The zip-ties binding my wrists cut painfully into my skin, their bite increasingly painful when I flex my fingers. Blinking away the exhaustion, I watch as Levi limps the length of the hangar. “Everything I did,” he rants, throwing up his hands while pacing like an expectant father in the delivery ward. “Helping Hammon set up your brother, paying off inmates to jump him, all of it for nothing.”

“You helped him frame my brother?” I ask in disbelief. “What the hell did he ever do to you, Levi? How could hurting Donnie help anything?”

“Money.” His answer is immediate. “And Hammon promised me I’d get Dobbs’s job when he retires. Not that it matters now.”

“You really think that there’s no cost for causing this kind of destruction in someone else’s life? It’s all unravelling for you, Levi. I only hope I’m there to see when it all comes ‘round for you.”

“Shut the fuck up!” he roars, charging toward me.

“When Colt comes for you.” Smiling, I ignore the pain from the split in my lip. “He’s gonna rip out your heart for what you’ve done to me. To Huck. Jace. I promise you, Levi.” I narrow my eyes, watching fear flash in his. “Your breaths are numbered.”

“Funny you should say that, sweetheart.” Yanking me to my feet by my shirt, he slams me into the wall. I hiss out a breath, my body sore from Levi’s assaults over the last few hours. His hand slides up, fingers wrapping around my throat. Balling my fists at my back, I force myself to stay calm, refusing to give this bastard the satisfaction of watching me struggle. Staring down at me, his chest heaves with pent up rage and frustration. Two things he has enjoyed taking out on me. “Do you still count yours?” Leaning down, he gets in my face, a satisfied smirk tugging at his lips. “I feel your heart racing. You’re on the verge of panic. I can fucking smell it.”

“Go to hell,” I seethe, swallowing the anxiety clawing its way up my throat. “I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction.”

“We’ll see about that.” Letting me go, he shoves me back to the ground. I land hard on my ass, pain from hitting the concrete radiating up my spine. There isn’t one part of me that doesn’t hurt. Though none of it compares to the ache in my heart.

I can’t help thinking of Jace, my heart sinking at the thought of him lying there on my living room floor. How he continued to fight to help me, even when he was bleeding out. And Rebel. Levi never took me to her like he said he would. He ignores me when I ask where she is and no longer acknowledges if she is even still alive.

At this point, all I do know is that things are unravelling at a rapid pace. If I want to make it out of here alive, I need to keep my wits about me and look for an opportunity to get the upper hand.

Pulling my phone from his pocket, he turns it on. “For your sake, I hope you’re as important to him as you say, bitch.”

“Taunting Colt is a mistake,” I say, knowing exactly what waits for Levi, no matter what he does at this point. He has dug his hole, and the walls are starting to crumble in on top of him. “You’re just a fly caught in the web. Colt’s the spider waiting to finish you off.”

“Quiet,” he grits out, pressing the phone to his ear. “You’ll want to listen very carefully to what I’ve got to say, Morrison,” Levi says calmly, his eyes trained on me. “Henley’s life depends on it.” He pauses. After a minute, he steps forward. Pressing a button on the phone, he squats down and shoves it into my face. “Sit up and speak like a good little bitch.”

Swallowing hard, I wet my lips. “Colt?”

“He hurt you?” Colt’s voice lacks its usual calm. The rage laced in each word he says, while not meant for me, sends shivers down my spine.

“I’m fine,” I breathe, closing my eyes.

“You’re a goddamn dead man, Fowler,” Colt warns, his tone cold.

“Be prepared,” Levi fires back, narrowing his eyes at me. “If I die, I’m takin’ her with me.”

“What do you want, asshole?”

Levi smiles victoriously. “Two million dollars,” he replies without even taking a minute to think about it. “A car with fresh plates, and you in exchange for your precious Henley. Her life for yours.”

“Done,” Colt’s reply is equally quick. “When and where, motherfucker?”

“No!” I shout, struggling against the ties. “Don’t listen to him, Colt!”

Levi’s hand cracks across my face. “Shut the fuck up,” he spits, shoving to his feet. “She fell in love with you here,” he continues, speaking into the phone now. “Watched it with my own eyes.” Facing the doors, he stares out at the lot. “I think that was the final straw for Hammon. No matter what we did, no matter the lengths he went to, trying to bring her close again it continued to backfire on him. I told that stupid bastard, all he did was push her right into your waiting arms.”

I push back the tears. My mind going back to that day. Though, I remember it differently. “It was always supposed to be Colt,” I interrupt, shaking my head. “That wasn’t the day I fell in love with him. It was the day I realized I’d run out of reasons to fight it.”

Levi spins on his heel to face me, his face empty and emotionless. “Be here in two hours. Come alone or she’s dead.” He hurls the phone at the wall, smashing it. His eyes snap to mine, satisfaction and anticipation filling them. “Start countin’ those breaths, bitch.”

Colt

There is no scenario in my head where this ends without bringing a lot of noise. Fowler has to know that. He also knows there is no fucking way I can come up with that kind of cash in the amount of time he has given me. Even if I fucking had it.

This leaves me at a disadvantage. The money is obviously what he wants, and the first thing he expects to see when I set foot onto the goddamn lot.

Which means the only way to get Henley out of there alive is to get the jump on that son of a bitch. Hopefully, catching him off guard will give me the edge I need to get my girl clear of this shit before she ends up in a goddamn body bag. The darkness I feel at the thought of never seeing her again squeezes my heart like a vise.

I won’t lose her. If that means sacrificing myself to keep her breathing, so fucking be it.

“How’s this go down?” Schrader asks, shoving his knife into his boot.

“You hang back,” I tell him, checking my watch. “I go in there alone.”

“Not just you wantin’ a piece of that bastard’,” Doc growls, filling the doorway of my room. “That motherfucker killed Huck.”

“And I won’t have him kill Henley!” I shout, slamming my hand down on the cabinet in front of me. I meet eyes, seeing his need for vengeance, but knowing the risk. “Or another member of this club.”

“Damn right, V.P.,” Schrader agrees. “That’s why you’re not ridin’ alone.”

“Stubborn as a goddamn mule.” Doc shoves me. “Just like your ol’ man. If he were here, my brother’d be tellin’ you the same thing. We didn’t build this club to have it ripped apart member by member. We’re not fingers you can slice off a hand, one by one.” Balling his fist, he shoves it in my face. “We’re the goddamn fist.”

“That patch on your back means we always have yours.” Clapping me on the back, Schrader hands me my gun. “And Henley’s”

“Tell the boys to load up.” Doc’s smile spreads when I take it, holstering inside my cut. “It’s time for shit kickin’.”