“Okay . . .” Gamble narrows her eyes in on me and looks over at Judge. “Did something else happen?”
Fuck. I thought I was holdin’ in my anger enough, but I guess not. “I saw my ex with them, alright?”
Gamble blinks a few times while she processes what I just said. “Well, shit. This is adding more to our plates . . . you’re supposed to be leaving tomorrow with Needles. Are you still going with him, or do I need to send someone else?”
We’ve been tracking Konstantin down for months, so there’s no way I’m going to miss the opportunity to make that bastard suffer for shooting a child, and I mean suffer. The man won’t be able to breathe without feeling immense pain.
“No, I’m going. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Chapter Five
Marisole
I can’t believe I just . . . I mean, I don’t even know if it was Ravage. It could’ve just been a guy who looked like him. I don’t know. But what I do know is it was enough to scare me off from meeting one of Scar’s guys for a trade. Scar has me do it from time to time, but not too often. Ever since the other day, he’s barely left me out of his sight. Scar makes sure I keep myself doped-up so I don’t feel anything and if he can’t be with me, he makes sure one of the guys in the club is.
I sit back on the chair in the bedroom I share with Scar and my phone vibrates on the nightstand. I grab it and my half-sister’s name pops up on the screen. I haven’t met Rosa yet, but Xavier gave me her phone number and vice versa after he found her. Apparently, my father had more children than just me. We’re all bastards, considering he never married anyone of importance . . . but not one of us knew about the other.
Rosa and I have a half-brother named Ricardo, and Xavier’s been trying to locate him for a while now. Unfortunately, he keeps coming up short. Ricardo is constantly on the move, from what Xavier has said, so it explains why it’s been so difficult for him to find my brother.
It just shows me how my life isn’t what I thought it would be at all. Not in the least bit. When my father told me he arranged a marriage, I naturally assumed it was to someone of importance. Not a man like Scar. Most of what my father ended up telling me was a lie or a twisted way to get me to do what he wanted. At the end of the day, the only truthful thing he told me is something that still hurts me to this day.
He paid my mother so she wouldn’t abort me.
I questioned her on it after he told me, and she confirmed she never wanted to be a mother. She wanted to run around and party, so my father paid her a million dollars to give birth to me and then paid her two-hundred-and-fifty thousand dollars a year until I was eighteen. I know people say there isn’t a value on one’s life, but my father gave me one. It just happens to be 5.5 million.
“Hey,” I tell her the second I answer the phone.
“Hey there! I wasn’t sure you’d pick up the phone. The last couple of times I called you didn’t.” I don’t know Rosa very well, but I’m a quick learner. She tends to have a habit of slyly making you feel guilty for your actions in the past. I’m sure it works great on her boyfriend, but it fucking sucks when you’re her sister.
I didn’t even know my siblings existed. I only knew about them when Xavier showed up here a couple months ago. Man, it threw Scar off. He thought I called Xavier, but I didn’t. Hell, I didn’t even have a way to get in contact with the man. It’s not like one of the brothers in Scar’s club would’ve given me their phone to reach out to him. No way.
Long story short, Xavier told Scar and me about my brother and sister and how he gave Rosa a heads up about what our dear old dad had planned for her. He gave us the rundown on how Rosa would only get her inheritance if she married a Bolivian drug lord, but she didn’t. After all that, he told me how my sister wanted to have a relationship with me. He wanted to give me her phone number, but I didn’t have a phone and I made him aware of the mere fact.
I know now Scar will never let me die, but on that day, I thought I was going to. Scar slapped me around, shoved me into walls, and beat me with a whip for telling Xavier what he deemed was our business.
“Sorry, things have been a bit crazy over here.” I lie through my teeth, hoping my sister won’t dig. We’re still learning about each other and I haven’t told her my husband is the Prez of an MC club. Xavier told me she’s with the Reapers Rejects MC and when we found that out, Scar’s disposition changed immediately, and it wasn’t in a good way.
It made me think the club she’s involved in isn’t friendly with Scar, so I’ve kept things very hush-hush. I don’t want to create problems, so I tell her a little bit about me every time we talk and she knows I live in Lewes, Delaware. Otherwise, she doesn’t have a clue.
“Oh? What’s going on down there?” Rosa immediately questions.
Fuck, I didn’t think this through. “Oh, you know, just a busy time of year.” I keep it plain and simple, hoping it’s enough for her to accept.
“I bet it’s crazy. Always is around the beaches, right?”
“Right,” I confirm.
Rosa clears her throat. “So, I was talking to Axel and we think it would be a good idea if we finally meet. We have been talking for a couple months at this point and don’t you think it’s time we see each other? I mean, hell, we both have so many years to make up for.”
I know this is a moment where my heart should swell, but instead, it sinks into the pit of my stomach and I struggle to find the words.
Heavy footsteps begin to come closer to me, so I hang up the phone and hide it under my pillow. Scar’s broad shoulders fill the doorframe as the door’s pushed open and he walks inside, but he isn’t alone. There’s another man behind him. He has blond hair like Scar does, but it’s lighter, almost a snow-like color. He has piercing blue eyes that remind you of the ocean and his skin is pale, like a Viking.
The man scoffs and immediately looks displeased with Scar. “This is how you expect to pay your debt? One time with her? No.” The man turns and begins to walk out of the bedroom, but Scar clears his throat, causing the man in the suit to turn and look at him.
“What is it? I have things to do.”
“You have a weekend with her. Not one day. A weekend. You can pimp her out, do whatever you fuckin’ want, I don’t care. All I care about is that we make things good between us.” Scar seems desperate and his worries lace his voice. This man might not know my husband well enough to read him, but I do.
The man takes a step into the bedroom and his eyes rake over my body. I’m wearing a blue spaghetti strap top and a pair of shorts. I don’t look decent in the least bit.
“Stand up,” the blond man orders, so I look at my husband, who nods. Over the years, I’ve learned to only do as Scar says, not anyone else.
I scoot myself off the bed and stand up, staring at the man who has eyes that can very well look through me. He goes around Scar and circles my body, his eyes feeling like lasers on my skin.
He hooks a finger and slides it underneath the strap of my shirt and begins to tug down until he immediately stops. He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and waves his finger in a naughty motion at Scar. “I see the track marks, Scar. She’s no good to me or to work an event. Do you understand? I expect to be paid in full, not with your doped-up wife. It could’ve worked if she wasn’t riddled with these. Shit, if you give a fuck about her, then you’ll get her off this shit. Our business is done here. You have two weeks.” The man leaves the bedroom and shuts the door behind him, and the next thing I know, Scar has his hand around my neck.
“Why do you have to be such a worthless cunt, huh!?” he snarls in my face, shoving me against the wall. My back cracks at the impact and Scar whips out his knife from his jeans, flips it open, and presses the blade against my throat. I inhale slowly through my nose, knowing he won’t kill me. If he did, it would be a blessing. He only wishes to hurt me, to make me feel the pain as much as I can. Scar gets off on punishing me.
He presses the blade against my throat
even further until a burning sensation starts just below my jawbone. Warmth slowly cascades down my neck and even if I wanted to glance down, I can’t. It’ll only make more blood come.
My phone vibrates under the pillow and I pray Scar doesn’t go for it, but I make the mistake of looking at my pillow and his attention immediately shifts. Still, with the knife pressed to my throat, he uses his other hand to toss my pillow on the other side of the bed and sees the phone ringing.
“Well, looks like sissy dearest is calling.” He cackles lowly, swipes left, and answers the phone. Scar quickly puts it on speaker so I can hear every bit of the conversation. “Rosa, Marisole is busy right now. Can she call you back later?”
There’s a few moments of silence before my sister speaks. “What? I was just talking to her and catching up. What do you mean—”
“I needed her to do something for me, so she had to go handle that. I’ll get her to call you back later.” Scar taps the red button on the screen and ends the call. He tosses the phone on my bed and takes a step closer to me. His chest is brushing against mine and the blade is severing more of my skin. The burning is only getting worse, and God, I want it to stop. I don’t want this life, not if this is what the rest of my days are going to be like.
Though, I’m the only person to blame for the way things worked out.
I could’ve made an entirely different decision all those years ago—one where I’d be happy.
“What the fuck were you telling your sister?” Scar demands an answer from me and uneasiness settles into my gut. The night is only going to get worse, so much worse.
Chapter Six
Ravage
The flight to the Ukraine felt like we walked here. Everyone at the Knights of Retribution MC is ready for us to make Konstantin pay for what he did, and now we’re closer than ever. Probably why this feels like it’s taken forever. There’s so much ridin’ on Needles and me, and the pressure is on.
Konstantin almost killed Ace. The sick bastard shot her in the head as a way to hurt Ace’s biological father . . . but it wouldn’t have hurt him in the least bit. When he was alive, it’s not even like he gave a fuck. Hell, he had multiple people rape Gamble at a club meeting in Louisiana. Then you add in Ace getting shot? It’s no wonder we left the Royal Bastards and the Knights of Retribution were reborn again. Shit was getting crazier by the fuckin’ day.
“Are you ready for this?” Needles shouldn’t even be asking this question. Of course, I’m ready. We’re both ready.
I give him a knowing look and he nods, and the two of us leave the shitty little hotel room we’re renting for the night. We’ve been here for two hours already and even though we’re exhausted beyond measure, we need to get things done quickly.
Kiev is one of Ukraine’s most popular cities. Not only is it Ukraine’s capital, but it’s also where many people around the world come to do business, travel, so on and so forth. The original plan was for Needles to call in a couple of the guys he served with, but Gamble thought it was better if we handled this in-house, and I agree. The fewer people who know, the better.
We were able to use our friend, Ion Petran’s private jet. He’s the head of the Romanian mafia and is one of our strongest allies. Luckily, the Romanian’s believe family goes above all else too. When Ion heard what happened to Ace, the man wanted vengeance too. Anything he could’ve helped with, he has.
Ion even has a sort of connection with Konstantin. One of his head clan member’s wife used to be a very prominent gang leader here in the Ukraine. She still has connections here and personally knows Konstantin. Ion had her call Konstantin and arrange a meeting. Now, there’s only one thing this man wants more of—power.
Vera was able to get Konstantin to agree to meet her at a building owned by the Romanian mafia. Only, it isn’t solely her that he’ll end up meeting. Instead, it’ll be Vera, Needles, and myself.
I cannot wait for this man to get what’s coming to him. It’s been a long time coming and I know Gamble would’ve wanted to be here herself, but given everything happening in Delaware, we’d be foolish to put her at more risk.
The building we’re in is a condominium complex. I don’t know the specifics on which one of the Romanian mafia members owns this, but none of those details matter. The only important thing is that Konstantin gets here.
Ion’s handling the cleanup as a favor to the club and personally, it’s a bit weird to me. In my eyes, you can’t trust anyone . . . but Gamble trusts him and we have to follow her lead.
Needles and I get in the back of a taxi and head over to the condominium complex. It takes about fifteen minutes for us to get to the complex and the moment our driver stops in front of the doors, we exit and I give him a nice tip. Not too nice, though. I don’t want him to remember us.
Needles and I walk in through the lobby and a man greets us behind the receptionist’s desk. He’s wearing an all-black suit and smiles brightly the moment he spots us. “Good evening, gentlemen. How may I be of service to you?”
I take a step forward and keep my expression tight-lipped. “Ion sent us here, told us to ask for Glib.”
Immediately his expression falters and I can visibly see a wave of worry wash over him. “Glib, you say? Please wait here while I go get him.” The man goes back behind his desk, pushes open a door, and leaves Needles and me in the lobby.
“Shit, this is a fancy joint,” Needles tells me, his eyes scanning the entire lobby, but as they stop, I try to find what he’s focused on. “They have cameras.”
“It doesn’t matter. Today they’re having technical difficulties, so nothing is working, stopped a few hours ago.” I fake a frown, and Needles chuckles.
“Shit, I’m glad you said so. What’s the deal with this place, given you know.” I’m the guy who has most of the information. Always have been since my entire world was rocked in my early twenties. Before then, I wasn’t the type who paid attention to much or was even receptive now that I think about it.
“They rent this place to businessmen coming into Kiev for weeks or months at a time. It’s all I know. I didn’t ask for details that don’t pertain to our visit here.”
“Understood,” Needles comments with a nod.
The door behind the desk opens and the man who greeted us when we arrived comes through. “Glib will be here in a moment.”
He goes behind his computer and taps away on the screen, presumably finishing work. Needles and I stand in the lobby, speaking amongst ourselves while we wait, and the door opens behind the receptionist again. A man with broad shoulders fills the frame of the door. He looks like he’s the one the mafia sends to collect a debt—the type of man who doesn’t let anyone get away with shit.
“Come with me,” Glib commands with a thick Ukrainian accent and we immediately follow. Needles widens his eyes as Glib leads us down a long, dark hallway and makes a left. We go from seeing rooms and numbers every once and a while to nothing. “This room, it has an uh, how do you say in English? Reputation. Yes, a reputation. Many with power know this is where the high-class women will meet for eh . . . sexual transactions.”
Perfect. This is how we’re going to get him. He won’t know what hit him. Not now, not ever.
Now, all we do is wait.
Only a few more minutes of waiting and justice will be served.
Chapter Seven
Marisole
I stir awake, fluttering my eyelids open as Breaking Benjamin’s “Angel’s Fall” plays from the stereo behind me. My entire body aches, muscles feeling like I’ve been beaten repeatedly. My head pounds and I’m freezing. I move my arms to my sides and push myself up. The soreness on my thighs pulsates through my muscles as I try to pull myself off the pool table. I’m able to get to the side and as I scoot myself down, stars fill my vision.
The next thing I know, I’m waking up on the floor. I inhale slowly, not understanding why I’m so weak. Hell, I don’t even know what day it is. How long has it been since the phone call with my sister?<
br />
I blink rapidly, opening my eyes and see more track marks on my arm. I don’t remember taking any hits, but it’s not the first time I’ve blacked out. Not that Scar hasn’t done the hard work for me. If he thinks I’m being too much of a problem, he’ll dope me up. One time I overdosed because of his ass. He bought product from some other dude and obviously, it was laced with some shit. Fucking idiot.
Reaching a hand up, I grab onto the side of the pool table and pull myself up. The soft fabric brushes against the pads of my fingers as I force myself to stand. The stars fill my vision yet again and I do my best to keep myself steady.
Taking the trip to the bedroom is terrifying, knowing if I make one wrong step, I’ll plummet down to the ground. Not one of the brothers here offer to help me to the bedroom, but why would they? Scar gets off on this type of shit.
I lose my footing as I reach the dark hallway, grasping the wall like it’ll help me stay upright. A warm hand comes around the back of my neck and I’m turned around abruptly. Duke’s dark eyes bore into mine and a grimace pulls at his lips. “I wasn’t done with you yet, sweetheart,” he sneers, slapping my thigh, so I open my legs up for him.
I do as he commands, swallowing hard as more stars fill my vision. I weave to the left and he ends up catching me so I don’t hit the ground. “Fuck, you’re jacked up bad tonight, girl. Guess I’ll have to throw you down on the bed. Don’t need you to do much of anythin’ except empty my balls,” Duke grumbles, his tone full of displeasure.
I’m hoisted up into his arms and he carries me through the rest of the hallway until he reaches the door. Duke turns the knob and pushes it open and the stars overtake my vision. The next thing I know, I’m on the bed and who I assume is Duke is grinding his cock inside me. My pussy burns, knowing the man didn’t use anything. Fuck, did I pass out again? I must’ve.
“Aw, yes,” Duke hisses as he slams into me even harder. “Fuck, yes, take that cum.”
Wait on Me (Knights of Retribution MC Book 2) Page 3