Page 109 of Property of Rattler

“Put the gun away, Satin. You won’t get out of here alive if you shoot me.”

“What? That deadbeat behind the bar going to stop me?”

“You better fuckin’ believe I am,” I hear Dee’s voice. And then a shot, and Ames’ scream.

It’s followed by Satin’s snarl, “Guess your brother was right. You’re worth more dead than alive. I kill you, he gets the money.”

There’s another gunshot, shouting, and more screaming. In utter panic I try to gather my crutches. Having a bomb strapped to me was nothing like the fear I’m now experiencing.

“Situation contained,” Saint’s voice comes over the speaker. “Ames is fine. Her girl? Not so much. Dee’s got a through and through but he’s still breathing.”

Bullseye comes to help me get my crutches under me, then holds the door open. I put on a good turn of speed for a man whose legs should barely be able to support him, moving on pure adrenaline. Despite Saint’s reassurance, I won’t feel okay until I set eyes on Ames for myself.

She’s standing, just beyond the table where the girls had been sitting. I pass Dee, catching the words that he says to Prez, clearly trying to make light of the situation.

“Lucky for me she was a bad shot.”

Then I’m at my woman’s side. She’s in shock. Her face has gone white, and her eyes are wide, just staring at Satin’s body. She’s shaking uncontrollably, and when I drop my crutches to pull her into my arms, I don’t think she’s fully aware that I’m there. When I bring her to me, she’s stiff as a plank.

Turning so that I’m between her and Satin, I hold her tight, moving my arms up and down her back, willing her to relaxand come back to me. Not knowing what else to do, I murmur inconsequential comments into her ear, just as she’d done when I’d woken from my nightmare.She’s never going to wake from her.Despite all my misgivings that I tried to share with her, she remained loyal to her friend. Now she’s not only been betrayed, she’s lost the one person she put her complete faith in. The woman who originally helped her escape from her brother.

Satin was clearly swayed by the money once she found out how much Ames was worth, and wanted a payday for herself. If it hadn’t been for Dee distracting her and whichever of my brothers who’d fired the shot, Ames could be the one lying on the floor. I’m comforting her, but really, I’m reassuring myself that she’s still alive.

How long I just stand and hold her, I don’t know. I hear brothers moving around me, but nothing’s more important than her. After a while, I feel a hand on my shoulder, and look around to see Saint.

“Brother,” he says. Just one word. But there’s a wealth of emotion in it, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking, how close I came to losing her. He understands, he’d be in the same state if it was Pippa.

For a long time I didn’t understand how one woman could come to mean the world to me. I feel guilty knowing how much I mocked him, Short and Freak, and how I could never understand what they were feeling. I get it now.I could so easily have lost her.

“Rattler, bring her over to the couch, she needs to sit down. Bron’s going to finish dealing with Dee, then she’ll come over.”

“Let me help,” Trixie appears at my side. “I’ve got her, you follow.”

Freak holds out the crutches I’d dropped. I really don’t want to let her go. That she seems to have shut down worries me. So I take the walking aids from the enforcer, not for the first timementally cursing Stone, annoyed I need them. I should be able to take care of my woman. Trixie takes her weight from me, and leads her over to one of the sofas. By the time I get there, Freak’s woman has got her to sit down. But she moves like an automaton, as if unaware of what she’s doing.

Freak’s there to take my crutches from me, so I can sit beside her.

“Lay her down,” a strangely authoritative voice demands. I sigh with relief recognising Bronwyn. Freak and Trixie help, encouraging Ames to lie down. I start to move, but Bron instructs, “Stay where you are, Rat. Put her feet on your legs and hold them up if you can?” Then she makes another demand, “Someone get a blanket, we need to keep her warm.” Within seconds someone complies, and Bron covers her. She then looks around, before saying, “Everyone back off, give her some space.”

When the concerned onlookers have moved to a discreet distance, and it’s now just me, Ames and her, Bronwyn opens the medical bag she brings with her when we need her in an official capacity. She wraps the blood pressure cuff around Ames’s arm and attaches it to a monitor. “Her BP is only slightly raised, but her heart’s racing. Keep talking to her Rat, make sure your voice is calm.”

I’ll do anything to help her. Rubbing her feet I let words spill from my mouth. “You’re okay, Ames. You’re safe. I’ve got you. Fuck, I’ve always got you…” I catch Bronwyn’s frown and quick shake of her head as I let my own emotion show. I swallow hard, trying to overcome my own panic.

“There, you’re coming back to us now, aren’t you?” I notice that as Bron speaks, Ames’s face has more colour. And that she’s started to move of her own volition, trying to remove the blanket.

And now she even attempts to speak. “Satin…”

“Shush, it’s okay now,” I croon.

Ames shakes her head, tears glisten and threaten to fall. “She was going to kill me.” She turns wide eyes to Bronwyn. “I thought she was my friend. I never dreamed she’d be capable… I never saw it coming. I trusted her.” She gulps. “What does it say about me?”

Short’s old lady continues to know just what to say. “Wasn’t so long ago the club had a prospect who was a plant. These men were all taken in.”

I frown slightly, the way she’s talking makes it sound like we were all gullible. But then we were, weren’t we?

“Who someone chooses to present themselves as to the world is down to them, not to the people who were deceived. Ask Rat, there were no signs that suggested the prospect was going to betray them, until he did.”

“You tried to warn me.” Her eyes find mine.