Reign (Riders of Apollo #1)

Chapter 4: Roman Hayes

I see her before they do. She's on the hunt, for what I'm not sure. But her purposeful walk and regal posture suggests that she's already found it.

Lexie gets ready to call out to her when Peyton tackles a guy brutally. He smacks onto the ground and she wrestles him into handcuffs with a proud glint in her eye. 

God, she is stunning. 

She has my breath catching in my chest. She moved so effortlessly, with a grace that must've taken years to perfect.

Lexie heads over to her so, naturally, the rest of us follow. "Are you alright, Peyton?"

"Oh yeah, I'm great. Come on bud, the man's calling for ya." He tries to fight her grip and her muscles flex as she gets a better grasp on him.

"Please, I have money." He begs, continuing to wrestle against her and failing in his attempts. 

"You mistake me for someone who gives a shit." He wrestles even harder and Peyton rolls her eyes. "Right, it was lovely seeing you but I need to drop this guy off at the police station and get 20K transferred into my account." The little vixen basically drags him out, people watching in curiosity but not doing anything to stop her.

So, she's a bounty hunter. The title suits her I must admit. Her quiet strength and intelligence would provide the perfect foundation for such a job and she excels at it by the look of things. "Is she a bounty hunter?" Lexie asks and we all nod in reply, Gears looks impressed and seems even happier that his daughter has made such a formidable friend.

I flank Bear as we follow Lexie around the mall. We get a lot of looks, as we usually do. It's either lust for the cut or it's judgement for it, sometimes a combination of both. Brave women occasionally approach but when they realise how dangerous it is to stay they fuck off, the scared ones just pine for us from far away knowing that they couldn't handle the life. 

"Reign?" I look at my Prez as he calls upon me, he claps my shoulder and pulls me a little away from Lexie and Gears. "I need you to do a quick run for me." I nod immediately, I don't need to know the details to accept the mission, it is my job to take orders and not question them. "I need you to go and get my money out of Vic, he hasn't paid up for a loan I gave him three months ago. You know what to do if he doesn't have it."

I head off to my bike and smile as she growls under me. I rev her and startle a few old church biddies who tut at my cut. I salute them sarcastically which only annoys them more. 

It's a quick ride to Vic's house and I mount the steps, the door's locked so I knock it down. "Oi! Vic! I'm here for the money."

"Just fucking take it." He hisses. He's wearing a towel and revealing his torso which is flabby and pasty. His face is falling in on itself and he looks older than ever, he's only thirty yet he looks closer to fifty. I guess that's what happens when you smoke whatever you can get your hands on, even when you can't afford the stuff.

I nod and grab the bag, I check through it to see if it's everything and when I'm satisfied I head out. Just as I reach my bike, a gunshot rings out and I feel a sharp pain in my abdomen. 

Fuck these bastards. 

I would stay and fight the fuckers but since I'm too far away from the club to be able to make it there afterwards, I climb onto my bike and speed off.

I hold pressure and when I get to the club, I throw the bag on the bar and call for Doc. "He's away, remember? Shit, Reign! You're shot."

"Thanks for telling me, Rubble. Wouldn't have noticed otherwise."

"What happened?" Bear asks as Lexie starts to cry behind him. Lex is a very emotional person and I have known her for around ten years, watching her grow from a rebellious fourteen-year-old to the Queen in front of me. It's sweet of her to care but I doubt a poorly aimed bullet could kill me. 

"I got the money but as I was leaving the fucker shot me. Apparently Doc's not here." I groan again and grip the bar. I can't go to the fucking hospital because it's a gunshot wound and there will be too many questions.

"Lexie call Peyton. Her background check says that she has experience." Lexie gets to work and is able to force out a few words despite her hysterics, thankfully Peyton is able to understand and turns up within a few minutes.

"Clear the table!" Peyton shouts and I lay down on top of it. She opens her massive bag and digs around, without warning she drives a needle into my neck with a sexy smile to top it. "Sorry, love. It's just morphine to help the pain."

She drowns her hands in antiseptic before putting on her gloves. "Help me with the cut." They untangle me from the leather and she removes my shirt by cutting through it. Thank Apollo she didn't slice up my cut, I couldn't take it. Speaking of which, I now have a bullet hole in it which I don't fucking appreciate.

I get stabbed with another bastard needle and glare at the woman administering them without warning me. "Sorry, don't have time to warn you. You'll forgive me later." She's probably right about that, besides I'm grateful for her especially right now. It takes a little bit but she's able to get the bullet out after a little struggle. "It didn't hit anything important."

"I'd like to think I'm quite important." I hiss out and she chuckles at me.

"There we go!" She cheers as she finishes sewing up the hole, she quickly puts on some cream before some bandages and tapes that down.

"Is he alright?" Bear asks and Peyton removes her gloves. 

"He's fine, didn't hit anything vital. He got lucky." She pushes her hair away from her face and turns to Runner. "I think I'll take that drink now."

"What do you want?"

"Vodka."