And it’s ruined because if a man like Maximo and her father are here, it means this is a place that holds bad intent.
I won’t bring Mary to a place that is a meeting ground for men like this.
“Maximo,” Reaper answers with a dark growl. “You better hope I don’t find you because when I do, I’m going to rip your heart from your chest, crush it with my fist, then shove it down your throat.”
I’m really fucking glad I’m not Maximo right now. “It’s me, Reaper. It’s Knives.”
“Knives?” he sounds shocked, and the threat in his voice vanishes and is replaced with confusion. “What the fuck are you doing with Maximo’s phone? And where the hell have you been? The guys have been trying to call you.”
I really need a phone. “I don’t have my phone yet. It’s been a hectic twenty-four hours. Mary is with me—”
“I thought she was in jail.”
“I picked her up yesterday. My bike blew up. The tornado happened. We are in an abandoned barn off Route 50. Maximo is here.”
A rumble comes from the other end, and there is a flurry of sounds in the background behind him. “You’re going to have to tell me what happened in more detail later. We are coming to get you, don’t fucking move, and don’t you dare lose Maximo.”
“We have more issues to worry about than him, Reaper. Shit is brewing, and I’ll tell you everything later. Bring my ninja stars.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t have them, and I feel naked,” I say, suddenly feeling defensive. I crack my neck, annoyed that I even have to defend myself.
“I should have known something like this would happen. Seer called me and told me to tell you that you’re an idiot. What’s that deal with that?”
A loud bang pulls me away from the conversation, and I see the bedframe fell over, and Mary mouths, ‘I’m sorry’ to me.
“Another long story,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Can you just get here, please?”
“Yeah. Be there in ten.”
The line goes dead, and I stuff the phone in my back pocket. When I stand, I try and find something about this place that rubs me the wrong way, but it’s just a barn. I stare into every corner, evaluating the stacks of hay, but nothing stands out to me besides a bunch of cobwebs and the musty smell of horse and rain.
Reins hang on the hook against the beam, and I step over Maximo, yanking the leather straps off. I flick the cobwebs away and flip Maximo on his stomach, pull his arms behind his back, and tie the reins around his wrists into a knot I know he can’t get out of. When I’m satisfied, I take a step away.
“They are on their way,” I say to Mary, who is still in the same spot as she was in before.
“Good.”
I don’t like how she said that. I don’t like that she’s putting distance between us. She won’t even look at me in the eye. I’m about to show why we fit when a dozen Harleys grumble outside. This time, I do give her space, because I’m not sure how to be with her in front of the guys. Or maybe I do.
I shouldn’t care.
But I’m in unknown territory here. She doesn’t seem like she wants me around, but if I act the same, I’m damned. If I out us to the world before she’s ready, I’m damned.
What the fuck? Relationship business sucks.
I expect a knock on the door.
I should have known better.
The door is kicked down, and Tongue is standing there in the entryway, his shaggy hair hanging in front of his face and his fists clenched at his sides. He has a knife in his hand and the urge to kill in his eyes.
Hay particles and dust zoom around us, and Tongue looks from left to right, staring at Mary for a few seconds before stepping inside the barn, breaking the downed door even further as he walks across it. The wood creaks and splinters from his weight.
“Tongue! Don’t you dare kill him. I want answers.” Reaper comes into the doorway next, rubbing his chin when he sees Maximo tied up on the ground.
“I want his tongue.”
“That isn’t shocking.” I pat Tongue’s shoulder with my hand, and heat is radiating off him in waves.
Tongue kneels on the ground, snarling like a beast, ready to rip the man’s head off. He digs his knife into the ground and drags it in the dirt and straw. His fingers hold the blade tightly, and he doesn’t look away from Maximo. He doesn’t blink.
He barely even breathes as he holds onto Reaper’s order. Tongue wants more than Maximo’s ability to speak.
He wants his life.
“Load him up, Bullseye,” Reaper says, turning his cheek to his shoulder as if he is talking to someone behind him.
Bullseye comes through the doorway next, twirling a dart in his hand, which makes me wish for my stars. Bullseye must have seen the longing on my face because he pulls two stars out of his pocket, and they gleam in the early morning light.
So pretty.
He flings them in the air, and I catch them without hesitation. One star is one of my newer ones, but the other is one I haven’t touched since I made it.
“Sorry, we were in a hurry, and I grabbed what I could,” Bullseye says, jerking Maximo up to his feet. “What did you do?”
“He passed out. That’s not my fault.”
“The bullets. Doc needs to—”
“Leave them. His pain is far from over.” Reaper steps out of the way when Bullseye throws Maximo over his shoulder with a grunt and walks outside.
“Maybe tie him to the back of the truck and drag his ass home,” Tongue says, perking up when he mentions the options. His eyes stop frowning, and the darkness in his head spins with the idea. He is probably imagining what Maximo would look like rolling around on the ground, losing limbs, becoming bloody. He groans, closing his eyes and licking his lips. He grips his cock, which is hard, and I jerk my eyes away to stare at the ceiling, then drop them to Mary. For the first time in an hour, she has a smile on her face because my discomfort amuses her.
“Stop getting off on getting your revenge, Tongue,” I mutter and stalk my way toward Mary. I need to close this distance between us. Now that I’ve had her, I don’t want us to go back to the way we were before.
Why fight something that comes so easy and feels so good?
“I can’t help it. The thought of him dying is turning me on. I need Daphne,” he says without shame, without blinking that he just admitted that death makes his cock hard.
“Well, stop your moaning, literally, and let’s go home. I have a feeling it is going to be a long night. Bullseye? Tie him up in the playroom. Knives and Mary, you’re going to Church when we get home.”
Ah, what a horrible choice of words.
“I hate church,” Mary says low, so only I can hear.
“You can worship the ground I walk on later, then,” I tease her, hoping to make her smile.
“Like I’d even want to get near your feet. Gross,” she jokes back, and my chest flickers with happiness. I had hoped the teasing nature wouldn’t go away in our relationship, just the fighting.
When everyone walks out the door, Reaper backtracks and tosses me a set of keys. “Bullseye is leaving his bike for you to take back. I’ll call up Pocus and Seer and see if they can’t get a price on a customized one down in NOLA for you. Their hogs are beauts,” he says, just as I catch the keys in the air. “We saw your bike. It’s fucking toasted. Nothing was salvageable, Knives. I’m sorry.”