Page 38 of Property of Brute & Axl
His mouth opens, then closes. He tries to swallow and chokes on his spit. Brute slaps the back of his head and leans down to whisper in his ear, “His name, or I’m going to tie you to a tree naked in the swamp and let Mother Nature take care of you. You can live for days out there before your body begins to shut down. Daddy dearest will never know what happened to his precious son.”
“Elliot Leigh. He’s my neighbor. He didn’t want to be there. He’s been sick ever since.” Good. But it’s about to get so much worse.
Walloping his cheek, I grin and say, “Good boy.”
Just then, Easy and Miami enter, and I give them orders. “Find a swamp, strip him, and chain him to a tree, but first, cut his dick off and gag him with it.”
Connor screeches and wails as we leave. We have another manhunt to attend to. This time, there will be no playing around. Death will be swift, leaving a clear message.
Nobody fucks with the Kings!
Chapter 22
Finleigh
“What does it mean to become an ol’ lady?” I ask Candy as I help her take inventory of the empty shelves, eating the tiny gummy frogs and sharks as I go. Sick, I know, eating frogs, when Flip is so important to me.
“Right for the hard questions, huh?” she laughs.
“It means you are the luckiest damn girl in the world,” Trista chimes in, a flash of envy in her eyes as she counts the suckers in a bin. “They will burn the entire world down for you.” I think they already have. “No one in the club will touch you for fear of their life, but they will lay that same life down for you and the babes.” She reaches out to touch me but pulls her hand back.
“It’s okay,” I encourage. Her fingers touch me, and she smiles as the baby moves.
“That’s beautiful,” Trista murmurs. “I’m sorry I tried to go for Brute when you got here.” Our eyes meet, and she seems genuinely sincere. “They don’t bring a lot of women around, so I was sort of…testing you, I guess.”
I frown; it bothers me that she thought to do that. “Testing me. Did I pass?”
She bursts out laughing. “With flying colors. Those men are devoted to you. Obsessed with you, really. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I grew up in this life.”
“You did?” I never would have thought that.
“Yeah, my mom was a club whore in Candy’s day. She died one, too. I don’t know why I thought I’d be any different.” I reach out at the sadness in her tone and embrace her. She’s shocked and remains frozen at first, then returns the gesture. “Thanks, Finleigh. You really are just what they need.”
Drawing back, I consider the club girls in a new light. They’ve been mainly friendly with me so far but have remained at a distance. Though when we brought Flip back, they did warm up a bit more, laughing and eating with me. I hadn’t felt quite so left out, and it made it easier to be more open with everyone in the club.
“Have you thought about life outside of here?” I ask, and she looks at me like I have two heads. “I just mean, you can have the great love, too, even if it’s not with one of the members.”
Candy snorts and twirls a lock of Trista’s blonde hair around her finger before saying, “She’s not wrong, hon.” I hadn’t expected her to agree with me.
“I wouldn’t know what to do in the real world. Club life is all I’ve known.”
I don’t pressure Trista. She’s clearly uncomfortable in the conversation, and I have an inkling of why. She’s been passed around from man to man for years, and her confidence with an average Joe might not be the same.
Rumbling bikes approach, and my heart flutters with hope that it’s Brute and Axl.
I wasn’t prepared when I walked into that barn this morning. Not for what I saw them about to do, and not for who they held captive. However, locking eyes with the initiator of my assault shifted something in my soul as I realized he was there to die. I’d recognized the other men, already dead on the ground, and felt nothing. And when I’d told Viking some people needed to die, it was there that I realized how true my words were.
Walking away with the knowledge that my tormentors would no longer breathe the same air as me lifted a weight off my shoulders. All the pain my body and heart went through at their hands was released like doves from a box. I felt nothing towards them. Having the final word and leaving them to their demise has given me new life, and I plan to enjoy every moment of it.
“Fin!” Viking calls from the doorway, waving me over with a hand.
“It’s them?” I figured it was, but didn’t want to hope too much.
“Like they’d leave you for long.” He shakes his head, laughter in his eyes, as he watches me step outside and wait for my men to approach.
Axl pulls in first, with Brute not far behind. I’ve learned that each of their positions in the club shapes their road formation, but none of that matters as I study them in their element.
Biting my lip, my core pulses, and my thighs rub together, trying to hold my desire at bay. It doesn’t work because when they dismount, my heart stutters, and butterflies erupt in my belly. The leather vests, form-fitting jeans, and menacing scowls drive my libido wild. The pregnancy hormones really don’t help, either.