Jed tries to kick Tor to break free, but Tor throws him back, which has him landing with a loud thwack on a table that cracks and breaks under his weight. Terrance decides to try his luck by elbowing me on my side, which just serves to ignite my anger even more. If he wasn’t Dag’s, he would be dead already.
Tightening my hold around his neck, I whisper, “You will be dead soon enough, asshole, so enjoy your last moments.” Just then I hear the roar of bikes outside, which announces the arrival of Dag and the others. “Looks like your time is up.”
Jed is starting to sit up just as Haldor, Einar and Colborn walk inside. “Shit, man, I liked that table,” Colborn says conversationally as he goes to stand behind Jed. Seeing as Dag isn’t with them it means that he must have seen Esmeralda and gone to make sure she is fine before coming inside.
“What happened?” Einar asks.
“These assholes came here professing to have a business proposition for us, but as soon as Esmeralda walked inside, that son of a bitch over there decided he wanted to cut her,” Tal explains as he inclines his head towards Terrance and me.
“Who sent them?” Colborn asks as he places his hands on his waist, looking down at Jed.
“Haven’t got to that yet,” Tor replies.
“Oh, I see, just having some fun first,” Colborn states with a wink just as Dag appears in the doorway, his body tense with fury, his expression murderous as he takes in the group before him.
“Who?”
Esmeralda must have told him what happened, because he doesn’t ask. Tor points towards me, and Dag’s eyes snap to us. I let go of Terrence, knowing that his time is limited. You do not touch one of our mates and leave breathing, especially a mate carrying our child.
“Now look, boys, this is what happens when you touch one of our Ol’ Ladies,” Tal calls out to the three men still sitting at the table with Garth standing over them. Dag is making his way towards Terrence, each step a death toll.
“Fuck off,” Terrance roars as he charges Dag, throwing a punch as he gets close, a punch that Dag stops with his hand, holding his fist tightly.
“You want to hurt my woman, frighten her?” His voice is laced with rage. “You will die for touching her.” Then I hear bones cracking, and Terrance is shouting in pain as Dag breaks the bones in his hand. Dag’s free hand snaps out, grabbing Terrance around the neck, lifting him off the floor as he lets go of his now broken hand.
The other Savage Cobra men try to intervene but are quickly immobilized. Terrance is gasping for breath as Dag holds him up by his neck, squeezing slowly until his lips turn blue and his eyes are rolling back. Finally, he twitches and gasps out his last breath. Letting go of Terrance’s neck, Dag lets him fall to the ground, dead.
“Now, who sent you?” Tor asks as he goes to stand before Jed that is cowering on the ground.
“Basil… Basil sent us,” Jed screams. “We owe them. If we didn’t do this, they would have ended us.” Tor looks at Colborn nodding for him to pick Jed up. Looks like those assholes haven’t given up, even after all this time. We thought that by killing Sean, the previous Desperados’ leader, that they would leave Esmeralda alone, but it looks like revenge is ingrained in their DNA because they insist on trying to kill her.
After escaping and stealing the Desperados’ ledger, Esmeralda buried them by giving it to us. We were able to put an end to their trafficking of women with Aldor, something which they aren’t happy about as that seemed to be one of their main venues of income. We also destroyed most of their drug houses which at the time was a big blow for them because they lost product, men, and their clients went somewhere else.
“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” Dag states, looking at Tor.
“Yes, it’s time we stop the Desperados completely,” Tor snaps as he pulls Jed towards him. “And now it’s time for us to tango. Take these wankers outside, I don’t want blood in the club.” He shakes Jed a few times before pushing him into Colborn’s arms. “Eirik, you and Haldor sort this mess out, and get rid of that piece of shit,” he orders, inclining his head towards Terrance.
Shit, I hate getting rid of fucking bodies, why don’t humans just disintegrate into the elements like we do when we die?