Reckless Fear (The Black Vipers #1)

by Micki Fredricks

  I watched her from my spot in the kitchen, the open living space giving me a clear view of her through the bedroom door.

  The phone buzzed again and it startled her. She sat straight up in bed and reached for the phone.

  I watched as she placed her feet on the floor, running a hand over her eyes. She gazed around the room before glancing over her shoulder at me. Relief crossed across her face.

  Her eyes dropped for second before flashing me a small, tired smile. She stood, walking to part of the bedroom I couldn't see.

  Call it instinct, jealousy or maybe self-preservation but I suddenly needed to know who was on the other line.

  I moved to the doorway, pushing the door slightly open so I could hear the conversation.

  She stood with her back to me in front of one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Her head hung low as she whispered into the phone.

  “Hello?” she answered.

  Her body stiffened as she listened to the person on the other end.

  Pinching the bridge of her nose, she released a shaky breath. “What do I need to do?”

  She began a short pace, back and forth, while she raked her fingers through her hair.

  “I can’t do it. I can’t leave him like that.”

  I put my hand to the door, prepared to push it open and take her in my arms until my phone rang behind me. She turned, our eyes met and she knew I’d heard.

  Tears streamed down her face. She was leaving. She had said she couldn't leave me but it wasn't a statement of fact, it was a statement of regret.

  She would leave me, even if it was painful…even if it would kill both of us. She would do it for whoever was on the other end of that damn phone.

  I stomped toward her, pulling the phone from her hand and yelling into it.

  “She’s not fucking going anywhere! She’s with me now and I won’t let her leave!” I threw the phone to the floor and the screen shattered. She stood sobbing and I grabbed her shoulders, making her look at me.

  “Who was on the fucking phone, Sasha? Tell me.”

  My phone sounded off again in the other room. With shaky hands, she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

  “You should get that.”

  “I don't give a shit what the hell Justin has to say about your past. It doesn't matter to me.”

  “It will. Go get the phone.”

  I released her, nearly ripping the door from the hinges when I passed through.

  “What the fuck do you want?”

  “Calm down and listen to me,” Justin said.

  “Just fucking tell me what you know.”

  Justin’s voice was steady. “You are not safe with this girl.”

  I growled into the phone, pacing and grabbing at my hair. “I haven't been safe a mother-fucking second of my life. Tell me what you know.”

  I walked back into the room. Her shoulders slumped forward as her body shook with sobs. I wanted to go to her, throw this damn phone to the ground and take her into my arms…until I saw the gun in her hand.

  “You need to get out of there, Tight. I’m not sure how much time you have before The Dark Riders show up.”

  “Okay.” I lowered my voice a bit, holding up one hand in the air between us. “Baby, just put the gun down. You’re safe, just get your stuff. We have to go.”

  She started shaking her head wildly. “I told you to let me go. Now look where we are. No. No, I can’t go with you.”

  “You can’t bring her here,” Justin said. “If she comes here, she will die.”

  “What the Hell? Then I’m staying with her.”

  “If you do that, you will die.”

  I looked up and locked eyes with Sasha. Her eyes pleaded with me as she whispered the same thing over and over.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  Somewhere in the back of my mind, the next words Justin spoke registered. I ignored the warnings he spit out trying to convince me to leave Sasha behind.

  I knew what he was saying. I understood the words…but somehow my heart refused to believe the meaning. It twisted painfully inside of me, stealing every sensible thought my mind tried to convey. My reality was fading around the edges. Sounds were nothing but blurred noises filtering in and out between her cries and my denial.

  All I could do was watch her as she lifted her t-shirt over her head and threw it to the floor.

  “No. Put that damn shirt back on. I don’t want to see what you’ve been hiding. I don’t want to see your scars.”

  “Look at me, damn it! Look at me. All I am is scars. Scars from you, scars from him…scars from the things I’ve done to save myself.”

  Justin’s next words snapped my life in two. On one side-my club, my life, everything that had saved me. On the other side-my love, my salvation, and the one I was made to save.

  The entire world started to spin and tilt, throwing me around like a child.

  “No, it’s not fucking true. Tell me it isn’t true.”

  She slowly lifted her gun, setting the sites between my eyes. A sudden yet eerie calmness coming over her.

  I dropped the phone as I lifted my hands up in front of me.

  “Sasha. Baby, tell me it’s not fucking true.”

  Taking her silence for confirmation, I dropped to my knees, smashing my fists against the floor.

  “Why do you have that gun? Are you going to kill me Sasha? Were you going to fuck me and then shoot me in my sleep?”

  I rose up on my knees, stretching my hands out to the sides, “Just fucking do it then. Do it!”

  “I’m not going to kill you,” she muttered, her voice absent of emotion.

  “You might as well. Fuck it, Sasha!” I slapped the sides of my head, trying to rid all the noise and confusion.

  “I love you. I’ve always loved you,” she whispered.

  I stood, pointing in her direction. My voice shook with disbelief.

  “Don’t you say those words to me. This has all been a lie, a fucking game to you.”

  “No.”

  “Then tell me, tell me what the fuck is going on, because from where I’m standing it sure looks like you’ve played a perfect hand of revenge. Tell me who you are. What is your real name?”

  She dropped the gun to her side and locked her eyes with mine. Her breaths quickened and her nostrils flared.

  “My name is Sasha Campbell. I am the daughter of Big Frank Campbell, former President of The Dark Riders and the one responsible for your beloved Gen's death. I am Dark Rider by blood, the same blood you’ve vowed to spill until you’ve killed us all.”

  Bile rose in my throat and I tried to control my rage. “No.”

  “Yes. He is also the one who murdered our child and sold me.”

  “Why did he do that to you? Why did he kill Gen?”

  “Retaliation.” Her face drained of all color and her eyes clouded over. “Maverick’s father had very powerful friends.”

  “Holy shit. What the fuck are you talking about?”

  She lifted her arms to the side, speaking as she turned slowly.

  “Not your club…you. Once he figured out who you were, it all clicked into place.”

  I froze as her full back came into view.

  “You killed Maverick’s father and took my virginity. My father had to deliver payment one way or another.”

  Stunned from the sight before me, I stumbled to the side, catching myself against the bed.

  Tattooed from shoulder blade to shoulder blade was the image of a sheeted ghost riding a black horse. The ghost held a staff that dripped the blood of their enemies in one hand, a skull in the other. She had been branded with their patch.

  “So for payment, my father tortured and murdered the only person in the world that meant something to you, your beloved Gen.”

  I pushed the palms of my hands into my eyes but the image would forever be burned into my soul. I screamed in rage and she spoke through her sobs.

  “From the day I met you until the second I escaped his cl
utches, I paid the price for your sins.”

  My gut twisted as I opened my eyes again to read the words that seared my darkened heart and would throw me into the pits of Hell I deserved with no hope of returning. In place of the rockers that should have been tattooed on and read Property of The Dark Riders, was a crudely written message. One that had been carved into her skin with a knife. The bumpy and marred skin would forever hold proof of his anger and malice.

  Property of Maverick.

  Slowly turning back toward me and dropping her hands, she tilted her head to one side. Studying me as a small smirk lifted one side of her mouth, her eyes clouded with concern.

  “It’s okay. Now you understand, don’t you? Why we can’t ever be together? Why I’m dangerous? He will never stop looking for me.”

  I stood in shock, watching as something inside of her snapped. Her grip on reality quickly slipping from her reach.

  “As long as he has me, he can hurt you. He didn’t find you, he wasn't looking for you. He found me.”

  In one quick motion, she lifted the gun to her head. “It’s the only way to save both of us.”

  I dove for her as the alarms from the elevator sounded in the background.

  We hit the ground hard and pain exploded in my side. The aftermath of the gun shot rang in my head making everything blur into unnatural shapes.

  I blinked slowly, my eyelids heavy. People flooded into the room, pointing guns and screaming at me.

  I lay on the floor, Sasha wrapped tightly in my arms. Pulling her even closer, I pressed my lips against her neck. The darkness began to take over and I prayed, wherever she was, she would be able to hear me as I whispered, “Sin is never free. I’m sorry you had to pay for mine.”

  THE END

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