Scarred Asphalt

by Blue Remy

  “Whatever.” She wiped angrily at her tears but stopped at her weight room door. Something had caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Her head turned with a sniffle to get a better look.

  “No,” she choked out the single word as she rushed into the room, sinking to her knees when she reached her broken jewelry box. It was shattered into hundreds of pieces and its contents, a single envelope, was missing. Her hand trembled as she reached out to touch the broken wood shards as an icy fear twisted around her heart.

  What had the bitch done with the only gift she had left from Maggie?

  Fear turned into resolve, which was quickly consumed by sheer, unadulterated anger. Her fury almost choked her as she stood up and sped out of the weight room and back toward the front door, pausing long enough to slip her boots back on.

  She knew exactly where Gabby was, and Thorne knew she was about to roll into a lion’s den, but she didn’t give two fucks. That cum guzzling thundercunt was going to pay for everything she had ever done. For all of the things she said about Thorne, for lying about being with Dalton, for causing a fight inside the club, for throwing a brick through her window, and last but not least, for taking the last piece of her dead sister from her.

  Thorne drove blind, seething with mounting rage as she raced to the TG’s bar just outside Nipomo near Jocko’s. Her throat burned with the ragged breaths she was taking, hundreds of images playing havoc in her mind with the things Gabby could be doing to the envelope she had stolen.

  She had kept tabs on Gabby when Styx fired her, in case something happened and she needed to rip her a new asshole. Guess perseverance paid off. Daddy hired Gabby because the whore couldn’t hold down any job otherwise.

  She jumped in surprise as the shrill tone of her phone sliced through the silence of the cab of the SUV. She denied the call with a simple swipe of the reject button. She wasn’t dumb; she knew Dalton was trying to find out where she went. If he was smart, he’d know exactly where she was headed.

  The Tahoe screeched to a halt, she threw it into park, and jerked the keys out of the ignition. Thorne marched toward the door while she peeled down the top of her jumpsuit. She tied off the arms around her waist, leaving her in the grey-ribbed tank top she used as an undershirt. She readied herself by pulling her hair up and out of her eyes, just as her booted foot kicked the door open.

  Thorne’s hands dropped to her side to form fists as she allowed her eyes to grow accustomed to the dim lighting of the bar, searching out Gabby.

  B-I-N-G-O, and bitch was her name-o.

  Every head turned to see who had barged into the bar, guns pulled and pointed directly at her. Thorne didn’t care if she lived or died in that moment, but what she was sure of was that this bitch was going down.

  “Where the fuck is it, Gabrielle?” Thorne threw the words at her like stones, demanding that she answer her.

  Gabby turned around to face Thorne, brown eyes filled with a contemptuous look. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  Thorne was mentally calculating the guns in the room as she stepped deeper into the bar, toward Gabby who was standing near a table. “Oh, I’m afraid you do, considering you’re wearing one of my mother’s necklaces that you stole from my room.”

  Gabby’s hand flew up to the pendant at her throat. “This old thing?” Fingers wrapped around the locket and gave it a harsh yank, breaking the chain. With a nonchalant movement, she tossed it into the garbage with a smug look. “It was nothing more than a cheap trinket that came from a Cracker Jacks box.”

  Fury was all consuming as Thorne’s mind shut down. Her vision was completely focused on Gabby as she stood there silently daring Thorne to do something about it.

  She didn’t need any more of an invite than that.

  Gabby turned her back, and a smirk formed as she looked back over her shoulder at Thorne. “Tell me, punta, how does my pussy taste on his cock?”

  As much as Thorne bet that Gabby wished that comment sucker punched her, it didn’t. She knew Dalton hadn’t touched Gabby in over a year. Laughter bubbled out, sounding like sheer mania. “If you were on his jock, you dumb bitch, you wouldn’t have to try and undermine me and act like a jealous crazed cunt that couldn’t get a lay outside her family tree, if she tried.”

  Yeah, Thorne knew she was playing with fire with all of the TG in the bar watching the two women carefully. Thorne knew with one wrong move, the men would jump in and kill her and not think twice about it. If she could get Gabby to hit her first, all bets were off. She was simply defending herself. In the eyes of the law, that is.

  “Fuck you.”

  Thorne threw her head back and laughed, countering icily, “I don’t think so. I’m pretty worn out from last night’s sex on the beach.” Her lips thinned in a nasty grin as she stared at Gabby, knowing the vicious, hot anger reflected in her eyes. “I lost count how many times he came last night. Though we had a good laugh when he told me he faked every orgasm he had with you. I believe he said that you gave a new definition to the word necrophilia: Fucking you was like cracking open a cold one.”

  That was all it took.

  How easy she was to get fired up.

  Gabby screeched like a cat in heat, her fingers curled like claws when she lunged for Thorne.

  Thorne turned her face and body away from Gabby’s tackle, but to no avail. She felt the nails rake down the side of her face; her arm came up in a quick movement to try and deflect what damage the Latina was starting to cause.

  Both girls fell back in a tangle of appendages, Gabby tried to wrestle Thorne and gain top advantage.

  Not fucking likely.

  Thorne had been taught at a young age how to box, and she’d be damned if this bitch was going to get the best of her. Her hips lifted, right leg kicked out and swung up and around the girl’s throat, allowing her to pull back down toward the floor.

  A yelp of surprise filled the bar, along with the cajoling comments from the male peanut gallery. With Gabby on her back, Thorne rolled to straddle her hips, her right arm cocked back and swung down, her fist making a sickening crunching sound against the girl’s nose. Blood sprayed them both, taking Thorne off guard, and that moment of hesitation was all Gabby needed.

  She reached up and grabbed Thorne’s ponytail, yanked her head back, the flat of her palm coming across the left side of Thorne’s face.

  Thorne’s head snapped to the side, though the pain never registered, it only fueled her anger. The flesh inside of her mouth split on her left cheek, the coppery taste filling her mouth. She gave a Cheshire cat grin as she spit out the blood and grabbed Gabby by her shirt front, yanking her up with her as Thorne stood up.

  “You hit like a twelve-year-old girl. If you plan on playing with the big girls, Gabby, you best bring your game or go the fuck home.”

  Not allowing Gabby enough time to retort or move, Thorne let her go while throwing her left fist forward, a quick assaulting jab to the right side of Gabby’s jaw. Her cry of pain was enough to send blood lust coursing through Thorne’s veins.

  Thorne charged forward, unable to quench the fury that Gabby had caused. Thorne hissed as Gabby grabbed a handful of her hair once more, fingers tightening in her silken strands as she tried to toss her to the side. Thorne nearly lost her balance, which forced to bend down in the direction Gabby was yanking her hair.

  What was it with women and pulling fucking hair?

  She sent a left fist to Gabby’s solar plexus, followed by a right to the bitch’s pelvic bone. Girls may not have balls, but when your clit was smashed against bone? That shit hurt, and Gabby’s cry of pain told Thorne she hit her mark.

  Gabby let go of Thorne’s hair, which allowed her to finally stand up straight. Thorne’s voice was like ice as she questioned her once more. “Where the fuck is it?”

  Gabby stumbled back, wiping her hand across her bloody face. “I’m not telling you.”

  Thorne shook her head; once more anger singed the corners of her c
ontrol. A loud roaring filled her ears, her heart pounded erratically in her chest as she advanced slowly toward Gabby again. “I will kill you with my bare fucking hands if you do not tell me where the fuck you put the envelope.”

  Gabby stumbled backward, tripped over a chair, and comically fell flat on her ass. That was all Thorne needed. She sprang on Gabby like a wild cat. Fists flew one after the other. Thorne was completely unaware of her surroundings. Everything went black as she pummeled Gabby, not feeling or seeing that Gabby was screaming as she tried to throw up arms to guard her face.

  Thorne screamed like a banshee as she was yanked up and off of Gabby by strong hands. Feeling threatened, still unable to focus on anything, Thorne swung at her other attacker. She missed, but the harsh smack to her face brought her out of the blood stupor she had been in.

  “Thorne!” Dalton barked at her, his hands dug into her shoulders as he shook her violently. “Stop! You’re going to kill her.”

  Thorne blinked rapidly, the side of her face stung like hell as Dalton slowly came into focus. Wolf, Axe, Saber, and Wraith stood behind him, everyone in their cuts, including Dalton.

  “She—” Thorne crumpled into Dalton’s arms, allowing him to hold her to him. “She took the envelope from Maggie.”

  Gabby snorted as she pulled the envelope out of her back pocket. The men from the TG rose up to stand behind her, facing off with the other men. “This is what this bullshit was over?” She screeched at Thorne at the same time she teased her by wagging the envelope back and forth. “This stupid letter from your dead whore of a sister is what you went crazy over? If you are anything like her, it’s no wonder the guys ran a fucking train on her and killed her ass. I would have done the same thing. Crazy bitch.”

  Thorne’s head jerked back as if she had been bitch slapped. Lips dropped in a frown, her head shook as if she were trying to clear it, her brain slow to process what Gabby had just said to her.

  “Gabby!” Dalton shook his head vehemently.

  “What?” she spat out at Dalton, eyes narrowed in a dare; her hand flicked out as she tossed the envelope toward Thorne.

  Thorne snatched the envelope out of the air, fingers nestled it safely into one of her uniform pockets. “My sister died in a bike wreck, so nice try to get me pissed off again.”

  Gabby scoffed, and then burst out into laughter, the other club males joining in on the laughter. “Oh. My. God. What line of shit did they feed you?” She sashayed over to Thorne, her eyes held a venomous glint to them. “Ten men fucked your sister raw, and then they beat her and sodomized her. She was a club whore after all. Then when they were done with her, they threw her away like old trash.”

  All breath left Thorne. Every fiber in her body screamed at her to kill Gabby where she stood. She was lying, she had to be lying.

  It was as if time stopped.

  Thorne turned to look at the men behind her. The looks of guilt and shame that lay on their faces confirmed what Thorne didn’t want to believe. Four out of the five men had gone pale and refused to look at Thorne as she tried to look each one in the eye. The only one who met her gaze was Wolf, and there was no emotion there as his empty eyes stared right through her.

  “No!” Thorne shook her head, not wanting to believe what Gabby had said about her sister. Tears flooded her eyes as the images of her sister filled her head, probably much worse than how it really happened. It didn’t matter though. They had beaten and violated the only family she had left.

  A stillness filled Thorne, a light bloomed inside of her, like a piece of her awakened that she never knew lay inside of her. It felt like a light switch flipped on and everything suddenly became immensely clear.

  She drew in a deep breath and in one swift movement, much like a dancer, Thorne had Dalton’s Ka-Bar drawn. In one swift, graceful move, Thorne spun around and with a twist of her wrist, she sliced the side of Gabrielle’s face open. The flesh split from her ear to the corner of her mouth, revealing jaw bone and teeth to every pair of eyes that grew wide at the vengeance that Thorne dealt.

  But she wasn’t done.

  As Gabby’s hands flew up to her face, the backward momentum from the forward slash of the knife was brought back at an angle, slicing across the other cheek bone, and two fingers fell silently to the floor.

  Both MCs were too shocked to move. Even Wolf’s jaw dropped at Thorne’s actions. She was the one who saved lives, not took them. These were vengeful actions of a pissed off woman and rightfully so.

  Before the TG could retaliate against Thorne, Wolf set the crew into motion, Thorne was scooped and the group ran out of the bar with guns drawn.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Romeo and Rebel fell into a routine every morning. He got up to the smell of freshly made coffee, and she shared a cup with him. They sat at the table and talked about various things, though she mostly grilled him about club etiquette and who was who. She asked a million questions about Amy and Gail and what happened to her grandfather.

  Romeo debated about lying to her about how he “died”, but he thought better of it. He didn’t want to start off their relationship with lies. Stone never held back with him or Amy, so why should he start with Rebel? He laid it out there, telling her the whole ordeal as it happened. He could tell that she was romanticizing the life of being an outlaw, so it was imperative that he explain how real the situation was.

  The question he wasn’t prepared for was the one he figured was coming. Maggie. She said her mother always loved him, but knew their stars hadn’t aligned yet. She quizzed him on how she really died, and the inner battle began again. He didn’t want her to know how she had been humiliated, and everything horrible detail of what she had been subjected to. No child should remember their mother that way. He carefully explained what had happened, that she had been beaten and raped, but that her death had been avenged.

  It seemed she took the news in stride. So he hoped.

  Until she asked when she was going to meet Thorne.

  That was more explaining he had to do, delving into her accident and how she had been recovering with Dalton. He counter-questioned her on why her mother never told Thorne about her. Her reply was that she was a secret best kept hidden. Romeo hadn’t liked that answer. It fueled the anger and contempt he was feeling for Maggie even more.

  The night before, he’d had a club get-together, sans Dalton, to introduce Rebel to the gang. Needless to say, she had every one of them eating out of her hand. Yes, even the stone-cold Wolf was a pup when it came to Rebel.

  Tonight was Amy’s turn.

  And currently she was staring at the poor teen like she had two heads.

  “She looks like Mom.”

  “With Maggie’s coloring. She’s lucky.” Romeo nodded as he winked at Rebel.

  Rebel stuck her tongue out at Romeo, followed by an overdone eye roll.

  Romeo chuckled, leaning back to motion to one of the Painted Ladies to bring Rebel a cola. Romeo had decided to do the introductions at the clubhouse since it was neutral territory. Amy had taken it better than he expected, which left him a bit worried. He had been in shock for days, and yet she took it in stride, with a little bit of surprise and uncertainty.

  “And mom and dad knew, the whole time, about her?”

  Rebel sighed loudly, throwing her hands up in the air. “This is totally getting old. Just sayin’.” She blew a few stray strands of her bangs out of her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m right here. Please use my name.”

  Amy recoiled at how Rebel sassed her, blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing. “Oh, wow. Rebel is going to give you a run for your money, Romeo.”

  Romeo lifted a single shoulder, then stood up to walk over to the bar and grab his smokes. “I’ve already bought a new shotgun, and I highly doubt any of the brothers are going to let anything happen to her.”

  “Uncle Wolf already promised me to show me how to defend myself.” Rebel piped up in an excited tone.

  Romeo choked on his b
eer, beating his chest to try and catch a breath. “He what? I don’t think so.”

  “Why not, Zen?” Amy glanced over to him, shifting in the couch, her hand running over her swollen belly.

  “She has no reason to know how to fight.”

  “I’m already a brown belt, why can’t he teach me more?” Rebel batted her lashes at Romeo.

  He sighed and hung his head, slowly shaking it. “I’m going to lose this battle, aren’t I?”

  Before either of the women could answer, the door to the building slammed open, startling everyone inside.

  Romeo turned just in time to catch a flying Superman punch that felt like it had been delivered by a pissed off honey badger. His head felt like it went Linda Blair and spun all the way around, his vision exploding into an array of stars.

  “What the—?” Romeo exploded in reaction, his fist cocking back to retaliate, but caught himself mid swing as Wolf grabbed his attacker in a choke hold.

  “I suggest you calm the fuck down before I put you to sleep.” Wolf growled at the now screaming hellcat, aptly named Thorne.

  Romeo rubbed his jaw, staring at Thorne and Wolf in confusion. Then, looking past the pair as Thorne struggled in Wolf’s grasp, Romeo pointed toward the pair and spoke to the other four standing behind the struggling Thorne in Wolf’s grasp. “Would someone like to tell me what the fuck is going on and why the hell she is covered in blood? And why I got sucker punched like I was a fucking piñata?”

  Dalton reached up and rubbed the back of his neck as he winced, glancing to the now-still Thorne. “Please let her go, Wolf.”

  “The fuck you say. When she says she’s done swinging, then I’ll let her go.”

  Romeo had forgotten that Rebel and Amy were sitting at the table until he heard Rebel sucking the last of her cola through her straw. Shit. She didn’t need to see this, or meet her aunt under whatever circumstances this was.

  “Let her go, Wolf.” Romeo nodded, looking directly at Thorne. “Mind explaining?”