Page 30 of Ryder

“The time for talkin’ is over,” Hawke mumbled loud enough for the two men to hear.

The crunch of bone had the man screaming once again, the look on Cutter’s face stoic . . . and a bit unnerving. Once his thumb had been severed, the man passed out. It was the only time Cutter smirked.

Knowing he was up next, the man who’d attacked Braylen smiled, although there was a fleeting look of fear that passed over him as his eyes flitted to each of us. He completely ignored his buddy, instead choosing to try and intimidate us with his lack of fear. Little did he know that Hawke and I had something special planned for him.

I’d snapped pics of both of them and sent them to Marek, asking him to show them to Braylen, Adelaide, and Sully. I was still waiting for a response when Jagger spoke up.

“Listen, as much as I’d love to hang out and see these two take their last breath, I wanna get back. Do you need me for anything?”

“I think we’re good,” I said. “Take my bike. We’re definitely gonna need the cage to get rid of ’em.”

“I’m gonna go too,” Tripp announced. “I need to make sure this whole thing isn’t stressing Reece out too much. Don’t want anything to happen to her or the baby.”

“You can take my bike,” Hawke said to his brother. “But if you do anything to it, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“You’d like to think you can,” the nomad responded, snatching Hawke’s keys midair before giving him the finger. Jagger and Tripp ascended the basement steps, leaving Cutter, Breck, Hawke and me to take care of the two Reapers. The guy who’d passed out was slowly coming to, and as soon as his eyes finally focused, his body started trembling.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Breck barked. “I can’t take this guy anymore.” Before any of us could stop him, he pulled his gun from his waistband, pointed it at the guy’s chest and pulled the trigger. Perfect aim. Right to his heart. The man slumped over as blood coated his shirt, his cut hanging open so we could all see the fatal damage Breck had caused.

My hands flew to my ears. “Goddamnit! You could’ve warned us,” I roared. “My fuckin’ ears are ringin’” To say I was pissed was an understatement, but it wasn’t me who shoved Breck. It was his father.

“What were you thinkin’?” Cutter asked.

“What’s the big deal? The room is soundproof.”

“Yeah, but it’s not idiot-proof,” Hawke retorted, wiggling his finger in his ear while throwing Breck a nasty look.

“I don’t wanna be here all night,” Breck continued. “We snatched these two, now let’s just kill ’em. Get it over with.” Tossing his gun on the metal tray in the corner, he stared at his father, then looked to Hawke and me. “What?” He threw his hands up in frustration.

“Cutter, maybe you and Breck should go. We’ll take care of these two,” I said, knowing damn well it was gonna come down to Hawke and me finally ending the lone Reaper’s life.

A hesitant look flashed across Cutter’s face.

“Are you sure?” He reached for a rag and wiped some of the blood from his hands.

“Yeah, we got it,” I replied, glancing to Hawke before turning back to father and son.

“Okay. We’ll see ya back at the clubhouse.”

Cutter had driven his truck to meet Breck at the Overbrook, so that was what they took back with them. As soon as we heard the squeak of the garage door, Hawke and I stood in front of the Reaper, feet spread wide and our hands resting in front of us.

“Then there was one,” Hawke uttered, rolling his shoulders and fisting his hands. “You know we’re gonna fuck you up, don’t ya?” Hawke asked, landing a punch to the Reaper’s ribs, knocking the breath from him before taking a step back.

It was then my phone dinged, and I hoped and feared it was the answer I’d been waiting for. Opening the screen, I saw the reply from Marek. He said that while Adelaide and Sully didn’t recognize him, Braylen did. Closing my eyes and desperately trying to gain some sort of control, I took a deep breath, but it was useless.

No words were spoken as I landed a few quick jabs to his face before turning to face Hawke. “It’s him,” I confirmed. “Braylen identified him from the pic I sent Marek.” I knew in my gut he was also the one who’d raped Edana, the description on point from what Hawke had told me.

The next few minutes were a blur of Hawke and me going at him, one after the other, until he was covered in blood and air barely filled his lungs. Only when we took a quick reprieve did he attempt to goad us.

“B . . . big tough guys,” he gasped. “Un . . . untie me. Then we . . . we’ll see.” The enemy bargained for freedom but he wasn’t gonna get it. It wasn’t about beating on a man who was tied up, his hands and feet restrained so he couldn’t fight back. Under other circumstances, we would’ve gladly released him, given him the chance to defend himself. But he lost that privilege when he raped Edana and attacked Braylen. They were defenseless. Helpless. But that didn’t stophim.

“If we released you, it’d be over too soon,” I taunted. “And we wanna have our fun.”

Blood spilled from his mouth when he coughed, the grimace on his face indicating we’d broken some of his ribs. However, his injuries didn’t stop him from further sealing his fate.

“The kind of fun I had with your wo . . . woman?” His head lolled but he kept eye contact with me briefly before glaring at Hawke. “But I gotta say . . . I prefer the sweet taste of redheads.” The evil smirk that appeared on his ugly-ass face sparked the simmering rage rattling around inside Hawke.

He lost it.

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