“That’s the Riders for you. It’s one of the reasons we’re so hard on them. If we left them unchecked…”
“I know,” she said, surprising me. “Vienna explained some of the history.”
“Right,” I nodded.
“What did Vienna mean when he said ‘claimed’?”
“Nico,” I began, swallowing down my distaste. “Has made no secret of the fact that he has a thing for Gabriella. It doesn’t matter to him that they’re cousins.”
“Please tell me you’re not about to say what I think you’re going to say,” she breathed.
“Yep,” I nodded. “Nico hasn’t wasted a second. He’s accepted his role as president and forced Gabriella into the role of his old lady.”
“Shit.”
“Shit indeed. Listen, you don’t need to worry about any of this. I—”
I was interrupted by my phone ringing. “What’s up?” I snapped as soon as I pressed answer.
“Change of plan,” Vienna said, his voice cracking as he rode against the wind.
How fucking fast was he driving?
“What now?”
“Hospital. Your dad—”
“I’m onmy way.”
Chapter 55
Rachel
Dante drove us to the hospital at a speed that quite frankly terrified me. It was one thing to weave a motorbike in and out of traffic; it was completely another thing to try to manoeuvre a car in the same way.
Horns blared at us, people yelled out of their windows, and one car even tried chasing us for a couple of streets. They soon gave up when they realised it wasn’t worth their own death trying to keep up with Dante. He seemed oblivious to everything around him. His one focus was on the road ahead, and if he did happen to notice the angry shouts, he showed no signs of it.
I just about had time to ring Jenna and let her know we were not heading back to the Greasy Spoon before Dante snatched the phone out of my hand and slammed it back down.
Point taken. No distractions.
And for once in my life, I let him have what he needed. I kept my mouth shut and clung onto the sides of my seat for dear life.
As we arrived at the hospital, he didn’t bother turning into the car park. He pulled up right outside the main entrance; the car skidding to a halt – no doubt leaving tyre tracks behind us – and jumped out of the car.
Okay, I guess we’re going.
“Excuse me, sir,” I heard a soft but firm voice come from the reception. I slammed the car door shut and hurried to catch up with Dante. “Sir!” She repeated, her voice nowhere near as soft this time. Dante ignored her and scanned the signs for the directions to the intensive care unit.
“Sir!” she barked. “You cannot park there. I’m going to have to ask you—” her words were cut off with a scream as Dante pulled a gun out of his back pocket and aimed it right in her face.
“I think we can make an exception just this once, don’t you?” He said quietly. Too quietly.
“Of… of course,” she stammered, walking backwards as she held her hands up in surrender.
“Well now,” Dante said with a sinister smirk, pocketing the gun. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? And don’t bother ringing the police. I’ve just left their custody, and if I end up back there because of you, I’ll come back, hunt you down and kill anyone that even carries the merest trace of your useless DNA. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” she nodded, tears brimming over lower lashes and spilling down her cheeks.
