Seven Sunsets (Asphalt Gods MC Book 2)

by Morgan Jane Mitchell

  “Hannibal?”

  “Her daddy’s other favorite. His family has been in the Gods since the beginning. If it weren’t for some shit that went down long ago, Hannibal would have been the Prez. someday. So, the General’s always kept him close. Now that he’s part of the family, things have settled down within the club. Well, until this week.”

  I didn’t care about Hannibal or any of the club boloney. I was still thinking of Scar’s wellbeing. “So, she still loves him and that’s why he won’t be killed?”

  “Freedom doesn’t love anything but herself. But she wants him mighty bad. That and the General thinks of Scar as his own. He’ll get a slap on the wrist,” she said as she rolled her eyes and shrugged one shoulder.

  Fuck, he’d get a slap on the wrist, but I was supposed to be whored out. Hell, no! I’d have to find a way to escape. I changed into the lacy negligee and crawled in bed with the pink haired whore. She put her back to mine.

  “I’m taking it you don’t like Freedom?”

  “She’s patched. You know some of the women are—all because the General never had a son. They act like your friend and shit until they earn that patch, then they look down on the mamas. But we’re tradition, and they’re pimples on our asses.”

  “I don’t think the women should be patched either.” I had no fucking opinion or clue about any of it, but I knew I’d better make a friend. “You do what you have to do to get by. They shouldn’t be judging you.”

  Jessy Bell agreed with a hell yeah. “You ever before?”

  She was talking about being a whore I supposed. “Yeah,” I answered. I’d sure felt like one fucking Manul. “I was hoping that was all behind me now.”

  “Because of Scar?”

  “Yeah.” Damn fool I was for being hopeful again. “Do you know the best way to sneak out of here?”

  She spilled her guts then fell asleep easy. I stayed up all night, thinking of stealing a bike and riding to Reno to see my brother. At least if Manul found me there, I could say goodbye to him first.

  Jessy Bell could have been Jewel’s pink haired twin. Just as young and eager, she scurried around in the morning, taking care of everyone just as Jewel had. I helped her all day, cooking and cleaning, all under the watchful eye of Freedom. When it got later and the men started rolling in looking for a drink, she sent me up to her room. “The General doesn’t what you getting away, so I have to lock you up and send the boys your way. But don’t worry, I won’t send anyone up.”

  “You’d do that?”

  “So much is going on tonight, no one will know whose dick’s where. If anyone asks, I’ll tell them you’re taking someone already.”

  I thanked her, hugging her, but she kissed me on the lips. I waited until she was gone to wipe my mouth.

  Watching the sunset without Scar, I wondered again what was happening with him while I was being thrown to sharks. He’d saved me from my suicidal mission, but not from Manul, not yet. Now, I was hoping I made it through the night without having to spread my legs for every man here, his so called brothers. Yesterday, I’d loved his brand on my body but now I cursed it. If I’d just run away before, I wouldn’t be going through this.

  It seemed Jessy Bell kept her word, even though I spent the night worrying every time there were footsteps outside. By midnight, I thought I was home free until the door opened and two men walked in with Jessy by her pink hair.

  “No one’s up here. Looks like she hasn’t had any business.” I could read his vest, the General. Hannibal was with him. Wrinkles and gray hair gave the General’s age away while his body told me it’d be useless to fight. Besides, Hannibal towered over him and was twice as wide with a huge gut and arms like tree trunks. Both of them were littered with what I knew to be jailhouse tattoos.

  The General told Jessy he’d deal with her later, slinging her into the hall. He closed the door and locked it, sealing my fate. I was sick, fear rolling through me. He started taking off his clothes.

  “It’ll be easier on you if you don’t fight,” Hannibal told me, grabbing me by the arm.

  “Where’s Scar? What have you done to him?” I screamed at the old man, taking his pants down.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart. You play nice, you’ll see him tomorrow. Tonight we take what’s his.”

  We? I looked at the big man who had my arm with an even sicker feeling. “What if I don’t play nice?”

  “We’ll make sure Scar’s dead by morning.”

  Taking a breath I told myself to be strong, to get through this for Scar’s life. Then we could run away.

  *******

  I’d just gotten out of the shower when there was a knock on the door. Holy hell, if it were another man, I’d bite his dick off. I didn’t answer, but they came in anyway. The same men who’d violated me just hours ago brought Scar to me now. Shirtless, he was draped between them. His face was a swollen mess, but his one open eye found me. They’d beaten him to a bloody pulp. Shaking all over, it was like he was having a seizure. I soon found out why. The men laid him on Jessy Bell’s bed face first. Across his tattooed back, blood seeped from of multiple lashes. Between them were nasty black and blue whelps and yellow swellings. I sucked in air, imagining the pain he must be in. “You whipped him?”

  “Only twenty lashes. He’s lucky he lives to ride another day.” The General blew me a kiss as they were leaving him with me.

  Crying at the sight of him, I didn’t know what to do so I called down the hall for Jessy. She got the antiseptic. Slowly, we cleaned every cut while he silently endured the pain.

  “You’ve done this before?” I asked her as she bandaged him up.

  She nodded, and I was more than sure, I wanted to run away with him, just to get him away from this life. Running my fingers through his hair because it was the only part of him that wasn’t bleeding, I’d wished I’d told him that already.

  I bent down where I was eye-to-eye to him, whispering, “You need to go to a hospital.”

  “He can’t do that,” Jessy Bell answered for him.

  “I’ll survive,” he croaked, surprising the shit out of me as he searched my face. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m just fine. You get some sleep.”

  I slept beside him and in the late afternoon when I woke, he was still snoozing. The door wasn’t locked so I dressed in my leather pants and one of Jessy’s tops to go downstairs, find him something to eat. The clubhouse was packed. Hannibal and Freedom were the two I recognized besides the other nameless red-head who’d driven the van. I wondered if Freedom knew what her husband did to me. I wondered if she’d put him up to it.

  Jessy was busy, so an older woman set me up a tray of provisions for Scar. Her short hair was dyed the same bright red as Freedom’s. She had the same dark roots. “He’ll be okay.” She patted my hand. “Everything will be back to normal soon.”

  I noticed a wedding ring. “You the General’s wife?”

  “Ol’ lady,” she corrected me. “Wanda.” She offered her hand, but I didn’t take it. Her other hand clutched my shoulder and her beady eyes met mine. “Don’t think I don’t know about last night. It’s no skin off my teeth.”

  “Wasn’t my choice.” I throat felt dry, remembering it.

  “Don’t go getting used it.”

  What the fuck? I’d play like I was strong. That was something I was used to. I jerked away from her, looking down my nose at her. “Like I’d want to fuck your old man.” I took the tray and stomped up the stairs.

  Taking care of Scar kept my mind off last night, off of everything for a while but soon I needed some air. Sitting in the sandy grass, I took in the darkening sky for a long time, trying not to cry. I’d thought of running away before, but how could I leave Scar here alone.

  I stood to go back inside, shaking the sand from myself, only to see him hobbling toward me, holding the whiskey I tried to get him to try earlier to help ease the pain.

  “You shouldn’t be up,” I told him, questioning how he even put his sh
irt on.

  “You shouldn’t run off.” Scar was hunched over a little but handling himself well.

  “I’m fine. You should be resting.” I helped him to sit where I’d been before, sitting with him.

  “I don’t want to miss another sunset with you.”

  Lifting my head, I saw another stunning sky. “It hadn’t been there a minute ago.”

  “It’s amazing how things can happen so fast,” he said taking my hand.

  Turning to face him, I let him know, “I will go. I don’t know if I told you already, but I want to go away with you and Halley.” My cheeks burned from my smile, but Scar said nothing.

  He was quiet for a long time. “I’ve got to leave in the morning, but I’ll be back.”

  “Okay, what about me?”

  “You stay here. I’ll be back.”

  “I’m not staying here.”

  “You have to. The General will kill you if you leave. It’s just me. I’m going to get Halley back alone.”

  “But if you go alone, how can we go away?”

  “We can’t.”

  The sky wasn’t as beautiful to me anymore. I felt myself slipping back into an abyss of sadness. Then my tears started.

  He took a swig of whiskey. “I’m worried about you holding up.”

  Scar didn’t know what I’d gone through last night. He just thought this was my normal thing. He thought this was who I was. I got up to go back inside, dusting myself off. Maybe this was me. “It sticks with me like sand. I think it’s gone, but the grains are always there. I’m always dusting them off just to find them again.” I was talking about the sadness I’ve been fighting since my mother died. Things had only gotten worse for me since then, and I could never shake it off. I didn’t know if he understood.

  “Please watch the sunset with me.”

  “I think I need a sunrise,” I said walking back to the clubhouse because, hell, I had nowhere else to go. And thanks to Scar, I didn’t want to die anymore.

  Chapter 11

  Scar

  Goddamn it! I hated to leave Emery here, knew she wouldn’t be happy about it. I went after her, into the clubhouse. Freedom stopped me, handing me a bottle of prescription pain medicine.

  “It’s ‘bout time. General told you to bring them to me last night.”

  “Maybe you’ll know the pain you caused me,” she pouted, pushing out her big chest, bigger now with her implants.

  Popping a pill in my mouth, I shoved her out of my way to get to the bar. It looked like Emery had gone upstairs, but I needed a drink. Needed time to let the pain pills work before I found her. Wanda poured me some whiskey. “Glad you’re home, son.”

  I raised my glass to her, but I’d never felt anything for the woman. She was cold and hard, the General had made her that way. Legs and Shirley were the ones who’d been good to me, not the General and his wife, even though they liked to claim me.

  “I’ll keep an eye on your girl while you’re gone. Maybe when your sister is settled, I can plan another wedding.”

  “Maybe,” I answered her. She never wanted me with her daughter, Freedom. It’s why I never took the girl seriously and broke her heart. Maybe Wanda would keep Emery safe from Freedom while I was gone, just to keep me away from her daughter. If anything, Wanda loved a wedding more than the world. “Go ahead and start planning. I’m fixing on asking her when I get home.”

  Wanda smiled big before she went back to slinging drinks.

  The General had given me his word Emery would be safe while I was gone, but I didn’t trust Freedom at all. The man had no power over his strong willed daughters. Wanda may have been the only one who could reign them in.

  Bones and Cowboy got off with a warning. Bones was staying here to recover from his gunshot wound, but Cowboy could leave to go back to Louisiana at any time. Not that he wouldn’t stay and have his way with Anarchy first. The bitch had ruined him for all women, double-crossed us and still I had no doubt where he was tonight, in her bed.

  I’d made a deal with the General for mine and Emery’s life. The General said he’d pay Serpentine what I’d agreed to and I’d ride alone to get Halley, on one condition—I come back, be his second again. Take over for him if anything ever happens to him. Meaning Emery, Halley and I couldn’t run. He’d said he’d be watching the girls like a hawk and that I’d be parked for a while until I earned his trust again. I had to agree. I was on my knees getting ready to get the shit beat out of me by fourteen of my brothers and then take my lashes. Didn’t have my motorcycle now, no how. I’d be taking the General’s old Harley to California.

  After a couple whiskeys, whatever I’d taken was working. I felt almost as good as new. I climbed the stairs to find Emery crying on the bed. She was already fragile. I’d been hoping my news hadn’t broke her. It destroyed my heart to see her the same mess she’d been when I met her, complete with new cuts on her arms. Sitting, I brought her to me the best I could, into an embrace. I wanted her, even if I hurt all over. Needing to make love to her tonight, I kissed her. She didn’t kiss back, only balled back into my chest. “I love you, and it’s killing me to leave,” I howled, lifting her chin and staring into her eyes but she looked a million miles away. “Emery, do you hear me? I love you and I’ll be back. We’ll leave here somehow, I promise.” She was too far gone, miserable, tears pouring from her eyes like rain. I held her to me, wanting to take her away, make her smile again. She cried herself to sleep in my arms, and I held her all night despite my own pain. When the sun lit the room, I wrote her a note and left her sleeping to head to California.

  Halley

  Lying in my bed, listening to the clock tick, I let my mind lock on a picture. Sometimes I can picture him. He’s far away, calling to me. I can hear him, but I can’t see his face that I imagine looks a lot like mine.

  It’s no secret here that I’m the spoils of war. Well, it isn’t anymore. When I was young, I didn’t even know my real name. Growing up as simply Star—Fuck, things were good back then. But Serpentine’s a cruel man. The cruelest thing you can tell a young girl is her life is a lie, you killed her parents and she has a brother who’s fighting to get her back—that you’ll never let it happen. You’ll never let her go. You’d kill her first. No, Serpentine really was the devil he proclaimed to be.

  The first time the Asphalt Gods MC got too close to rescuing me, I was thrown in this basement, locked away. It’s where I’ve been for five years. My life stopped when I was fifteen, but things could be worse. I put my head under the pillow, blocking the ticking, the sound of the clock, a cruel reminder my time is almost up. When Serpentines old lady died in a gun fight in the summer, he made a deal with me. I don’t know if her death softened him or it was just another cruel game. He said if my brother paid what the Coyote Ghosts MC owed him plus interest, he’d let me go. If not, I’d become his old lady without a fight.

  Hell yes, there’d be a fight, but I agreed anyhow. Trying not to think about that, I remembered my brother’s voice. Serpentine let me listen to my brother, Scar’s voice as he made the deal over the phone and then I’d spoke to him this week. In the last five years, not many people had cared about me enough to go up against Serpentine. I could tell how much Scar cared from the desperation in his tone. He’d come through for me or die trying. Sometimes I’d imagine I was a princess locked away in a tower but instead of my prince charming, it was my brother who’d rescue me. But, fairy tales weren’t going to save me. I’d already waited for Scar for five years, and I had no illusions that Serpentine would keep his word. My brother was being called to slaughter. I had a backup plan. I planned to save myself.

  The door opened, letting a block of sunshine in. Snakebite came down the stairs with my dinner. Since last night, when I tried to escape, I’d been handcuffed to the bed. Snakebite had taken a liking to me, more than his brothers who liked come down and humiliate me, rape me, run a train on me. They weren’t allowed to do that anymore that Serpentine decided he wanted me for his own. I block
ed a memory of last night out of my mind. He’d visited me, drunk. The sixty-year-old man wasn’t waiting until we were married to violate me. I fought him, but it didn’t matter, that’s what he liked. I’d made it to the door, and that’s when he cuffed me to the bed. Snakebite would let me out of the cuffs. He’d take care of me.

  After he let me go, I cleaned up. At least I had a bathroom with a sink and a toilet. I practically took a bath in the sink, wanting all of that old man off me. I wasn’t hungry, but I ate. If I ever were freed, I’d need all my strength. Plus, I needed my strength for what I was about to do.

  Snakebite kissed me softly on the forehead, like he always did before he’d leave. Only a few years older than me, he’d grown up with me. The spiky haired boy always cared for me, but it was hard for me to think of him as anything more than a friend. He grew up hard, becoming a big tough man. If I didn’t know him, I’d be scared shitless. His muscles and tattoos were intimidating enough, but it was his split snakelike tongue that frightened most people.

  Besides a few of the women, he was the only one to think to feed me, to check on me. Too bad he hadn’t cared enough to stand up to his brothers and Serpentine though. Nevertheless, I knew he still cared because unlike the others, he never took me against my will.

  “I love you,” I told him, grabbing his hand. It was a lie. He was my way out, if he weren’t such a chicken shit. My eyes pleaded with his. I closed my eyes and went in for a kiss, finding the bulge in his pants with my other hand. He responded, hardening as I unzipped his pants and pulled his warm erection out. I laid back, tugging him forward. “I want you to love me.” I felt tears sting my eyes. Part of it was true. I longed for some tenderness, but more than that, I wanted Snakebite to finally care about me enough to get me out of here.

  He took his time and kissed me all over. This I could take, but still, I found silence. I set my thoughts out to far off destinations as he made love to me. He said he loved me. I imagined his arms were the sun, warming me. Jumping into a lake, I swam in cool water when he entered me for the first time. His breath on my shoulder, his hands clutching tenderly, I started to come back to reality. Snakebite’s face hung above mine as he stared into my eyes. “I want to take you away from all of this.”