by Kay Marie
Walking into the barn, my heart begins to race. Rascal must be able to sense it because his arm around me tightens. He has a way of reading my emotions and knowing what I need without me saying anything. I’ve never had someone like that and I honestly love it. Plus, he knows how to handle my attitude. My attitude alone has been enough to scare other guys away.
“Remember, if at anytime you want to leave, just say the word.” Rascal whispers in my ear. I nod my head in response.
In the middle of the barn, sitting in a wooden chair with his back facing us, is Rodrigo. His hands are zip-tied to the arms of the chair while his ankles are zip-tied to the legs. He’s shirtless and his feet are bare. Ratchet and Saint are standing in front of Rodrigo. They have a table of knives, a blow torch and other tools off to the side. Ratchet lifts his head, his eyes landing on Rascal.
“Oh, good. Now we can get started.” A sinister smirk crosses Ratchet’s face.
Rascal gives me one more look before walking over to them.
“Rodrigo, the man of the hour.” Rascal growls out. “Let’s have a little chat. Shall we?”
“Fuck you.” Rodrigo spits out.
“Exactly how I expected this to go.” Rascal chuckles. He moves to the table, his eyes scanning his options. He picks up a pair of poultry scissors and walks back to Rodrigo. Rascal goes straight for Rodrigo’s pinky, snipping it off like it’s nothing. I don’t so much as flinch at the action.
“Ah! Hijo de puta,” Rodrigo cries out.
Ratchet moves in, cauterizing the wound.
“If you think it’s going to be that easy, think again.” Rodrigo grits out.
“We have plenty of time,” Rascal assures him. He moves to Rodrigo’s other hand, instantly cutting off his other pinky. Rodrigo howls out in pain, trying to pull his hand free. Again, Ratchet moves in behind Rascal to cauterize the wound.
“For our first order of business, why did you take Marley,” Rascal asks Rodrigo. My heartbeat picks up it’s pace.
“Go to Hell,” Rodrigo spits out.
“Wrong answer.” Rascal cuts off another finger and Rodrigo screams out. Ratchet waits before cauterizing this one. This continues for two more fingers before Rascal sets the scissors down. He glances at the selection of tools, contemplating what to use next. He finally picks up the blowtorch.
Lighting it with a sinister smirk, he crouches down and runs the flame along the side of Rodrigo’s foot. The screams are deafening. Rascal pulls it back for a second.
“Alright, alright,” Rodrigo screams. “I’ll talk!”
Turning off the blowtorch, Rascal sets it down. He stands in front of Rodrigo, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I wanted her to replace her mother.” Rodrigo admits. “The first time I took her, I had every intention of breaking her in, making her submissive. No matter what we tried, the bitch wouldn’t break.”
Anger fills inside me. I want to rush over to him and rip his throat out.
“She somehow managed to escape. I blamed it on one of my weaker men. At first, she was difficult to track down, but it didn’t take long. When she made her way to your clubhouse, I knew it would only be a matter of time before she came face to face with her father. Thus, my new plan unfolded. I would use her to lure Nikolay Kalashnik out, so he could watch the daughter he never knew die, before I killed him,” Rodrigo explains.
The more he talks, the stronger the urge to drive a knife into his heart becomes. This man doesn’t deserve to live another day.
“What’s your beef with Nikolay,” Rascal asks.
“He stole my precious Jennifer from me.” Rodrigo seethes. “The cunt chose that piece of shit over me!”
“So you killed her?”
“I let Eduardo and my men take turns with her. When they were done, Eduardo slit her pretty little throat, making sure he told her it was for choosing the Russian over me and that her daughter wouldn’t get a choice.” Rodrigo’s maniac laugh fills the barn.
My hands are shaking and my blood boiling from the rage coursing through my body.
“Do you wanna take some of that anger out on him?” I didn’t even notice Rascal had walked over to me, until the words came out of his mouth.
I nod, not able to find the words. He guides me over to Rodrigo, whose eyes light up when I come into view.
“My Preciosa, have you been here this whole time?” A grin stretches across his face. Ignoring his question, I move to the table to pick out a tool.
The light hits one knife, grabbing my attention. A fillet knife. I pick it up, testing the weight of it in my hand. “This’ll do.”
I step in front of Rodrigo again. His eyes scan my body.
“You’re not going to use that. You don’t have the guts,” he challenges me.
Holding up the knife, I lightly run it against his chest. Light enough to not make a cut. Rodrigo’s chest rises and falls as he laughs. I make a shallow cut from his left pec across to his right. A hiss comes from his lips.
“You turned my world upside down,” I tell him. “I never imagined this day would come. Thanks to the Savage Menaces, I get revenge for myself and more importantly, my mother. You can rot in Hell.”
Pointing the tip of the knife over his chest, I push, driving it deep into him and cutting into his thoracic aorta. His eyes go wide and within seconds, he passes out as blood pours out of his chest. In minutes, he bleeds out.
Arms wrap around my waist and I collapse into Rascal, crashing from my adrenaline rush.
“It’s over, Princess. He’s dead.” Placing an arm behind my legs, he scoops me up and carries me out of the barn. He places a kiss on my forehead. “Let’s get you home and cleaned up.”
43
Marley
It’s the night before Thanksgiving and I’m going out to dinner with Niko, my dad. I don’t think I’ll actually be calling him Dad anytime soon, but getting the opportunity to know him is such an amazing gift. Rascal offered to come for support, which was thoughtful. I let him know how much I appreciated the offer, but I need to do this alone. With Rascal there, things could become too awkward.
I’m sitting outside with Cali, waiting for Niko to arrive, while Buster has Caden inside with everyone else. Cali’s dad is the Pakhan of the Bratva and has known Niko her whole life.
“I’m so nervous,” I mutter.
“Don’t be. He’s really excited about dinner with you,” Cali tells me. “Finding out he had a daughter was a dream come true for him.”
“What if we don’t get along?”
“Don’t think about that. Go into this with an open mind. Niko might be part of the Bratva, but he’s a good guy. He only wants to know you,” she says.
A few minutes later, a sleek, blacked out Lexus GS F pulls up in front of us. Niko steps out of the driver side, walking over to me and Cali.
“Dobryy vecher. Good Evening, ladies.” He greets us. “Marley, are you ready to go?”
“I am.” I stand from the picnic table.
“Have a good time,” Cali says to us.
Niko walks me to the passenger side, opening the door for me.
“Thank you.” I slide into the car and he closes the door, walking around the car to the driver side. There’s classical music playing softly. Glancing at the radio, it reads Smooth Criminal by 2Cellos.
“Interesting choice in music.” I grin.
He smiles in response, driving us away from the clubhouse. The ride to the restaurant is silent. I start to wonder if I made the wrong choice coming to dinner alone with him. We pull up to We Knead Pizza. I look to Niko to make sure we’re at the right place.
“Do you like pizza? I didn’t want to go somewhere too fancy and make you feel uncomfortable,” he explains.
“No, this is perfect. Pizza is great.” I give him a small smile. We head inside and get seated right away.
“Order whatever you’d like,” Niko tells me. “I’ll eat any kind of pizza.”
After reading over the menu, I decide on hal
f sausage and mushroom and half pepperoni. When the waitress comes to take our drink orders, we go ahead and order our pizza and a couple of side salads, too.
“Can I get an extra side of ranch, too, please?” I add before she walks away.
“Of course.” She smiles and goes to put in our order.
I turn my attention to Niko. “So, how did you meet my mom?”
A look crosses his face as if he’s replaying a memory in his mind. “When I met her, I was a boyevik, a soldier for the Bratva. I was visiting California with my, at the time, Brigadier I was under. The two of us were tasked with meeting Rodrigo and his, at the time, higher up. We met them at a diner Rodrigo frequented and spoke highly of. Jenny, your mom, was a waitress there. Rodrigo had been there enough, he had spoken to your mom a few times.”
He pauses, taking a deep breath.
“I went to that diner every day for a week. Some days with Rodrigo, most days by myself. The seventh day, I finally worked up the courage to talk to her. To my surprise, she gave me her number. We spent the next few months nearly inseparable.”
At that moment, the waitress brings us our salads and drinks, promising our pizza will be out soon.
“What happened between the two of you? Why’d you leave?”
“I never came out and told her I was part of the Bratva. She found out right before I was scheduled to go back to Russia for a short trip. We got in a huge fight,” he tells me. “I left before I could fix things with her. My short trip turned into a long one. When I tried to reach out to her, she wouldn’t talk to me. I ended up not coming back to the States for a few years and by then, I couldn’t find her again.”
My heart hurts for my mom and Niko both.
“If it means anything, I think she always carried a torch for you,” I say. “She tried dating here and there, but never settled down with anyone. It was like something was holding her back, and I think that something was you.”
His eyes hold years of pain behind them. I attempt to put myself in their shoes. Why would mom have cut off communication with him? Did she know she was pregnant with me and not want me growing up around the Bratva?
My eyebrows furrow. “She never told you she was pregnant?”
He shakes his head. “Though, now that I know about you, I can’t help but wonder if that’s why she was so upset when she found out about my involvement with the Bratva.”
I nod my head. I eat my salad in silence, mulling over everything he said. When the pizza arrives, I change up the subject a bit.
“Can you tell me what she was like back then?”
He grins like a kid in a candy shop and gushes about my mom. From there, our conversation flows freely. I tell him about my childhood. He tells me about Russia. By the time he takes me back to the clubhouse, I’m feeling good about our relationship. My relationship with my dad.
“Do you want to come to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow,” I ask him. “We’re having a big dinner here tomorrow afternoon.”
“I’d like that a lot.”
“Great! I’ll see you tomorrow.” I smile at him before climbing out of the car. Rascal is sitting at a picnic table, near the car. He stands as I walk toward him.
“Hey, Princess.” He greets me with a kiss. “I need to talk to Niko real quick. I’ll meet you inside.”
I nod my head, assuming they have business to talk about and head inside.
44
Rascal
Today is Thanksgiving, and Marley is in the kitchen helping Minx and some of the other ladies cook Thanksgiving dinner. Not only are we having a big dinner, we’ll be doing some celebrating, too. We’re sending Chains off to the gods with his patch. Knuckles and Mouse are getting their patches. And to top it off, Marley is getting her property patch. She doesn’t know about hers yet. I told her her cut wouldn’t be ready until this weekend.
Diesel and the others got back to the clubhouse yesterday. He’s still pretty sore and hasn’t left his room since he’s been back. Tink was here when he got back. She was in complete shock when she saw he was injured. Once she knew he was good and settled in his room, she left the clubhouse. Hollywood hasn’t been around much either. I’m not sure what’s going on with the three of them, but they need to figure their shit out and soon.
A bunch of us are hanging out in the main room, drinking and watching football, when Tink walks into the clubhouse. Hollywood instantly tenses without even looking her direction.
“How’s Diesel doing today? Has anyone checked on him recently,” Tink asks the room.
“Tink, go fuckin’ talk to him yourself,” Hollywood snaps at her. Her eyes widen at his tone. Hollywood’s face softens as he stands and moves to her. “Go take care of him. He needs you.”
“What about you?” She whispers.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m over this shit.” He gestures between the two of them and walks out of the clubhouse. Tink stands there, dumbfounded. Seconds later, Marley walks out of the kitchen. Her eyes find me instantaneously. Glancing toward Tink, her smile falls and she rushes to Tink’s side.
“Hey, what’s going on?” She says softly.
Tink shakes her head like she’s clearing her thoughts. “Nothing. I need to go talk to Diesel.”
“Okay, I’m here if you need anything.” Marley gives her a hug before Tink walks down the hall toward Diesel’s room. I move to Marley, wrapping my arms around her.
“Lovers’ quarrel,” I tell her.
Marley nods her head in understanding, though there’s pain in her eyes. Tink is her best friend here and she hurts for her.
I kiss her forehead. “How’s the cookin’ goin’?”
“It’s going well,” she tells me. “Everything is done except for the turkey.”
“Good, I’m starvin’.” I wink at her.
“There’s enough food for a fucking army.”
“Well, we practically are an army,” I deadpan.
She laughs. “That’s true. Y’all eat like it’s goin’ out of style.”
“We’re growin’ boys.” I smirk.
“Right,” she draws out.
An hour later, the turkey is ready and the kitchen is set up buffet style. Before we can dig in, Prez gathers us all in the main room.
“Before we eat, we have some business to take care of,” he announces. “This has been a long time comin’. As everyone knows, Chains was killed before he was able to get patched in. He more than earned it, payin’ the ultimate sacrifice. His cut will be one of the few on our wall.”
“May we never forget our fallen brothers.” Ranger adds.
“Along with Chains, we have two others who have earned their patches.” Prez pulls a cut out of a box. “Mouse.”
Prez holds up the cut and Mouse walks over, slipping it on. He has a grin a mile wide as he hugs Prez. Prez grabs another one out of the box.
“Knuckles.” They go through the same thing. Knuckles smiling so wide, I’m surprised his face doesn’t split in half.
“Congratulations, brothers,” Prez says and the clubhouse erupts in cheers. Prez’s eyes come to me and I walk over to take his spot.
“As everyone should already know, I’ve claimed Marley as my Ol’ Lady.” I look to her, smiling. By the look on her face, she’s freaking out. I pull a women’s size cut out of the box the others were in, showing off the back. Property of Rascal with the club logo on it. “Come here, Princess.”
She walks over to me, turning around to slip it on. When she turns back toward me, I’m down on one knee, holding a ring up. Her hands go to her mouth.
“Marley Jones, be my Queen?”
My heart races in anticipation.
Sniffles are coming from some of the women and one of the guys mutters something sounding like another one bites the dust.
“Yes, yes! A hundred times yes!”
I slide the ring on her finger, picking her up as I stand and kiss her. The clubhouse goes up in a roar. As soon as I put her down, we get bombarded with everyone coming up to
us to congratulate us. Including Niko, who’s grinning like an idiot.
“You knew about this, didn’t you,” Marley asks him.
“I did.” He chuckles. “And I couldn’t be happier for you.”
He wraps her in a hug and gives me a slap on the back.
“I know you will take great care of her,” Niko says to me.
“Now, everyone grab a plate and dig in! These amazing women slaved away making us this food. Go, enjoy!” Prez announces.
We let the women get their food first. Once I get my plate, I find a seat next to my woman, sitting with her as close as I can get her without her being on my lap.
“I love you, Cameron McCoy,” she whispers against my mouth before kissing me.
“I love you, too, future Mrs. McCoy.”
“Can I have everyone’s attention,” Saint calls out. We all turn to give him our attention. “While everyone is in the same room, I wanted to make an announcement. At the end of December, I’m movin’ to New Orleans until further notice.”
Marley’s eyes shoot to mine, but I’m as shocked as she is. Saint sits back down, across from Marley and I, and everyone goes back to their food.
“Brother, what’s with the move,” I ask him.
“It’s time I find my birth parents.” He’s made his decision.
“You better be back whenever we have our wedding,” Marley tells him.
He grins. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I don’t think Marley realizes just how well she fits in here. The beginning of our relationship wasn’t ideal, and things haven’t been easy for us. But I can honestly say I’ve never felt more complete than I do with her by my side.
The ride will continue with Switchin’ Lanes.
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