Page 37 of Rooster's Redemption

Holly nods her head, “That’s the plan. Stryker and I have been trying with no success yet and I’ve got a dose of baby fever.”

“She’s not a baby anymore, but feel free to spoil Elsa anytime,” I comment.

“Oh, I plan on it!” Holly squeals in excitement. “She’s going to be so spoiled, all her bad memories will be washed away. She is a beautiful little girl.”

I look at Siren and she shakes her head, her eyes wide. “Oh, hell no from me. I’ll love on everyone else’s babies, but there is no way something that big will ever come out of a hole that small.” We all laugh at her comical expression. “Besides, I can’t have kids. So, I’ll get to be the best Aunty around.”

I want to ask her why she can’t have kids but my question is cut short by the rumble of Harley’s pulling up the driveway.

“They’re here.” Poison enthusiasm is contagious and I find myself grinning along with her. Together the four of us walk out the front door as the guys shut off their bikes. Kayne settles his bike on the kickstand and removes his gloves before he gets off it and heads straight for Poison. The kiss he gives her makes me blush. One by one all the men climb off their bikes with a somber look on their faces which has my defenses up. The van used to transport things or people pulls around to the back of theClubhouse and out of sight. Ace, Talon and Duke follow behind it.

Lucas approaches me and I grasp his cheeks in my hands. I stare into his black eyes which are full of anxiety and sadness. “Lucas, what happened?” I ask.

“Things went the way we expected them too, but with one surprise.” He grabs a hold of my hand and kisses my fingers. He looks over at Kayne and Kayne nods his head. “Give Holly the monitor for Elsa. I have something I need to show you.”

Silently, I had the monitor to Holly’s outstretched fingers and Lucas wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his large body. He kisses the side of my head before we follow the van out back. Ace, Talon and Duke are standing in front of the garage doors and the looks they have on their faces makes my stomach churn. I look behind me and Kayne, Poison, Blayde and Siren are following us.

“Spitfire,” Lucas stops walking and pulls me into his chest. Tears brim my eyelids as I wait for him to continue. “There is someone in here that I saved for you. Now, you don’t have to do anything, but from what I’ve seen with Poison, Siren and Holly, they needed this. I think you do too, but the choice will always be yours.”

I’m terrified of what Lucas is talking about but nod my head. He leans in and presses a kiss to my temple and I close my eyes, holding back my tears. Together, with my sisters behind me, Lucas leads us into the garage. A gasp leaves my lips when the man my nightmares are made of appears in my line of sight. My body starts to tremble looking at the Russian who has taunted me most of my life.

“How… where?” I stumble for words. I swallow and try to speak again. “What’s going on? Why is he here?”

“He’s here because I brought him here.” Lucas quietly speaks. “I know what he’s done to you and I want you to gain back the power he stripped from you.”

My eyes never leave Mikhail Kozlov. I look at him, starting with his feet, his toes barely scraping the floor, bare and bloody, up his legs to his torso, which is also bare and bloody, up to his face. His dark eyes are focused on me and a snarl leaves his lips. His arms are bound above his head in chains attached to the rafters. He rattles them, trying to scare me and I flinch until I realize he can’t hurt me anymore.

Straightening my spine, I step closer to Mikhail and focus on everything he did to me in my past. How he’d threaten me, my daughter and make us afraid of him. How he told me he’d sell me to his most vial clients and enjoy my torture. How he would take part when they broke me and enjoy every moment of my suffering. The only thing that stopped him from moving forward with his plan was my mother and Rage. She’d sacrifice her body to keep me safe and Rage wouldn’t let this asshole touch me. The one thing he did for me. I thought he cared, but he wanted me to himself instead.

I look to Lucas and he gives me a nod of approval. Still unsure what I should be doing, my gaze lands on Poison. She steps forward from Kayne’s embrace and pulls me off to the side.

“What’s going through your pretty head, sis?”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. This is way out of my element here.”

“You have a few choices.” Poison holds up one finger, “One, you can take revenge on what this man has done to you.” She holds up a second finger, “Two, you can leave and always wonder if he will come after you, or,” Poison holds up a third finger, “You can watch your man do his work on this asshole and make him suffer the way Kozlov made you suffer.” Poison gives me a gentlehug, “The choice is yours, sis. Only you can decide what is best for you.”

“What did you do?”

“I did what I had to do. I’m not proud of it, but I’m not afraid of my own shadow anymore. And since I was the one to take back my power, I know the man responsible for it, won’t hurt me anymore. Yes, I have blood on my hands but I also took back my freedom.”

“Weren’t you afraid it would change you?”

“At first, yes. But after the job was done, I realized it did change me, but it changed me for the better, not the worst. Doing this gave me the strength I needed to move on and be a badass. Do you want to be a badass too, Alyssa?”

With no hesitation, I answer, “I do, but I don’t know if I can do this. It’s not who I am.”

“And that is OK. You don’t have to do the things I do to be a badass. You’re raising a smart, beautiful little girl who adores the hell out of you and that, in my book, is a badass. Just do me a favor and look Kozlov in the eyes, make him understand you are not afraid of him anymore.”

I turn my head in Mikhail’s direction. Fear that used to wrack my body from his presence disappears. I realize, as I stare at the man who used to torment me, that he is a weak man, prying on women, believing they are the weaker sex, when in fact, us women have more power than this man believes.

“There you go, sis. Take back the power you deserve to have.” Poison gently nudges me forward. “You can do this.”

Mikhail watches me as I step into his space and stare him down. “You might have tried to break me in fear, Kozlov, but know this as you take your last breath by the hands of my man, you failed. You have never broken me and you never will.” I deliver a blow to the side of his face, stinging my hand. I shake it and step back.

Kozlov growls low in his throat, anger and rage poring from the black pits of his eyes. “You’re all going to regret this. Mark my word, Savage Saints will end.”

Looking at Lucas, I nod my head. “Finish him.”

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