My stomach turned over, and I pushed my plate of pizza away, no longer hungry. Hearing Ghost say what I already knew made it real. I was fucked.
“Knight’s in real trouble,” Matteo said. “We have to think about what’s best for him.”
I held Matteo’s gaze. “I’m not leaving.”
“What other options do you have?” Matteo asked.
“To fight.”
Matteo shook his head. “That’s suicide, isn’t it?”
I seesawed my hand. “I’ve got a shot of surviving if I go to them and ask to be jumped out.”
“What is that?” Joyride asked.
“The gang beats the shit out of him in a massive assault and leaves him to die,” Ghost said. “If he survives, he’s free.”
“That’s way too risky,” Matteo said. “They could kill you, Knight.”
“I know.” I looked around the room at the guys. “But if I leave, I’m letting them win, and I’m done letting the Serpents dictate my life.”
Matteo looked unhappy, but he moved the meeting along to other topics. Joyride had finally gotten a job at Griddle,the diner where Dalton had taken him the night he got into trouble. Ghost was doing well at the junkyard, though his living situation was in flux. Apparently, his neighbors were driving him batty and his lease was nearly up, but he wasn’t sure he could afford to move. Hollywood was still working at the barbershop and taking night school classes to get properly licensed.
The meeting wrapped up, and I slid out of the booth.
Ghost intercepted me. “Knight, sorry. I don’t want you to leave.”
“I know.”
“This is serious,” he said, eyes intently boring into mine. “If you stay?—”
“I know,” I said.
“We’ll have your back,” Joyride said. “Right, guys? Isn’t that what Knight would do for all of you?”
Joyride was young, and compared to the other guys in Redemption Road, he was naive. He didn’t know what he was signing up for.
I shook my head. “I can’t ask anyone to stick their neck out for me.”
“You did it for me,” Tex said.
“No more trouble with your sister’s ex?”
“Nope. Your threat worked.” He smirked. “Plus, I paid a few bikers in town to roll by his house and workplace periodically. He’s stayed far from my sister ever since.”
Joyride laughed. “That’s genius, man. I bet he’s shitting his pants.”
As someone who got the shit kicked out of him by the Serpents, I couldn’t really blame him. I’d used the threat as the only leverage I had to help Tex. But now I couldn’t help feeling like I’d summoned them back into my life. Maybe itwas karma that they’d shown up only a couple of days later to jump me.
“If we can help, we will,” Ghost said.
“We’ll escort you place to place,” Hollywood said. “Be your personal bodyguards.”
“What that pretty face?” Tex joked, earning a glare. He raised his hands. “Holly’s right. I don’t have to guard my sister now, so I’ve got some free time.”
“Thanks, but no,” I said. “That would just get more people hurt.”
“But you can’t just face it all on your own,” Joyride argued.