Chapter 36
The taste of her lips still burned hot on mine as I looked down at her in the soft amber light.
Danika – my Tamer – rested her palms light against my chest, her eyes shining up at me like she trusted me with everything. I brushed my thumb gentle along her cheekbone, terrified I’d hurt her even a little.
“I promise you,” I murmured, my voice rough with everything I felt. “They won’t be coming back here. That lot are heading south again. They won’t cross this way ever again.”
It was the first lie I’d ever told a woman. I was too scared she would run from me if she knew how I killed them slow.
She laughed soft and bright, leaning her head against my shoulder – and instantly my mind snapped back to hours earlier. The damp chill of the cellar, the smell of old grease and fear, the sounds that still rang in my ears.
They never will make it to their destination. They were still lying cold deep down in the old quarry we don’t talk about.
When we dragged the bags off their faces down there, the lot Sterling sent went white as a sheet. They saw what Bear had laid out ready for them, seeing the leader and the P.I beaten bloody they forgot every bit of nerve they ever had.
“Wait!” one of them begged, voice cracking so bad it hardly sounded like words. “Fair fight! One on one! If we win, we walk free. If you win… whatever you say.”
Pres looked over at me, a slow sharp grin spreading across his face. “What d’you reckon, brother? Wanna play their little game?”
“Aye,” I rumbled, rolling my shoulders slow. “Price is death. You lose; you don’t breathe no more. Deal?”
They thought four of them would be easy against one. The first one came at me fast, threw a cheap punch that nicked my jaw.
I didn’t even flinch. Just grinned, and something dark woke up in me.
When he saw it didn’t even faze me, the rest panicked and piled on all at once. Blows rained down on me, splitting my lip, blooming that bruise high on my cheek. I just took it all, let ’em wear themselves out, let ’em think they were winning.
Then I snapped.
Everything seemed to slow right down. I grabbed the first man by the throat, slammed his head hard into the concrete until he went still. Another tried swinging a crowbar – I caught it bare-handed, twisted until I heard the crack, until he screamed and dropped.
They begged. They pleaded. But debts always get paid in full. By four in the morning, it was all quiet. And there wasn’t a trace left of the men Sterling sent. Instead, they was buried next to my old man.
“Rage?”
Danika’s soft voice cut right through the memory. I blinked, and the dark haze faded back to her standing here, safe, smiling up at me like I was something good.
“Aye, sweetheart,” I murmured, brushing a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. “C’mon. Pres wants us all back at the table. We got more to talk about.”
I wrapped my arm firm around her waist, pulling her close against my side, and led her back into the room.
The noise had settled down. The prospects had cleared away the dishes, leaving just us closest ones sat round the far table.
Pres was already there, resting back in his chair, his gaze steady and sharp.
Thorn sat next to him, while Bones and Ivy were opposite, a fresh pot of coffee steaming in the middle.
The second I walked in with Danika leaning close to my side wearing my cut, Pres’s mouth tugged up in a real, genuine smile he hardly ever shows.
“Pull up a seat, Tamer,” he said, his deep voice warm and welcoming.
I dragged a chair out for her, made sure she was settled comfortable between Thorn and me, before I sat down right beside her.
“So,” Ivy leaned forward, that bright energy softening to something fierce and protective. “Now that lot have been properly seen to… we need to talk about what happens next when your father realises his men aren’t coming home.”
“He’ll know by tomorrow afternoon,” Danika said quiet but steady, wrapping her hands round her mug. “He’s used to people checking in. When that phone call never comes… he’ll know he ran straight into a wall.”
“Let him come,” Pres rumbled, leaning back, his face turning to that cold hard look only the family ever sees. “We’ve got eyes all over the roads. There’s no sneaking up on us here.”
“He won’t just send more men,” Danika asked, looking straight at Pres. “Will he?”
Thorn reached across the table, covering her hand with his own.
“If he does? He takes on all of us,” she said fierce and sure. “He thought he could treat you like something to buy and sell. He’s learning different now. He ain’t just fighting for his daughter back – he’s fighting an entire family.”
Bones nodded slow, resting his arm light over Ivy’s bump. “Aye. What Rage did… that was just the start. You’re one of us now. No one touches our own.”
I sat quiet, pride swelling so deep in my chest it almost hurt.
I reached under the table, lacing my fingers through hers, so she could feel how strong that promise was.
Even though everyone gave away that the lot we dealt with were no more, Danika didn’t flinch once.
She just proved she was a lot stronger than she let on.
Danika looked round at every single one of them, eyes glistening bright and brave. She was mine. She was one of us. And whatever storm came our way… we’d face it together.