Page 91 of The Trust We Broke
Gulch looks around me to the truck, ignoring my question. “You got a special someone in that truck?”
My heart pounds in my chest at the mention of Lucy. “Special someone? Who the fuck says that?”
He tips his head in the direction of the truck, and Skater and a beer-bellied guy with a long, greasy gray beard called Pink start toward Lucy.
I try to play it down. “It’s just a club girl and a bit of fun.”
Gulch peers over my shoulder. “Then, you’ve got no skin in the game if we take her and share her, then.”
My heart thuds heavily in my chest. “She’s still one of mine. Belongs to my club. Not gonna let you do that to her.”
Gulch tips his chin to Skater. “Get her.”
“You really don’t want to do that,” I say, turning to face Skater.
The man is about six inches shorter than me, but stocky. He grins. “You gonna stop me, big guy?” he asks. “Because my gut tells me that’s De Bose’s daughter. And we want a word with her.”
But I’m in his space, my fist to his jaw, so quickly that the last word comes out on a grunt. I know I have to stay alive for about five more minutes. And I can’t take them on in a group fight, but if I can take out those most likely to hurt me first, and fast, I stand a chance. I grab the collar of Skater’s cut and punch him so hard in the face, his lip splits, as does the soft skin beneath his eye.
His feet pedal beneath him as he tries to stay upright.
I don’t dodge his blow, and it hits me hard in the mouth, but I barely feel it, so focused on what I need to do next to keep me and Lucy alive.
The next punch sends him down. Maybe he kicks me, perhaps his hands go for my neck. But I feel none of them.
The next four punches are all mine. Straight for the same place on his face. His nose breaks beneath my knuckles. A tooth flies. By the time I raise my fist for the fifth, Skater is down for the count and Pink jumps onto my back and attempts to put his hands around my throat. I stand to my full height, Pink’s boots scuffing the air, and take ten steps back to slam him against the tailgate of the truck.
“Fuck,” he curses when flesh and metal collide.
“Zach.” Lucy’s scream cracks through the air like a whip, and I hate she has to see this.
Worse, if I don’t keep this under control, she might witness my death. Pink’s hands clamp around my throat in an unbreakable grip. It becomes harder to breathe as his chokehold tightens.
I throw my head back and head butt him, using the momentary distraction to get my hands beneath his and pry his fingers loose. Pink crumples to the dirt, and I spin around, chest heaving.
Lucy’s hands are pressed to the glass inside the truck, her eyes wide, the knife clutched tightly in her palm.
Skater hasn’t moved, and Pink rolls around on the ground before I lift my steel-toed boot and nail him in the fucking ribs. By the second cough, there’s blood in it.
But the click of a safety being taken off a weapon has me turning around. Both Gulch and the fourth biker, who doesn’t have a name patch on his cut, have their guns pointed straight at me.
“Guess Butcher didn’t make the wrong choice putting you in charge, did he?” Gulch says. “Get the girl.”
The unnamed biker keeps his gun trained on me as he walks wide of my reach to the truck. I catch a glimpse of his back, and there is no rocker on there either. Maybe it’s a prospect who doesn’t have his patches, yet.
My mind races through options. There are two guns and only one me. And while my weapon is tucked back in my holster, I know I’m dead if I reach for it.
I step closer to the unnamed biker, blood trickling down my temple, fists ready.
“Leave her the fuck alone,” I shout. “She has absolutely nothing to do with any of this.”
“Easy, Grudge,” Gulch says, his gun still trained on me. “This is over for you today. The only question is how fast. But I want to get a look at the girl who’s gonna watch you die. Hope that dripping dick you tucked away in your denim was worth it.”
My heart stops.
There is no way in hell I can leave Lucy here with these four men. They killed Wraith’s wife and his little girl. I don’t want to think about what they might do to her to coerce her into doing what they want.
I move slightly, turning to face the truck. If I have to die, so be it. But I’m going to kill the unnamed biker if he mishandles her in any way.
