Chapter Twenty-Six

Grace

I’d been leaning with my ear against the door, trying to hear the murmurs from the other room, when suddenly the door exploded open. I screamed as a gunshot went off. I looked out the door to see a large man in a Hell’s Fury kutte scanning the room. I pressed myself against the back wall of the closet and drew my knees into my chest, but a second later, the door flew open.

Ella started to wail at once as a hand reached in and grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking me out on my knees. He pulled me to my feet and I felt something cold push against the side of my head.

A gun.

Cullen burst through the open door a blink later, gun drawn. His voice was firm. “Let her go, Bruiser.”

The Fury member pulled me closer in response. “Look at this tasty bitch!” he squealed. “Woo, Cullen, boy. You’ve outdone yourself with this one. You know what, they’re right. She’s got some nice tits. I bet she does give good head.”

Cullen’s voice was even and hard. “Let. Her. Go. I won’t ask again.”

I could tell by the way he laughed, as I felt his enormous belly jiggle against my back, that Cullen had some history with this disgusting person. He smelled of body odor and beer, and his beard scratched the side of my face. He wasn’t going to let me go that easily.

“You know, Cullen. I don’t think so. You had the chance to leave quietly. I think we’re beyond that. And I think it’s time we bit the head off of this Cobra. Your little pussy boys will be lost without you. They’ll probably run screaming for the hills.”

Cullen’s arm stiffened as he readjusted his finger on the trigger and his eyes locked on mine. He was clearly not listening to this man’s taunts. Sweat trickled down his forehead. “I’m warning you. She has nothing to do with any of this. If you don’t want to be sucking on the barrel of my gun, you’d . . .”

“NO,” Bruiser warned, his voice shaking the walls. “You’d better. You’d better shut your hole and listen for once, Mr. President, Mr. High and Mighty. Now, get down on your fuckin’ knees.”

Ella was starting to wail louder, and I shook, knowing I couldn’t go to her. I hoped Cullen knew what he was doing. I trusted him, but for the first time, as his gaze locked on mine, I saw the cracks in his façade. “Like hell I will.”

But the cracks only seemed to widen when Bruiser heard the crying too and drew me back toward the closet. “This your kid, Cullen? Is Cullen a baby daddy?”

He ripped at my hair to get me to shut up. I let out a shriek as pain screamed down my scalp, to the nape of my neck. More tears squeezed out of my eyes.

“Don’t touch her,” Cullen seethed, veins popping up in his hands, his arms, his neck.

“Aw, you make such a sweet family. Mom, baby, and little pussy McKnight.” I felt his head swinging toward the closet, toward Ella, and my heart ached with the need to protect her. “Why don’t we ask her, since we’re all here together?”

He nuzzled his face into the side of my hair and sniffed. “Mmmm. She smells good. So, sweetness, what do you think? You think this pussy piece of shit Cullen is your happily ever after?”

He poked me to respond, but I stifled a whimper in return, and shoved at him. Cullen was more of a man than any Fury would ever be.

Cullen moved deeper into the room, his jaw working, and I could tell he was thinking. All the while he kept the gun out, narrowing his eyes to aim in Bruiser’s direction. Was he trying to get off a shot? Did he think he could kill Bruiser, even with me as his shield? That was a big chance.

A chance I knew Cullen wouldn’t take unless he was absolutely sure he could pull it off. He wouldn’t risk my life. I was trembling, my heart was beating a mile a minute, but I willed myself to be absolutely still and not make this any more difficult for him than it already was.

Suddenly, I heard the door out front fly open. For a split second I dared to hope it was our salvation, maybe the other Cobras here to help, but then two more Fury arrived, guns drawn. They took in the scene, then pointed their weapons at Cullen as he took a step toward the wall, never lowering his gun.

Had Cullen even called for help? I wasn’t even sure. I wouldn’t put it past him to think he could handle everything on his own.

Cullen sucked in a breath as his eyes scanned them. I stifled a sob. I couldn’t stand it if Cullen gave up now. I was only able to fight because he was.

“Hey. Take me instead,” he said suddenly. “Let’s stop playing around. You don’t want her, you want me. Let her go and I’ll drop my gun. Okay?”

Bruiser laughed. “We don’t want to take you anywhere, boy. We have no need for prisoners. Especially you. You got that?”

The other men laughed sadistically. One of them sneered, “Yeah, man. Chop the head off the snake.”

A low rumble emanated from deep within his chest, almost like thunder. He nodded. “Okay, fine. But just let her go and promise you won’t hurt her. I don’t give a shit what happens to me.”

I could barely breathe. Ella screamed in the background, but what I heard louder than anything, was my own beating heart. My brain buzzed as blood shot hot and urgent through my veins. Sweat poured down my ribcage. It occurred to me just what Bruiser was saying. My life, in exchange for his.

Cullen was going to die. For me.

“No,” I murmured, shaking my head. “No. Please.”

“Get on your knees, asshole,” Bruiser said. “And drop your fucking piece.”

No. He couldn’t do that. Cullen, unarmed, against these three, could never be a good thing. He was walking into certain death, for me. “Cullen,” I wailed. “Don’t.”

“Hey,” he said to me gently, his eyes softening. “It’s all right.”

“I love you,” I blurted, wanting desperately to touch him. To hold him. To feel his arms around me, just one last time. That time in the hot tub, and on the bed, only a few hours ago? So much bliss . . . and now it was over. How could the best and worst night of my life be one in the same? Tears clouded my vision, but I blinked them away in desperate effort to see him. “Please. Cullen, I love you.”

“I know you do, baby,” he said, as easy and relaxed as always, as if he was resigned to this fate. “Don’t worry.”

Gaze fixed on mine, Cullen’s lips moved, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. It felt like a secret message, just for me. I wanted desperately to understand, wondered if I would ever know, but a second later, his eyes went back to Bruiser, where they stayed, turning dark and cold.

Shoulders tense, arms wavering in front of him as he held the gun, his eyes twitched. He wiped sweat out of his eyes with his forearm. I could tell he was done. That even if he wasn’t ready, he didn’t have a choice. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

“We’re waiting, McKnight.” Bruiser grinned sickly, his foul breath making me want to puke, and I could tell that this was something he’d been waiting a long time to see.

Cullen McKnight, President of the Steel Cobras. The father of my baby and the only man I’d ever loved. Humiliated. Dead.

I shuddered, stomping my feet, trying to tear myself loose from Bruiser’s big hands. These assholes wanted me to witness Cullen’s downfall, but I couldn’t bear to see this.

His chest slick with sweat, his muscles tense, Cullen ran his tongue over his lips. He loosened his grip on the gun.

And he slowly dropped to his knees.