I looked over at Penny, whose anger was finally giving way to fear and uncertainty. “Dad, please,” she begged.
“Penny.” I said her name and her gaze shot to me. “It’s fine, I’ve got this. Get your shit together now.”
Her eyes swam with tears and she shrugged. “I’ve got nothing,” she said, her voice full of anguish.
“And what if I don’t agree to this?” Solomon bit out angrily, sending spittle flying. “I didn’t agree to this. She’s mine, Prez!”
“No, she’s mine, always. Now shut the fuck up before I put you in the ground, Solomon. You can get some other poor bitch to fuck.”
Razuuk moved closer to me, leaning down to look in my face. I held my chin up, my gaze hitting his hard. He chuckled and pulled out a hunting knife before gripping my chin in his hand.
“You sure about this, boy?” he asked with a snarl.
“You have no claim on her after today,” I snarled back. “She’s mine, permanently.”
He smiled and raised the knife and held the tip of it to my forehead, and then, slowly but surely, he dragged the tip of the blade down my face, over my eyebrow, down my cheek and all the way to my chin. Pain burned like acid down my face, blood pouring from the long, deep wound. I refused to make any sound, despite the pain. He wiped the blade off on his jeans before taking the tip to the other side and dragging it down my face.
I gritted my teeth and held still, my gaze fixed firmly on Penny, watching as the tears lashed her cheeks, cutting me up more than Razuuk’s blade ever could.
My whole face felt like it was on fire, and blood poured freely from the cuts. My vision blurred as blood dripped into my eyes. Razuuk continued to sneer at me, his hand gripping my chin and blood pouring down between his fingers. Everything hurt. Felt like my whole damn face was about to slide off the bone.
“We done?” I said, blood dripping into my mouth. I spat it to one side, ignoring the pain.
Razuuk laughed and let go of my face. He took a step back, wiping the blade off on his jeans again. He smiled down at me as he picked up his glass and downed its contents, looking over my face with satisfaction.
“You didn’t really think it would be that easy did you, Highwayman?” he gloated. “You come here, demanding my daughter like you’re something special. Let’s see what a great Fighter you are.”
Razuuk nodded behind me, and I felt the first kick hit my ribs as the sound of Penny’s scream escaped her and I groaned in agony. More hits pummeled my back and sides, kicks and fists, laying into every part of me as I fell forward and curled up into a bloody ball, groaning as a heavy boot slammed into my side and another kicked the back of my head. Boot after boot after boot slammed into me, man after man taking their two cents out on me.
I forced my mind to go somewhere else, because if I didn’t I’d fight back, and if I fought back there was no way Penny or I were leaving there alive. I let the Vipers take out their anger and humiliation on me, taking their payment in the form of blood and violence, and I lay there and took everything they had to give.
It was the beating of my life.
But she was worth it.
I hoped.
Because hope and faith went hand in hand, and I had faith in her, and I could only hope she had the same faith in me.
~ 30 ~
Penny
“Can you ride?” I asked him.
He was a heavy weight, leaning into me as blood poured down his face and one of his arms gripped his side. He grunted something as we stumbled toward his bike.
“Fighter?” I looked down at him, seeing his swollen, bloody face already turning a myriad of different colors as the bruises started to form. I needed to get him back to his clubhouse, to his brothers, so they could get him looked at quickly. He was in bad shape; something was broken inside of him, not to mention that mess my dad had done to his beautiful face. I looked away quickly when Fighter fixed his black eyes on me.
This was my fault.
I had caused this.
I had done this to him.
“Can you ride?” I asked again, and he nodded.
He couldn’t though. I already knew that and I whimpered in frustration, unsure of what to do. We reached his bike and he leaned on it to catch his breath—his breath which was labored and making him choke on blood if he took too deep a breath. I reached in his cut and pulled out his cell and he looked up at me, breaking me with his pained gaze.
