Cami’s scream rattles me, and when I look over to her, she’s is begging Tank to stop. We move and ping pong throughout the room until we land in the hallway. Tank sees the opportunity and tosses me down the stairs.
“Outside! I don’t want my fucking house destroyed!” Matt is screaming as Tank and the now recovered Victor force me out the door.
We end up in the backyard where Tank holds my arms back while Victor plows his fists into my stomach. I am clenching my muscles tightly, trying to take the blow as best as possible. With Tank being a former wrestler, he’s good with his holds, and he could do it for hours. I try to rack my brain and think back to when Reggie was working with Jake and me in the garage. We were stupid kids and I didn’t take him too seriously, though; now I’m paying for it.
Ronnie is standing behind Victor, trying to negotiate as best he can to get Victor to stop. Ronnie is no match for any of us, so he’s using what he’s got to at least distract Victor enough to give me a reprieve.
Suddenly, the back door flies open and the very angry Matt Ryker comes strolling to where we are. His gun is resting in his palm and the look of utter hate masks his face.
When we were at the cemetery, I said nothing regarding Cami, and now I can’t deny anything. I can’t deny that I love her and should have been with her from the beginning. Let’s face it, after tonight, my family will be destroyed when they find out about me being involved with Carter. Cami will be all I have left. I should have come clean, I want to tell them, but something always stopped me. I’m not sure what that something has been, but it has caused me to choke on my words and they’ve remained strangled inside my throat.
“Okay, son,” Matt says, breaking up any other thought. “I wanna know what’s going on in my crew. I wanna know why I can’t trust anyone anymore. I mean, you’re all fucking traitors!”
Matt walks right up to my body and Victor comes around, helping Tank hold me. While my knees are dig into the gravel and my shoulders ache, the taste of copper fills my mouth as blood drips from it and the cut above my eye. My body feels like it’s been put through a meat grinder, yet I keep my wits about me.
When Matt motions to Tank, I’m suddenly struck on the back of the head. Dazed, I can feel my body being drug behind the garage, though I’m really not sure. The earth is spinning on me and my stomach is nauseous.
The dirt is cool under my skin, and when I finally get some sense back, Tank is tying my wrists together with rope and fastening them to the fence post. Victor is holding down my legs. I’m trying to thrash, jerking my body as best as I can, but it’s getting me nowhere.
Matt leans over me and gets close to my face, whispering, “This is what I do with liars, Jeremy.”
A shop rag is then draped over my face and the sound of the hose turns on. As the freezing cold water connects with my skin, my throat immediately rejects the water. I begin to gag and spurt water from my mouth. My lungs are burning and I feel like I am drowning. The water is slowly taking all the air I have in my body; I’m done for. My chest is burning with extreme pain, and at any moment, I will not be able to breathe.
I stop jerking and fighting, trying to find some peace with my death instead. I detach myself from the moment and think of all I’ve tried to do and all I failed. I’m a failure and this is my punishment. Like the old saying goes, you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. Well, the Rykers are my fire, and the pain inside my chest cavity is my burn. This life has taken too much from me—my family and Cami. It’s not worth it anymore, none of it is. I’m ready to be done. I’m ready to die.
I’m not aware of how much time passes with me like that. It feels like hours and seconds all at the same time. Eventually, I don’t hear her, but I feel Cami’s body lying on top of mine. She rolls me to the side and all the pain connects back to my body. I lean over and cough and puke out the water.
“Matt!” she screams. “Stop!” Her breathing is labored while she leans against my back as I lie on my side, trying to get the air my body so desperately needs.
“Camilla, get back in the house!” Matt screams at her, but she doesn’t budge.
“NO! Don’t do this to me again! You can’t take him, too!” Her voice is ripping through the air and bringing me back to life. I need to protect her.
I lie still on my side, thinking of my next plan of attack. When I wiggle on my restraints, I notice the rope has loosened, giving me the ability to slide my hands through. Tank gets off my legs and begins pulling on Cami while she screams for him to stop.
I take another deep breath and summon the beast yet again. With all my might, I yank my wrist from the rope. The burn of my skin stings momentarily as the knot gives way. My hands slide out and I’m able to bring them up, though.
I lean forward before Victor can react and slug him on the side of the head. He falls to the ground immediately, incapacitated from my hard blow. Without hesitation, I quickly roll to my knees then my feet and attack Tank. He comes at me the same way he did before, only this time, I am fully ready for him. As soon as he dips his shoulder, I raise my booted foot and kick him under the chin. As his body falls back, stunned by the blow, I stand over him then ram my fist in the side of his head. Tank is out cold, maybe even dead, but I don’t give a fuck. Then the click of Matt’s gun stops me in my tracks.
When I turn on my heels, I’m now staring down the long barrel of Matt’s forty-five caliber revolver. My fists are clenched, I’m covered from head to toe in mud, and I’m soaking wet. However, the only thing I can think about is Cami and getting her away from him safely.
Cami doesn’t hesitate when she comes to my side and clutches my balled fist. The feel of her warm, delicate skin awakens me and I yearn for something more. I want to have that something I’ve never had before and that’s hope for a promising future. Knowing Presley’s end from life, my own path will never be easy and evil could take it all away faster than ever. Therefore, I need to live my life to the fullest, and I want Cami to be there with me.
“You weren’t being truthful with me other day, Camilla. Why didn’t you tell me about him?” Matt looks slightly hurt at Cami’s secrecy, but the look is short lived when he meets my gaze. “And you…” My body hardens at the sound of his voice and the sight of his revolver in his hand, “You had many opportunities to say something to me and you chose to keep your relationship a secret. Why?”
“You’re asking me why when you have a gun shoved in my face? Do you really need to ask? I didn’t want her to be a part of this life anymore than you did. The day at the cemetery was the first time I saw her in months,” I admit and feel the persona I created whenever I was with Matt fall to pieces around me. I’m tired of hiding—I’m tired of the game. “But I never stopped thinking of her. I chose to be away from her because I thought she would be safe.” I look down at Cami and see she’s barely keeping herself upright. “It was a mistake. It was a mistake to choose this life over her and her well-being.” I take a deep breath and hope my face doesn’t get blown off with my next words. “I want out. I’m done. As of tonight, I’m done.”
Matt looks stunned, although he keeps his gun trained on me as he looks over to Ronnie. Ronnie doesn’t say a word, just fixes his gaze on his feet. Ronnie wants out just as much, but he doesn’t have the balls to leave. He never will. I keep my eyes connected with Matt’s when his gaze moves back to mine. I want him to know how serious I am about my true feelings. I want him to know I am done.
“Ronnie,” Matt snaps and Ronnie stands at attention. “Go inside. This will be hard to see.” Ronnie tries to speak, but I look over to him and nod him off. I want this over with. As soon as Ronnie disappears around the garage, Matt releases the hammer of his revolver and lowers his arm. “There’s only two ways out of this life, and I doubt you can come up with that much cash for the first.”
“How much?” I ask, knowing it will take most of what I’ve got saved up to free myself from this hell.
“Oh, a business man. I like that.” Mat
t runs his hand through his hair and tucks his revolver back into his jeans. “But it will cost you more than money to gain my blessing. I have to make sure you’ll never turn into an informant, and I have to do that by putting you through a hell you couldn’t possibly fathom.”
“What do you want, Matt?” Cami looks between both of us and starts to cry. She knows something horrible is about to happen, and I sense it myself. Maybe she’s seen him play this game before.
“Your first payment to me will cost you one hundred fifty thousand dollars.” I’m stunned where I stand. That is close to the amount I have stored in the safe. That is all the money I’ve been saving to get my family out and now I have to use it to get myself out. “Secondly, I want Carter Brown dead. I want it slow and painful. I want it bloody.” I can do that and it would give me more pleasure than it should. “Finally, I am going to test your will. And I’m going to do it the only way a man should be tested—I’m sending you to prison.”
I’m almost knocked off my feet when Cami, interrupts, “No! You can’t do that!”
“Yes. Yes, I can, my dear. It’s the only way.” When Matt looks smugly to her, I get instantly angry.
“How?” Cami shouts back at him.
“Camilla, you don’t get to be where I am in this game without having certain people in your pocket. With a single phone call, I will have a judge, investigator, and half the police force doing whatever I ask. This town is corrupt and I’ve capitalized on that.”
“You can’t do that!” she shouts back at him again.
I am ready to lunge at him and rip his spine out. My body has never been ready to kill as much as it is now.
“Yes, I can, Camilla. After all, your father had the same opportunity.” Cami is speechless and doesn’t have a single thing to say. She is standing there, listening to his words, but I can tell she’s finding it hard to comprehend. Her father was killed working for Matt; that is all I really know about him, and judging by the look on Cami’s face, that’s what she thought, too.
“What?” The tears form and fall down her cheeks.
“Your father wanted out, too. He received the same three stipulations, and prison was hard on him, but he survived.” Matt is very matter of fact and cold-hearted with his words.
“My dad never went to jail.”
“Well, the man you knew as your dad never went to prison, but your real dad did.”
What did he just say?
This night has been an impossible one. After getting attacked, threatened, and stabbed, I was subjected to stitches given to me by Victor and Tank, much the way I sewed Jeremy’s knife wound. Then I had to watch Jeremy almost drown from Matt’s makeshift waterboarding set-up. However, the last five minutes have been the biggest stunner of the night. My uncle is revealing to me that the man I knew as my father is not my real dad. I don’t believe it for a second, though. Not one second.
“I don’t believe you!” I scream at him as I feel Jeremy’s hand on my back. He is standing tall and strong beside me while I am weak, falling apart bit by bit. Jeremy, in the face of adversity, is remaining my rock, however. He’s remaining solid.
“Believe it, Camilla. Why did you think your mother hated me so much? I chose the life over you and her, so she moved on with my brother. Then she married him and had Ricardo.” Matt is staring me straight in the eye, and I’ve never known him to lie. Would he lie to me about this? Is this a sick game he’s playing with my head?
“You were a baby when I went to prison. Your mother refused to wait for me and instead found comfort in my brother’s arms. They had a comfortable life for a while, but soon it was my help they needed and there was only one way to get it. That’s how you ended up in Michigan, love.”
I’m so angry I want to scream! “Don’t call me that! You’re a liar!”
“Camilla, you know me better than that.” He steps to me, but I take a step back. I won’t let him comfort me ever again. Jeremy wraps me in his arms, protecting me from my uncle or dad, or whoever he is. The man who has destroyed my life. That’s who he is. “I wanted out, Camilla. For your mother and you, I wanted to get out. And I did the very thing I just asked of Jeremy to get out of this life. It was hard, impossible at times, however I made it through. But by the time I got out, your mother had moved on, so I took the opportunity to move to Michigan. That’s why I got started here. You’re mother discarded me and I had nothing left. I saw you were being cared for and loved, so I left and didn’t look back.”
My side is killing me and my eyes are burning from all the tears running down my face. The man who raised me, who I thought was my father, wasn’t at all. He was a distraction for my mother, only because she couldn’t survive Matt going to prison. She couldn’t wait.
“Now, back to business. Jeremy, if you can do everything I ask, then you’re out. I will let you out and never speak to you again. It’s either survive this or die; that’s your only way out.”
Matt is a sick, twisted man, and I want to kill him myself. I want to rip the gun from his hand and shoot him between the eyes. He’s taken so much from me, and now, I will have to risk losing someone else I love.
Tank and Victor start to stir on the ground. They stumble to their feet, shaking their heads and rubbing their wounds. They quickly move to stand behind Matt when he speaks again, “So, Jeremy, what will it be?”
When Jeremy looks down to me, I can see him breaking inside. I know he’s a mess of emotions right now, but he’s always been good at keeping his façade. He turns from me and glares back to Matt. “I’ll accept, with one condition.”
“That’s not how the game is played, my friend.”
“That’s how my game is played because I have your cash. I can give it to you tonight.” My heart breaks for Jeremy. He’s spent years saving up enough money to get his family away from the horrors of this place. Now, he has to turn it all over to save his own life. “I will kill Carter. Believe me; I have no problem with that. And I will go to prison, but when I’m out, so is Cami.”
Stunned again, I look up to Jeremy and see he is stone cold serious.
“Like hell, Jeremy.” Matt moves closer to Jeremy and Jeremy steps up to him.
I am being pulled behind Jeremy’s body as he shifts into his protective mode. I peer around his side and see Tank and Victor have shifted into kill mode, standing alongside Matt. The tension is getting thick again, and I fear at any moment all hell will break loose again.
“She’s never wanted to be a part of this life, and with you around, she will always be involved. You know that, Matt. I’m not only buying my freedom, I’m buying hers as well. Because, once I finish this, I’m taking Cami and we are gone. Forever.” I’ve never heard Jeremy so assertive. My heart melts. He’s proving to my sadistic “father” that I’m the one he wants and he will do all of this to save me from this life. And I will go. Wherever Jeremy wants to go, I will be standing right beside him.
When Matt looks into Cami’s eyes, I can see his heart break a little. He lost her once, yet she came back. When I’m done in prison, however, he will lose her for good.
“Fine, but you’ll be watched, Evans. Every single move that’s made, someone will be watching you. If you try to leave without doing your time or paying me my money, you will be hunted and killed. I won’t stop until your lifeless head is in my hands.”
I know very well that Matt will follow through with his threat and kill me. I look back to him and nod my head. “It’s done.” We shake hands, and I have now sealed my fate by making a deal with the devil. I only hope I can survive to actually have a life outside the evilness that surrounds me.
When I lift Cami up and carry her to my car, she nestles into the seat, whimpering from pain and sadness. My heart breaks for her. She knows what I will be risking once I go to prison. Not only will it be my life, but I will be exposing the secret I’ve been keeping from my family. I will possibly be losing all of them, but what choice do I have? I made the horrible decisions to get into this life to
save my family, and all it’s done is get one of them killed and me sent to prison.
I don’t doubt Matt’s connections within the system. He’s been in Michigan for a long time and has taken what he’s learned as well as the feelings of vengeance from Cami’s mother’s betrayal to start an empire of his own. He was smart in choosing Sulfur Heights because here he could fly under the radar just enough to build his underworld. Fast forward fifteen years, and now Matt Ryker is the living epitome of a drug lord in the southern part of Michigan.
He also got in good with the owner of three major casinos in Michigan. The owner happens to have a nasty drug habit and a love for prostitutes, therefore Matt made sure he was well taken care of. In return, Matt Ryker has been able to launder his money through the three casinos, cleaning it, and no one is the wiser. Even if someone from the government tries to catch on, Matt is ahead of the game. He has an accountant on staff. One who was very, very good with money, who also had dark pleasures and exotic tastes, which involve the bdsm lifestyle.
Matt is in command and in control of everything. Every once in a while, there would be a discrepancy with turf boundaries, but not too many men have had the balls to take on the Rykers. They all knew the aces Matt held in his pocket. Of the many cards, one was me and the other, Carter.
As a vicious drug lord, Matt definitely fits the bill. However, as a loving father, he absolutely has not and I was just as floored when I heard Matt admit he is Cami’s biological father. He showed a side I have never seen and admitted to me through his eyes that he has one weakness. And that weakness is Cami. Matt has been aware she was safer not knowing who he really is to her, and until tonight, it was a well-kept secret.
It all makes sense now. Matt always wanted Cami to be over at his house. He wanted her there after she had taken care of her mother. That way he could keep an eye on her without anyone being the wiser. Mostly, the men who hung out at the Ryker house were working for him in one sense or the other.
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