He searched Ritter and found a boxcutter and zipties in his pocket. My blood ran cold.
“What were you planning to do?” I asked Ritter. I didn’t recognize my own voice, dangerously low and dark.
Ritter pressed his lips together, suddenly silent. Casper yanked him up to his feet.
“My friend asked you a question,” he said. “Don’t be rude. Answer him.”
Ritter snarled, nostrils flared and hatred in his eyes.
“Gut you like a pig,” he said. “For putting your filthy fucking hands on Shea. For ruining her and taking her away from me.”
“She was never yours to begin with,” I growled through clenched teeth.
Ritter’s gaze flicked past me. I turned around to see Shea in the doorway. She came forward, clasping my hand with a crushing grip.
“He won’t make you happy,” Ritter spat, fighting against Casper’s hold. “He doesn’t give a shit about you as long as you open your legs—”
Bulldog shoved him in the chest, silencing him.
“That’s enough. Your mama would be ashamed of you, talking to a woman that way.”
Shea stepped closer, squaring her shoulders as she looked Ritter in the eye.
"Did you leave that butterfly on my windshield?"
"I like pretty things," he replied. "I like displaying them to look at and admire. It reminded me of you."
She shook her head with a frown.
"That's what all this was about? I'm just a pretty little trinket for you to collect?"
"You don't get it," Ritter said, exasperated. "You're successful and attractive and you always acted like you were too good for me. I had to make you see me somehow. I had to teach you a lesson so you would learn we were meant for each other."
I clenched my teeth, resisting the urge to strangle him with my bare hands. Shea didn’t flinch or shy away, holding Ritter’s gaze for several seconds.
“You’re right,” she said, her voice quiet but steely. “You did teach me a lesson. I learned that the man I love will stop at nothing to keep me safe from fuckers like you.”
Pride swelled in my chest. I pulled Shea into my arms, directing a look of victory over her shoulder at Ritter.
“That’s my girl.”
An hour later, Shea sat on the couch, fully dressed, while I stood next to her, one hand resting on her shoulder for reassurance. I called Hillbilly and Tarzan to let them know Ritter was caught. The next thing I knew, the entire club was awake and streaming through my door, filling my living room.
Ethan, Bulldog, and Casper stood in a half circle over Ritter.
“What do you want to do with him?” Ethan asked.
“He’s a slippery little bastard,” Bulldog said. “The cops have let him off the hook numerous times already. There’s a chance that might happen again.”
“We should at least try to follow the law,” Casper pointed out.
“And what happens if the cops don’t follow through? Again?" Bulldog countered. He tugged on the back of Ritter’s collar, making Ritter’s head wobble. “This son of a bitch walks free to terrorize another poor woman. Or worse. When the cops don't show up, sometimes a little good old-fashioned cowboy justice is needed.”
I glanced at Shea. She chewed her lower lip, watching the scene play out, saying nothing. I’d tried to convince her that she didn’t need to hear any of this. We would handle it. But she didn't back down.
“It’s not the first time that we’ve made a problem disappear,” Hillbilly said. “And it won’t be the last. We’ll take him off your hands, gentlemen, and he will never darken another woman's door again.”
Lila emerged from the kitchen, carrying a cup of tea. She sat on the couch next to Shea and passed the tea to her. Sheamanaged a grateful smile, wrapping her hands around the cup’s warmth.
