Page 37 of Brutal Sinner

The biker beside him chuckles at that and says in a husky drawl, “If you say so, soldier.”

As the townsfolk start murmuring, we hear sirens wailing in the distance, and I stare at Jonny in fright.

“You should go. The cops are here. They’ll arrest you.”

I’m frantic as I imagine Jonny and his club being arrested for murder, but all I get is a low laugh, followed by another one from behind me.

“Don’t worry about us, baby, we’re the good guys, remember?” He drops me a wink and, as the first car reaches us, I sense a tidal wave of relief from the bodies on the ground.

More cops than I have ever seen descend into the chaotic aftermath and to everyone’s surprise, the sheriff slaps the man with Jonny on the back and says in a friendly manner, “It’s good to see you, sir.”

“Sheriff.” He replies with a low husky drawl, and I watch in amazement as they head off, deep in conversation and as the bikers begin to disperse, Jonny says quickly, “We don’t have time to watch what happens next. We have a baby to bring home.”

“Hope!”

My heart lurches as he smiles. “Aptly named, darlin’.”

Mr. Gaston runs toward us and says in an urgent whisper, “Come on. I’ll take you there.”

We waste no time, and I don’t even glance back to check on my parents and yet before we make it to the car, I hear a loud, “JONNY!”

It comes at us like machine gun fire, stopping Jonny in his tracks and he slowly turns to face his father, who, by the look of him, is not too happy.

“What?” Jonny snaps and his father says angrily, “What have you done?”

Jonny sighs as his father steps closer and hisses. “You are a cold-hearted killer, and you will be punished for your crimes.”

Jonny says nothing and just shrugs, which makes his father incensed.

“You may think you have it all figured out, but you are deluded.” His father says in a bitter voice. “We always knew you were the spawn of the devil. Boisterous, rough and disobedient from almost the day you could walk. You were a fighter, callous and unruly, and it’s no wonder we sent you to the reverend to be cleansed.”

Jonny breaks away and gets in his father’s face and hisses, “I was a child!” he yells. “I was fucking six years old when you sent me to that monster. You were never my dad. You were never there for me. All my life I’ve felt as if I was an inconvenience. An irritant to tolerate and a punching bag for your anger. You never loved me. You never listened to me, and you certainly never wanted me. Albert was more like a father to me than you ever were, so congratulations, I hereby relieve you of your burden of responsibility. You disowned me when I returned from fighting for our country. Fighting to keep Americans safe and protect our constitution. You called me a brutal sinner and told me to never come back here at all. Well, now you’ve got your wish, because this is the last you will ever see of me.”

He pushes his father hard, who makes the error of trying to strike his son and I stare as my jaw drops to the floor as with one loud roar and an almighty punch, Jonny strikes his father to the ground.

Then he turns and the wild gleam in his eye should terrify me. It should make me question every reason why I love this man, but all it does is confirm the most important thing. He ismyman, and we belong together because I understand exactly how he is feeling now, because I feel the same. I know what he went through because I went through the same and so, I reach out my hand and smile.

“Let’s go.”

He nods and as his large hand closes over mine, we step into Mr. Gaston’s car and don’t look back.

CHAPTER22

JONNY

Itry not to dwell on the past. I try to live in the moment, but when we leave Heaven behind, it’s as if my life flashes before my eyes.

We sit in silence because words are meaningless now. There is too much to process, and as Faith’s hand rests in mine, I have an overwhelming desire to be closer. It’s always been a physical ache where she is concerned and so I wrap my arm around her trembling shoulders and love how her head rests on my shoulder.

She doesn’t even care that my jacket has been decorated with another man’s brains. This tells me she’s strong. But will she be strong enough for what happens next?

In all the time I’ve lived among the Reapers, I’ve never questioned the life we live. At first it shocked me, but I soon grew accustomed to our way of life. Reverend Peters would liken it to Sodom and Gomorrah. To me, it’s more like Heaven than Hell. It’s my home and there is nothing at all that I don’t love about living at the Rubicon, but Faith is a different story entirely. She has never lived anywhere but Heaven and I’m not sure how she will cope with Hell.

After a while, Albert says gruffly, “I want to thank you, Jonny.”

“You don’t owe me anything, even thanks.” I growl and he shakes his head as he turns right at the junction, the sign to Brindley Ridge indicating the way.

“You saved the people in Heaven, and they didn’t even realize they needed saving.”

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