“Baby? Is everything okay?” Rhys says in my ear. Oh, thank god.
“Of course I know, Bristol, I just don’t care. I’m the money man, and I make it possible for them to do it. You think they’d be as successful as they are without me?”
“Fuck,” Rhys hisses in my ear. “Just keep him talking, baby, I’m almost there, don’t worry, I’m coming,” Rhys says, his voice pained.
“You don’t love me, Blake! You loved the idea of me! You loved thinking you owned me! I’m not a possession that can be kept! I’m not yours!”
“Yes you are!” he roars. My hands shake uncontrollably as I hold the gun out, its weight starting to get heavier and heavier in my palms.
“You’ve been busy being a little whore, haven’t you? I know you’ve been fucking that biker. He’s going to pay for tainting you, for touching what’s mine.”
“Sleeping with someone doesn’t make me a whore, Blake! I’m not a fucking whore!”
“Baby, don’t let him get to you. He’s just trying to get under your skin. Stay calm, breathe for me. Just breathe. I’ll be there soon.” Rhys’ voice centers me, and I do as he says, focusing on his voice and not Blake’s.
“That’s okay, I’ll fix you. I’ll remind you whose cock makes you come.”
“Fuck you, Blake! Get out! I swear to god, I’m two seconds from shooting you!”
Blake tsks, clearly annoyed, and not at all taking me seriously.
“Baby, I’m in Bloomfield, I’m almost there, stay strong,” Rhys tells me as tears spring to my eyes.
“If you kill me, Bristol darling, who will tell you where Kira is?” My heart bottoms out, nausea rolling through my body as I sink into the chair, the gun falling onto my lap.
“Wh-what are you talking about?”
“Don’t fall for it, baby. Hold on. I’m pulling in.”
“You don’t find it weird you haven’t heard from her? It’s been, what? Over a week? She’s a feisty one. Don’t worry, we haven’t touched her. She’s a very valuable asset for us.”
“Oh, god.”
The office door is kicked open with a splintering sound as Rhys and three prospects rush into the room with their guns drawn. I sway in my seat as I watch Rhys shoot twice before Blake can pull out his own gun, blood spraying from his kneecaps. The loud sound pierces my ears, a ringing so deep my brain rattles, and then everything else goes dark.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
RHYS
Ispent my childhood watching my dad beat on my mom, I’ve been in hand-to-hand fights since I was a teenager, I’ve looked down the barrel of a gun more times than I can count, I’ve been stabbed, cut, bruised, beaten, I’ve been chased, hunted, and had my home attacked, I’ve seen the aftermath of my patch brother’s sibling’s rape and torture, and can say with sincerity that I’ve never, ever felt fear the way I did hearing Blake’s voice from inside Bristol’s office.
I sit by my bed where she sleeps, waiting for her to wake up. After I shot Blake to incapacitate him, I rushed to Bristol, not expecting to find her slouched over her desk with her arms hanging limp, the gun on the floor. At first, I thought she got hurt somehow, but her body had just checked out on her. I scooped her up in my arms, holding her the entire way home. I left the prospects to tie up Blake and bring him into the clubhouse, where Stitch will make sure he heals from his wounds. Bristol made me promise I wouldn’t kill him, and I plan to honor that. Even if he should die today. I have better plans forhim, though, and it’ll be a slow, painful death that he causes himself.
A low knock at my door forces me to leave her side. I unlock it, cracking it and coming face-to-face with my mom.
“Mom?”
“How is she?”
“What are you doing here? You haven’t stepped foot in this place since . . .”
“I know. But Camden called me, and I wasn’t about to let my shitty memories of this place keep me from being here for her. Now, answer my damn question and let me in.”
I open the door further, allowing her to step into the room she’s never been in.
“Stitch says it’s just shock, that her body needs some time to regulate, and she should wake up soon. She’s healthy.”
“Trauma and fear will do that to you.”
