Tears filled my eyes and everything seemed to slow. “It’s not like that,” I said quietly.
Ripped stared at me, his hard eyes filled with rage, burning holes into me. “So tell me what it’s fucking like, Quinn. Because the way I see it is Battle and you committed the ultimate sin.” He kissed Bonny on the forehead and glared at me. “But don’t worry, he got what he deserved.”
My hands flew up to my mouth and I tried to hold back the sob that bubbled up from my throat. “What have you done, Ripped?” I gasped, fear trembling through me. I couldn’t look away from him. Couldn’t tear my gaze away from the monster I saw before me. “What have you done?” I asked again, anger filling my voice that time, and his features hardened.
“What have I done?” he growled out. “You carrying on behind my back, making me look like a motherfuckin’ fool in front of my brothers and my club, and you’re asking me what I’ve done?” His eyes blazed with fevered anger. “Take this,” he said to Cap.
Cap stepped forward and took Bonny-May from his arms, and Ripped stalked toward me quickly, making me back up until I hit the wall behind me. He came close, his arms trapping me as he glared down, his mouth a hard, impassive line. The man I knew was gone, and I was staring into the eyes of the monster that lived inside him. The president of the Burning Eights. The killer. The man that other men feared and women surrendered themselves to. The man I thought I could run from. That I would be safe from.
“What have you done?” I said, my words barely making it out of me. I was terrified of what he might do to me, but I was more terrified of what he might have already done. “Ripped—” I choked out his name, my chin quivering. “Tell me!” I cried out.
“Was gonna make you my queen, Quinn,” he said, sounding almost sad.
I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? I hadn’t had sex with Battle, but we may as well have. He’d seen a part of me Ripped never had, and never would, and Ripped knew that. He seemed almost sad at the loss of me, his anger giving way for a few seconds to his grief, but just as quickly as it went, it came back, and he slammed a hand into the wall beside my head, causing me to cry out and raise my hands to protect myself.
He took the opportunity to snatch my wrists up into his hands and hold them tightly above my head, all sense of sadness gone now as he glowered at me, his nostrils flaring angrily.
“Should have known that you were trash with a friend like her,” he said, jerking his head toward Gracie. “Should have known that any bitch that fucks her best friend’s man had to have had some influence on her.” His eyes narrowed on me and he laughed as I struggled to work out what he was telling me. It wasn’t until Gracie started to sob behind him that I realized what he was telling me.
I glanced over at Gracie and her broken expression told me everything I needed to know: she and Ripped had slept together.
It hurt. God, did it hurt. But only her betrayal, not at the loss of him.
“I don’t care,” I bit out, lifting my chin. And I didn’t. She could have him, if that was what she wanted. As long as he left me and Battle alone.
He chuckled. “See, that’s where you and I are different, because I do care. I care what you’ve been doing and who you’ve been doing it with. I care and I don’t like it. Not one bit.”
My arms were beginning to ache, but I refused to complain or ask him to let me go. Instead I held his stare and tried not to cry. “I haven’t done anything. Unlike you.”
Ripped surprised me by leaning in and kissing me roughly on the mouth—so roughly I felt my lip split as it pressed against my tooth, and the taste of blood danced over my tongue like acid. He let me go with such force that I almost fell over as he stepped back, releasing my arms and my mouth at the same time.
“See, now we both know that you’re lying.” He licked a tongue over his lips, lapping at the drops of my blood on them. “Because I can fucking taste him on you.”
He turned from me and stormed toward Gracie. “Remember the good old days?” he asked, crouching down in front of her, his hands on her knees pushing her legs apart. “Yeah, you do.” He smiled.
Gracie’s gaze darted to me and back to him quickly, tears tumbling from her eyes. “Ripped,” she said, reaching to push his hands away.
“Come on, we always used to have so much fun, right? You loved the thrill of it all, wondering if she’d walk in on us.” He ran his hands along her inner thighs and looked up at Cap. “Take the kid outside.”
Cap nodded and started to walk away, and Ripped reached up to the zipper on Gracie’s jeans.
“See, Quinn? I’m not a monster.”
Bonny-May reached for me as Cap passed, her gray eyes connecting with mine and making me gasp.
I realized then that Bonny-May was his, not Richard’s. No wonder she’d rushed to marry Richard. I covered my mouth again as I tried to cover my grief.
Gracie looked across at me. “I’m sorry!” she sobbed loudly, and I did cry then. “I never meant to hurt you, I swear to God, Quinn.”
I shook my head at her and pursed my lips as I wiped at the tears that blazed hot tracks down my cheeks, and I turned to leave the room. Because fuck this. I wasn’t sticking around for it. She deserved everything that happened to her.
“Oh no no no, Quinn,” Ripped called and Lincoln came to stand in front of me, blocking my way so I couldn’t leave. “You misunderstand me. I want you to stay and watch. Always thought you were good, clean—wholesome, almost. Always thought you were too fucking good for me, that’s for damned sure. But it turns out I was wrong and you’re just as much of a slut as every other woman in this town. So you can stay. You can watch, and maybe I’ll even let you join in.” He winked like it was all some sick joke.
I looked at him, anger and hurt vibrating through me. “I’m not staying and watching,” I bit out, my eyes narrowing. “You want to fuck her, then go right ahead, but I’m not staying here and I’m not joining in. You can call me what you want, Ripped, but I haven’t slept with anyone else, I’m not the one who got someone knocked up, and despite what you think, I did love you.”
Two truths and a lie.
If that was what it took to stay alive and to get out of there in one piece and not end up buried in the desert, then so be it. I needed to find Battle. I needed to know that he was okay.
