by Simone Elise
“Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“That stupid fucking grin is what I’m talking about.” He pointed his beer at me.
Just before I could say anything, Abby came down the stairs wearing one of my tee shirts tied at the back and a pair of black jeans.
Fuck me.
“Now it makes fucking sense,” he grumbled under his breath.
But my eyes were on Abby. Couldn’t give a fuck what that fucker was saying.
“You hungry?” I slid off the stool and walked toward her.
“Nope. Hey, Brad.” She gave a half smile over my shoulder, then when my arms wrapped around her waist, I got her attention.
“You sure you wanna be doing that in front of my dad?” She gave me an amused grin.
“Worst thing he could do is shoot me, and you’ve already done that.”
She whacked my arm. “Not fair, Reaper. Not fair.”
“Seems you two made up.” Kim stood at the bottom of the staircase giving us a look that I had seen on Abby’s face before. Like she knew it was going to happen.
“You could say that.” Abby twisted out of my grip. “Until Dad kills him for touching me.” She strode off, heading for the bar.
“Your old man loves me.”
She scoffed over her shoulder.
“Please,” Kim’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Dad doesn’t love anyone. I sometimes doubt if he really loves us.”
“After the shit we put him through, he would have to.” Abby swiped Brad’s beer and took a large gulp. “You know, this plan is going to backfire in our faces.”
“That would be the plan that I came up with, and the same plan that is going to fucking work.”
Roach in all his rage was leaning against a pool table, looking like the devil pissed off now more than ever.
Hadn’t even noticed him.
That’s awkward.
Kim leaned against a wall. “She has a point. The cash isn’t what he wants.”
“Thought that was the condition he gave you?” Roach reminded them.
“Yeah, but it’s like this. Damon only wants one thing, and it isn’t cash.” Her eyes landed on Abby. “Abby should know, she’s been the one dancing with the flame this whole time.”
“I don’t dance,” Abby shot at her. “And don’t even go there, Kim.”
“What? I’m just saying what you know. Damon is hard up on you, and he isn’t going to let your ass walk, not without a fight.”
“Then we give him a fight,” I spoke between the twins. “The fucker knows how it is. You girls weren’t theirs; your blood is with us, and it is simple as that.”
“Yeah, that was till Abby got those two initials tattooed on her shoulder.” Kim scoffed. “This is going to be a trainwreck.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t be there.” Abby glared at Kim. “Would hate for you to be dragged into it when you clearly never wanted to get mixed up with them.”
“I take it on the chin; it was my idea. But fuck me, Abby, you’re the one that turned into the shooting, tattooed monster.”
“And you’re the one who turned into the scared little girl who couldn’t stand the sight of blood.”
“Well, when it comes to blood, you would be the one to ask. Did you keep count? Or was it more like a mark on the bed post after each one?”
“You’re a minute away from a bitch slap, Kim.”
“ENOUGH!” Roach roared, silencing both of them. “The plan will work, so stop the bitching, and if things go sour, you will have us behind you. So enough with the arguing and someone get me a fucking drink.”
Abby chewed on her bottom lip, and I knew she had more to say, but instead of firing her dad up worse, she swallowed it and went around the bar, pouring her old man a drink.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew there was a chance that things were going to go north when Damon didn’t take the deal. But I had dealt with worse, and I wasn’t letting some little fuckwit ruin what Abby and I had.
I had just gotten her back, and I wasn’t planning on losing her anytime soon.
Chapter 7
Abby
I didn’t know love could be so painful. That being in love could be this painful. It was a blistering, painful, never-ending type of love. I was torn between what I knew I had to do and what I should do. I wanted Kade. I wanted a future with him. But this future was going to cost me, possibly my life.
I heard the front door close, and my eyes shot to Kim. We just had to keep our cool and it should go smoothly.
“What the fuck are you girls doing in the kitchen? I know firsthand you can’t cook.” Damon dropped a slab of beer down on the counter. “What the fuck is that?” His eyes landed on the black bag.
Kim was a nervous fucking wreck, so I knew it was up to me.
“Your money.” I slid off the stool. “From the bikers. You said that was the price of our freedom. Well, there you go.”
His body tensed and I watched his jaw clench. “You think I’m going to just let you walk without blood being spilled?”
“I think you wanted your money, you got your money. Now we walk.”
“She can walk.” He reached behind him and pulled out his gun from the back of his jeans, then pointed it at Kim. “You can walk right fucking now.”
His grip on the gun was causing his knuckles to turn white. “Didn’t expect you girls to turn on me. Thought we had a good thing going.”
“I’m not leaving without Abby.”
“Abby’s marked, she fucking stays. You can fuck off now. This is your only chance.” Damon turned the gun on me. My stomach tightened. There was no Reaper to save me. There was no Dad to save me. There was just me with a gun pointed at my chest.
“Go, Kim.” I glanced at her. “Just go.”
She could get help.
“Didn’t want it to go down like this, Abby. Thought you were a smart girl.” I watched his finger push in and nearly instantly I dropped to the ground. An overwhelming pain consumed my body. It felt like a red-hot iron had just pierced through my shoulder.
Kim screamed.
“Kim, get out of here,” I yelled at her from the kitchen floor.
“I suggest you listen to your sister before I show you the meaning of blood in and blood out too.” Damon’s voice was cold and had a murderous tint to it.
Blood in, blood out.
I stared down and watched the blood run down my arm and onto the white tiles. I heard the slamming of the front door and the next thing I knew, I was being pulled up by my hair.
“You don’t get the tattoo, bitch, then change your fucking mind.”
It was never about the money. This was personal. He had what he wanted, but that wasn’t what he really wanted; I knew that now.
“You’re just pissed because I didn’t fuck you.” I spat in his face, only to receive a backhand slap across my cheek.
“Well, we will see how pretty that tattoo is when I’m done with you.”
***
Kim
My heart pumped out of my chest. My feet hit the pavement as fast as I could run from the house.
Abby was going to die. I could see it in Damon’s eyes. He was going to kill her and there wasn’t anything I could do.
I rested against a tree, listening to the ringing tone in my ear. For fuck’s sake, would someone pick up their phone?
“Hello.”
Finally, Dad!
“Dad, it didn’t go as planned. Nothing went as planned. He shot Abby. I think he is going to kill her. I don’t know what to do.”
“Kim, calm down. I can’t understand you.”
“I SAID HE SHOT ABBY!”
“Are you with her?” Dad’s voice was tense now, understanding the situation.
“No, he let me go. But Abby was bleeding out on the kitchen floor, Dad. I think...I think he is going to kill her. He said something about blood in and blood out.”
“Was Abby carrying? Did she have a gun on her?”
“No
. We both didn’t.”
He was silent for a moment.
“We’re around the corner, Kim. Just stay fucking put.”
“Ok.”
I slid down the tree and reality slapped me hard across the face. Abby was going to die at the hands of that serial killer if I didn’t do something.
“I’ll go back.”
“Like fuck you will. Stay where you are. You go in there with no weapons, you are more likely to end up shot first.”
“I can’t just let her die on her own.” Tears fell down my cheeks.
Abby and I were twins. We did everything together. I couldn’t let her face death on her own; I just couldn’t.
“We’re already on the road. You stay put, Kim. You hear me. Stay fucking put where you are.”
“I’m on the corner of Wattle and Winters Street. Please hurry, Dad.” I pulled the phone away from my ear and hung up.
They were coming.
Dad would know what to do. He could handle this. I gripped the tree, gulping in air. Oh please god, if you are there, please, please don’t take my sister.
***
Reaper
“He turned on Abby, shot her. Time to ride.” Roach kicked his engine alive and we raced behind him.
He shot Abby.
Three words kept replaying in my mind.
I shouldn’t have let her go in by herself. I should have been there. Fuck, which house was theirs? They all looked the fucking same.
We passed a girl leaning on a tree, and a second glance confirmed it was Kim.
Kim was safe.
While Abby was fucking shot.
Roach pulled into the driveway and the rest of us followed. I was going to kill the fucker slowly.
I had my guns out before the rest of the boys were off their bikes. Expect for Roach. He was kicking down the door and I followed him, storming into the lounge room then into the kitchen.
I stared down at my boot and the blood underneath it.
“Abby.”
My head snapped up. Roach was kneeling down in the corner and slowly pulled my girl from the ground.
“You have to get out of here.” Her voice was thick with pain.
Roach handed her to me.
“Where is he?” Roach looked murderous. “WHERE THE FUCK IS HE!”
“He’s…coming back.”
I held her tight to my body, holding all her weight up. “Where did he shoot you?”
“It’s just in the shoulder; I’m fine.”
I spun her around, staring into those crystal blue eyes. I wanted the truth, and she wasn’t giving it. She was far from fucking fine. Her eyes were flooded with tears. From me touching her? I frowned and pulled my hand off her shoulder. It was covered in blood.
“Guess I don’t have to worry about that tattoo anymore.” Her words were weak, but that right there was a strong fucking punch to the guts. The fucker had cut the skin off. I realized now why she cowered from my touch.
He was going to die, slowly, painfully, and at my hand.
It was choking me, watching her in pain. She could barely stand.
“So is this the reason you suddenly want to leave, Abby?”
My head snapped up and landed on a man that was the size of a fucking truck. Still, I could take him. But he had his gun pointed directly at us.
Roach raised his gun, being closer to the cunt than I was.
“Wasn’t like that, Damon.” Then everything happened in a blink of an eye.
Abby pushed me back, stood in front of me. Then the sound of bullets being fired echoed through the small kitchen.
It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to pull my gun. My eyes darted from Damon, who was slumping over, Roach standing firm, his gun pointed. Then Abby fell backward into me. Linking my arms through hers, I guided her to the ground.
Wasn’t till I saw the blood that it clicked. I heard five bullets fired. Roach would have taken Damon out with one or two, which meant . . .
“Abby. ABBY!” I pressed firmly into her stomach. Blood. So much blood. But where was it coming from?
“Roach, we got a fucking problem over here. Abby’s been shot again.”
My girl was in trouble.
My life depended on this woman breathing. My life was nothing without her. She was my world, and my blood ran cold as I watched her fade away from me. I pressed firmly into her stomach, but it was like she was bleeding from everywhere at once.
Abby
The blood oozed from my chest, and it wasn’t pain consuming me, it was worry. The pain in Kade’s eyes was scaring me. His hands were pressed firmly into my chest. His lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I didn’t want him in pain. He had to know it was ok.
I’d rather die for the man I love than anything else.
I’d die for Kade.
I wouldn’t take it back.
He was my reason. My everything.
Dad was at my side, then suddenly I wasn’t on the ground anymore, I was in his arms. I didn’t even have the strength to pull my arms up to cling to him. Instead, my arms were limp at my side.
Kade’s white shirt was covered in blood, so much blood. Was it all mine? I watched him drag his hands down the side of his face, leaving blood marks on his cheeks.
He was shouting at someone or something, I could tell because I had seen that face before, but usually fear didn’t capture his eyes as it did now. Kim stood in the doorway, tears running down her face, her hand reaching out for mine, squeezing it tightly. I wanted to squeeze back, to tell her I was ok.
I blinked, and tears slid from my eyes.
Where was Kade?
Why couldn’t I see him?
Dad was shouting at someone in our way. I could tell by the way his mouth was wider and the lines around his eyes deepened. He was scared too.
I had to tell him it was ok.
I opened my mouth, but instead of words, it was like I was choking on something, and my head dropped to the side, and blood dripped from my lips.
That wasn’t a good sign.
Dad lowered my body and slowly let go of me, then Kim’s hand was ripped from mine. The ambulance lady was in my face straight away, and now I was being wheeled.
The red and blue lights lit up the night sky, and as I was wheeled backward into the ambulance, I saw him.
Pressed against the bonnet of a police car, with two police officers pinning him down, I saw my reason, my Kade, struggling…but his eyes locked with mine and it was only for a split second before the doors swung shut. Then I was surrounded by a lot of whiteness; the lady was putting a mask over my face, saying something.
But I didn’t have my reason to keep breathing now.
So I let go and sank into the darkness that was pulling me backward.
Chapter 8
Kim
“It’s killing Dad. I told him that you were fine. But you know Dad won’t believe it until he sees it with his own eyes. He hates the orange too. But not nearly as much as Reaper. I swear that man is going to blow a hole through his skull out of rage. He’s on his third lawyer; this one actually thinks he will make bail. Dad’s trial is in two days and Joanne, his lawyer, is confident that he will make bail. Though it is going to be an expense.” I tipped the water from the vase and flicked on the tap.
“It’s not helping Dad’s case that he screamed “I killed the fucker” at the scene. The cops are having a field day with that. The clubhouse is so empty. Of course Cameron, Trigger, and Brad would choose to get arrested as well. Stupid boys following their President. Because assaulting a police officer goes down so well.” I turned the tap off and turned around.
Her chest was rising, but the room was filled with the sounds of beeping from the machines keeping her alive. As much as I wanted her to wake from this coma, I knew at the same time that the doctors said it would be in her best interest if her body kept her in this state for a while longer.
What was left of her body, that was.
; One bullet through the shoulder, two through her left lung and one through her right. Then there was the massive cut across her other shoulder and the now-missing tattoo.
I swallowed sharply.
“I’m worried about Dad’s heart. This stress isn’t helping him. Also, doesn’t help that he is still managing to run the club from inside a cell. You would think the man would take a break, wouldn’t you?”
I placed the flowers on her bedside table. I stared at my sister. Her chest rising was the only sign of life. Her body was dead still. Her hair was parted nicely on either side of her face.
She was like Snow White.
If Snow White’s body was so twisted and fucked up that she couldn’t wake up.
Abby was still fighting, and boy did she have reasons to fight.
She had me, Dad, Reaper, and then there was…the baby. Tears filled my eyelids. She didn’t even know she was pregnant.
It was still early days, but her body, as damaged as it was, was still fighting and keeping the little thing alive.
I hadn’t told Reaper.
And as each day passed, I felt more and more guilty about it.
But how was I to know if it was his? I had seen her coming out of Damon’s room that once. Also, what if Abby didn’t want it? She had the right to make that decision.
But she was on life support, and the chances of her waking up anytime soon to tell us what she wanted wasn’t going to happen.
The doctors asked each morning if I had spoken to the father.
Each morning I dodged the fucking question.
Abby was either going to wake up pregnant, or she was going to be kept on life support until the baby was born and then…well, then we would have to make the decision that she would want us to make.
We couldn’t keep her on life support forever.
“You know how fucking hard it is without you right now? Would you just fucking wake up, Abby? I need you to wake up.”
I wiped away the angry tears. It was still early days; we didn’t have to make decisions now, especially when her body was healing. There was a chance, a small chance that she would wake up.
I scooped up my handbag off the ground. Fuck I needed a smoke, then I had an appointment at the prison that I wasn’t looking forward to.