Chapter 29

TWENTY-NINE

GNAW

The moment Lonerthrows Kyle across the living room, I know without a doubt that this man is a fucking traitor. And when his eyes meet mine, I hear him hiss, "What the fuck?"

Yeah.

What the fuck is right.

Because I have my arm lifted, the barrel of my gun pointed directly at his fucking face. I'm going to blow his head off when I'm done extracting information from this piece of shit. He has the nerve to look not only shocked but he also smiles at me.

"I'm so glad you're here. I came as backup," he lies.

Arching a brow, I snort, but it's Atomic who speaks first. "You're a liar, you're a coward, and you've been trying to sell us out to the fucking Southern Mafia," he growls.

Loner shakes his head, and I watch as nothing but pure panic crosses his features. I almost laugh, but I don't because he kidnapped my woman and literally threw her across the fucking room like she was a goddamn rag doll. He dies just for that act alone.

"I'm not," he whispers.

"Do you think I'm that stupid?" Atomic asks. "Gnaw answered Talon's fucking phone, and Talon is dead."

Loner's eyes widen. I can tell he's trying really hard to come up with something we'll buy, considering all of the Southern Mafia members that we know about are dead, killed by us, and the whores are getting ready to be handed off to Talon's grandfather as a show of good faith, along with Talon's body.

"You better tell us what the fuck you know," I grind out. "There is no hope for you."

Loner's gaze flicks down to Kyle, who is still on the floor, then slowly slides up to meet mine. He doesn't say anything. Instead, he watches me, and the wheels continue to turn, but I know he realizes he is, without a doubt, fucked.

"All I did was report to them your moves," he eventually states.

"Why?" Atomic asks.

Loner shifts from one foot to the other, then clears his throat. "They offered me money, my own bitch, and a high position."

I snort. The whole thing is fucking ridiculous. "You make money with us, you have your pick of clubwhores, and you can work your way up to a higher position. That's not fucking good enough to betray your family."

"Family?" he asks. "Is that what you are?"

My eyes widen at his angry tone. I've never heard him pissed off before, let alone talk to any of us that way. He was brought in as a prospect three years ago, and he's been part of the club for two. His name is Loner because that's what he is, but he always seemed like a good dude.

"Albert got the next flight out. He'll be here in a couple hours," Nash announces as he walks into the room.

"You're not my family. Talon is," Loner growls, almost as if something has snapped inside of him. A second wind of fiery anger that is flowing through him.

It hits me that this wasn't something that just happened. "We researched you," I murmur. "Are you related to him?"

Loner laughs. "You researched a person who was created. I'm Talon's brother."

"Fuck," I grind out.

I lower my gun. I can't kill him, not with Albert on his way.

Nash has been in and out, busy making calls to get a refrigerated truck here to hold this fucking body for Albert. But he walked inside at the right time to hear Loner announce that he's Talon's fucking brother. "Tie him up," he barks.

"So, he didn't promise you shit," King growls.

"Oh, he did, but it was mine anyway."

"Why even lie?" King asks.

Loner shrugs his shoulder as if he's almost bored by all of this. In the least, he's fucking unbothered, and that pisses me off before he even says what he's about to say, which I'm sure is just going to annoy me more.

"My grandfather is coming. You would have found out eventually."

Call me fucking annoyed.

What a fucking asshole and piece of shit.

Instead of telling him that's what he is, I stay silent. It's Nash who speaks, which I'm good with. He's usually the most levelheaded one of the group, considering he's been at this a hell of a long time, but the way he has his jaw clenched, I wonder if Nash should be making these calls.

Then he takes a step forward, leans in slightly, and grins. He fucking grins, and that shit is scary as fuck. Then he lets out a chuckle and turns his head, looking at King. "Load his ass up in the truck when it gets here."

King's lips curve up into his own grin at Nash's words. I'm a bit confused, not sure what he's talking about and why they're both grinning like fools, but then it hits me. They're going to put Loner in the refrigerated truck until his grandfather arrives. I mean, it will probably be less than twenty-four hours, but still. That's fucked. Which also makes me smile.

Loner's expression doesn't change. He clearly thinks he'll come out as the victor in all of this, but I'm pretty sure he's not going to come out of it alive, let alone a victor in any sense of the word.

Nash's men rush Loner, and within seconds, he's bound and tossed next to his brother's dead body. He screams the entire time. And I watch, tilting my head to the side for a moment, feeling extremely humored by the fact that this little asshole, both little assholes, thought they would best the entire Dark Horse MC.

It's comical, really.

Turning my back to him, I move toward Kyle, who is still on the floor. Crouching down in front of her, I cup her cheek. She lifts her head, her eyes find mine, and her lips curve up into a small smile.

"Are you okay, baby?" I ask.

"I'm okay," she exhales, giving me a sad smile.

Shaking my head once, I clear my throat. "No, you're not," I state. "Fuck, I fucked up. This is why I don't deserve a damn thing about you, Kyle."

"It's not your fault."

I snort, slipping my arms beneath her and picking her up. Wordlessly, I walk out of the house and head straight for my motorcycle. I know that my brothers are going to deal with Talon and Loner.

My other brothers have the girls handled, and Sal and Dennis are safe. Dennis only has information because he overheard it. He wasn't involved at all. That makes me feel better about him working so closely together with Kyle.

But Xavier is waiting for me. He can wait until I'm ready for him. I'm going to take my time with him, but first, I need to ensure that Kyle is safe and protected… again.

I fucking failed her, failed my woman. I'm not sure how I'll ever make it up to her. I don't think it's possible, but I'm going to try. And the first attempt is going to be kissing every square inch of her body and making her come at least twice tonight… then every night until the day I die.

KYLE

Rider picksme up and carries me out of the gorgeous house and toward a motorcycle. He places me on the back, then climbs in front of me… all wordlessly. The engine comes to life with a roar, and what feels like seconds later, we're flying back toward Pineville.

The only reason that I know we"re heading back toward Pineville is that it's the direction we came from. It's beautiful, and I feel safe and warm with my arms wrapped around his waist. I never in my life imagined that this would be how things with Xavier would go.

I know that all of this has to do with him, too. I'm not sure if he was always with Talon, but it's clear that he was involved with them in some capacity. I don't even know exactly what Talon and his men were doing, what Xavier was doing, but what I do know is that they're horrible humans. I could see it in their eyes, in their faces.

Horrible.

Humans.

After about an hour of riding, I see all the familiar sights of Pineville in front of me. I can't wait. I just want to breathe again. I expect him to take me straight to their hangout, the brick building with the bar, but he doesn't.

A few moments later, we ride up to the motel. Rider parks his bike right next to my car, and I let out a sigh of relief. He kills the engine and holds out his hand so I can climb off. I'm wearing the same oversized sweats and tee from earlier and the same sneakers, too.

I know I have to look like a whole mess, but when he turns his head, his eyes find mine, and he grins. "Fuck me, but you're the sexiest thing I've ever laid eyes on, Kyle."

"I'm wearing your clothes, and they're huge on me," I point out.

He laughs. "Baby, that is not a bad thing in my eyes. You are sexy as fuck. Now, I'm going to go to your room and wait for you. But I want you to go and talk to Ophelia. She's watching you, and I would guess she is about to lose her goddamn mind wondering where you've been."

Giving him a smile, I dip my chin, then turn and walk toward the front desk. I don't ask Rider if he has a key to my room. I assume he has mine. I don't know why or how he got it, but this is a man who always has what he needs when he needs it.

And if he doesn't, then he figures out how to get ahold of whatever it is.

Opening the door to the front office, I smile at the sight of Ophelia sitting behind the counter. Her eyes widen at the sight of me, then her lips curve up, and she's around the desk with her arms around me in the next second.

"I've been so worried about you. I heard about you being kidnapped or something. Sal's has been closed. It's been all over town," she hisses against the shell of my ear.

"I'm okay," I say without giving her any details.

She takes a step backward, gripping my biceps as she does. Her nails dig slightly into my arms as her eyes search mine for a moment. "You're not okay," she states. "What you've been through, it's traumatizing."

"I wasn't hurt," I murmur.

She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter," she snaps. "Getting kidnapped is traumatizing. You were taken without any clue of what would happen to you. I honestly don't know how you're standing right here in front of me."

She's rambling, probably something she does when she gets nervous. It's cute. I give her a small smile. I don't dare tell her that I was actually kidnapped twice. I don't think she could handle it.

Ophelia clears her throat, and her lips twitch into a smirk. "Although, I guess if you were to be taken, having that man beside you would make for a nice recovery."

Turning my head, I look over my shoulder to see Rider standing at the motel room door, leaning against the jamb. His arms are crossed over his chest. His eyes find mine, and he's wearing a smirk on his lips.

Hot.

He looks like sex on a stick.

"It does make things easier," I whisper.

Ophelia laughs softly. "Go to your man. We'll have breakfast tomorrow morning, catch up," she whispers.

I give her a whispered, "Okay," then, as if I'm in a trance, without taking my eyes off of him, I walk straight for Rider. He doesn't move, his gaze focused on me and only me. I'm not sure there is anything else in this world right now. If there is, I can't hear or see anything.

As soon as I'm close enough, he reaches down and wraps his arms around me before he picks me up and backs into the motel room. With his boot, he kicks the door slammed shut and carries me straight to the bed.

Slowly, he lays me down, his body above mine, his eyes on my own. "Kyle," he rasps.

"Rider," I respond.

He chuckles. "Fuck me, baby. I have a hell of a lot to make up to you. To prove to you that I can be the man you deserve."

Before I can respond, his mouth slams down against mine—he kisses me. It's hard and wet, his tongue slipping into my mouth, swirling and tasting every inch of me. It's heaven and perfection all at the same time.