Give Me War - Kate McCarthy Page 0,30
stands before me, and it’s all I can do just to take a breath. “It would be wise, at this point, for you to do what I tell you.”
He holds out a hand and Atomic slaps a device in it. Grudge studies it a moment. As do I. It looks like something Wolf has in his toybox that operates his little off-road monster truck. I can’t take my eyes off it. Is that it? The press of a few buttons and I’m gone?
“Do you agree?”
I feel a trickle of blood leave my nose, the smell of it strong inside my nostrils. It heads south, the flow gaining strength as it pools above my top lip before flooding my mouth and spilling over, down my chin.
“Do you want to die?”
I drag my eyes to his and shake my head, blood dripping to the floor.
“No?”
“No,” I manage to get out, the sound a whisper after screaming myself hoarse.
“No, what?”
My voice cracks. “No, I don’t want to die.”
“You might though, if you try removin’ it. That thing’s rigged to blow if it comes off.” Grudge chuckles and offers a mock expression of sympathy. “Today ain’t your day, huh?”
I hate this man. “Fuck you.”
He laughs uproariously and his brethren join in. “If only there was time for that,” he wheezes, taking a moment to unearth a packet of cigarettes from his vest pocket. He brings the entire pack to his mouth and plucks one free with his lips. He tucks the pack away and brings out a lighter. He flicks it, eyes on me as the flame catches on the end. Grudge sucks the poisoned fumes deep inside his lungs, speaking as he exhales. “Want one?” He angles the lit cigarette towards me. “Atomic’s contraptions are enough to drive anyone to smoke,” he says with a wink, as if we’re co-conspirators in his joke.
I don’t bother with an answer.
“He does good work,” one of the bikers to the side of me pipes in.
I turn my head, my eyes narrowing on a tanned face, dark hair and beard. Another goliath. “You think he does good work, then you wear this fucking vest,” I snarl, but the insult is ruined because my voice can’t rise above a whisper.
His reply is spoken with a smirk. “No thanks. Looks better on you. Knowing that hot body might be splattered across the walls in the blink of an eye, well that’s just a little exciting, don’t you think?”
Goliath steps behind me, running hands down my hips. They curve down and around, over the cheeks of my ass, squeezing. I tense. “Doesn’t it make you feel more …” his mouth touches my ear, “… alive?”
I hiss. “Don’t touch me.”
Grudge frowns, sucking on his cigarette. “Not really in a position to be giving orders, are you, little Valentine bitch?”
I lift my chin, my eyes on the Viper president as the man behind me runs one of his hands back over my hip and moves down, cupping me between my legs, rubbing. “Maybe not, but if this vest explodes, you can be damn sure I’ll be taking all of you with me.”
His nostrils flare, and he drops his half-finished cigarette, grinding it beneath his boot, crushing ash and tobacco in with the streaked blood on the floor. Then he jerks his head to the left. Goliath removes his hands and steps away, and when a phone rings from somewhere on his person, he tugs it free and answers, leaving the room.
“Let’s get down to business then, yeah?”
“Yes,” I say with thinly veiled sarcasm. “Let’s.”
“Now, we got a meetin’ with the Valentine’s at nine this mornin’. Seems to me that snatchin’ you up was a good way of gettin’ their attention. They don’t know where it is yet, but we’ll get to that. Give ‘em just enough room to get here without time to plan any tricks. I’m pretty sure we got enough Vipers here to ensure they meet our demands, and if not,” his eyes flick down, “that vest’ll make sure they do. Then you won’t have to die today.”
“What demands?”
“Just the one really. Stay the fuck outta our way. Easy, right?”
“They’ll never agree to that. Even if it’s not the Valentine’s, you’ll always have cops on your ass, waiting for the moment to bring you down.”
“Cops can be bought.” His eyes flatten. “The Valentines can’t.”
“So you know they’ll never agree.”
“Oh no, they’ll agree to our demands. They’ll give us whatever pretty words they have to in order to get you back,