Page 77 of Ride or Die

My pulse pounds in my ears. Where the fuck is he?

Ax looks like shit, and his fucking shirt is covered in blood.

Oh my god.

Daya runs to him and hugs him, but he’s focused on me, sadness and worry on his face.

I feel physically ill.

“Where is he?!” I shriek and run towards him. His mouth opens to speak, but he hesitates.

“Where is he?!” I shriek again, shoving his chest so hard he stumbles back. Axel puts his arms out towards me as he slowly approaches.

“There’s been an accident,” he says quietly. My heart stops. The world starts spinning, and I feel faint. I sit down on the ground before I pass out.

What happened to Colton?

CHAPTER

THIRTY-EIGHT

MEETING WILLIAMS

LAYLA

The streetlights zoom past as I stare out the window while we rush to see Colt. It’s pissing me off that Axel won’t tell me anything yet. The back seat is covered in blood, and the smell of copper makes me want to vomit. I’m twisting the fabric of my shirt into small sweaty mounds as we drive. I’m so nervous and scared to find out what happened.

“Why the fuck won’t you tell me anything, Axel?” I glare at him, but he still doesn’t respond.

“Axel!” I shriek.

“Goddamnit, Layla! I don’t know what's happening either, okay? I threw him in the back of the car and brought him here and he told me to come get you. We’re almost there, now can you fuck off?!” he yells, looking over at me with anger.

I can’t forget this is also his best friend, not just my boyfriend. He’s probably really worried about him too.

We pull up to these huge gates that lead to a mansion and my head whips over to Axel.

“What are we doing here?”

He keeps his eye on the driveway as he pulls through the massive front gates.

“This is Williams’ place. The guy we work for. He has an in-house doctor, does surgery and everything, so when shit like this happens, it’s not baited out by the hospital. It keeps us and Williams under the radar from the cops.”

“When shit like this happens? Meaning this is a regular occurrence?” I ask sharply, and Axel sighs.

“Listen, Williams is into a bunch of shit. It’s not just drivers that get hurt,” he says without divulging too much information.

I bite my cheek nervously. I’m finally going to meet this Williams fuck, and of all times, when my adrenaline is through the roof because Colt is hurt and I have no idea how badly. I hate this man for making him stay on for these jobs. This is how this happened.

Axel pulls the car up to the front of the colonial-style mansion, and we both get out. Two guards stand out front and nod at Axel as we walk past and in through the heavy wooden door.

Colt lives in a shithole, but this guy lives here?

Our footsteps echo around us as we enter the huge foyer. The staircase in front of us splits mid-way up to different wings upstairs. The home is dimly lit and sectioned off room by room. From here, we see the dining room to our left and the living room to the right. It's eerily quiet in this massive house.

A man in a gray suit bounces his way down the stairs. When he reaches the bottom step, he puts his arms out with a huge smile on his face. His carefree demeanor infuriates me.

“Axel! Welcome!” He’s a muscular man, his fitted suit accentuating it. He has graying salt-and-pepper hair, but he is attractive for his age.