Leaning over, I slid the gun from Spike’s waistband and kept it propped on the bathtub.
Who am I kidding? If Cain wants us dead—I won’t be able to stop him.
Maybe I could lie. Cain never instructed me not to help Spike.
The hardness of the bathtub kept me awake, for which I was grateful. I wondered what the hell was happening at the raid. My phone remained balanced on the sink, completely still and silent. Spike’s chest pulsed up and down, his skin gradually returning to a normal color as the blood coursed through his veins, but he still wasn’t awake. I sat there for a long time, listening to Spike’s shallow breaths and the ticking of the clock in the kitchen.
I gently pushed him upright as I got out of the tub to change his blood bag, which was almost empty. I unhooked the tube and twisted it into the fresh one. Then I turned around and Spike’s eyes had opened. There was so trust in his gaze.
A fresh wave of tears burst through as I bent down and kissed his open mouth. His lips moved against mine, kissing me back. Wild happiness and relief made my chest shake with sobs.
“Hey,” he said, giving me a crooked grin. His eyes were wet with the pain of his wounds.
I couldn’t wait any longer to tell him. “Spike, I love you, too. I should have said it before, but I was an idiot. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
He closed his eyes for a few moments and when he opened them again, his face cracked into the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
Spike sat up and the towel fell from his chest as he took my hands in his. “When this is over, I’ll make you the happiest old lady the world’s ever seen.”
“I should have never been with him. I always wanted you, Spike.”
With surprising strength, he yanked me forward and caught the back of my head, his fingers curling in my hair as his lips took mine possessively. His tongue slipped inside my mouth and his moist hand groped down my neck, quickly finding the side of my breast. His cupping hand let me know that he was, in fact, feeling much better.
His thumb brushed over the thin fabric of my camisole and circled my nipple. I felt weak in Spike’s arms, the places where he stroked me tingling.
When he pulled back, there was a feral glint in his eyes. “You’re mine now. You’re not going back to that bastard.”
His voice booked no argument, and I had no desire to go against his wishes. My face flushed with pleasure.
You’re mine. Coming from Spike, those words meant so much more than possession. He would always protect me. He would always cherish me in the way I deserved to be.
That was all well and good, but Cain was still very much alive and he would be gunning for us both very soon.
“What about Cain?”
An ugly look twisted Spike’s face. “He’s a dead man.”
* * *
I helped Spike to his living room and he spent the rest of the morning calling other chapters for help. His face was ashen from the stress of two gunshot wounds and barely getting any sleep. I sat next to him as he made the phone calls, content just to hear his voice and feel the warmth of his body next to mine.
“What?” he said in a sharp voice, snapping me out of drifting off. His eyebrows knitted even further. “He called a week ago?”
Shit. I listened to Spike’s voice in alarm and when he hung up, I was desperate for his explanation.
“Cain called them. All the chapters nearby. He told them that I tried a mutiny and failed. He told them that I’m at large and not to trust anything I say.”
His flattened voice scared me. “Well, he’s lying! Tank and Max could back you up.”
“Yeah, wherever the hell they are. They might be dead already. I think Cain might’ve planned hits on all of them.”
“Have you tried calling?”
He blew air from his nose. “They won’t pick up.”
We looked at each other, each of us thinking the same thing. Are they dead?
As if to answer our question, a knock at the door startled us both. Spike struggled to sit up as I shot upright, adrenaline coursing through my blood.
“Is it him?”
He frowned. “I doubt he would come knocking. More than likely he’d kick down the door.”
The fist hammered at the door as Spike grabbed his sidearm and aimed it at the door.
“Spike! It’s Tank! Open the fuck up.”
Tank’s voice boomed through the door and Spike visibly sighed with relief. Thinking that I could hardly take any more suspense, I yanked open the door.
His wild head and beard shook as he glanced at Spike on the couch and back at me.
“It’s okay, Tank. I’m not with Cain anymore.”
He nodded and stepped inside, not speaking until I closed the door. “Max is dead,” he said suddenly. “He was shot by one of those snipes at the north entrance we were supposed to protect. He died pretty quick.”
My hand almost slipped from the glass I took from the cupboard. I raised my hands to my lips, thinking of the old man who counted money in the back. He was always polite to me, unlike most of the others. I grabbed a bottle of vodka and poured three shot glasses. Their contents spilled slightly as I brought one to Tank. Spike took his shot, staring down at the glass as if it held answers for him.
“To Max.”
We repeated it clumsily as we downed our shots. The burning liquid slipped down my throat and I sunk into the couch.
“Cain’s gone completely nuts. This raid was botched from the beginning, and still he wouldn’t let us retreat.”
“Well, there’s hope. Maybe he got killed,” he said in a nasty voice that wasn’t at all like him. “One of his goons, River, tried to finish me off. I’m guessing that he put all of us in the most compromising positions in the hopes that we would be killed and the last of his opposition would be dead.”
I poured Tank another glass, who downed it almost immediately. “Jesus—Jesus Christ.”
“Yeah. It gets worse.”
“How?” he asked curiously, his face pale. “How can it get any worse?”
“He’s made calling other chapters for help impossible. Already called them a week ago, after Crash was murdered.”
“You have Tank here to back you up! Get them on the phone, now!”
“Even if we call ‘em, we might be dead before they get here.”
The doom in his words made me angry. “So I guess we should just stay here and wait for him to kill us.”
Spike’s smile had no humor in it. “No, what I’m saying is we need to think of something. We need to attack him now, while he thinks that we’re fucked.”
I stared at his leg pointedly. “We are fucked. You can’t get up on that leg.”
His grin widened. “No, but I can ride.”
What the fuck is he thinking? I looked around at Tank for help, but he looked determined to do something. “Spike, your bike could be anywhere. What the fuck are you planning to do? Ride your bike into the clubhouse with bombs strapped to your chest?”
“Maybe.”
“I could find him,” I said in a voice that didn’t sound like my own. “I could lure him to you both. I make good bait.”
“No fucking way you’re going back to that psycho.”
Tank gazed at me shrewdly. “That might be our only shot.”
Spike struggled to get up, looking furious. “Julia! You’re not going back to him!”
“Believe me, it’s the last thing I want to do, but if I don’t you won’t stand a chance. Besides, I was born a hustler.”
The older man spoke before Spike’s red face could scream anything else. “Maybe there’s a way we can go with her.”
“Not a chance. I’m not risking her life.”
An idea formed in my head like a half-forgotten dream. There was no way we could kill him surrounded by his supporters. Spike had a bad leg and Tank’s reflexes weren’t what they were. I had to lure him to a vulnerable spot, but where? What would I say to get him to leave the clubhouse?
>
“What if I call him and I say that you’re injured and that you need help?”
They considered it. “He’s probably really busy dealing with the shipment, assuming it went according to plan. He might send someone else to kill Spike.”
“Shouldn’t I at least call him to see what’s going on? He might be dead for all we know!”
“If only we were that lucky.” Spike nodded. “Do it.”
My hands shook as I pulled my phone from my back pocket and touched the highlighted bar: Cain.
He picked up almost immediately. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you.”
My blood ran cold as his frozen voice hissed in my ear. It was like he was standing beside me. “Spike’s really badly hurt. I don’t know if he’ll make it. I’ve been busy trying to keep him alive.”
I looked at Spike’s face, which looked anxious. He nodded at me encouragingly. Both of them kept making gestures and mouthing things. I waved them off.
“I found River’s body. What the hell happened?”
Biting my lip, I decided to tell him a version of the truth. Just play dumb. “River turned on us. I saw him kill Boomer, so I took care of him. Got Spike out of there.”
The speaker cracked with his low laughter. “Oh, you stupid bitch.”
“I—I’m sorry. What did I do wrong?”
“Everything. Get to the clubhouse now.”
“Okay.” The line was already dead.
* * *
We’re all going to get killed.
I drove my beaten up convertible all the way to the clubhouse, the bumps in the road made Spike swear colorfully.
“Slow it down!”
His muffled voice came from the trunk. Spike and Tank were packed in there like a couple sardines.
As far as a plan, we had none. I could get them in the club, but then what? Cain was surrounded by his supporters.
He might have less people on his side after the mess last night.
The gate opened to my car and I drove inside, chewing my lip to shreds. A few prospects milled outside and I blanched when a familiar bald man left the clubhouse to meet me.
There was a hair trigger on the pistol I clutched in my jacket and my finger trembled over it as Pike walked closer, the expression on his face particularly foul. His leather cut was smeared with blood.
He lunged for my arm but I backed away.
“Don’t fucking touch me.”
“You killed my brother, bitch!” His eyes were just as bloodshot as Cain’s normally were.
“Is that his blood on your cut?”
It was. Next to Crash’s grave was a mound of freshly dug earth. The taunt enraged Pike. I enjoyed the pain on his face. I would do it again and again. I smiled at the rage on his face and almost forgot why I came here.
“I’m going to fuck you up.”
That was all I needed. Pike started forward violently and I pulled the trigger. Two shots squeezed out, slamming into his chest. Members burst from the club as Pike stared dumbly at the two dark holes on his chest. He sank to his knees.
“That’s for Bryan, you son of a bitch,” I whispered. “Rot in hell.”
Cain burst out of the clubhouse and I prayed that Spike would remain hidden. He shoved members out of the way as he made a beeline straight for me. Pike collapsed on the ground, making strangled, gurgling noises. Finally, the prospects leapt into action and seized my arms, ripping the gun from my hands. I struggled in their grasp.
The blonde man stopped in front of me, staring at his dying Vice-President in disbelief and glancing up at me. The hole in my jacket smoked where I pulled the trigger.
“You did this?”
“He threatened me.”
He glared hard, his eyes turning into stone as something changed in his face. “Let her go.” Cain showed no emotion for his slain comrade, who gasped his last breaths. He stepped over his body and grabbed my arms, murder in his eyes.
“Why the fuck would you do something so stupid?”
I stilled in Cain’s grasp, no longer afraid. “I hated him. Just like I hate you.”
His hand was a vice grip over my arm. His eyes were dented as if he was in pain. “I did everything for you. For us.”
“There is no us, you psycho.”
I screamed as his hand yanked my head back by my hair. He pulled the pistol from his leg and pressed it against my temple.
“Spike!” he bellowed. “Come out, or I paint the dust with her brains.”
Don’t come out. I looked anywhere but the trunk of the car as Cain swung me around, looking for Spike. I fought in his grasp and he pulled my head back as if to slit my throat. He was too strong to fight and too full of madness to reason with.
“Cain, let her go. This is crazy!”
Someone in the crowd shouted it. Cain wildly aimed with his gun towards the sound and fired his weapon. They ducked out of sight, but some poor bastard was hit. I could hear him screaming. Most of the members were outside; their faces tense as they watched me struggle.
“Jesus fucking Christ!”
“You do not tell me what to do,” Cain snarled.
“I’m here.”
Spike’s voice suddenly made Cain whirl around. The hood of the car was still shut where Tank hid. Seeing him so exposed and unarmed made a devastating pressure crush my lungs.
“Spike, don’t!”
“Is this what you fucking wanted?” A low chuckle reverberating from deep inside Cain’s chest became wild laughter and then suddenly sobered into a deadly hiss. “Julia is mine.”
Spike just looked at me. He ignored Cain. It was as if he knew he was going to die.
“What the fuck is wrong with all of you?” he screamed, discontent with everyone’s disapproving silence. “I stole the biggest distribution of Red in this county. It’s ours, now. The Tigers will be finished.”
“You killed Crash—”
Cain didn’t know it, but he was in more danger than I was.
“Please, that old bastard had it coming. He lost his taste for blood. He was WEAK! GET BACK!”
Spike limped back, his normally light brown eyes dark and frightening.
“STAY THE FUCK BACK!” he screamed at all of them. “What, you think I won’t kill her?”
His members, once passive sheep, now circled him like wolves. He could feel their anger around him like a ring of fire, slowly closing in. I gritted my teeth and waited for an opportunity to escape.
“Let her go, she has nothing to do with this.”
I winced as Cain yanked my hair to face Spike again.
“Like fuck she doesn’t. Look at you. What happened to you? One taste of her pussy and you’re ready to lay down your life for her, like all of those chumps in the pool halls.”
I watched as Spike’s face contorted with outrage on my behalf. “I love her,” he said simply.
Everything was building up, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from Spike. He gave me a quick, reassuring smile. The deep dimples I loved so much curving into his face.
“Love.” It was somewhere between a shriek of laughter and a sneer.
“What the fuck would you know about it?”
“I know what love is much better than you. She is mine. Everything I do to her makes our connection stronger. Transcendent. She will know. She will see. Even if I have to kill her to show her that. I will set her free before I give her to you.”
The Red made him insane, or perhaps he always teetered behind the edge of sanity. I felt rage building up behind my back as he suddenly shoved. I sprawled forward on the dirt and a loud blast behind me made me jerk my head. A searing pain slashed the side of my neck and suddenly the dirt sprayed with my blood. I ducked my head as bullets and explosions blasted in the air like fireworks. There was a strangled yell and a very loud thump. Clutching my neck, I rolled on my side to see Cain’s whitened face on the ground.
“Julia!”
He ran to me. He had a gunshot wound in his leg, but somehow he ran.
“He tried to kill me,” I mouthed to the dirt. Cain’s widened eyes stared into mine. I crawled on my elbows towards him, a faint feeling in my head. I wanted to tear him apart. Spike’s hands curled around my shoulders and jerked me upright.
“Let me see it.”
“No!” I screamed as they raised their guns to deliver the deathblow. They looked at me incredulously. “I want to do it.”
“Julia, you’ve been hit.”
“I don’t care. Give me your fucking gun!”
Cain’s chest flowered with red stains and his mouth bubbled with blood. The grey eyes sliced at me as his teeth grinned in a red smirk.
“You think you’re so much better. You’re just like me; you want to see me suffer. You love it.” Cain reached out and threaded a hand through my hair. “You are me.”
I do want to see you suffer. But only because it is what you deserve.
I yanked the gun out of Spike’s trousers and shot the man who had been my abuser for months. Blood burst from his pelvis like a small fountain. Then I aimed it between his legs as tears streamed down my face.
For raping me.
BAM.
The guys surrounding him winced as I shot his cock. Cain let out a scream that made me smile and his jeans rapidly turned a dark shade of red. Cain fell on his side, vomiting blood.
“Let him bleed to death.”
Spike wrestled the gun from my hand and shot the man in the heart, killing him instantly. What little color remained in his face faded away. I whirled on him, enraged.
“Why did you do that?”
Spike’s face was impassive. “We’re not like him, Julia. The only way to free ourselves of him is to start doing right.”
The anger took a few moments to fizzle as I realized he was right. Between my fingers, which were still pressed against my neck, a glut of blood shot out and a wave of dizziness made me sink to the ground.
“Fuck!”
His terrified voice surrounded me and then his hand pressed against the side of my neck. I looked at Cain’s tortured, dead face and wondered if I was going to be joining him soon.
“Spike. He got me. I—I’m—”
“Don’t talk. The ambulance is coming. You’re going to be all right.”
There were too many people crouched in front of me. A few removed Cain’s body just before a siren blared in my ears. I could feel my body disconnecting, the molecules holding me together were gradually drifting and I desperately tried to hold them together, but I was so tired.
Ruthless (Dark MC Romance) Page 20