CUT (New Adult Dark Romance) (7 page)

I whimpered as Acre pulled the metal door open. The bars were thick, and the floor nothing but bare concrete. He shoved me inside without another word, slamming the door shut behind him. I stared through bars after him, shouting, but he never turned back. Voices echoed up from the main floor, but I couldn’t make sense of them. Anger, violence, it had none of the fun and laughter of the night before. Spinning, I stared at the only piece of furniture in my new prison. A small cot lay against the wall next to a toilet and a sink. Shivering, I laid down, curling myself into a fetal position and turning away from the door. Sleep didn’t come for me.

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“You all right in there?”

My eyes snapped open. I hadn’t been able to sleep, but I’d cried enough that I didn’t want to see the world outside anymore. Penny was at the door, whispering.

“Thought you might want breakfast.”

The redhead curled a paper plate and shoved shoved it between two of the bars, setting it down on the floor.

“Help me Penny… I have to get out of here,” I said, my voice hushed but still too loud.

“They’ll let you out. Stop trying to run away. Black will be up here later, trust me.”

For some reason her words were soothing, and the food she’d brought was even better for the soul. I ate greedily from the plate, sitting near the door and listening for approaching footsteps. There was nothing to do but wait and hope. Jude was a cold blooded killer now… I’d always known what he was capable of, but I’d never imagined he’d go through with it.

The sound of boots nearly made me drop my plate. They echoed with every step, crashing down on the floor as someone approached. I set the plate down, standing up and straining to look down the hall, unable to see the approaching man…

“Miss me baby?”

My stomach dropped. It was Jude. He wasn’t smiling.

“Heard your little outburst. You shouldn’t worry about me, you know I always come out on top.”

His eyes were steel, just dead cold steel. He reached out, shoving a key into the lock as I backed away from the door.

“I’m sorry they did this to you Kattlyn… I won’t let them do it again,” Jude said, stepping forward. Each and every muscle in his body was moving, a simple tank-top barely containing the tendons and movements of a wild beast ready to strike.

“What did you do?”

My voice cracked as I was stepping back even further…

“I did what I had to do. Come with me, Black wants to talk.”

“I don’t want to go with you Jude,” I said, mustering all of my strength.

“I didn’t ask what you wanted. When all this is over, I’m going to teach you proper respect.”

Jude’s hand lashed out, smacking me hard across the face. My body went limp, then cold. I stood back up, empty inside, and followed Jude down the stairs and back into the room with the long table. The men seated around the edge looked anxious. Nobody seemed happy to be there except Jude, who stepped round the table, sitting down and pulling me onto his lap. I let out a little gasp as he pulled my hand down against his thigh, pressing up against something hidden beneath his jeans. Something I knew all too well… It jumped at my touch like a trapped animal.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” Acre said, nodding at me.

“She’s with me, and after you assholes locked her in a fucking cell last night, I’m not letting her out of my sight,” Jude said coldly. “You want to challenge me on this?”

Acre’s face went red, his fists curling on the wood, but he was stopped in place as Marcus spoke up. “Now that we’re all here…” he said, slamming a wooden gavel down on the table. I marveled at the intricate carvings across the wooden face, a pattern not unlike the one on the back of the Rampant vests, a shattered skull, carved straight out of the wood. As with Black’s jacket, I could see names carved into each little piece. The older man, Ash, stood at the far side of the table, digging into the wood with a carving tool, edging out a new piece of the skull as Black talked.

“We’ve had a lot happen over the last few hours. The Kings are at war, and that means we’re at fucking war.”

Fists pounded the table all around, I shook like a leaf.

“We lost a brother,” Marcus continued, “Marlo was a man I’d trust with my life. He’ll expect us to raise some hell for him.”

Fists pounded the table again. I stared at Ash as he finished digging at the table. In his hand, a small drill of some kind whirred as he drew it across the piece of skull he had just carved out of the wood. A name. Marlo. My eyes ran over the rest of the skull, staring at all the broken pieces, all the names. Dozens of them. It suddenly dawned on me that they were all dead… Every single piece of the skull was a dead man.

“Sweetheart…”

I stared up from Jude’s lap, frowning as Black addressed me personally.

“I’m sorry about last night. I needed you to calm down before you went and did something stupid. We got away from the Kings and the last thing I need is FBI busting down the doors here. You feeling better?”

“Yes…” I whispered, feeling as if I’d just lied through my teeth.

“Jude…”

Marcus stared across the table. Jude leaned forward, shifting me on his lap.

“Yeah Black?”

“You saved my ass back there. We could have been carving out most of this table today.”

Jude nodded, grinning.

“But you also fucked up.”

“You saw the three assholes they had hiding in back with the shotguns. Do you really think they were going to let us walk out of there Black?”

“We don’t know what was going to happen,” Black replied.

Nobody said a word, the whole table was silent.

“What, nobody going to speak against this? Don’t you fuckers even know what the Kings are up to out in LA? You’re all worried about the drug trade while those bastards pull pretty girls off the street and sell them off! They’re filth better off dead, and you want to climb in bed with them?”

“You don’t question the Black,” Acre growled.

“I’m questioning all of you. Go ahead Marcus, put it to a fucking vote. Who here thinks sucking off the Kings is a good idea? I’ve been working the street for long enough to know who you can trust and who you can’t.”

“Take off your cut,” Marcus said quietly.

I stared as Jude stood up, walking round the table cooly, flashing murder eyes once again.

“I save your ass and this is how you fucking repay me?”

“Put the guns down,” Marcus said, waving an arm at the table. Half the men were already aiming a piece at Jude. Black was nose to nose with him, standing up slowly.

“I was going to thank you, Jude, but now I see what a fucking mistake I made bringing you in. You’re nothing but a hothead who likes to beat his wife. You fucking got off on icing those Kings, didn’t you? Maybe you made the right move this time, but I don’t need a loose fucking cannon running around my business. Take off the jacket, Jude.”

“You want it? You take it,” Jude seethed. “Those fucks wanted to cut your throat and it was all you could do to kiss their asses for it. How many names on this table got there because of the motherfucking Kings?” The room was buzzing with electricity as Marcus stepped up to Jude.

“I’m not gonna ask you again, Jude.”

“If you won’t fucking call a vote, I will,” Jude said, reaching down and grabbing the Gavel. “I call a vote of no confidence in Marcus Black, all in favor of fucking removing say I,”

The whole room went quiet. Acre was the first to speak up.

“Black has saved my ass too many times to count, Jude.”

Fists started hammering the table. A cacophony of sound was filling the room.

“You know the rules, Black. You taught them to me them yourself. Fight for your position in this club, and you fight to keep it.”

The men crashed together violently. Sometimes, a fight can be structured. I’d seen enough of them to know the slow circling, the jabbing, each participant looking for an edge. This was different. Jude dove into Marcus in a grappling match, arms and legs and clawing and kicking as they pummeled each other in wild abandon. The men had stepped up from their table, moving for a better view, but I was front and center looking at the two warriors locked in a death embrace. I could sense it in the men around me. There was a certain honor in the heat of battle. A blood debt was owed, and a blood debt was paid. Jude seemed possessed, screaming like a banshee as he tore into Marcus. Black took it just as well as he dished it. Just like that, in a hail of blows, it was all over.

Both men fell apart, blood and sweat pouring from battered bodies. There was no winner here, only pain. Jude crawled away, forcing himself to his feet even as Marcus lifted himself to a knee, sporting a long cut across his forehead. I watched as Jude pulled his jacket off his shoulders, throwing it on the ground. Somebody moved to stop him as he stepped through the crowd, but Acre held him back.

“You bleed coming in, you bleed going out. Don’t fucking touch him.”

Jude wasn’t moving. Black was slowly getting to his feet, wiping the blood from his lip.

“Get the fuck out of this place,” Marcus said quietly. “Or I’ll throw you out.”

“You’d need a few of your friends,” Jude spat back. Neither man seemed ready to hold up to their bluster.

“I’ve got plenty of those.”

The men were closing in on Jude now, oppressive, but they stepped aside as Jude started toward the doorway, letting him through.

“Come on Kattlyn, we’re fucking leaving,” Jude said, reaching down to grab me on his way past. I found myself being dragged toward the door, away from the men. I looked back, the room spinning. Marcus was on his feet now, following us, his boots smashing into the floor again as he approached. My body went along with Jude’s pull, but my mind was screaming out. I knew what would happen. Away from here, Jude would take it all out on me… Fear rose out of every pore of my body.

“NO” I shouted, ripping my hand from his! “I’m not going with you. You’ll hurt me… You’ll kill me.”

Jude stared at me in shock, one foot in and one foot out of the office. I panted, barely out of his reach.

“You don’t fucking tell me no. You don’t EVER tell me no.”