to the front door, struggling to pull my phone out of my leather jacket as I went. It only rang once, and then I heard the tiny pause as it connected.
