But Levi didn’t stop. Fury twisted his features even as blood seeped down his neck and?—
“Let her go or die right here.” Lethal. Low. A grim promise from Cass.
The words, though soft, caught everyone’s attention. Agnes and Levi both whipped their heads toward him. Levi’s eyes widened, and fear flashed on his face. Yes, he needed to be afraid.
As for Agnes, a wide smile curved her lips. “You won!” She bobbed her head toward him. “Not that I doubted you. Not for a second. Well, maybe, for one brief, flashing second when I saw this jerk trying to sneak up with his blade. And you know how I don’t like knives and bastards who sneak up behind you with them, so I had to intervene.”
She didn’t like knives, but she’d just cut Levi’s throat with one. A cut that wasn’t too deep, not yet.
“I didn’t have a beer bottle to throw this time,” she continued in what sure as shit sounded like a sunny tone. “So I had to throw my whole body at him.”
“She’s bloodthirsty.” Javion ambled to Cass’s side. “I like that about her.” Javion had not participated in the challenge. Mostly because, on more than one occasion, he’d let Cass know that running the MC was not in the future for him. Javion craved freedom, not the constraints of having the MC’s full responsibility planted on him. Too bad, because he was the one Cass thought would be the best leader of the crew.
Levi’s hands had torn away from Agnes’s hips. His fingers slammed into the ground.
Agnes continued to straddle him.
A pose that Cass did not like. I don’t want her anywhere near the prick. “Agnes, up. Now.”
She blinked. “Well, someone is bossy. You win one fight against six guys and then you get all?—”
“Agnes.”
Her mouth hung open for an instant. Whatever she saw on his face had her nodding briskly. She rose to her feet. Bit her lower lip as she darted a glance down at Levi. “I think we’re going to be enemies now, aren’t we? Unfortunate, but I had to protect Cass. He’ll always come first for me.”
And she will come first for me.
Wait, hold the hell up. No, no, she would not. This was a ruse. A lie. A trick. A…
She still gripped the knife as she walked toward Cass. Agnes stopped right in front of him. She tipped her head back as she stared at him.
Yes, that is a fucking bruise forming on her cheek. Rage nearly swallowed him whole in that instant. His hand rose, and his fingers brushed lightly over her cheek. “Levi hit you.”
“Uh…” She wet her lips. “If I say yes, will you go off the edge and do something terrible?”
Oh, she was fun. His hand slid over a bit so that his fingers sank into the thickness of her hair. “Agnes…” His head lowered toward her. Adrenaline and fury fired his blood. His lips pressed to hers. His tongue dipped inside her mouth to steal her sweetness. “I’m going to do something terrible no matter what you say.” A whisper against her mouth. Because Levi had attacked her. Because he’d tried to sneak up with a knife and kill Cass. What is up with sonsofbitches coming at my back?
Cass’s low words made Agnes stumble away. One step in retreat. Her eyes were wide as she shook her head. “No, don’t?—”
Oh, he definitely would. He took the knife from her fingers. “Go inside. I’m the leader of the Strikers. I’m staying the leader.”
There were grunts. Mutters of affirmation from the men around him. Men who’d just had their asses kicked. Men who’d watched the others get their asses kicked. But it wasn’t like these were the only members of the Night Strikers MC. These were just the ones in the top-tier positions. The ones who had earned the right to challenge him.
They’d challenged him. They’d failed. Now they would fall back in line…
Most of them.
One would not be falling back in line because he’d just proven what a traitor he really was. Something Cass had suspected about the prick for a while now…
“Don’t kill him.” She inched closer to Cass once more. “Do not.”
The sexy Fed was giving him orders? So cute. So clueless. “You think he wouldn’t have killed me?” Behind her, he saw Levi rush to his feet. Only the guy didn’t get far when he tried to run.
Hugo and Bear closed in lightning-fast, even with their injuries. They both slapped their hands on Levi, one on each shoulder.
Levi’s neck continued to bleed.
She looked back at Levi. “I don’t think I cut you too deeply.”
