“And who are you?”
“Her lawyer.”
“Well, Em’s lawyer, they didn’t kidnap her, if that’s what you think.”
“I’ll judge for myself when I see her. She may have walked out the door with those men but she was scared, no terrified of something.”
“Renley,” Gage steps forward, all business. “I was actually about to call you.”
“Is that so?” the sheriff sneers. Our history with him isn’t great, and he especially hates Gage.
“Tell your men to back off. Come to my office and let’s talk.”
“What the fuck do we have to talk about?”
“Emily.”
He grits his teeth but nods. While they head to the office, I get Emily from my room.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
“Need you to talk to the sheriff, darlin’. Apparently your boyfriend thinks we kidnapped you.”
“Boyfriend?” Her brows knit, confusion written on her face.
“Some lawyer prick in a suit.”
“Johnathan? He’s here?”
“Yeah.”
“We were supposed to have drinks, Liam. I hardly think that constitutes a relationship. Then again, you wouldn’t know.”
“I’m not doing this right now, Emily.”
She turns up her nose at the forceful tone of my voice, walking to the door. I take her to the office, knocking before we enter. Renley’s eyes almost pop out of his head when he sees Em’s face.
“Fucking hell, Hunter! When are you idiots going to learn?”
“Watch it, Renley,” Gage warns. “Your badge only gets you so far.”
“Look at her! You’d think what happened to Raven would’ve—”
“My wife is none of your business. This had nothing to do with us.”
“Yeah,” he says, voice rife with disbelief. He approaches Emily carefully, not even glancing in my direction. “Miss Pierce, would you be okay to come down to the station?”
“Can’t you talk to her here?” I ask.
“That’s fine,” Em answers his question as if I hadn’t spoken. “Can you give me a ride to my uncle’s after?”
Her words knock me back a step.
“Sure. I’ll put two guys on the house until we catch this Vitalli asshole.”
He places his hand at the small of her back as they head for the door.
“Em….”
She doesn’t answer, doesn’t look back. Unlike the first time she walked out on me, something tells me this time she’s not coming back.
“You okay?” Gage squeezes my shoulder.
“No.” There’s no reason to lie.
“What do you want to do?”
“The warehouse. Now.”
CHAPTER 22
***Venom***
I stare down at the broken, bloody mess in front of me.
One down, three to go.
I didn’t even stop by the house for my snakes or venom… nothing. The rage inside me needs an outlet, and I couldn’t ask for a better one than these men’s faces. Gage and Crow are the only ones with me. One to monitor, I guess, and the other to clean up. By the time I get done with them, I doubt there will be much for Crow to get rid of. None of them have owned up to hitting Emily yet, but it doesn’t matter. They’re all dead. Wrapping a bandana around my fist, I move to the next asshole, wishing he was Luigi Vitalli.
“Do what you want to us. You don’t mess with Mr. Vitalli and get away with it,” he snarls.
“Who, little Mario?” I chuckle at his annoyance at me getting his employer’s name wrong. “I think he’s used up all his lives, right, fellas?” I turn to my brothers and back, losing the smile. “This is the final level, and he’s not getting past this boss.”
I plant an uppercut to his chin, bones giving way beneath my fist. His chair topples, falling to the floor with a bang. I step to the next one, who has the common sense to look scared.
“Please, mister,” he begs, teeth chattering. “I’m new. I don’t even know what’s going on.”
“You know which one beat up the girl?”
His head turns nervously to the man on his right, who shakes his head in disappointment.
“A-are you going to l-l-let me go?”
“Tell you what? Since you were so cooperative, I’ll make it quick.”
Pulling out my Beretta, I put a bullet between his eyes. I move over, a maniacal grin in place.
“You.” I rub my palms together. “I’m going to have some fun with you.”
A phone rings, but I drown out the sound as I trail the barrel of my gun down the man’s cheek. Hmm… which body part should I shoot off first? I aim it at his dick, but Gage interrupts me, touching my shoulder.
“What?”
“That was the prospect. There’s a problem at Jeff’s.”
“Emily?” My blood pressure instantly goes through the roof.
“Her ex is there.”
“I’ll be back,” I tell the man tied to the chair. “Don’t you go nowhere now.”
Fucking James. He picked the wrong fucking time to show up. Or maybe the right time.
I’m going to fuck that motherfucker up.
***Emily***
This day keeps getting worse.
After telling the cops my side of the story a million times, I had to deal with Johnathan. I appreciate his concern, but he didn’t have to call the police. With everything that’s happened, being rejected by Liam again, plus my ordeal at the police station, all I wanted was to come home, have a hot bath, and curl up in bed. Instead, I arrive to find James being pulled by his collar away from Uncle Jeff’s door. Liam looks pissed, but the sight of him still makes my heart jump.
“Stay in the car, ma’am,” one of the officers instructs.
With hands poised over their guns, they approach Liam, Gage, Tyler, and Crow. It’s obvious that James is drunk, so I have no idea how he got here. He spots me sitting in the cruiser and tries to stagger over to me, but one of the officers stops him.
“Em-Emily!” he shouts. “L-let’s talk. I just wanna talk. Come talk to me.”
He stutters and slurs his words, beckoning me to him. The longer he waits, the angrier he becomes.
“You bitch!”
He lunges in my direction but Liam pulls him back, saying something I don’t hear.
“You know what she did?” James asks the officers. “In… in front of my girl, she says I have a little dick. I don’t have a little dick. Do you think this is little?” Despite the situation, I burst out laughing when he attempts to show the officers his penis.
“We’ll take your word for it, buddy,” one of them says, stopping James from whipping it out.
“You,” James turns his anger to Liam. “She said you’re th-the bigger, better model. Wha-what do you have that I don’t?”
“I think that’s pretty obvious,” Liam answers, smirking while grabbing his crotch.
Everyone except James laughs.
“What’s so funny?” he asks.
“Come on, let’s get you to the station so you can sleep it off.”
“My girl’s here,” he tells the officer. “She can take me home.”
I look around, and that’s when I see the blonde fuming in the car across the street. If looks could kill, I’d be dead ten times over. I ignore her, turning my attention back to the men. James is led to the car and helped inside, the officers giving them a warning and telling her to drive straight home. When they leave, Liam and his brothers hop on their bikes, riding behind the car. I’m bummed he didn’t stay, but I also know I need to put space between us. My two bodyguards lead me to the house, telling me they’ll be out front. Uncle Jeff is waiting by the door, arms outstretched.
“Baby girl.” I soak up his warmth, finding comfort in his embrace. “I called Belinda. She and Frank will be here in the morning.”
“You shouldn’t have done that, Uncle Jeff.”
“You should’ve called them yourself. No matter how o
ld you are, you’re still their baby.”
“I know. I just don’t want them to see me like this.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Come on, I’ll get you some ice for your face.”
Foregoing my bath, I grab a quick shower and crawl into bed with an ice pack. I watch my phone on the bed next to me, praying for it to ring. It finally does, but it’s my parents. I cry exhaustion after a few minutes and they hang up. As much as I love them, they’re not what I need right now.
It doesn’t matter what Liam says. He’s already in my heart, and if there’s a way to get him out, I don’t know of it. I wish he’d even check on me, see how I’m doing. Nothing.
I close my eyes against the tears, willing them back. I refuse to cry over that man. How can he be so smart yet so dense? I got hurt because I didn’t listen to him, because I wasn’t with him. He could have protected me, but I didn’t allow him to.
He thinks he’s the reason Vitalli got to me. I’m the reason. My stupidity is the reason. My need to have more than what I was promised is the reason.
Now what do I have?
Nothing.
***Venom***
I see red.
It’s everywhere.
The walls, the floor, my clothes… my hands. Especially my hands.
I stare down at my bloodstained fingers and palms, sticky with the thick liquid. This is what a man’s life is reduced to—a few pints of gooey fluid. I look back to the man in front of me, barely hanging on to this world. Even if I wanted to get some venom into him, he’s bleeding so much it probably wouldn’t do a thing.
“You get it all out of your system yet?” Crow asks.
“No, but this helped.”
“Go clean up, brother. See your girl. I’ll take care of this.”
My girl. My insides shrink at the thought of Emily. If she saw me now, she’d surely want nothing to do with me. She’s the type to do things through cops and courts, not torture. It’s just another reason why I should stay away from her. I’ll bring her nothing but pain.
I move to the sink in the corner of the room, cleaning up as best I can before heading home. My foot hurts like a bitch, especially after riding my bike, but I try to ignore the ache. I bag up my clothes and shoes to give to Crow for disposal, then stand under the spray of the shower, watching the crimson water spiral down the drain. My anger is renewed, but not at Vitalli and his men. At myself. I fucked things up with Emily. I broke my own rule and made things personal. She shouldn’t have been sleeping in my bed every night. I shouldn’t have taken an interest in her life. I shouldn’t have… fuck. There are too many things I shouldn’t have done, and even more I should have. Hindsight is a bitch.
I scrub every inch of my body, drying off and climbing into bed naked. I know sleep won’t come. I just wish my bed didn’t feel so big and empty.
***
“They got him.”
“Thank fuck.” A part of me breathes easier at Prez’s words.
“Yeah. He didn’t expect us to go to the cops. Motherfucker was armed up and planning to hit us when the cops stormed in. He’s got a few weapons charges heading his way, too.”
“Caught in the act. Let’s see him worm his way out of this one,” Razor says.
“I hate to say it, but you made the right call, Venom.” Chopper nods his approval. “If we’d gone in, who knows what would’ve happened.”
“Guess we should listen to our women more, huh?” Crow chuckles.
“Raven would want a seat at the fucking table,” Gage says, making everyone laugh in agreement. “Probably mine. Especially now with pregnancy hormones times two. Shit.”
“You just make sure you give her whatever she wants, motherfucker,” Chopper warns. “Those are my grandbabies.”
“Yeah, yeah, Pop.”
“Speaking of family, I wanted to put something to the table.” All my brothers focus on me, silly grins on their faces. “It’s not what you think. It’s about our next legit business.”
“What you got?” Prez raises a brow.
“Sweet Treats… it’s for sale.” I hand him the owner’s business card. “It seems to do good business, but the owner’s retiring.”
“A bakery? Who would we get to run it?”
“Emily,” I offer without hesitation.
Maybe I just want to keep her around so I can torture myself by seeing her every day, or maybe I want her to achieve her dream. Who knows?
“She definitely knows what she’s doing in the kitchen,” Motor agrees. “What about the business end?”
“She can do it.”
“Fellas?” Gage looks around the table. “I’ll check it out, and then we take a vote. I’m liking the idea, though. It’s local and zero opportunities for conflict. Could integrate with Ellen’s Events, too.” Mumbles of agreement sound around the table. “Okay, fuckers, get outta here. We’ll deal with the Krueger issue another day.”
We file out of the chapel and into the bar. All the women are gathered there, old ladies on one side of the room, Hounds on the other. Nita and Millie enter from the kitchen, setting out food. I make my way over, stomach growling. When was the last time I ate?
“I just talked to Emily,” Raven says when I sidle up next to her.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. She’s going back to Atlanta with her parents tomorrow. Quit her job and everything.”
I pile food on my plate, trying to seem indifferent. “Okay.”
“Okay? That’s all you’re going to say?” she asks, sounding like her husband.
I shrug. “I told y’all it wasn’t serious.”
“Mm-hmm.” She dismisses my answer. “I drew something for you.”
She scrolls through her phone until she finds what she needs, turning the screen to me. It’s an image of a snake eating its tail, its body curved into a heart. The heart is shaded red, mine and Emily’s names inside it in bold, black letters. Mine is on top, the e extending down to form the one in hers. Shit. I hate to admit it, but it’s badass. I knew she was talented, having designed the tattoos for her and Gage, and Einstein and Ellen, but this? My back itches with the need to get it inked on my skin.
“It’s good, but not necessary.” I shovel a forkful of food into my mouth.
“Why you—ooh!” She stops, grabbing her belly.
“Raven?” I turn to her, now on alert. “What’s wrong?”
Without answering, she takes both my hands, laying my palms on her belly. I want to yank them away, knowing what these hands were involved in last night. However, the movement against them makes me pause.
“Wow.” My breathing picks up. “The babies?”
“Yeah. Feel that? They’re both moving.”
The smile she gives me conveys nothing but happiness. What’s even more shocking is that it gets brighter when Gage walks up behind her and she looks up at him over her shoulder.
“Get your hands off my woman,” he says good-naturedly.
His hands replace mine, and suddenly I feel as if I’m intruding on a private moment. The unburdened looks in their eyes, the smiles, laughs… the love between them. Gage is living a life I never thought men like us could. They share something so deep; they’ve persevered and are happier than ever. There’s no resentment in Raven’s gaze, only love.
My heart contracts, thoughts of Emily bombarding me. I want what they have.
With Emily.
I can see it more clearly than that Jimmy Cliff song. She’s mine. Always has been, always will be.
I back away, stomping toward the exit.
“Hey, where you going?” someone shouts.
“To get my woman.”
There are hoots and hollers, but a voice rises above the noise. “Wait, you’ll need this!”
I turn around, watching Razor jog to the chapel, coming back with a cut. I inspect it, throat closing up at the words on the back—“Property Of Venom.”
“How… when…?”
“Don’t mind that. Just go get her, brother
.”
I nod to my best friend, clutching the cut to my chest as I move as fast as I can to my bike.
I’m coming, Emily.
I just hope I’m not too late.
CHAPTER 23
***Emily***
He’s here!
I run to the window, moving the curtain aside to watch him limp up the driveway. Excitement shouldn’t be bubbling in my veins, but it is. God, he’s a sight for sore thighs. Eyes. Fuck, I meant eyes.
He looks up, almost catching me, but I dodge just in time.
“Are you okay?” Mom asks.
“Yeah, fine.”
I almost jump out of my skin when the knock comes at the door.
“I’ll get it,” Dad offers.
I inch closer to the door, trying to hear the conversation.
“What’s wrong with you? Who’s at the door?”
“Mom, it’s Liam,” I whisper.
“Oh? Why doesn’t Frank invite him in?”
She wanders off, despite my efforts to keep her here with me. Shaking off my hand, she heads for the door.
“Liam! So nice to finally meet you. Why don’t you come in?” she says loud enough for the neighbors to hear. I giggle, knowing it’s for my benefit. I’m acting like a schoolgirl, but who cares?
“I’d love to, but I can’t stay, ma’am. I just need to talk to Emily.”
“Okay, I’ll get her.”
Mom walks into the room fanning herself. “Jeez, Emily. You didn’t tell me he was such a handsome young man. And so muscular!”
“Mom, stop perving.” I roll my eyes.
“Go, sweetheart. He’s waiting.”
I take a deep breath, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans. He could probably hear my heart beating from a mile away, but I can’t let him see how his presence is affecting me.
As I approach, Daddy shakes Liam’s hand, then offers me a smile before leaving us. Liam cringes at the sight of me, but I know it’s because of the bruises. Once upon a time, I would have thought it was my face.
“Hi, Em.”
“Venom.” I try to act detached. He accepts it, shoving his hands in his pockets. “What can I do for you?”
Renascence: Death Dealers MC Book 5 Page 25