Page 39 of Gentleman Wanted
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He pushed open the door and paused. “You go in first.”
“Me?” My hands were shaking so hard it was a miracle I didn’t drop Bobby. I hated the fact that I was scared.
I froze in my tracks. And that’s when it hit me. For all of his bravado, Young Blood wasn’t ready to die yet. If at all. He might not think any of the Aces were left here but he wasn’t about to risk a bullet to the head if he was wrong.
He didn’t mind risking me, though.
Cowardly asshole.
Straightening my shoulders, I pushed past him. “Fucking pussy.” I didn’t even try to keep my voice quiet.
Young Blood’s hand closed around my upper arm. “Watch your mouth, Gem. I mean it…”
Shaking my arm from his grasp, I spat in his face. “Fuck you, Young Blood. You are a coward.”
My head rocked back as his closed fist landed on my cheek. Pain blossomed across my cheekbone, but I didn’t go down. And I didn’t cry.
So, one point for me.
“Next time, I will make sure you go down, Gem. Don’t make me hurt you.”
I ignored his warning. “Fuck you, you’re going to kill us anyway, so do your fucking worse.” Even as I said it. I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.
Pure evil filtered into his eyes. “There’s plenty I could do to you before you die, Gem. Plenty I’ve watched you do with other guys.”
Bile rose up in my throat. He was talking about rape.
“Maybe I’ll even film it and send it to Gent to watch.”
The blood drained from my face. It sounded too similar to what had happened to Avery at the hands of her ex-husband.
“I would rather slit my own throat than let you touch me.” I hissed.
“You are going to wish it was that quick, Gem.” He poked me in the back. The metal of the gun cold through my dress. “Now, get moving.”
Reluctantly I started to move forward, one arm clutching Bobby to my chest and the other arm outstretched. My hand up in surrender.
“Don’t shoot; it’s Gem,” I repeated over and over again. I wanted to scream that they could shoot the man behind me, but I didn’t fancy a bullet to my head.
There was no answer. The clubhouse was silent. Silent except for…the sound of shuffling skippered footsteps hit me, and I turned just as Young Blood aimed his gun at the lanky figure of Avery and Ruin’s teenage son. He had both his hands up and looked petrified.
“It’s just me.” Parker’s voice shook. I tried to smile at him. To let him know that he shouldn’t be scared and failed. Of course, he was frightened. There was a gun pointed at him.
“Stop pointing that thing at him.” Using my free arm, I pushed Young Blood's arm down. “He’s just a kid.”
“Who else is here?”
Parker paled. “No one.”
He was lying. I could tell, and so could Young Blood but he didn’t get to retaliate. A figure in leather launched himself out of the shadows, barrelling into him from the side. The gun went off as I scurried for cover. “Parker.” I reached for him, tucking him into my side. His thin arms clung to me, his face twisted with young anger.
Any thought, any hope I had that this was my rescue vanished as I turned to look at the two men fighting.
Young Blood was younger and much stronger than the old biker who had launched himself into harm’s way. The fight was over before it had even begun. Crouching over the prone bloody man, Young Blood’s fists rained down. The gun was still in his hand. It was a frenzied attack. Brutal.
The sound of bones snapping and the wet sound of a fist hitting flesh was abnormally loud.
