Page 139 of Praying for Thunder

Her grabbing my hand and squeezing told me she was okay, but her faint voice was alarming when she said, “More coming.”

As I questioned her meaning, I felt Diesel lay a hand on my back while giving out instructions. “Let’s get these bodies taken care of…”

Someone squatting next to me pulled my attention from Rya.

As if this night wasn’t a complete fuckery, my brother smiled, holding out his hand that had my gun. “Hey, I’m Artist.” He handed me the gun. “It’s warm.” He admired. “Well done.”

Taking my weapon and sticking it in the back of my pants, I looked at Diesel with an expression that said, Is this guy for real?

Diesel rolled his eyes. “He’s a bit dramatic.”

Artist balked. “Dramatic, old man?” He thumbed over his shoulder. “They fucking kidnapped me!”

Diesel shrugged, not impressed.

“Twice!” Art squeaked.

As if not able to deny this, Diesel’s head wobbled at me while he said, “They did.”

And I thought Onus was nuts? Yep! This is my family.

Diesel told me, “I prefer we chat later. Grab your girl.”

Lifting Rya from the ground, I asked, “Diesel, what the fuck is going on?”

He opened his mouth but wasn’t the one to answer me.

Onus came walking past a tree. “I’d like to know that, also.”

My stomach plummeted.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t confident in Diesel’s men, or my maniac brother who clearly had no issues with murder. It was that Onus had Tabi. Her hands were tied behind her back. Her eyes were swollen from tears and already bruising from hits. Thick strings of blood dripped from her beaten lips.

No one moved but me. I took a step forward. “Tabs.”

Onus held up a hand. His nose scrunched. “I don’t think she is of your concern anymore.”

So. Sick. Of. Being. Trapped. I growled, “That’s my Old Lady.”

Rya was very weak but still jolted in my embrace.

Onus smirked, licking his teeth, gesturing to my full arms.

I seethed, “What a man does with his Old Lady is his fucking business. If I wanna cheat, my fucking business. That cut on her back either stands for something or it doesn’t.” Her not being dead told me this beating was to punish me. Not an awareness that she was an agent. So, I did my best to stand by my commitment.

As if bordering on whether or not he should release his crazy side, Onus waved me off. “Noooo, let’s get back to your other family reunion.”

I stared at Tabi, contemplating what the fuck to do, but then, out of the blue, Diesel stomped his boot and started lecturing Artist, “Do you see how your mouth gets us in trouble?”

He recoiled, pointing to his own chest. “Me?”

Surrounding men in Redemption Ryder cuts started grumbling, “Here we go again,” right before Artist complained, “Just like with Maverick, you’re blaming me.”

Some big guy who looked a little younger than Art piped in, “Don’t drag me into your bullshit.”

Art looked at me. “That’s Maverick.” He winked. “His wife is smokin’.”

I just stood there, unable to respond. There were five dead men on the ground, my girl—who just had a seizure—while someone tried executing her, Tabi had been badly beaten, Onus was ready to go on a rampage… yet these guys were carrying on as if this was just another night.