Page 40 of Devil to Pay: Cutter

Lord help her if she’s one of those freaks who think that sex is only for procreation, living together before marriage is a sin, and anyone involved in a biker club has a one-way ticket straight to hell when they check out. Making judgements when you don’t know someone’s story pisses me off more than almost anything. I won’t be that person, so I really won’t put up with them making judgements on the people I care about.

I shove up from the table. Cutter turns to look at me. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just heading to the restroom.” And to get a closer look at Blondie over there. Maybe suss out what her issue is.

He smiles and nods, turning back to the conversation with Reaper and Dusty while I slowly make my move. The thing is, I don’t even have to go in stealth-like because when I get close enough, she reaches out her hand to stop me.

“You’re part of that club? The Horde?”

Oh, she better not start shit because I may be small, but I’m feisty. “Yeah. There a reason you stopped me?”

“You are the ones—the ones looking for the Bible Belt Killer?”

Well, this isn’t where I thought she was going to go. “They absolutely are. The women aren’t allowed anywhere close to the hunt, though.” Cutter explained that one to me. Not that I have any ridiculous need to go after a serial killer. I’m proud of the guys for doing it, but with my history, I don’t want to go anywhere near that psychopath. “Where you going with this?”

Tears begin to spill from her red-rimmed eyes.

And because I can’t stand to see another woman cry, I drop down into the booth next to her, wrapping this complete stranger in a hug. “Hey… Hey… talk to me. What’s your name?”

“Daniella, but everyone calls me ‘Danni.’”

“Okay, Danni, I’m Aja. That man over there with his back to us…” I point over to Cutter, and she nods. “That’s my man. His name is Cutter. The really large guy is Reaper and that’s his woman, Dusty, sitting next to him. She’s a doctor—well, a physician’s assistant, but she has her own practice. Do you need help? Do you need me to get her?”

“No—I… I shouldn’t have stopped you. I’m sorry.”

“Whydidyou stop me?”

Right then, I feel Cutter’s presence. He stops next to the table. “Yeah, why did you stop her?” he asks, not mean but to the point, as he missed the rest of the conversation. “You okay, Aj?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Danni?”

“My mother… My mother…” She breaks down into another bout of soft sobs.

“It’s okay.” I rub her back. “What about your mother?”

“My mother was Constantina Romero.”

“Shit,” Cutter mumbles under his breath and I immediately look to him. He shakes his head once and I know not to say anything just yet.

“She came up from Argentina when she was a little girl. My mother was a good woman. A great mother. She liked to go to the casino once in a while on payday. That’s where he got her. Video security footage shows her leaving the slots and walking outside to the parking lot. She’s last seen waiting for the valet. That was the last time she was seen alive.”

“Sweetheart,” Cutter says as he slides down onto the bench seat across from us and takes her hand. My biker is comforting a stranger because her mother was killed. He just doesn’t cease to amaze me. “Is that why you stopped Aja, because you’ve heard of the Horde?”

Danni nods against my shirt.

“What can we do?” I ask.

Her face hardens to an anger that far exceeds fire. I’m looking at Dante’s ninth circle of Hell. The cold radiating off her drops the temperature around us by a good ten degrees. “Help me find that son of a bitch,” she says.

“Sweetheart,” Cutter replies, “you can’t go looking for him. He’s dangerous.”

“Iknow. My mom isdeadbecause of him.”

“Do you live around here?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “No. I’ve been trying to retrace his steps, see if I can pick up a pattern or find some clue that the police haven’t yet.”

The next thing I know, we’re joined by Dusty and Reaper, who’s an imposing figure when he’s standing and we’re all sitting. “Everything good?” Reaper asks. He has his arm around Dusty’s waist.

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