Page 69 of Petty's Crime

I want to know how I hurt her so badly. I gave her a place to stay when she needed it. Was it because I turned the sex down? Surely that’s not worth destroying a man’s life.

Then, fuck me, Roller goes to her and puts his arm around her. Her expression changes in a flash, and even from here I can see her bottom lip tremble. I watch Roller mouth something that I think I can work out as him reassuring her I’ll never hurt her again.Fucking cunt.

Twister’s in no hurry, he’s milking every bit of torture from the situation, making a show out of what he’s about to do. He’s holding onto one side of my cut, pulling it out from my body.

“Fuckin’ hate destroying leather,” he states, almost conversationally. “But what’s fuckin’ worse is seeing a piece of shit like you wearing it.”

His knife flashes again—

“Stop!”

The forceful, but undeniably feminine voice is followed by lightweight steps racing down the stairs.

“Stop! You’ve got this all wrong.”

Shocked, I see it’s RoseLyn who’s arrived, and she’s using the power of the lungs that I’ve witnessed her utilise on stage. I only get a glimpse before Crash and Indian block her, but fuck, the way she’s entered in a warrior stance makes her look fucking magnificent.

Despite everything that’s happening and is yet to come, warmth fills my heart. Fuck knows how she knows what’s going on, but I can tell RoseLyn is on my side. That’s the kind of woman I should have had all along—someone in my corner, someone at my side.

But my brief warming lasts only a second before I grow cold. What the hell can she do? Is she about to break the promise she made? How can I tell her I’d rather die than have my brothers look at me knowing what a foolish and sorry excuse for a man I really am?

I’ll bask in that she cares enough to intervene, but try to signal her to just leave me.

The new arrival has diverted Twister’s attention, and instead of continuing to slash through my cut, he swings around, watching Red pushing his way through the crowd to greet the newcomer. I can’t make out any actual words, but from the tones that reach me, I grasp they’re having a heated conversation.

Then Red’s voice comes clearly. “No.”

Again, using those lungs which serve her singing so well, RoseLyn’s dulcet tones reach me. “I want to talk to Petty. I’m not leaving without that.”

A few more indistinct words, then a loudfuck thisfrom Red, and the crowd’s parting again. Prez pulls RoseLyn through, planting her in front of me, but before she can do much more than let her eyes reflect her sorrow seeing me restrained, Crash has also brought Britney forward.

“Look,” Red demands, pointing to the woman who’s unfortunately my wife. “This is what Petty did to her. Do you see a fuckin’ scratch on him? Oh, ignore the nose. I did that to him. But other than that, he’s unmarked.” Rather than waiting for her to answer, he continues with only a slight pause for breath, “A completely unprovoked attack. You might think differently, RoseLyn, but Petty’s an unpredictable violent man who I can’t have in my club.”

RoseLyn looks at me, then her attention is caught by the man behind me. Her eyes widen and her hand covers her mouth. Red swears loudly as though he’d forgotten he was still in here with us.

“Saul?” RoseLyn says, half question, half statement. And what she does next surprises all of us. She steps around me and I twist to see what she’s doing, and see her spitting on her ex. Then she waggles her finger at Red. “That, there, is a violent, abusive man. The one tied to the chair is not.”

Red closes the gap between them and turns her around, but she pulls away and steps toward Brit. She takes a menacing step forward. “What did you do to him?” Her tone sends chills down even my spine.

“She did nothing,” Red answers for her and I don’t miss the fleeting look of triumph cross Britney’s face.

Oh yeah, she’s got the prez right where she wants him. I don’t blame him. Back in the day, she’d had me fooled too.

But RoseLyn is made of different stuff. Maybe it’s what I said to her, or maybe it’s because she’s female and doesn’t harbour illusions about her gender. She moves closer to Britney, forcing her to step back. “What did you do?” she repeats, her finger jabbing at Brit’s chest.

“I-I… did nothing.” Brit even manages to get her voice to tremble. “He hit me.” Her eyes flick around, trying to find sympathy from my brothers, which she, of course, gets. “He didn’t even take me to the hospital.”

Because I was unconscious you stupid bitch.

“RoseLyn, just leave.” Red pinches the bridge of his nose and says tiredly, “This is club business and nothing to do with you.”

RoseLyn sets a stance that shows she won’t be moving of her own volition. “I’ll go on one condition.” As Red sighs heavily and raises an eyebrow, she continues, “Untie Petty and get him to remove his shirt.Ifhe’s uninjured, I’ll accept her,” she sneers the word out, “story.”

“This is club business,” Red warns her again.

But RoseLyn gives a half-smile. “If that’s the way you want it. But I know the reason you were providing your protection services to me at a reasonable cost is that you want to expand the business. You throw me out and you can forget any decent reference. I’ll be sure to let everyone know you’re unfair and unreliable.”

“Don’t.” I enter the conversation and say sharply, “Don’t RoseLyn. Red’s right. I hit Britney unprovoked. I deserve everything that’s coming to me.”Don’t out me,I beg silently, pleading with my eyes.

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