I hurried behind the bar. I grabbed a stack of dish towels and raced around the bar to the pool table. I dropped them on Ryley’s chest. I felt his fingers twitch and touch me, leaving blood on my wrist.
“Pressure!” Rocco bellowed. “Get him covered up. We have to get him to the hospital and patched up.”
“What about me?” Mays asked as he held his shoulder.
“Say one more thing and you’ll get a bullet to the forehead,” Rocco warned.
I grabbed a towel and tossed it to Mays. “Here. Stuff that in your mouth.”
Everyone chuckled.
They all looked at me.
I realized how dangerous it was. All these men with no care for women or the law. I was in too deep. And I couldn’t just walk away either. It wasn’t that easy.
The only way to get away was to have an escape plan.
Rocco came rushing toward me. His hands grabbed my waist and he lifted me up. I started to claw at his hands and kick. He tossed me like a rag doll and I fell to the floor.
He looked down at me. “If I wanted to fucking hold you down and tear up that cunt, I would. Don’t fuck with me.”
I kicked back and sat there, catching my breath.
I slowly climbed to my feet as the guys all tried to work on Ryley.
Everyone was talking at once. Even Mays got back into the picture, still holding the towel to his shoulder.
Finally, Rocco told everyone to fuck off. They all backed away. He looked around the clubhouse, stopping at me.
“You. You’re the driver.”
“What?”
“Take him to the hospital.”
I shook my head again. Rocco showed me his gun. “Don’t make me.”
“And what am I supposed to do?”
“You drive your car with him in the backseat. Take him to the emergency room and drive the hell away. Anyone asks you a thing, you keep it simple. Tell them you saw him in an alley.” Rocco then looked down at Ryley. “You with me, man?”
“Yeah,” Ryley groaned.
“You tell them it was a drive by deal. Two black cars circled a few times. Tinted windows, two doors, you know the picture I’m painting here. I don’t want any heat on us or the ones who actually did this. Got that?”
“Got it,” Ryley said.
“Gunner, Daxton, get him into the bitch’s car.”
I guess that meant I was the bitch.
I followed the scene outside and watched as they tossed Ryley into the backseat. He was pale, sweating, and it was pretty clear he was afraid to die.
As I walked toward the driver’s side, I felt someone grab my arm and spin me right the hell around. Next thing I knew, I was against my own car, Daxton an inch away. His eyes were beady and mean.
“Don’t fuck this up,” he said. “It’ll be your ass that ends up there next. Except, it’ll be in the morgue.”
How romantic.
“I’ll be back soon,” I said.
I climbed into the car and started to drive away. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the guys standing there staring at my car. It was a horrifying sight for me. I had never intended my life to end up like it was. I just wanted to be safe and have a chance to make some money and survive.
Yet everything seemed fitting in that moment - a bleeding man in my backseat and some scary bikers watching me leave. The truth was that I could dump off Ryley and then just keep going. I had some money saved up… well, the money that Daxton hadn’t taken yet. I had wanted to just get to New York to stay with a friend. She lived a normal life. A good life. Hell, if I showed up I don’t know what she would do. We were friends and then we both chose different paths.
“Drive faster, bitch,” Ryley groaned.
I slammed on the brakes and Ryley rolled forward into the seats. He let out a scream.
“Whoops,” I said. I looked in the mirror and saw his white face. “Call me a bitch again.”
Ryley showed his teeth. “I’ll have you killed.”
“Fuck off,” I whispered.
I drove Ryley to the emergency room doors and got out of the car. I opened the back passenger door and waved at Ryley. Ryley fought to climb out of the car on his own, sweating and looking more and more pale with each passing second. I offered my hands to help him and he swatted me away. He took a step and collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood.
“Ryley,” I said. “Let me get someone.”
“No. No witnesses and names. Get the fuck out of here.”
Ryley started to crawl. It was kind of pathetic to watch. I didn’t have much choice but to get back in the car and drive the hell out of there. If not, then I’d be pulled into this mess. I could lie to a nurse or a doctor but not if the cops showed up. And if I did anything wrong against the MC, they’d have me killed in a second. I would simply disappear and the truth was that nobody would give a damn. Nobody would come looking for me. The police would give a shit for ten minutes and then move on to something more important.
So I got back into my car and sped away.
When I made the turn that would take Ryley out of view, I checked back again. He was still crawling, desperate to get medical attention.
That was the life they lived.
And it was also the life I lived…