Trixie
His grip loosened just enough to give her some slack, and she allowed herself to breathe. “There you go,” he murmured, brushing a strand of hair from her face with a mock tenderness that made bile rise in her throat. “You've always been a smart girl, especially when you stop fighting me.”
He chuckled, the sound dark and satisfied.
“Oh, sweetheart, this is exactly where I should be.” His eyes flicked toward the chaos echoing across the compound—shouting voices, distant gunfire, the roar of motorcycles.
It was all a setup. He knew that she would be left alone if the rest of the guys went out to fight.
Her father never saw any woman as capable enough to fight—especially not his princess.
“The SUVs were a distraction, weren’t they?” she asked.
“They think they’re taking everything from me tonight,” he continued, tightening his grip on her wrist as if she were nothing more than property.
“Your precious Cyclops and his little club. All those men who think they’re heroes, but they’re not.
They’re just idiots. They took the bait—always ready for a fight, and I gave them one to distract them.
While they are out there playing the heroes, I’m here collecting what is mine. ”
Her heart slammed against her ribs. The thought of Cyclops and the guys being put in harm's way just so that her father could get to her had been her fear since they got to the compound. The only way to save them was to go with her father, but she just couldn’t do that—not without a fight of her own.
She had told Cyclops that she could fight, and now was the time to prove it.
“You’re wrong,” she said.
“Oh?” His brow lifted. “And why’s that?”
“Because they have already taken everything from you,” she said. The smile on his face vanished.
His hand tightened painfully around her arm.
“Careful, girl. You don’t want to piss me off.
” But she did want to do just that. Something had shifted inside Trixie.
For years, she had lived under his shadow—terrified, controlled, and broken down piece by piece until she barely remembered what it felt like to breathe freely.
Then Cyclops had found her. He had looked at her like she was worth saving. He believed that she was strong, and for the first time in her life, she believed it too.
“You don’t get to control me anymore,” she said softly.
His eyes hardened. “You don’t get a choice in the matter, princess.”
“Oh,” she whispered. “I do.” His hand moved toward his waistband, and that was the moment she’d been waiting for.
Trixie moved fast, grabbing the small knife she had tucked into the back of her waistband, and slid it into her palm in one swift motion.
Before he could react, she drove it forward with every ounce of strength she had.
Straight into his side. He grunted, more surprised than hurt.
His hand lashed out, striking her across the face hard enough to send her stumbling backward.
“You stupid little—” He looked down his body at the blood that had covered the side of his white shirt—his blood.
She took some deep satisfaction that she was the one who had done that to him.
But Trixie couldn’t stop there. She needed to take him down if she ever wanted peace again.
Years of fear and pain, along with years of being told she was nothing, all exploded inside her.
She lunged at him again, and this time, the blade sank deep into his stomach. Her father’s eyes widened. For the first time in her entire life, he looked afraid. “You ungrateful—”
She shoved him backward as he lunged for her, forcing him to stagger against the wall. “You don’t get to say another word to me,” she said, her voice shaking but strong.
His hand clamped over the wound, blood spilling between his fingers.
“Trixie,” he rasped. “You think they’ll love you when they know what you are?
” Her chest rose and fell as she stared at him.
Cyclops’s face flashed through her mind.
The way he looked at her and the way he believed in her, and suddenly, the truth was crystal clear.
“They already do,” she said.
Her father laughed weakly, though blood bubbled at his lips. “Then finish it,” he sneered. “Prove you’re just like me.”
Trixie stepped closer, and for a moment, the frightened little girl inside her trembled. But then she thought of every night she’d spent terrified of this man. Every bruise he’d given her. Every cruel word he had said to her. And every life he had destroyed—including her own.
Her grip tightened on the knife. “I’m nothing like you,” she spat as she drove the blade straight into his heart. His body jerked once, and then went still.
The compound noise faded into a distant blur as Trixie stood there, staring down at him.
His blood covered her hands and the blade that she still clutched as though it were her lifeline.
She was waiting for the fear or the guilt that she expected would follow, but what she felt instead was something she’d never experienced before—freedom.
The knife slipped from her fingers, clattering to the ground. “Trixie!” Cyclops’s voice cut through the compound. She turned just as he came running toward her, his single eye wide with panic. His gaze dropped to the body at her feet, and then back to her face.
“Trixie,” he breathed. For a split second, she thought he might see her differently now. She worried that he might see the monster her father always said she was. But Cyclops stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.
“You’re okay,” he murmured, holding her tight. “You’re safe.”
Trixie buried her face against his chest as the tears finally came. “You came back,” she whispered.
“I told you that I would,” he murmured. “Every time.” She rested her forehead against his chest, trembling with something that felt like exhaustion, fear, and something dangerously close to love.
“It’s over,” she whispered. Cyclops pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Yeah, baby,” he said softly. “It’s finally over.
” And for the first time since she met him—since she walked into his bar and turned his life upside-down—Trixie believed something she never believed before.
She was worthy of his love. She was his.
And he’d be hers. They didn’t need patches or titles to know that much about each other.
It was just them—together, and that was all she ever needed.
The End
I hope you loved Cyclops and Trixie’s story! Now, buckle up and get ready for another Road Reaper! Venom (Road Reapers MC Book 7) is coming soon from K.L. Ramsey!