“We’ve identified two compounds that we know are run by this low life gang. The goal is to divide and conquer tonight. We’ll split up into two different teams, each going to a separate location. Damon spoke to Bull earlier today and he gave us a quick bomb making tutorial on how to fuck up some snakes. We’re not overzealous in our goal for the night. This will not stop the Vibora’s from doing what they have been. It will only slightly derail them for a time. It’s no secret that our uncle has had some business with these … vermin. It’s also no surprise that our uncle doesn’t give a shit about the mayhem and misery that Ricardo causes in his wake. It’s our problem to fix, and so we will.”
“What’s the plan? We gonna make some fireworks happen on these bitches?” Cobra speaks up, chuckling at the end. I’ve been around this motherfucker for a while now and yet he still seems to shock me with his lack of maturity.
Amara doesn’t answer his question, instead she continues. “We’ll split into two different teams. Cobra, Widow and Chaz are with me. The rest of you go with Damon.” I find it inter-esting that Amara is splitting us up based on our old clubs. I would’ve thought she’d want me to be as far away from her as possible, but I guess not.
Damon interjects, “From that point we’ll have a man set the bombs up. We’ve gotten Intel from some of Onyx’s girls that there’s going to be parties going on tonight. I know you all may have been leery of her coming here, but she’s kept up her end of the bargain. Onyx’s girls are going to skedaddle the hell out of there before we light them up.”
“I’m naturally assuming that the girls who were with the Vibora’s are going to end up coming and staying with us.” Dixon speaks up, while Damon gives him a curt nod.
“Yes, they will. We’ll have a couple of club girls and the rest will be working for us. We’ll get a cut of the profits and they’ll have a sense of security.”
“Will we be able to pick and choose who’s a clubwhore?” Cobra asks, with a smirk dragging across his face.
“Is that really important right now? Focus!” Amara chas-tises him.
“I’m just saying, Onyx better not become a clubwhore because that bitch … she’s begging for my worm.”
“Jesus, Cobra!” Amara sticks her finger in her mouth, acting like she’s trying to gag herself. “You never stop with this shit.”
“And let all of this unique charm go to waste? Why, never!”
“You’re not charming. You’re revolting.” Amara looks over to her brother, “Where were we again?”
“I think we were about to tell everyone that after the bombs go off, we need to make sure we’re prepared. Make sure you’re packing heavy, brothers. Shit’s going down tonight. There’s just one more thing. We’re having some help from another gang. You’re all dismissed, but I need Widow to stay behind.”
Feeling like the kid who got called out by the principal, I sit and wait while our other brothers exit the room. Whatev-er’s happened must be pretty damn good for these guys to wanna talk to me alone. “Is this about me being late?”
“It wasn’t, but while we’re on the topic you might as well tell us.” Damon hisses, not pleased with my tardiness.
“I get it. I fucked up and I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be late, man. I just … I went to see Melody. Er, Rebel.” Damon’s scowl turns completely stoic as he listens. Whereas Amara looks like she’s seen a ghost. “You know I made that appointment under a fake name, well, that was today. I found out she didn’t just come here alone, Damon. She fuckin’ had my baby and drove her hundreds of miles away from me. I told her that I’ll be seeing her in a couple of days so we can discuss how this parenting thing is going to work. I refuse to not be in my little girl’s life. She deserves to know her father loves her, even if he hasn’t been around. I’ll tell ya tho, I wanna fuckin’ choke Melody for doing this shit.”
“Next time you decide to handle personal business, make sure it won’t interfere with the club. I’m glad your figuring shit out, but it can’t happen again.”
“We’re not here to talk about personal shit.” Amara speaks up. I can hear in her voice that she’s not comfortable. “We have a more pressing matter to discuss. One that we feel you need to be in the know about. Remember a couple weeks ago when Vinny showed up? He presented Damon and I with an envelope. You might not have been able to tell, but there were photographs in it. Incriminating ones of Rose.” Rose, she’s Damon and Amara’s younger sister.
“What do you mean incriminating? Rose is as sweet as pie. What, she into some kinky shit or somethin’?” It’s hard for me to believe that Rose and incriminating were just used in the same sentence.
Damon chuckles, “You sound as naïve as I did. Fuck, I thought the bastard photoshopped that shit until I called and spoke to her myself.”
“What?” I ask,
Amara whistles, bringing back my attention to her. “Rose is the leader of the Jackals, the vigilante gang. She’s…”
“The Pharaoh,” I say it for her, in total and complete disbelief. The Pharaoh is the one determined to bring down Rafael Ramirez from power. Jesus. What in the fuck is going on.
I have a feeling that I’m going to find out very soon.
Chapter 13
SOMETIMES MEMORIES SNEAK OUT OF MY EYES AND ROLL
DOWN MY CHEEKS.
-ANONYMOUS
Rebel
“Okay, slow down. You’re talking so fast that I can’t even understand you, and that’s saying something coming from me. What do you mean you saw a ghost? Ghost’s aren’t real. They only exist in children’s stories and nightmares.” Nikolai tells me, staring at me from the other side of his kitchen island.
As soon as Widow left, I drove straight here. I didn’t know where else to go to be honest. It just felt … right to come to Nikolai. I take in slow and deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Nikolai saw me in my shocked state and immediately made me sit down while he made me some chamomile tea. “Drink,” He commands, and I do. I take a sip of the hot liquid and breathe in slowly, internally telling myself that everything will be okay, even if I don’t believe it right this second.
“I have a past, Nikolai. One that I ran from, but of course you know that. You confronted me about my name change the other night … and now my past caught up to me – literal-ly.” I mutter it out, running my hand over my face. This feels like some twisted, fucked up nightmare if I’ve ever had one.
He furrows his brows together, walking around the island and places his palms against my cheeks. “What is it? You know you can share anything with me.” I listen to the way he demands me to tell him what’s happening, but yet how his tone manages to soothe me at the same time. He isn’t being some alpha mongrel right now. He’s being sincere, wanting to know what upset me so he can help. That, I believe deep down in my heart. I’ve been fighting feelings for Nikolai for such a long time, but right now … I feel something else entirely.
“You know that I left my past. I’m sure you know a lot about me since you must’ve gotten a private investigator or some sort of information about me. I left Utah a while back. Well, I left when I was pregnant and came here. Today I went to an appointment and Zoe’s father was my date. He confronted me, Nikolai.”
He moves his head slightly, and I know what he’s doing. He’s assessing the situation, waiting for me to tell him more. “He didn’t know about Zoe, or at least so I thought. Turns out, he knows about her. He’s known about her for … I don’t even know how long. He told me that we’ll be seeing each other soon to discuss custody. Not in those exact words, but more or less.”
“Is he a bad man?” His question surprises me. I almost expected him to ask if he should go and break his legs. But maybe mercenaries don’t do that.
“No, not a bad man. He was just a bad boyfriend.”
He moves his hand down to my shoulder, gently caressing me. “Ah. So, he must have cheated.”
“Bingo. 10 points for the hot Russian,” I mutter under my breath, looking away fro
m him as soon as I realize my thoughts slipped out of my mouth.
“Now I know you think I’m hot.” He smirks, running his thumb over the bottom of my chin.
“I never told you that you aren’t. I’m just not going to stroke your ego as much as you’d like.” I inform him, offering a small half smile.
“My ego will survive. Now, tell me what is really both-ering you. I can tell it isn’t the fact that he’s just shown up here. There is more to you being this distraught. In the time we’ve spent together, never have I seen your tears. This man makes you cry and that is unsettling.”
“Widow was the man that I thought I was going to marry. His childhood is much like mine, filled with grief and death. Then you add in disappointment on top of that. We bonded over our mutual experiences and became what we were. At the time, I thought we’d be together for a million years. Now, I look at him and see a stranger, a man that I barely recog-nize. My plan was to get up and escape the pain he was causing my heart, but now he’s just shown up to do it yet again.”
“From what you’ve told me he only has an interest in Zoe.”
“Until he doesn’t anymore. Trust me, I know him better than he knows himself.”
“You’re worried that he’ll break your heart again.” Nikolai vocalizes my fears, and as he does, he looks at me in a different light. “He can only do that if you let him close enough. Tell me, Rebel, do you want to be back in his bed?”
I shoot up from my stool, “How can you ask me some-thing like that? The man cheated on me with my best friend!
He betrayed my trust in every single way that he could. He did things that he swore he wouldn’t!” The tears come flowing out yet again, years of anger and frustration seep out. I don’t know how I did it back then, but I was able to not get upset over his unfaithfulness. I held my shit together because I had my baby growing inside me and I couldn’t be upset. If I did …who knows what could have happened. There are so many possibilities, one of them being stressed enough that I could’ve had a miscarriage. I couldn’t bear the thought of that – or the thought of him at the time. So, I kept my mind busy and my body focused.
Nikolai clenches his fists together and I watch the fury wash over his face. If I was doubting the fact Nikolai would ask me if I wanted him to break Widow’s kneecaps before, now I don’t. “You are a woman that deserves to be treasured, spoiled and appreciated in every form and fashion. He doesn’t realize what he did, losing the best thing that would ever come into his life.”
I don’t think. Instead, I solely act, rushing over to him and kiss him like they do in the movies. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself into him, needing his lips to lock around mine. To feel the way he’s only been able to make my body react. With Nikolai, I feel alive and that’s something I have never felt before him. Nikolai makes me feel things in an entirely different light.
His lips flutter over mine, meeting my fiery passion. He wants me as much as I want him, and that’s obvious now. I’ve held myself back for so long and I don’t want to anymore. I want to see where things can lead with this stranger, and I want hope and pray that this man won’t hurt me in the ways that I’ve been hurt before.
I want to believe that Nikolai is a better man than Widow, but only time will tell.
Chapter 14
SHE NEEDED A HERO, SO IT’S WHAT SHE BECAME.
-ANONYMOUS
Widow
“I still can’t fucking believe your sister is the Pharaoh.” I whisper to Damon, nestled safely behind an old barrel at our vantage point. It turns out, Amara really didn’t want me with her. So much so that she told me the wrong time we were leaving and left my ass. So, here I am with Damon.
“Shit, if you keep saying that everyone will know. I didn’t even know until Vinny showed us the pictures. Rose always acts like she’s studying … travelling the fucking world … when in reality she’s a terrorist.”
“No, she’s an opportunist.” I correct him, noting how he’s looking at this as a negative thing. “She obviously doesn’t like your uncle and wants him out of the picture. That isn’t a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it’s pretty fucking smart if you ask me. She’s able to get massive amounts of Intel from the inside loop of being his family, while hiding under a mask – literally. If you guys really want Rafael dethroned, or what-ever you call it, she’s your ticket to make it happen.”
“You sound so sure that Rose has it in her.”
“Why don’t you?” My question comes out callous because I don’t understand why Damon is being so critical of his own sister. It’s obvious she’s been doing this for a while and we’ve all heard about the Jackals. Honestly, they’re like that vigilante gang in Nashville. I think their name is Purga-tory, but they have the same concept of doing whatever they want, whenever they want it. The only difference is that Purgatory goes after people who have committed atrocious crimes and serve them their own form of judgement, usually in the form of a slow and painful death.
“It’s weird to imagine her … of all people doing what she does. She’s so innocent. Always has been.”
“No, brother. Your little sis has been wearing a mask, her entire life. This shows that she’s not the person you thought she was. She’s much stronger than you ever imagined, and she’ll need you to show her respect when the time comes.”
“Jesus. Are you her council or some shit?”
“No, Damon. I’m just telling you the same thing I’d need to hear if the roles were reversed. Just know that with your family, you can accomplish anything. All of you are as strong as brass.” I finish speaking and Damon pulls his phone out, looking back over to me.
“Dixon has finished setting the place. The show’s about to start,” I peer up from behind the barrel as Damon does the same. It’s the dead of night and out of nowhere I see the building that the Vibora’s use go up into flames. The black night sky fills with a variety of reds and oranges, and from the light the fire gives us, I see one huge motherfucker running our way.
“Fuck! He almost blew up,” I chuckle, putting my hand on the barrel to support myself. Damon rises and so do I, and yet again he looks to his phone.
“Amara’s good. We need to scan the area and make sure there are no survivors.” He states.
I pull my guns free and lead my Prez into battle, shooting down every motherfucker who comes our way. I thought the bomb would take care of the majority of our problems, but I’ve never been more wrong in my life. Just like nasty snakes, they must have a nest underground. I see a couple of people posted by the front door and my guess is that they must be Jackals. In the meantime, I see more snakes come out of nowhere, catching me off guard. I shoot two fuckers with both hands and realize my clip is out of bullets. Fuck! This is the worst timing in the world.
I move to the right and hide behind some sort of mainte-nance shed while I reload, and just as I turn, I feel a gun pressed against my back. “Move an inch, and I’ll blow your bloody heart to bits.” I don’t mistake this girl’s accent. She’s Australian, there’s no doubt about it. It’s hard for me to believe that she’d be with the snakes … so she must be a Jackal.
I whip around, trying to disarm, her but when a bullet goes off, I realize that she’s tougher than she looks. Upon seeing her … I notice she isn’t a Jackal … or maybe she is. Her mask is different, and I mean different because she’s wearing a sphynx mask. Who the hell is this woman, and why is she dressed different than her comrades?
A stinging sensation shoots through my arm and I now see that this bitch shot me! What in the actual fuck?!
“You good?” I hear Hawk’s voice and turn towards him. “Does it look like I’m good, brother? This naughty kitten fuckin’ shot me!”
“To be fair, I told this arsehole if he moved I would.”
“You said you’d shoot my heart, not my arm.” I snarl back at her. She’s at least a foot shorter than me, but doesn’t even flinch as I scream in her face.
“No matter, I’ll chew your hear
t up and spit it out for dinner, love.” Fuck, I’ve never had a woman speak to me with such fire before. There’s something invigorating and annoying about it at the exact same time.
Hawk takes a step towards me and looks at my wound. Thankfully, the fire is lighting up the area a bit. “It’s just a flesh wound. I’ll sew you up later.” Just like that he’s gone, out of sight and I hear shooting.
“Well, I’ll see you later buttercup. I have some mayhem to create.”
I grab her by the shoulder and immediately regret my decision as she twists my arm into a lock, causing pain to radiate through my wound. “Fuck, woman! I just want to know your name.”
I hear her laugh behind her mask, “Tania, but you can call me Sphynx.”
Chapter 15
THE UNEXPECTED IS USUALLY WHAT BRINGS THE
UNBELIEVABLE.
-QUOTES ‘ND NOTES
Widow
Tania, or Sphynx … I’m not really sure what to call her at this point. Well, she’s unlike any other woman I’ve ever been around. She’s got attitude and lots of it. She’s the type of woman who can defend herself, which is makin’ my cock twitch. Then I have to consider how she shot me, and I didn’t wrap my hand around her tiny little neck until she couldn’t take another breath. I have a hard time understanding why I didn’t. It’s not like I haven’t killed anyone before. For fuck’s sake, it’s how I got my road name – Widow, because I’m a widow maker. I don’t discriminate, whether you’re a man or a woman, one way or another your significant other will end up without you. Especially if you piss me off. And here this woman is, pissing me off … but in a way that turns me on.
“You look like you’re havin’ a wet dream standin’ up,” Hawk cackles as we stand in front of the incinerating compound.
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