Ruthless

by Tory Richards

  “Poor thing was retching before we got to her car,” I said, picking up the rag that I’d been using to wipe down tables. “Whatever she has came on fast.”

  “Some illnesses are like that,” she said as if she were an expert. “I’m done and heading out.” She came to a jerking halt and gave me a thoughtful look. “Do you have a ride home?”

  I thought about Rebel and nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. See you tomorrow.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Thank God Bike Week is almost over! My feet are numb!”

  I could relate. Tomorrow was the last day. Vinny would close the bar on Monday so we could recoup from the killer week. After that, we’d all be back on our regular shifts and days off. Thank God! I returned to the table Della and I had been in the process of cleaning when she’d gotten sick and went back to wiping it down. I hoped that she’d made it home okay.

  “Where’d Della go?” Vinny hollered across the room, stepping back out from his office.

  “She got sick.” I began lifting the chairs and turning them over on top of the table.

  “Sick?” he scoffed. “She’d better feel better by two o’clock tomorrow and have her ass here.” I rolled my eyes and decided that it would take too much effort to respond to his insensitive remark. It wasn’t like him. The long hours were obviously getting to him, too. “What time did she leave? I need to mark it down, because I’m not paying her for the whole hour.”

  I slammed the last chair down and glared at him. He was behind the bar with Stevie, pulling the money out of the register.

  I couldn’t help it, I lost my temper. “Are you kidding me? We’ve been working our asses off all week with no time off and barely a break, and you’re going to dock her for half an hour?” I looked at Stevie. “Is he for real?”

  She shook her head. “Sad but true.” She didn’t agree with his comment either, that was clear from the twist of her lips.

  Vinny finally glanced up from the register, taking in our disgusted expressions. “What?”

  I rolled my eyes, fighting the urge to throw a chair at him.

  “You’re an ass,” Stevie said, taking the words right out of my mouth. She could get away with it because they were dating.

  “I’m tired,” he said in his own defense.

  Weren’t we all?

  I decided not to waste my breath and continued cleaning my tables and stacking chairs. The murmur of their voices suggested that they were still discussing it, and I had to wonder how much pull Stevie had over Vinny. When the bar was open they kept a strict working relationship between them, but this was after hours and their interaction with each other was very different. It was kind of fun to watch. Stevie wasn’t afraid to put Vinny in his place.

  The entrance door opened and two men ambled inside. Realizing that someone had forgotten to lock the door after the last customer, I exchanged a look with Stevie. She and Vinny had stopped arguing and had glanced up.

  “We’re closed,” Vinny said, drawing their attention. I rolled my eyes. Would it have killed him to say, “sorry” first? “Ginger was just about to lock the door.”

  That was my cue to head toward the two men and hopefully usher them out the door and lock it behind them. They halted as I approached, crooked smiles and bloodshot eyes roaming over me and giving me a chill. They were bikers, or dressed as, one short with an obvious beer gut, while the other was tall and lanky. I tried to keep the smile on my face as I waited for them to turn around and leave.

  “We just want one drink,” the short man belched. How did someone talk and burp at the same time?

  “Too bad, we’re closed. Come back tomorrow.”

  The taller man made a point of looking around the bar. The other waitresses had already left, it was just Stevie, Vinny, and me. I began to get a bad feeling when the two strangers exchanged meaningful looks, then released a breath of relief when the short one shrugged and then they both turned around. “Okay.”

  Well, that had been easy. Except that nothing was ever that easy. When they reached the door the shorter man reached up and turned the lock before both of them spun back around to face us. They wore matching smirks. “Guess since you don’t want to serve us a drink we’ll just take your money.” He pinned his eyes on me. “And maybe your women.”

  I froze inside when I realized that we were being robbed. His second threat didn’t worry me as much, I assumed that it had been said as a way to stress how serious the situation was to Vinny. Vinny’s expression revealed his anger and disbelief, and I prayed that he showed some smarts. Stevie, her face turning pale, stepped slightly behind him, and I immediately felt a rush of sympathy for her. I knew what she was thinking. She’d shared with me that, years before, she had been beaten and raped during a robbery.

  It was hard to determine which man was in charge, but when they both pulled out guns it no longer mattered. I didn’t move, hoping not to bring attention to myself once the robbers were focused on Vinny, waiting to see what he was going to do. Vinny hit the register, the money drawer shot open, and he stepped back and raised his hands.

  “Take it and leave.” He knew about Stevie’s past, he knew her fears and what she must have been thinking. I gave him credit for being sensitive to that by acting sensibly.

  “Wow, Chuck,” the short one laughed, heading behind the bar, “I wonder if he’ll be that agreeable when it comes to the women.” He shot his partner a sneer just as he was about to reach inside the register drawer for the money.

  The taller man remained by me, his gun trained towards the bar. “I know which one I want.” I saw his head turn my way out of the corner of my eye and refused to acknowledge it. “She’s got nice, big tits.”

  I kept my gaze on Stevie, seeing the panic in her eyes. She looked as if she was about to be sick. I couldn’t blame her. I was afraid for both of us. When the heavy-set robber looked her way with a cocky smirk on his whiskered face, she broke. She screamed and brought a bottle down over his head, shattering it and coating him with liquor and glass. At the same time Vinny slammed the money drawer closed on the man’s hand, while grabbing for the weapon that he had in the other hand. Stevie grabbed the bat that she kept behind the bar for this very reason and began pummeling down on the man’s head without mercy while Vinny aimed the gun at the second robber.

  My gaze swung to the other man, who’d yet to show any reaction to what was going down. Everything had happened so fast. I realized my precarious position and instantly turned to flee, but I didn’t get far. A long arm wrapped around my waist and I was hauled up against the robber’s body as he swung back around toward the bar, using me as a shield. I was thankful that no one fired their weapons.

  “You’re coming with me, bitch!” he snarled into my ear, lifting my feet off the ground as he began to walk backwards to the door.

  “Let her go!” Vinny shouted, taking aim.

  “She’s my ticket out of here.”

  Vinny surprised everyone by firing his gun toward the floor. “You hear that?” he snarled. “The cops will be here within minutes! Now let her go!”

  The man who was squeezing me to the front of him released a snort. “No fucking way! She comes with me.” His friend, who was lying on the floor, let out a loud moan. Stevie glanced down and hit him again with her bat.

  “Where I come from, it’s an eye for an eye,” the man who was holding me grumbled. “You got one of mine, I take one of yours. She’s prettier than Hank.” My eyes grew round when he nuzzled his scratchy jaw against the side of my neck, his nose inhaling deeply. “Sure smells better. Bet she tastes good, too.” The entire time he was speaking he was dragging me backwards.

  I began to claw at his arms, realizing that there wasn’t much Stevie and Vinny could do to keep him from taking me. It was obvious that Vinny wasn’t going to shoot at the man, he was probably afraid that he’d shoot me by mistake, and I could only guess at why the robber, Chuck, wasn’t using his gun to escape. But just as that thought went through my head he fired, but it
was a wild shot because he was still pulling me with him.

  I glanced at the bar with fear, just in time to see Stevie and Vinny drop down behind it. The fact that police sirens could be heard in the distance revealed that they were on their way. That urged the man to pick up his speed. He shot another round toward the bar just as we neared the door. I decided then that I wasn’t going to go willingly and kicked back at him, digging my nails into him once again. He tightened his arm with a snarl.

  “Fuck!” he huffed, giving me a squeeze. “I’m going to enjoy taming you, bitch!” He reached behind us and turned the lock on the door.

  I began to struggle against him wildly, realizing that once he got me outside that anything could happen. I leaned down and bit the hell out of him. “Let. Me. Go.” I hissed, fear surging through me. He nudged the door open and continued to pull me with him. We didn’t make it outside.

  “Let. Her. Go.” The sound of a gun being cocked seemed overloud in the room. Chuck froze, and I turned my head enough to see that there was the barrel of a gun against his temple. From there I noticed the tanned hand, the tattoos across the top of each finger that spelled the word “kill.” My gaze traveled up a muscular arm, over a shoulder, and up to the face and eyes of the man standing behind us.

  I caught my breath at the ruthless expression on Rebel’s chiseled features, the hardness that had turned his eyes into a rigid, ice blue that could stab right through an opponent. He met my gaze and gave me a wink. His close proximity forced Chuck to take a step forward so that Rebel could enter the bar. I felt the arm around my body slacken and I eagerly stepped away.

  “Take his gun, sweetheart.” I snatched the weapon out of Chuck’s hand and moved far enough away so that he couldn’t reach me. “You alone here?”

  “No.”

  Hearing us, Vinny and Stevie slowly rose to their feet.

  The sirens drew closer.

  “Fuck, man, am I glad to see you,” Vinny said in a familiar tone that revealed that he knew Rebel. “You have a way of showing up when I need you the most.” He turned toward Stevie. Her color had returned, but she still held a tight grip on the slightly bloody bat in her hands. Vinny pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. “Go wait for me back in my office, babe. Relax and catch your breath.” She gave him a smile of gratitude and disappeared.

  “You’re going to have to start paying me for my services,” Rebel joked with a grin, forcing Chuck face first against the wall. “Put your hands on the wall above your head, asshole.” Chuck complied. “Move and it will be your last,” Rebel threatened. He looked back at Vinny.

  “Robbery?” Vinny nodded, reaching down for the man at his feet. “Yeah, bastards thought it was going to be easy.” He dragged him around the bar and dumped him onto the floor. Stevie had done a number on him, I was proud of her. That reminded me that she was alone in Vinny’s office.

  “I should go to Stevie.”

  “You’re coming with me.” Rebel took me by the hand, took the gun out of my other hand, and walked me over to Vinny, handing him the weapon. “The cops will be here any second, and I’d rather not hang around to answer any questions.”

  Vinny’s brows furrowed as his gaze shot back and forth between me and Rebel. “You two know each other?”

  “Yeah.” Rebel didn’t elaborate. “I’ll see that Ginger gets home, that’s where I’ll be staying. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  I could see that Vinny had questions, but there was no time. The screech of tires outside the bar revealed that the cops had arrived, just as we were stepping out the back door into the darkness.

  Chapter 5

  Rebel

  Past

  Holy fucking hell, I couldn’t get enough of the hot little virgin beneath me. If I hadn’t plowed through the proof and seen the blood on my dick I would have sworn that she was a pro. She was a natural in bed, intuitively skilled in the ways of giving and demanding pleasure at the end of my dick. Her resistance was still there, even a little fight, but those emotions only aided in making the whole fucking thing feel out of this world. The more I tasted her and fucked her, the more I craved her, and it became clear that I was growing addicted to her.

  That had been after only one damned night. What would a lifetime with her be like? Hell, I wouldn’t be able to survive. I wanted to fucking consume her, claim her, own her. I felt possessive as hell over her, and was already thinking of a way to get her away from there to some place safe. I didn’t fucking trust Wildman, or any of his fuckers, from going after her once he was satisfied that I was loyal and as sick as he was.

  The door was suddenly kicked in and, speaking of the fucking devil, Wildman stood in the threshold with an evil grin across his face. His eyes were bloodshot, as usual, from a combination of booze and drugs. His loud entrance had startled Ginger awake, and she crowded next to me for protection when she looked up to see him leering at her. I resisted the urge to wrap my arm around her in comfort. I didn’t want to give Wildman a reason to snatch her away before I was ready to let her go.

  Not that I’d be ready any time soon.

  He stepped next to the bed and ripped the covers back. I knew what he was looking for, the fucker. There was no denying the dried blood that was on the sheets, but he wasn’t satisfied by just seeing that. He walked around the bed closer to Ginger. I felt her trembling and trying to reach for the sheet again, but I slapped her hand to still her nervous fingers. Wildman laughed, grabbed her by the knees, and spread her thighs apart, staring down at her pussy.

  I clenched my teeth so hard I was surprised that my jaw didn’t snap. I knew what he was seeing against her smooth thighs—a mixture of dried blood and cum. He sniffed loudly, the sick bastard, and then laughed. “You raped her good,” he murmured to himself.

  “Isn’t that what I was ordered to do?” I growled with underlining hate in my voice. It hadn’t been rape, though. I’d seduced her. I’d made sure that Ginger had wanted it as much as I had.

  “Pretty snatch,” he said, before releasing her thighs. He grabbed his crotch. “I’ll be sampling that soon.”

  Over my fucking dead body, I thought. If it was the last thing I did, I was going to kill him. I knew Stone wanted me there because he wanted to annihilate the Red Devils. Wild Marauders and Phantom Riders wanted them gone, too. All I had to do was play along, feign loyalty, and get information to my prez so that they could take action at the appropriate time. Some of the shit that I’d been forced to watch and participate in had gone against my principles, like having to hurt women, and Wildman took it to a malicious and devastating level. He controlled his brother’s fuck ups by taking their punishment out on their old ladies.

  The fucker got off on hurting women.

  One of the first horrors I’d witnessed in the Red Devils’ clubhouse was the train his club had pulled on one of the old ladies, right before they put a bullet in her head, all while her old man watched on helplessly before he was killed. I had almost left right then and there, but I was loyal to my own club, and I knew my brothers were counting on me. Six months in this hell hole, and I’d seen and participated in enough horrors to last me a fucking lifetime. It was far worse than any war or missions I’d been assigned when I’d been a Navy SEAL.

  “Enjoy her another day, brother, and then she’s mine.” He laughed as if this had amused him. “She’ll never be the same once I get my dick inside her.”

  I’d heard about how he liked to leave his women torn and bleeding. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at me, a smirk on his face that made me want to beat it off. I felt Ginger shaking next to me, her face turned against my side. I couldn’t soothe her fears, not with Wildman’s watchful eyes on us. Not that I would have anyway. I couldn’t afford to give myself away. For all I knew she was a plant placed specifically to spy on me, and this was just an act to get me to drop my guard. I’d learned early on that Wildman was paranoid and didn’t trust anyone. As far as I could tell, his crew was loyal to him out of fear and not out of the res
pect required to be a successful president.

  His fucking days were numbered.

  He left. I felt Ginger stir, and I glanced down to see her looking up at me with unshed tears in her expressive eyes. I steeled myself against them, letting my gaze sweep down to her full, luscious tits, which were more than a handful. Her sweet nipples were flattened against large brown areolas, and that just wouldn’t do. I leaned in and took the tip of one into my mouth, sucking and nibbling on the nipple until it beaded into a tight kernel I could pinch gently between my teeth. Once I was satisfied, I repeated the action on her other tit, tugging on it until she was whimpering.

  The bastard in me grinned around her plump flesh. Fuck, it turned me on when she responded, because it seemed so authentic and natural, and revealed that she was enjoying what I was doing to her body. As I continued to lavish her tits with my mouth, I let my hand trail down to her pussy. I had barely brushed against her clit when she bowed sharply and moaned. I played with it for a minute before it dawned on me that she might be a little sore.

  “Come on,” I said, rolling away from her and getting to my feet. “I think a shower is in order.”

  She was slower getting to her feet, and I watched as she brought the sheet up to wrap around her body. She glanced down at the bed briefly, taking in the spots of blood, before meeting my eyes. “I guess I’m a whore now.”

  I smirked at her assessment. “A whore gives it up for free. You didn’t exactly have a choice.” I couldn’t keep my gaze from roaming over her hot curves, ending at the juncture of her shapely thighs where her tight little cunt was. My dick was stiff as a board, and I palmed it, giving it a few tugs.

  “You took the only thing I had of value.”

  My gaze shot up to hers, reminded once again how innocent she was. “Don’t underestimate your worth, angel. You’ll always have your pussy to get you anything you want.” I knew it was a shit thing to say, but I had to keep up the pretense of behaving in the way that would be expected of one of Wildman’s brothers. I could see that my comment had angered her, but I didn’t give her time to react to it. “Let’s go.”