by Amo Jones
“I would’ve been a lot less helpful, and I probably would have tossed you around a bit.” He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Well, at least you’re not that stupid then, I guess.”
“I know your brother is lethal and bears no forgiveness when he takes someone out. I also know his best friend and the President of the Westbeach chapter Zane Mathews is just as ruthless. But most importantly…Ade Nixon, he’s the one I don’t want to cross. I’d much rather have him as a friend, than an enemy.”
“You along with the rest of the human race,” I murmur.
This is not surprising. Ade is a little deranged and not someone you’d want chasing you. You would think settling down with Kalie has calmed him in some way, but it hasn’t. It’s just who he is and there’s no changing that.
Pulling me up, he guides me toward the front door.
“So what are you planning on doing to Ryder when he gets here?” I ask, glancing sideways at him.
He shrugs. “Who knows. I had a plan, but you fucked that.”
“Me? What else have I fucked?”
He smiles. “I was hoping you’d be a bitch, so it would make all this easier for me.”
“A bitch, I am not. Unless you hurt my family, then a bitch is the least of the things I become.”
“A hot chick that races cars and has family morals? You’re as rare as a White Tiger.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “It shouldn’t be rare to be a decent person. We just live in a world where being an asshole is the new fad. Believe me, I was raised with three of the biggest assholes known to mankind.”
“I believe you,” he agrees with a laugh.
“It shouldn’t be like that. It costs zero dollars to not be a piece of shit.”
He laughs again, shaking his head. We’ve done a whole circle when we hear a truck come down the gravel road. I glance up nervously, watching the SUV pull in. Both Ryder and Ryker jump out of the car. It’s just the two of them, so they must have come alone.
Ryder steps to us slowly. “Rellik…Let. Her. Go.”
“I plan to. Inside…we have shit to talk about.”
Ryder looks at me with emotionless eyes, almost as though he’s looking right through me like I’m not here. The stare chills me to the bone. I look to Ryker and he looks lethal. The stare in his eyes has murder locked in them. He looks feral.
“Ryder?” I say, looking back to him. He doesn’t answer, he moves his eyes away from me and locks them onto Rellik.
“Get in the truck, Phoebe.”
“Ryder, wait! I wa—”
“Get in the motherfucking truck, Phoebe! Right fucking now!” he roars. I wince and he storms off toward the house. “In the house. Now,” Ryder seethes to Rellik.
Slamming the door shut behind him. Rellik still hasn’t moved, unaffected by Ryder’s words.
I wipe the tear that escaped my eye and look to Ryker.
“Ryker?” I say softly, but he keeps his eyes locked on Rellik. “Ryker!” I snap this time and he turns his head to me.
“Go inside. He has a lot to say.” I nudge my head toward the house.
“Why the FUCK did you think kidnapping the only girl, me and my brother, have ever even remotely given a fuck about was going to be effective? Now, I just want to rip your fucking face off.” He begins pulse walking up and down until he’s finally resting his hands against the truck with his chest heaving heavily up and down.
“Untie me, Rellik.” I keep my eyes locked on Ryker as he unties my hands and I twist them around to stretch them out. Rellik gives me a small smile before walking toward the house. Two seconds pass before I hear a whole lot of commotion go on inside. Wincing at the thought of what’s going on, I look to Ryker, who’s in the same position. I begin walking to him, the gravel ground crunches under my feet. When I reach him, I lay my hand on his back and his body tenses.
“Ryker?” I murmur. “You need to come inside with me before they kill each other.” His head is hooded between his arms, which are outstretched against the truck. He raises his head up slightly and exhales out a wind of air.
“Fuck, Phoebe,” he grunts, pushing off the truck and turning his face to me, showing a pained expression.
“If something happened to you because of us, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
I place my hands on his shoulders, looking directly into his eyes. “Nothing happened, Ryker. I’m fine. I think you should go in and talk to him, though. Hear him out. He could have hurt me, but he didn’t.”
“How can you be so forgiving?”
“Because I’ve lived around people who come from rough backgrounds all my life. Sometimes, people do things because they don’t know any other way. This is one of those times.” I place my hands on his face, tilting his head down to me. “Also, I know who he’s been raised by.”
He nods his head, squeezing my hand before dropping them back down and taking one hand into his. “All right then, if you say so.”
We begin walking back to the house, where it’s now deathly silent. My stomach freezes and I begin rushing to the door. Gripping onto the door handle, I turn and push it open, looking around the room frantically.
“Ryder?” I yell out, searching the living room area. “Ryder!” my tone gets louder as I enter the kitchen, where I find them both bloody and holding ice packs on each other’s heads. Ryder has a split lip and a black eye and Rellik has a matching black eye with a cut on his head. I rush down next to Ryder, gripping his ice pack into my hands, taking over.
“Are you both done?” I ask them both, the annoyance in my tone forceful. Ryder pulls away from my grip, and I second glance back to him with a questioning stare. He widens his eyes before looking away from me. I’m not sure how I feel about how he’s acting, I’m hoping it’s just because of the events of what’s happened.
“I’m not!” Ryker chuckles as he begins ripping his shirt off.
“Ryker, sit down and put your top back on,” I say dryly.
He shakes his head. “Nah, no way. You don’t take someone from us and not expect it to have consequences.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I mumble from the floor, sitting with my knees under my bottom. “Are you okay?” I ask Ryder and he laughs a spiteful, sarcastic laugh. “I told you to wait your ass in the fucking truck. Why are you here?”
“Why are you being like this?”
“Being like what? I told you to stay in the fucking truck, Phoebe!”
“Bro…enough. Leave her alone,” Ryker says from across the room.
“Stay the fuck out of it, Ryker.”
“I’ll stay out of it if you leave her the fuck alone,” he repeats with an edge to his tone.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Ryder asks him, pointing to his top which is now on the floor.
He shrugs his shoulders. “I want my turn. It’s only fair.” Ryker smirks with his arms stretched out. “I have to warn you, though, little brother…” he smirks, cocking his eyebrow to Rellik, “…I’m the faster twin.”
Ryder laughs, penetrating Ryker with his stare. “You wish, young buck.”
“Hey! I’m younger by three minutes and forty-five seconds.”
“Still younger.”
I shake my head, looking to Rellik, who’s been sitting there quietly. He gets up and removes his shirt, showing one huge skull covering his entire back. He’s big too, he’s a lot wider than the twins and has more bulk. Ryder and Ryker are in no way small, but they are built lean, their muscles almost natural. Rellik is big in the way that you would need to pump iron every day to be built that way.
“Well, shit,” I begin, opening the old cupboards hoping to find something I can wrap these boy’s knuckles in. It’s not until I open the final cupboard that I find some gauze wrap. I pull it down and curve my finger to Ryker. “You’re up first, fuckface.”
He smirks a cheesy grin at me, “I like it. It’s almost like you saying ‘I want to fuck your face,’” while he makes his way to me.
Typical Ryker will always find a chance to be a cheeky shit.
“Ryker,” Ryder growls from where he’s leaning against the kitchen cabinet. “Cut your fucking shit.” Surprising, I thought Ryder would have told him to go at it. The way his attitude has flipped since he’s been here.
Ryker laughs and I grip onto his hands, pulling him into me while I begin wrapping up his hands. Once I am done with Ryker, I walk toward Rellik, Ryder shoots up off the counter and makes his way to me with Ryker right behind him. I point to the counter in annoyance.
“Sit! He’s not going to hurt me.” Once they hesitantly retreat back to their positions, I grip onto Rellik’s hands and begin wrapping the white wrap skillfully around his wrist and hands.
“I’m sorry,” he says again, looking at me from behind hooded eyes. He has a seductive darkness about him. The year ago Phoebe would have been jumping his bones, but I’ve had enough emotionally fucked up men to last anyone a lifetime.
“It’s okay, I get why you’d be mad, but I don’t understand it. It’s okay, though, I don’t have to understand it, that’s your story.”
He smiles, nodding his head. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I ask head cocked.
“For understanding.”
He pulls his hands out of my grasp and begins walking up to Ryker, who’s smiling a grin at him.
I walk to Ryder, his body tensing at my movements. “What is wrong with you?” I ask him, my tone a little hostile.
“We can do this later. Not now.”
I shrug my shoulders. Yeah, he can lose his shit at me in the comfort of the hotel room now. He didn’t care when we were on the jet.
“Why is Ryker so cocky about this? Rellik has lived through hell. Ryker is going to get his ass handed to him.”
Ryder shrugs, a grin lining over his lips. “Maybe. But Ryker fought UFC when he was younger, right up until the band started kicking off. He was different back then. I think he’ll be good.”
“I’m not even surprised,” I mutter, shaking my head.
After the boys have had a full-blown fight, they’re both in need of a doctor.
“Ryker! You have a concert tonight!” I scold him as we drive down the driveway, heading back to the hotel.
He laughs, shrugging away my comment.
“What the hell am I going to do with you three?” I say under my breath, keeping my eyes on the road ahead of me. Rellik is with us, coming back to the hotel because Ryder won’t let him out of his sight until they have had their big talk. Not that Ryder has said anything to me. At all.
Shaking my head, I turn my attention back to the road ahead. I took the keys off Ryder and drove, just in case they have a concussion or some shit and fall asleep behind the wheel. All three of them look ridiculous, but I gotta give it to Ryker, he got him good. I pull off the gravel road and head toward our hotel. Ryder’s phone rings and he pulls it out of his jean pocket unlocking it open.
“What?”
Snappy much.
“No. It’s fine. Keep it on.”
“What?” He looks to me then looks straight ahead.
“I’ll tell her.”
He hangs up his phone, keeping his eyes locked on the road.
“Tell me what? I’m guessing I’m her?”
“It’s Nettie. She’s locked herself in her room.”
I turn my head to him. “What do you mean? Why would she lock herself in our room?”
Turning my head back to the road, I try to think over what could be wrong with her. As far as I know no one knew what had happened to me. But I guess there’s a chance that she did find out, gossip travels fast in this circle, I’ve come to realize.
I glance to him sideways and Ryker chimes in, “Um…Phoebs? Can you keep your eyes on the road, please? You’re making me a little nervous back here.”
“Second that,” Rellik mutters under his breath.
I ignore them, taking my eyes back to the road.
When we are almost back to the hotel, Rellik clears his throat. “There’s something about Nettie you should know.”
I glance at him in the rear-view mirror. “And what’s that?” I ask with venom in my tone. The truth is, I half know what he’s about to say, I just hope I’m wrong.
“I used the information I had on her, against her, to get intel on you.”
I slam on the breaks and pull into to the shoulder of the road.
Ryder grips onto the dashboard. “Fuck, woman!”
I’m unclicking my seat belt when I hear Ryker chuckle. “It’s her turn now. Good luck! She was raised by bikers.” I swing open my door and storm around my car, ignoring the fact that we’re on a highway and cars are traveling at over one hundred miles per hour. Swinging his door open, I narrow my eyes.
“What do you mean by that?” Tilting my head to the side. I’m fuming, livid. I thought she and I were friends, I cared about her as I do with all my friends. I hate snitches and I hate betrayal.
“Look…” Rellik begins as he gets out of the truck, “…this has been going on for months now. I had someone help me with getting her the job with Alyx. She wouldn’t have stood a chance otherwise. She didn’t even know who you were. When she got to know you, she pulled the plug and wouldn’t give me anything. I needed one last thing from her, so I used what I had against her again.”
I narrow my eyes, walking up to him and shoving him in the chest. “Oh? And just what is that you have on her?” Ryder gets out of the passenger seat, watching me intently. At least I know even when he’s being cold with me he’ll still be there.
Rellik pulls on his hair in frustration, his eyes turning sad. “I feel like fucking shit.”
I laugh, crossing my arms in front of myself. “That’s because you are shit! I want to know everything. It’s only fucking fair!”
“I knew her brother.”
My face drops along with my arms. “Okay, and…?” I reply, hoping he’s not about to say what I think he is.
“They bought him in late. He was a fucking legend in the ring. Made a lot of people rich. They picked him up after one of his fights where he was fighting underground. Their parents still, to this day, don’t know what happened to him. I do, though.” His eyes glass over and he looks back to me with pain in his eyes. “After Ade took out Bruce Peyton things went a little haywire. The Coven was under distress. Sure, they always had someone ready to take his place, but until they decided who that person was, they had to keep the fights going. It was the night after a transfer…” He looks to me, and my eyes falter. I know what the term transfer means. In that world, it comes under human trafficking.
“He was up first. They had a huge pot on his head because Andrew Yudo was a greedy bastard and he was the 2IC under Bruce so naturally, he took over while they voted in a suitable man. He put Drew into the ring with a man twice his size with twice his power. The final blow was a superman punch to the head, it dropped Drew instantly. I ran up to the ring and gripped onto his head trying to stop the blood that was flowing out from him. He asked me, his last words were, ‘protect her’ and I didn’t, I fucking failed him. I used him as a means to get what I wanted by telling her I knew where he was, with the plan of directing her to his final burial site.”
I turn my head to Ryder, my heart beating for Nettie, my poor beautiful friend who’s been caught in the web of manipulation by one man, one man who was asked by his dying best friend to look after her, to protect her. I smirk a nasty smirk, bringing my eyes back to Rellik where he’s looking at me pleadingly. In one quick movement, I pull my elbow back, throwing all my weight into my right hook. When my fist connects with his forehead, I hear a crack and Rellik’s body moves an inch, backing him up against the SUV.
“Holy fuck!” Ryder quickly wraps his arm around my waist, lifting me up into the air. Rellik is rubbing his head with his hand, when he brings his hand away there’s a tiny slit. “YOU! You piece of fucking shit! How dare you!” I scream at him. His eyes lower, at least he lo
oks apologetic. I look down to my knuckles to find them red and sore.
The back door swings open revealing a smug looking Ryker. “Baby, that was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.” He laughs at Rellik, who narrows his eyes at him. “Get in the car, all of you!” Ryder demands.
“Can I put you back down now? Will you behave?” Ryder asks me, his breath brushing up against my neck. He glances at Rellik, placing me back down. “Get in the car, we can all sort this shit tonight. The cops are everywhere, a few people got badly hurt last night.”
“I’m not surprised,” I mumble under my breath. “You’re fans are crazy. Fucking stampede, that’s what that was. I hope they will be okay.”
Ryder gets back into the passenger side, so I begin making my way around to the driver’s seat.
I look to Rellik as he gets into the car. “I can’t believe you’ve done that to her, Rellik. I’m not apologizing, ever, for what I’ve done. What you did? That was shallow, even for you.”
He shakes his head, gripping onto the door. “What did I tell you, Phoebe? I’m different. I’m not wired the same way humans are. But for the record, I feel like fucking shit, and I don’t expect an apology. I’m rather impressed, but not surprised that you can hit like that,” he states through a small smirk. I shake my head and round the truck, getting back into the driver’s seat.
My God, what a fucking mess.
I walk down the hallway and swipe my card down our door before sliding it open wide to the darkness of the room, the curtains pulled and sobbing coming from Nettie’s bed. She gets out, throwing her covers off.
“Phoebe?” she whispers. I swallow and close the door behind me.
“It’s me, Nettie.”
She swings her legs over her bed, throwing her hands over her face. “I’m so sorry, Phoebe. I have so much to explain.”
I walk to her, placing my hands on her knees. I understand what she did and why she did it.
“It’s okay, Nettie. Rellik explained it all.”
She drops her hands. “Oh God, he did?” Fear crosses her eyes as all the color leaves her face.