Ace's Redemption

by A. C. Bextor

  My fear takes a turn and anger begins to bellow from inside. I’m going to be raped at the hands of this madman again, just as I was when I was a child. A child. It’s for the person that I use to be that I do this. “Fuck. You.”

  Using my words as sustenance, Vinnie drills his fingers inside me, and I feel the tear in my delicate skin with his aggressive drive. His fingers slam into me as his palm grabs at my skin. His breathing is heavy and his words are sharp.

  Through a clenched jaw, his voice rains over me, as if reciting from a memory. “Tell me I can’t do this. Use your body to stop me. Fight me, Cherry.”

  Focusing on the screen in front of me, I concentrate on Ace. In my mind, he’s not here in this devil’s dungeon. I’m picturing us in his bed in California. He’s lying on top of me, pinning me to the bed. It’s Ace’s way of protecting me from nightmares that were once a memory. Closing my eyes, I tell myself we’re not here, we’re home.

  Reagan… I love you.

  Lost in my thoughts of Ace, I don’t move, and I also don’t comply.

  He pulls my hair again sharply. Vinnie gets off on both fight and flight, so it doesn’t matter my reaction. Indifference is what insults him above all else. “Fuck. You.” I repeat through a clenched jaw.

  Removing his fingers from inside me, he twists my body abruptly, and I’m met with another hard slap to the face. Again, using my anger as fuel, I don’t move. I repeat, “Fuck. You.”

  Using his strength, his hand reaches the back of my head and he pushes me to my knees. “Your mouth is trash.”

  As he unbuckles his belt, a relieving and heavy knock comes to the door. Looking down at me, Vinnie laughs quietly, the threat envelopes my already frightened state. “We’re not done.”

  Buckling his belt and walking to the door, he opens it and a man I’ve never seen calls him out into the hall. Immediately, my head turns toward the desk in search of the camera views. Ace is gone, no trace of him at any angle.

  Where are you?

  Vinnie interrupts my search, walks to me in quick strides and hands me to the man I still can’t place. He’s taller but thinner than Vinnie. A large scar above his left eye and an evil grin dominate his face. He’s holstered. From here, I see a knife and a gun on the inside of his jacket.

  Walking down the hall with him beside me, I hear the crowds near us. If I run, I’m as good as dead. Vinnie doesn’t follow where we’re going. He cuts to his office before we continue our path. Once we hit the stairs, my panic finally takes flight. I’ve heard about this basement. Vinnie plans to kill me now for bringing Ace here.

  When we make it to the small space, I can’t see anything other than shadows created by the open door, leaving the light outside to shine dimly into the open space. I hear metal meet metal, and my hands are moved over my head roughly. I’m cuffed. “Please, let me go. I didn’t bring him here, I swear.”

  “Raegan?”

  Ace’s voice in the darkness stops my pleas. “Ace?”

  “Rae, it’s me.”

  Then I hear the vicious assault: the sound of flesh hitting flesh, Ace’s ragged breath, his body moving in time with each hit.

  “Stop!”

  Silence.

  “Neither of you say anything else. Each time you do, the other will suffer at the expense of your own selfishness.” Marcus’s voice permeates throughout the room. Lines of fear run up my back, my stomach sinks and my heart breaks in my chest.

  “What did I say, Cherry? What did I tell you would happen if you ran?”

  “I didn’t run, Marcus. I swear I wasn’t going anywhere.”

  Another fist to flesh shakes the darkness. Marcus laughs a malevolent laugh with Ace’s pain being inflicted at my words. “You don’t learn. Do not speak, whore!”

  I hear Ace spit, and the sound relieves me; he’s okay. Quietly, without words, I’m hoping Dominic isn’t near Ace and he’s not the monster giving him the beating. If I chose an evil for Ace, it would be the smaller man who brought me here.

  “Rae, talk to me. I need to hear you. Tell me you love me again.”

  A vicious sting radiates my back. The feel of it marks me as though a leather whip has sliced my skin. I let out a small, agonizing cry. Ace wants to hear my voice; his way of verifying I’m okay. Quickly, I let out a string of words for his reassurance, even knowing their consequence.

  Stifling a cry, I let the words bleed from my heart. “I love you, Ace. I’m so sorry. I love you. I miss you. I read them all…” I have to stop. The gross sounds of his body being brutalized causes me to vomit as I stand with my hands cuffed over my head.

  I hear clapping coming from the corner beside me, Marcus has enjoyed the scene he’s created. “I told you, Cherry. Ace will live a life of agony, did I not?”

  I don’t respond, not willing to risk another strike to Ace. I nod, even if he can’t see me.

  “She learns, Uncle.” Vinnie’s here now, as well. I watch his shadow make his way to me. Touching my face with the front of his fingers, he whispers gently, “Say goodbye to him, Cherry. His life will never be the same, and it’s your fault.”

  Ragged sobs make their way out before I get sick at Vinnie’s feet. I don’t hear Ace struggling anymore. The room is quiet except for the shuffling of feet and the sound of a chair being pushed around the floor.

  “Get her down, clean her up, and take her home. Hands off tonight, Vinnie. Your toy is broken. Give her the night to recover.”

  That’s the last thing I hear before my arms are freed and I pass out in the arms of a monster.

  “WAKE UP.” THE sound of Vinnie’s voice sends shivers down my spine, and my stomach turns as I try to lay still rather than bolt for an escape. Opening my eyes, I find the nightmare I thought I was having is actually live and in color.

  “Are you sore, darling?” His question, attached with a sarcastic endearment, causes me to swallow the bile that’s made its way from my stomach and into my mouth.

  I answer, fearing if I don’t, he’ll strike me as he stands above me beside the bed in his tailor-made, gray Italian suit. “Yes.”

  The sun’s bright glow tells me it’s late morning or early afternoon. Last night, after I came to, I was “loaded,” as Vinnie so carelessly refers, by Dominic. The drugs inside my system caused a haze in my mind that I still can’t shake off this morning. I don’t remember anything after leaving Vinnie’s office last night.

  “You know what’s coming today. Your friend Ace suffers. It’s the beginning of the end, Cherry. You’ve done this.”

  The panic of memory reaches its peak. Not worrying about the consequence I may face, I plead as I lay here helpless. “Please, don’t. Vinnie, I didn’t bring him here. You have to believe me.” My next words are a lie, and I’m mentally praying as they’re said that Vinnie believes them. “He’s gone. You and Marcus have already scared him.”

  “How do you know he’s not dead already? He took a hell of a beating after you left.”

  Mind fuck, but I refuse to believe Ace is dead. “I don’t. Please, Vinnie. What do you want?”

  When his hands reach for his belt buckle, I close my eyes; my time has run out. He’s going to take what he’s wanted from me all along. The stories I was told about being unharmed and guarded under Marcus’s promise are about to shatter.

  I won’t survive this.

  I lay still as I watch Vinnie stroking his semi-hard cock with rough pulls. His smile is deviant; he’s gloating. “I’m going to fuck your mouth. It’ll tide you over until this evening.”

  I don’t respond as he takes the hand not holding his now-hard cock and pulls the back of my head toward him. With my head adjusted on the pillow below him, he traces my lips and I taste the pre-cum as he rubs it in, spreading the vile liquid across my face while he continues stroking himself.

  “Open.” His demand is desperate.

  Compliantly, I do. Closing my eyes, I hear his hiss of satisfaction. Bending over me, leaning his hands on the bed near my body, he thrusts hi
mself in and out, gagging me as his cock hits the back of my throat as I lay under him. My jaw aches from the beating last night. I feel the tension in my body increase in response.

  “Oh, fuck, I’ve missed my good girl,” he whispers to no one. I’m not listening. “Suck it, whore.”

  As soon as I feel he’s close to finishing, he pulls out completely. This dance of disgust between us isn’t something I’ve forgotten. I know how to finish him. Turning my body on the bed, I grab him in my hand and viciously begin pumping his cock in my hands. Vinnie’s easy to satisfy; he won’t turn this down.

  Lifting my head off the pillow, I use my hand to guide his cock into my mouth again. Sucking hard and fast, I feel when he’s about to give in.

  “You’re a greedy whore,” he states while smiling through his sick desire.

  Reaching to me, he pulls at my head, shoving my face further toward him as he finishes. In a sense, the warm, salty taste comes as a relief. This is an unquestionable form of rape, but he’s not made me his in every way.

  Yet.

  Zipping and buckling his pants, his sated state has calmed him. “Get up, shower, and dress. You’re to be at work in an hour. You’re taking the early shift, and we’re leaving together when you’re done at nine.”

  There it is. The plan to finish what he’s started is here. No words make their way out of my mouth. The taste of him resides, but now it’s mixed heavily with my saliva.

  “Don’t fuck up tonight and I’ll go gentle.”

  Dismissing his evil, I want confirmation that my son is okay. Through my full mouth and fear, my voice shakes. “Is Decklan all right? Is he still with Maria?”

  Looking down, he holds my chin tightly in his grasp, waiting until I swallow what’s left of him inside me. “Yes, until Saturday. Get up and get movin’. We leave in forty-five.”

  “Fuckin’ hell. Why the fuck did you go there, goddamn it! Did I not tell you to sit your ass still and wait for us to get here?”

  Hem’s livid. My eyes are swollen, and it’s too late to stitch my lip. My shoulders and face ache from the constant barrage of punches I took last night; suffering my fate with them in order to hear her voice.

  “I wanted to see her, Hem. I wanted to be sure she was okay.”

  Hem’s anger dissipates as he inquires about her condition. In a gentle voice, he asks, “Is she?”

  “No. They fucked her up. I heard a whip.”

  As soon as I say it, Shame stands and his chair flies back in response to his strength. Mace makes her way across the kitchen to him. He grabs her and tucks her into his side, using her as a weight to bring him down from the fury racing through his veins.

  “How many men are we talkin’ here?” Hem, who now has Sadey wrapped around him, stands at the kitchen counter, wanting numbers I can’t give him.

  “I don’t know. It was dark. If I had to guess, there were two men on me and only one on Raegan. Both Marcus and Vinnie were there as ringleaders.”

  Hem’s eyebrows lift in confusion. In my battered state, it takes me a few seconds to realize what he’s questioning. Once I understand, I fill him in. “Her name is Raegan, not Cherry.”

  “I guess I never paid enough attention to things like that.”

  Sadey snaps at Hem. “Do you really ever pay attention?”

  “Sugar, don’t start. Not now.”

  Rolling her eyes, she looks to Mace and Shame while mocking him. “Not now or ever, Hem.”

  The guys were here when I arrived. Vinnie let me go last night, promising to deliver my life in ruin as soon as the sun came up today. After I explained to all of the brothers what had happened and felt it safe enough to sleep, I did. Hem called another MC chapter in California, near where we live, and asked they watch Sarah and Bean for anything suspicious. They owe Hem, as a lot of chapters do, and agreed without condition.

  I woke this afternoon, only after struggling for hours to sleep, to Hem bellowing down the hallway for me at Cherry’s dad’s house.

  Gunner breaks in with the information he’s gathered. “I’ve contacted the club. The bartender told me Cherry is due in at one o’clock today, and she’s off at nine. If we’re doin’ this today, we should wait ‘til dark if possible.”

  “Agree.” Honor concurs with Gunner as he stands next to him, leaning on the other counter.

  Joseph sits stoically in the chair next to me at the table. This wasn’t at all what he had expected. He thought it was possible to walk in and have her willingly follow me out. Unfortunately, it’s clear to everyone here, she’s being held against her will.

  Anna makes an appearance at the kitchen door, dressed in her usual stuffy attire. Looking around the room to each member that’s here to help her daughter, she ignores their stares and finds Joseph, who now looks at her in surprise.

  After dramatically clearing her throat, she asks the room, “Have you seen her?”

  I answer, ready for her unguarded and unwanted response. “Yes. She’s doing great, thanks for finally fuckin’ asking.”

  “I don’t know what ‘great’ means, but after seeing how you came home last night, I can’t imagine she faired any better.”

  The growl that comes from Shame radiates as he takes a step toward Cherry’s mother, but he’s stopped by Sadey and Mace who flank his sides. Sadey attempts to correct the situation first. “Mrs. Simmons, maybe you have errands to run or projects to get done. Let’s let them handle things here, okay?”

  Shame disregards Sadey’s attempt to calm the room. “No, buddy. I think Mrs. Simmons should take a good look at Ace’s face so she can see the kind of fucked-up we’re dealin’ with here.” Looking heatedly at Anna, Shame finishes his thought. “Maybe, rather than going in and removing Cherry, we take you with us and you take her place. You’ve got the spirit for it.”

  Anna pales, looks to Joseph who offers her no support, then grabs her keys and makes her way to the garage.

  While Mace cleaned me up last night, her lecture and words of frustration she offered about how I never change were lost on me. She was hiding behind her annoyance. Her hands shook as she talked about ways to help Cherry.

  I’ve said nothing to Sadey. Knowing she was coming with the boys, I felt a tinge of anxiety in seeing her again, but when our eyes met for the first time, the feelings I was afraid of still having weren’t there. She was another body, another person, another friend who came to help Cherry and I know she wouldn’t be here for any other reason than that. The need to reach out and touch her never came. It’s a small relief in the wake of all the heartache I’ve endured because of her love for Hem.

  “I want us to send Ace in first. Hem, I know this is your call, but I think it’s a good idea.” Shame looks to me then Hem as he explains, waiting for me to object. I don’t. “They’ve obviously become familiar with Ace and if his fuckup can serve us at all, this is a necessary risk.”

  “Fine.” I have no issue in doing whatever I can to get her to safety again.

  “Hem, Gunner, and Honor can hold up near the doors. If Cherry tries to leave, we’ll know and can grab her.”

  Hem agrees by nodding while Honor and Gunner say nothing.

  “I’m going to trail behind Ace. They don’t know my face. If Cherry recognizes me, I’m hoping she’ll stay calm, but because we don’t know her state of mind, we’re goin’ in blind.”

  “She won’t just leave, Shame. She left me in California to be with her son. If she has him at all, in any way, she won’t leave him.”

  “She’s got Deck?” Sadey asks, breaking into the conversation.

  “Yes,” I answer her. “From what she said, this fuck Vinnie has him and Cherry both.”

  “I’m so sorry, Ace.” Words of pity from Mace mean nothing.

  Hem, sensing my anxiety, voids Mace’s lingering apology. “All right, we’re doing this then. Ace, get some rest; you’re on in about three hours. Brace brother, because shit’s gonna get nasty real fuckin’ quick.”

  Joseph has remained quiet un
til now. His eyes are hopeful, but his words are questioning. “Do you think you’ll be able to help her?”

  Shame walks out of Mace’s arms and to him. Joseph’s head cranes up to reach Shame’s eyes. “Mr. Simmons, your girl, if nothing else, is a survivor. If we give her a way out and she feels safe in taking it, she will. That’s precisely what we’re planning to offer her.”

  Joseph stands, shakes Shame’s hand and offers his sincerity. “Thank you for this.”

  Thirty minutes before go-time, I’m standing outside alone in the driveway. I haven’t talked to the guys at home, Sarah or Bean since my focus has been on Cherry. Grabbing my phone, I send Sarah a quick text as Bean doesn’t “use words” on her phone, and I don’t have time to explain to Travis, Hayden, and Toby about the violent life I left back in Ohio. There’s no way for them to understand it and although none of them have had it easy, they would judge me for what we’re doing. In a sense, this is kidnapping.

  Each text I start, I erase. I need to stay casual for the sake of my sister.

  05:37 p.m. Hey, squirt. How are things?

  Sarah 05:39 p.m. Boring. Did you find her? Is she coming back?

  05:41 p.m. Yes. I talked to her yesterday. We’re discussing things tonight. Tell Bean I said hi. I love you and be good ‘til I get home.

  05:41 p.m. Love you too, Aceface.

  “You ready?” Hem’s voice behind me catches my attention.

  “I’m not sure.”

  Hem doesn’t hesitate to reassure me. “Get sure, brother. This is it.”

  “Hem, thank you for coming. I won’t apologize for last night. I wanted to see her.”

  “I didn’t figure you’d be sorry. I owe you, and this is me returning the favor. Cherry’s a good kid and doesn’t deserve this.”

  The sense of pride for all she’s overcome makes its way out as I tell Hem the truth. “She was better, Hem. I swear she was. She was happy before she left Cali.”

  “This isn’t on you, Ace. Let’s just get in and out, and let’s celebrate the good we have later. How’s that?”

  “All right.”