I gave him a squeeze; he looked up at me and I winked. The front door opened; my mouth dropped open when Rocko’s men, the ones I had seen tonight at the bar, walked in.
I knew it.
I frigging knew it.
They were trouble, nothing but trouble.
More men added to the list I’d gun down in the bloodbath I was willing to orchestrate.
But how did they know about this? About me and David?
“Get up, bitch,” Vic snapped. I placed Maya to stand on the floor beside me, and stood from the couch, pulling Cody up with me. I wrapped my arms around each child.
“We’ll come, nothing will happen, we won’t do anything...just, just don’t hurt my brother and Julian.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” The glint in Vic’s eyes sent dread to the pit on my stomach. “Keep me posted,” Vic said to the two men. They gave him a chin lift in return.
I turned to Julian and Mattie. “I’ll see you soon, yeah. Okay?”
“Of course you will, cupcake.” Julian smiled.
“Be smart and safe, sis,” Mattie uttered.
I nodded, because I knew if I spoke, I’d break down. Instead, I mouthed, I love you both. And even that caused tears to fill my eyes; I choked back a sob and pulled the kids in tighter.
With one man in front of us, and one behind, I followed them out to a black SUV. The one in front opened the door; we were pushed inside. The men got in; the scarier one with a scar running through his upper lip turned in his seat and threw something that landed in my lap.
“Put them on. All of you.”
I moved my arm from around Cody and picked up the pieces of fabric; they were head sacks.
Chapter Twenty
Pick
What the fuck have I done? The front door closed behind Wildcat and I wanted to run out, shoot the motherfuckers, and save the day. But I couldn’t, or my own ma would be dead by tomorrow. I needed this money. This last time.
No matter how much it had hurt to watch the dicks take them.
Fuck.
I’d never forget the look on Cody’s face when I walked in and done nothing to help the situation. I let Vic hit Wildcat. I just stood by and did nothing...like the pussy I was.
I was scared, and that was all it came down to.
And it fuckin’ hurt.
It hurt to see the pain in Wildcat’s eyes. She felt betrayed by me, and it was justified.
Vic raised his gun and pointed it at the gay guys. “Right, change of plans. I have to get out of here now, so we gotta kill these fuckers.”
I stepped forward, hands raised. “What? No way, man. That wasn’t the plan. We need to stick to the plan.”
“Can’t. They can’t live; you should'a figured that out from the start, brother. They know us, and they’ll run to Talon. Then, we’re as good as dead.”
“Please, no,” Julian cried. Mattie stared at us with wide eyes. But his eyes also showed that he hadn’t expected anything different to come from us. He closed his eyes as he pulled Julian closer, and rested Julian’s forehead against his shoulder.
I felt disgusted in myself.
Fuck!
I couldn’t let this happen. I would not have more blood on my hands. The only reason I let Wildcat go was because I knew her dickhead ex wouldn’t kill her.
Yeah, you just keep tellin’ yourself that.
I had to believe that. Or else I did all this for nothing. Really, I'd done it for nothing anyway. I already knew my ma wouldn’t change, and it made me feel sick. Give her six months and she’d be back to owing, in more ways than one.
So why was I helping her now? After what she’d done? After the hell she'd put me through all my fuckin’, fucked-up life. Who did that to their child?
Who sold their own child’s body to be used by rich, fat-ass bitches?
Jesus.
I couldn’t let this happen.
“No, Vic.”
He turned his hard stare on me, but I gave as good as I got and met his gaze with my own.
“What the fuck you mean, no?”
“This ain’t happenin’.” I pulled out my own gun from where it sat at the back of my pants at my waist, and pointed it at Vic. He didn't think I had anything in me. I could tell that, because he still held his gun at the gay guys.
“Don’t do this, brother. Don’t fuck this up for the both of us just ‘cause you’re a pussy and can’t kill two fuckin’ poofs.”
“I should never have been involved. I should have manned-up at the start and told Talon your plan, but I didn’t, and I let Wildcat walk out. Christ, with her kids, and I’m gonna have to live with that. But I can’t let you do this. I won’t let you kill them.”
One of them gasped, but I didn’t dare look their way.
“You’re pathetic; why Talon ever let you join, I’ll never fuckin' know.You could never handle the pay backs for the club. You’re useless.”
Scoffing to myself, I guess he’ll soon find out how useless I am.
I watched his hand twitch and I knew.
I knew I was about to be shot.
But I had to get there first.
The sound of my gun being fired echoed through the quiet house.
Though, it wasn’t only my gun.
I was knocked back when I was hit. My hand went to my chest as I stumbled backwards and then fell to my ass against the wall.
I smiled as I witnessed Vic fall to the floor, bleeding out from his throat.
We all watched silently as he took his last staggering breath and died.
“Holy shit,” Mattie yelled.
“Mother Mary,” Julian cried.
I snorted, and then winced from the pain. My hand was still holding my chest as the blood seeped through my fingers.
“G-get to Talon. Tell him,” I said.
“We aren’t leaving you,” Julian uttered, as he knelt down beside me. Mattie showed up with a towel in his hand, gave it to Julian, and then he disappeared again with a phone to his ear. I watched in slow motion as Julian moved my hand away, and placed the towel and pressed against my chest, causing me to moan as the pain doubled.
“Right, there’s an ambulance on the way.”
“No,” I whispered.
I was better off dead.
“Don’t shit us. You’re going to the hospital and that’s final,” Mattie ordered, and he knelt down on my other side, moved Julian’s hand away and placed his in the spot. “You saved us. We save you.”
I snorted again, but it turned into a cough. “N-no mouth-to-mouth.”
They laughed a tired, stressed laugh. “You wish,” Julian said.
“Honey,” Mattie said—I hoped to fuck to Julian. I glanced up and saw he was staring at his lover. “You need to go to Talon. Call Violet on the way; she’ll need to be there. I’ll stay here. We’ll meet up later.”
Julian shook his head. “I’m not leaving you. We can call him.”
“No. We can’t tell him this over the phone. Listen, here comes the ambulance. Go, honey. Do this for Zee.”
Yeah, finding out his brother betrayed him wasn’t something to say over the phone.
Julian kissed Mattie quickly—not something a dying man wished to see. He got up and ran out the front door, yelling to the ambo guys on the way, “It’s not my blood; in the house, get in the house.”
# # # #
Talon
I’d just pulled up to the compound from visiting Travis, when Pick’s car came burling around the corner and skidded to a stop beside Griz and me. Only it wasn’t Pick who got out, but Julian. Covered in blood.
My stomach dropped.
Pain filled my chest.
“What the fuck?” I roared.
“Inside now,” Griz ordered to a pale-faced Julian. We ran. Julian ran straight for the bar, with shaking hands, he poured himself a shot, and downed it.
I stalked over to him and yelled, “Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Oh, God, Talon, shit, shit.”
&
nbsp; “Talk now, motherfucker, or so help me—where the fuck is my woman...fuck, the kids?”
“Brother, calm down,” Griz said.
“Fuck!” I screamed.
“What the hell is going on?” Deanna asked, walking into the room in shorts and a tee that she’d slept in. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of Julian. “No.” she gasped.
Griz went to her, pulling her into his arms; she shoved him away and with her hands on her hips and cold eyes she asked, “What happened?”
“Vic,” Julian said.
“What the fuck about Vic?” I asked, as I started pacing; it was either that or I’d lose my fuckin’ mind.
“H-he’s got men delivering Zara and the kids to David right now.”
I picked up a chair and threw it against the wall, shattering it.
“Where’s Pick, Stake, and Bizz?” Griz asked.
“Shit, Talon. I’m sorry, man. Pick had called your house, even before I got there, and told them they didn’t need to guard anymore. Bizz and Stake left it in the hands of Vic. Zee got back with Pick...shit; they had it all planned. Even tonight, the distraction of Travis—not that he knew, but his slutty girlfriend helped Vic set it up.”
“Christ,” I said to the roof. “My brothers betrayed me.”
“Yeah,” Julian whispered. “But then, Vic was going to kill Mattie and me once the others left with Zara—the others being Rocko’s men, the ones we saw tonight.”
“Motherfucker,” I roared.
“How’d you get away?” Deanna asked, as she stood there with her arms wrapped around her stomach. I knew she’d be feeling just as sick as I was.
Only hatred and fury filled me more, and I was willing to ride those fuckin’ emotions to lead me to my woman, my son, and my Maya.
“Pick. H-he, God, he helped us; he didn’t want to do this Talon; he hated every moment. But he’s got some mother-issues. He s-shot Vic, but got shot in return. Mattie’s with him; they’re going to the hospital.”
“And Vic?” Griz hissed.
“He’s dead.”
“At least that’s one less asshole we’ll have to kill,” I said. “Right, Julian, go get cleaned up; I’ll send someone down with clothes for you. Then get to the hospital with one of my guys to be with Mattie. No one takes their eyes off Pick; I’ll need a word with him.”
The door to the compound burst open, and in ran Violet, Warden, and Travis.
“What’s going on?” Vi asked when she came to stop beside me.
“On a short, I was betrayed by two of my brothers; Zara and the kids have been taken to David.”
“Fuck,” Warden whispered.
“Christ, no,” Vi uttered.
“What can we do?” Travis asked. Any other time I would have told him to fuck off, but not when my family was involved.
Only nothing came to mind; all I could think about was hurting someone. I needed someone to pay for the gaping hole I was feeling in my heart.
Thank fuck I had Griz at my side. He barked out, “Violet, you stay here with Deanna and man the phones. Travis, see if you can find out where David is situated right now through your sources. Warden, you’ll go with Blue; once I call him in, to the hospital, you’ll need to talk to Pick. Talon...”
I smiled. “We’re going to talk to Rocko.”
Travis got on his phone. Griz got on his to call Blue. Julian took off to the showers; but it was Deanna and Violet both at the same time that yelled, “Fuck no.”
Then Deanna added, “You can’t expect me to sit on my ass while my best friend is out there having God-knows-what done to her by that fucker David. I’m not sitting here manning the fuckin’ phones when you can get some of ya boys to do it.”
“I agree. You need me, Talon. We don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but this, we work together on.”
“Fuck, woman. I don’t need this shit. I gotta go.”
“Then we’re coming with you,” Violet said.
“Shit yeah,” Deanna added.
“Jesus, whatever. Griz?”
“Jeremy’s up; he’ll call others to scout and man the fuckin’ phone. Let’s roll.”
A curt nod and we left.
Not fuckin’ before I saw Travis—the biggest pimp of Melbourne—pull my sister aside, kiss her, and tell her something to have her eyes warm and nod.
Fuck, something to worry about when I got my family back.
Now it was time to fight for them.
Chapter Twenty One
Zara
All I knew was that we drove for a very long time. Long enough that the kids fell asleep in my arms, leaning their heavy weight upon me, and it was long enough for me to doze off and on for quite some time.
I think my relaxed state showed the children not to worry, and in return they weren’t, so they could sleep knowing that I’d be there to protect them.
Why I was relaxed, I think, had many added contributions; for one: alcohol still flowed through my body. For two: I knew Talon would go to great lengths to find us, and three: I was stronger in mind, body, and spirit to deal with an asshat like David.
The only thing that had me worried, but I didn’t let show, was how all this was going to be played out. What was David going to do to? At least I was sure he would never harm a child. I—on the other hand—was a different story altogether. Though, I wasn’t worried for myself, only and always for the children.
So to keep my relaxed state for the kids, I thought of Talon.
His eyes and how they grew soft for me.
His mouth when he smiled at me.
His hands and body, and how he always sorted me out in a room.
Him.
The perfect, dominating, alpha-bossy biker, who was a hard-scary-assed, beautifully hot, delicious man.
Sometimes, I had to focus, because my mind kept supplying me with other freaked-out thoughts of Mattie, Julian, Mattie, Julian. Hope they’re okay. I have to be good. I cannot rip into these guys like a momma T-Rex because...Mattie, Julian, Mattie, Julian.
However many seconds, minutes, or hours later, the car came to a stop. The kids were roused from their sleep, and again, I reassured them that things were going to be okay.
“Keep the masks on,” one of them ordered. The doors opened, we were pulled out onto a gravel road, I took a hand of Cody and Maya's, and our feet crunched the gravel as we stumbled blindly along. A door was opened; thankfully, there were no steps or I would have fallen flat on my face, bringing the children down with me.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said for the umpteenth time, and received a hand squeeze from both.
We were placed in a room in front of—what I guessed—a couch, which I felt at the back of my calves.
“Sit,” one kidnapper said. We sat, where I cradled the children close to me. The door opened again; someone walked in, and I heard a chair being slid back, the sound of that someone sitting in it. I knew who it was straight away. I could never misplace his strong, stinking cologne.
“Remove,” David said, with a smile upon his mouth. I’d been around him enough to know when he was smiling.
Our head-covers were whipped off. I blinked a couple of times to bring focus back. The kids rubbed at their eyes. I looked up and found David sitting behind a desk, his hands folded on top of it; his eyes gleamed with a ‘gotcha’ look, and his mouth was smirking at me. He looked the same as he had six years ago. The same ocean blue eyes that had sucked me in, the same slim, tall form. The only difference was that his sandy hair had receded more on top.
“Hello, my dear Zara Edgingway.” he gleamed.
“David.”
“What, that’s it? That’s all you have to say to your husband? After all these years,” he spat, disgusted. “Get the kids out of here. I want to talk to my wife.”
“What? No, no, David. Please let them stay with me,” I begged. I didn’t trust the men standing behind the couch. Especially the one looking eagerly at my daughter.
David chuckled. “I doubt they’d
want to hear what we have to talk about, darling.”
“You leave her alone,” Cody yelled, as he stood from the couch.
“Cody,” I said, pulling him back beside me. “It’s okay, hun.” I kissed the top of his head and looked to David again. “David, do you at least have someone who could be trusted with them? Please.”
He did a full belly laugh. “Of course I do.” He picked up the phone, pushed a button, and said into it, “Bring them in.”
Moments later, the door opened; a guy in jeans and a long-sleeved black tee walked in. But I was more interested in the voice I heard in the hall.
“Are you bastards ever going to let us go? You know I’ve missed my tit appointment; not that I’d really want to get them squished into a vice, but it has to be done with a woman my age. Plus, my kids must be worried by now.”
A sigh. “Nancy.” And I knew that person would be shaking his head.
“Mum?” I called, shocked.
I stood as an older version of me walked into the room wearing black pants and a red woolen jumper. Behind her was a brooding form of an older version of Mattie, only he was taller, with dark grey hair and warm, green eyes. Both of them looked a little worse for wear, a bruise on Mum’s cheek and Dad had a black eye.
I felt sick.
David was going to pay.
“Dad?”
“Oh, my baby,” Mum cried, and she ran at me.
“Mum, oh God, Mum, Dad,” I sobbed.
“Sweetheart,” Dad said, with tears in his eyes. They both wrapped me up in their arms.
“Oh, oh, is this my little angel, Maya?” Mum pulled away, picked Maya up, and hugged her to her chest.
“And who do we have here?” Dad asked. “Hey, buddy. I’m Richard, Zara’s dad; and that loud lady is Nancy, Zara’s crazy mum.”
“I heard that, Richard, and I’m not crazy.”
“It’s so great to see you both,” I cried. “A-and this is Cody. Talon’s son.”
“Really, and who’s Talon?” Mum asked.
“He’s my mum’s man, Nanny,” Maya informed.
“My dad’s the one who’s gonna come here and kick his ass,” Cody whispered to my parents. I pulled him into a hug.
“Well, we look forward to meeting him.”
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