Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
I slid the knife back into the bag Thomas held and grabbed another with a longer serrated blade. And a gun. Biker gangs loved guns, and I wouldn’t give them time to get even one shot off, but I also wouldn’t let them off so easily.
Thomas held the door open, and I appreciated that he let me enter first. I didn’t need any white knight bullshit today. “Hello, boys.”
Two of the three men were on their feet in a flash, wary expressions coloring their faces. The younger one rounded the bar and stood beside them, making a big show of puffing out his chest and squaring his shoulders.
I recognized Dealio right away and smiled. It was the other, Casino, who stepped forward and reached behind him.
“How the fuck did you get in here, lady?”
I revealed my own gun with a sly smile.
“Not so fast, asshole. Stay right where you are.”
The young kid snarled at me. “I don’t think so, bitch.” Then he took two steps forward, stopping only when I put a bullet in his thigh that forced him to his knees.
“You stay there like a good little boy, and I’ll deal with you later.” Not that I had to worry. The way the kid was wailing, I knew it was the first bullet he’d ever taken. “I assume you recognize me?”
Dealio nodded. “Sadie motherfuckin’ Ashby.”
“That’s right.”
“Big fucking deal,” Casino growled. “You’ll bleed out as easily as the next bitch, won’t you?”
I waved the gun at him. “Only one way to find out.”
He brandished a knife with a sadistic smile that told me exactly the kind of man he was.
“I’ll enjoy being the one to end you. But I’m gonna fuck you first.”
“You’ll certainly enjoy trying.” I waited until he was within arm’s reach to drive the serrated knife into his chest with a smile.
“I move pretty quick for an old lady, don’t I?”
The shocked gasp, the wide-eyed expression and the choking sound was his only reply.
“I know. I get that a lot. It’s the designer suits that confused simple-minded assholes like you.”
Dealio lunged forward, and Thomas put a bullet in one shoulder and then the other. “She’ll get to you soon enough.”
I sent Thomas a grateful smile and turned back to Casino, now on his knees, and removed the knife before plunging it deep. Again. And again. And again.
“You should have gone to the other side of the country. It would have taken me longer to find you.”
He choked again and spit up blood.
“Rot in hell, bitch,” he growled, and I slit his throat, his warm blood soothing my chilled skin.
“You won’t get away with this,” the young kid claimed from where he’d managed to hide.
“I will,” I told him and put a bullet in his head because his death wasn’t worth savoring.
“You, Dealio, your death will make me feel better.”
“Doing Rhymer’s bidding now, bitch?” His words came out labored, blood oozing from his shoulders.
“Nope. This is on me. And for those assholes you sent to kill me. And sweet, precious Polina. You were supposed to take care of her. Instead, you set her up.”
“The bitch didn’t do her job. She knew the risk.”
And that was all the confirmation I needed. “She also thought you weren’t a total piece of shit, a lesson she had to learn the hard way.”
I stabbed the knife in his arm and sliced all the way down to the elbow.
“Fuck!” he screamed.
I smiled and let the pleasure of causing him pain wash over me. Soothe me. “I imagine what Polina went through was worse.”
“Yeah. It was.” There was a flicker of emotion in his eyes, but I ignored it. Fuck him and his emotions.
“Good. Time to return the favor.” I looked down at Dealio, but all I could see was what he’d done, the kids he sent to find me and what happened to Polina.
With one foot to his chest, I pushed him down to his back and stuck a knife in one palm and then the other, his screams drowned out by the jukebox Thomas had turned on.
“Struggling will only make this more fun for me.”
“You’ll get what’s coming to you, bitch.”
“Maybe, but not today.”
With one quick jab, my knife ended his miserable life. Then I cut his t-shirt down the middle to reveal the Ace-King tattoo over his heart. Gently at first, I traced the tattoo with the tip of my knife. “And not by you.”
The tip broke his skin, and I took my time carving the tattoo, digging it out of his flesh the way they’d branded it onto Polina and so many other women.
I took my time and carved out every Black Jacks tattoo on his flesh, all eight of them. And shoved them in his filthy mouth.
“Feel better?” Thomas’ whispered words sent a shiver down my spine, and I turned to him with a smile.