Chapter Five
GRACE
The jerk carrying me tossed me into the room roughly and slammed the door shut behind me. I tried to run after him and jiggle the handle but it was no use, he had locked it up tight.
“Fuck!” I glanced around the room, looking for a window or something. There were a few on either side of the room but we were up so damn high I was sure to break my leg if I tried to jump. Not to mention I’d land right in the lion's den of Red Sin members looking to celebrate their recent victory.
What the hell was Cutter’s problem? What had I done to deserve being locked up here like I was in prison? Because I didn’t thank him for saving me from those creeps, like he even gave me a chance. He came in with all his brothers and looked right past of me like I was a piece of garbage.
And excuse me if I was a little shaken up over the body getting pissed on right in front of me. I had never seen anything like that in my life. Yeah, I hung out with these guys but I’d never seen anything like that first hand before, I had only heard stories.
The door finally swung open a few minutes later and Cutter came striding in, all sexy and smoldering. His dark hair was sticking up in every direction and his deep blue eyes looked like tiny crystal icicles. I swallowed and looked away from him, I wasn’t sure how any woman managed to hate him for very long with eyes like that.
He took his leather jacket and tossed it onto his bed.
God, that chest… God, those arms; he definitely wasn’t lacking in the muscle department. I studied his sea of tattoos, trying to figure out the maze that was his arms.
Out of all the Red Sin members who called me, none of them came close to looking like Cutter Ford. I could only imagine how good he would look without his shirt on.
I didn’t have to imagine long.
He slammed the door shut behind him and tore his shirt over his head.
I gasped.
I had never seen a chest so defined in my life. His muscles and abs were perfect like he had just stepped out of a magazine. I felt my face start to turn a bright shade of red. I was surprisingly modest when it came to men of the opposite sex… like those clowns had pointed out earlier I never actually slept with the guys who hired me.
Sometimes we would do social stuff, yeah, but sometimes we wouldn’t.
Like Ace, he paid me to hang out with him every Saturday from 12-3. It just so happened that was the time of day when his corner got a huge shipment of drugs in. Now if he was with me every Saturday and the cops came poking around how could he possibly of had anything to do with that shipment?
I'd never even hooked up with a brother before.
Not that they hadn't tried.
People like Cutter didn’t know that, though. And they didn’t believe me.
To them, I was just a whore, hired pussy.
Hence, why he was taking his shirt off right now.
I forced my eyes away from his perfect body and tattooed chest. “What do you think this is, Cutter? You think I’m going to just drop down on my knees right here and now and do you? After what I just witnessed down there?” I shook my head. “You are out of your mind.”
Sexy as hell but still out of his mind.
Cutter huffed. “Don’t flatter yourself.” He walked past me and pulled a shirt off a long wooden dresser in the corner, throwing it over his head. “I don’t pay for sex.”
I looked away, humiliated by him once again. He had just wanted a clean shirt, of course, he had just beaten a guy to death and got his blood all over his shirt. “I don’t have sex for money.”
He cocked his head to the side, curious. “Oh, yeah? What do you call it?”
I pulled my skirt down further. Ugh, he made me so uncomfortable. “We don’t have sex. We do… other stuff.” I fiddled with the top of my shirt, suddenly all too aware of the fact that it was so low.
Cutter laughed loudly. “You’re kidding, right? Are you telling me that my brothers pay you a bunch of money and they don’t even fuck you? What the fuck do you guys do when you hang out? Paint your fucking nails?” He laughed louder, kicking his boots off his feet.
I glanced down at the blood stained leather.
"You've really never hooked up with any of us?"
I shook my head no.
He paused and a twinkle entered his eyes. "Interesting."
“What am I doing here, Cutter?”
He shrugged. “You’re here because you need to learn some respect.”
“So, I’m here because I pissed you off?”
“I don’t like being disrespected, Grace, and what you did down there.” He shook his head. “Being all over Ace like that after what I had just done for you, that was blatant disrespect.”
I was so confused, what was he talking about? He sounded almost jealous but that was crazy. There was no way Cutter Ford would ever be jealous of someone flirting with someone like me. I mean, he could have any girl he wanted.
“What do you want from me, Cutter? You want me to say sorry, is that it?” I walked further away from his hotness and toward the door. “I’m sorry, okay? Can I go now?”
His perfect dark eyes twinkled even brighter. “I don’t think you mean that.” He placed his hand over his heart, faking hurt.
There was a pounding on the outside of the door.
“I’ll get it.”
Cutter huffed and grabbed me by the back of the arm, pushing me back into the room. “You won't get anything, nice try.” He shot me a disapproving look then swung the door open himself.
Blaze and another Red Sin member, Snake, came bursting into the room.
Cutter looked completely unsurprised to see them. “Let me guess, we’ve already received a phone call.” He closed the door behind them and grabbed a beer out of one of their hands, taking a long swig.
“Yup,” Snake said. “You know how this town works, no one can keep their mouth shut for very long.” He slipped his hand into his black jeans and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one up right in the middle of the room and blowing smoke all over the clean air around us.
I made a big show of coughing loudly, causing all the brothers to look at me. Hey, if I was forced to be here why should I have to be polite? It wasn't like Cutter was going to hurt me. If he wanted me dead I would have been by now, he wasn’t exactly the type of guy who wasted time.
“Or maybe,” I pointed out. “No one told them at all and your huge show of parading their dead brother’s body through the street reached them in record time.”
Blaze glanced at Cutter. “Oh, good, you decided to keep her.”
Cutter ignored him and took the cig out of Snake’s hand, inhaling deeply.
Gross.
“What did they say?”
Snake lit up another cancer stick. “Fire wasn’t a full member, he was still in the middle of his probation period. Hence, why he was stupid enough to come into our territory and start something with next to no backup.” More smoke left his lungs. “Now, the guy who was shot in the leg, on the other hand, he was a member. A newer member but a brother none the less, they’re pretty pissed about that.”
Cutter looked unfazed. “Like he didn’t deserve it.”
“Regardless,” Blaze glanced at me. “You should get lost.”
“Good thinking,” I agreed happily, heading toward the door.
Cutter pulled me back toward him for the second time in the last few minutes. “No, she stays.” I tried to squirm out of his grasp but it was little use, one of his arms probably outweighed my entire body. “What do they want?” He tossed my body back and I stumbled onto his bed.
Wow, totally uncalled for.
Like I was going anywhere with the death grip he had on me.
Blaze and Snake exchanged an uncomfortable look. “We really should be alone if we’re going to talk business,” Snake said. “Can’t you put her in the closet or something?”
The closet? What the hell was wrong with these guys?
Cutter slammed the beer bottle down and it chipped into two huge chunks. “I don’t give a fuck where you think we should talk about business, I’m telling you to tell me what the fuck they said.”
The fear that was missing moments ago suddenly reappeared when I saw how pissed off Cutter was. I snapped my mouth shut, knowing better than to make any more smartass comments when he was already on edge.
It was kind of comforting to see his emotions running so high. He had seemed way too calm to me for someone who had just killed someone. Seeing him this way reminded me he was human.
Snake ran his hands in and out of his beard. It was long enough to hit his chin and looked messy and dirty. “Suit yourself. They already have the feds on them for that little murder they pulled off last month at the docs, they aren’t looking to attract any more unwanted attention on them and seeing as how Fire wasn’t a real member… they’re willing to let it go.”
“Oh, thank God.” I shot up from the bed, feeling relieved. “Well, then, if there’s nothing else I’ll just be on my way now that that’s all sorted out.” I made it one inch before Cutter shoved me back down again.
“We parade their boy through the streets like a roasted pig and they’re willing to ‘let it go’, huh?” He tightens his grip on my wrist. “What’s the catch?”
“Well, there are a few minor conditions, of course. Nothing unreasonable.” Snake threw his cigarette on the floor and stomped on it. A huge burn hole emerged from the carpet. No concern for other people’s property. “Just a few technical things.”
Cutter released me. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
Blaze ran his hand through his dark hair and his deep eyes darted around the room a few times. “They want the body so they can give him a proper burial, the guys got a family after all.”
Good luck burying him in the condition he was in.
Cutter huffed. “Suddenly The Misfits care about family values?”
“There is one other tiny thing…” Blaze looked at Snake.
“What?”
Silence.
“WHAT?” Cutter demanded again.
“They want the girl,” Snake admitted. “They want us to deliver her to them before sunrise tomorrow.” He lit up another cigarette like the fact that he was making negotiations about my life was a casual thing.
I jumped up. “WHAT? What girl?”
Blaze, at least, had the decency to look a little sorry for me; Snake just smirked like I was an idiot. I glanced at Cutter, fear taking over my body. I knew that I should be used to high stakes. I chose to work for these men after all but none of them had ever wanted me for property before.
“What do they want with me?” I demanded.
“Apparently, they blame you for what happened.” Blaze was talking to me but his eyes were on Cutter. “They want to mark you as official Misfit property.”
“YOU CAN’T!” I felt lost and frantic. “You can’t give me to them!”
“Cutter?” Blaze asked.
Cutter had turned away from us, his gaze locked on the city whirling around below the window. You could still hear the screams and cheers of his fellow brothers celebrating their recent addition to their death toll.
“And if we don’t agree?”
“If we don’t agree!” I threw my hands up in the air. “I can’t believe you’re even considering this! Why did you even save me in the first place, then?”
Cutter spun around, his face emotionless.
“SAY SOMETHING!” I demanded but he didn’t. I looked at the three of them, surveying the distance between them and the door. I wouldn’t make it, they would grab me before I was anywhere near it.
“If we don’t agree?” He asked again, his eyes were locked on my face.
Blaze took a step toward his brother. “If we don’t they will come for her anyway and bring their army on ours full force. They made it clear it’s not a negotiation… the girl is a deal breaker.”
“The girl has a name!” I moved closer to Cutter before Blaze could block his body from mine any further. “You can’t! You can’t do this! Cutter?” He looked lost, not concerned. “CUTTER?”
“Hey,” Snake snapped. “Shut up before I shut you up.”
“You know what they’re going to do to me, right?” I slammed my hand into his chest. “You might as well of let them rape me! That would have been better than whatever the hell they’re going to do to me!” I balled my fingers up and pushed him as hard as I could.
Blaze made a move toward us but Cutter shook his head, holding him back. It was pointless anyway; even with all my strength, Cutter had barely moved an inch.
Tears stung my eyes but I pushed them back. No way was I going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I cursed myself for getting involved in this type of thing to begin with. Yeah, I really needed the money but how naïve was it to think that getting involved with the Red Sin meant they would protect me?
“You should have just let them kill me,” I mumbled, backing away.
It was stupid but I felt like I needed to make an attempt anyway. If I didn’t, at least, try to save my life I would regret it later on. So, I waited for a fraction of a second and then I dodged for the door.
Snake had me by the back of the hair within seconds, pulling me so hard back that I let out a high-pitched scream without even realizing it. He let go of my head and pushed me backward too hard.
I stumped over my own feet and started to crash down but Cutter caught me by the back of the arms before I could land on my ass. “That was foolish,” Cutter whispered in my ear.
He sounded all husky and deep and I felt hot electricity spring up between my legs. It caused my knees to buckle all over again and he had to catch me again.
I detangled myself from him and pushed him off me. “Don’t touch me!”
Anger flashed through his features. “I don’t have time to deal with you acting like a child right now.” He turned around and started digging through a drawer next to the bed. “You clearly can’t act like an adult so I won't be able to treat you like one.”
He emerged a second later with a huge roll of rope.
My eyes grew wide. Why the hell did he have a thing of rope on hand?
“You’re going to tie me up then drop me off to them?” I gasped.
Blaze and Snake chuckled but Cutter just rolled his eyes. “Get on the bed.”
I shook my head.
“Get on the bed, Grace.” Cutter wasn’t asking me, he was telling me.
“No!”
Cutter moved closer to me. “Really? You’re going to make me do this the hard way?” He grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me closer to him before I had a chance to answer.
I tried not to get turned on at his touch. Ugh, I swear he was like a walking sex machine. As soon as he touched you all you could think about was getting all sweaty while he made you scream his name.
It was infuriating.
He was the last person in the world I wanted to be turned on by.
Snake moved closer to me but again Cutter waved him off. “No, I got her.” Snake looked unsure but backed away anyway, letting Cutter continue to detain me on his own.
He pushed me down onto the bed and buckled my hands over my head, dragging me further toward the headboard. God, he smelled so good and his breath smelt like mint and sex. I imagined what it would be like to have him climbing on top of me naked, holding me in place while he made love to me.
I tried to push down the flush I felt come over my face.
“Stop! No! Please!” I risked looking up into his brooding eyes and immediately regretted it when I got lost in them. “You don’t have to do this! I’ll be good! I promise!”
Cutter snapped my wrists to the top of the wooden frame. “It’s too late for that.” He looped the rope in and out around my wrists. “You can’t control yourself.”
“I can! I can control myself! I’ll be good!”
“You were already told to be good.”
“No, I wasn’t!”
My other wrist got wrapped up tight.
“Is it wrong that this whole thing is turning me on?” Snake asked.
No, that made two of us.
“Yes,” I say out loud instead.
Cutter stood up and moved down to my legs, pulling them apart and looping more black rope around them. “Just relax, you need to just calm down for a while.”
Tying someone up isn’t a good way to calm them down!
“LET ME GO! NOW!” I started kicking and screaming in every direction. Begging and trying to be reasonable with him clearly wasn’t going to work, maybe if he saw how crazy I felt he would think I’d really lost it and let me go.
It had the opposite effect.
“See, this is why you need some alone time.”
“Some alone time TIED UP?”
Cutter climbed off the bed and grabbed a gun out of the drawer next to the bed, sticking it into the waistband of his jeans. “I’ll be back soon.” Then he paused. “Don’t you go anywhere now.”
His brothers laughed and I kicked the bottom of the bed too hard, sending a pain shooting up my leg. Good to know he was still keeping his sense of humor through all this.
“LET ME GO!” I screamed. “I’m going to scream so loud someone will call the cops!”
Snake laughed. “In this neighborhood? No one's going to call the cops.”
They pile out the door one by one. Cutter stopped and looked at me one last time before he left. His features looked worried, deep in thought and consumed by whatever realizations he was coming to in his own heavy mind.
“Be good.”
And then he slammed the door and left me all alone, defeated.