Page 30 of Redemption

“We ain’t got to do shit,” Zane spits, never taking his eyes off him.

I grab a blow torch off of the nearby workbench and toss it up in the air a few times. His blue eyes never leave it, but there’s no missing the rapid rise and fall of his chest. “You know I still owe you for touching her without her permission.”

“It was an accident.” His eyebrows pinch together fueling my rage on.

“You’re a real piece of shit! I guess we’re going to have to roast your nuts and feed them to you after all.” I flick the switch with my thumb and stare at the blue flame, while I say to my brothers, “Get his pants.”

Zane and Asher move to do that when he squeals. “Wait! There’s more.”

My head cocks to the side as I stare him down. I let his heavy breathing fill the musty barn air and stare him down in silence. The longer I take the longer the humidity gets to him and that’s enough to make anyone go insane. Georgia summers are brutal for that reason alone. Beads of sweat pool along the side of his head and I know we’re getting closer to the breaking point. Time to kick things up a notch because he’s getting on my last nerve. “Start talking and don’t stop until you’ve explained it all. Otherwise, it’ll be your nuts roasting over an open fire, got it?”

“Yeah, I got it. Her dad fucked over the wrong people and racked up a debt he can’t pay off. The people he owes want their money and the bastards don’t care how they get it. Since they can’t find him, she’s the next best thing. They plan to use her up and then sell her to the highest bidder when they’re through.”

A knot forms in my throat the more he talks. I knew something was wrong when the Governor skipped town and we found his wife murdered, but I didn’t think things were this fucked up. A vein throbs on the side of my neck as flashes of what they have planned for my woman flood my mind.

“Over my dead fucking body will they ever fucking touch a hair on her head. She’s mine and we won’t let those sons of bitches near her.” A tightness builds in my chest. They touch her and there will be hell to pay.

“Christ you’re thick headed. Have you listened to a fucking word I said?” He spits a mouthful of blood onto the ground near my feet.

“What’s that?” I flick the flame back on and chuckle as he snaps his mouth shut. “That’s what I thought.”

He swallows and waits until I turn off the blowtorch to decide it’s safe to talk again. “The three of you can’t take them on all on your own. They have connections in high places. You need Finn’s help if you want to keep her safe.” His brown eyes darken as he stares me down. Dickhead has balls. I’ll give him that.

I toss the blow torch over my shoulder and pace slowly in front of him. Parts of his story are true and I have feeling the other half is only a partial-truth. “Explain something to me. Why do any of you care so much about what happens to her?”

“We’re merely concerned about keeping the order of things. They get messy if you fuck with someone as high profile as the Governor’s daughter and it’s bad for business.” His body tenses as he looks everywhere but at me. Bastard is still hiding something.

I stop in my tracks and point the tip of the blowtorch at him. “I wasn’t born yesterday. You’re lying. There’s more to it than that.”

He shrugs. It’s obvious he’s not going to give me much more and I’m tired of listening to him, so I rear the fist of my freehand back and knock him out.

“What now?” Asher asks.

“Now we go home and do some digging on this Donnelly douche.”

“What about him?” Zane jerks his beard in the direction of the limp body hanging from the rafters.

“Take him down and tie him up next to the horse troth for now. I want to make sure everything he said is true before we gut him.” I shrug and walk out to the truck, leaving Asher and Zane to handle him. I do it and I might end up setting him on fire for the hell of it. Plus, I’m ready to get the fuck out of here.

Asher and Zane stroll out of the barn and climb inside the truck after a few minutes, but neither of them attempts to speak to me. They know I have a lot of shit floating around in my head and am in no mood to talk.

We pull onto the highway and a dull ache in my fingers spreads to my hands. My adrenaline is wearing off making me feel the full affect of what I did, but I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

A couple of miles pass us by before Asher clears his throat and I glance up to meet his eyes through the rearview mirror. “It’ll be all right, Ax. She’s safe at home with Charlee. You know we have your back on this, little brother.”

“I do. I just hope she’s still there.” I wouldn’t put it past her to hot wire Zane’s truck. It has some damages, but I know that wouldn’t deter her one fucking bit.

As if reading my thoughts, Zane twists in his seat and pulls out a black cube with four prongs on it toward me. “Kind of hard to go anywhere without this.”

“You took your relay out? Good thinking, brother.” I slap him on the shoulder and lean back in my seat. That’s one thing off my chest, for now. It’s a good thing Charlee’s SUV is hidden in the garage out back and that she knows not to leave anywhere alone when things are like this. Otherwise Kelsey would be long gone by now. Not that I don’t enjoy the chase, but we don’t have time for a game of cat and mouse at the moment. I need a clear head to plan our next move. When I do, they’ll be sorry they ever fucked with a Savage. And whether Kelsey likes it or not, a Savage is what she is now.

---