Zander slowly sauntered over to Stormy, who was standing out of arm’s reach from Ryder. He put his arm around her, pulled her close, put his gun up to her head and cocked it.
“What are you doing?” Ryder said as he tried to keep his calm. “Don’t do this.”
“I have no choice,” Zander said as she suddenly began to lose his cool. He was clearly having some sort of nervous breakdown.
“I’m going to give you an out,” Ryder said. “I’m going to show you the mercy that you never showed to my brother.”
Zander looked intrigued and relieved all at the same time.
“You put your gun down on the table,” Ryder instructed. “I let you walk out that door. You are never to come back and show your face around here again, you here? That’s an order. Zander Mayfield is dead. You get a new name. You get a new identity. You stay out of the any other MC.”
“This life is all I know,” Zander said. He was getting emotional.
“It’s your only option,” Ryder said. “Either I shoot you, right here, right now, which I don’t want to do in front of these ladies. Or you walk out and never come back.”
Zander released his grip on Stormy, threw his gun down on the sofa and hightailed it towards the front door.
“You’re just going to let him get away?!” Stormy exclaimed. She wanted to chase after him, but her legs were frozen with fear.
Zander swung the door wide open and on the other side waited about five or six guys from Hellfire MC. They surrounded the doorway and there was no way Zander would be able to get through. They stood shoulder to shoulder, menacing looks on their faces, as they reached out to grab him.
“No, no!” Zander yelled. “Ryder, you said I could leave! No, no!”
Zander’s terrified yelps went suddenly silent once one of the guys put ducktape over his mouth. Another guy whacked him on the head as a third guy put a bag over his head. They nodded and exchanged looks with Ryder as they carried Zander’s limp body down the hall.
Ryder stood with his hands on his hips, slightly trembling, as he stared at the floor.
“You okay?” he asked Stormy.
“I don’t know, I think so,” she said.
Brooklyn came in from the patio and ran to Stormy, burying her head on her shoulders and crying.
“It’s okay,” Ryder said as he consoled them. “That guy has a fate far worse than either of you could ever imagine. The things they’re going to do to him tonight…”
Ryder shuddered.
“Stop,” Stormy said. “I don’t want to know.”
“Are they going to kill him?” Brooklyn asked.
Ryder said nothing.
“I just want to make sure he’s not going to come after any of us,” she added.
“Let’s just say, he’ll never be able to hurt anyone ever again,” Ryder said. “Excuse me for a minute, girls.”
He went into his bedroom, phone in hand, and shut the door.
CHAPTER 20
Stormy spent the next couple hours consoling Brooklyn until she fell asleep on the couch, under the sedation of some prescription sleeping pills Ryder had in his cabinet. She was clearly freaked out and ready to head back home the next day. Her trip to LA was one she would unfortunately remember the rest of her life.
As soon as Brooklyn was asleep, Stormy trekked back to Ryder’s bedroom and rapped on the door.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said as he opened the door a few seconds later. He finished up his phone call and grabbed her hand, leading her to his bed. “You okay, kid?”
“I think so,” she said. “What about you?”
Ryder shrugged. “I guess there’s not much to say. I’m sorry you had to witness all of that.”
“Are you tired at all?” Stormy asked as she looked at the clock. It was already 2 A.M.
“Not really,” he said. “I’m pretty wired. All that adrenaline, I guess. I wish I had some sort of distraction. I need a release.”
“You want me to grab you a beer or something?” she asked.
“No, no,” he said. “That’s not what I need.”
He sat down next to her in the edge of the bed. Ryder leaned in and kissed her lips tenderly while slipping one arm around her waist and pulling her into him. They leaned back on the bed, kissing and she slipped her leg on top of his. They were intertwined once again, just the way they liked it.
Ryder’s kiss soon turned a little more passionate as he kissed her harder and faster.
“Whoa, slow down,” Stormy said as she tried to catch her breath. “What’s the rush?”
“Sorry,” he said. “I was just really getting into it. I can’t get enough of you, Stormy. I really need you right now.”