Chapter Sixteen
Awareness filtered through her head. She blinked awake, then winced as pain singed to life in her head.
Kira touched the sore spot, as the memory of Hoff hitting her came into focus.
Joe flashed in her thoughts and she hoped he wasn’t dead.
Moving a bit sluggishly, she sat up and noticed she was on a stained mattress on the floor of . .. where the hell was she?
“Don’t bother to run. I know these woods like the back of my hand.”
She swiveled around. Hoff sat on a chair, staring, with a gun pointed directly at her. Fear flashed through her, but she pushed it aside. She couldn’t afford to succumb to mind-numbing terror.
“Let me go, Hoff.”
He tsked. “Now, where would the fun be in that? Last time, you ratted me out to Lucifer, and he kicked me to the curb. Punished me so I’d never forget who betrayed me. My own fucking girlfriend!”
“Betrayed you?” she snorted. “And I was never your girlfriend. I was your punching bag. Your maid. Your cook. Your sex slave. Your drunken means to an end. Any punishment you got, you deserved.”
He rushed over to her and with one hand squeezed her cheeks together so much she couldn’t close her mouth. Then he laughed and licked her mouth. It was horrible and almost made her gag.
“You were pretty hot when my buddies were fucking you. Do you remember that? Too bad our playtime was cut short.” She clawed at his hand, and he brought the barrel of the gun to her temple. “But here we are again, and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to pick up where we left off.”
Cohesive thoughts dissolved, even though she knew she had to push it all down. He didn’t deserve any of her emotions, not even hate.
First chance I get, I’ll kill him.
The thought percolated, and she immediately came to terms with what she had to do. He had to be eliminated, or he’d just keep attacking her. This wasn’t about revenge anymore. This was about her survival.
“I belong to Saint and Sinner,” she snapped. “You touch me, you’ll die.”
Shock blossomed on his face. “Wait. My prudish ex-girlfriend is fucking two men at once? And I was punished for less than that! The hypocrisy is unbelievable!”
“Your punishment lies on your head, not mine. Do you really want the Sons of Sin to get a hold of you? You think the Bone Breakers are bad? All of them combined are nothing compared to my men.”
For a moment, fear entered his eyes and it made her feel so very good.
Then it was gone, buried once more under his bluster.
He raised his fist, so she retreated quickly, as far back as she could in the disgusting hovel she’d woken up in.
There was filth everywhere, and it stank of rotten food and unwashed body odor.
“Why did you do it?” she asked. It was a question that had always been in the back of her mind. “Did you get off on watching those men hurt me? Humiliate me?”
He gave her the nastiest, most evil grin she’d ever seen. “Because it was powerful.”
From his pocket, he pulled out one dice. Just looking at it ran shivers down her spine. It was hard to maintain her bravery when she stared at the one, tiny thing that had derailed her whole life.
“Why don’t we play a little game?”
He didn’t know about the knife she carried. Although she would have to get a lot closer for her to use it.
“I’ve already played your game, Hoff.” A plan was forming, and she had to be careful not to give it away.
“Why don’t we play another? You roll that dice this time, and I can fuck you with a bunch of phallic-looking stuff lying around. Like that soda can over there. I think you’d enjoy it, baby.”
Kira took a deep breath. “Anything would be better than that puny dick you love so much. Why, it’s no bigger than my pinkie finger.”
She held up said digit then winked suggestively, and that was all it took. He charged at her, she yanked her knife out from its hiding spot, and by then it was too late.
****
Thirty minutes later, they snuck up to a shitty cabin that was more fit for a dumpster than to live in. The only hint that someone was inside was the white smoke leaking from the chimney.
“How are we going to do this?” Sinn asked. “We go charging in, he could kill her.”
“How about sneaking around the side, busting in to surprise the asshole, shooting him in the forehead, and then burn his body to ash?” Saint said.
“Didn’t I just say if we charge in, he could kill her?” Sinn asked, perplexed. “I said it like five seconds ago.”
“What about smoking him out?” Lucifer suggested.
“You’d be smoking Kira as well,” Sinn pointed out. “We need intel of where she’s located inside.”
“How are we gonna get that without the moment of surprise?” Saint asked. “The best way is a direct assault, not negotiation. This isn’t a movie.”
Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you two like this all the time?”
Sinn shrugged. “Pretty much.”
Before anyone else could say a thing, a scream came from the cabin.
All plan ideas evaporated in a blink as they charged from their hiding spot, guns out and ready, with one thought in mind: Rescue Kira.
Saint reached the door first and kicked it open.
The puny lock buckled immediately in the rotted wood frame and they rushed inside, expecting to see Kira hurt or cowering.
Instead, they saw Hoff lying on the floor with a knife sticking out of his neck. All three lowered their guns.
Sinn moved quietly forward. She stood staring down at the body, only looking up when he reached for her hand.
“He wanted to hurt me,” she said, tonelessly. “He had the dice again. Wanted me to roll it. I couldn’t go through that again.”
“You won’t ever have to,” he murmured and drew her into his body, hugging her like she was made of glass. “I’ve got you, darlin’.”
Saint came forward and cupped her face, leaning down to kiss her on her mouth. “You rescued yourself. You did what you had to do.”
“I know. I don’t feel remorse. I don’t think I ever will because I liked watching that asshole die. He almost ruined my life.”
“Kira?”
She turned and saw Lucifer. The patch of the Bone Breakers sewn on his worn leather cut. Sinn placed his hands on her shoulders, saying without words she was under his protection.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. She didn’t like Lucifer. Or his club. “Why are you with Sons?”
“I wanted to apologize for what happened on my watch. I should’ve paid more attention.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “It’s a little too late for that.”
He nodded, as if he figured that was going to be her reaction. He sent a nod toward Sinn. “Has he been taking good care of you?”
“Yes.” Saint stepped closer, standing next to her. “He and Saint.”
“Ah,” his said, glancing between them. “I’m glad. I wanted you to know that I punished Hoff and the others for what they did to you.”
Just hearing his name flooded rage and revulsion through her. She gave a disgusted glance to Hoff’s body and waited to hear what Lucifer had to say.
“I never sanctioned what they did, and I made sure they’d never hurt another woman again.”
“Then you should’ve killed him,” Saint snapped, pointing to Hoff. “Because he just fucking did that.”
“Hindsight,” Lucifer muttered.
“How were they punished?” Sinn asked.
“I had them castrated.” Both men grimaced. Kira blinked, and immediately thought that was a wonderful piece of poetic justice. “Then I had them ostracized. Hoff ended up running with the local thugs in Laramie. Took me a while to clean all that up.”
“That didn’t stop him, unfortunately,” Saint fumed.
“Nope, our girl did that,” Sinn chimed with pride in his voice.
Kira looked at him over her shoulder and smiled. A lightness had erased the murky depths where her pain had lingered. Finally, she could move past everything that had weighed her down. No more running away from her future.
“Yes, she did,” Lucifer said. “I’ll take care of this mess. Finish what I should’ve finished two years ago. If you ever need me, Kira...”
“She won’t,” Saint assured him.
Lucifer nodded. “Can we salvage our trade agreement?”
Saint stared at him for a moment. “Yeah,” he finally replied. “Let’s talk soon.”
Lucifer held out his hand, and Saint shook it. Kira left the cabin without looking back. Keeping the past in the cabin, happy when Lucifer burned it down.