Page 49 of Devil to Pay: Cutter

“I don’t believe it for a second. Don’t have to come from a good family to be a good parent. You just have to know how you don’t want to fuck up a kid’s life and actively take steps to make sure you don’t. You think Vlad or Dark came from good families?”

I laugh. “No. Probably not.”

“Fuck no! They came from shit homes, but you’ve seen them with the kids. Those kids are lucky to grow up with men like that as their dads.”

“What about you?”

“I met the right woman, I’d be happy to go down that road. Looks like a pretty good deal from my end.”

Rough wants to be a family man? Go figure.

Effie comes back with our drinks and our food. We drop the heavy while we eat.

It’s a fun meal, though.

I’ve decided to still head up to Michigan. It’s too risky, giving up the safety of the Horde, to go at it alone with a kid.

Rough pays the tab and drops a hefty tip onto the table for Effie. I run to the restroom before we leave. He holds the front door open for me. I stop short. There are like seven bikes surrounding Rough’s with gnarly-looking bikers sitting atop each one.

Roughneck flings me behind him.

“Who are they?” I whisper.

“Satan’s Apostles. They’re bad fucking news. Far as I know, their closest chapter is out Missouri way. These fuckers are almost as bad as the Death Bringers.”

“Shit.”

“Shit’s right. Keys out. You get to your truck and lock the doors while I distract them.”

“What?”

“Do it,” he whispers once more before shouting, “There a reason you all are blocking my bike?”

“Got business this way. Took care ’a that, thought we’d swing by and visit some friends,” the largest, gnarliest of the group, says. “We decide to grab a bite. Nice Harley sitting here. I look in the window and see a Horde patch.”

The man’s patch reads, ‘Crack.’ Like a butt crack? Why? That’s—I shake my head to rid the thought.

“Imagine my surprise, looking around, waiting for more Horde to join the party, but not one brother shows. Pretty far from home for some gash. That got us thinking, a Horde drives all the way up to northern Ohio for gash, that’s got to be some fucking fine gash.”

My body strings tight. I know exactly where this is heading.

“’Spect you know the brothers and I are about to find out.”

“Run,” he whisper-shouts while pulling a Glock from the holster under his cut. I take off running. Fuck. I don’t want Rough getting hurt, but they’ll tear me apart. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I bleep the locks with the key fob, but just as I reach the door, someone yanks hard on my hair, pulling me back until I fall against a different man. He shoves his nose in my neck, sniffing.

“Smell so fucking pretty. Not gonna smell so pretty when I’m done with ya. Not gonnalookso pretty, either.”

I whimper.

“Shoulda never fucked a Horde, cunt. Gonna cost you.”

He shoves his tongue down my throat and I let him because if I don’t, my chances of surviving this drop even more.

Rough lunges for me. His fist hits the guy’s jaw hard enough to snap his head back, snapping my neck awkwardly too. There are too many of them and if he fires, some innocent bystander passing in a car or eating in the diner could get hurt. I shift to try to break free of the asshole crushing me in his hold when I look on in horror as another biker lifts his arm, bringing down the butt of his gun against Roughneck’s head. He drops. I scream. Then the biker lifts his arm one more time. There’s pain and my world goes black.

16

CUTTER

---