Page 21 of Rough Ride

“Fuck that!” Kye yelled, and Eliana jumped as his outburst startled her. He crossed to her in two long strides and took her face in his hands. “You have no place on that wall. I’ll be dead before I see that happen.” She could only nod.

“What about the other women, though?” She tried to swallow her fear. “You can’t honestly think all of those women came willingly.” Kye stepped away from her and yanked his leather cut off, feeling his body growing hot.

His mind was replaying every scenario he could think of. When the bar had been built in the years before, Max had jokingly called it a harem once. The few times he’d been back at the warehouse during shipments, he’d seen trucks, trailers, semis, making drop-offs, but always in the back. Trucks like the one from earlier… always very late at night or early in the morning.

Kye had never worked bar shipments. That had been territory for the other Demons. Kye’s business was always overseas. Riggs specifically handled Jez’s.

That prick would blow my fortune on pussy and pills before the year closed out… Max had said. So Riggs would spend his money, not on purchasing prostitutes, but buying women?

Kye let out an angry yell and drove his fist into the wall. Eliana’s hand flew to her mouth, and Kye cursed before punching the wall again. The crunching sound of the wall breaking scared her, and she rushed toward him thinking he’d broken his hand. Instead, there was now a fist-sized hole in the wall.

“Stop!” she ordered and grabbed his hand that was red, and his knuckles were bleeding. He yanked his hand away, grabbed the edge of the dining room table, and flung it as though it weighed nothing. Papers and glasses went flying, and Eliana backed away. If Kye’s passion was magma, his temper was lava, and he was erupting in anger.

“Fuck! Fuck!” Kye shouted and buried both his hands in his hair. He kicked a chair for good measure before sinking to the floor with his back against the wall. Eliana slowly crossed to the freezer where she removed an icepack and knelt in front of Kye.

“Let me see,” she instructed gently, and he held his hand out without protest. Placing the cold pack on his swelling knuckles, she surveyed him. “You really didn’t know…”

“Of course not,” he snapped, his blue eyes as cold as the compress on his hand. “You really think I’d be okay with human trafficking? Kidnapping women? Raping them?”

“No,” Eliana admitted. “No, I know you wouldn’t. How could Max have kept it from you all these years?”

“That’s how he does things,” Kye said, and as his adrenaline faded the pain in his hand found him. “It’s how he’s kept himself in charge. When we recovered from the Defectors, he split his business into separate entities. The senior riders, the Four Horsemen, were each put in charge of a fragment. I dealt with guns and eventually overseas operations. It kept me busy. I barely know what the others do let alone how they do it. That’s the way Max likes it.”

“Then who? Who’s in charge of bringing women in?”

“It has to be Riggs. The guy you saw at Jez’s. He’s been managing the Screaming Demon headquarters for a few years now, so Max could be more hands-off. Fuck,” Kye cursed again and rapped his head against the wall.

“Stop,” Eliana said, placing her hand on his face. “Beating yourself up won’t help those women.”

“I’m not going to let that happen to you,” Kye said, taking her by the back of the neck so she was looking at him. She shrugged.

“How can you stop it, Kye?” she asked, her voice full of emotion. “It’s death or prostitution. I don’t seem to have a choice in either. Although if I have any say, I think I’ll take death.”

“You’re not going to die, and you’re not going to be whored out,” Kye said firmly. Eliana stood and took a few steps away from him. “I’ll keep you safe.”

“You know, you keep saying that,” she argued. “No offense, Kye, but you’re not doing a very good job so far. I mean, look around. Look at our situation. I’m royally fucked.”

“I know it seems like that, but you’re not,” he said, standing to his feet as well. “I spoke with Max and he confirmed, when he’s gone I’m stepping into his role. I inherit the Demons and that means I lay claim to all of the contracts and debts. I’ll have the power to dissolve your debt and I’ll get to the bottom of what Riggs has been up to. I’ll be able to end it all.”

“And how long will that take? Max is dying, but how quickly? A month? Six months? Years?”

“He didn’t say specifically, but the cancer has spread from his pancreas to his lungs. At the rate he’s drinking and smoking, it won’t be long,” Kye tried to reason. He hated it, but admitting out loud that Max was definitely dying, he felt a twinge of pain. Stifling it for Eliana’s sake, he kept his face expressionless.

“I can’t bet on that, Kye.” Eliana ran a hand through her hair. “I can’t have my life hanging on the possibility he’ll die before he collects. How long can I stretch this out? Work more cases? I don’t think so. You said yourself, Max is tying up loose ends. He knows he’s got one foot in the grave, and he’s not going to leave any business unfinished. How would that look for his reputation if he left outstanding debts? Am I wrong?”

“No,” Kye admitted. Eliana was right. Max was wrapping everything up. He was using Eliana to free as many of his men as he could, but when that was done or they hit a dead end, he’d collect on Eli.

Fuck her while you still can, he had advised. That wasn’t a suggestion— it was a threat. Max was going to kill her. Eliana could clearly see the shift in Kye’s expression as he came to the same firm resolution she had. Panic surged inside of her, and she felt herself start to sweat.

“I should have left,” she said, trembling. “I should have gotten in the car and just left while I could.” Now she was the one who was pacing.

“What are you talking about?” Kye asked as he watched her. She dug in her back pocket and held up a set of car keys. Patting his own pockets, he hadn’t realized she’d swiped them. His eyes narrowed.

“Eli, give those back,” he said, holding his hand out.

“No,” she protested flatly. Kye stepped toward her, and she stepped away.

“Don’t make me take them away from you,” he threatened, his previous coldness returning.