Riley (Shattered Souls MC 4)

“No, just trying to make some extra cash. I figure someone might need a ride,” he says.

I nod and open the back door. “Cool, I need a ride.”

He jumps in the driver's seat and turns to face me. “Where you going?”

I tell him the address and his eyebrows dip. Yeah, I’m sure it’s not normal for someone to ask for a ride to what I found out is a large open parking lot.

“My cousin is looking to buy the site and build on it,” I say, leaning back. “He wants my opinion.”

He nods and pulls out into traffic. “Oh cool. Where you from?”

“New York,” I lie.

“I always wanted to visit New York, just haven’t had the money,” he says.

Great of course I pick the driver that wants to talk. “Yeah, it’s the city that never sleeps.”

“What do you do?” he asks.

“I own a club.” It’s not a lie, I am part of Souls.

The entire drive he talks. I should be happy about the distraction, but I’m not. I want him to shut the hell up so I can think straight. I need to get the fuck out of here as fast as I got here.

We’ve already been in the car for over a half hour and I’m getting antsy. I’m fucking up here.

“You travel out here much?”

“Nah, I like being close to home.”

“Yeah, must make it easier since you own a club,” he says.

I grin, giving him a nod when he looks through the rearview mirror. “How much longer?”

“We’ll be there in less than five minutes.”

I stare out the window and as I tap my fingers against my thighs. I saw the shit that Zane and Kace went through to fight for their love. I witnessed the pain Brooks has been through after killing Gloria. I saw Porter go through a nasty divorce. I helped them all, but I’ve never asked for help when it came to a woman. I never got close enough to care. But now with Gillian, I’m doing shit I would never do. Risking my life in more ways than one to make sure she’s safe.

I now understand why they all went through the shit they did. Love makes you crazy.

“This is it,” the driver says, pulling my attention back to him.

I look out the window as we pull into the huge parking lot. It’s in the middle of nowhere and clearly the box truck sitting alone is fucking odd. It had to have attracted attention.

“Cool, my cousin is here,” I say when he stops the car.

I pay him and thank him for the ride. I don’t walk up to the truck until the Uber starts to pull away. He’s definitely not convinced I’ve told him the truth, but I’m sure he’s more worried about making money than what the fuck I’m up to.

I open the door to the truck and climb in. Just as agent fuckwad said, the keys are in the ignition. I start the truck and set the GPS on my phone to get me back home. I start to pull away and I realize I wasn’t ambushed yet so that’s a bonus. Although it’s a long fucking ride home, so I need to keep my focus sharp. The minute I’m distracted is when shit can go bad fast.

I fucking hope I make it home.

Eight hours and a pack of cigarettes later, I’m finally pulling into the abandoned warehouses. Agent douchebag is waiting for me and I purposely block his car in. He jumps out yelling for me to move it, but I ignore him and climb out.

“What the fuck?” he yells.

“Funny how you knew the exact time I’d be back,” I say, crossing my arms.

He shakes his head taking notice to how close the bumper of the truck is to his. “You need to move this thing.”