Rough Justice (Sinner's Tribe Motorcycle Club #1)(88)

“They walk out of here with me.” Arianne cut him off and pointed to the women behind her. “I’m not leaving here without them.”

“Sorry, love. They’ve been contracted already.” Bunny turned away.

“I’ll give your regards to Jagger when I see him again, shall I?” Arianne bit her lip. Might as well play the old lady card while it was still fresh. “He’ll be happy to hear about your hospitality.”

Bunny whipped around to face her. “I didn’t touch you. I didn’t know you were here until I walked into the room. And when I found out it was you, I told them to let you go. You tell him that. You tell him Bunny did the right thing. I helped you out. I saved you.”

Arianne met his gaze. “We live in the same world, Bunny. I think we understand each other. What I tell Jagger depends on what happens to the two women behind me. And I’m thinking the value of Jagger’s gratitude would far outweigh any money you’ll get from selling them. Unless, of course, you’re wanting to make your pretend necklace real.”

His lips curled in a snarl. “Fucking hell. No wonder Jagger wants you. You’re just like Viper. Beaten, tied up, chained to my wall, and you’re negotiating with me like you’ve got a gun to my head.”

“I’m nothing like Viper.”

Bunny laughed, showing a mouth full of chipped, broken teeth. “That’s were you’re wrong. You’re your daddy’s girl to the bone.”

*

“Fucking useless piece of shit.” Axle shoved Jeff aside as they headed across Bunny’s parking lot toward Jeff’s vehicle.

Arianne winced when the .45 pressed into her back. She’d assumed Bunny would make sure she got out safely, but he disappeared after Jeff unchained her, and she’d found herself once again at the wrong end of Axle’s gun.

“I should just shoot you now and put you out of your misery.” He glared at Jeff.

“I’ll get the money,” Jeff said quickly. “Just … how about you give me the guns to give to Viper, and I’ll pay you the rest as soon as I have it?”

“Not the way I do business.” Axle leaned against Jeff’s vehicle, his gun pointed at Arianne’s chest, while Jeff fumbled with his keys. Across the street, Sheila and her friend tried to flag down a cab.

“What about Arianne?”

“I’m gonna have some fun with her.” Axle poked her again, and her lips pursed with suppressed fury.

“Nothing will piss off Jagger more than knowing someone else f*cked his girl. And I’m not gonna just f*ck her. I’m gonna use her and break her. And then I’ll drop her off at the clubhouse like the Wolverines MC did to his last girl. That will be a message he’ll never forget.”

A cab crawled to a stop across the street. Sheila bent down to talk to the driver. Arianne looked at Axle’s .45, her heart drumming in her chest. After Leo’s attack, she’d spent years in therapy, and as part of the recovery program, she had been required to take self-defense classes. Given the world she lived in, she hadn’t gone for the regular classes that taught basic twist-and-run techniques. She’d taken the courses about disarming attackers wielding knives, handguns, steel pipes, and brass knuckles. Although she’d never really had the chance to put some of the more extreme moves to the test, given that the alternative was getting into the car with Jeff and Axle, she deemed the risk worthwhile.

While Axle was distracted, talking to Jeff, she took a step toward him and grabbed his gun hand at the wrist. Before he could react, she clasped the barrel of the gun and pushed it toward him, rolling it against his thumb until it pointed at him. Another roll and he involuntarily released the gun into her hand. Although it took only moments, the delay seemed like a lifetime, but once she had the gun, she didn’t waste a second. Sprinting across the street, she shouted for Sheila to open the cab door.

Her heart pounded against her ribs as she ran toward the vehicle. Sheila flung open the door and stretched out an arm toward her. Arianne’s bare feet thudded across the pavement. She was close. So close, she could see the chips in Sheila’s red nail polish, the gold ring on her finger with a brilliant blue stone.

And then pain exploded across her arm, and she fell forward, the blue stone fading to black.





TWENTY

The president shall defend club members, property (including chicks), and territory from outside threats.

“Where is she?”

Jagger trod over the broken door and glared at Banks and Dawn. Banks had a gun pointed at his chest and held Dawn protectively behind him.

“You said he’d find her,” Dawn muttered behind Banks back. “You didn’t say he’d kick down my door.”

“I thought he’d knock.”

“Where—is—she?” Jagger stalked toward Banks, disregarding the weapon. He hadn’t paid much attention to the bar owner before, but from his stance and the way he held the gun, it was clear he’d had military training. And that told him Banks wouldn’t fire on him because he wasn’t a threat. At least not if the man told him where to find Arianne.

“She’s asleep in my room.” Dawn gestured to the hallway behind her. “Two women brought her to to the bar in a cab. They said someone had been shooting at her and she’d fallen and hit her head while trying to escape. She wasn’t making much sense, but she was able to ask them to bring her to the bar. The women who brought her gave Banks the full story.”