“All right, you’re done. I’m taking the first slice at his tat,” Yak said, herding Punc out of the way.
He stalked across the room to the bar, feeling multiple sets of eyes on him. Turk’s glare seemed especially vicious, but he chalked that up to Prime and Ghost abducting Turk’s woman, Suzy.
Cal stood behind the bar, and acting as bartender, he set Punc up with a beer. “Impressive, brother.”
Punc gave him a chin lift as he caught his breath. Conversation wasn’t happening at that point due to Prime’s yells and screams filling the room.
After Yak had his way with Prime, the Biloxi brothers took their turns. Har, Brute, Roman, and Tiny were fast, but brutal. Volt followed Tiny, and then the ten other Jacksonville brothers meted out vengeance before the Memphis brothers made their displeasure known. In the end, Turk got his way, and dealt the death blow to Prime.
Lark, Zeus, and two other Memphis brothers wrapped Prime’s body in the tarp. Zeus broke away while the others moved Prime out to a box truck that had been backed up to the front doors of the tavern.
Zeus clapped a hand on Punc’s shoulder. “You got a mean right hook and a deft hand with the blade, man. Might have to call you up to Memphis if we got trouble.”
Punc nodded. “Thanks, Zeus. Say the word, and I’ll ride up.”
Turk wandered their way while wiping down his knife. He glared at Punc. “Your ass needs to be in my office tomorrow morning. So we can discuss your involvement with Ava and calling her yourwoman.”
Savannah
I woke up when I heard a car door close outside the house. Rolling to my side, I saw the time on my alarm clock. Five-forty-two in the morning. If Punc was back, he’d been gone for seven-and-a-half hours.
That was a long time to spend at the clubhouse, but I knew he’d gone somewhere else. I’d fretted over that most of the night, tossing and turning in bed. When I’d told Punc I was scared last night, I hadn’t clarified that a lot of my fear was forhimand there wasn’t anything Brian would be able to do to keep him safe.
My fear and curiosity were killing me, so I rolled out of bed, put on my thin, waffle-weave robe, and tied it while I trudged down the hallway to the dimly lit living room.
Punc stood at the kitchen sink, carefully washing his hands.
“Is everything all right?” I asked.
His body jolted at my question. He turned off the water, grabbed a paper towel, and nodded. “It is.”
He kept the damp paper towel around his fingers.
I stared at his hands for a beat before I shot my gaze back to his. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he whispered.
“Did Brian just leave?”
He nodded.
I pressed my lips together as I debated with myself. Finally, I said, “You were gone much longer than I expected.”
After a second, he tossed the paper towel aside, came to me, and cupped my face in both of his hands. “Ghost is in jail, no bail being set.”
I gave a short nod. “I know.”
“Prime got out on bail earlier today. Or, I guess yesterday afternoon, now.”
“Okay,” I drawled.
“He won’t be a threat to you… or anyone. He’s been dealt with, and you can rest easy.”
I fought against a sigh even as I debated asking my next question. “Did you… did you do anything illegal?”
He slid his hands down until they rested on my shoulders. “I got payback for you, Savannah. He planned to frame me, and I damn sure gave him what he deserved for that failed plan. Is assault illegal? Yeah. If that’s a problem for you, tell me now. Because one thing’s for sure, I’m not sorry, and it’s only illegal if he reports it, or someone else witnessed it.”
My best friend’s words played in my mind.Ted and his brothers want to take care of this, I say let ‘em, because jail time is too damned soft for the asshole who beat you.
