Vengeance MC Box Set - Volume 2: Gage ~ Cash ~ Knight (Vengeance MC series Book 8)

by Natasha Thomas

“The shit that went down a while back with Cami at Rough Shod was the first time that’s happened. I don’t make a habit of laying hands on my baby sister, never have. I’m not going to make excuses for it, but there was more to it than just what you saw. It’s not public knowledge, but I’ve got a kid. A little girl, Lacy. She’s only just turned three. Her mom was a club whore until I kicked her ass to the curb when I found her passed out, high on coke, with my baby six months old, wet and screaming in her crib. Looked to me like Lacy had been in there like that for hours, so I didn’t hesitate in waking the bitch up and getting her out, and I haven’t seen her since, thank fuck.”

  I can’t sympathize because I don’t have kids, but I do feel for the man. Raising a baby on his own and in an MC that sounds to be at war with itself can’t be easy, but I keep my mouth shut and let him continue uninterrupted.

  “Cami took over watching Lacy during the day when she wasn’t teaching at the high school, and I’d pick my girl up when I was done for the night. It was working fine for a while, but when she started seeing Diesel, it was like Lacy didn’t exist anymore. I’m not talking about Cami not sitting for her as much, she kept watching her, but she was distracted more often than she was taking care of Lacy. The afternoon before the night I dragged her ass into Rough Shod, I’d come home to find a note from my sister telling me she’d had to take Lacy to the hospital. I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life, Gage. Lacy’s only a baby for fucks sake; that girl is my whole world wrapped up in one tiny package, and the thought of losing her made me lose my mind,” he confesses, sadness etched into his features.

  I don’t blame him. I feel the same way about Aislinn. It’s a constant battle just to make it through a few hours without checking on her to make sure she’s okay. It pisses her off to no end, but if it keeps me sane, then she’s going to have to learn to live with it.

  “Third degree burns to thirty percent of her body the doctors told me when I got there,” Nix snarls angrily. “My fucking sister was busy talking on the phone to Diesel in her room when it happened. Cami shut the door because apparently Lacy’s cartoons were too loud and she couldn’t hear what he was saying. All my baby wanted was something to eat, Gage. She’d watched me cook plenty of times, and my girl’s independent as fuck, so she figured she could sort herself out seeing as her Aunt wasn’t around to ask. How she managed to get the gas stove started is fucking beyond me, but my baby is determined when she wants to be. Hot water from the pot she’d put on it boiled over and splashed all over her arms and chest. If it weren’t for her screams Cami wouldn’t have even come out to check on her for who knows how long.”

  “Fuck me, Nix. Jesus, I’m sorry,” I rasp. “Is she alright?”

  Clearing his throat, Nix replies,

  “No, but she will be. Surgery to perform skin grafts, rehab, medicine, it all took it out of her, but Lacy’s a fighter and even if she wasn’t, I’d fight for her. As I said, there’s no excuse for me slapping Cami that night, but just seeing her light up when she saw Diesel made me remembering how my baby looked before I left her hospital room that night. I’ve spent months trying to make it up to her, but Cami won’t listen and she sure as hell won’t forgive.”

  “I think under the circumstances, she owes you an apology and forgiveness,” I offer, angry at his sister on behalf of him and his little girl.

  Snorting, he grates out,

  “Yeah, not gonna happen, but I agree. What I’m trying to give you is context, Gage. I don’t want pity, just for you to understand not everything is how it seems, including the rumors that I promised my sister to my VP.”

  “Figured that much.”

  “Worm’s had a thing for Cami before it was legal for him to. She wasn’t lying when she told Diesel Worm, and Ripper raped her, they did,” he confirms, clenching his fists until the knuckles turn white, standing out starkly against his tanned hands. “I didn’t find out about it until weeks later, or I would’ve dealt with them sooner. The truth is, Cami begged me not to put a bullet in each of their heads. No explanation why not, and I still don’t have the answer to that question, but since it was her who suffered at their hands, I respected her wishes and let them live.”

  He’s a better man than I gave him credit for because I can’t say I’d do the same. If anyone touched a hair on Aislinn’s head, they’d be in the same position as her mom, Nancy, and her ex-husband, Nicholas are; happily marinating in forty gallon drums of acid, which are buried in an unnamed dumping spot up in the hills fifty miles from here.

  “Worm never got over Cami turning him down when he asked her to marry him the day after she turned eighteen. We’d had numerous conversations, him and me, about him needing to back off and leave her alone, and for a time he did. Diesel coming into the picture changed that, though. I heard him talking to Ripper the day after Diesel’s funeral about how lucky they were an autopsy wasn’t done because ballistics would match the bullets to Worm’s .45.”

  “Fuck me, Nix,” I growl, shooting up out of my chair. “You’re telling me your VP and Enforcer murdered my VP in cold blood while he was asleep I his bed?”

  Rising to his full height of six-three, Nix has his arms hanging loosely at his sides, but I’m not stupid enough to mistake that for meaning he’s not on guard.

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you, and I would’ve told you earlier if that chick out there hadn’t kept putting me off.”

  Confused I ask,

  “Who, Jess?”

  “Yeah, fucking Jess. I’ve been calling or coming in every day since you buried you brother asking her to get a hold of you so we could talk. Every time she put me off with one excuse after another. Fuck, Gage, I had to threaten her today to get her to agree,” he admits truthfully, clearly pissed he’d had to go that far.

  “What did she say?” I seethe, torn between wanting to go out there and throttle Jess or corner her and demand answers.

  “That you weren’t in town, didn’t answer your phone, were busy with your new woman, work, and she couldn’t get away to get a message to you; take your pick,” he shares.

  “Did your sister have anything to do with it?” I question, needing to know how deep this goes.

  “No, she loved him,” Nix says emphatically. “I check on her twice a day; she doesn’t unhinge the chain, but she opens it far enough for me to see she’s still breathing if only just barely. With how hard she’s taking his death, there’s no way she’s involved, man. No way.”

  “I’ve got to take this to Boss, Nix. And if I were you, I’d do as you said and get the brothers whose allegiance you have and get them the fuck out of dodge, and I’d do it fast. Mark me, Vengeance will be swift once I take it to the table,” I caution, hoping he takes my advice. “It’s in your best interests if you agree I can share about Lacy too. Not the burns, her existence. Boss won’t risk hurting a baby or woman, so that should buy you some time and focus his retribution on the individuals not the club as a whole.”

  Nix nods his ascent readily.

  “Whatever you need to do. If I thought it’d make a difference, I’d tell you how sorry I am. I might not have known about it, but it’s my club, and they’re my men, so that makes me responsible for their actions. I don’t give a shit about myself, so if Boss decides their fate is also mine, I’ve got to ask you for a favor.”

  Eyeing him warily, I tip my head.

  “Ask, and I’ll consider it.”

  “Get my girl out,” he says gruffly. “I’ve got a friend who doesn’t know shit except for if Lacy shows up with a Vengeance brother to take her in. Her name’s Madison, ten County Road, Lower Falls. She works as a dance teacher at a studio in town so her hours are irregular, but if she’s not home, she’ll be at work.”

  “This woman mean something to you?” I inquire mostly out of curiosity, but partially because Vengeance will put her as well as Lacy on radar if worst comes to worst.

  “My best friend since we were born,” he replies, the tone of his voice hinting the
re’s more to it than that.

  His admission hits home hard. If Nix feels for Madison the way I do for Aislinn, then his absence will destroy her the way Aislinn’s did me.

  “Level with me, Nix,” I push. “I’m not promising anything, but if she’s more than just a friend it might carry more weight when I take this to the club. We’re not in the business of breaking up families. So that said, you have something to add.”

  “Everything,” he states simply. “Madison’s everything.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  ~ Aislinn ~

  “I don’t want to brag or make you jealous, but I still fit into the earrings I wore in high school.”

  – Truth

  So in the history of bad days, it has to be said, this one sucks big, fat donkey balls. And to think, it started so well.

  Waking up with Dex’s head between my thighs – and let me tell you, my man was hungry this morning – had me walking around with a perma-smile on my face and spring in my step. Okay, so maybe not a spring, more like a slight ache that was a nice reminder of my horizontal, X-rated wake up call, but whatever, same thing.

  I spent the rest of the morning emailing back and forth with Ella, arranging the details of the upcoming shoot I’m booked for, which lucky for Dex just happens to be in Bora Bora. An excellent honeymoon destination if I don’t say so myself.

  What he doesn’t know is that I extended our stay by a week, and rented a self-contained bungalow with its own private beach. It won’t be often that we’ll be able to make time to get away together, so I intend to make this trip count. Not to mention, seven days of unencumbered access to my man’s spectacular body is far from a hardship.

  Another smile threatens to crack my split lip as I recall the way Dex’s skin felt under my fingertips, his sparse smattering of chest hair as it rasped across my nipples, and the glide of his cock inside me as he promised to love me forever. I just hope that is still true when he finds out what I might have to do to save myself.

  I learned a lot of things living with my mother and Jimmy for the short time he was with us, and even more when I was married to Nicholas the most important being to never show weakness.

  Bullies come in all shapes and forms; men, women, even children, but the one thing they have in common is that they’re more dangerous when they have an agenda that is not merely lording their power over someone. And in this situation, that most definitely rings true. Or it could be the gun and endless ranting about how unfair life is that gave it away, but who knows.

  Now, if it were just me at the mercy of a crazy person, I wouldn’t hesitate to crash tackle them and partake in a wrestling match for their gun, but since Meg is sitting across from me, glaring daggers at the loony pacing in front of her, I can’t.

  “Just curious, but did you skip your meds at breakfast?” Meg finally snaps. I’m shocked and proud she lasted this long, to be honest. She’s held her tongue for almost two hours which is a record for her.

  “Do me a favor and shut up Meg,” I say in a pleading tone.

  “Nope. Sorry, no can do,” she replies, shaking her head with mock sadness. “Loony tunes here has clearly lost it, and I want to know why. This is not exactly a new development, so there’s no excuse for taking a vacation to psycho land with the option to extend.”

  “Shut your mouth,” she screeches. “I’m not crazy. I’m perfectly sane, and you will be perfectly dead if you don’t be quiet and let me think.”

  All righty then, not crazy my ass.

  “Can you at least tell us why you’re doing this?” I mutter, edging an inch closer to the blade I stashed between the couch cushions when Meg was being tied up.

  “Because you don’t deserve him.”

  “I won’t argue with you there,” I shrug, trying to appear casual when I’m anything but. “But he chose me, and I love him, so that’s good enough for me. And coincidentally, him too.”

  Brandishing the gun which appears to be on steroids – it’s that fucking big – in my general direction, I hear a murmured,

  “That’s only because he doesn’t know any better. But that’s okay, once I explain that you were going to leave him again, and tell him how much I love him, he’ll forget you ever existed.”

  “Dream on, Nutter Butter. Dexter loves and adores her, and you don’t have a hope in hell of changing that. I think what we need here is acceptance,” Meg suggests snidely. “If I could I’d buy you some I would, but sadly it looks like they’re all sold out and on backorder.”

  “Jesus, Meg. Please just stop taking,” I beg because I don’t see this ending well for her if she doesn’t. And I’m right.

  The gun swings in my best friends direction, our would-be kidnapper pulling the trigger back.

  “Stop,” I yell frantically. “If you fire a weapon in here everyone within a five-mile radius will coming running. You don’t want to end up in jail do you?” I reason.

  “That won’t happen,” is snapped with conviction.

  Seriously, I’m telling you; batshit crazy! As in, needs more help than medication and therapy alone can provide.

  “So what’s the plan? Because you obviously don’t know Dex as well as you think you do if you honestly believe he won’t come looking for me.”

  “People make a lot of assumptions when you are good at being invisible such as, talking freely around you. I heard the you have a girls night out tonight, so I made sure to leave a note on your counter at home, telling Dex you’re sorry you missed him, and you’ll see him later. That should buy me enough time to work out what I’m going to do with you two.”

  Meg huffs dramatically, throwing herself back against the seat cushion.

  “Well, that sure does put a kink in the very naughty plans I had for an uber-sexy biker then, doesn’t it? And I was really looking forward to a repeat performance too. The things that man can do with his cock should be illegal, I swear.”

  “Probably not the best time to discuss your sex life, honey lumpkins,” I say, stressing the probably so Meg takes the hint.

  “Fuck that, and fuck you too,” she gripes, the volume of her voice beginning to escalate as she points at the gun-wielding mental asylum escapee. “Do you know how long it’s been since I found someone who likes me for me? No, of course, you don’t because you’re too wrapped up in your world of make believe where all the sociopaths fall in love and live happily every after. So let me educate you, cupcake,” Meg sneers. “Never. The answer is, fucking never. He’s not using me to get to my dad. He doesn’t even know I come from the kind of money that can buy and sell your ass a thousand times over. My connections, status, ability to get into any A-list event means nothing to him. He doesn’t pity me because my mom died of cancer last year. And best of all, he talks to me before and after sex. It’s not just about orgasms and mutual satisfaction, albeit he delivers on those points too. So before you go and do something that irrevocably fucks that up for me, just know, I will haunt your ass from behind the grave for the rest of your days if I have to.”

  None of what she said shocks me, but for the fact Meg shared it at all. She is usually the tightest lipped person I know, and her willingness to tell her life story, or parts of it, to a relative stranger tells me all I need to know. My best friend, soul sister, and the strongest woman I’ve met is scared shitless.

  “Do you think any of that matters to me?”

  “Clearly not, but what about her story?” Meg goads, pointing at me. “Does her and Dexter’s story matter to you?”

  “Be quiet,” is whispered with a deadly undertone.

  “See, here’s the thing. I get that you have the gun, well, la-dee-da. As far as I’m concerned, you can go fuck yourself with it because I’m not laying down and giving up just because you’re a few beers short of a six-pack,” Meg taunts recklessly.

  “Meg, I love you, but if you don’t shut up, there’s a good chance I’ll knock you out myself,” I groan, knowing my words are pointless when I see the look of resolve on her fa
ce.

  “I love you too, Linny. From the bottom of my soul which is why I have to do this,” she says, offering me a tight smile. Turning on our captor, Meg schools her expression, her well-practiced mask of indifference now firmly in place. “You haven’t been around, or if you have, you can add creepy stalker to the list of your more flattering attributes. If you had, you would have heard about the cluster fuck my best friend lived through and escaped. But since you need to be caught up, I’ll just give you the highlights.”

  I groan internally, begging for something, anything to happen that will shut Meg’s rant down, but just like the rest of my luck this afternoon, nothing comes. How I wish for a zombie apocalypse right now. I mean, I’m not a fan of the undead because who is, so that has to prove how much I don’t want these details shared.

  “Aislinn lived with one of your kind, a psychotic woman who was only interested in herself. Most of the time, she forgot her daughter existed, and that includes when she was an infant and toddler. If is weren't for Dex coming into her life when she was two, Aislinn probably would have died because of her mom’s neglect. It gets worse, though. Psycho hose beast from hell, or Nancy, her mom, blackmailed Dex into leaving which is when Aislinn’s real hell began. She was prostituted to pay Dex’s father's drug debt, abused by men who saw her as a piece of meat. When she finally escaped at eighteen to go to college is when I met her. Aislinn was a shadow of the woman she is now, but with sheer determination, she fought her way back and came out on top until she met the life-ruining fuckwad that is her ex-husband.”