I have to hold back a chuckle as I send him a kissy face emoji and put my phone away in my back pocket. Glancing up, I realize Logan and I are at the bottom of the stairs with his fist clenched on the front of my shirt as he guided me down each step since I was sexting.
Shit.
His face is like thunder as he glances back at me and smacks the back of my head. I easily get distracted but always get the job done at least. My fingers move in random signals, trying to tell Logan what the plan is but he just stares at me before pinching the bridge of his nose. He looks both ways and shoves me across the hall into the living room next to the kitchen.
“What?” he whispers roughly in my ear, patience thin as he peeks around the corner when we hear Diana screeching like a dying pig in a slaughterhouse.
God, she’s fucking loud. Hopefully someone duct tapes her lips shut so I can concentrate on killing instead of that awful noise coming out of her mouth.
“Nicky is going to cause a distraction so we have a clear path to get Tillie.” I keep my voice low and crouch down by Logan’s legs to see what he’s looking at.
He doesn’t reply, and when I look up at him, his whole body is still. I don’t think he’s even breathing and that alone tells me I’m not going to like what I see. The moment I look back down and glance around the corner, I have to bite down on my knuckle to contain the snarl that climbs up my throat. I take in everything at once. There's a gun at Diana's temple as she struggles in a club member's arms, his patch on his vest over his pec indicates that his name is Poe. I couldn't care less if she dies. My main focus is on Dalton and the stab wound in his stomach that is bleeding in a steady flow. I can’t tell if he’s breathing from here, he’s not even moving, his still form slumped motionless in the chair. I almost miss it but I catch his arm muscles shifting. My gaze goes straight to the windows behind him to see his fingers moving in the reflection of the glass as he works on those knots of rope around his wrist. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath. Knowing he’s alive makes the tightness in my chest ease, but not a moment later, that tightness is back when I hear her, my heart stopping at the sound.
“No. No. No. No.” Tillie keeps muttering the word under her ragged breath and I’m almost scared to look at her to figure out why her voice comes out desperately broken and lost.
My hand grabs for my knife before I realize what I’m doing, ready to fling it across the room at one of the two fuckers holding her down. Logan grasps my wrist before I can send the blade flying and shakes his head silently without even glancing down at me. I look at Tillie and back at Logan, feeling my body vibrating with the need to do something, anything. Logan’s eyes are veiled, his gaze unblinking as he stares at the back of Franco’s head that’s currently between Tillie’s legs. I’ve never had respect for Franco but never really had thoughts of killing him either. Okay, that’s a lie. I daydream of killing all the time and he’s been in a few of those fantasies but the urge to rip his throat out with my bare hands right here, right now, is unbelievably strong for daring to eat my girl out.
No one can see us, all their attention on Tillie as she trembles like a baby deer under Payne’s relentless, tight hold. I recognize him from all the photos Nicky uploaded on his computer as he’s been digging into the club business and Tillie’s background. This is her dad. Her fucking dad holding a gun towards Dalton as he laughs and watches her stepdad go down on her.
“You're going to come all over his tongue or I'll put a bullet through lover boy's head over here.” Payne waves his gun threateningly in a gleeful tone and makes Tillie spread her legs wider by kicking her feet farther apart with his boot.
I don’t think she hears him, her eyes are hazy like she’s not really here but she whimpers and pinches her eyes closed as her body starts to shake under Franco’s tongue. The fucker’s not even pretending to not enjoy her pussy, he’s practically a starving man as he laps at her lower lips.
She’s going to come whether she wants to or not. Her head is telling her no, the one word she keeps chanting, but she doesn’t have control of her body.
“He’s dead to me,” Logan hisses through his clenched teeth and I know he’s talking about Franco.
There’s a difference between being forced to do something and wanting to. The way Franco groans and picks up speed on her clit tells me he’s happy right where he is. I’m going to cut out his tongue and shove it up his ass. I don’t fucking care that he’s built his own empire, a Don to his mafia, and has hundreds of followers. I’ll be there when he takes his last breath. That’s a promise I intend to keep for hurting my angel.
Logan’s whole body shakes with uncontrollable anger and he moves out from behind our hiding spot before Nicky can even give us the signal. So much for the plan, but I can’t sit back and watch any more of this without doing something either.
“You have one second to get your hand off my girl or fucking die,” Logan says in a deadly calm voice as he steps into the light of the kitchen.
All heads turn our way but Franco’s as I stand next to Lo with my arms crossed, pretending to be bored even though I’m all pent-up with the urge to murder. I notice Tillie's whole body sinks in Payne’s hold like she can’t hold herself up anymore, relieved that someone is here for her.
Has no one ever been there for her? Well, that’s about to change.
“Ah, this must be the son.” Payne looks at Logan with a raised brow and dismisses him easily like he’s not a threat.
Wrong move. Logan’s the animal you don’t see coming until it strikes, a monster that’s going to enjoy tearing Payne apart, limb by limb.
Franco glances over his shoulder, wiping his gleaming lips on the shoulder of his fancy jacket as he looks at Logan with eyes void of any emotion.
“Logan.” Franco slowly rises to his feet with his lip curling into a satisfied smirk with cold, dead eyes.
My best friend takes a threatening step forward. I’m not sure if he planned to go for the Demon Jokers’ president or his father, but glass shattering from the French doors on the other side of the kitchen causes us to all duck. Guess we’ll never know who would have been on the receiving end of Logan’s punishing and murdering intent due to Nicky’s distraction. I didn’t know he could make a small bomb out of gunpowder, color me surprised when he can make something explode out of something so small and simple. I guess a bonfire turns into a fourth of July firework show when it comes to Nicky…Show-off. The heat of the fire pit blazes so high into the night sky that I can even feel the warmth of the fire from here. I jump into action just as an anguished roar echoes around the kitchen. Dalton tears out of the rope like the hulk and takes off at a run to tackle Poe to the ground in a football move that would even impress a college scout. Diana goes flying off somewhere, but I’m already leaping across the kitchen island to land right by Tillie. I don’t have any flying fucks to give what happens to her mother, she can fend for herself for all I care. I catch Tillie as her legs collapse and quickly guide her out of harm's way as Logan fights with Payne for the gun.
“You motherfucker! You dare to put your hands on what’s mine!” Logan bellows, delivering a swift punch to Payne’s kidney that has him keeling over with a grunt of pain.
Franco just stands there, fixing his suit jacket so it’s straight then bends down to grab the gun that slides across the floor at his feet. Looks like Dalton got the weapon out of Poe’s hold, and it sounds like he’s going to town punching the club member with his big fists. Maybe beating him to death, I want to watch but my gaze is locked on Franco as he calmly lifts the gun and pulls the trigger. Tillie jerks in my hold as blood splashes against us both like a warm shower spray. Her body goes stiff as she watches Logan slump against the cabinet and wipes blood from his upper lip as he breathes hard.
“No! What have you done?!” Tillie screams hysterically, her voice hoarse as she struggles in my hold like a wildcat.
She slips out of my hands before I can stop her and drops to her knees beside Payne. My angel gazes down at him with tears streaking down her beautiful face, looking at the perfect bullet hole between Payne’s eyes. She makes a fist and brings it down onto the once President of a motorcycle club’s chest. Tillie does it again, harder this time until she’s using both hands and screaming out like a broken animal. I stare at her, knowing this has nothing to do with the pain of losing someone you love.
“Baby girl,” Logan whispers and wipes the splattered blood off his hands before wiping a tear off her cheek with his thumb.
“No!” She swats his hand away and shakily climbs to her feet, turning towards Franco as she sobs uncontrollably. “You had no right! It was supposed to be me! His death was going to be by my hands!” Her voice comes out shaky and defeated, but the look she gives Franco is the strongest I’ve ever seen her.
