Page 20 of Cutter's Hope

Tonya was dead. My last hope of finding Faith, the final lead, after hundreds of exhausted bullshit leads… I felt tears well, hot and immediate as my frustration and anger crested. No one but Cutter was paying attention to me and even he looked at me with a pained expression.

“So it’s true…” I said hollowly.

“It’s not like he says, Sweetheart,” I let my purse slip from my shoulder, the bag falling to the ground, the Ruger clutched in my hand. I leveled it right between Cutter’s eyes.

“I think you’d better start talking. No more bullshit, I’m done playing nice,” I said. Shouts, indistinct, the men around us went still, Cutter raised his hands in surrender and stood stalk still.

“Easy, Darlin’,” he soothed.

“Nope, I tried it that way, you decided to dick me around, so now we’re doing this my way. Start talking. Now!” my voice only moderately shook and the first twin sets of angry tears spilled scalding down my cheeks.Faith…I felt my sister slip away with Tiny’s admission.

“We agreed to take the girl back to Tallahassee, I told Tiny and one of the prospects to fucking take care of her, meaning take her home…” Cutter took a step forward.

“You know, you don’t really need to cock these like you see in the movies,” I pulled back the hammer on the gun with a satisfying click, “Can’t argue with the dramatic effect though, can you?” I asked. Cutter’s eyes narrowed but he stopped advancing.

“Right,” he studied my face and I caught motion out of the corner of my eye.

“One more step and I will fucking shoot him,” I intoned dispassionately.

“Easy, Sweetheart, Tiny’s right, Tonyaisdead but she was living with a crew up north, The Suicide Kings, now that club is no more but one of their girls is living with a crew that we happen to be friendly with. Put that down, let’s talk, I want to help you Baby, and that’s the God’s honest truth… look me in the eye and see if I’m lyin’.”

I met his gaze and saw the truth in his eyes but something Hossler said earlier came back to me. Cutter didn’t lie but he didn’t tell the truth either. He inclined his chin and I realized too late one of his men was coming up on me. I whirled, Cutter lunged and damned if he didn’t disarm me with my own fucking maneuver.

Oh hell no!

But it was on, and there were more of them than there was of me. I needed to concentrate. I sidestepped and the man who’d lunged for me, passed me by.

“You don’t want to do this,” I said.

“You’re right, Sweetheart, I don’t but you didn’t leave me or my men much choice now did you?” Cutter asked ominously.

No, I guess I hadn’t. I’d started this, and now it was time to finish it. Wouldn’t be my first time out numbered and it probably wouldn’t be my last. I shifted my balance and put the fire at my back. I was as ready as I was ever going to be.

10

Cutter…

“Don’t hurt her just subdue her,” I ordered and I could tell by the fire and steel in her eyes she didn’t like the sound of that one bit.

“Can’t do this just you and me?” she taunted.

“Oh, we’re going to be one on one soon enough,” I told her with a grin. Damn but she had a fire inside.

“We going to stand here talking about this all night or are you going to bring it, boys?”

Pyro lunged and Hope laid his ass out face down in the sand, her long limbs delivering a punishing kick to the balls that had him bending forward and cupping his junk. Balanced to perfection she delivered a kick to the back of my best buddy’s head and he went down for the count. She was a force of nature, and I didn’t want any more of my boys hurt. Atlas and Nothing were tied up with keeping Tiny subdued and I jerked my chin at Marlin, glancing at our former SAA and Pyro.

“You sure, Captain?” he asked, amusement tinging his tone.

“Just do as you’re told on this one, please?” I shot back. Marlin nodded and put a hand on top of the bandana covering his shaggy blonde head.

I didn’t want to hurt her but if she wanted to throw down like a dude, then me and my boys would treat her like one. We didn’t tend to hit women. It was one thing to belt one in the mouth if she got mouthy but that was as far as that fucking went.

Hope was sizing me up, determination seeding and taking root in her dark and lovely eyes. I feinted and went in. She threw a kick to my ribs but I blocked it. Still, she jarred my shoulder a good one, girl wasn’t playing and neither could I. I needed to get her on the ground. I’d have the upper hand if I had her on the ground. I’d watched all of her videos, had an idea of what I was up against and was counting on the fact that she didn’t know me. Still, she had some skills hidden in her back pocket and so she landed a blow or two that fucking counted, one of them opening up a small cut above my eye.

We went at it solid for who knew how long until both of us were squared off, chests heaving. Sweat glimmered on her chest and darkened the silk of her tank at her back. She twisted and I lunged and got my arms around her and with a lightning quick speed she was off the ground, those long legs of hers going around my head and neck. I got my arm up and between them just in time to keep her from choking me off, her dark eyes flared venomous but it was too late.

I had the upper hand and by upper hand I meant the strength and wherewithal to end this shit and end it now. I was glad we were in the sand for what I knew I had to do next. I slammed her bodily down onto it, fucking hard too. I had to, to knock the wind clean out of her, which I did. Hope making a satisfying woosh, at least to me, as the air left her body in a rush. She tensed in my arms and I flipped her onto her stomach as she tried to drag air into her lungs but her body wasn’t having any of it, not yet.

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