Page 103 of Ace of Spades
“I suggest you let go of Hailey right now, unless you want to watch your shithead son’s head get blown off,” he growls, his voice rough with warning.
Scott’s arm wraps around my neck, caging me in as he brings the gun back up to press against my temple.
Another click sounds, and I look over to find Rafe with a gun to my dad’s head, the six of us locked at a standstill.
“Just let me take her,” my dad grinds out. “I’ll get out of your hair and leave you alone for good, just let me have my daughter back.”
“No!” I scream, but they both ignore me.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Weston states calmly.
“Why? Why can’t you just leave my family alone?”
“Because I’m in love with your daughter.”
My heart skips a beat, his words causing butterflies to swirl in my stomach, even with everything going on around us.
“And that’s the only reason you’re still alive at this very moment,” Weston finishes.
He loves me.
Even my dad seems taken aback, at a loss for words as he stares at Weston as if he’s grown two heads.
“So how about we all put the guns down and have a conversation like adults,” Rafe chimes in. “Do you think we can do that?”
Scott presses the gun harder into my skull and I wince.
“The thing is, we’re the ones with the advantage here, because unlike you, we have nothing to lose anymore. I’m guessing if we put our guns down, you’ll have us arrested, right?And that’s if you don’t shoot us on the spot as soon as this gun leaves her head.”
“Dad,” Brad grinds through his teeth. “Just put the damn gun down.”
There’s a momentary pause as Scott seems to consider what to do, and then everything happens in one big blur.
The gun leaves my head as Scott directs his aim at Weston, the shot ringing through the air as I whip my head back just in time for him to lose his aim. Brad uses the distraction to knock the gun from Weston’s hand, the two of them breaking out into a scuffle.
Throwing my elbow back with every ounce of strength I can muster, I clock Scott in the jaw as the gun goes flying behind us.
All hell seems to break loose near the truck, and I barely catch a glimpse of Weston and Brad rolling around on the ground before shoving Scott and running after the gun, his body weight bringing me tumbling down as he tackles me to the ground.
It all happens so fast.
I scramble for the weapon, the two of us reaching it at the exact same time, fear choking me as Scott’s large hand manages to wrench it from my grasp.
The hard metal whips me in the face as stars explode behind my vision, my cheekbone throbbing with blinding pain as I roll onto my side, trying to regain my breath.
“Hailey!” I hear Weston’s panicked shout as Scott gets on top of me, crushing my ribs as he straddles me, the barrel of the gun staring me in the face as I regain my vision.
“You little bitch, you ruined everything,” he seethes, and I feel my life flashing before my eyes. Everything I could have had here at the ranch—the friends I made, the love I found.
The man I gave my heart to.
“Go to hell,” a familiar voice cuts in, Scott’s head wiping up just as a bullet hits him square in the shoulder, the force knocking him off me as blood sprays across my face.
I spin around to find my mom standing on the dirt path behind me, a rifle in her arms, Rhonda and Debbie flanking her on either side.
“Mom,” I breathe.
“Lenora,” my dad rasps, looking over to find him pinned on the ground by the truck, Rafe’s knee digging into his back as he presses a gun to the back of his head.
