“You know you’re not getting out of here, right?” I asked him, getting close to his ear again. “But what you do to save your family will make a difference. Tell me everything you know, and I won’t go after Meryn, Dominica and Victor.”
“How do I know you are a man of your word?” he asked me, his resolve strengthening. I admired that. In the face of death and torture, he was bargaining.
“You don’t,” I whispered in his ear. He whimpered, his arms twisting in his bindings from the pain of being held up off the ground.
I slid my blade into his back like he was made of butter. He let out a howl of pain as I watched theblood seep down over his pants and drip onto the floor.
“You know, I’m a sporting kind of guy. How about this? I let you go, and you run to your freedom. I’ll give you ten seconds to get a jump start. No one will stop you, right?”
Everyone agreed, knowing the game I was playing.
“Then I’ll come after you. If you get free, I won’t retaliate, fair’s fair and all that. But if I catch you and you don’t give me anything of note, I will slit your throat in front of your family and then I’ll kill them.”
“They’re kids.”
“I don’t give a shit,” I said through gritted teeth. “You ever wonder why they call a man Savage? I simply don’t care.”
It wasn’t true, of course. I did on occasion, and I did when it came to Shona, but I didn’t care if you had male or female genitalia. If you fucked with the Ghost Rebels, you didn’t deserve to live.
I motioned for Rebel to cut him down and retrieved the blade I’d slid into his back. I knew the wound was fatal, it had gone right into his liver. Hemay get the adrenaline boost that he needed to run, but his body would give out eventually and when it did, I’d have my fun. Then me and Viper would string them up in the town, a message to never fuck with the Ghost Rebels again.
We cut the ties around his hands and opened the doors to the shed. The women were all gone, so I knew we were safe from them seeing what we did. The day was hot and bright, which meant he wouldn’t get too far.
A run was a run.
I watched him clamber out of the shed and into the bright day, and I felt a grin creep onto my face as I moved to the door and waited for the ten seconds to be up. Viper was at my side.
“You haven’t done this in a while, brother. You sure you got it in you?”
“Watch and learn, Viper.”
I counted to ten and took off at a run, finding him just passing the gates and heading down the long road that led into Kilkenny. No one would hear him scream out here, not that he’d be doing much of that. I ran until I gained on him, his screams echoingthroughout the woods on either side of the road. Dragging him off the dirt road once I caught him, I shoved him up against a tree, laughing as I saw the realisation dawn on his face that I had no intention of letting him go.
“He’s never going to stop,” he said, breathy. “He’ll never stop until his wife and kids are dead.”
“He can try,” I seethed, hating him for speaking about Prez’s family like that. “Just know…I would have kept my word and kept that family of yours safe if you’d just told me what I wanted to know.”
His bottom lip trembled just as I plunged my blade into his side over and over again, before I slammed it through the side of his head with all the force I could muster. His eyes went wide just as blood spurted out of his nose, his eyes and his mouth. Pulling my blade free, I wiped it on my pants and left him in a crumpled pile by the tree, moving back up to the compound to continue our fun with the other two.
THREE
Shona
“How long exactly do we have to stay away from the clubhouse?” I asked Orla as we sat in the bar. Ryleigh, Sheridan, Morena and a few of the bunnies were dancing around and making the most of it, but I was bored shitless. The alcohol ran through me like I was about to make some real bad decisions about Savage. I should drink water and sober up, but all I could think about was that kiss in the hallway.
My lips were still tingling – both sets of them.
“They’ll send word when they’re done.”
“It doesn’t bother you what they do there?” I asked her. Orla had been part of the club even when Bear was gone. She’d always been there when we visited. Thinking back then made me sick. Ace’s dad, the old prez, Donald had a personal interest in having me come and tend the bar even when Dog was alive. I knew he wanted me for himself, and he’d only made a pass at me a few times before Butch had shut him down. I’d never been invited back after that, and I could never tell anyone of the times he’d corner me in the bar late at night after everyone had passed out.
“You mean in the shed?” Orla asked, finishing her drink and motioning for another.
I nodded.
“No, it’s how they keep the bad guys away from us and our businesses, and you know it keeps Kilkenny clean. Why…does it bother you?”
“It used to,” I admit. “When Dog was alive, I knew what he did to people and when he would come back to me after it, covered in blood, I would hate having his hands on me.”
