Page 42 of Johny B

For a second, I’m distracted by the sound of gunshots closer than before, giving Dunne the chance to whack me at the side of the head with one of the chair legs. I scoot back on my ass to try get away, my hand finding the scattered items from the desk that had been discarded earlier, but he continues his pursuit, giving me no time to try and get back to my feet.

Standing above me, looking down, he bares his teeth, snarling. Spit and saliva coating his mouth. He swings back the wooden weapon still in his hand, ready to take another blow, but the rage that has been building from the moment I saw Scarlett scared, bloody and captured, explodes through my veins. Like a raging animal I jump to my feet, a dark veil over my morals, sense, or humanity and I pounce.

My body weight, and fire in my belly, are enough to unbalance Dunne and has him falling backwards on his ass. Before he has a chance to comprehend what the fuck is going on, I sit on him, bring my hand up and with the heavy, round object I hold, I pound it once, twice… again and again, until his features are gone, his skull caved in, not a breath of air left in his lungs.

My hands are coated with blood and brain matter, as is the paperweight I’m still clinging on to. My heart rate is skyrocketing, my breathing hard and fast. The dark haze slowly receding with each deep intake of air that is laced with the smell of blood and death.

“Scarlett!” I crawl on all fours across the floor to get to her, using the desk to slowly heave myself up onto my feet. I’m exhausted, but the fear that I’ve lost her is enough to keep me moving.

“Scarlett?” I quickly put two fingers to her neck, growling when I see the red welts there, left by the chains, but then I exhale with a thankful moan when I feel a pulse. I quickly pull off my t-shirt and despite it being splattered with some Dunne’s blood, I lay it over her exposed pussy, tucking it under her hipsto anchor it in place. Whatever happens, no fucker is seeing her in that way, and if any one of them try to touch her, I’ll fucking gut them with my bare hands.

“Scarlett, darlin’. Wake up for me, baby.” I wipe the cleaner of my two hands on my pants then run it gently behind her head looking for signs of blood, but I don’t find any.

The door crashes open. I glance over my shoulder and find Mammoth filling up the doorway. He’s quickly pushed aside, and Smoke is there, closely followed by Stone, but I ignore them all and turn back to the woman who is my only concern. She owns my heart. To me, the room is empty apart from us, because that’s all I care about.

“Come on, baby. Please. I need to know you’re okay.” I drop my head to her chest, ignoring the surrounding shouting. “I love you, Scarlett. Please, please.” At first, I think it might be Smoke trying to pull me away from her, but the touch is soft, caressing and everything Scarlett is. I raise my head to look at her, her eyelashes fluttering as she comes back to me. I go to place my hand gently against her bruised face, but I’m hauled backwards before I get to touch her.

“Get the fuck back,” Smoke growls loudly. “Scarlett, sweetheart?”

I try to fight my way back to her, but Mammoth is holding me back, holding strong but not without an air of understanding and gentleness.

“Give them a moment,” he warns. “You need to back off. For now. Let the shit settle.”

“You don’t understand, Mammoth,” I cry. “I need to be with her.”

“Believe me JB, I know.” He oozes compassion. “But for now, you need to let Smoke have time with his daughter.”

“But…” A flash of heat suddenly surges through me. I can hear the accelerated beating of my heart in my ear. Awave of dizziness flows over me, my knees buckle and despite Mammoths hands coming out to grab me, I hit the floor, and then everything goes black.

Chapter

Twenty-Four

Scarlett

Ivaguely remember JB looking down at me, begging me to wake up and telling me he loves me. I’m still unsure if it was real or just my wishful thinking while still semi-conscious.

Then my dad was there, and in true Young Outlaw style, everything went crazy.

Smoke fussing by my side, but with what minimal energy I still had, I’d pushed up onto my elbows, and skimmed the room to find JB but with all the brothers in the room hustling around, pulling open cabinets, arms flaying as they showed their anger, I didn’t catch sight of him at all. I want him so badly. I needed to know he was okay, and I had unashamedly screeched at them, demanding to know. They gave me nothing in return, other than the odd sympathetic glare. No one was saying anything. My efforts zapped my last bit of energy, and I felt myself drifting off again to the sound of my dad shouting orders to his club brothers.

My dreams while unconscious were vivid, of Dunne, his hands around my neck, violating me as I choked. Gasping,desperate to get air in my lungs so I could fight back. My mouth was wide with the fear of what was about to play out, but the sound of my screams were silent. JB’s watchful eyes, steeped with pain, begging me to stay, but all I wanted to do was die. The pressure of the gun barrel pushing against my skull. Pull the trigger, pull the trigger. I love you JB, but I can’t survive this. Everything is behind a red haze. As it clears, all I see is JB, holding his blood-soaked arms out to me, smiling, and I fall into them, knowing in my heart that Dunne is dead and it’s all over.

Smoke

We were in the midst of discussing how we were going to handle Dunne and the DVI at church when my phone had pinged. Normally, I’d ignore it, but my phone was set up to give out a specific notification sound for only two people in my life. Tenley, I knew, was up at the cabin with Oriana, and as both of them were under strict instructions to let Stone or I know if they wished to leave the compound, that only left Scarlett.

Instantly, the hairs stood up at the back of my neck. Scarlett is a stubborn and independent woman, so there’s only one reason why she would ping my phone. She was in trouble.

“Church, suspended.” I growled when I checked my phone to find that it was indeed an SOS signal from Scarlett, but the tracker I’d installed, showed that she was at home. Still, I needed to check on her, make sure that everything was okay, that she wasn’t hurt. “Stone, Edge, Mayhem, we’re riding out now,” I’d barked at them.

“What’s going on Prez?” Stone quickly asked, already up on his feet and ready to move.

“Scarlett might be in trouble. We need to get over to her place, see what the fuck is going on.”

“Fuck,” Mammoth’s loud outburst quickly grabbed our attention. “JB’s just sent me these.” He’d handed me the phone, and as I flicked through the pictures, as soon as I got to one of Scarlett, my heart shot up into my throat.

“Rex, I need you to get to the cabin now, check on the girls, make sure they stay put. The prospects on the gate have orders to shoot to kill if anyone tries to get into the compound without my direct permission.” I’d shouted out the orders fast and furiously. “The rest of you, arm up, be outside in five and ready to ride out.”

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