Page 31 of Phoenix

“So here’s how it’s gonna go,” he continued, his voice like gravel over broken glass. “You’re gonna forget about your winnings. You’re gonna disappear. But first, someone’s gonna pay me what I’m owed. Since Paul’s out cold, and this girl is on your arm now, that someone is you.”

Lindsay shuffled closer to me, and I slipped my arm around her, resting my hand on her hip and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Don’t give a fuck how you get it. You’re the money guy, right? Treasurer for the Iron Rogues? Steal it from your club if you have to. But you’ve got two hours to come up with it.” He jerked his chin toward Lindsay. “We’ll hang on to your girl in the meantime. Call it insurance.”

I went still, and the air in the room dropped several degrees.

“And if I don’t?” I asked, voice low and flat.

He smirked. “Then she stays. As payment.”

His eyes raked over Lindsay’s body, slow and greasy. “She looks like a fighter, but they all beg eventually.”

He leaned back and waved one of his goons forward. The guy reached for Lindsay, grabbing her arm as though he was about to yank her away.

That was when I moved.

I slammed my forearm into the bastard’s throat, sending him crashing into the bookshelf behind him. Then I pulled my Glock and pressed it to the skull of the other asshole who’d made a move toward my woman.

“You touch her again,” I growled, low and lethal, “and I will decorate this whole fucking room with your brains.”

The boss slammed his chair back against the wall as he jumped to his feet. His eyes wide and furious. “You think you can threaten me? You think one MC pussy gets to come in here and make demands?”

My smile was pure ice. “Shoulda thought twice about running games in Iron Rogues’ territory without permission. And thought even harder before you threatened my woman.”

He laughed. “So what? What are you gonna do about it, motherfucker? You’re outnumbered. Outgunned. You walked in here with no backup and think I’m supposed to be scared?”

Everything paused when shouting started outside the room.

Then there was a bang. And another before the door burst open.

Fox sauntered in first, calm as hell. Maverick and Savage flanked him, both holding suppressed weapons with casual ease.

The guy I’d flattened was back on his feet, and he rushed over, grabbing Lindsay and spinning her around before putting a gun to her head.

Fox didn’t flinch. He just raised a brow.

“Suggest you let her go,” Fox drawled. “Or they’ll be digging your teeth out of the floorboards.”

The boss snarled, shoving his desk aside and pointing a pistol at my chest. “You think I won’t do it? Get the fuck out before I put your accountant in the ground.”

Fox chuckled, slow and deadly as he walked over to stand just beside the fucker’s desk. “Really don’t get it, do you?” He looked at Lindsay, then back at the boss. “You don’t see the storm you just stepped into. Bastards who touch what’s not theirs—especially when it belongs to an Iron Rogue—have issued their own death sentence.”

Maverick smirked and added, “And you’ve seriously underestimated what Phoenix is capable of.”

My eyes locked with Lindsay’s, and when she nodded, I took that moment of distraction to move. She ducked, fast and smooth, and I shot the bastard behind her in the shoulder. He screamed and dropped the gun as he staggered backward. Then I rushed forward and cracked the guy’s skull against the wall with the butt of my weapon.

At the same time, Fox had stepped toward the boss and slammed the guy’s face into the table with one fluid motion as he disarmed him.

Savage had dropped the last guy before he could aim.

And Maverick had grabbed the guy who’d rushed into the room, breaking his neck with ease, before tossing him to the ground.

The whole thing took under five seconds.

Brutal, but efficient.

Maverick appeared at my side, watching me, waiting for permission. I was reluctant to let Lindsay go, but I didn’t want her seeing what happened next. I nodded, and he took her elbow, turning her toward the door. She opened her mouth to argue but shut it when she saw the look on my face.

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