Game Changer (Hell's Saints Motorcycle Club)

by Marinaro, Paula

  I fumbled with the keys as I felt huge drops of water begin to form in the corner of my eyes and run freely down my cheeks. I looked down as the tears began to drop on my white tank and wondered briefly why they were pink. How much was I bleeding? My mouth was starting to swell and I had been tasting blood all the way home. I took the edge of my shirt and spit blood into it on my way to the bathroom. This was not good.

  I looked into the mirror. My blue eyes were so dark they looked purple. The side of my face was beginning to swell. Still sobbing, I washed my face carefully and threw the white tee shirt in the hamper along with my dirty blood stained jeans. Then I thought again and threw them out into the trash. I wanted no reminders of this night. I picked up the cardboard box that had nearly cost me my life and painfully made my way up the stairs.

  It was a full moon and I jumped at every long shadow cast by my familiar worn out furniture. Still hesitant to turn on any lights, I made my way hiccupping with newly shed tears towards the back of the house and into the kitchen. I needed a shot of booze for my nerves and a bag of ice for my face. Mostly, I needed to get a damn hold of myself and stop crying. But I just couldn’t seem to manage it.

  Carrying the box towards the table, I stopped when I saw him.

  The stuff of nightmares.

  There was someone very big and scary shadowed against the outline of my kitchen cabinet. He saw me at the same time I saw him. The badass biker who wanted my thirty grand or me dead and he was two days early. I let out a shriek! He moved fast but I was faster. I turned and ran down the hallway knocking down chairs in his path as I went. I heard him swear loudly right behind me as one came crashing down in front of him. I felt something swipe at me and miss and for a moment I was glad I didn’t haven’t much on. It meant that he couldn’t grab my shirt to pull me back. I was almost at the door when he got me.

  With steel arms around me, he pulled me tight against him. I went crazy. I bucked and kicked and bit and scratched. He just held on tighter avoiding my kicks and blows. I knew I wasn’t doing much damage. I had managed, however, to push my bra up to around my neck with all that fighting and I felt his hands move to my breast squeezing.

  This struck a terror of a different kind in me and I suddenly went still. My back against a solid wall of muscle and my breasts being firmly kneaded by a big warm hand. I moved my hands to cover his and attempted to pry them off. When I felt each one tweak a nipple, I felt a rush of wet go straight through to my panties and I was so ashamed I wanted to die.

  “Please.” I whispered.

  “Please what baby?” he whispered against my hair still holding on to me.

  “Please let me go.”

  “Please let me go, Diego.” He said against my hair.

  “Diego?”

  “Yeah, baby. Diego.”

  “Please, Diego. Let me go.”

  Suddenly I felt my lace bra fall back onto my bruised breasts and he turned me around to look at me. His face went from mild amusement to instant shock. He took in my whole face and put two big hands on the side of my head. He tilted my face to the light and I heard his sharp intake of breath.

  “WHO?” He roared and it felt like an accusation.

  I jerked my face out of his big hands and looked into his black eyes.

  That was a good question, I thought to myself. Who really had done this to me?

  The answer made me sad and I smiled slightly at the irony. I looked him straight in the eye and said, “I did this to myself.”

  Then I walked straight past him to get the money.

  I needed to get some clothes on, but I mostly just needed this day to be over. I decided to forgo the extra two seconds it might have taken me to go and throw on a pair of sweats. Plainly speaking, I just didn’t give a shit. Besides the bastard had already seen everything I was showing anyway. I stood with my back towards him as I unlocked the metal box containing the envelope that held the money. My outstretched arm was shaking so much that I thought the cash was going to jump right out of the envelope onto the floor. But it didn’t.

  Diego was standing against the door jamb with his arms crossed against his massive chest staring at my face. He didn’t make a move towards the money so I jabbed at him again with the envelope. My head was throbbing, I was bone tired and on the verge of tears again. I wanted him to take the damn money and leave. I really didn’t want to vomit in front of this man but it was dangerously close to happening.

  I headed towards him, all bloody and bruised. I was wearing nothing but blood stained pink lace and my hair was partly matted with blood and draped around me like a weird cape. My headache was making me woozy, which made it impossible to walk a straight line. Waves of nausea kept swirling around me and I fought with everything I had to maintain some sort of dignity.

  I was the undead.

  He watched me carefully as I approached him. As he unfolded his arms, he let them rest casually on his hips, his eyes never leaving my face. Avoiding his gaze, I reached down and grabbed his hand. He gave it up willingly. I pressed the envelope deep within his big paw, looked right into his eyes and said,

  “This is finished.”

  With as much dignity as I could muster I wobbled past him, down the hallway and into my bedroom. I twisted the knob till I heard the cheap lock give a satisfied “click” and sat down on the edge of my bed to take stock. I trusted that having gotten what he came for, and two fucking days early to boot, Diego could find his own way out. I forced myself to relax, summoned what was left of my courage and gently began to examine my face. With infinite gentleness, I pushed determinedly past the tenderness searching for fractures on my cheeks, jaw and nose. Thankfully, I found none. Thank goodness for one mean ass, quick thinking sistah, I wasn’t sporting a split skull.

  Because of the extreme nausea, I went through a quick check list in my mind. I wasn’t disoriented, definitely had no memory loss, hadn’t lost consciousness and my speech was fine. I hadn’t eaten since supper last night and supposed that was where the nausea was coming from. I tore off my underwear, pulled on a pair pajama shorts and a tank top. Then I started to crawl into bed. That’s when the first wave of nausea hit me fill force and I ran to the bathroom and proceeded to dry heave my way into what I hoped would be oblivion.

  Chapter 6

  Diego pulled himself away from the wall and watched Raine make her way to the bedroom. The envelope of cash still in his hand. Friday, he thought, she was supposed to go get this on Friday. What the fuck had happened? He had worked this to keep her safe and it fucking all blows up.

  Twenty minutes after the cops left in disgust with Jamie refusing to go to the hospital or file any charges, Gunner was back and he had brought a few brothers with him. All it took was seeing them to make Jamie give it all up. And the “all” was the mother lode.

  There had been about five hundred grand in cash, four nines, a good amount of uncut coke and a shit load of H hidden in that shit hole. As to who he fucked over to acquire that tit stock, Jamie sang that tune like a sweet canary. That took about fifteen minutes to put together. The rest of the hour was spent teaching Jamie exactly what it meant to hold out and then spit in the face of the Hell’s Saints. No one bothered to check if he was still breathing when they left. But it was doubtful.

  Given the amount of cash, guns and drugs, it took a couple of days to sort out shit and find out exactly who else Jamie was dealing with. Diego had come up from another charter to see what the hell was going on. A lot of it came from their territory. Not the drugs, that was the Los Rojos smack, but the money the Saints definitely had a part in.

  Today at church they had discussed Raine and Claire. Not sure how deeply they were involved in this whole shit storm, Diego had Gunner put out some feelers. When he reported out, the general consensus was that Claire wasn’t a bag bitch, but just another stupid little piece that got caught up with the wrong guy.

  They knew from their people that Raine had driven Claire to the hospital right after she had taken her fr
om the junkie’s shit hole. They knew about the bogus police report and that Claire was in rehab. They knew that Raine lived in a shitty little shanty on the outside of town that had belonged to her grandmother and that there was no extra floating around. They knew where she shopped for groceries and that her car was 13 years old. They knew she was a pediatric nursing student who had just finished up with honors. They knew she didn’t fuck with the drugs she had legal access to. They knew she was clean.

  The vote was taken and the shit with Claire and her junkie boyfriend was considered a settled issue. The only thing that remained was to let Raine know and when Diego said he would “take care of that” the members of the Hell’s Saints smirked thinking they knew exactly what that meant.

  On his part, Diego couldn’t get Raine out of his mind. He got hard every time he thought of her. Really unbelievably gorgeous, she was that. Every guy in that fucking kitchen held his breath when they saw her. Brave too. Christ, just walking into that room took some guts. Then as cool as anything, she had put herself between her sister and a loaded gun. Tight little body, when he held her against him. Plenty of long dark hair, smooth tanned skin, and deep blue eyes. Her little sister not bad either, as Gunner pointed out several times. He had called them exotic little pieces and Diego had to agree.

  There was some other information that Diego had gone after but that was personal. He had paid a lot for the file and it had Gino Abiatti’s name on it. As soon as Jamie let it out that the piece of shit holding Raine’s money had beaten and raped her, Abiatti was a dead man. Knowing that Friday night, Raine was going to be putting herself in the path of this psycho, Diego had put a plan in place to have him taken care of him before that could happen. But Raine going there early, for whatever reason, had fucked up his plan. And Gino had hurt her again. Abiatti had a lot to look forward to, because Diego was gonna make sure he spent a whole lot of fucking time dying.

  He picked up his cell thinking, better late than never.

  Chapter 7

  I laid my head on the cool tile after some totally nonproductive retching. Ass up, head under the toilet, clutching my stomach. Between the throbbing in my head, the hurt in my face and the pain in my stomach I thought I was going to die. The next wave of nausea hit me and I was clutching the sides of the toilet dry heaving my innards out when I felt a blessedly cool cloth on my forehead. For one insane desperate moment I let my head lean against it and memories of my mom came washing over me

  “Here drink this.” Said a voice that was definitely not my mom.

  A glass of something cold was gently pressed against my lips. Thickly shaved ice and water coated my throat and it tasted like heaven. I knew who was standing next to me, but I was too exhausted to give a shit or even wonder at the absurdity of it.

  Shaking, I handed the glass back to him. When he reached down, folded me in his arms and carried me to my bed, I went with it. He gently covered my hot dry body with the cool sheet. Then he held out a small white pill that I recognized as a valium.

  “This will help you sleep.”

  And because I so wanted to end this day, and I knew that the little white pill would help that to happen, I took it and closed my eyes.

  I woke hours later to a moonlit room with something warm touching my stomach. It was light and feathery, just enough to wake me up but not enough to keep me awake. I started to drift back to sleep. Sudden realization hit me and I shrank against the wall. My scream came out like a whimper and I realized distantly that I was still punchy from the drug I had taken.

  He put his two fingers gently to my mouth and said, “Shhh, easy baby.”

  My whole body stiffened and I put my hands out to stop him. He pulled me fast against him and wound his hand in my hair.

  “Relax, if I was gonna do you, it would have already happened.” Then he paused and added, “Many, many times over.”

  I stopped breathing and willed my mind to bring me somewhere else.

  “Look at me, Raine.” He tightened his hold on my hair and pulled my face towards him. His black eyes smiled down at me and there were two dimples denting the light scruff on his face.

  I got very still then, reaching back in the defenses of my mind and did as I was told. I looked into his eyes and then I watched him watch me. His eyes touching every corner of my face. He took his thumb and ran it gently across my lips and when I instinctively ran the tip of my tongue across it, his eyes grew dark and he moved in closer. His eyes moved to my mouth and then his lips slowly followed. He rained soft little kisses on the sides of my mouth and that I didn’t mind at all. I began to respond to the gentleness. He began to make gentle circles on my stomach with his hand. I arched slightly against him and he moved over me, pressing his lips deep against mine opening me to him. I felt instant an instant burst of sharp pain and pulled away hard.

  “What is it?’ He had stopped the kiss dead in its tracks.

  “My lip.” I whispered.

  “Show me.” He whispered back.

  I reached up and rolled down my bottom lip gently exposing the ragged cut that I knew was there. I released my lip and watched. He watched too, he watched to make sure I didn’t pull back when his big body moved over mine. He reached for something from the bedside. Then he rolled back over on his side, his hand on my waist and the other hand moving to my mouth. I felt it before I saw it. The cold clean sensation of the sliver of ice sliding up and down the sore place on the inside of my lip felt so wonderful I sighed against it. The remainder of the valium working its way back into my system.

  “That’s it baby, let it work its magic. Close your eyes, nothing else is going to hurt you tonight.” He was saying from somewhere far away….

  I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. So nice…so nice of him. So nice…

  My thoughts began to drift together as I fell into a soft gentle sleep. But not before reaching for his hand, holding it lightly in mine.

  “Thank you.” I whispered through the haze.

  Diego pulled me close, “Sleep baby.”

  And I did.

  Chapter 8

  When he heard her breath grow even and felt her body mold into his, he pulled her closer. He felt her warm and soft against his chest and smoothed her hair. She smelled like spring, clean and fresh and she felt even better. He wondered what it would be like, being loved by a woman like this.

  He had seen the damage up close, the torn lip, the swollen eye, the bruises covering her chin, chest and neck. She had taken a pretty bad beating. It was because of him, that monster had wailed on her. He had put her in harm’s way.

  If that wasn’t enough, Diego had broken into her house, waited for her in the dark, chased her, fondled her and taken all her money. He had scared her, and not just a little. He knew terror. He had seen it in her eyes when she first saw his shadow and then later when she had woken to him. He had caused the fast beating of her heart. And not in a good way.

  He had watched her retreat and go perfectly still. She had wrapped her arms around herself and pulled them in tight. Her eyes dark with fear, and something undefinable when she thought he was going to hurt her. Then she had responded so fully when he showed her gentleness and kindness that he wondered how little of it she had known. He was curious about her. He wondered what kind of woman she was. Then, instantly he knew. If he wasn’t real careful, she was the kind of woman a man could get lost in…….. For as long as they both shall live. She was that kind of woman.

  He held her and watched her sleep through the night. She slept fitfully, sighing and murmuring, alternately pressing against him and pulling away from him. He shifted her a couple of times to watch her face and had felt the soft skin of her belly warm the palm of his hand. The valium had cast its spell and she slept deeply. He wondered at the demons that invaded her dreams and he found that he didn’t want to leave her to them. As dawn began to break, the first rays of light touched her face revealing the deepening purples, reds, blacks and blues of the beating she had taken. The one he hadn’t st
opped.

  Diego had to go meet with his brothers to discuss the shit with Jamie. There was a lot that had gone down with that deal including the intel on the H and Coke. Shit that had to be revealed and boundaries that had to be redrawn because of it. Club business was fully on his mind when he left her sleeping. It wasn’t until two days later that Diego realized he had forgotten to tell Raine that she could consider all debts to the Hell’s Saints MC paid in full and by then, well, it was too late.

  Chapter 9

  I woke up alone with a fuzzy head and too many aches and pains to count. I ran the shower and stiffened when the hard sprays of water hit my skin. I noticed the beginnings of several more deep blue bruises where that bastard Gino had pummeled me. I wondered again if I had to worry about the junkie and the bastard tag teaming me one night in some dark parking lot. Then decided I was too fucking tired of it all to care.

  I got out of the shower and taking a towel wiped the steam from the mirror to peruse the damage. I looked at the inside of my mouth first because I was still worried about loose teeth. Blushing, I said to myself don’t think about him. Diego had too much of an effect on me to be safe.

  This time my nose was okay, but there was a swollen purple bruise under my left eye and I had streaks of red running through the whites of that same eye. My bottom lip was swollen and keeping with the color of the day, was blood red. There was a big patch of blue sitting like a soft plum on my chin. I had a deep gash on my hairline where the ring he was wearing caught me on that second slap. But all in all I was okay. Not bad, I thought, I had seen worse. And thanks to Gino, I had seen worse on me.

  After the shower, I made my way slowly to the kitchen. I needed coffee. I was still shaky and the first time around I spilled the grounds all over the counter. Then I got all weepy again, so I thought what the hell and I decided to give way to a full-fledged pity party. I figured I had earned it. Instead of making my bed or doing the laundry or engaging in the other millions of household stuff that needed doing, I headed to the garden.