She was twirling around the stripper pole completely exposed in nothing but her black lacy panties, and she looked like she was stoned out of her mind. From the moment Aubrey walked into my office, I’d set it in my head that no other man would ever see her like this, and rage pulsed through me when I spotted Gary sitting at one of the tables with a large flashlight in one hand and a gun aimed at Mazie’s head in the other. He was forcing Mazie to go down on him while he watched my Aubrey parade around on the stage.
“I’m gonna fucking kill the motherfucker.”
I took a charging step forward, but stopped when Viper extended his arm, blocking me from rushing over to Gary. “Easy there, brother. We don’t want him doing anything stupid.”
“I want him dead, Prez,” I growled with fury. “I want him to burn for this shit.”
“Oh, he will... Just let me and Shotgun handle this.”
Even though I hated it, I did as I was ordered and stood back as Viper and Shotgun made their way over to Gary and Mazie. Gary was so distracted by Mazie’s mouth that he didn’t even notice when Shotgun came up behind him and aimed his Glock at his head. “Drop the gun, asshole.”
“What!” Gary gasped as he sprang to his feet with his tiny pecker hanging out of his pants. He first aimed his gun at Shotgun, and then over to Viper. Scrambling for some kind of leverage, he reached down and grabbed Mazie by the hair, forcing her to her feet, and positioned her body in front him. He placed the barrel of his gun at her temple as he stammered, “B-back the fuck off or I’ll pull the fucking trigger.”
“You’ve made quite a mess here, Gary. A real, fucking mess,” Viper calmly told him, then glanced up at the stage, grimacing as he watched Aubrey try to hold on to the stripper pole. “Your club’s gone to shit. Got no money. No woman. No one who gives a shit if you live or die. Hell, you’re so far gone, so fucking disgusting, ya gotta force women to fuck you. How fucking pathetic is that?”
“None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t taken my girls from me!”
“They weren’t your girls to take, asshole! They were never your property. Not yours to manhandle or force to suck your fucking cock.” Viper’s nostrils flared with rage as he pointed up at Aubrey and barked, “You’ve got one of our own up there on that fucking stage, and now you’re gonna pay for that shit!”
“You’re in no position to threaten me, asshole. I’m the one in control here! You make one wrong move and she’s as good as dead. You all are. I’ll kill every last one of ya!”
“Not gonna happen.” Viper remained calm and steady as he told him, “Let’s say you do happen to get off a round, and I got to say that’s pretty fucking doubtful with the way your hand is trembling right now, then what?”
I couldn’t believe how composed Viper seemed. I was practically coming apart at the seams, and it took all the control I could muster not to go up to that stage and grab Aubrey. Knowing I had to bide my time, I stood there and listened as Viper continued, “There’s five of us and one of you. In a matter of seconds, you’ll be dead and gone. Nothing more than yesterday’s news.”
A defeated look crossed Gary’s face as he looked down at Mazie, then back to Viper. He knew he’d fucked up, and there was no way out. Gary studied Viper for a moment, then to my surprise, he moved the barrel of his gun from Mazie’s head, giving Shotgun and me both the shot we needed to take him out. We both fired simultaneously and sent Gary flailing backward. The second his lifeless body fell to the floor, I bolted for the stage. Aubrey was completely out of it and could barely keep her eyes open as I picked her up and cradled her in my arms. Her head fell to my chest as she muttered, “Jared?”
“Yeah, baby. I got ya. You’re okay.” My heart ached to see her so weak and defenseless. Overcome with the need to get her the hell out of there, I started down the steps. When I got down to the others, Mazie was clinging to Viper for dear life, crying. “Oh, God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
“You’re okay, doll. It’s gonna be okay.” He gave her a fatherly kiss on the forehead. “It’s over now.”
Hawk looked down at Gary and said, “Damn, Prez, I thought you actually had him there for a second.”
“I did too.” He shook his head with disgust. “If you ask me, he got off too easy.”
“That he did,” Shotgun replied. “But the job’s done.”
“And thanks to you, I’m still standing,” Viper said in a grateful manner.
“That’s what I’m here for.”
“Appreciate it nonetheless.” Without saying anything more, Viper motioned his hand over to Lynch. “Take her out to the truck.”
Lynch nodded, then led Mazie out of the bar. Once they were gone, Viper looked down at Aubrey curled up in my arms and asked, “She okay?”
“I don’t know, Prez. Looks like he fucking drugged her.”
“We’ll get her back to the clubhouse and have Doc check her out.”
I nodded, then turned and started towards the back. I hadn’t gotten far when I heard Viper tell Shotgun, “Get a couple of prospects over here and torch the place. Set it up to make it look like the asshole offed himself.”
“You got it, Prez.”
Hawk and Shotgun stayed behind to take care of Gary and the Pink Pony, whereas Lynch took Viper and me back to the clubhouse with the girls. Aubrey didn’t budge as I took off my cut and wrapped it around her. I looked over to my brothers and knew I had them to thank for getting Aubrey back to me, safe and sound. I’d made a lot of mistakes in my life, but becoming a Ruthless Sinner wasn’t one of them.
Aubrey
It had been two weeks since Gary had kidnapped Mazie and me, and while I was still a little shaken by what had happened, I was coming around. Doc had taken good care of me at the clubhouse and made sure I didn’t have any adverse reactions from the drugs Gary had given me. I still didn’t remember every detail of what happened after he’d drugged me, but I remembered enough. I remembered him threatening to kill Mazie if I didn’t take off my clothes, and even under the haze of the drugs how mortified I was by the thought. I remembered barely being able to function when he made me dance on his stupid stage while he forced Mazie to give him oral sex. I was completely horrified by what was happening at the time but was too out of it to fight him—not that I could have fought him while he was parading around with that gun in his hand.
It was a horrible experience, there was no denying that, but I was trying to put it all behind me and move on. It wasn’t easy. There had been plenty of nightmares and bouts of crying, and it didn’t help matters that Jared was treating me like some delicate flower. He’d been hovering over me, making sure I was okay every second of the day, and while it was endearing and sweet, it was making it difficult to get back to my old self. I’d tried to convince him that I was fine and that he didn’t have to tiptoe around me and take care of me, but he wasn’t hearing it. He seemed intent on tending to my every need, so I decided it was time to show him what I really needed.
Jared was in the kitchen getting things together to make us both a bite to eat when I walked in and took him by the hand. Without saying a word, I led him back to the bedroom. He was what I needed. He was the only one who could take the memories of that night away once and for all. I stopped when I reached the bed and began unbuttoning his shirt. He looked down at me and asked, “What are you doing?”