Gluttony (Seven Deadlies MC Book 3)

by Kaitlyn Ewald

  The blade of the knife sliced the tender skin of her forearm as she rolled from underneath him and made a run for the door.

  Scarlett was panting as she sprinted into the living room, her injured arm slinging blood onto the beige carpet and white couch.

  Her bare feet slid across the carpet, and she caught herself just in time before she fell to her knees.

  “Get back here, bitch!”

  His filthy words hung in the air behind her head as he kicked her feet out from under her.

  Scarlett went flying right into the coffee table, flattening it beneath her weight.

  The force of the fall knocked the wind right out of her, and she cried out from the pain.

  Her eyes blurred for a second, but she could still make out Scott’s form as he kicked his Italian leather shoe directly into the soft skin of her belly.

  “You’re making this too fun for me, Scarlett. You’re not the first woman I’ve made bleed, and I can promise you won’t be the last.”

  His eyebrows wiggled as he said that, as if it were a joke- as if he were telling her something he found incredibly amusing instead of something she found incredibly disturbing.

  Scarlett rolled away from him when he leaned towards her, but he caught her with a fist through her curly hair.

  “Not. So. Fast.”

  Before she could get her hands up to defend herself, Scott landed one open palmed slap to her cheek.

  She gasped at the sting, but didn’t stop trying to get away.

  “Help! HELP!,” Scarlett cried helplessly once more.

  Scott flipped her over onto her back, right onto the wooden debris of her coffee table, before he yanked on the hem of her dress and continued to slice it open with the blade of the knife still covered in her blood.

  Her injured arm was throbbing and stinging while still oozing blood, but it didn’t slow Scott down any.

  “Please, let me go. Limit will kill you,” She sobbed.

  Scott wasn’t even slowed down by her hands as she fought like hell to fend him off.

  That’s when she heard it- the telltale rumble of a familiar bike-and started screaming.

  “Help! Please, help!”

  Scarlett wasn’t sure if it was her screaming or if he panicked, but suddenly that blade was buried hilt-deep in her side.

  Scarlett gasped, tried to suck in a breath, but the pain was immeasurable.

  Scott stared down at her wide-eyed in that moment, as if he too couldn’t believe that he’d actually done it.

  He’d stabbed her.

  And Scarlett had no idea whether or not she was going to bleed out right there on her living room floor.

  “He-help-,” Her words came out garbled and wispy, but she knew that he understood it. She knew he understood exactly what she was saying.

  Before he could say anything in response the door slammed open, shattering into a million pieces.

  “Oh my God!,” Emily’s voice filled the room, and the sight of Green’s boots filled her vision.

  Scott was lifted right off the ground by his neck as Green tossed him into the air and slammed him right back down.

  His gun was drawn in an instant while Emily worked quickly to stop the bleeding.

  “Scarlett? Can you hear me? Scarlett, hold on!”

  Scarlett gripped Emily’s arm as she tried to keep herself conscious.

  “Call Laura and Ox. I know-they’re tog-together,” She whispered shakily.

  Emily nodded and pulled her phone out of her pocket immediately.

  “Don’t close your eyes, Scar. Keep them open!”

  Scarlett’s gaze fell on Green who was screaming something at Scott, who was cowering.

  The sight made her happy.

  Gleeful.

  Green was saying something, something angry, because the slightest hint of his Irish brogue was coming out of the woodwork.

  Scarlett sucked in a deep breath when Emily tossed her phone aside and gently probed the wound in her side.

  “Laura and Ox are on their way. They’ll be here as soon as they can.”

  Scarlett just nodded, but her eyes filled with tears because she hadn’t even gotten the chance to tell Limit she loved him.

  “Limit-”

  “He’s coming, too.”

  Emily smiled down at her as her eyes filled with tears.

  Scarlett held onto her hand as tightly as she could, and she tried as hard as she could not to concentrate on the blood soaking the carpet.

  Emily soothed her by saying sweet things to her, by telling her that she was being so brave and so strong- but she didn’t feel like she’d been brave.

  She’d let Scott get the best of her.

  Scarlett figured she should have seen this coming.

  She should have known.

  Scarlett’s eyes fluttered closed as Emily’s voice became especially loud.

  “Scarlett? Scarlett!”

  Scarlett’s eyes flew open when she felt hands wrap around the handle of the knife.

  Evergreen eyes and blonde hair met her sight when Laura leaned in close to her.

  “You’re gonna be okay, honey. Just relax for me.”

  Scarlett began to reach for her, but her hand was intercepted by someone else’s.

  Grey eyes met hers and for the first time since she’d met him, Limit wasn’t just Limit.

  His nostrils flared as he eyed the hole in her side while Emily worked to stabilize her. There was a lot of cursing, yelling, a lot of murmuring as they watched one another.

  Scarlett was staring directly into the vulnerable, frightened eyes of Colton Graham; the man beneath the cut, beneath the uniform, the man behind the scope.

  Scarlett was staring into the eyes of the man she loved, and he was staring right back.

  Chapter 19

  Limit’s head was in his hands when Ox entered the infirmary.

  Green and Emily were pacing around the room while Laura worked steadily on Scarlett. She’d assured them that it was just a flesh wound, that Scott had missed anything vital and that her recovery would be smooth sailing.

  That didn’t fucking help.

  Limit was ready to shed his own skin he was so worried, but he knew that her father was probably even more worried. He opened his mouth at least ten times every few seconds to apologize, to tell Ox he was sorry, that he should have been there…

  But, the words never came out.

  In fact, the only sound in the entire room was Emily crying.

  She was still gripping Scarlett’s bloody hand, and her eyes were swollen from her tears, but Limit couldn’t bring himself to say a damn word.

  Green cleared his throat and held up his phone.

  “Fury and Rayna want to know if they should come back?”

  Ox slowly shook his head.

  “No. Tell them to have fun.”

  Green didn’t look like he agreed, and his green eyes slanted towards Scarlett before he reluctantly nodded. Ox was so wound up one of his knees was rocking at almost a hundred miles per hour, but Limit didn’t comment on that either.

  He really had only one thing on his mind, and that was the man waiting for him in the garage.

  Torch was right; ever since the women had shown up in their lives, everything had been turned upside down. Rayna had certainly turned their VP ass over head. Prettyboy was wrapped around Esme’s finger and for the longest while, Limit hadn’t thought that a bad thing.

  Now?

  Now, he knew that he was losing his shit, over Ox’s daughter no less.

  He’d realized it when he saw them dancing together earlier, her and Ox. She looked so fucking beautiful and happy wrapped in Ox’s arms.

  Truthfully, she’d looked like she belonged, and Limit knew better than that.

  Deep down, he knew that loving Scarlett Hunter would be his downfall.

  If he let her in, all the way in, she would completely undo him.

  Scarlett had a goodness about her that radiated from within, a goodness Limit
admitted that he didn’t have anymore. He couldn’t hold onto that after everything he’d been through. But, after watching Scarlett squirm in her own blood, he wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t eventually steal that wholesomeness from her, too.

  “We should give her some space to rest,” Laura said softly.

  Ox nodded, but he looked to Limit before he wrapped one palm around Limit’s shoulder.

  “Stay with her. I’m going to visit the man in the garage and then I’ll decide his fate.”

  Limit almost thanked him for taking that burden from his shoulders, but at the end of the day, he knew that he’d be called to end his life sooner or later.

  Sooner versus later, more than likely.

  As everyone exited the room, including Green, Limit rose to his full height and scooted his chair closer to Scarlett’s bedside. The steady beep-beep of her heart rate grounded him in a way that he couldn’t explain, but after seeing the pussy in the garage bent over her like he was man enough to actually kill her…

  He wanted to rage.

  Limit could kill someone without blinking.

  He knew how to turn his remorse off.

  He knew how to handle his business- the man in the garage?

  He’d been green around the gills, which told Limit that he wasn’t as badass as he apparently thought he was.

  Emily explained to all of them that Scott and his father were both attorneys and that she figured Scott thought he would be able to get away with hurting Scarlett.

  Hell, Scott had basically admitted that much as he cried and pleaded for them to have mercy on him.

  Mercy?

  A grown man begging for mercy after he’d just tried to fillet the daughter of Limit’s president.

  A grown man crying in the garage because he knew that he’d caused his own untimely death.

  For, Scott Worthington’s death was inevitable.

  There was no way Ox would let him walk away.

  Fuck that, there was no way Limit could let him walk away.

  Even if Scarlett woke up and told him she was done with him and this life, even if she never blinked those gorgeous hazel eyes in his direction ever again, Limit would take care of Scott Worthington for her. He would end Scott's miserable life for ever laying a hand on Scarlett, even if she could never be ‘his’ woman.

  As he lifted her hand into his, he ran his thumbs across the backs of her knuckles. Her hand was soft and warm and her arm was bandaged from wrist to elbow.

  The white gauze was stark against her skin, and it only served to remind Limit of how close he’d come to losing her.

  Which meant that he had to push her away.

  He could stand to watch her walk away, but a woman like Scarlett wouldn’t survive this life.

  Not as an old lady.

  Being the president’s daughter was one thing, she had an entire club to back her up.

  Being his old lady would put an even bigger target on her back- you would think that it would be the opposite, but as the club enforcer, Limit made a lot of enemies. A lot of men feared him, hated him, and he didn’t want that blackness to taint her.

  As he smoothed her hair out of her face, she made a soft cooing sound and turned her face towards him. Her lips looked so soft and kissable that he couldn’t resist one small peck.

  Even though she remained asleep, Limit felt like one last kiss was all someone like him deserved.

  In fact, the reality of the situation- the fact that she’d slept with him multiple times of her own free will- still blew his mind.

  Limit wouldn’t thank the universe for a lot, but he’d still be thanking the Gods above for her long after she left him behind.

  Maybe when she got married to someone else and had a few babies.

  Maybe when he watched her walk down the aisle, he’d finally be over the loss that she would inevitably leave behind.

  “I’m gonna handle this shit outside for you, babygirl. I’m gonna take care of the man who tried to take you from me. I won’t ever let someone hurt you…not even myself,” He whispered huskily.

  Scarlett’s grip on him tightened almost imperceptibly before she sighed deeply in her sleep and turned slightly onto her side.

  “I know you’ll be hurt. You’re gonna be angry, and you’re gonna hate me, but I think that’s better for you. I know you deserve so much better than me and I can’t fight you off forever. If I keep you, you’ll soften me up, and I can’t allow that.”

  He briefly tugged on her blonde tips before he stood again and reached over to turn the lamp on, thinking that she would more than likely be terrified if she awoke in the dark.

  He had no idea how much she would actually remember, but that was something he intended to find out later.

  Right then and there, he needed to figure out what Ox wanted to do.

  ✽✽✽

  When Limit entered the garage, Ox was standing over Scott with the very same knife he’d stabbed Scarlett with.

  By the time Limit was done with him, he’d be able to frame that fucking knife.

  He’d brandish it like a badge of honor, carry it on his person so he could remember how he avenged the only woman he’d ever thought about giving all of himself to.

  “What are we doin’?,” He asked Ox.

  Ox sneered at Scott before he gestured towards him.

  “He spilled his guts like the pussy he is. Said he was going to make Scarlett his, and make her leave with him. Said that he even had plans to hurt her further if she didn’t agree to it. You know what we’re doin’,” Ox spat.

  His amber eyes were angry and bloodshot, his fists were clenched at his sides. Limit knew he’d do whatever his president allowed, but he was rooting for something traditional.

  Pulling teeth, breaking fingers, splitting skin.

  “You got it. Why don’t you go on inside and sit with Scarlett?”

  Ox stared at him long and hard before he nodded.

  “Do your worst, and don’t stop until he ain’t breathin’.”

  Ox’s demand didn’t fall on deaf ears.

  “You got it, boss.”

  Ox only hesitated for a second before he stepped closer to Limit and sighed.

  “When this is over, you and I are gonna have a talk.”

  Limit dipped his head and headed for his work bench.

  “Whatever you say.”

  Scott Worthington was squirming in his chair, his pale eyes red and wet. Limit felt no pity for him, not one ounce.

  “Boss?”

  “Yeah?”

  Limit held up a pair of pliers as he turned to face his president.

  “What about the kid’s father? Won’t he come lookin’ for him?”

  Ox glanced at Scott before he snorted.

  “Fucker should have thought about that before he tried to kill my daughter. Don’t worry about that. Right now, I just want you to do your job.”

  Limit didn’t argue with Ox.

  If his president said he’d take care of it, then Limit knew he would take care of it. It wouldn’t be the first time they created their own outcome for some ritzy fuck who’d taken advantage of them or their club.

  As Limit neared his latest victim, he felt the familiar sense of contentment wash over him.

  “You hurt my woman.”

  The words rolled right off his tongue, so easily, so smoothly.

  Scarlett didn’t have to know he loved her.

  “She’s my woman!,” Scott argued.

  Limit opened and closed the pliers a few times before he pointed them towards Scott.

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong. I may not be a gentleman, but I know a thing or two about consent. Scarlett told you no. She left you. That means she wasn’t your woman anymore,” Limit murmured.

  His raspy voice had Scott shivering in his chair.

  “She-she would have come-she would have come back to me if it weren’t for you!”

  Limit was surprised by that, but he didn’t let it show.

  “Now,
why would you say somethin’ like that?”

  Scott scoffed loudly as he shook his head.

  “She let you fuck her! I tried for months, and she never even wanted me to touch her! Now she’s here with you lowlifes for less than two weeks and suddenly she’s mooning over you? You’re filth! You’re nothing!,” Scott yelled.

  Limit chuckled as he lifted one of Scott’s hands up against his restraints and put the pliers to his index finger.

  “I’m nothing, huh? Scarlett doesn’t seem to think so. And by the time I’m done with you? Boy, by the time I’m done with you, you’re gonna think I’m God.”

  Chapter 20

  Scarlett jerked awake, her hands instantly falling to her injured side.

  She could feel the gauze, feel the pull of the stitches.

  As her bleary eyes assessed her surroundings, they fell onto her father who was asleep in a chair in the corner of the room.

  He looked tired as hell, but then again, so was she.

  She couldn’t imagine how worried he’d been.

  So, she was alive, which meant it couldn’t be too bad. Laura had assured her as she was stitching her up that she was going to be okay, but a part of her didn’t believe it. Her eyes filled with tears as she recalled what had happened and how close she’d come to dying on her living room floor.

  Maddie had warned her about living a biker lifestyle, about the outlaw kind of life, but it had been her past that almost did her in.

  “Scott…,” She whispered shakily.

  Her throat was scratchy and dry, and she wanted nothing more than to find Limit and see him.

  The look on his face as he’d held her hand in her apartment had haunted her dreams.

  Goodbye…

  The word repeated itself in her head, because that look in his eyes?

  She recognized it.

  She knew how it felt when it rolled off her tongue and she knew how fucking bad it was going to hurt if he said it to her.

  Scarlett choked back more tears as she struggled to stand, doing her best not to wake her father- she wasn’t ready for that reunion, yet.

  Earlier she’d seen Esme and Prettyboy as Rider and Slayer had rushed to see what was happening; she hoped she didn’t run into anyone on her way to find Limit.