Breaking Beauty (Devils Aces MC): Vegas Titans Series (22 page)

Cutler smiled. He’d do anything for Kyle, but he hadn’t
exactly been excited to pick up Salem’s British cousin from the airport.
Sounded like just some dumb kid who’d had a spat with her boyfriend and freaked
out. But those bruises on her neck were serious enough. And she wasn’t some kid
– she was gorgeous. Even though she looked a little strung out, her brown eyes
still glowed, and lips were a perfect pink pout. And he liked that even after a
rough night, she could still give him shit. He felt a tightening in his pants
and shifted slightly. Her hands felt so good against his stomach.

He saw Kyle nod back at him, and he knocked back his kick start
with his foot. They both gunned their engines, and pulled away from the
sidewalk. Addison gripped him a little harder when the engines picked up. She
could feel his every breath through her hands, and their bodies vibrated
together from the roar of the engines.

Kyle and Cutler expertly weaved between the waiting cars and
taxis. As they cleared the airport traffic and merged onto the highway, Addison
relaxed. The hum of the motorcycle beneath her was actually slightly hypnotic,
and she breathed into Cutler’s wide back. Owen was just one man, and maybe he
wouldn’t even try to stop her from leaving him, beyond canceling their account
together. It’s not like he couldn’t find another girl. And she had two burly
bikers protecting her, and apparently an entire gang back at their clubhouse.

She briefly thought about her parents. She hoped they
weren’t trying to reach her, and worrying about where she was. Hopefully she
could get everything sorted out before they even knew she had gone anywhere.

She looked out over the Las Vegas desert passing quickly by
the side of the highway. Based on what she’d seen in movies about Vegas, she’d
expected to be dropped in the middle of a big city, sort of an extended Times
Square. But looking around, mostly she saw sand, broken up with brush, rocks,
and a cactus here and there. In the distance, she spotted bluish brown
mountains framing the horizon. A few cars passed them, but in the early
morning, the roads were mostly empty.

She saw Cutler glance in his side view mirrors. Was he
checking her out? Wouldn’t be able to see much with this big helmet on. He
looked again. Suddenly, she saw a black town car just in the corner of the
mirror. Was that what he kept looking at? She turned over her shoulder to get a
better look at it. It was a nice car, with windows tinted dark so she couldn’t
see who was driving. It seemed to be speeding up.

With a jolt, Cutler sped up, and Addison turned back
quickly, grabbing onto him more tightly. She felt him accelerating sharply, and
he pulled up next to Kyle and Salem.

“Black town car!” she heard him shout. Kyle glanced in his
own side view. “Been following us since we left the airport!” Kyle nodded
grimly, and Cutler slowed slightly to drop back in behind them, and then they
both pressed down hard on their accelerators.

Addison felt a wave of fear wash over her. How had he
already tracked her down? Now she had put three more people in danger. She
wished there was a way for her to fight back right now, but on the back of this
stranger’s bike, there was little she could do.

Kyle and Cutler sped up, beginning to weave in and out of
the few cars that were on the road. Maybe they’d be able to lose the car,
Addison thought hopefully. She looked behind them. The town car had also sped
up and was gaining on them.

“Hurry!” she shouted. “They’re getting closer!” She felt
Cutler’s back muscles tense through his jacket.

Addison looked ahead to the road in front of them, and saw
three cars traveling close together on the two-lane highway. Kyle and Salem
crouched low over the bike, and Cutler followed suit, so Addison matched him.
Sticking close together, they squeezed in between two of the cars. Addison
looked to her side and saw the man driving the van they were passing look
confused, then begin to swear at them. When they cleared the cars, she turned
to see how the town car would react.

It had almost reached the cars when she saw it turn to the
right until its wheels were straddling the shoulder and the gravel next to it.
Dust and small rocks flew into the air as the town car kept coming, barely
losing any speed.

Kyle and Cutler were driving as fast as they could now, and
the road was empty of cars in front of them. Addison watched in horror as the
car still gained on them, pulling up until it was just a couple car lengths
behind. She saw the window on the passenger side of the car open, and a long
black cylinder pop out. What was she looking at?

“Gun!” She screamed, realizing. She saw a white man lean out
of the car window and take aim at her and Cutler. At the last second, Cutler
decelerated, and she heard a shot ring out. She felt him reach down to his
right foot as he kept the bike steady and pulled toward the driver’s side of
the car. The man shot again, but wasn’t able to get a good shot off because of
the angle Cutler had created.

Addison watched as he refocused on Kyle and Salem, who were
still ahead of them. Oh, god, she thought. He can’t tell which one I am because
Salem and I are both wearing helmets.

She saw Cutler bring his arm out to the side in a straight
line and realized he must have pulled a handgun out of a leg holster. Aiming at
the front tire on the driver’s side, he fired off a shot. Addison saw the tire
puncture and collapse. The town car swerved but the driver managed to maintain
a mostly straight line and keep going. Cutler dropped back further and took aim
at the rear tire.

Addison watched Kyle and Salem over Cutler’s shoulder. They
were swerving back and forth, trying to create a difficult moving target. She
heard another shot ring out from the other side of the car, and saw Salem slump
over.

“No!” She screamed. She watched as Kyle tried to reach an
arm around Salem to keep her on the bike, but then she heard another shot. Kyle
collapsed onto Salem, and together they toppled off the bike and rolled onto
the highway.

Cutler fired another two rounds into the rear tire, and it
popped. The driver swerved again, and Salem watched in horror as the car rode
over Salem and Kyle’s bodies. The town car swerved dangerously close to them,
and Cutler pulled away from it. She could feel his body register what had
happened to Kyle and Salem. He began firing and firing into the driver’s side
window, and the glass of the window shattered.

Out of control, the car veered off the side of the road and
into the sand. Hitting a small rocky outcropping, it flipped over
spectacularly, and landed on its top. Addison watched over her shoulder as a
small fire broke out, and then with a pop and a roar, the car exploded in a
fireball.

Cutler slowed slightly, still glancing behind them to make
sure no one else was following them. The road looked clear except for the
wreckage. Addison watched as Kyle and Salem’s bodies got smaller and smaller
and finally disappeared from view. She turned back to Cutler and allowed
herself to collapse against him.

She didn’t think she could have felt anymore empty than she
had last night, but here she was. Because of her, Salem and Kyle were dead. The
only people she knew to turn to in her crisis, and who had been so open and
generous in extending a hand to her. Her eyes glazed over and she fell into a
trance. She didn’t know how much time had passed when she felt Cutler slowing and
turning onto an off-ramp. They exited the highway, and she saw they were in an
industrial neighborhood. She looked around at the old, abandoned factories, and
wondered where they were going, though she didn’t have the heart to care.

They made a few turns, and Cutler pulled up next to an
abandoned building. He turned off the bike and Addison sat up. Without a word,
he knocked down his kick stand, and Addison let her legs fall to the street for
support. She watched him wordlessly disappear into the building, and then heard
what sounded like demolition, as though someone were trying to break down the
building from inside. Suddenly, she heard screaming.

“FUCK!” Cutler yelled. “Fuck!” Addison pulled off her helmet
and walked to the door of the building. She saw him inside swinging a wooden
beam wildly against a metal support, his helmet on the ground next to him. He
kept swinging until the beam began to splinter in his hands. His yelling became
wordless screams of pain, until the beam was mere tinder in his hands. He
dropped what remained of it and sunk to his knees, his screams subsided. He
knelt over himself, his fists mashed into the ground beneath him.

Addison stood frozen in the doorway, her heart torn. Should
she comfort this man, still a stranger to her? Would she be an intruder in his
grief? And what had happened was her fault anyway. She was probably the last
person he wanted around.

Cutler's muscles slowly began to ease and he started to rise
back to his feet. Addison quickly returned to the bike, so he wouldn’t know
she’d been watching him. After a moment he came out of the building, his eyes
cast to the side, not making eye contact with her.

“I’m sorry. I know this was my fault.” Cutler still would
not meet her eyes.

“We have to warn the rest of the Devil’s Reapers. They’ll
come after all of us now,” he said.

“But how will they know it was you? Won’t they still just be
after me?” Addison asked. Cutler turned, and pointing at the skull with horns
emblazoned in white on the back of his leather cut.

“That’s the Reaper’s patch. Before they died, they would
have let the rest of their crew know they found you, and who you were with. And
since I killed those men, the rest of the Devil’s Reapers will be considered
responsible. They’re all in danger now.”

Addison could only stare at him. She had no words left.

“Get on,” he said, nodding toward the bike. “We have to go
to the clubhouse and warn everyone to get out of there and go underground.” He
got on the bike, and Addison sat behind him again. She felt guilty sliding her
hands around his torso. She was a sickness, and she had infected him too.

Cutler gunned the bike and pulled away. Addison closed her
eyes, feeling the hum of the motorcycle beneath her. She felt the vibration
from the road course through her body, and wished it could purge her of
everything she was feeling right now.

After what seemed like a short time, Cutler slowed again,
and Addison opened her eyes. It looked like they were still in the same part of
town, and they were pulling up to a building with a dozen motorcycles parked
out front. Cutler pulled in to the end of the row of bikes and cut the engine.
Standing, he pulled off his helmet and strode quickly inside. Addison
hesitated, then followed him.

Stay tuned for
Wrecking
Beauty (Devil's Reapers MC)
— Coming Soon!