Outlaw's Vow: Grizzlies MC Romance(70)

The man was completely, irreparably fucked. If Karma was an absolute bitch, like everybody said, then she'd decided to rip everything away from him except his daughter.

She'd taken his hand, his face, and whatever manhood he had left. Tacoma's soon-to-be-ex Prez would never ride again with that stump on his arm, and if he found a woman who'd let him bed her with that sliced up face, he'd be paying for her company.

Much as I hated him for putting my girl in danger, shit was fucking sad.

Christ, I needed a smoke. I fought the urge and took Elle's hand instead, leading her toward my bike.

“It isn't really over,” I growled, jerking her into my embrace and whispering in her ear. “I lied back there.”

Her sweet blue eyes turned up, a little darker than usual, fear streaking through them. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“I'm gonna kill Zee myself for what he did to you and your old man. He needs to fucking die for this, and I wanna be the one to plunge the knife in his throat, maybe do worse.”

She looked around, making sure nobody else could hear. I could've rolled my eyes. The girl should've known by now how crafty I could be.

“Won't that get you in trouble?”

“We'll see.” I shrugged. “Honestly, babe, I don't give a single fuck anymore. Even the Prez acknowledges the fact that I saved his ass and everybody else's today. The Chinese might've taken you and your dad in that van if I hadn't started shooting. They definitely would've given my brothers some casualties.”

“It isn't worth it,” she said, refusing to look at me. “I just want this to be over. For real, Austin. We've suffered enough. I don't need more blood to make this right. I'm safe, I'm with you, daddy's alive...that's all that matters. That's enough.”

Her eyes told a different story. I saw the way she looked away from me, turning toward the truck where they'd loaded up Zee. Poor girl had a flood of pain building up inside her, ready to burst.

“No fucking way,” I said coldly.

I grabbed her chin and jerked her face straight, locking down her eyes with mine. “I told you what's gonna happen once we get home. You'll never sleep another peaceful night if that animal's still wasting air breathing on this earth. And if we don't kill him, we'll regret somebody else doing it. Told you, babe, I'm gonna carve a piece off his carcass and bring it to you with my bare hands. That's a promise.”

She gasped. I let her go and walked away before she could try to talk me outta it.

“Stay here and drink some water. There's a canteen in my saddlebag. Gotta help clean up so we can get our asses home.”

I left Elle waiting next to my bike while I headed back inside the old plant. I had to help the boys clean this shithole up, dispose of all the assholes we'd killed.

The club couldn't handle another massacre in the media. A couple politicians were already screaming for action 'til we paid 'em off, and they'd start squawking for more if they saw another opportunity to fill up their campaign coffers.

It took about a solid hour with the full crew carrying bodies into a big, empty pit we'd dug out back before we finished. Their skin sizzled like a witch's brew when Roman tipped the acid barrels over their carcasses, dissolving them like they'd never existed, before we shoved the dirt over their bones.

If anyone ever came out here and found this shit in fifty, maybe a hundred years, they'd never piece together who the fuck the remnants belonged to, or what had happened here today.

That secret died with us. It was about to die a whole lot faster with Zee too. My fingers itched to feel his blood all over them when I smashed my fists through his rotten, fucked up face.

Nobody hurt my girl and lived to whine about how sorry they were. Fucking nobody.

I flexed my fists, nodding to the big Enforcer as I helped him pile the empty barrels back by the loading dock for the prospects to carry. Glassy walked up and winked at me before he picked one up and hauled it over his shoulder.

“This bullshit gets old, don't you think?” Roman said, squinting into the rising morning sun. “I wanna go the fuck home and stay there this time around. I'd rather be with my wife and kid any damned day over throwing more dead bastards into the ground.”

“We're getting there, brother.” I threw my arm around his shoulder. “Give it a year and I'll be right there with you. So will Rabid and Brass when they knock their girls up. The Prez can be a real fucker sometimes, but he's right.”

The giant cocked his head, wondering what the fuck I was talking about.

“He's helped us clear out practically every asshole who could ever threaten us. We're earning our peace by blood, and it's so damned close I can taste it. No more rogues in our ranks once the other charters hear about what happened to Tacoma and Gil fucking up. No more mafia goons or vicious cartels breathing down our throats when they find out we took out a whole crew of Dragons. Look up there, man.”