CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CLOVER
I braced myself for the worst moment of my life. Expecting to watch the man I loved die, I waited for the sound of gunfire to fill the room. Instead, there was a dull, metallic thunk as the gun jammed.
It jammed? Maybe there was a God. I’d never been as sure as I was right then.
I gaped at Daire who stared at the gun in surprise. A strange smile curved his lips.
This turn of events did not impress JD. Forgetting about me, he sauntered over to Daire.
Aiming his gun at Daire’s face, he said, “Looks like you got lucky. Let’s see what we can do about that. I was going to make your girl into some sweet content. Maybe you can help.”
Daire stared hard at JD, refusing to show fear. “I’m not doing jack shit.”
“Sure you are. Either you kill her on camera, after some torture, of course, or I do. And you can watch. Make your choice.” JD seemed to realize that the power level in the room had shifted with the jamming of the revolver. He was hustling to reinforce himself as the one in control.
“Let me get this straight.” Daire took a step forward, pressing his forehead against the barrel of JD’s weapon. “You want me to kill my girlfriend on camera for your sick enjoyment? What’s to stop us from doing that to you instead?”
The manic light in Daire’s eyes shone with a brilliance that made JD swallow hard. Something shifted in the atmosphere.
“You’re not the one calling the shots here, asshole,” JD snarled. “I’m the one with the gun.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Daire shrugged. “But you’re outnumbered. You can’t shoot all of us before we take you down.”
JD’s laugh rang with a nervous edge. “You want to bet on that?”
“I do, actually.” Daire paused as the sound of several footsteps pounded through the house toward us. “Time’s up. Our backup has arrived. Think you can take on a dozen mobsters too?”
In a sudden panic, JD pulled the trigger. Daire was already moving, slapping his arm away before he got off a shot. The bullet hit the wall next to the door.
Everyone sprang into action. Daire tackled JD to the floor, wrestling the gun from his grasp. The other guys lunged for the other two men. A shot went off, zinging past me, narrowly missing Raina.
Beaver Mask was shoved to the floor face down. Havoc stepped on his neck, pressing the gun he’d retrieved from the floor to the back of his head. Without hesitation, he fired.
The guy who’d worn the Rabbit Mask put up more of a fight. He threw some punches and fired off a few erratic shots before the gun was taken from him. Cash forced the gun into his mouth, gagging him with it before pulling the trigger.
The room filled with mobsters who all held guns ready. Havoc moved to shield Raina from them while Blaze did the same for me. Not that I cared who saw me in my underwear after what we’d endured, although their actions were appreciated.
“Check the house,” Havoc instructed. “Kill anyone you find. Then head to Paradise and clean out the back. Everyone who’s part of this dies. No exceptions. That includes the owner of the club. There’s no way he didn’t know about this shit.”
Daire dragged JD to his feet. Holding him by the throat, he shoved JD against the wall. “Where are the keys?”
“On the desk,” JD croaked out.
Knight searched the desk until he found the keys. He unlocked the shackles holding my wrists and ankles before rushing to Raina. I fell into Blaze’s arms, sobbing into his t-shirt. He held me close, stroking a hand through my tangled hair.
“It’s okay, Clover. You’re safe now.” Scooping me into his arms, Blaze carried me away from the chaos.
“Wait,” I sniffled. “I want to see that fucker die.”
There was no way I was missing this. Not after everything JD had gotten away with until now.
Blaze paused near the door, turning back in time for Daire and Gage to drag JD to the shackles. JD resisted, doing his best to fight. It was useless. The two most psychotic men in this room had their hands on him now. He was fucked.
“Get off me,” he hissed. “I have other people who work for me. They’ll find you.”
“Good. Then they’ll die screaming too.” Grabbing JD’s hair, Daire slammed his head against the wall. “Do you know what I do to guys like you? If you knew how many men have had their dicks cut off for fucking with my girl, you wouldn’t have made that mistake.”
With blood running down his face, JD panicked. He thrashed and flailed against Gage and Daire. They started to wrestle him into the shackles when Gage paused.
“Wait. This piece of shit made a fuck ton raping and killing people on camera. Shouldn’t he experience the same fate?” Gage nodded to the dropped camera before spinning JD around.
“Good call,” Daire agreed. “We’ll send the footage to the Sinners. They can make sure anyone who participated in this fucker’s business sees it and knows what’s coming for them if they cross us.”
They shackled JD facing the wall instead. He bucked and jerked against the restraints. His shouts and threats quickly turned to begging and pleading. Raina and I both watched, eager to see him get what he deserved.
Cash held the camera, making sure to get a good shot as the other guys took turns beating JD until he sagged against the shackles. Raina and I stood huddled together, holding onto one another. I was happy not to participate, preferring to watch the Angels and the Gods handle this.
When JD was barely conscious, Gage jerked his pants down. Realization settled in. I covered my mouth with a hand, my eyes widening. Next to me, Raina looked on with eager expectation.
“Time to become the star of your own show, motherfucker.” Cash snickered, adjusting the camera settings to make sure he had perfect focus.
JD had stopped begging. Knowing it was useless, he decided to try to go out with some sense of pride. That didn’t last long. Once Daire jammed the barrel of JD’s own gun between his ass cheeks, thrusting upwards, JD began to scream.
The sound was like nothing I’d heard before. There was no describing the level of terror in his voice. I wasn’t sure that I could watch this part.
At the last second, I closed my eyes and turned away. The gun went off, and JD’s screams stopped.
“Holy shit,” Raina murmured. “Your man is a crazy fucker. That was amazing.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” Unable to bring myself to look at what was left of JD, I hurried from the room.
Blaze brought my clothes, and I changed quickly in the next room while the guys made plans to torch the house. Raina and I waited outside in the car while they started a fire on every floor of the house in multiple rooms. Smoke billowed from a few upper windows when they rushed out of the house.
We were squeezed so tightly into the Jeep, I didn’t think we’d all fit. Cash pulled me onto his lap, his strong arms going around me. I kept waiting for a sense of relief to hit, but my body refused to relax. Tension held me stiff. This one was going to stay with me for a while.
Once we arrived back at the Gods’ house, Daire announced that we would be leaving. “As much as we appreciate the hospitality, I think it’s best that we stay in a hotel for a while. We need some time alone with our girl, and I’m sure you could use some time alone with yours.”
Havoc nodded. “No worries. I get it. You’re right. We need some quality time with our goddess.”
Raina started to protest, but I silenced her with a hand on her arm. “It’s cool. I think it’s a good idea. We’ll touch base tomorrow.”
“Fine,” she relented. “Get some sleep if you can. Call me as soon as you wake up.” Turning to the Angels, she pointed a finger at each of them. “Take care of her or you’ll answer to me.”
Daire gave her a facetious salute. “Aye, aye, Captain. No argument here.”
We gathered our things and headed to a hotel downtown. My head ached as the adrenaline crash settled in. Fatigue took me over from head to toe.
I didn’t realized I’d started to drift off until I felt Cash lift me, holding me against his broad chest. I snuggled in against him, fingers curling in his shirt. Maybe I would be able to sleep after all.