I nod once and turn back just as Menace tries to crawl away.
That won’t happen on my watch. Grabbing the back of his vest, I haul him up and slam him face-first into the concrete. He goes limp.
Around me, the fight is winding down. Hunter and Piston wrestle the last Bushranger to the floor while Smoke yanks a handful of zip ties from his pocket. One by one, my brothers bind wrists and ankles with the plastic restraints.
Vandal is the last to fall as Chrome plants a final punch that drops him cold.
Silence slowly settles over the room except for our heavy breathing.
Izzy finishes cutting Zara free. The second the ropes fall away, I’m moving in her direction. I cross the room in three strides and drop to my knees in front of her.
“Zara.”
Her eyes lock onto mine.
“Bush…”
That’s all it takes. I pull her into my arms and hold her tight against my chest. She’s shaking, her fingers clutching my vest like she’s afraid I’ll disappear.
“You’re okay,” I murmur into her hair. “I’ve got you.”
My heart finally starts beating again because she’s safe in my arms.
“Why don’t you take Zara back to the clubhouse while we deal with these assholes?” Chrome suggests, slapping me on the shoulder.
“Good idea,” I say, steering Zara to the elevator. She clings to me as we ride down. When the doors open, we find Tony and Bianca waiting for us.
“You saved her,” Tony cries, moving forward to pull Zara into his arms. “I was so scared.”
“She’s safe. I’m going to take her back to the clubhouse. The others will be down in a few minutes. Then we’re all going to celebrate your successes at the clubhouse. Deal?”
Tony and Bianca both force smiles for Zara’s benefit. I doubt anyone is in the mood to party right now, but that will change once we’re all back at the clubhouse. We need to celebrate Tony and Zara’s achievements and forget the stress of the past hour.
When we reach my motorcycle, I hand Zara her helmet. After she slips it on, I remember her father. I send a quick text letting him know that she’s safe. He can talk to her later.
I led Zara upstairs at once so she could shower and spend some time getting her head together.
“I should call my Dad,” Zara says when she returns to the room. She has one towel wrapped around her body while she uses another to dry her hair. “But before I do, I need to understand what happened. The Bushrangers were after me this whole time because my father stole money from them?”
I nod sadly. “I’m sorry, baby. You should talk to your Dad. I told him we rescued you, but I think he’d like a chance to explain, and I’m sure he wants to make sure you’re safe and unharmed. I have some club business to attend to, but I’ll be back to get you for the party.”
Zara slides her arms around my neck and rises on her tiptoes to kiss me. “Thank you for rescuing me. I plan on rewarding you later.”
I grin at her. “I can’t wait.”
In The Shed, I find Viper and Chill waiting for me with Chrome. They’ve split Vandal and his men into separate cells, so there are two per cell. Vandal and Menace are in the first cell.
“Where’s Piston?” I ask. He’s my enforcer and usually with me when I work in The Shed.
“He had a job tonight. He’s working security for a party,” Chrome says, before shifting his attention to the men in the cells. “What do you want to do with them?”
“Kill them. We don’t have much of a choice. If we let them go, they’ll go after Zara again, and I won’t let that happen.”
Chrome rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t suggesting we let them go. I just didn’t know if you wanted to torture them before killing them or just eliminate them. Chill and Viper have offered to help provide some pain if you want their help.”
I grin at the two women, who look excited to dole out their special form of punishment. I’ve heard about the techniques the two women use on rapists, and as much as I want to release some of my anger through the use of my whip, I realize that all I want to do is get this over with and party with my woman.
“Let’s just end them. They’ve wasted enough of our time.”
