“Good for you,” I say, and make a note to call Knox, the president of the Florida chapter, to tell him they have a rat sharing where brothers are at, to someone excommunicated from the club.
Her.
A woman, at that.
Paltrow laughs. “Did youknowJackal was fucking your neighbor?”
He says it like it might be news to me. “You haven’t been watching too closely, or you’d know I’m very aware he’s fucking us both.”
And then, I want to kick myself because I know better than to give information away.
I wish I could see his face, but from this position, with my hands tied behind my back, but also hoisted over a beam, I have no leverage. I try to get my feet back underneath me, but the pain through my ribs is so strong, I vomit.
Paltrow jumps back to avoid getting it on his boots. “They said you were one of the toughest Outlaws. But here you are, puking with fear.”
“I’m puking…because you stink,” I say. “You’re the one standing in an abandoned mineshaft, with two people, one lightsource, no visible exit strategy, and you even left your truck less than a quarter of a mile away. I might be sick. But you’re sloppy.”
“You don’t get to talk to me. You don’t get to mock me.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I absolutely do.”
He lunges at me, as I hoped, and despite the fist connecting with my ribs and the breathtaking pain that detonates throughout me, stealing my breath, I stay focused on the objective. While I’m ever so slightly airborne, I right my feet so I can stand. The pressure on my arms is immediately released.
Paltrow grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. “You want to know what Jackal took from me?” he hisses.
“Beyond the ability to rape your own fucking sister?”
“He took everything. The club. My money. My home. My reputation. My name. Even my fucking skin.”
By the time he says the last few words, he’s yelling.
I glance at Isla, and she shakes her head ever so slightly.
He paces away, running his hands through his hair while laughing beneath his breath. “Do you have any idea what it feels like to be tortured?” he asks, before suddenly turning back to me.
“I mean, this doesn’t feel great,” I reply.
“Let me show you.” He looks at Isla, and my heart slams against my ribs.
He steps closer to her, and she scrambles back instinctively until she hits the wall with a dull thud.
“No,” I say sharply. “Leave the woman out of it. This isn’t how Outlaws handle their shit.”
The smile he gives me leaves my soul ice cold. “Well, like Jackal ensured I understood, I’m no longer an Outlaw.”
36
ISLA
Paltrow is serious.
And not in the abstract way he was earlier; waving a gun to make us move, but with no real plan of killing us until he was sure he had Kai’s attention.
He’s serious in the immediate and horrifying now of it.
He’s going to touch me, and I’m not going to be able to escape. Garrett isn’t going to be able to stop him, and Kai isn’t about to burst into this cave or mineshaft or whatever it is. My knees begin to shake, and my teeth chatter.
Paltrow drags his gaze up and down my body, and my stomach drops so hard, I feel like I’ve been hollowed out.
