by Jenika Snow
She shook her head, this disgusted sound leaving her. “Let’s just say I was a fool, so damn dumb.”
“We’ll get through this. I’m glad you came to me.” She was here now, and that was all that mattered.
Tank searched her body, what he could see anyway, trying to see if there were any marks on her arms, on her neck, anywhere he could see, but they were either hidden or healed. She’d admitted that fucker had put his hands on her, and he was going to rip Spike’s balls off and shove them down his throat.
He wanted to find out if she’d been hit while pregnant, because even if that fucker had laid his hands on Lila when she wasn’t, beating on a pregnant woman was so far over the line it was going over the damn cliff.
“I know he’ll come after me, and I can’t let him hurt Faye.”
He shook his head. “Fucker ain’t going to come near you or the baby, Lila.”
She leaned forward on the table. “Spike and the men he hangs out with are dangerous. I’m afraid if they can’t get to me they’ll go after people I know until I am accessible to them.”
He shook his head again. “You know we don’t even know where Mom and Dad ran off to. They left us like we were nothing. Why worry about them?” Maybe he should have given two fucks about their parents, but the truth was they wanted nothing to do with their kids, so why should Tank care?
“I’m not worried about them being found, because they didn’t give a shit about us while growing up, Brendan.”
He bunched his brows. “Then who do you think they might go after?”
She licked her lips and stared down at the plate of food for a moment. “I’m afraid they’ll go after Bunny.”
His heart stopped in his chest at the sound of that name. Tank hadn’t heard Bunny’s name in years. Hell, he hadn’t heard her name since he was in his twenties, not since the night they’d fucked and she’d left him while he slept. That was a sore fucking subject, and one he didn’t want to even think about, let alone talk about. But he couldn’t let this go if Lila thought Bunny was in trouble.
“Bunny’s back in Thorne?”
Lila nodded. “Yeah, for about a year now. Her … dad died.”
Everything in him stilled at hearing that.
“We only saw each other a few times, but Spike knows about her. But I stayed away from her after the threats Spike made, afraid to get her involved. But once I had the baby I tried calling her, warning her about him and what he might do. I tried to get her to come with me to see you, knowing we’d be safe. But I haven’t been able to get a hold of her.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“Damn, Lila. I haven’t talked to Bunny since … it’s been a long fucking time.”
“I know, Brendan.” She exhaled. “I don’t know what happened between you two all those years ago, but hasn’t enough time passed? You were upset, and she was just … gone. She refuses to talk about it, even now, but I can’t leave her alone, not when I know Spike and his crew might hurt her to get back at me.”
“No one is getting hurt, Lila. No one.” He said those words hard, not meaning to sound that way, but he would die before he let anyone hurt the people he held close. He might not have spoken to Bunny for years, and they might have ended in some fucked up way, but he’d loved her once, and he still cared about her. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll make sure everyone is safe.” He’d find out everything, and when he had all the facts, he’d gather his club, his new family, and he’d hunt down the asshole that had hurt his sister.
Tank thought about getting the club involved, about the lengths they’d go to solve this. He stared down at the table, thought about his past, the people he’d connected with. His club could find shit out, but he needed to get some of his old connections up and running. This concerned his sister and niece, and possibly Bunny, and he wasn’t taking any chances.
He’d need to have someone help that could find out all the lowdown dirty shit going on with Spike and that wannabe club, and he knew exactly who to call.
“I’ll get a hold of Wrath.”
Lila’s eyes widened for a moment. “Wrath?” She stuttered out his name. “Do you still talk to him? Do you think calling him is the best option?”
Tank shook his head. “I haven’t spoken to him since right before he went into the joint, but I know he’s out now, has been for about a year.”
She licked her lips, and he could see her nerves heighten by her expression.
“Do you really think you need to get Wrath involved?”
Tank saw the way her pulse beat harder at the base of her throat. “I think we need Wrath involved, Lila.”
She broke eye contact for a second. “He’s dangerous, Tank, always was, even when we were younger.”
He grunted. “That’s why we need him.”
She looked back at him. “How do you even know he’ll help? If you haven’t talked in years—”
“He’ll help, that I have no doubt, especially if it concerns you. It doesn’t matter we haven’t spoken. If it includes getting his hands dirty, and protecting you, I know Wrath will be in.” Wrath was dangerous, but he’d always had this soft spot, or as soft as a man like him could have, for Tank’s sister. He’d even go as far as saying Wrath loved Lila, again, as much love as a man like Wrath could have. But Tank knew Wrath would have killed anyone that messed with Lila back in the day, had even beaten a guy unconscious for grabbing her arm in a drunken move. No matter how dangerous Wrath was, when it came to Lila, he was always there, whether she knew it or not, and no matter how much time had passed.
That’s one of the things Tank had liked about the man, because he knew Wrath would lay down for anyone he cared for.
She swallowed, her throat working, her eyes slightly wide. “He was scary before going to prison, Brendan. I can’t even imagine how he is now, all these years later.”
“You knew he would have done anything for you back in the day.”
She nodded. “Things change, and time makes people different, even more dangerous.”
Yeah, Wrath had been one scary motherfucker in the past, but that’s why he and Tank had gotten along so well. Wrath didn’t care about anything but getting a job done, but over the years they’d drifted apart as Wrath got more in the underground scene, and then even more so when he went to prison. The man started getting into the heavy shit, things that included drug trafficking, cooking up meth, and running guns.
That was when Tank decided he’d back off, both of them going their own ways. They’d parted on good terms, and that—and because of Lila—was why he was sure Wrath would have no problem helping out. Of course he wouldn’t know until he got a hold of the man. For all he knew Wrath was royally fucked from the years of working dirty, and then going to prison. But he needed to reach out, because Wrath had mad skills on getting all the dirty information on someone.
He stared at his sister, wanting vengeance for the shit she’d been through. Tank was a Patch now, and that meant he had backup, no matter what. When Tank got to that Spike fucker and his club, he’d wished he’d never even looked at Lila.
Chapter Two
What in the hell was she supposed to do? The tears threatened to spill forth, but she held them back, knowing she needed to be strong, knowing breaking down wasn’t going to help her. Lila had managed to make it this far, and she couldn’t just break down now, not when she’d finally gotten away from it all. Lying in her brother’s massive bed, staring at the ceiling, and hearing Brendan moving around on the other side of the door, she squeezed her eyes shut and breathed out. Her brother and Faye were the most important people in her life, but Bunny, her once best friend, could be in danger. Lila couldn’t have. So, she’d come here, seeking help from the one person she trusted above all else.
And then there was Dotty, the club whore that was probably getting used and passed about by Spike and his club.
Lila squeezed her eyes shut even harder, feeling tears trickle out the corners. This was so f
ucked up.
And now Wrath will get involved. How am I going to deal with that?
Wrath, a man she’d been afraid of back in the day because he’d been so intense, so dangerous. But he’d also been a man she’d wanted, a man older than she was who watched her like he wanted to possess her, like he wanted to show her what it was like to be owned. That had scared her on so many levels, as well, but on the heels of that fear she felt desire unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. But many years had passed since she’d walked away from that life, since she knew Wrath was involved in some pretty heavy shit.
And look at the heavy shit you got involved in anyway.
Opening her eyes and looking up at the ceiling, she felt Faye squirm beside her, and glanced at her sleeping daughter. Faye was so tiny, so vulnerable. She couldn’t lose her because Lila had gotten involved with a psycho.
Brendan will help you. He’ll know what to do.
But she felt like a failure for screwing up her life so much and getting Brendan involved.
Pushing the covers off and sitting up on the edge of the bed, she sat there for a moment. The house was silent now, but she doubted her brother had gone to bed. He’d given her his room, but he’d been so tense, so angry after they spoke. She knew how dangerous Brendan actually was, knew the lengths he would go to get something done. It was the way he’d always been, and if he hadn’t been like that she honestly didn’t know if they would have survived the world.
With shitty parents that had been more involved in themselves and partying, Brendan had taken any and all jobs thrown his way just to make sure she had food and clothes. He’d made sure she went to school, had a full belly, and had clean clothes. He’d not only been her brother, but also like a father given how well he looked after her.
And then her thoughts went back to Wrath. Even after all these years just thinking about him had her heart racing, had everything in her body standing on end. If Brendan really managed to get a hold of him, and Wrath got involved, she knew the earth would open up and hell would be unleashed. They had a past, and although they’d never gotten physical, not in the sense that they’d slept together, there was still something between them.
And it scares the hell out of me.
But thinking about him had memories of their time in the past rising up, of the fact he’d kill anyone with his bare hands just to make sure she was okay. He wasn’t so different from Brendan, aside from the fact he was darker, as if his humanity was missing, stripped right from his very soul.
And that’s exactly the type of man—the type of men—that will be able to take down Spike.
****
Tank grabbed the bottle of whisky and headed out of the kitchen and down the hall. He stopped for a second by his bedroom door where Lila and Faye were sleeping, and placed a hand on door, closing his eyes and hating that his little sister and niece had to go through with this. He took a step back and brought the bottle of his mouth, taking a long drink and staring at that wood, knowing whom he’d have to call, how he’d need to make this right. Even if this was just about Lila and Faye he’d lay his life down to make sure they were protected, do everything in his power to keep them safe.
But Bunny might be in trouble. I can’t leave her to the wolves.
He turned from the door and stepped into the spare bedroom. The room was used mainly for storage, but he did have an old as fuck couch pushed up against the wall, and being locked away in these four walls while he called Wrath would make him feel better. Lila might know he was calling the man they’d grown up around, but he needed to feel that suffocation, if only for a moment.
Sitting on the couch and relaxing against it, he rested his head on the back of it and kicked out his legs. For a second he just stared at the closed bedroom door, his cell feeling heavy as hell in his hand, the bottle sitting between his legs, and his thoughts rushing through his mind.
Fucking hell.
He hadn’t seen Bunny in years, just as long as he’d been away from Wrath, but Tank thought about her every fucking day. He didn’t know if he believed in soul mates, or shit like that, but if he did Bunny would have been it for him. He fucking loved her, had been so in love with her nothing else had mattered. She’d been his world, and when she left it was like a piece of him had been ripped away.
But whatever had gone through her head back then to have her leave him in that bed alone after he fucked her, was something he’d never been able to forgive. It had been shitty, cowardly, and he’d pushed her aside in his life. If she wanted to kick him out of her life, he had been more than willing to step away.
“I love you, Bunny. I fucking love you, and I won’t let you go.”
The last words he’d whispered against Bunny’s ear played through his head. He knew her past. It had been more fucked up than his, and he knew saying those three words could trigger something in her, something she was afraid of. But he’d been so in the moment, wanting to get those emotions out because he’d never felt them so strongly before, and he’d said the one thing that had ruined everything.
And you let her go. You didn’t chase after her, tell her she’s meant to be yours.
No, he didn’t, because he knew Bunny enough to know her leaving had been her way of saying she couldn’t do this, and he wasn’t about to push her more than he had.
Tank closed his eyes and ran a hand over them, feeling so fucking tired all of a sudden. Over the years he might have said he didn’t know why Bunny would just up and leave him after they’d fucked, just leave him sleeping on that small mattress on the floor, the bedroom bare but for that item, but the scent of what they’d done filling the room. But he knew why she’d left.
Maybe he’d scared her, crossed a line, or even gone too fast with that love bullshit, shouldn’t have ever said those words, even if he thought she’d been sleeping.
“Fuck,” he whispered out and looked down at his cell. He needed to call Wrath, to get this all in motion. He’d also let the club know, because the more men he had behind him the better chances he’d have at fully taking down that Spike fucker and anyone that worked under him. This was about Faye and Lila’s safety, but it was also about making sure Bunny was protected, and any women that Spike and his group had there against their will. He’d have to get his men to extract those women, but when it came to getting Bunny and bringing her to the club, because that’s where he could watch her, make sure she was safe until this was all done, he’d be the one to get her. He had to be the one to go to her.
Chapter Three
The scent of the kine bud filled the room, and Wrath leaned back in his chair, inhaling deeply. There were two tables set up in this space, all covered with green, and bodies he’d hired to separate and bag for distribution. He picked up his joint and brought the lighter to the end, casting flame on the paper and inhaling deeply. He took the smoke into his lungs, scanning the room. Although he had people working for him on some pretty illegal shit, that didn’t mean Wrath trusted any of these motherfuckers.
There were men with semi-automatic rifles stationed all around the room, and in the lab down the hall there were more. He wasn’t into cameras, didn’t want shit recorded for obvious reasons, but he also needed to make sure his product was safe. That was his focus, his priority. The bastards cooking his meth and cutting the green were getting paid to work for him, and once he was done they got the fuck out.
Henley, one of the men that worked security detail for him, came up, the black mask hanging around his neck. “Boss, we got a little issue.”
“What?” Wrath said, inhaling from the joint and keeping the smoke inside.
“One of the cooks is arguing that he can’t get the shit the way you like it.”
Wrath stared at Henley for a long while before setting his joint aside and getting up. He followed the other man out of the room, down the hall, but stopped at one of the doors. The place where all this went down was part of a warehouse deep underground. Wrath had a deal with the owner, and because of
said deal no one fucked with him or what he did. He slammed his knuckles down on the metal, and a second later the lock disengaged and the door swung open. Wrath stood there and stared at the tables facing him, all having plastic baggies, cocaine, and scales on top of them. The men and women that were working this part of the operation for him didn’t stop their work. They were in nothing but their undergarments, because like he said, he didn’t trust anyone with his products.
He stayed there just a few moments, scanning the room, taking note of what each person was doing. When he was satisfied things were going as planned, he left, and followed Henley down the hall again and stopped at the door to the lab. The lab was different from the other rooms. It had reinforced walls, a ventilation system that filtered out of the building all impurities from the cooking, and had the latest high-tech equipment he could find. Meth was where his money came from, and although he didn’t touch the stuff, he also wasn’t about to turn his back on what made him who he was. He might have gone to prison all those years ago, planning, plotting his rise, but that didn’t mean he got caught up in the toxicity of what he made and sold.
He put on a mask and hazard suit to make sure no impurities came through while his product cooked. One of the cooks was pointing to a tray of product, while the other, a man he’d had working for him for the last year, stood there with his arms crossed and shaking his head.
“What the fuck is the issue?” Wrath asked, stepping further into the room and hearing the lock latch shut behind him.
“Boss, Todd here says his product is pure, whether it’s crystal or not.”
Wrath went up to the tray of meth, looking at the slightly cloudy consistency of it. “Do you know why they call it crystal, Todd?” Wrath crossed his arms and stared at his newest cook. He could see the nervousness start to rise in the man, which was good. He should be shitting his pants if Wrath had to come here and fix this.
Todd nodded, smoothing his gloved hands on his yellow hazard suit. “I know it’s supposed to be clear, Wrath—”