Page 181 of Outlaws of Tulsa

“Is she dead?” I choke out when the video ends after Dragon slides off her unmoving body.

“No,” Koyn barks out as though by him saying it, it’ll make it true.

I swipe at the wetness on my cheeks and rise to my feet. Anger is clouding my brain. All I can see is red. Revenge. I will hurt him like he fucking hurt me. I’m fueled by rage as I charge out of the room on a hunt for Katana.

Dragon wants to take from me?

I will take from him.

All I can think about is unloading a magazine full of bullets into Katana’s healing body, this time hitting all the crucial organs. I’ll watch him bleed out at my feet, knowing Dragon will never be able to come back to his best friend like I’ll never be allowed to come back to mine.

Filter, who’s sitting in a chair and keeping watch over Katana, jumps to his feet when he sees me. I’ve already pulled out my Glock, aiming it at the sleeping man. Filter launches at me, shoving me against the wall hard enough we crush the drywall. The gun goes off, hitting the wall above Katana. I grunt andsnarl as I try to free myself from Filter’s strong grip so I can kill this motherfucker. I’ll kill Filter next because he has it coming. I manage to discharge another unsuccessful shot before more guys enter the fray. Payne and Koyn yank me back as Filter manages to wrench the gun from my hands.

Undeterred, I scream and twist, trying to free myself. I manage to headbutt Payne, most likely breaking his nose by the popping sound, before Koyn’s big ass pins me to the carpet. The fight bleeds out of me as grief tears through me.

“She’s dead. He killed her. She’s fucking dead. I promised her,” I choke out. “I promised her I’d keep her safe, but I lied. I fucking lied.”

Koyn pants heavily, keeping my arms pinned with his knees. “I don’t think she’s dead, asshole. He cut her face up a bit, but there wasn’t anything lethal. Bermuda is going to analyze the video. Stop being a fucking psycho.”

She may not be dead, but what Dragon did to her…

How will she ever come back from that?

“Because she’s fucking Stormy. Tough ass bitch,” Koyn barks out, answering what I thought were unspoken words. “The bitch is the gift that keeps on giving. It’s going to take a lot more than Dragon to handle her. She’s like a fuckin’ hurricane. You know this.”

I do know this.

My girl does some crazy ass shit that sometimes gets her hurt, but she always comes back swinging and stronger than before. I have to have faith that she’s okay. That she will be okay. And as far as Dragon goes, I’ll deal with him the moment I lay eyes on him.

Hang in there, little storm.

“Right there,” Bermuda says, pointing to the screen I can no longer look at. “He says something to her. I think he tells her they’ll kill them all. I’m not a lip-reader, but knowing Dragon, it seems like something he would say.”

Koyn nods as he leans forward. “And watch her shoulders there. They go slack.”

“This is your job, Dad,” Blake says, frowning at me. “Put your feelings aside and focus.”

I glance at my son and swallow down the ache in my chest. “Yeah. Play that part again. Let me see.”

Sure enough, it’s like they have a secret, quiet conversation. An agreement is made. Consent. Stormy has used sex to her advantage many times before. This is no different. They seem to be putting on a show. It’s just so fucking brutal, it hurts me to watch. And, Koyn’s right. There was no deadly cut with the knife. Just superficial ones.

I have to believe she’s still alive.

“What’s with the facial cutting?” Gibson asks. “It’s weird as fuck.”

Scrubbing my palm over my face, I let my brain do some logical thinking and answer with that part of my body rather than my heart. “They’re putting on a production. It’s planned. And if Dragon and Stormy are known for anything, it’s their beauty. It’s like they each tried to lessen that part about each other. The way she clawed him will scar. All the blood makes it look worse than it is.”

“Pretty, pretty boy,” Katana says from the doorway, earning everyone’s attention. He’s pale as fuck and I immediately feel bad for trying to kill him earlier.

“What?” Koyn barks out.

“That’s what Dragon muttered in his sleep for so long. One day, I asked him what it meant. On one of his rare, secret divulging moments, he explained that Night Giant said he was a pretty, pretty boy. That he was a star because he was so pretty.” Katana groans and Halo rushes over to assist him into a chair. “He cut her so she wouldn’t be pretty. In some fucked up way, he was trying to keep her out of more videos.”

My gut twists painfully.

Koyn stiffens and begins tapping away on his computer. I’ve seen the look on his face before. Determination. Understanding. The moment when a key appears inside his head and he uses it to unlock whatever damn door he wants.

Hope swells inside me.

---