Chapter 16
Isla
Ibent to grab a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar in the clubhouse.
The women were upstairs, putting babies and young kids to sleep for a midday nap, and entertaining their other children.
Over the last few days I met a few more women, Susie, Daisha, and Tori, and their kids.
They were just as sweet as everyone else I’d already met.
They’d been out of town on a quick trip together when all of this kicked off.
I could’ve joined the women if I wanted, but I needed a break from all the estrogen and sobriety.
Holding the bottle close to my chest, I sighed in relief.
I’d been with them for four days straight while the guys followed leads.
It pissed me off that Butcher wouldn’t let me go with them, but he kept saying he needed me to stay here and help watch the others.
It was hard to decipher whether I should be offended or not.
On one hand, the people inside this clubhouse were more important to these men than anything else.
Them trusting me to help guard their families, especially after trying to kill Butcher, should be an honor.
But I had the feeling Butcher wanted me out of the way. Out of danger.
So far, what was happening outside these walls hadn’t touched this place yet.
I hoped it wouldn’t. I didn’t want to be responsible for that.
On the other hand, Butcher and the rest of the men in the MC were keeping me from doing what I did best. I should be out there helping to find the fuckers coming for us.
Us. Try as I might, I wouldn’t be able to deny that forever. But today wasn’t the day to examine the relationship Butcher and I seemed to be forming. We’d been learning…things…about each other during this time. Talking. And I was excited to know more. It was a slippery slope.
The guys had managed to find a few assassins and take them out.
Amateurs, not even B team, but every little bit helped.
Butcher had shown me pictures so I could ID the men and cross them off the list I’d made of every known assassin that might take part in this.
It was a long damn list. It made my stomach churn just to see the names written down.
Not because I cared about those men and women, but because I was starting to care about these men and women.
Damn it, my heart was going rogue and I didn’t know how to stop it.
I couldn’t seem to get myself to realize that Lockout was going to toss me out on my ass after this and I’d be the one left trying to mend a broken heart.
Nope. The stupid organ just kept pumping away inside of me, except of course when Butcher showed up, then it fluttered and jumped like a spastic puppy excited to see its true love in human form.
“Holy shit. Hello, Baby.”
I straightened, the bottle shattering against the floor as I dropped it in favor of going for Stabby. In one graceful move, I turned, raising my knife as I eyed the man standing near the door.
His brows shot up and he raised his hands up in a universal sign of peace.
Inwardly, I snorted. Like I was going to trust that.
I didn’t recognize him. He was wearing a cut, but that shit didn’t matter.
Assassins were smart. If they wanted to get the drop on me, they’d end up dressing like all the men typically did, just to blend in.
And that’s what this guy had done. Boots, jeans, white t-shirt, and a cut.
He had brown hair and deep blue eyes. The tattoos obviously weren’t just for the costume; those were all him.
They covered his throat, forearms, backs of his hands and his fingers.
He had a smug grin on his face. One of those smiles that said, ‘don’t worry I’m harmless. ’
Bullshit.
The neck tattoo was a dead giveaway that this man wasn’t harmless.
The nice, safe men never had tattoos there.
Bob from accounting didn’t just get a wild hair up his ass to go get a neck tattoo.
Nope, it was always the guys who had the ability to kill people who tatted themselves up like that.
Sure, there were probably exceptions, but this stereotype had helped me stay alive in this business for years.
When I’d turned with my weapon his eyes had hardened and he’d dropped his right foot back, blading off in front of me. He wasn’t attacking, but it was obvious he knew how to fight.
Score one for my tattoo theory.
“You’re new here,” he said, his voice low and deep as he watched me, waiting to see what I’d do.
“So are you.” My grip tightened on my knife as I took a slight step out, positioning the bar between me and him, but leaving me room to maneuver.
“I’m a friend,” he told me.
It was possible. The guys kept talking about waiting on some guy named Cypher. “Yeah? Name?”
“I’m Warrant, beautiful.”
He was the smooth type. Kind of like Toxic.
He was absolutely gorgeous and clearly expected any woman to melt at his feet with one well-aimed smile.
Might have worked if I wasn’t a little crooked in the head.
Unlucky break for him. He’d snuck up on the wrong woman.
There was only one man who seemed to have any effect on me.
This just wasn’t his lucky day. “Never heard of you.”
I cursed to myself, my guns were upstairs, locked in Butcher’s safe.
I wasn’t about to keep them laying around with Jenny’s girls loose in this place.
Most everyone lovingly referred to them as the hellions.
And for good reason. Plus, there were the other kids to worry about, too.
It just wasn’t safe to have them anywhere but locked up.
And clearly keeping them on me wasn’t a good option given what little pickpockets they were.
He opened his mouth to reply, then cursed as I made my move. I ran a few steps, dropped, and slid across the floor, knocking his feet out from under him.
Warrant hit the floor hard, but I didn’t give him a chance to gain his composure. I wrapped around him like an octopus. A deadly, pissed off, octopus.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people,” I growled as I brought my knife down toward his neck.
He managed to block my motion, knocking my hand away.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he bit out, his breath coming in pants as we struggled against each other.
It was saying something that he could breathe at all with my arm wrapped around his neck.
I only needed a few more seconds and I’d be able to grab my other arm, completing the choke hold.
I hadn’t really planned to hurt him, the knife was just a diversion so I could get into place.
But now that he’d knocked it away I really had no choice but to choke him out.
My legs were wrapped around his waist, so when he struggled to his feet, I clung to him. There it is. I grabbed my left bicep. “Nighty night,” I whispered in his ear as I applied pressure on his throat. I loosened my legs and let my weight pull against his neck.
“Bitch,” he managed to swear with his last breath.
He was thrashing below me, trying to dislodge me, but I had the upper hand.
He wasn’t expecting me to fight. I wasn’t sure why.
He should have gotten my file when Randal hired him to kill me.
His fuck up was my gain. I wasn’t about to let him take me out.
It wasn’t even about me not wanting to die.
If I was dead, then the women and children upstairs were vulnerable.
This asshole wasn’t going to get to them on my watch.
He stumbled around, slamming me backward into the bar, then lurching forward as his skin took on a reddish hue.
“Just go out,” I snarled. How long could he go without oxygen? Jesus. He was just dropping to the ground when the door opened. Another imposter in a cut and white shirt.
“Warrant, you in he- What the fuck?”
I didn’t have time for this. I let go and Warrant’s body slumped to the floor. I needed to tie him up before he came to. Only now there were two of them. So I was going to have to take care of the newcomer first.
The man looked from his accomplice to me “Bitch, you done fucked up now.”
For the first time in days my feral side was awakened. I smiled up at him, “You’re going to be taking a nap just like your friend,” I vowed, then I launched myself at him.
* * *
Air rushed out of my lungs as I was slammed up against the wall.
My attempt to choke this second man was being seriously impinged by Warrant waking up.
It was hard enough to choke a two-hundred pound man all by yourself, but when his accomplice was trying to pull you off of him, well, it didn’t work as well.
It didn’t matter that I was clinging to the newcomer like starfish to a rock.
Lucky for me I was flexible, and a well-placed side kick to the groin had Warrant back on the ground, for now. This other man was currently trying to turn me into a pancake by slamming me against the wall. And he was succeeding.
I wheezed in pain as my insides rattled around when he threw me against the wall again.
Despite having the air knocked out of me I held my grip on him.
I planted my feet against the wall and pushed, Throwing the two of us to the ground.
Planting my knee on his back and leaning against it while I used his own t-shirt as a makeshift noose, I tried my best to hold him in place.
I would either choke this fucker out or rip his head off.
Either way was fine with me at this point.
I couldn’t keep fighting them for much longer.
And Warrant was struggling to his feet, coming back for round three.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”