I could see the second he told her what’d happened. She gasped, slapping her hand over her mouth.
I turned away, unable to deal with the emotion bleeding from her.
I couldn’t.
I didn’t have the luxury.
Planning our next move had to be my only focus.
Keeping her safe was all that mattered.
10
~Ashley~
WE HURRIED INTO THE GARAGE.
Finn guided me with his hand at the small of my back.
I felt sick to my stomach.
Lou had defected?
I couldn’t believe it. Although, he’d been relatively new, only in the SAA position for a couple of years, he’d been kind to me. He was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. And now he would be tarred a traitor. All because of the brutality of the Rogues.
Adrenaline was coursing hot through my veins, putting me on edge, and making my entire body tremble. Just knowing the Rogues were headed straight for us was too much to reconcile. It was made all the worse by not knowing how close they were. Would they be here any minute, or were they still miles out?
Poor Finn, too. Because of this bull, he was being forced to uproot his life and everything he’d built.
I’d apologized profusely, but he’d just blown it off, assuring me it wasn’t a big deal and that it would’ve likely happened anyway even without the threat. I wasn’t so sure, though.
I heard him muttering to himself as he stowed the few things we’d managed to pack in such a short window into the back of his truck.
“What is it with him and his fucking SAAs?”
“Finn, Lou was just trying to survive.”
He rolled his eyes. “What kind of man can’t hold up under a little torture? This is a major fucking security breach.” He slammed the trunk shut with more force than was necessary. “The first SAA was so damned reckless. Now, this one, who can’t keep his mouth shut in order to protect everything and everyone that should matter to him. Jesus Christ almighty.”
Wow. He was beyond pissed, clearly unable to contain his anger. I let him continue, hoping it’d help him to get it out of his system.
“Come on,” he called, hauling open the passenger door.
He had me smiling in the next second when he moved in to help me up. It was such a sweet, chivalrous move. He was still so gentle with me, despite how pissed he was at the situation we were caught up in.
“Finn, I—”
“Quiet!” he hissed, his hands leaving me.
I raised my eyebrows in question.
He just slapped his finger to his lips, indicating that I should maintain my silence.
I tensed as I watched him draw a gun from a holster at the right hip of his jeans. I hadn’t even noticed he was packing. It’d been hidden by the bulkiness of his gray hoodie. He crept toward the double garage doors. They were rustic and kind of old school, two large hulking wooden things that opened manually. He’d already detached the chain that’d held them closed in anticipation of us leaving any minute now.
He listened at the doors, standing stock still for several moments.
God. What was going on?
The more time that passed, the more the tension in the garage intensified. I was clutching the truck door so tightly that my palms were burning.
I jumped when he suddenly spun around.
“In the truck! Get low and stay down!”
Before my body had a chance to fully register his instructions, the garage doors blew open, tearing off their hinges from the weight of five bikers who forced their way through.
Finn cursed as he was blown back from the assault, hitting the concrete floor with an awful thud that had me cringing.
He scrambled to grab a hold of his gun that’d been knocked from his hand at the impact.
I screamed when a dirty motorcycle boot slammed into his side, making him roll onto his back, away from his weapon.
“Truck! Now!” he yelled, gritting his teeth as he pushed up onto his hands, then stumbled back to his feet.
Oh, thank God.
“Ditching the bikes in your precious town center and coming up here on foot worked wonders.”
My body went rigid at the sound of the hauntingly familiar voice.
I watched in horror as he rounded the corner, a creepy grin fixed on his face as he took in the scene in front of him. Finn was surrounded by five burly bikers basically salivating over the prospect of hurting him. Sick bastards. But the sickest of them all was the asshole who’d hung back so he hadn’t had to go in blind and risk himself like his boys had.
Knox Price.
His spiky white hair matched his straggly beard. He was decked out head-to-toe in black leather that had seen better days. Just like him. Once a muscle-bound hulk of a man, he’d lost a lot of that muscle, in favor of a withering, lanky appearance. Clearly, life in hiding hadn’t worked out for him. Well, that was what he got for crossing Iron Kings.
He looked my way, taking in my gradual, cautious steps toward the open passenger door of the truck. “Don’t be so hasty, princess.” He licked his lips salaciously, the act of a creepy smile emphasizing the many age lines etched into his leathery skin. “You and me are gonna have some fun.”
Having him here was bad enough, but hearing such a sick and twisted threat had me losing it. “I’ll rip your tiny dick off!” I screamed.
He laughed. “All grown up now, huh? Think you can play with the big boys?” His expression shifted abruptly to one of seething derision as he spat out, “I’ll break you in two, little bitch!”
He started toward me.
Finn broke free from the circle of bikers, moving so fast that they couldn’t react in time to stop him as he skidded between us, slamming his hand into Knox’s chest and knocking him back, away from me.
“You aren’t touching her, motherfucker!”
Knox puffed out his chest,
