When they stopped at the motel and pulled me out of the trunk, I fell unconscious in their arms. After that, there was only darkness until I woke up on the motel bed.
Did Papi even know I was missing? How could he know? I hadn’t even told him I was coming. When I received the letter from him, telling me that he was very sick, I still couldn’t make up my mind if I wanted to come back here. I was still in shock that he had tracked me down after all those years.
At the last minute, just hours before the fight I eventually took, I decided that I couldn’t just let him die before saying our goodbyes. I hadn’t written to him or called to say that I was on my way. So, he didn’t know to expect me, which meant that he wouldn’t know that I had been kidnapped.
And now I wasn’t sure what would happen to him if I did manage to escape from here, even though the chances of that happening were minimal. Would they kill him if I left? They most certainly would.
As much as I was afraid of Papi, as much as I had hated him for the things I had seen him doing…he was still my father. I couldn’t just forget about all those years of my childhood when I had looked up to him before I had met Jesus, and Papi was the only man in my life. I had run away from home without leaving him a note, without keeping in touch…in my mind, he had already paid his dues to me. It was why I had returned.
I lay back down on the bed now, staring up at the ceiling blankly. What were these men going to do to me? How were they going to avenge Papi's debt? I had been away from the gang and MC world for so long, but it didn’t mean that I wasn’t aware of what they were capable of.
The fact that they had kidnapped me meant that they had something planned. The Muerte Viviente wasn't the kind of gang that would kidnap me just to scare my father. They were going to teach him a lesson. They were going to use me as bait, or make sure that Papi never got to see me again. Either one of those two options were bad news for me.
I shivered and tossed and turned on the bed, and every time I pressed my eyes closed, I thought of Jesus and where he might be. No other man had even come close to the young love that we had shared as teenagers. For all I knew, he had left the MC and gotten married and started a family. I smiled at the thought of Jesus with a wife, with a kid…was he happy?
I felt the tears trickling down my cheeks as I lay there. Even in the worst moments of my life, when I had no hope of getting out of this place alive, all I could think about was the man I ran away from.
Chapter 3
King
I was standing facing Elwood at Church. This meeting had been called to discuss our latest discovery that the Black Skulls were running a fighting ring, using kids. I had my fists clenched on either side as I stood glaring at him. They all knew how I felt about this issue, and a small buzz of voices had rung out in the bar around me.
“Quiet. We’ll give King his say. Continue…” Elwood called out, and the buzz died. My brothers did as they were told.
I didn’t need to clear my voice. I was already prepared for what I was going to say.
“I was one of them, Elwood. Till you helped me get out of there. Thankfully, I was still alive,” I said, through gritted teeth.
Not a day went by that I didn’t think of my life in those fighting rings. When we were pitted against each other. One kid against another. Poised to break jaws, jam fingernails into eyes with the crowd around us roaring wild. Blood spilling everywhere, making the crowd, even more, blood thirsty. Elwood’s eye twitched as he stared back at me. He knew exactly what I was talking about. He had saved me from it.
“There are too many to save now,” he replied, in a small thoughtful grumble. I sucked in a lungful of air before I spoke again.
“And each of them deserves to keep living. I was a street kid before the Muerte Viviente picked me up. I didn’t know any better. I thought that the pittance they were going to pay me to fight their fights in the ring, would pay for my mother’s medication. That finally, I would be able to provide for my family,” I said, and I could feel my blood boiling.
Elwood shifted in his seat and looked at the men standing behind me. Commando, Girth, Slade…all brothers, all men who were on my side. They knew every detail of my past because I had shared it with them and they knew how passionately I felt about the fighting rings.
“I know your story, King. I don’t need any reminders,” Elwood said, and I took a step towards him, and he arched his eyebrows.
“Elwood…you saved me,” my voice dropped by several decibels. I was willing to beg him if I had to. To get those boys out. I had an excellent idea what kind of life they were being forced to live. The lure of petty cash for a teenager would have seemed tempting enough, but once they joined the gang, they would have no way to escape. They would be forced to fight in the rings every day. Fight till their deaths, and then new boys would be recruited for the same pitiable lives. There was no escaping that circle. Unless we did something about it.
“And I am glad I did,” Elwood said and I shook my head.
“This was me ten years ago,” I countered passionately.
“And I know you feel bad for those boys. But I'm not sure if this is a risk worth taking. If we go in there and try to close a ring that the Black Skulls are running; it could mean that we lose our men,” Elwood growled, trying to put me back in my place but I wasn’t about to take no for an answer.
“Yes, that is a risk. But what the Black Skulls are running is against every code of our MC. No children or women. Remember? Isn’t that what you taught us?” I growled and could feel my shoulders heaving as I spoke.
Elwood was studying me, from head to toe. His gaze fell on the cross on the silver chain that always hung from my neck. It had escaped out of my shirt and was hanging loose on my chest now. He stared at it for a couple of moments and then blinked.
“Yes, that is what I taught you, and I stand by it,” he said, and I tipped my head once.
“Then we should make sure that we stand up for what we believe in, and rescue those boys,” I said, and a low buzz rang out in the bar again. Elwood looked around lazily, at his men…the men whose lives he was responsible for and then turned to me again.
“You have come a long way, King,” he said, and I clenched my jaws.
“Yes, I have, and I owe it all to you and my brothers. I wouldn’t even have been alive if it wasn’t for you,” I reiterated, and Elwood nodded his head. I could feel my heart beating wildly in my chest. What did that nod mean? He took in a deep breath, and I could see him looking into the eyes of Commando and Girth, for a sign of approval. I didn’t have to look at them to know what they were thinking.
“All right, we’ll go in,” he said, and the bar erupted in a cheer.
I found myself grinning too, a wave of relief had washed over my face. Ever since Commando and I had walked into that warehouse and seen the fighting ring, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. The only thing that mattered to me now was rescuing those kids out of there, giving them a chance the way Elwood had given me.
This time it wasn’t going to be easy. Elwood had saved me from a low scale gang. Whereas now, we were going to be up against a full-fledged MC. And the Black Skulls and us weren’t exactly on friendly terms.
I felt Commando’s hand slap down on my shoulder and then squeeze.
“You did it, brother,” he said, and I turned to my brothers and found them smiling.
“You convinced Elwood,” Slade said, and I nodded my head. This was just the beginning.
Chapter 4
Valentina
They sat me down in the front row. Not that there were any rows. Just plastic chairs dotted around the fighting ring. I could have been the only female in that warehouse, either way; I hadn’t looked. All I knew was that I was in an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by big men with tattoos and in leather jackets.
It wasn’t only the Muerte Viviente guys who were there; I could see that the bulk of the crowd around me were from an MC. The Black Skulls? I was trying to not st
are at the patch on their jackets.
They had driven me from the motel room to this warehouse, with my wrists bound again. They wanted me to see what they could do to other people, to instill fear in me. To make sure that I didn’t try running away.
The three Muerte Viviente guys stood around me, and I looked ahead, breathing hard, sweat trickling down my forehead. I could see the kids being prepared to be thrown into the ring. I knew what was going to happen. I hadn’t seen a fight like this before, but I had heard of it. I knew Jesus used to be one of these kids; he was forced by Papi into doing exactly this. It made my stomach turn.
“Valentina…you are as beautiful as always,” I heard a voice behind me, and I whipped around in my chair to look. It was Juan. He looked older now. I knew him well when I was growing up. He used to be one of the teenagers in the fighting ring like Jesus, but apparently, he had taken over the gang since Papi fell sick.
“Juan, what are you doing to me!” I screeched, but my voice was drowned by the loud music and other people’s voices. Some of the biker guys turned to look in our direction, but they were not going to help me. The only reason they had even looked at me earlier was because I was a woman. I was nothing but a walking-talking pair of tits and a pussy to them.
“Calm yourself, sweetheart, you know exactly what is happening to you,” Juan walked around in front of me, and then reached out to stroke my hair. I yanked myself away from him, my chair toppled a little, and one of the guys pushed me forward again. They all laughed, including Juan.
“Your Papi owes us money, he borrowed more than he could repay,” Juan said, with the smile still on his face.
“He’s sick!” I screamed at him, trying to spit the words out but it didn’t affect Juan. He just smiled and stepped back.
The fight was about to start behind him; the kids had been led on to the ring. A bell went off somewhere, and everyone turned to pay attention. I was breathing hard through my nose as Juan came over to stand beside me. He placed a hand on my shoulder. A slimy cold hand that turned my body to ice. He was going to use me. He was going to hurt me. I knew he was.
I gasped, crying out in terror when I saw the kids lunge at each other. They couldn’t have been older than fifteen…sixteen maybe, and they weren’t wearing gloves, they didn’t even look like they had eaten in days. I heard Juan laugh, and the others clapped and cheered as the boys took punches.
I was screaming, even though I couldn’t hear my own voice. I saw the blood pouring down the kid's foreheads, wounds slashing open on their bodies as they tried to knock each other out. The kid who won the fight would be the one getting food tonight, and a paycheck worth a few bucks. Both of them were as desperate for blood. It was natural human instinct, fight to survive.
My throat ran dry; I couldn’t scream anymore.
That was when I realized that my wrists weren’t tied anymore. One of the men had untied me at some point, confident that I wouldn’t be able to escape in a place like this, surrounded by hundreds of my enemies.
Trying to even my breath, I gulped, and my eyes fell on the cell phone sticking out of Juan’s pocket. His crotch was at level with my face as he stood beside me. I looked up at him; Juan was grinning manically at the ring, cheering on for the kid he had placed his bets on. None of them were staring at me anymore.
I reached for the cell phone, repeating Papi’s phone number over and over again in my head. All I needed to do was warn him. To let him know that I was kidnapped and that they were going to come for him.
When my hands touched the phone, I looked up at Juan again. He hadn’t noticed. I tried to slide it out, and he still hadn’t moved. I was so close if I could have it for just a few seconds. Just enough to send a text.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing!” one of the other guys had seen me. I felt all the blood drain from my face.
I screamed when he grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me back in my chair. Juan was alerted now, and he glared at me with his nostrils flaring.
“Valentina, that was a big mistake, my girl,” he said and grabbed my shoulders and lifted me off the chair. I screamed and struggled in his grip as he plonked me down forcefully on the ground.
None of the other men in that warehouse batted an eyelid. They didn’t turn to see what was happening to me.
Nobody except the Muerte Viviente men saw the punch that Juan landed on my jaw, throwing me back a few feet with force. I slumped on the floor, tasting the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth. I could feel my limbs aching and tears gushing down my cheeks. But I was glad I tried. I would try again if I had the chance. These men were not going to break me so easily.
Chapter 5
King
I remembered the warehouse well. I was standing exactly where I was standing the last time we were here, except this time, it was more than just the three of us. Elwood had sent twenty-six of the Club members with my brothers and us, and I was armed and ready to invade.
I never went in for a war without saying a prayer, and my brothers respected me for it. So now, I stood with my eyes closed and my head hanging down as I said a silent prayer to my God. The kids needed to be rescued, and my brothers needed to walk out of there with their lives intact.
From inside the warehouse, we could hear sounds of the ongoing fight. By day, this place wouldn’t have caught anybody’s attention. It looked like any other derelict, abandoned warehouse from the area, but right now, it was thumping with metal music and the loud cheers of people inside, with every punch that a kid took.
I clenched my fists, gritted my teeth and tipped my head at Commando. Elwood had given me the order to lead the raid, and so I took the first step.
We burst into the warehouse, our guns clicking in the air. A quick survey of the place told me that at least eighty percent of the Black Skulls were in the place and there were also some faces that I didn’t recognize. Ahead, in the clearing, the ring had been set up as before, and two kids were lunging at each other. Blood was coursing down their faces, turning them unrecognizable.
The Black Skulls turned to us, while I stood at the head of my Club. The music continued playing in the background, but the cheers had died down. Despite the fact that the Black Skulls outnumbered us, we had the element of surprise on our side. A lot of them, I was hoping, would not be armed or prepared for the bloodbath I was going to rain on them.
I fired the first shot into the crowd, and the men growled.
Commando, Girth, and Slade were by my side as we plunged ourselves into the depths of the Black Skulls. We fired as much as we could, there were wounded men on the floor before my gun was knocked out of my hands. One of them had come up from behind, wound his arm around my neck and was in the process of crushing my windpipe. I clawed at his arm, elbowing his gut till his grip weakened. He was pulled away from me, and when I whipped around, I saw Girth standing there, grinning.
Someone came at him, and I jumped, forcing the weight of my body on the fucker till I had him pinned to the ground. I punched his face, bruising my knuckles till there was blood pouring from them. He was knocked out cold, his jaw hanging loose and someone grabbed me by my shoulders and lifted me up.
I growled as I took a swing and missed. My hands came up at level with my face; I was glaring into the eyes of a Black Skulls member with a scar right across his face. He was sporting a mad smile like he was enjoying it. Nobody was enjoying this as much as I was. I was on a mission, and he had no idea. I was trained to be a fighter in a ring just like this one.
I leaped at him and punched his gut. His hands flew to his stomach, and I socked his jaw till his head flew backward, and he stumbled to the ground.
“What do you guys want?” he growled out at me when I stood over him. I grabbed his collar with both my hands and lifted him off the ground.
“All these kids go free, or you all are dead,” I said and knocked my forehead against his. The force made him jerk back to the ground, where his head hit the concrete, and he was out cold
. I was going old school now. No guns, no weapons, just pure fists.
I looked around me. My brothers were neck and neck with the Black Skulls. Some of them still had their guns in their hands while some of the others had been overpowered already. I growled and ran towards the two guys who were holding Slade by the neck.
I ripped them off him, knocking skull against skull, taking punches blindly till Slade was pulled free from their grip. He found his gun on the floor and used it to shoot bullets into their legs. When our eyes met, he tipped his head in acknowledgment.
That was when I saw her.
She was sitting on a chair, guarded by two men on either side, with her eyes fixed on me. In the first few moments, I was surprised to see a woman in this place. And then, I was confused by her role here. She was sitting calmly enough, except that her body was shuddering when I looked more closely. I could barely keep an eye on her, while men fought and struggled in front of me, but I had already started rushing towards her. Ducking under punches and walking through bullets that somehow missed me each time.
I couldn’t focus on anything but her.
She was in a pair of tight gray jeans with slits on the knees where they were frayed. A tight crop top the color of dusty roses, which revealed a slender torso and a flat belly. She was petite and yet curvaceous at the same time, and her breasts were large, stretching the material of her top tightly. Her hair was long and luscious and brown, falling in messy waves around her shoulders. Some time ago, she might have had perfect makeup on, but now they were running down her cheeks. Mascara mixed with eye shadow and smudged pink lipstick around plump pouty lips.
King (Rogue Rebels MC) Page 2