“Faith. What’s up?” my heart pounded, and I dug my feet into the floor and braced myself for bad news.
This was the life I remembered. The constant worry that something bad was going to happen.
“How are you guys doing?” she asked after a long hesitant pause.
“We’re fine. Gemma is doing surprisingly well, she’s speaking more and laughing easier with every passing day.” My gaze met Pike’s when I said the words, hoping he knew how instrumental he was in that happening. “I’m good. Pike is teaching me self-defense.”
Even though my sister said nothing, the pause was filled with surprise. “That’s really good, Chloe. I’m glad to hear it.”
Pike gestured towards the door letting me know he was heading outside to give me some privacy. As he walked off, once again I thought about how different he was from Marcus. He might be a biker, but he was a good man.
My attention went back to my sister and her reason for calling. “So, what’s up for real?”
I knew my sister well and small talk wasn’t her strong suit.
“The Ghost Riders are escalating, and things around here are… tense.” she paused again and I held my breath. “They are getting more violent. They’ve been setting shit on fire. There was an attempted robbery at Demon Head Guns,” she paused for a moment, and I heard the scraping of a chair as she got comfortable. Then she continued, “I mean, who in the hell tries to rob a gun shop?”
“Someone really desperate?”
“Exactly,” she sighed. “There’s been property damage and a few prospects got beaten up, which pissed the guys off, but that’s not why I’m calling.”
I swallowed the lump of sawdust in my throat and nodded again. “Okay, why then?”
“Because they are straight up asking about Gemma. Loudly.” Faith sighed heavily. “And they killed Angel last night, ran him off the road while he was heading back to the clubhouse.”
My hand flew to my mouth. “God, no!” My heart squeezed and I closed my eyes and added Angel to the list of people whose lives I was responsible for taking. I didn’t know Angel well, but he had always been nice to me when I stayed at the clubhouse. “I’m sorry.”
“This isn’t on you, Chloe.” Faith’s words, so matter of fact they were almost rote, didn’t feel sincere. How could they when I would never believe them.
“It is,” I whispered. Tears burned my eyes, and they fell down my cheeks before I could stop them. “I have to tell Pike,” I said.
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yeah, I have to. I owe it to him.” And since it was my fault, I should be the one to suffer his wrath.
“Chloe, I meant what I said, this isn’t your fault. Stop thinking that shit, okay?”
“I’ll try,” I said. “That’s all I can do.”
“Fine. I’ll call you again later and we can catch up. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”
“Someone has to do it and you’re all I got, babe.” I tried to lighten the mood, but it fell flat.
“You have a lot more than me and Gemma,” she said. “Gotta go. Love you. Kiss Gemma for me.”
“Will do.” The call ended and I stood in the kitchen with a heavy heart, preparing myself for whatever happened next.
“Gemma, where are you?”
“I’m reading,” she called out.
“Don’t leave the house,” I called back.
“I won’t, I promise.”
I slipped out the back door just to let the mountain air dry my tears. To beg the universe for a forgiveness I wasn’t sure I deserved but desperately wanted. Several deep breaths later and I was as ready as I would ever be to face Pike and tell him the bad news.
“What’s wrong?” His deep voice startled me.
