Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Rosalie came out of the toilet, her brow furrowed.
“Are you wishing you’d waited until we got to the clubhouse?” Colt asked.
“Ha, ha, very funny. Nah, it’s fine. I don’t know if it was the cleanest thing for me to do washing my hands.” She wiped her hands down her pants. “I feel like they need dipping in bleach or something.”
Colt chuckled and finished filling up his car. He rounded the car and pulled her in close. “Do you want me to go and get you one of those hand sterilizers?” he asked.
“Would you mind?”
“Not at all.”
She looked past his shoulder and he followed her gaze to see Petal and Gabrielle pulling into one of the parking bays at the back of the lot. Gabrielle climbed out of the passenger seat with Petal a few seconds later.
Rosalie chuckled. “I’m going to go and say hi to my mom.”
She walked several feet and as she did, the hairs on Colt’s neck seemed to stand straight. He turned in time to see the car traveling with speed, and he just knew, much like that day, that something bad was going to happen.
He reacted just as the first bullets tore through the garage. Screams soon followed and he wrapped his arms around Rosalie, taking her to the ground, aware that he was hurting her but he didn’t have the power to stop it. He didn’t have a fucking gun on him. It was in the glove compartment of his car.
Rosalie screamed and he held onto her, but he knew what she was screaming at. There were two other people at the gas station, both of which had been near the line of fire. Colt looked up and he saw it. Gabrielle was on the ground, as was Petal.
The firing stopped and he heard the car pulling away. He didn’t know who the target was, but he had a feeling he and Rosalie were meant to be the ones that fell.
“Get off me,” Rosalie said.
He felt her panic, heard it in the quiver of her voice. “Rosalie, stop it.”
“No, she’s not moving. They’re not moving, Colt!”
He heard the bikes and Colt kept a grip on her as he looked around the car, and saw it was his own men. The moment he saw the Satan’s Death Riders MC patch, he felt a huge swath of relief and as he did, he let Rosalie go.
She ran to Gabrielle and then looked toward Petal. Rosalie ran to her friend and he saw Petal moving. Warden was there, by his side, but Colt moved toward Rosalie. Petal was shot. It looked like a bullet had hit her abdomen and her shoulder.
Dirty picked her up and climbed into Petal’s car. “There’s no time.”
Rosalie had gone to her mother’s side. Gabrielle wasn’t moving. She sunk to her knees.
“Mom,” Rosalie said. “Mommy.”
He saw the tears streaming down her face, but he knew, as did Rosalie, that Gabrielle was dead. There was blood on the ground beneath her.
“Mom, come on, this isn’t funny.”
“Rosalie,” Warden said.
She rolled Gabrielle over and then it was clear, and he saw the panic take over.
“No, no, no, this can’t be happening. Mom, wake up! Stop doing this. Wake up.”
Colt moved to her.
“Rosalie, baby.”
She had pulled her mother onto her lap. “No, you can’t die. You can’t die. No. This can’t be happening!” she cried out and it was a noise filled with so much pain it hit Colt in the gut.
He sank down behind her, not caring that some of the guys from the club saw him do this. He wrapped his arms around Rosalie and she let out a scream. It was pure unfiltered pain as she realized her mother was dead. Gabrielle wasn’t coming back.
****
Colt was once again back in the hospital. Rosalie was curled up in Petal’s chair. He had to pry her off her dead mother so the ambulance crew could take Gabrielle away. Colt took care of the cops, along with his father. He’d wanted to take her home, but she had demanded she go to the hospital.
Petal was unconscious, hooked up to several tubes. Dirty had told him she was in a bad way. The brother looked distraught, and Colt didn’t have a clue what was going on there. Petal looked pale. He stood outside of Petal’s door, staring into the room. Kim was also inside the room.
He felt pain deep in his core.
“Son, how are you holding up?” Warden asked, coming to stand beside him.
“This was an Evil Fuckers hit,” he said.
“Yes.”
“They knew.”
“We believe someone was watching the hospital and followed you. The moment you hit the gas station, they were ready.”
“What were Petal and Gabrielle doing there?” Colt asked.
“They wanted to get some shit to decorate the club. They’d gone to the gas station as Petal needed some gas as well.”