by Nicola Jane
“Conner was a piece of shit, just like you. We’ve never been so well off. The power we have is more than you could ever have dreamed of,” shouts Tag.
“Ella was always a whore. Even as a child, she’d use those big eyes to get what she wanted. Can you blame a man going there?”
Anton steps forward, a growl leaving his throat. It’s a low blow to bring up Ella’s sexual abuse by Conner, just to get a reaction. Tag stops him. “Don’t. He wants you to kill him quickly. Stick to the plan.”
That’s my cue to step forward. Mystique stays by my side. “I told you I’d kill you,” I say. “The most satisfying thing,” I continue, pulling out my blade slowly, “Is now that I know just how you feel about bikers, it makes it all the more sweet. You’ll go to hell knowing that we’re all one big happy family.”
“Fuck you. Your bitch was worth it. That tight pussy begged to feel a real man. She quivered every time I fucked her. She was grateful.”
I breathe deep, trying to calm myself. I’ll kill him slowly and painfully, just like I promised. He’s trying to provoke me so that I make it quick.
I stab the blade into his hand. He can’t move it away because it’s bound by ropes to the arm of the chair. He grits his teeth, but doesn’t make a sound. “I love the feel of flesh breaking,” I sigh, satisfaction ripping through me.
“We should leave you to it,” says Anton. “The smell makes me want to join you.”
Footsteps retreat from the room. “Can I stay?” It’s Mystique. I nod once before getting lost in a frenzy of cutting.
Eventually, I slump against the wall. There’s blood coating my hands and arms. I’m short of breath and my mind is lost in visions of Mae and the men that hurt her. I feel a light touch on my forearm and I flinch before realizing that it’s Mystique. She takes the bloodied knife from my hand and steps towards Lorenzo. He passed out some time ago, the pain becoming too much for him; and now the blood loss will keep him weak and subdued until he bleeds to death.
I lean my head back against the damp wall and watch as Mystique lifts the knife and brings it down hard, plunging it into his chest. Lorenzo sucks in a breath, then releases it slowly. A rattling sound leaves his chest and then everything falls silent. The knife clatters to the floor and Mystique brings her hands to her mouth in shock. I push myself to stand and she falls into my arms sobbing hard. “Shh, it’s okay,” I whisper, placing a gentle kiss on her head.
“I didn’t mean to…” She pauses, crying harder. “I just wanted to…”
“It’s okay. He can’t ever hurt anyone ever again.”
She turns in my arms and buries her face in my chest. I hold her, watching the lifeless body of Lorenzo Corallo. He deserved the slow painful death that I gave him. I don’t feel any type of guilt for him and I know that when I leave this room, I won’t ever think of this moment again.
Mae
I stir my drink with a straw. The party has been in full swing for the last three hours, but Ace, Tag, Hulk, Scar, Anton and Mystique are nowhere to be seen. “You look lovely, Mae,” says Piper for the hundredth time. She’s been acting odd all evening.
“Where are they all?” I ask. “Do you think it has anything to do with Tag’s dad?”
Piper shrugs. “Who cares about that asshole, Mae.”
We fall silent when Tag steps into the clubhouse and joins us at the bar. He asks for a double whiskey neat and my heart sinks. “Where’s Ace?” I ask.
“He went ‘round back,” he mutters, knocking the amber liquid back and wincing. He slams it back on the bar and nods his head for a refill.
The only reason the men use the back door is because they don’t want to be seen by passing eyes. “He’ll be here soon, Mae. Let him sort himself out,” suggests Piper.
I push off the bar and head for Ace’s room. I need to know, either way, if Lorenzo is dead. Taking the stairs two at a time, Piper follows me, trying to talk me into going back downstairs to the party.
I get to his door and Piper steps in front of me. “Before you go in there, just remember he loves you. Whatever state he is in, he needs your support right now.”
I’ve seen Ace after a murder many times before. I know that he goes into a dark mood and he’s hard to reach for a few hours. I’ll know if he killed Lorenzo.
I push past her and shove the door open. Ace is sitting on the edge of his bed. His head hangs low and his elbows are rested on his knees. He looks up and we lock eyes. He’s covered in blood. It stains his arms, his hands and his clothes. There’s even splatters on his face.
“Do you have any shampoo that doesn’t smell like men?” comes Mystique’s voice from the bathroom.
My eyes widen and Ace stands up, looking panicked. “Mae, it isn’t how it looks.”
I nod my head. My face can’t hide how I feel, and he sees the hurt in my eyes.
“Is he dead?” I ask. Ace hesitates and then nods once. “And she helped you?” I add. He nods again.
“Well, it’s good news that he’s dead; isn’t it, Mae?” says Piper brightly. I’d almost forgotten she was here.
“Bonded by blood,” I mutter.
Ace once told me that he killed a man that tried to attack Hulk’s mom. It was a long time ago. She was in a back alley with some drunk guy that wouldn’t take no for an answer. Ace had been in the right place at the right time and killed the guy. He said from that night on, he and Hulk’s mom had never separated. They’d been bonded by blood. Using his words sobers us both quickly and his expression turns to anger. “Fuck you, Mae,” he growls, “It wasn’t like that. I wanted to protect you.”
We all turn to stare as Mystique comes into the room, completely naked and dripping wet from her shower. My eyes almost pop out of my head and she smiles guiltily at me. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you guys come in. I need a towel, Ace.”
“Clearly,” mutters Piper.
“It’s fine. We’ll leave you to it.” I turn on my heel and stomp towards my bedroom. I didn’t want to party in the first place, and now I feel even less in the mood.
“I honestly don’t think anything is going on between the two of them, Mae,” says Piper, following me. “He looked just as shocked as we did when she came in looking all sexy and wet.”
“You know what, I don’t even care that she’s in his room naked. She’s trouble and she is trying to wiggle her way in there with him. By letting her shower in his room and always having her hang around, he’s asking for trouble. He takes her on something so secret but leaves me here. What message is that giving her?”
There’s sudden banging on my door. “Mae, open the fucking door,” yells Ace angrily.
I pull it open and glare at him. He’s breathing heavy. A sure sign that he’s pissed. “I’m gonna shower and then we’re gonna go downstairs and party.”
“I am not partying with you, take Mystie. You seem to want to take her everywhere else.”
He pushes past me and drops a fresh set of clothes on the bed. “I want to take you.” He disappears into my bathroom and I hear the shower turn on.
“As tempting as it is to peek a look at our naked President all wet and…” Piper shudders. “I’m gonna leave you two to fight it out. Try not to mess up your make-up.” She kisses me on the cheek and leaves like this is a totally normal situation.
I watch sulkily from my spot on the bed as Ace dresses. All traces of blood are gone from his body. He smells good and I have an internal pep talk to remind myself that just minutes ago, he was covered in another man’s blood with a naked woman in his bedroom. He holds out his hand. “Let’s go.”
“I’m not in the mood to party, Ace. Can you even begin to understand why I’m so mad at you?”
“Walk or I will throw you over my shoulder.” He isn’t kidding around; he has a dark look in his eye.
“I get that you wanted to protect me. That you felt this overriding need to control the situation. But to take her and not me, that was a shit move, Ace.”
He sighs, suddenly lookin
g tired. “I need to protect you, Mae. I couldn’t back then, but I can now. I told you I’d be overbearing and I’d drive you crazy, but you said you didn’t care. You said I should try. So here I am, Mae. I’m trying.
I’ll get it wrong a lot, but I don’t think I did this time. I don’t care that Mystique might lay awake remembering every splatter of blood for the next month. I care that you might. Lorenzo is dead; it doesn’t matter how, and it doesn’t matter who was there. I took care of that for you and for us. I wasn’t trying to push you out or put her first.”
I hang my head. I know it wasn’t his intention, but it still hurts. “I’m still mad. You need to distance yourself from her. You might not see it, but she's trying to worm her way into your heart. You’re asking for trouble.”
“I’m hearing you, baby. I’ll distance myself because I know you’re saying it to protect me.”
I roll my eyes. “Very clever,” I mutter.
He gives a lopsided smile and holds out his hand. “Are you gonna walk or should I carry you?”
Once we’re downstairs, he shakes hands and greets various other bikers. Some of them, we don’t often see because they’re based elsewhere. I go to move away from him, but he puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me back to him, making sure that I stay close. “People will start to ask questions, Ace,” I hiss.
“Good,” he responds, pulling me in tighter. I don’t understand him. One minute, he’s pushing me away and the next, he’s confessing his love for me. He hasn’t mentioned his confession to me, but he did just refer to our late night conversation, which means he does have some memory of it.
Ace pushes a drink into my hand and then continues to talk to Trucker. I spot Mystique across the room chatting with Queenie. She watches us, occasionally looking back to Queenie, but always returning her stare to us. Ace finally finishes his conversation with Trucker and then pulls me towards the bar. “Stay there and don't move,” he orders and then he pulls himself to stand on the bar top. He whistles to get everyone’s attention.
“Thanks for coming,” he begins as the chatter dies down. “You’re probably all wondering why I called you here. After the last few weeks, things have been tense and I thought we could all do with some good news.” He jumps down from the bar and stands next to me. “I’m not getting any younger and I thought it was about time I took claim to a fantastic, amazing woman.”
I stare at him in disbelief, shocked that he’d do this without speaking to me. There’s a few cheers among the Rebellions. “Mae wasn’t on my radar. We’ve always been friends. She’s the one I go to if I can’t handle shit, so I don’t know why it took me so long to see it. She’s everything us kind of men need in an old lady. So,” he smiles down at me, “Meet my old lady.” He takes my hand and holds it up for everyone to see. The room erupts with joy and we’re enveloped in hugs as I’m pulled from Ace and spun around by various men. My heart hammers in my chest as I’m congratulated.
My mom wraps me in her arms. “Are you okay with this?” I ask.
“I’m happy if you are,” she smiles, kissing my cheek. “He’s a good man, Mae. I know he’ll take good care of you.”
“I wasn’t expecting him to do that,” I mutter. “We still have so much to sort out.”
She hugs me again. “After all the bad stuff you’ve been through, it’s nice to have something positive. Enjoy it, Mae. Stop looking for the bad in it. You can sort everything out as you go along.”
Ace joins us, kissing me on the cheek and wrapping his arm around me. “You thought I’d forgotten about last night and what I said to you?”
I nod. “Maybe,” I admit.
“You can stop worrying about other women now. I’m yours, baby. It’s official.” He places another kiss, but this time on my lips. “I love you.”
Butterflies dart around inside my stomach. “I love you, too,” I smile. And I do. But Lorenzo isn’t forgotten about. I can’t let it go as easily as he can.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ace
I take the drink that Hulk hands me and when he isn’t watching, I put it on a nearby table. Drinking after a kill like that brings me down and I’ll get lost in dark thoughts. I want happy memories for me and Mae this evening.
I glance over to where my old lady sits on the couch. She’s tired and she looks pale. A party was too much when she’s still recovering.
I head over and crouch down in front of her. “You ready for bed, baby?” Nodding, she takes my hand and we sneak off. The party will continue until the early hours of the morning, and no one will miss us now the alcohol is flowing.
We go to Mae’s room and we undress in silence. Mae goes to the bathroom and I slip into bed. She isn’t ready for anything other than sleep right now, and I don’t want her to think I’m staying here with her and expecting anything.
When she finally gets into bed, she turns the light out and snuggles down. We have our backs to each other and there’s a large space between us. It isn’t how I imagined our first night together as an official couple to be.
We’re asleep for less than an hour before her crying wakes me. She’s shaking and whimpering. I sit up and turn the lamp on. “Mae,” I whisper. “Mae, wake up.” She begins to thrash about and cries out. I gently place my hand on her arm. “Mae, you’re safe. I’m here.”
She stills and snuggles down into her pillow. The rest of the night is pretty much the same and by the time the sun rises, I’m exhausted. I wait until she steps into the shower and then decide to go for a run. Last night’s activities play on my mind, and I need to fight the darkness that threatens to overtake me.
Dodge runs beside me for a solid half an hour before he sits down and refuses to run anymore. I threaten to put him on a diet as we walk back to the clubhouse.
The club is a mess. Bodies are sleeping on the couches and the floor. Empty glasses and bottles are strewn over every surface. I slam the door as I enter and a few of the guys sit up and look around confused. “Get this shit hole cleaned up,” I yell as I march for my office.
A minute later, Hulk comes in. “You okay, Pres?” He stays by the door cautiously.
“Fucking great.”
“You wanna talk?”
I shake my head and sink back into my chair. “Women are confusing. One minute, you think you have them all figured out but turns out, you really don’t.”
Hulk steps closer and then sits on the couch. “If you still haven’t worked them out then what chance have I got.” He laughs to himself and pops a cigarette into his mouth before chucking the pack to me.
“Mae is acting weird,” I sigh. “I thought last night would change things.”
“She was pissed at you for everything that went down with Lorenzo. You knew that before you claimed her.”
“How long does a woman usually stay pissed for?”
“In your case, probably a while. Go and talk to her, Dad. Mae’s someone that you, of all people, can talk to.”
“And say what exactly? I thought she’d be happy he was dead. I explained why I didn’t want her there. I admit I fucked up by letting Mystique be there, but I can’t change that now. I close my eyes and see what they did to her; it makes me so mad that I want to smash shit up. It’s not her fault. She didn’t choose it, but I still can’t help feeling lost and jealous and hurt.”
“It’s natural. You’re heads all over the place. No one wants to see that shit happen to someone they love.”
“But I feel jealous. How is that okay?”
“It was still another man with the woman you love, and you can’t help how your mind reacts to it.”
I hate this feeling of being so exposed, but not saying it is wrecking my head more. I take a second cigarette and light it. Inhaling the smoke deep into my lungs, I exhale and then sigh again. “Mae thinks that Angel is the spy.”
“I can’t lie, Pres. It crossed my mind, too.”
“Really?” I trust Hulk; he’s good at reading people, but I find it so hard to believ
e that Angel would do that to me.
“She has the motive. If she wanted to fuck up you and Mae and then Lorenzo came at her with a plan where she could possibly win you back, then I think she’d go for it.”
I shake my head. “I don’t buy it. She wasn’t that into me, not enough to screw me over knowing what would happen if I found out.”
“Then ask her straight. After you claimed Mae last night in front of everyone, I’m sure she’ll gladly try to hurt you with the truth.”
Hulk goes to the door and shouts for Angel. She appears, all smiles. “Everything okay?” she asks.
Hulk glares at her. “Pres needs to talk with you. Take a seat.” She sits, and he stands by my side. “Lorenzo is dead,” he says coldly.
“What?” she almost gasps and I groan. She catches her mistake and tries quickly to hide it. “I mean, who’s Lorenzo?”
“Too late,” growls Hulk. “You’d better get talking.”
Angel bursts into tears. “I’m sorry,” she cries. “It wasn’t supposed to get that far.”
I stand quickly, and my chair falls back and hits the wall. I didn’t expect her to crack so easily. “I defended you. I told Hulk and Mae that it wasn’t you. That there was no way you’d do that to me.”
“I didn’t mean to, Ace. He tricked me.”
“Even if that was true, you should have come to me.” I head for the door, “Do what you think needs doing, Hulk. I need to be with my woman.”
I don’t have the strength right now to deal with this mess when I should be sorting things out with Mae.
Mae
The bedroom door slams back against the wall and I glance over my shoulder to see Ace standing in the doorway, looking pissed. I was upset when I saw he’d gone this morning. I’d planned to talk with him about the whole Lorenzo thing, and I needed to talk about why we both went to sleep last night with our backs to each other. “You look tired,” I say, rolling onto my side to face him.
“How do I stop the nightmares, Mae? What can I do to make them leave your head?” He looks so lost and hurt that it breaks my heart.