Page 84 of Ruthless

Chapter 31

Ginger

I looked in the direction that the commotion was coming from to see several familiar faces piling into the house, guns drawn and shooting at anyone who moved, and everyone moved when the realization sank in that they were under attack. My gaze swung to Rebel. The sudden chaos caused the two men who were holding him to slacken their grip, and he used it to his advantage by jerking free. With a roar he charged toward us, knocking Rocky off of me and bringing him to the floor on the other side of the counter. I instantly rolled off the counter and moved out of the way, finding a corner to take cover in. Scooting down out of the way seemed like a good idea, considering the gunfire that was ricocheting all around us.

Rebel didn't give Rocky a chance to fight back, pounding his fists into him like rapid machine gun fire. It was clear by his savage expression that Rebel didn't intend to leave the other man alive. He was merciless in his attack, throwing punch after punch at Rocky's face and torso, not giving the man a chance to catch his breath in between hits. I was frozen, watching in shock. The man I loved had become a brutal monster, pummeling Rocky in a savage attack.

Gunfire continued to sound throughout the house. It became obvious that some of the fight had moved further back into different rooms. It didn't take long for the air to turn blue with smoke and fill with the acrid smell of sulfur, stinging my eyes. The shouts, screams, and threats being thrown back and forth between the two warring groups gradually lessoned, as did the gunfire. The unexpected sound of bikes revving up and taking off barely registered.

I remained where I was, too afraid to move, barely able to breathe. As the gunfire came to an end I was drawn back to the sight of Rebel and Rocky. Rocky had ceased to move or make any sounds. His face was a bloody mess, but still Rebel pounded him. Tears filled my eyes--not for Rocky's death, because it was clear that he was gone--but for Rebel. His expression was dark, savage, the look in his eyes wild and crazed. In a way he was gone, too, and all I knew was that I couldn't stand to let him continue beating a dead man. I crawled over to him, shaking wildly.

"Rebel--" I was afraid to touch him, afraid that he wouldn't know who I was and would turn his blind rage on me. He was in killer mode and clearly out of control. "Rebel." I glanced at his knuckles, wondering how much of the blood was from damage to his skin and how much was from Rocky's smashed face. With tears streaming down my face, I decided to try a different approach. "Michael, look at me. Please."

It was either my voice or the sound of his name that seemed to get through to him. His hits slowed down. He was breathing hard, I could see his chest moving fast to keep up. His focus was still on Rocky, but I could tell that he was trying to come back. I took a chance and reached out, placing my hand on his arm, feeling the bunched muscles there twitch. "Michael." He slowly turned his head toward me, his eyes dead in a face that was taut with emotion.

His gaze moved slowly over my face and then down my body. I could see the second his vision cleared and he was with me in the moment. I smiled shakily through my tears. He reached for me as he moved off of Rocky, pulling us both up against a cabinet. Suddenly I was on his lap and his arms were crushing me to him.

"Thank Christ, baby," he rasped above my head. "You're okay." He exhaled a loud sigh. A tremor racked his whole body. His heart was pounding rapidly beneath my ear. "That was too fucking close."

I knew how true his words were. As I basked in the warmth and safety of his embrace, I noticed that the shooting had completely stopped, the sounds of bullets replaced by the sounds of orders being shouted out by the remaining men. I thought it was odd that I couldn't hear any groaning or cries from the wounded, but I didn't question it. I was just thankful that it was over. I relaxed against Rebel. "Thank God you came when you did."

"You should have never been here. That's on me."

That was all he had time to say before Vinny came into the room. "You okay, honey?" He was talking to me, but I noticed that he refused to look at me.

I was thankful for his consideration, feeling exposed in my tattered clothing. "I'm good." My voice trembled. "Thank you for coming."

"You don't ever have to thank us, sweetheart," Tanner said as he walked into the room. Unlike Vinny, he didn't have any trouble looking down at us, but the look in his eyes remained respectful. "Here, one of the guys handed this over for you."

Rebel took the offered shirt and draped it over me. "Thanks, brother."

"Thank you."

Tanner gave me a wink before turning his attention back to Rebel. It was obvious that he wanted to say something to him, but seemed hesitant doing so with me there. Rebel made the decision for him. "It's okay. You can talk."

"A couple got away, one of them was wounded, shouldn't take Rod and Heath long to catch up to them."

"Any of ours hurt?" Rebel asked.

"Sully took a bullet to the leg, but it's not bad enough for the hospital. Ace got nicked, so did one of Vinny's guys. Nothing serious."

Thank God, I thought.

"What are you doing with the bodies?"

I winced and closed my eyes, trying not to envision how many there might be. They deserved to die for what they'd done, for what they'd intended to do to Rebel and me, but it didn't make it any easier to accept.

I heard Tanner snort, as if he’d found Rebel’s question funny. "There's an alligator infested lake behind the house." I felt Rebel nod his head in approval. "You need help getting out of here?"

"I want Ginger taken out of here in the truck?"

"No!" I looked up at him. "I want to stay with you. I'm okay to ride on your bike." After everything that had happened, I couldn't bear the thought of being apart from him any time soon. I shivered and buried my face against him.

"Baby, look at me." I didn't want to, because I knew that he was going to try and persuade me to leave him. "Trust me when I say that you don't want to be with me if the police stop us. I'm covered in blood that's not all mine, and you're half naked."

I didn't care. I didn't want to be separated from him. "I need to stay with you." I didn't care if it sounded like I was begging. "Michael, please . . ." I knew that I was hitting below the belt by using his name.

"Christ, baby." He buried his fingers in my hair and pulled my head back. "When you say my name like that--" He shook his head. "I can't deny you."

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