Page 109 of Bullet

I gasped, pain knifing through my chest. A wave of emotions nearly took me to my knees.

Bullet lay crumbled on the floor. He was motionless. Blood smeared across the side of his face and soaked the front of his brutally beaten chest. Blood oozed from where they’d ripped the piercing from his nipple. His cut had been stripped from his body. Oneof Emerson’s men wiped blood from his knuckles with the leather.

Bile welled in my throat. I swallowed hard, but the rancid taste of terror lingered. “What have you done?”

“Where is that loyalty you spoke of? Your first concern is for your lover.”

“This wasn’t about him.” I tried to keep my attention on the men in the room, but I was desperate to see movement from Bullet. A slight lifting of his torso with a breath, a twitch from hearing my voice, even a moan to know that he was still with me—that we were fighting together.

“No, this is about you. You did this. You made me come after you.” With a sneer on his lips, he took a step toward me. “Four months, and I barely recognize you.”

“I’m not the same person.” Because Bullet had made me brave, even when terrified to the core.

“Pity. The girl I remember was perfect.”

“But that’s the problem. You destroyed the young girl with dreams and ambition. Now, I’m a woman, and I won’t be so easily manipulated.”

“You’re his whore. Mars found you in a fucking strip club, spreading your legs for money.”

“I’ve done worse. I spread my legs for you,” I cried. “I gave up everything for you.”

“You gave up nothing. I saved you.”

“From what? The same life you give to those girls? What was different about me? Don’t tell me it was love because we both know you killed any love that could’ve been between us.”

“You were beautiful, talented, and innocent.”

“Not anymore.”

He clenched his jaw, and veins pulsed in his temple. “You are still mine.”

“No. Not anymore.”

“You belong to me,” he roared. “I’ll break every bone in his hand for defiling you. Before I’m finished with him, he’ll regret ever knowing your name.”

“You are finished.” I lifted the gun.

Emerson laughed. “I’m just getting started.” He grabbed a weapon from the table and pointed it at Bullet. “Give me your gun. Now, Madison. Or I’ll kill him.”

Pressure in my chest coiled tighter and tighter. Tension saturated the air. My finger slipped onto the trigger, and I fired.

Bullet

A deafening blast rattled my brain. Pain seared through my flesh and deep into my bones. The concrete floor felt cold beneath my cheek. My arms and legs were numb, and my face throbbed with the beat of my heart.

I willed my eyes open. I’d been in some fucked up fights, but I was usually on my feet and able to defend myself. I wasn’t sure where Barras had taken me. I’d lost consciousness several times while Mars and his friend kicked the shit out of my ribs.

Stormy called to me again. This time she wasn’t whispering her regrets. There were no tears in her voice. She was screaming.

“Stay back and stay away from Bullet.”

She was here. I focused, willing my body to move. Voices cut through the fog of unconsciousness. The horrified glint in her eyes revealed more than the throb in my face and the sting of my cut lips. The copper taste of blood coated my tongue and lingered in my mouth. I was a fucking mess.

“Madison, put the gun down,” Barras demanded.

“Why? So you can kill me after you kill Bullet?”

Yeah, that was my girl. Disobedient as fuck and feisty.

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