A vision of me standing at his graveside blocks the view of him being held by two Crows. My black dress is whipping around my legs from the blustery wind and my tears never end. That’s how I see this ending. Leo killed his brother and now he has him in his grasp, he’s going to take his revenge and enjoy himself doing it.
Only, Harper follows him through the door under Ellis’s arm. She actively came here? She’s as batshit crazy as her bloody brother. I feel sick, my fiancé and my cousin, both the sole object of a crazy, grief-stricken psycho, and they’re both here.
Leo’s growl when he sees me vibrates through my chest, he’s that angry I physically shy away from it, but then I look back. I need to keep my eyes on him at all times. His body is trembling with rage and it’s not till Ellis kicks at the back of his legs, he falls to his knees, never once taking his eyes from me. Watching him at the mercy of Ellis is too much.
“Everybody,” Ellis hollers. “Who wants to see this killer take his last breath?” His brothers are the only ones who cheer, and a wave of frustration passes through the Lost Souls.
Like he’s some sort of gentleman, he lets go of Harper with a gentleness I wouldn’t have guessed him to possess and moves her to the bar where he takes one last look at her and spins around. Catching Leo unaware, the brothers yell and holler as Ellis drives his fist into the back of Leo’s head. Such a suck-ass move.
Ellis jumps on top of him before Leo has the chance to defend himself and I quickly learn Leo isn’t going to do a damn thing to shield the blows or defend himself.
He lays there allowing Ellis to hit him over and over. He takes every punch. He takes every hit delivered. He takes all of Ellis’s built up anger, yet, he keeps his eyes on me.
He must see my tears, they are huge and dropping from my eyes like boulders.
I can’t bear this. Ellis loses steam with Leo, and like a child at Christmas he doesn’t last long with each of his toys. He latches onto Harper and her flinching has his spark igniting brighter. He winds his hands around her neck, almost in a sexual way, and his fingers creep up and latch onto her chin. He forces her to look at Leo, but she squeezes her eyes shut.
“Haven’t you made me witness enough violence?” I call out to distract him.
Leo’s head rolls to the side on the dirty, beer stained floor and I have no idea if he’s even conscious. His eyes are closed and he’s not moving. My eyes dart to Zach’s and the fear he’s showing doesn’t fill me with confidence. I’m still hoping for some sort of plan to spring up and the rest of the club to run in but there’s nothing. No one shows up, but a little light begins to shine when Leo coughs and tries to roll onto his side. Ellis’s attention is diverted from Harper back to Leo and true hatred pours from him. I count every step he takes from Harper to Leo and he lifts his leg ready to stomp on Leo’s head, Harper beats me to shouting out. I can’t witness that level of violence, not when Leo came here knowing this would happen to him.
“If you want me to be with you, you can’t hurt him, he’s my brother,” Harper says, speaking for the first time since they walked through the door. He backtracks to her and this time, she holds her chin high and doesn’t cringe before him.
He strokes her face so softly I almost think, once again, he has a streak of humanity in him somewhere, if you ignore the blood drying on his hand. His fingers trail down her face, onto her shoulder and then down her arm.
He flips her hand over in his and freezes. No one is saying a word, all waiting to see how this plays out.
“You have ten seconds to take his ring off before I do it for you, I won’t be taken for a fool and you can’t tell me what to do to save the man who killed my brother.”
She blanches in front of him and he doesn’t miss it. His hand shoots up and grips onto her chin, hard.
She looks past him and down at Leo, who is now thankfully starting to pull himself up. I want to go over to him so bad, but when I lean forward, I forget there’s a Crow behind me. His hand clamps down on my shoulder and stops me.
“You take your fuckin’ hand off her,” Leo warns, distracting Ellis and he focuses on him again. He slings his arm around Harper and walks her over to where I’m sitting. The Crow behind me lifts his hand and steps back.
“If my Harper wasn’t here now, I’d be putting more than a hand on you and I’d do it in front of him,” he says trying to intimidate me.
“You said you’d let everyone go if Leo and I came to you. Before you upset me again, are you going to stick to your word or not? I mean, it’s not like we haven’t got some issues to sort through, after you hurt me last time.”
Ellis pales and has the nerve to look a little guilty. She keeps pushing him like she doesn’t care. I hope this is all part of some plan of hers and Leo’s, I really do.
The slow, smarmy smile spreading across his face repulses me, I’m glad when he turns his back to me so I don’t have to see it.
His next two words echo through my heart and I promise everything for this night to end.
“I lied.”
He grabs her hand and yanks it up, dragging her wedding band off with such force it has Harper hissing through her teeth. She snatches her hand back and rubs the band around her finger. He lurches forward to grab her hand again, but she moves fast and crosses her arms over chest, hiding her hand from him. He steps back and spins on his heel and calls out, “No one is going anywhere.”
He reaches behind him and grabs at her until he grasps hold of her sweater. He backs them up and pushes her down onto her ass next to Leo. There’s a brief moment where Harper looks scared. I don’t think they have a plan. Her fear is genuine.
“You upset me, Harps. You didn’t choose me and then you ran off. You only come to me now to save the people here.”
“That’s not true.”
Oh no, even I don’t believe the conviction in her tone.
“For me to believe you want me, you’re going to have to prove it.”
“How?”
“Choose someone for me to shoot or I’ll choose myself and I’ll know you’re not being genuine.”
Her gasp is the last thing I hear before my heartbeat thumps so loudly it deafens me to everything else around me.
Leo
I can’t take my eyes off India, not for a second. The bile from my stomach is threatening to surface as I watch him stroke his gun down her cheek. I maintain eye contact with her so she doesn’t lose her mind. Come on, baby, keep looking at me, I silently urge her.
“Hurry up, Harper. I need someone to shoot, babe,” he calls out over his shoulder.
I keep my eyes on Indie but say to Harper, “He’s going to pick someone you don’t choose, pick me,” I whisper loud enough for her to hear.
“What if he listens?” she whispers back.
“He won’t.”
“Harper!” Ellis snaps and we both shut up.
“I pick Leo,” she tells him, and this makes him laugh.
“Oh, no, no, no. He’s going to die but not yet. Don’t worry, I’ll pick.”
I fucking called it and an eerie quietness falls over the bar as Ellis walks behind Mason, and then Myles. He moves on from them and briefly pauses behind Zachery, shoves him in the back of the head and moves onto a prospect who came to club a few months ago. He raises his gun and presses it against the back of his head. For the life of me, I can’t remember his name, I’m not sure if I ever knew it, and I feel fucking shit for it. He’s about to die and I have no idea what name to shout out to let him know he’s not alone.
“Prospect,” I call out and he looks over. “Just look at me, don’t turn, just look at me.” I maintain eye contact with him and try my best to convey this is my fault and I’m so fucking sorry for it.
“How very fucking sweet,” Ellis mewls.
And bang.
The shot echoes around the bar and the prospect slumps to the floor. Women’s cries bounce around the walls. It’s India’s cries that reach me the loudest. I desperately want to go to her, b
ut the fucking prick behind me makes it impossible. Her lips are moving as if she’s whispering something and her chest is heaving while she struggles to breathe.
“Don’t look, babe,” I tell her as her eyes are stuck on the dead prospect.
“You two are too cute.” Ellis laughs and makes his way back for Harper. “It’s been a long day, I’m sure we’re all tired, I know I am.”
He helps Harper up to her feet and tucks her under his arm. ‘I’ll be okay,’ she mouths before he swings them around to face everyone.
“And tomorrow is when the real fun begins…your last day.”
He jerks his chin at the guy behind me and I’m dragged up to my feet. Another Crow grabs at India and hauls her up, keeping his dirty hands wrapped around her arms. With another jerk of Ellis’s chin, the Crow takes India down to the basement. Oh fucking no. A wave of nausea hits me like a ton of bricks and I swear I’m two seconds away from fainting. He could do anything to her down there and I’m stuck up here imagining all sorts. This isn’t how I saw this going and I should have fucking expected it all the same.
“Because I’m a nice guy, I’m going to let you spend one last night with the mother of your child before I kill you. Take him down.”
My body has taken another beating and it’s hard keeping myself on my feet. I sway from side to side and it’s making me dizzy. I run my tongue over my back teeth, and one is loose as hell. Two sets of hands grab at me and each Crow takes a hold of my arms. Zach looks just as bloodied as I do when I’m dragged by him and then I’m tossed halfway down the stairs. I quickly get to my feet, thankful the banister is there to give me something to hold on to. I make it to the bottom of the stairs before I’m shoved in and the door slams shut behind me. The locks engaging echo around the bricked space and India’s holding herself, her tears are streaming down her face. I move faster than I ever have done before and collect her up in my arms. She’s trembling, and tears roll down my cheeks and I don’t care to wipe them away.
“Why did you come back?” she asks, peppering kisses onto my mouth.
I want to devour her, even though it’s only been a matter of hours since I last saw her.
“I promised our daughter I’d bring her momma home and that’s what’s going to happen.”
“Tonight? Do you and our dad’s have a plan? Please tell me something is planned.”
The panic dancing around her is palpable and I burn to take it away from her, but my answer isn’t going to help.
“Not quite, I sneak out after putting Rayna in her crib.” Her gasp racks me with a shudder.
“She’s at home?”
“Yeah, with my mom and everyone who’s not here.”
She’s seems content with knowing my mom has our daughter, but she isn’t loosening her hold on me, not that I mind. I rest my chin on the top of her head and take a look around, which is useless, there is no way out of here apart from the door at the top of the stairs, exactly how my father prefers it.
“Leo?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t want you to die, you should have stayed away.”
Her voice quivers and it feels like nails being hammered into my heart.
“I’m not going anywhere, dad will have figured out I’ve left by now and he’ll be coming real soon.”
I withhold the truth and hope my lie somehow comes true, but I’m not banking on hope. Hope is dangerous, it makes you believe you are capable of much more and most of the time, it lets you down. I can’t afford to keep making mistakes, not with her or my brothers upstairs. The prospect is already dead.
“What do you think he’s doing with Harper?”
I leave out he took her up to one of the rooms, and say, “She’ll be fine, she’s going to play along with whatever he wants.”
I can’t let myself mull over what that will entail, not that I can do much locked down here.
“That sounds dangerous for her. Why did she come after what he did to her last time?”
“She was adamant she was going to help, and I reckon it’ll be her that can get through to him out of us all, without having to use violence and guns.”
“There will be a price to pay,” she warns, and I agree completely.
The price -at the worst- will be my life and not hers, or anyone else’s.
Keeping a hold of India, I move us to the corner of the basement so we’re out of sight if anyone comes down. A shudder runs through me as I hold onto her tighter than ever.
“Are you scared, Leo?”
There’s no point in lying to her, I’m surprised she can’t feel it as she cuddles into me.
“Yes. I’d be a fool not to be when you’re under the same roof as him, my sister is in the same fucking room as him. I’m petrified for you both.”
I catch an old rusty crow bar sticking out of a box, before I can let go of her to dig it out, she clasps onto my hand and pulls me back.
“I’ve never been so scared, and I’m scared that he’s going to kill you. I have this feeling that he’s going to take you away from me and he’s going to force me to watch every single moment.”
Her freak out comes to an end and her trembles turn into full blown shakes and I pull her against me, her tears soaking through my tee.
“Don’t think like that, whatever happens will be and if I can help it, I’ll be walking you out of here myself and we’ll go home, kick everyone out and we’ll hide away with our girl for as long as we need to get over this and forget it ever happened.”
Her fingers latch onto my belt and her shakes now turn into a shudder. I go to step back, but she leans up on her tiptoes and presses her lips to my mine.
Her body calms under my touch and I lean down and cup her face with my hands. For a while tonight, I didn’t believe I would get to have her like this again. Kissing India is like cool rain on a hot day. Her fingers weave through my hair and I bask in the pain she causes. My body is humming with aches but with her, I’d take much more and kiss her afterwards.
She pulls back and her breath comes fast and short. She peeks up at me through her thick lashes and I can see it already, her saying goodbye.
“Why do I feel like you needed that because you don’t believe it’ll happen again?” I whisper, dipping my lips to her neck.
“Leo.” She sighs, turning her head to kiss my cheek. “I need you always, more now than ever and if we make it out of here, I want to get married. I want to be tied to you in every way imaginable.”
The but silently hangs unspoken and I promise, “We will be.”
My gut knots at the image of her in a nice white dress, her hair all up done nice and her smile as she walks towards me, standing in front of the priest. India wouldn’t want a courthouse quickie. She’ll want the small church in town and the flowers and our baby girl as a bridesmaid, and she’ll have it all if we both walk out of here alive. But for now, knowing I’m most likely going to die, I’ll settle for the fantasy of marrying her instead.
I spy blankets half hanging out of a box by the old, filthy sink. Letting go of her, I search through more boxes, finding nothing of use to us, and dig out the blankets. Going back to the corner, I throw a couple of blankets down for us to park our asses on and I sit, bringing India with me and position her between my legs. She leans back against me and I cover us with the last couple of blankets. The temperature is dropping to a brisk chill and the blankets won’t help much, but it’s better than nothing.
Silence lingers between us and I gently stroke her hair until she has relaxed against me.
“Did he force you to do anything?” I ask. I’ve been wanting to know since we got the call from him saying he had taken over the club.
“Just watch as he beat my brother and tried to set Victoria on fire.”
Her voice catches at the end and she tenses up all over again. “He poured an entire bottle of liquor over her and held a lighter near her. I’ve never seen someone so scared.”
“Why didn’t he do it?”
I mean, I’m glad he didn’t but Ellis doesn’t hold back because his target is a woman.
“I may have shouted out and distracted him.”
A low growl escapes from me and she definitely catches it.
“I goaded him away from her.”
“And just how exactly did you do that, babe?”
She inhales deeply before answering, “I lied and told him how you took great delight in telling me how you killed his brother, how you were looking forward to hearing him take his last breath. It worked and he left her alone.”
“And why was he beating on Zach?”
Again, her body tenses before quickly relaxing against me and I know I’m not going to like what I hear.
“Ellis was going on about wanting to see what I taste like, once I told him I taste like you,” she pauses and while her fire brings a smile to my face, it soon falls when she next speaks. “After that, he said he would slice my lips off and keep them in a jar.”
Of course he fucking did.
“It’ll never happen,” I tell her. “I’d rip his fucking head before I let him touch you.”
“You can’t know that for sure. Once he’s done with Harper, he’ll come for you and you might not have a choice.”
My hand falls from resting on her hair to the back of her neck and I knead my fingers down to the top of her spine.
“When it comes to you, I know everything for sure. Like I knew the day we first slept together, you were the only one I wanted to be with. I lost my head for a while when you were at college, but when you came home, I knew we were for life. My love for you doesn’t blind me, it makes everything so much clearer. Crystal fucking clear.”
Wetness seeps through my tee and onto my chest, but I don’t question her tears. I can’t think of how to express my love for her because most of the time, I don’t understand it myself. I go with it from day to day and enjoy every single second. If it is fate we are to be parted when Ellis comes for us, I would still have had more than most people find in their entire lifetimes.
His One Regret: Sons Of Lost Souls MC Book Four Page 5