Page 50 of Taken By my Brothers' Best Friends

“If you ask me, the broken jaw will improve your personality. Once they wire your mouth shut, anyway.” I glared back at him and struggled against the ropes binding me to the chair. “Coward piece of shit. When my brothers find you, they’re going to skin you alive. You have no idea the hell coming your way.”

I was seeing inside the Mays’ operation and it was clear to me they weren’t ranching. There were several men inside the barn with us who appeared to be in a biker gang. Among them was the man who’d pulled me away from Morgan and then carried me into the barn. He looked dangerous and way more likely to be a bad guy than Michael Mays did, by far. I could see a gun on his hip and his dark eyes bore into me as he moved closer.

“Aren’t you hot in all that leather? I never did understand biker gangs. Is it the bike that makes you a bad guy or do bad guys just like bikes? Is it a chicken or the egg situation? And do you eat normal things like eggs while still pretending to be a badass? I can imagine you telling your momma you’d like your eggies scrambled while wearing leather chaps and big boots which look like they have heels. Are you secretly short? Who didn’t love you enough? How did you end up here? Your momma didn’t cook your eggs the way you wanted them, did she?”

The guy tilted his head as he stared at me. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t.

Michael Mays had snuck up on me while I was babbling from nervousness and he surprised me by gripping my face. He squeezed tightly until I looked up at him and then he roughly shook my head. “What is wrong with you? You’re staring death in the eyes and you’re bitching about what my men are wearing? Stop talking, you stupid little girl.”

Decades of Hellstone blood surged through my veins and before I could remember I was a lady, I spat at him. “Couldn’t cut it ranching? Is that why you turned to a life of crime? Well, guess what? You failed at ranching and it seems like you’re failing at crime, too. You couldn’t keep your men from running their mouths off in public. I wouldn’t be here if your jackass men weren’t blabbing. Maybe you should’ve toldthemto stop talking, you stupid little boy.”

His fist connecting with my face shouldn’t have been a surprise but it was. It flung me backwards and I screamed as my arms slammed into the ground first, as they were tied behind the chair. My shoulder felt like it was being ripped out of its socket and I couldn’t catch my breath from the pain. I stared up at the barn ceiling, watching the large ceiling fans lazily spin around and around.

“I hope your brothersdofind their way here. I’d love nothing more than to make them watch you die before I get rid of them, too. Jason would love a chance to knock them down a few pegs.” He stood over me, his smirk twisted more than usual at that angle. “Matter of fact… Morgan! Go get Jason from the main house.”

The dots began to connect from the night the whole mess had started. J was Jason, Michael’s oldest son. It seemed like the whole family was as bad as the Hellstone’s had always believed.

Another one of the bikers came into view as he bent down to pick me up. He gripped my shoulders once my chair was upright and bent his head closer to mine. “Learned your lesson yet?”

I hurt everywhere but I was stubborn. Or stupid. Either way, it wasn’t in my nature to shut up. “You never answered my question. The leather… Is it a mommy-issue thing?”

He let out a rough breath and lowered his voice. “Shut the fuck up if you want to get out of here.”

I tried to jerk my head around to face him but he suddenly gripped the back of my neck hard and kept me from it. When I tried to pull away from him, I noticed my wrists weren’t tied as tight as they had been. The fall had loosened them enough I thought I might’ve been able to get free.

“Ah. Seems my men like you, Vera Hellstone.” Michael shook his head at the man behind me. “You know Frank isn’t going to share.”

My heart sank lower than low. “What the hell does that mean? No one is sharing anything.”

“Great. Here comes Frank now.” Michael squatted in front of me and smiled. The deep lines around his mouth cracked with his dark delight. “You threatened my business. It’s unfortunate you were in the wrong place and the wrong time, but it is what it is. You see, the thing is, though, I don’t like killing women or children. Frank, though? Frank is a mean sonofabitch who does whatever I tell him to do and I think he’d take you out for free, even if I didn’t ask him to.”

I tore my gaze from Michael and spotted Frank. Everything in my existence went quiet as I realized Frank was the man I’d hogtied in my bathroom. He looked bigger than I remembered and a whole lot angrier.

“Yeah, as you can see, Frank isn’t a fan.” Michael let out a happy sounding laugh and patted my leg. “Good luck with him. He’s not happy with you.”

I knew without a question that if I didn’t take my chance to get away right then, I wouldn’t get away. I’d been silently trying to get my arms free and the moment I felt my first wrist slip free, Iacted. Calling on all the strength I had left in me, I rammed my head forward into Michael’s. The instant bolt of pain I felt was nothing compared to the satisfaction I felt at hearing Michael’s cry. I didn’t take time to enjoy his weak cry before I lunged out of the chair. Tripping over Michael, I struggled to my feet and took off towards the open barn doors.

Frank charged me but stopped when a loud commotion from outside caught his attention. I didn’t care what I was running into, though. Whatever was outside was better than what was in that barn. Night had fallen but it might as well have been broad daylight for all the lights blaring.

I saw the guns first. Pointed at me and ready to fire. Then I saw my brothers and my guys behind the guns, and knew I was safe. They were aiming behind me, at whoever dared chase me out of the barn. They’d come to save me and I was so relieved that all the pain I’d been feeling faded to the background. “Thank—”

“Drop your guns or I’ll shoot her in the fucking back.” Michael’s voice came out nasally and thicker than normal but the sound of a gun cocking behind me was the same as any other time. Loud and like a crack of thunder, it stopped me dead in my tracks.

Everything around me went still and in a moment of clarity I locked eyes with Mills and saw terror so clear in his gaze I knew I was as good as dead. I looked over at the three men I’d fallen for and felt a deep sense of regret. If I’d just stayed with them, everything would’ve been okay.

“If you so much as breathe in the direction of your trigger, I’ll put a bullet in your head.” Reed’s voice was dangerously low. “Get over here, Vera. Walk this way.”

“She moves and she’s dead!” Sheriff Morgan had returned from fetching Jason and while I couldn’t see him, I could tell hewas somewhere behind Michael. “This doesn’t end well for your boys.”

Tears spilled down my cheeks. I’d almost made it to freedom. I was so close to my guys. I closed my eyes and balled my hands into fists as I waited to hear the shot ring out. True to myself until the very end, though, I couldn’t help opening my mouth one last time. “At least I’m not dying a virgin, right?”

“Put your fucking guns down!”

“FBI!”

“DEA!”

“The fuck? ATF!”

---