Page 77 of Running on Empty

“So are we done now?”

Jack Spencer’s voice came through the speakers inset into the ceiling, his smile widening, as if he could see us just as well as we could see him. Each monitor flickered and was replaced by him.

And not only him.

I’d felt a moment of pure power, drank deeply from it for just a fucking minute, only for it to be all ripped away.

We’d taken Snake, Rock and Blaine out with ease, which should have been warning enough, but apparently we needed it spelled out for us.

“You’ve killed my brothers.” His eyes narrowed as he focused on the bags. “Stripped my club of its money and drugs. Seems like a fucking steep price to pay for one piece of arse, but hey, I’ve paid it. So we are done now.”

Everyone growled in the room just then, including me.

“And to make sure you agree to my more than reasonable terms, I’ve got a little insurance.”

I never wanted to see a woman looking like that again, that same stifled expression of fear and powerlessness. I stared at Scarlett, all of the Scarlett’s on each monitor, a scream building in my chest, but not let out.

And I was willing to bet she felt the same.

Scar’s wrists were cruelly bound, a piece of gaffer tape plastered across her lips, one that Jack tore away with a painful wrench.

“Don’t listen to him,” she stammered out. “Don’t play along with his games. Get the fuck away from the city, from that club, now.”

Jack’s smile faltered as he slapped his hand across her mouth, his jaw muscle jumping as he wrestled her back into submission, then stared out into the screen.

“You took away my toy and now I’ve got one of yours, so in a way we’re even.” His eyes narrowed then. “I should kill off a few of your fucking mates though, to be truly square, but no matter. Do as the lovely Scarlett says and fuck right off, away from me and mine and we will have no reason to have any more to do with each other.”

The faint, far off wail of a fire engine seemed to match the internal screaming inside my head.

“You know we’ll never let you keep Scarlett,” I snarled.

“As soon as I’m sure this little vendetta is over, I’ll return her back to you.” He winked then. “After I’ve played with her for a bit, of course. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

And with that the screens all went blank.

“Burn this place.” I mumbled the words without thinking. “Burn it to the fucking ground.”

Chapter46

Ash

The sounds of The Viper Club going up in flames should’ve gratified me. That place, what went on in there? It was the only way to deal with it. A small, rational part of me worried that there might be people still inside, that someone hadn’t made it out, but it was shoved aside for this.

Guilt.

I didn’t look at my brothers, my fathers, nor even my omega as I walked away from that fucking place. Because no amount of thermite was going to burn away the sight of Scar in Jack fucking Spencer’s grip.

I should’ve seen her to the airport personally. Made sure she got on that plane and then checked in with her employer in Adelaide to make sure she arrived. Fuck, we could’ve gotten on that plane and seen her home ourselves, got the fuck away from the city for a few days and—

“Ash.”

I heard her voice, Stevie’s, calling my name and my eyes closed for a long second before I forced them open again. Her voice was softer now, free of accusation and anger and that wasn’t right. There was no way I’d earned that. I wanted to just walk on and ignore her, but I never could, Stevie’s voice was a leash around my neck and she was giving it a jerk. I spun around, wanting to snap at her that now wasn’t the time, that we needed to get the fuck out of here before the bloody cops arrived and—

“Ash.”

She stepped in close to me and while I might be six foot six of fucking alpha muscle, my whole body quivered with anticipation as she reached out to put a hand on my arm.

And that just made me madder.

---