My eyes widened, my lungs were on the verge of collapsing, but nothing stung like Ryder’s words. Maybe he changed his mind about us in these last few days? If that were true, Marcus might as well shoot me now. Trembling, I closed my eyes to shut out the world.
He’s just acting to get Marcus on his side.
“I agree. She’s just a whoring slut pretending to be a good girl,” Marcus snorted.
Daddy sucked in a breath. He’d turned ashen grey, his mouth hanging open as he watched the standoff between the two men. I cringed, shame washing over me at first, before anger swelled in my gut. Helpless, I couldn’t lash out; couldn’t refute those cruel words.
“So listen, dude, your beef is really with me taking her on my bike and fucking her. Let’s do this like real men, huh? She’s not worth the ruin to your career, man. Let the bitch go and you and I can sort this out between us.”
Marcus stiffened, his grip loosening slightly on my throat as he considered Ryder’s proposition. I wanted to stop Ryder from saying any more, but I still could hardly breathe, never mind talk.
Brutally bashing my head into the tree trunk behind me several times, Marcus had gone mad. I gasped for air before seeing stars flicker across my vision, my head pounding with pain. “Whoring slut,” he screamed in my face, then hit me on the cheek with the butt of the gun.
My knees crumbled beneath me and I sank to the ground.
Everything went black.
Chapter Fifty — Ryder
The motherfucker had gone completely crazy. If he didn’t have the fucking gun in his hand, I would’ve pounced on him there and then and ended his miserable life. Jade lay on the grass, passed out, her legs folded awkwardly beneath her. I wanted to rush to her, see if she was breathing, but I had to keep cool and calm. It was more important now than ever.
Old man Summers looked as if he were about to pass out too. He tried to go to her, but Masterton stopped him by aiming the gun at him and laughing.
“Don’t you fucking move, old man,” he said, sniggering.
Standing over Jade’s motionless body, Masterton spat in her face before turning back to me, this time pointing the gun at my head. Finally I’d come face to face with this fucker who’d hurt my woman. A few months ago I wouldn’t have minded if I got shot; I didn’t have that much to live for. But now everything had changed. I wanted a future with Jade: to grow old with her and have a shitload of kids and grandkids. Yeah. Now I had everything to live for.
“It's you and me now, biker. I still owe you for fucking my fiancée. I want to see your guts spill out today.”
I planted my feet wide and firm, and crossed my arms over my chest. Just how was I going to get out of this fucking mess without anyone getting hurt? And Jade—my heart was beating wildly in my chest at how she was lying there. Blood had started seeping through her blond hair where her head had connected with the tree and I couldn’t see the rise and fall of her chest.
Then she groaned. It was a pained noise, but it sounded sweet to my ears. At least she was alive. As long as she was breathing, I had everything to fight for—everything to lose. I couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped my lips.
My mistake.
Masterton sneered. “For someone who doesn’t care about the bitch, you sure are relieved to hear she’s alive. I should’ve slammed her head harder and killed the bitch.”
I clenched my fists by my sides and ground my teeth together. When I took this motherfucker down he was going to pay. My nostrils flared. I was unable to hide my contempt any longer.
Sneaking up behind the madman, Harrison appeared out of nowhere. I'd thought he’d left long ago. How was it that he always showed up when shit was going down? Did he have an internal shit-detector?
I had to keep the crazy man busy, keep his attention on me.
And. Not. Look. At. Summers.
I spat in her direction, but not far enough that it would reach her. “I don’t give a shit about her. She turned me down. Told me I wasn’t good enough for her.” My heart squeezed—partly this was true. She had thought that when we first met. I was shocked at how much it hurt me to say now.
“She’s right about that. Crims like you should be cleared off the earth, not clogging our jails or wasting taxpayer money. So I’m going to do society a favor and get rid of you today. One less burden on the system.”
He raised the gun from pointing at my chest, squinting through one eye as he aimed directly at my head. Fuck, I needed a miracle. Summers was still too far away to stop him. I’d be dead on the ground before he could disarm the cocksucker.
The miracle I needed happened.
Jade’s father held his hand over his heart. “Oh God, help me,” he groaned as he collapsed. “My heart. My fucking heart. Get my pills . . .” He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.