CUTTER, 4 (Red Sin MC) (4 page)

I let go of him instantly and backed away. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

Krusher laughed and started twisting the strings of his robe around in a suggestive manner. “Are you sure? Word on the street is that that’s how you like it.” He chuckled even louder and reached out, tracing his fingers up and down my chest.

I pushed him away and grabbed him by the collar. “You piece of shit. Well, I outta…” I clutched my teeth together and pulled him so close to my face that I could see the whites of his eyelids.

Blaze pulled me off him. “Okay, okay, we don’t have time for a pissing contest right now. We need to find Stone and get the hell out of here.” He turned around and got in Krusher’s face. “We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way, it’s your call.”

Krusher backed away from him. “You should be the one asking yourself how you want to do this because your chance to get out of here alive faded away about two minutes ago.”

Blaze glanced at me. “How do you want to play this?”

I didn’t have a chance to answer because a second later four men burst through the door, all with shotguns pointed at our heads. They were dressed head to toe in gray and black and from the look in their eyes were out for blood.

I moved my arm up but right away there were two guns on me. “Don’t even think about it,” one of them said to me. “Unless you want it to be the last thing you ever do.”

“All of you drop your fucking weapons,” another one of them said.

Blaze glanced at me and I nodded unwillingly. We were outnumbered. Where the hell had these extra men came from? How was it possible that they had men here that were unaccounted for? We had looked at everything from every fucking frame and angle.

We all dropped our weapons to the ground.

 
Shit.

“Now,” Krusher said slowly, pacing back and forth on the other side of the room. “What exactly do you propose that we do with you? I could cut you up and mail you back to your families but that kind of thing gets so messy and I was really looking forward to finishing the fuck fest you so rudely interrupted.”

Shutter looked at me. Surprisingly, he seemed to be staying pretty calm.

That made one of us. I hated not being in complete control of every situation, even if it was only for a short time. The fact that four men had guns on me and two of my brothers right now drove me crazy. I wasn’t sure how much longer I would last before I snapped and went after one of them or all of them.

“Maybe we should call your father,” one of Krusher’s brothers said.

For the first time since we arrived, Krusher looked annoyed. “I don’t need to call my father,” he growled, walking over to the brother and smacking him across the side of the head. “I’m in charge right now and that means that I call the shots. If you have a problem with that then you can get the fuck out.”

Wow, and I thought I was a control freak.

This guy had a major ego problem.

The brother shook his head. “No problem, Krusher.”

“Good.” Krusher crossed one hand over the other and looked me dead in the eye. “In that case, let’s line our new friends up and get them on their knees.”

Shutter let out a small gasp for the first time.

“Get on your knees!” One of Krusher’s soldiers screamed.

And Shutter did.

Blaze glanced at me, waiting patiently. Blaze was always patient, always so levelheaded when it came to things that made my skin boil. He was the only sense of balance I had left.

“Get up,” I told Shutter, shaking my head. “Now.”

Shutter looked unsure but started to slowly rise anyway.

“We aren’t getting on our fucking knees,” I growled, staring back at Krusher just as hard. “You want to shoot us then shoot us, I’m not going to line up my brother’s execution style so you can shoot us in the back of the head. What the fuck do you think this is? You aren’t God, you’re just a douchebag with an upper hand full of guns right now.”

Krusher allowed a hint of annoyance to creep into his features for less than a second before he was in complete control again. “Fine,” he said loudly. “Have it your way.” He moved a few steps closer to me and folded his hands over his lap again. “If you won't get on your knees willingly, we’ll just have to make you get on your knees. Gentleman, assist our visitors in obeying my command. Won’t you?” He grinned, glee showing on his face in anticipation of seeing some bones broken.

He reminded me of myself, only more fucked up. I knew if the roles were reversed, the adrenalin would be taking over my body the way it was his. I doubted he had a Blaze or Grace to keep his mind in check.

One of his men stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. “Gladly.”

I met Blaze’s eyes and nodded.

We both knew what would happen next.

We would fight until the very last breath.

Chapter Five

GRACE

“I really have a bad feeling about this,” I told Heather as we sat in her car, parked close to the side of the road. We were looking at an old building across the street that was apparently Green Grove’s operations building. “Shouldn’t they be in and out by now?”

Heather took a long swig of her soda and shrugged. “Maybe they had to take care of more Green Grove members than they counted on. Hope they brought enough bullets.”

I gasped. “You think they’ve killing them?”

Heather rolled her eyes. “Of course, they've killed them, that’s what they do.” She shot me a look. “You do know who your boyfriend is, right? Sometimes I feel like you’re confused and think you’re dating a priest or something.”

She was right, I kept my thoughts pretty much in the dark when it came to Cutter and what he did or didn’t do on a daily basis. I guess
,
that was because I didn’t think about him in that way, even though I had witnessed it up close more than one time now.

“Who was on the phone before?” Heather asked. She held her bag of chips out of me, offering me one. “You got all worked up and real silent afterward.”

I shook my head and pushed the bag away. I couldn’t eat anything right now, let alone a bunch of sugar that was sure to make my stomach even more upset. “It was my sister, she said that cop stopped by again, looking for me.” I sighed. “Why can’t he just leave me alone?”

“Because you almost witnessed a murder,” Heather pointed out as she chewed loudly. “Besides, I'd get used to cops. In this life, they’re pretty much a weekly presence.” She pointed at me with a chip. “She should be our third.”

I frowned. “Our third what?”

“You know, our third in our group.”

“Our group?”

She nodded. “Every good group has a third. She’s your sister. I’m practically your sister. It only makes sense that we would all be in the same group.” She popped the chip into her mouth.

I tried not to smile like too big of an idiot. I didn’t even know Heather and me were a group, let alone that she wanted my little sister to be a part of it. I couldn’t help but feel good about it; I wanted to be close to the people Cutter cared about and besides, it had been a while since I had a close friend. Although, I wasn’t too sure how I felt about my sister knowing any more about the life Cutter and his brothers led than she already did.

“She could be a good third,” I said, trying to sound casual and taking a sip of my water. My mouth suddenly felt very dry and salty, I was so worried about Cutter that it made me sick.

“We could hook her up with Ace.”

I spit my water out all over the car. “MY SISTER?”

Heather nodded. “Yeah, why not? Don’t tell me you didn’t notice the way she was drooling over his chiseled chest the other day. I thought she was going to pass out right there in the middle of the hallway when he actually looked at her.”

I laughed so loud that my throat vibrated. “You’re way off.” She actually thought my little sister was interested in a biker like Ace? That was absolutely ridiculous, he wasn’t even her type. My little sister had always liked the good boys, and Ace was definitely not a good boy. He was bad, way too bad for someone like my sister.

“Oh, you wish I was, but I’m not. I know a puppy dog look when I see one and she definitely had one.” She glanced passed me toward the building again. “Relax, I don’t think she’s Ace’s type. I mean she’s cute and all but I’ve known Ace a long time and I’m pretty sure she would never catch his eye, he’s into the more flashy type of girl, you know what I mean?”

“Hey!” I snapped, suddenly feeling offended. “My sister is flashy!”

“Oh,” Grace said, catching my eye. “No, of course, she is. She’s just not as flashy as some other girls I know who hang around Ace, you know?” She half smiled, not looking straight at me.

“Well, maybe she’s Blaze’s type then, you know since she’s not flashy enough for Ace and all.” I smiled smugly as the color started to slowly drain from Heather’s face. Clearly, the thought of anyone else with her Blaze, even just in her imagination, was too much for her to handle.

She mumbled something under her breath and then swung the door open, stepping out into the darkness of the night. “Come on, we’ve waited long enough, and don’t slam the door behind you either.” She shut the driver seat door so softly that I had to strain just to hear it click over.

I jumped out of the car after her and almost tripped over my own two feet, catching myself before I fell flat on my face. “You want us to go inside of there?” I hissed after her. “Have you lost your mind?”

She glanced at my sloppy frame. “Aren’t you supposed to be graceful, Grace?” She chuckled as she picked up her pace and made her way through a group of large trees.

“Oh, that’s real original.” I ran to catch up with her, not wanting to be left behind. “Heather, if I go in there after him, Cutter is never going to forgive me and he won't need to since, if whatever is waiting inside of those walls doesn’t kill me, he will as soon as he gets his hands on me!”

“Do you have your gun?” Heather asked, ignoring me.

“Of course, I have it!”

“Good,” she told me, marching forward. “Take it out.”

I gasped and stopped in the middle of the grass.

Heather marched on a few more steps and then stopped and swung around. “Look, I’ve never done this before because I’ve never had to. My brother doesn’t do the whole girlfriend thing so I never bothered to get to know any of them, I figured they’d be gone just as fast as they came and I was always right. But it’s different with you, Grace, you’re here to stay and as far as I’m concerned that makes us a team. And that means that we have each other’s backs no matter what. Now you can go back to the car if you want but me? I’m going to go inside of that building, even if it’s crazy, and make sure that the men we love are okay. So, are you with me or not?”

Her voice caught on the last part and I realized it was the first time she’d ever admitted out loud to me that she really was in love with Blaze. It might have been the first time she admitted it to anyone for that matter, beside herself.

“Yeah,” I told her, standing up straight. “I’m with you.”

A wide smile took over her features. “Then follow me.”

And I did. All the way up to the front of the building, where we stepped over a few dead bodies that I tried to not pay attention to, just like I tried to not pay attention to the ones on the inside that seem to lay around every corner. If Heather had a reaction to them she didn't let any emotion out until we got to the stop of the stairs, her breath catching in her throat and she shook her head sadly.

He must have been one of ours.

She didn’t dwell on it long, holding herself together.

I had started to think we’d missed them, that there was no one left alive inside of the building when Heather and me rounded a corner and saw a man twice the size of Ace holding him up against the wall, choking the life out of him.

My heart leaped into my chest.

Ace was struggling, still alive but was no match for this guy’s strength. He looked like the kind of hit man you would only see in the movies, big and covered in tattoos from head to toe. I couldn’t even make out any skin under the marks on his face.

Heather inhaled next to me. “Let him go,” she warned.

The hit man glanced over at us and laughed, not taking us seriously. “Get the hell out of here, sweetheart, unless you want to put that pretty little mouth of yours to good use and get over here on your knees.”

I pointed my gun at him. “I’m giving you the chance to live here,” I called out to him. Which wasn’t exactly true, I was sure if I didn’t put a bullet in his head, Ace would. But, still, better him than me.

He laughed loudly and the snake around his neck moved up and down with his huge Adam’s apple. “Don’t kid yourself, we both know you aren’t going to shoot anyone. Why don’t you shut the fuck up and go fix me a sandwich, bitch?”

I winced at the word bitch and glanced at Ace. He was struggling less now. Getting the life choked out of him was starting to take a toll on him. I glanced at Heather and she nodded.

I had no choice. This guy wasn’t going to stop and I was a better shot than Heather. I took one more deep breath and let out a few rounds, hitting the guy in the back of the shoulder and back, enough for him to loosen his hold on Ace and slip toward the ground.

“You shot me!” He spat out, shocked.

Ace was coughing loudly and rubbing the spot around his neck that had been held onto, but he wasted no time taking his ankle pistol out and letting off two rounds right into the guy’s head. His head slumped down and more blood flooded out of all his open wounds.

Ace gasped loudly and grabbed my bottle of water out of my free hand. I hadn’t even realized that I brought it in with me. He took a long gulp and splashed a bunch of it on his face before tossing the empty bottle onto the floor in the bloody hallway.

He moved closer to us, letting his intense blue eyes search us. “Are you okay?” He asked Heather, moving closer to her and tilting her head to the side. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m okay, I’m okay.”

“And you?” He asked, turning his crazy gaze on me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “I’m fine.” I lowered the gun to my side.

“Good,” he said. “Now that we have that settled… what the fuck are you two doing here? Have you lost your fucking mind? When Cutter and Blaze see the two of you they are going to lose their fucking shit!”

“Looks to me like we were saving you,” Heather pointed out happily.

“You need to leave. Now!” Ace growled. “It’s not safe here!” His bright eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head and his thin t-shirt was soaked in sweat. I let my eyes travel down to his chest. Heather didn’t know what she was talking about, there was no way my little sister would ever be attracted to someone like Ace.

He was too… too… too sweaty for her.

“We aren’t going anywhere until we see that my brother and Blaze are safe and nothing awful has happened to them!” Heather took a strong step forward. “Isn’t that right, Grace?”

I paused and she looked at me expectantly.

Oh, I guess this was part of the whole being a team thing.

“That’s right, Heather.” I smiled sweetly up at Ace.

He hung his mouth open. “Are you joking?”

“Nope,” Heather said.

“Nope,” I said.

“Fine,” Ace snapped. “I don’t have time to argue with you right now, follow me and stay close.” He started off down the hallway, shaking his head and mumbling. “This can’t be good for our image.”

He was probably right but I didn’t care. I felt kind of badass, fishing around in the dark, looking for my man; even if he was going to kill me as soon as he saw me.

Ace stopped suddenly, holding his finger to his lips and motioning inside of a large door in the middle of the upper hallway. I could hear voices and when I followed Ace’s gaze around the corner I spotted Cutter, Blaze, and a third man surrounded by a group of angry looking brothers.

No doubt that they were Green Grove members.

Heather lunged forward and started letting off random shots before Ace or me could direct her any further. Ace’s eyes grew wide next to me. “Oh, Jesus!” He leaped after her, taking out two brothers right away. That left me and I wasn’t going to be the only one not shooting so I emptied my gun, mostly as a scare tactic but I did have to shoot one big guy who had a gun pointed at my head.

When we finally stopped shooting, there were bodies all around us. Every member of their squad was dead beside one. Ace pointed his gun at the last man, about to fire the final shot of the night.

“No!” Cutter snapped. “No! We need him, we need him!”

The man was young and handsome, a dead look in his eye. Even the sight of his dead brothers in front of him didn’t seem to faze him, or maybe he was just too strong to show it. He was wearing a bright red robe, showing off a ripped chest with angel wings across the center of his defined pecs.

His eyed landed on me and then on Heather. “Wait a minute.” He let out a roaring laugh. “This is your backup? This is who you called in to rescue you? Girls,” he said the word like it was the most hilarious thing he had ever heard. “Holy shit!” He clutched his stomach he was laughing so head. “One of the toughest clubs in the country brought their girlfriends along to handle what they couldn’t.” He did little to control his laughter.

“Would you get him the hell out of here?” Cutter said to Ace.

Ace passed by him and grabbed the guy by the back of the head, dragging his still laughing body out of the room. “Shut up with your pussy ass laugh.”

“And Ace?” Cutter called just as he hit the door.

Ace turned around.

“It’s good to see you, brother.”

It’s Cutter’s way of thanking him, of letting him know that they may not have made it out of there alive if it wasn’t for him.
If it wasn’t for the loyalty of his brother.

Ace nodded. “The pleasure was all mine.”

Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I thought; maybe Cutter would thank me for my service, too. After all, I doubt Ace could have taken out all four of those brothers without us.

Judging from the look on Cutter’s face I wouldn’t be getting a thank you.

I didn’t know who I was more scared of; Cutter or Blaze.

They both looked equally furious.

“Before you say anything,” I told him, rushing toward him. “I only came because I was so worried about you. I know you told me I can’t be apart of this kind of thing and normally I wouldn’t, normally I would stay put but I just had this really bad feeling, Cutter. This awful feeling that something was going to be going wrong and I was right, I was so right! And it’s a good thing that I did come because you did need me!” The words were coming out as a big rushed mess. “But I’m sorry, I’m just so sorry.”

His gaze softened but only a tiny bit. He shook his head; I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. “How could you do this? How could you be so careless?” His eyes traveled down to my hand and his eyes grew wide. “Is that my gun?”