Free The Road Back (The Unknowns Motorcycle Club Book 3) by Ruby Reid

such plans. With the gun tucked away, he came walking slowly over to Alex. He hunkered down beside him as if they were the best of friends and looked at Alex’s right knee with disdain.
     
    “That looks like it hurts,” he said.
     
    “Go to hell,” Alex said.
     
    “Actually, the deal you’re about to help me with will ensure that I stay out of hell for quite some time. See…here’s what we’re going to do. Once you agree to my terms, I’m going to get out of here. I have a truck hidden up the road a ways. I’m going to haul ass back to Chicago. You and your lady friend can take the car outside and go wherever.”
     
    “What terms?” Alex said through clenched teeth. The pain in his knee was immobilizing but he would be damned if he’d let Marco see him squirming.
     
    “After you’re all healed up, you’re going to call Jameson and tell him that you want back in to the Unknowns. You’re going to be all buddy-buddy with him again and reclaim your spot as his right hand man. And then one day, I’m going to call you and give you the order to kill him. I’ll set everything up and make it look like it was another of the Unknown’s competitors. Then I’m going to kill that guy and the beef the Unknowns have with me should be squashed.
     
    “You see, working for the Unknowns kept me in business for a long time. But when Jameson started griping about me, a lot of my other clients aught wind. And right now, business sucks. Because of Jameson.
     
    “And that’s the deal. Heal up, go back to Jameson, and then kill him. Agree to that right now, and I’ll get up and walk out. If not… well, if not, I’ll take out your other knee, and you can lay on the floor and watch while I carve your girlfriend up piece by piece….but not until after I enjoy tasting every inch of her first.”
     
    “I’ll kill you,” Alex said.
     
    Marco raised his right hand and brought his fist down on Alex’s right knee. Pain roared through him, and Alex screamed.
     
    “I’d like to see you try it.” He then looked back to Amanda, still on the floor. He waved warmly to her, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
     
    “I’ll give you thirty seconds to consider,” Marco said. “I know it’s a tough decision.”
     
    Alex wanted to scream in frustration and to block out the pain. He couldn’t think straight. He had been stupid to throw the guns down, but what choice did he have?
     
    Whatever choice, it had been much better than the one he was facing now. His knee throbbed, and he realized that he was losing even more blood. He had nearly forgotten about the injury to his lower chest; it had been dwarfed by the monstrous pain in his right leg.
     
    “Twenty seconds,” Marco said.
     
    Alex balled both of his hands into fists, a scream of utter defeat rising in his chest. He looked to Amanda and wanted to apologize to her, wanted to let her know that he was sorry for letting her down.
     
    She returned his stare, and it broke his heart to see that there was still some hope in her eyes. That was somehow the worst thing about the situation.
     
    Their stare was broken by Marco’s voice. In an almost cheerful tone, he said, “Ten seconds.”
     
     
     
     
     

 
    CHAPTER 11
     
    Amanda’s face felt like it was being nibbled on by fire ants. The open-handed slap Marco had delivered that caused the chair to topple over had been vicious. She’d seen stars for a moment and then she had fallen over and struck the floor. She’d tightened up her shoulder to save her head from hitting the floor, and that was the only thing that had kept her from getting knocked out.
     
    But now she was motionless on the floor, still tied to the chair and helpless to do anything but look at Alex as Marco counted down by tens from thirty. Alex looked like he’d been through hell. The lower half of his white tee shirt was nothing more than a crimson stain, and there was a pool of blood forming around his right leg. Still,