by Ana Jolene
As soon as they were gone, my eyes settled once again on Seven. “Come on. I know you’re not sharing everything with us, but if we’re to figure this out, you can’t keep secrets. Whatever it is, it won’t change how we see you.”
“You don’t have to tell them,” Indy said softly as she stood by her best friend. By the angry look Seven shot me, she clearly didn’t like being pushed.
I wasn’t enjoying this either. But someone had broken into her house, for God’s sake. “I’m only trying to figure this out.”
“No, it’s fine,” Seven said on a breath. “If it helps, then I don’t care.”
“I wouldn’t push unless I thought it would help.”
Seven nodded, taking a deep breath of courage. My body tensed. What was she going to tell us? “When I was seven, my mother took my sister and me to a Wal-Mart to get some groceries one day. Every time we went, we were allowed to pick one junk food each. I always grabbed potato chips. I loved them,” she added. “Ainsley liked those sour peaches things.” Her lips pulled into a small, sad smile before her expression darkened.
“Everything was fine until Mom’s eyes got big and she said she forgot something in the car. She said she’d go back and get it right away. She told me to guard the cart and keep Ainsley safe. So that was what I did.”
Seven paused, inhaling deeply. I could tell that this was a difficult story for her, so I stayed silent, waiting. “She told me she would be right back. So . . . we waited. It could have been minutes. Hours. I don’t freaking know! After a while, Ainsley tugged on my shirt and told me she was hungry. Of course I didn’t know what to do so I opened the bag of sour peaches and gave her two pieces to munch on until Mom came back.”
Her eyelids fluttered down, weighed by the memories. “A store clerk came by and asked us if we were lost. I told her I was supposed to stay. I had to guard the cart and protect Ainsley until our mom came back.”
When Seven paused again, I was starting to think that asking her to spill her secrets was a bad idea. I had no idea Seven had a sister and getting her to tell me this story was clearly hard on her. Her body was trembling now. I shared a concerned look at Hastie and Indy wrapped an arm around her, offering comfort. Memories could do that sometimes. They could consume you, take over your entire body. I itched to reach over and comfort her, but she pressed on before I could.
“When she left, Ainsley got restless and began taking things out of the cart, throwing them on the floor. I picked them back up and placed them in the cart, but she’d just keep throwing them out again.
“Later, a man came up to us, saw the mess of groceries on the floor around us and asked if we were okay.”
Her eyes lifted to meet mine then and I took a moment to take in the emotion swimming in them. “The man was so kind to me and soon a lady appeared with him. His wife, I presumed. She had a bundle of new towels tucked under one arm. I was so tired by then. And so hungry. Ainsley had already fallen asleep, leaving me all alone. When the man opened his arms, I don’t know why I stepped right into them. I don’t know why I felt a moment of relief.”
My body tightened but Seven trundled right on as if a dam had broken and the story of her past was now bursting free. “The woman placed the towels in our cart and steered us to the cashier while the man carried me in his arms all the way to the car. I don’t remember much because I slept through the whole ride.”
When she stopped, she looked to me to gauge my reaction. “Did they hurt you?”
“No. They were good parents. They took us to school. Fed us. Raised us well. But then I turned eighteen and that changed.
“Money was always sparse. We couldn’t afford a lot of things. I turned eighteen and they expected me to help pay the bills. I couldn’t find a stable job. So they made me sell my body.”
“What?” Hastie looked just as shocked as I was. Beside her, Indy had gone pale. Was this the first time she was learning of this, too?
“They whored us.” Seven’s voice came out flat. Emotionless. “Told us that we owed them for taking us in all those years ago.”
“Even your little sister?” I couldn’t believe any of this.
“Ainsley stayed out of it until she turned eighteen. They said that they weren’t complete sickos and wouldn’t make her a whore at fifteen.” She sent me a sad smile that made me growl. “By the time she turned legal, I was three years in.”
I ran my hand through my hair, shaking my head. My mind refused to accept this. Seven never once let on that she was anything other than content with her life. When she first came knocking at Glory MC’s door, tagging along with Indy, I had always assumed that her life was all rosy.
The situation she was forced in to was far from it. It would’ve made a lesser person suicidal to have to do that night after night. I would’ve expected her to act more like her ex, Daniel, who seemed to have abandonment issues. Not be a well-adjusted person like she was on most days. So hearing this story made it hard to believe that she had been forced to do that by her own guardians just to survive. The situation was strange, uncanny, and sad.
Seven watched me this whole time, her eyes raking over me as she frowned. “Lucky, are you all right?”
I didn’t realize it at first, but I was standing, brought to my feet by the raging emotions within me. Nothing enraged me more than forcing sex on innocents. “What happened to your sister?”
“She couldn’t take it. She hated herself. Her body. She committed suicide.”
Oh God. “I’m sorry, Seven.”
At the sound of her name, Seven winced as if I had slapped her hard across the face. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “They called me Seven to remind me of where I came from. I was the girl whose mother abandoned her in aisle seven of Wal-Mart. I’m reminded of what I owe them every time they call my name.”
My stomach dropped out from underneath me. My God. It was worse than I thought. “They had no right to make you do those things.”
“I never said my past was pretty. Are you glad you got that story out of me now?”
“No.” The ragged profession surprised even me. “I would never wish that upon my greatest enemy.”
“Is that a heart you’re showing, Lucky?” she teased, trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit. This conversation had turned too serious, too fast.
I met her tired eyes. “As much as I act like I do, I never actually hated you, Seven.”
The teasing smile disappeared from her face. “I never really hated you, either.”
TWENTY-ONE
Want You to Stay
Seven
The next couple of days passed in a rush. The night had ended with Lucky and me sleeping at Hastie’s place, me in the spare guest room and Lucky on the couch.
Everyone had gone silent after I told them the story, especially Lucky who seemed like he wanted to be left alone every time I spoke to him. I always knew that telling my friends about my past would change their opinions of me. It was why I kept it a secret for so long.
I was a whore. My mother had abandoned me. I had no family.
I wasn’t the person they thought I was.
In the following days, I kept to myself, only speaking when they questioned me more about Daniel and the Martins, the couple that had taken us home from Wal-Mart all those years ago. They were going to check on them, but it’d be harder to locate all those men I’d been with; even I couldn’t remember them all.
Lucky kept asking me if I was all right, but as soon as I told him I was fine, he would turn away. I almost wanted to tell him the truth and say no, but I didn’t want him to look at me as a burden while Glory MC was doing all they could to help me figure out what to do next.
Thankfully we were moving back into my house tonight. Glory MC had installed new locks and some extra security that would keep the house from being broken into again. If Lennon and Dex hadn’t decided to go out that evening, they would have been home while the break in occurred. The thought chilled me. But I couldn’t think about
that now. No one was harmed so there was no need to worry about what could’ve been. We already had to deal with the aftermath of the events at Giovanni’s.
Now that Giovanni’s had been hit by the Phantoms, my job was in jeopardy. What was I going to do if I couldn’t work there anymore? Where would I get enough credits to eat? What was G going to do now? All these questions were causing me to have headaches so I slept through the days, trying to store up my energy so when things got tough, I didn’t have to rely on others anymore.
The soft sound of Lucky calling out my name had me stirring. He was standing by the door, hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans, a serene expression on his features. Had he been standing there for long, watching me as I slept? “We’re leaving now.”
My eyelids fluttered down. Now was the time to pick myself up and be strong. I just wasn’t sure if I could. I knew without a kernel of doubt that if it hadn’t been for Lucky and Glory MC, my life would’ve made a turn for the worst.
I rose, taking in a deep breath for strength. I had to trundle on, no matter how much it scared me to.
Lucky
The need to crush Seven to me was overwhelming, but I stopped myself. I could tell she wanted her space. Every time I asked if she was okay, she would say whatever would get rid of me the quickest.
The story of her past had shocked me. It had also angered me. What I had thought I had known about Seven was all wrong. Sure, she was still stunningly beautiful and magnetic. But beneath that was a woman who had lived through hell and walked the earth as if she hadn’t been burned by it. All this had happened to her at a vulnerable time, at an age so young that it could have so easily shattered her. Yet it hadn’t. It made me wonder how well I actually knew her.
I gave her a guide of all the new security measures Glory MC had added to the house, making sure she knew what to do in case of an emergency. Despite her tiredness, she absorbed the information quickly. “Don’t worry,” I said. “Once I move out, it’ll be easier for you to handle. I won’t be around, setting off the alarms when I come home late.”
“Moving out?”
“It’s time for me to leave.”
No one was more surprised than I was when she said, “Why?” I thought she would be happy to have her house to herself again. But the furrow between her brows told me she didn’t like the idea at all. “I never said I wanted you to leave.”
“The added security here will protect you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
She gave a shake of her head. “No, that’s not it. I want you to stay.”
I blinked. “You do?”
“Yes.” She sighed. “Look, I know I’ve been a little out of it lately. I feel like my world’s been turned upside down. I’m just trying to get my bearings, that’s all.”
“You’re doing fine.” My hand came up to cup her face and it shocked me how natural it felt. “I promise you no more harm will come to you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, surprising me even further. “You saved my life that night.”
“I’m just glad you called me when you did.” I didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if I didn’t get there the moment I had.
Seven smiled for the first time in days. “Me too. Now tell me you’re going to stay.”
I stared at her for far longer than what was considered polite. Her cheeks flushed with the same heat I was feeling in my body. God, Seven had absolutely no idea what she was doing to me. My hand itched to reach out and touch her. Really touch her this time. Not just a comforting brush of fingers on her cheek. “I’ll stay then,” I said as I tried to keep my voice as level as I could. “Come on. It’s late. We should go to bed.”
I curled my arm around her, enjoying the feel of her body against mine. How did we get here? When did I begin to yearn for this woman like she was the only girl in the world for me?
When Seven stopped at her bedroom door and flashed me a smile, I struggled to remain in place. “Sweet dreams, Lucky.”
I forced myself to turn away. “Sweet dreams, Seven.”
TWENTY-TWO
The Trouble with Enemies
Lucky
“Three dead. Thousands of dollars in damage.” Knuckle settled down in his seat at the head of the table and shook his head. “Giovanni’s isn’t going to be back up and running anytime soon.”
The grim faces of my brothers stared back at me, many of them sporting their own hostile expressions on the matter. “What’s G’s plan after all this?” Clearly, with the damage done to his business, he wouldn’t be able to pick up right where he left off before the attack.
Hastie was the one to answer now. “He doesn’t have much choice. He put his heart and soul into that business and not much is salvageable. Even with the funds, it’s hard to obtain that kind of machinery in the post-flare world.” He slid a single piece of paper towards me. “He said he’s running here.”
On the faded, old newspaper, there was some scribbled handwriting. I recognized the coordinates as an address of some sort. “Haven Road.” I glanced up. “He’s moving out of Ward Two?”
“Yeah. Said he isn’t safe here. If the Phantoms find him again—and they will try to seek him out for refusing them—he’s going to find himself in a whole lot of trouble.” Hastie eased back into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s all about pride with the Phantoms.”
I thought of the older man with a fiery spirit who had put so much of himself in his work, only to have it taken away from him. “Isn’t there something else we can do to help?” G didn’t deserve one bit of what was thrown his way.
“We are helping,” Knuckle answered. “We’re going to help him move.”
“But that’s—”
“That’s the most we can do without alerting the Phantoms that he’s running. We’re going to have to do it at night when no one can see. If word gets out that we’re helping him, G’s life could be in greater danger.”
I swallowed the next retort on my lips, understanding Knuckle’s reasoning but it still didn’t make me feel good about this. What would happen to all those workers left without a job? How would they survive? Finding work in the post-flare world was nearly impossible.
Seven came to mind then. What would she think of all of this? She’d be devastated. She’d really enjoyed her job even though her true calling was cooking. With the death of many of her co-workers, the attempted rape and the break-in still fresh in her mind, this would no doubt be hard for her. “I want to be there,” I said decidedly.
“Good.” The prez of Glory MC nodded once. “We need to do this soon. Maybe you could bring Seven along so that she can say goodbye to him?”
“Yeah, she’ll want to see him one last time.”
“But what are we going to do about the Phantoms?” Beck asked.
“They’re virtually uncontrollable,” Kitt added. He turned to me. “I still have their leader waiting for you.”
Shit! After everything that had happened with the break-in, I’d almost forgot about him. “Where is he?”
“I put him in the safe house.”
Knuckle reared up, suddenly annoyed. “Wait. You’re telling me you’ve had one of the Phantoms locked up in one of the safe houses and you didn’t tell me?”
Kitt and I exchanged glances. “I thought you knew.”
“You never told me shit.” Knuckle turned to me. “So who is this motherfucker?”
“He was there the night of the raid at Giovanni’s. Their leader.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’ve had this guy locked up for how many days now and no one thought to report this to me?”
“I thought you knew,” I said, echoing Kitt.
Knuckle shook his head, fury rising like smoke from his ears. “The raid occurred days ago. Why haven’t you gone to see him?”
“I had other things to attend to.”
“The break-in.” Knuckle nodded in understanding. “But you know the longer he stays in there, the grea
ter chance the Phantoms will find him. And when they do, who will they blame?”
You, I silently answered in my head. The Phantoms wouldn’t hesitate to point fingers at Glory MC and use it as an excuse to call war on us. That wasn’t something we wanted to encourage. “I see you catch my drift,” Knuckle said as he stared at me. “You got somewhere to be? Because I’d like to pay this asshole a visit.”
I rose. “Let’s go.” I wouldn’t allow this to fester any longer than it needed to. The Phantoms were hunting G, which likely meant that Seven would also be in danger as well. The sooner we could get this over with, the better.
Kitt led the way as we rode towards the safe house. Located on the outskirts of Ward Four, this safe house was a perfect place to run away to. Or in this case, the ideal place to hide someone you didn’t want to be found.
I rode urgently, adrenaline pumping through my veins. When we arrived, the engines of our Harleys cut off one by one, the roar flatlining to a dead silence. Out here, there wasn’t much to look at. And the house itself was an eye sore. Only partially finished, some of the walls were half up, exposing wooden beams and electrical wires. I removed my gloves and helmet and tossed them onto a nearby table. Kitt was the one who opened the door to the basement, standing aside as Knuckle stepped into the darkness. I flipped on the switch, lighting up the single bare light bulb in the room.
Gagged and bound to a chair bolted into the floor, the Phantom blinked at the sudden illumination.
I loomed over him, cracking my knuckles. Knuckle was right. I should’ve handled this earlier, but the break-in had distracted me. Seven had distracted me. But it was now time to handle business. When the Phantoms’ eyes lifted and met mine, only one thing flashed into the forefront of my mind: kill him.
He cried out as my fist met his nose in a sickening crack. I shook out my hand. That was for the men he had killed at Giovanni’s who would never see their families again. I hit him again, harder this time. This time it was for Seven, for putting her through a nightmare of a night as she watched her co-workers die and nearly got raped.