Page 85 of Ruckus

“Don’t be stupid, Ruckus.” Hound moves to block me, and I’m about to toss him out my way, but the loud, high-pitched scream coming from upstairs makes us both freeze. Our heads turn to the door where it came from, and when I barge past Hound and start making my way up to it, he follows close behind me.

I throw open the door and see a bed covered in blood, but that's not what sends me feral. Josh on top of Freya with a knife pressed against her throat is what makes me charge forward. I leap over Cam’s dead body and grab the arm Josh is holding the knife with, twisting it behind his back and forcing him to the floor. Freya climbs up the bed as I keep forcing his arm outta shape until it cracks, and the knife drops from his hand.

“What thefuckare you doin’?” I press his face against the floor so I can check Freya’s okay.

“Freya, ya good?” It's a stupid fuckin’ question but she nods her head. I can see she’s freaked out and clearly fucking scared but, as much as I want to comfort her, I have to deal with this little fucker first.

“She’s a tease, Ruckus, a fucking whore!” he yells out and I grip the back of his head and slam his face hard into the floorboards.

“Boss? What the…what happened? I watch Hound shaking Cam’s body trying to get some life out of it.

“He must have stabbed him while we were sleeping. I woke up and he…” Freya tries to explain, she’s covered in blood and I do my best to see if any of it’s coming from her.

“I’m fine, he didn’t hurt me. Not yet.” I watch as her eyes lower down Josh’s body and when I flip him over and see his cock hanging out the front of his jeans, I don’t need an explanation.

I reach for the knife, taking the handle in both hands and I drive it like a stake into his chest, over and over again. I don’t count, but I taste the blood, and I feel it warm and fresh as it splats against my skin. Freya is screaming behind me, but I keep going until I have to wipe the fucker’s blood from my eyes ‘cause I can’t see out of ‘em anymore.

“Ruckus, stop! He’s dead.” Freya’s kneeling beside me now, crying her pretty little heart out. “You killed him,” she whispers, and I drop the knife and wrap her up in my arms, pulling her tight to my chest and holding her so close I feel her heart thump against mine.

“What are you doing here?” She eventually pulls away from me.

“What do you think I’m fuckin’ doin’ here? I came to take you home.” I drag her back onto my chest and kiss the top of her head, taking a long, exasperated breath as I look up at Hound and realise there's a whole lotta mess to be cleared up.

“We have to leave, we're not safe here.” Freya waits until Hound’s left the room before she grips at me desperately.

“What are you talkin’ about? Look at him.” There's barely anything left of Josh’s body, he looks like he’s been torn into by wild animals.

“Not him, Ruckus. There's so much you don’t know.” Freya stands up and starts panicking again.

“Hey, he’s dead, he can’t hurt you and Cam…” I may have spent five days straight being furious at the man for taking Freya from me, but seeing him dead brings me no pleasure. He was a good guy, and I can’t blame him for falling for her. “I guess we’ll figure it out.” I close my eyes and try not to think about the two of them together. I’ve been with tons of women in my past, it’s something I expect her to forget about. I’m just gonna have to learn to suck it up and do the same. That’s if she even wants me to.

“Ruckus, I didn’t come here willingly. Cam…he…he gave me no choice.” She keeps looking toward the door like she’s scared.

“Freya, what are you talkin’ about?” I stand up myself so I can be closer to her. We’re both covered in blood, so much of it, that when I grab her hand it slips out from mine.

“Cam was working for my dad.” She keeps her voice low. “Him, and some others here are still involved.”

“Why the fuck did you not tell me that back in Long Beach? I only let you leave because you told me this is what you wanted.”

“Then why are you here?” She smiles at me, cleverly, covered in blood, surrounded by two dead men.

“Because, I’m a real bad fuckin’ loser. Now, tell me why you lied.”

“I had to, I had to come with him.” She turns serious again, her eyes still flitting nervously at the door.

“He didn’t have a gun to your head, you told me and Wrath you wanted this.” I knew something was off and I ignored my gut. She could have been fuckin’ killed.

“He knew stuff about me,” she blurts out in frustration. “He threatened to tell everyone, and Ruckus, I’d rather be dead than have those secrets out.” I can see how scared she is, and if what she’s saying is right, we are in danger. I need to take this back to Raze so he can warn Jessie and the other charter presidents.

“Freya, we’re gonna get outta here, and then you're gonna tell me what those secrets are.” I go to kiss her, but she pulls away from me.

“You might want to wait until you’ve heard them before you do that.” Her bottom lip starts to wobble and I grab her face in my sticky, stained hand and pull her closer.

“I ain’t waitin’ another second,” I tell her, pressing my lips to hers and making sure she realises that nothing she can tell me is gonna stop me from loving her.

I can tell who's involved with Cam from the looks on the brothers’ faces as news breaks around the club. Four men out of the ten who make up the members of this club don’t look sorrowful, they look scared, and as I sit outside the door of one of the rooms while Freya showers the blood off herself, I make a note of who they are. Hound steps in front of me, trying to puff out his chest. I look up at him and wait for him to speak.

“Why would your prospect kill Cam?” He eyes me suspiciously.

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