Page 41 of Butcher

“I need to speak to your...Uncle Butcher,” I told them.

“Okay!” they chorused and ran off to get into some kind of mischief.

Walking over to the men in the corner, I hesitated, not wanting to interrupt, but knowing I needed to. Butcher motioned for me to come closer as the guys all focused on me.

“We should go after Randal,” I told them. “If we kill him maybe we can put a stop to this.”

“Wouldn’t his employers still send more people after us?” Lockout asked.

He was right. I was just hoping, for these people’s sake, that we could finish this quickly. “Probably,” I admitted, “but maybe he can tell us who he works for, if nothing else.”

“You know where he is?” Hush asked.

“I know where his office is. Or where I met him anyway.” My eyes locked onto Butcher’s and one side of his mouth tipped up in a small, encouraging grin.

“Worth a shot,” Butcher told the group.

“Yeah, it is. Static, Idaho, you’ll stay here, help Bear, Mel, and Dash watch over the clubhouse,” Lockout ordered.

“We’re going to need all the help we can get soon,” Toxic told him.

“I already called Cypher.”

Everyone nodded and then broke up on some silent cue from their president that I didn’t catch. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask who Cypher was. These guys had so many alliances, so many connections that I realized most of the time they were fighting with one hand tied behind their back. If they really wanted they could call upon a small army and take over the whole damn city. But Butcher had explained earlier that, for one reason or another, they weren’t willing to drag other people into their fights. They would only use their allies when they absolutely had to, and only those who were still in the life and didn’t mind getting their hands dirty.

Butcher came over to me, his hand wrapping around the back of my neck. “Thanks.”

“For what?” I asked, trying not to melt into his touch. As much as it pained me to, I was going to have to cut off sex. There was no way Icould keep things casual with him. Not if he was affecting me like this after only a couple days.

If I let this continue the way it was going I’d be pregnant by the end of the week, and possibly on purpose. It wasn’t like he was remembering a damn condom—and my brain short-circuited every time he touched me—and I couldn’t just pop out to the store to get anything to help either. I wasn’t exactly a captive anymore, but he certainly didn’t seem to want me going anywhere. Then there were those pesky co-workers of mine who wanted me dead.

“For helping us.”

I laughed and shook my head. “You’re helping me, remember?”

“It’s just nice to see you fully on board.”

“You guys aren’t trying to kill me,” I said with a shrug, trying to downplay everything. This kind of thing always made me uncomfortable. It probably had something to do with being raised by a useless mother and a mean witch of a grandmother. I’d learned a few of my torture techniques from my grandmother in fact. Still used them to this day.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he told me as he lifted his free hand and rubbed his thumb over my bottom lip.

Someone clearing their throat nearby made me jump and I looked over and saw Toxic grinning at us. I panicked, not knowing how to handle the confused jumble of emotions he created within me, so I punched Butcher in the gut and stepped away as his grip on my neck loosened.

Toxic let out a laugh and said to Butcher, “I like her.”

“So do I,” Butcher replied, rubbing his stomach and grinning. “I love that in a woman.”

“Bat shit crazy?” Toxic asked.

“Violence.”

Toxic shook his head then looked over at me. “You’re definitely meant for each other.”

I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that, or the way the two men were looking at me. “I need to go get Donna,” I told them and disappeared as fast as I could. Was it cowardly? Sure. But I didn’t knowwhat else to do. Besides, I legit needed to clean her. She could hollow out a dime at a thousand yards, but god forbid she fire ten rounds straight without jamming.Finicky bitch.

“Who’s Donna?” Toxic asked as I ran away.

I didn’t hear what Butcher told him as I rushed up the stairs and into his room. Leaning back against the door, I closed my eyes. This was going to be so much harder than I originally thought. But I couldn’t take off and leave them to deal with the consequences of my actions. I wasn’t that kind of girl. And I wasn’t a coward when it came to facing my demons. Which meant I needed to figure out a way to exist around these people, but not let them get too close. I was the one who’d pay the price if I couldn’t.

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