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Only now did Griz stop his assault, letting Ripper writhe in agony on his back. It looked to Becca like the defeated man could barely move now, much less fight. Air wheezed in and out of his lungs and he held a hand tightly to his side.
“Ah, fuck man, you fucking broke my ribs,” Ripper said.
“I’ll break more than that, you piece of shit,” Griz said.
Becca was on her feet now, her legs wobbling a little, and Griz took his attention from Ripper and looked her over. His face was filled with concern as he saw where Ripper had hit her across the face.
“Becca?” he said. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head, grabbing and holding him close as air continued to rush into her lungs in great gulps. She never thought she’d be so grateful for something as simple as pulling breaths into and out of her body.
Some distant part of her registered that she had to let go of Griz, had to let him guard Ripper and make sure he didn’t try anything, so she waved him off and curled up into a ball on the floor as she tried to pull herself together. She had been so close, so close to fading out. If Griz had been a few seconds later…
But he hadn’t been. He hadn’t been too late. He’d made it just in time to save her.
She told herself that, over and over, and started to come back into herself. When she’d recovered somewhat from the trauma of her near-death encounter, she realized that several other people were in the room now with her and Griz and Ripper.
Griz stood over Ripper with a gun pointed at him. Devil and Pony were also in the room, each with drawn pistols.
“You got him, Griz?” Devil said.
“I got him,” Griz said.
“What do you want to do with him?” Devil said. “I still vote the C4 up the ass thing.”
Ripper managed to drag himself to his hands and knees, until Griz kicked him back down onto his back.
“Stay the fuck down where you belong,” Griz said.
Ripper glared up at them, holding a hand to his broken ribs. “You fucking weak-ass cocksuckers. I did this for your own good.”
“Fuck you, Ripper,” Griz said. “You did this all for your own good. All so you could get your way, make your money selling crystal.”
“It could have been all of us!” Ripper said. “All of us could have that money! You fucking tinkerbells are so caught up in trying to be the protectors of this town, you’ve lost sight of what’s right in front of your noses!”
“You’re the one who’s lost sight, Ripper,” Griz said. “Lost faith in everything this MC stood for. You sent Death’s Head out to the cabin, then tried to set me up with the cartel.”
Ripper laughed bitterly, wincing at the pain in his ribs as he did. “I did more than that.”
“Oh, yeah?” Griz said.
“The alleyway,” Pony said. “The pawn shop, the hit we went on down in the city that went sideways. Itwasan ambush, wasn’t it?”
“No shit, prospect,” Ripper said.
“That was you too?” Griz said.
“I’m not the only one who wanted a war, Griz,” Ripper said. “That juicehead Mal, he wants Death’s Head and our MC at war as much as I do. When he shot Boomer, I saw my chance. He and I made a deal. He’d give up two of his guys that I could shoot up with my team, and I’d send you and a few other of our guys into an ambush at the pawn shop. Then we’d have our war.”
“You told them we were coming,” Griz said.
“They’re the ones who gave me the pawn shop address. You were supposed to get killed, be out of my fucking way, and be a martyr for the whole MC to rally around.”
“You rat motherfucker,” Devil said.
“The fuck you gonna do, hunh?” Ripper said. “Shoot a brother without telling the others first? You going to take me back to the table for a vote? Let’s see how many of the guys believe me over you.”
“We have proof,” Griz said.
