Killing, torturing, kidnapping—none of that had ever fazed me. When you grew up like I did, there wasn’t much you hadn’t seen before you were out of diapers. But after what went down with Ripped and Battle, something had changed inside me.
I was questioning every order, every motive, every decision, instead of doing what my president ordered. People were beginning to notice. But worse, I didn’t like the man I was becoming. I couldn’t decide if it was me that was seeing things that weren’t there, or Hardy that was pulling strings.
It was why this job had to go right.
I loved my club and needed to pull it back together. I was driving a wedge between myself and my brothers, and the only way to fix the gaping chasm was to find out who the mole was and show Hardy that I still had his—and the club’s—back. That I could still be his soldier and follow orders.
I needed to get things back to normal, but while no one was being made accountable for Skinny being shot and Hardy turning a blind eye to the issue, it was getting harder and harder to do.
Gauge and I sat in silence staring off into the sunset, watching as the sun dipped under the Atlanta horizon, both of us thinking our own dark thoughts but neither of us voicing them.
“I’ve gotta get back,” I finally said, taking a deep breath.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Gauge said. “Keep her hidden until I say so.”
I nodded and started my bike before grabbing my helmet and pushing it back on. I turned to look at Gauge. He looked like he wanted to say more but was trying to decide if he should or not, so I gave him a nudge in the right direction.
“You can trust me, brother.”
It was his turn to nod now. “My life for my brothers.”
“And my brothers for life,” I finished for him. I reached out and we shook hands in agreement. I liked Gauge, he’d always been straight up and to the point, none of this shady shit which Hardy had him doing recently.
“You don’t trust anyone with information on the girl but me. You hear me?” he said.
“Got it.”
I waited, because there was still more.
He dragged a hand over his beard, his eyes growing hard. “Not even Hardy right now.”
And there it was: the coffin being pried open to reveal the club’s dirty secrets. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t entirely trust Hardy. It was a relief, in some ways, to know that I wasn’t going fucking crazy in my suspicions.
“I hear you,” I replied. I held out a hand and he shook it before jutting his chin out to me.
I spun my bike the opposite way and began the short ride back to the safe house and Penny.
~ 6 ~
Fighter
Her scream echoed from the walls of her room, bouncing around from floor to ceiling and side to side. She’d been screaming like that for over an hour now, trying to get my attention, but all she was really doing was wearing herself out.
She thrashed on the bed, rattling her cuffs against the metal frame, smearing blood from the gashes the cuffs had left on her down her arms. It was a fucking beautiful sight. She screamed loud and long again, but this time the scream was cut short as her body suddenly went limp, her head sagging to one side.
My hand holding my coffee mug paused on its way to my mouth, my eyes trained on the small screen until I saw the small telltale twitch of her left foot that told me she was bluffing. I smirked and shook my head before taking another sip of my coffee.
Five minutes went by before she finally opened her eyes and stared right at the camera, lifting her head off the pillow so she could get a better angle. Woman looked like she was trying to stare into my very soul and if I had one it would be chilled to the fucking bone right now.
“Fuck you!” she screamed, and thrashed again, and I chuckled and set my mug down so I could pick up my burger. “Fuck you, you fucking creep!”
I saluted her in agreement and took a large bite of my burger. Goddamn, it was good. Really fucking good. I chewed and swallowed and took another large bite before finishing it off with a third.
She’d stopped screaming by the time I was washing my mouth out with a beer, and I wondered how hungry she must have been right then. Not to mention thirsty. But the real kicker was she still hadn’t pissed. Over twenty-four hours I’d had her there and she was, no doubt, just barely holding on to that bladder of hers.
I didn’t give a shit though.
She could piss herself for all I cared.
In fact, that was exactly what I was hoping.
Bitch wanted to be left alone. Wanted me to fuck off. Well, her wish was my motherfucking command.
She was mumbling something and I reached for the dial and turned the volume up higher. I frowned, still not being able to decipher what it was. I turned it up all the way and zoomed in on her face to try and read her lips when the words still weren’t clear, but the picture only pixilated to a blurry mess. I put my ear against the speaker, finally understanding what she was saying as she screamed at the top of her lungs, “Fuck you!”
The words screamed through the speaker and into my ear and I stumbled backwards, almost tripping over my own feet. I rubbed a hand over my ear, scowling hard and turning the volume back down.
When I zoomed back out she was glaring up at the camera, a smart-ass grin on her face like she knew exactly what she’d just done. Fury bubbled in my veins.
“Fuckin’ bitch,” I snarled angrily, the ringing and buzzing in my ear still loud and painful.
“Eat shit and die,” she said, like she’d heard me.
I narrowed my gaze at her, wishing nothing more than to be able to go into that room, grip her by the throat, and show her who fucking owned her right then. Who controlled her every move. And who could end her with a snap of his wrist.
She needed to know what it was like to be at someone else’s mercy. Clearly Daddy Razuuk hadn’t taught her any fucking manners. No problem, I’d teach her soon enough. I just needed to get her to break first. Then the bitch was mine.
*
Not long after her outburst where the little bitch nearly popped my fuckin’ eardrum, she fell asleep. Pure exhaustion knocked her out cold.
I waited a good twenty minutes just to be certain and then I stalked across the short hallway to her room, unlocking it and letting myself inside. I watched her from the doorway, listening to her soft snores punctuating the otherwise silent room. My mask was in place but I pulled it down so I could light my cigarette. Her coconut-scented shampoo scent hung heavy in the air, mingling with sweat and the stale scent of the mattress. Never really thought much about the scent of a woman, barring the musk from between their legs that turned any red-blooded man on. I took a drag on my cigarette as I got closer to the bed, my hand involuntarily reaching out to touch the long strands of her brunette hair.
She didn’t stir, her soft snores still even.
Even asleep she looked angry. All sharp eyebrows and pouty little mouth. A frown draped across her features, and I chuckled as I watched her hands flex involuntarily. Bitch was probably dreaming that she was beating my ass. Or at least trying to. There was no doubt she’d give me a run for my money if she could.
As it were, she was cuffed to the bed and completely at my mercy. Just how I liked my women.
I wondered how long it would be before she broke. What it would take to tip the scales. Everyone, whether man or woman, had a breaking point. A submission point. A dark place inside themselves with a line clearly marked to show that that was their limit. I just needed to find hers.
Fear wasn’t working.
Ignoring her even less so.
I took a step back, away from the bed.
I’d figure it out—figure her out—soon enough. I always did. That was my job.
I loved puzzles. Riddles. Complex games designed to work the brain. And Penny was just that: a puzzle. I’d find her weakness, her breaking point, and I’d use it for my own advantage.
I stalked toward the door, flicking the li
ght out on my way out the room before locking the door behind me.
Penny was a puzzle that I wanted to take apart, and I was the master at this game. She never stood a chance of winning against me.
~ 7 ~
Fighter
I stared down at the Sudoku puzzle in front of me, filling in the last square with a number two before dropping the pencil back down and hitting the pause button on the small clock next to me. Two minutes and twenty seconds.
Fuck.
I shook my head, annoyed with myself. I should have been quicker. I stretched my arms above my head and cracked my neck from side to side before glancing at the small screen where Penny was yelling something. I’d turned the sound down because I could hear her mumbled shouting coming from the hallway anyway, but I took a moment to turn the volume back up to see what she was yelling about.
“Oh my god, I’m going to pee! Please let me use a bathroom. Oh god, please. I’ll do anything!” She was practically sobbing, her legs crossed at the ankles as she squirmed on the bed.
Truth be told, I was surprised she hadn’t pissed herself yet. It was why I’d covered the bed with a plastic sheet in the first place. Woman must have had a bladder made of steel.
“Please! Please don’t make me pee myself!”
I chuckled and turned the volume back down before flipping my puzzle book over and resetting my timer.
I lit a cigarette, letting it balance between my lips as I filled in square after square, my pencil moving over the puzzle and picking up speed as my brain ran the numbers.
“Five, seven, seven, seven, six,” I mumbled, my gaze roving over the page and working out the sequence of numbers as quickly as I could. I pressed too hard on the page and the lead snapped off completely. “Fuck!” I yelled, throwing the pencil and hitting the stop button on my timer.
I’d only had three numbers left and I would have beaten my previous time.
A muffled scream sounded down the hallway, louder than before, and my gaze flicked to the screen, watching her thrash on the bed. I stubbed out my cigarette in the overflowing ashtray and pressed a finger to her image in the screen.
I’d found her Achilles heel and I had no intention of backing down now. I stroked her image and turned my stereo on, hitting play on the next song in line. Stealth filtered through the tinny speakers and I lit another cigarette and picked up my bottle of Jack and took a swig of it before humming along to the song.
I closed my eyes and my foot tapped along with the song. I took another swig of the Jack and leaned back in my chair, letting the cigarette dangle from my lips as I stared up at the ceiling, wondering about how different my life would have been if it weren’t for the Devil’s Highwaymen.
The club had saved my fuckin’ life, and I was under no illusion I wouldn’t either be in the ground or behind bars if it weren’t for them. For Hardy and Rider taking a chance on me. For my brothers accepting every dark part of me. Fuckin’ loved this club.
My whole life I’d been alone barring one friend—Battle.
Never had a real family, but this club was as good as any family out there. Better.
We bled for each other.
We loved for each other.
And if need be, we killed for each other.
I once read a sign that said friends were the family we got to choose. And it was right. Every word of it. The men in the club were my friends, my family, my everything. And I’d choose them over anyone and anything else.
Still, like with any family, you had to know when someone was making a real bad decision. I’d had a feeling burning in my gut for weeks that Hardy was making some of those bad decisions. For himself, and for the club. Gauge’s admission that Hardy might not be entirely trustworthy at the moment set my nerves on edge, but at least I knew I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the change in the man.
Twenty minutes later and Penny’s room had gone silent. I glanced up at the screen, seeing the dark patch surrounding her and her face turned away from the camera in shame.
A dark smile crawled up my face as I pulled up the mask from around my neck. I turned my music down and walked slowly toward her room, unlocked the door, and let it swing wide open until it hit the wall and slowly moved back. I caught it with my hand, my dark gaze moving over her prone figure. She lay still on the bed, the unmistakable scent of piss heavy in the air.
“Seriously, darlin’, you should have told me you needed the bathroom and I woulda taken you.” I gripped the top of the doorframe, feeling my muscles flex as I stared at her, waiting for a reaction from the feisty little bitch, but she didn’t move. I waited exactly sixty seconds before tutting. “All right, well, if you ain’t got nothin’ to say to me, I might as well leave.”
“Wait!” she called as I turned around.
I stared out into the empty hallway and forced myself not to smile as I turned back around to face her. I set my cold stare on her and waited. She swallowed, her nostrils flaring as she attempted to stare me down. Goddamn but this woman was strong-willed enough to still have some fight left in her. Fuckin’ loved a challenge, and this woman was just that.
She was still glaring at me, all fire and hate in her gaze. It was a damn good look on her.
“A man don’t take too kindly to that kind of stare,” I said darkly. “It normally means one of two things.”
I waited, enjoying the way her mouth pinched in as she tried to control her temper. “What two things?” she finally asked, her voice sullen.
I took a step into the room, moving closer to her. “That she either wants to fuck him or kill him.” I waited, desire pulsing through my veins when she lifted her chin in defiance and snorted on a laugh. “So which one is it?”
“What?” she asked with narrowed eyes.
“You wanna fuck me or kill me?” I reached behind my ear and pulled out my joint and then lifted my mask just high enough so I could light it. I took a deep breath, inhaling the weed into my lungs while I let my words stew in her mind, before exhaling and stalking around the side of the bed toward her. “Because, they each have very different outcomes, so choose wisely.”
Her face pinched in anger. “Let’s just say you’re not my type.”
“I’m everyone’s type,” I replied arrogantly, the smell of her piss rising up to meet me.
She shook her head and snorted on another humorless laugh. “I prefer the not-a-fucking-kidnapping-psycho-freak type of man.”
I leaned over and put the joint to her lips. She hesitated for a moment, her golden eyes boring into mine defiantly before finally taking it between her lips and inhaling. I pulled it away and she exhaled, and I stood back up.
“I normally prefer the not-a-total-psychotic-cunt-that-pisses-herself, but beggars can’t be choosers, darlin’,” I finally replied.
Her eyes went wide at my words and it took all of my control not to laugh at her. “Fuck you!” she spat, her words filled with venom and hate and her cheeks flushing hot pink, the color I imagined her pussy to be after she’d been fucked.
“That your choice?” I replied, rubbing my hands together as my gaze grazed over her body.
“Go to hell!” she gritted through clenched teeth.
“Been there, it’s not as bad as some may think, actually. Demons are kinky little fuckers.” I headed back around the bed toward the door. “But if we’re not gonna fuck then I have shit to do, because clearly you ain’t fuckin’ killing anyone in your current position.”
“Where are you going? You can’t leave me like this!” she yelled after me.
“Sure I can,” I replied without turning back around.
“I pissed myself, for God’s sake! I want a fucking shower!”
I let out a slow laugh and kept on walking.
“Wait!” she called desperately. “Please…I’m hungry, and thirsty! Please!”
The second request was said with trepidation, and I couldn’t blame her after the last time she asked me for a drink of water.
“Please,” sh
e begged. “You have to.”
I turned slowly in the doorway, my hard gaze narrowing in on her as I sneered. “This isn’t a fucking hotel. I don’t have to do anything you tell me to. I’ll tell you if you can shower. If you can eat. If you can drink. And even if you get to suck my dick. Because unless I say it, you don’t get it. You feel me? Other than lying there covered in your own piss, stinking this place up and starving to death, you don’t get to do shit. Now shut the fuck up so I can get some sleep. Your hollering’s given me a fuckin’ headache.”
Her hard gaze met mine, her golden eyes going glassy and wide as she fought to not cry. “Okay, fine. So what happens then?”
I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Then?”
“If I let you sleep…what happens then?”
I chuckled darkly again. “If you’re a good girl for me, you mean?”
She nodded, chewing on her bottom lip to stop herself saying something bitchy to me. Her cheeks were pink with shame, her eyes red-rimmed from trying not to cry, and her hair was a ratty mess that I wanted to comb my fingers through; she looked like fucking heaven.
I shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to wait and see ’bout that, won’t we?”
I stormed out, slamming the door behind me, a dark smile on my face at the thought of her salty tears finally spilling from those golden eyes and trailing down those rosy cheeks of hers. I licked my lips, my cock stirring at the thought of her misery. I headed down the stairs with no intention of going to sleep.
I was wide the fuck awake now.
~ 8 ~
Penny
Humiliated.
Degraded.
Shamed.
That was how I felt.
I could handle anything life threw at me—a daddy who didn’t love me and only wanted to control me, the men in his club that wanted me only because I was the princess of the Vipers, the women that pretended to be my friend to get closer to my daddy, and even my own mom up and leaving me—but this man had humiliated me to my very core. As my pee dried under me, the smell making me feel sick, the urge to cry or fight or rage against my bonds dissipated right along with it, until all I was left with was burning humiliation.
Fighter: The Devil's Highwaymen Nomads #4 Page 4