Bounty:Fury Riders MC(40)

"Such as?" He folded his arms



"What do you plan to do with the club now that it's yours?"



He smiled broadly. "That sounds so good. Say it again. Now that the club is mine."



I bit the side of my tongue to keep from calling him a pathetic loser. "Now that the club is yours."         

     



 



He grinned. "Between you and me, I kinda have a semi right now."



I shook my head. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Seriously, man. Are you that obsessed with taking me down?"



"Not just you. Your whole fucking club. You've been holding the Wolves  back for years, plus anybody else who wanted to get a piece of the  action. Have you ever seen The Godfather?"



"Who hasn't?"



"Remember when the other dons were all pissed at Don Corleone for having  all the politicians in his pocket? That's how it is for you. I promise  you, if it wasn't me taking you down, it would have been somebody else.  You've been on shit lists all over town for years."



"This is news to me," I sneered. "And like I told everybody already, my  plan was to get us the fuck out of drugs. It wasn't a secret. I didn't  want anything to do with it. That was Rex's thing, not mine. That's old  school shit. The sort of shit the other dons wanted to get into in The  Godfather, if I remember it right." My voice was thick with sarcasm.



"We should have been given a piece of the action."



"I would have worked with you if you had come to me instead of doing  everything you could to go behind my back. I don't want drugs anymore,  man. You could have had them. Things didn't have to be this way."



"You were never gonna give it up. Back in the day, Rex swore the Fury Riders would never share their piece of the trade."



"I'm not Rex. I never felt that way. You're so fucking smart, thinking  things through, making plans. You never thought once to come to me like a  man and sit down." He didn't know he was about to die for his  stupidity.



He stood, pointing a finger in my face. "You held us down for too long.  You think I believe you would have worked with us, the way you see us?  Rex always hated us, and you do, too."



"You're right." I shrugged. "I hate you, but not because of the club. I  just hate you, period. But business is business. I would have put it  aside."



"Rex didn't want to."



"Your old prez should have taken it up with Rex when it first started.  This was in motion a long time ago, way before my time or yours. You  just wanna take it out on me and my club because you've been in this  shit hole for so long."



"Fuck you."



"Why couldn't you clean up the place? I mean, seriously. Get a fucking cleaning woman. Or can't you afford that?"



"Shut the fuck up." His tanned skin was getting dark with rage.



"There are probably frat houses cleaner than this place. I can see not  being able to renovate, but not cleaning up after yourselves? I hope you  don't do that to our clubhouse. We put a lot of money into it."



"It's not your clubhouse anymore, asshole." He took a swing at me, just  like I knew he would once I pushed him far enough. I ducked it easily,  then stepped behind him when he was off-balance. I looped my arm around  his neck, choking him.



He struggled, flailing around. My arms were thick, heavily muscled. It  didn't take long before he was wheezing for air. He pounded on my arm,  digging his fingers in, desperate to get some air.



"How's it feel, fucker? When you know your life's in my hands? I can do  whatever I want to you," I hissed in his ear. I wanted my voice to be  the last thing he heard. "All your planning was for shit. When you're  dead, I'm gonna blow this place sky-high. It's all set up and ready to  blow. Your entire club, gone. Think on that for a minute." I tightened  my grip. He was frantic, panicking. His face turned red, his eyes began  to bulge out. He wheezed.



I reached into the inside pocket of my kutte, where I had a length of  chain. There was a loop at each end, with one side pulled through the  other. I put it around his head, then let go of his neck to pull the  chain tight.



He fell to his knees, his weight making the chain go tighter. I wished I  could see his face. I didn't even have to struggle. He did all the work  for me, his body weight choking him more and more. I thought about my  guys, even about Lance and Onyx. And about Erica. He deserved this.



He rolled over, gasping, clawing at the chain. He landed on his back,  and I sat on his chest. Now I pulled the chain tight, staring into his  eyes as he died. I had never done anything like it. Part of my brain  even recoiled from it. The rest of me loved it, relished it, wished I  had more time to make him suffer for what he put me and my club through.



Then it was over. He went still, eyes bulging out, tongue swollen. I  took the chain from his neck-after the fire, the police would think he  died in the explosion. I hoped. Either way, I didn't wanna leave any  evidence.



I took one more look at him before turning away.



There were seven minutes left.



I raced back out to Erica. She had slumped forward in the chair-had  somebody … ? No. When I gently slapped her cheeks, she roused. It would  have been just like York to have her murdered while we were talking in  his office.         

     



 



I pulled the gag from her mouth. "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"  I stroked her face, looking into her eyes to see if they had drugged  her. It didn't look that way. She was just woozy.



"I'm gonna get you out of here, but we have less than seven minutes to  do it. Stay with me, baby." I worked on the ropes around her wrists,  which wasn't easy since her blood had soaked through them. I knew her  wrists were torn up. I wanted to kill York all over again.



"Why seven minutes?" Her voice was thick, groggy.



"Less than that now," I said in a tight voice. "Because we're blowing this place."



"Like, leaving?"



"Like, leaving, then blowing it up." She gasped loudly, and I put a hand  over her mouth. "Shh. Don't wanna let them know you're awake in here.  It's better if they think you're unconscious." Not that they would hear  her over the sound of the radio blaring from the main room, just  outside.



Just then, as I was close to having Erica's wrists free, the door  opened. I ducked behind her, hoping I would blend in with the shadows in  the dimly lit room.



"Why the hell is your gag off?" I didn't know the voice, but he closed  the door behind him. Good thing. I didn't want anyone else to see what I  was gonna do. I wished to God I had my fucking gun.



I leaped out from behind Erica, trying to use the element of surprise to  my advantage. It worked-he was totally thrown off, and stumbled back. I  landed on top of him on the floor.



I landed one punch to his face, but I couldn't tell where it landed  since his fingers clawed at my eyes. He bucked me off, and I landed on  my back. When he lunged for me, I rolled to the side and scrambled to my  feet. He went low, driving his head into my midsection. He slammed me  against the wall, and every bone in my body rattled.



I glanced at Erica, getting a quick look at her as she struggled with  the ropes at her ankles. She must have gotten her hands free, I thought  before the Wolf I was fighting landed a blow on my temple. I staggered,  seeing stars. He swung at me again, but this time, I ducked. His fist  hit the wall instead. I threw a few jabs to his ribs, doubling him over.  I pushed down on his shoulders, bending him lower, then drove my knee  into his face. He staggered back, blood pouring from his nose.



I didn't have time to keep fighting him, and I looked around in  desperation for something to use as a weapon. Every second that ticked  by put us one second closer to the explosion.



Then, Erica was out of the chair, the ropes around her ankles untied.  She slumped to the floor, rubbing her legs. I took the chair and swung  it high, slamming it over the head of the Wolf. He crumbled to the floor  in a heap.



"Oh, my God!" Erica gasped through the tears pouring down her cheeks. "I thought he would kill you!"



"No chance," I murmured, helping her to her feet. "Can you walk?"



She took a tentative step. "I think so. My feet are asleep, a little, but I'm okay."



I looked around, hoping for a door beside the ones to the office and the main room. No luck. Those were our only two options.



"What about Alexander?" Erica whispered.



I only glanced at her and looked away. I didn't need to say what happened. She understood.



"We don't have a choice. We have to go through the room outside to get  to the door." I wished right then that I'd let the guys cover us after  all. We'd be stepping out into a shooting gallery-all of them would be  armed, and from what I remembered seeing, every member was out there.