Page 65 of Hell Bent

As Jerome made his way toward the exit, Vicious slowly tracked him through the barn. Other men shoved and hithim. The popping sound of gunfire landed him face down mere inches from the door.

Vicious stood over Jerome as the guy writhed in pain. “Say goodbye, Jerome.”

“No!”

Vicious pulled the trigger, ending Jerome Michel’s life. Everything was silent. No music. No cheering. No anger. He was calm. Tired. Turning from the body, he handed the gun to Jagger, who he knew would take it apart and melt it down. His brothers were already taking care of the bodies, then Truck would clean the place on the off-chance someone came snooping around.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The events of the night before lingered on his mind. Vicious wasn’t one to take a life without cause. Jerome, Dawson, and who he later learned was Clay needed to be put down for what they had done to Sway. Thinking about Sway, he desperately wanted to hear her voice. Even if things ended, he needed to know she would be okay.

Teller stepped inside the room where Vicious was packing his bag. After the evening’s events, they had all come back to the clubhouse. Vicious had disappeared into his room while the rest of the boys partied it up. The entire thing was to have an unmovable alibi for everyone. Not that anyone would ever find the bodies, but still, they wanted all bases covered.

Noise behind him had Teller glancing at the door. Leaning against the doorjamb was Sway. He struggled not to smile. The woman was one hell of an ol’ lady, even if she didn’t know it. For a woman to go through what she’d endured and still hold herself tight, that shit spoke volumes. Nodding for her to come in the room, he watched hershove off the door. Holding his finger to his lips, he let her know to remain silent.

“Vicious, are we stopping off at Sway’s?”

Vicious grunted, “She’s done with me.”

“Am I now? Funny, I thought we were in it for the long haul.” Sway watched Vicious spin around. She almost moved to him, but when he winced, she stayed put. “Are we done, Vicious?” Sway was struggling to keep her shit together when all she wanted to do was run into his arms.

“Sway.” His eyes bounced from her to his President. “Teller?”

Teller laughed at the expression on his brother’s face. “Did you think we left her swinging in the wind?” Shaking his head, Teller leaned in and kissed Sway’s cheek. “Take care of his ass, little sister.” He left the room, snickering to himself.

When it was just her and Vicious standing silently in the room, she raked her eyes over her man. Sighing, Sway shook her head at him. For a man normally with a lot to say, he seemed speechless. “Did you or did you not tell me I belonged to you?” She took a step closer to him.

“I did.”

“Are you sure? Because I thought I was since the first time you looked up at me from between my damn thighs.” She cocked a look at him. If he forgot that night, she’d have to remind him.

“I remember everything about that night. I remember your taste, and the feel of your pussy gripping my cock.”

There was her crude man. “I love when you talk dirty to me.”

“You think that’s dirty? Baby, wait until I get you home.”

“What are you waiting for? There’s a bed right here.” She saw the change in his expression and it wasn’t one she liked. “Where’s your head at, Vicious?” Sway watched him close the distance between them.

“I need to see you.”

She hadn’t given her wounds a thought when she headed to the clubhouse. She had been so excited when Teller told her she was going to see Vicious. Of course, he’d want to see what they’d done to her. Would he still want her? “Can we do that at home?”

“I need to know.”

Sway lifted her head. “I . . .” Squaring her shoulders, she would own what happened to her so it would never happen again. She fought for her life and for his. If he couldn’t love her through this, he wouldn’t love her at all. “I don’t know how many or who. I was doped and unconscious for most of it. I don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse. What I can tell you is that I fought. Every conscious second, I fought them.”

Vicious stared into her eyes and saw she was being brave. Brave for herself, and even more so, brave for him. “It doesn’t change anything between us.”

Teller had told him everything that had been done to Sway. He blamed himself for what she’d been through. If he would have left her alone, maybe they wouldn’t have taken her. “I wanted to see if you were healing. Your chest . . .”

He wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. There had been so much blood loss, then he woke up in the hospital without her.

Sway lifted her sweater so he could see the bandages that covered her from the centre of her chest to a few inches above her belly button. “I get the stitches out in a few weeks.”

There were other marks she had an idea about. They were small slashes on the inside of her thigh resembling a tally count. There was no reason to bring those up at the moment. It would all be talked about later. Much later.

Dropping her shirt, she could see the struggle in Vicious. He was battling his own demons over what had happened to her. Touching her hand to his cheek, Sway wanted him to know she didn’t blame him. “Vicious, nothing that happened was your fault.”

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