I heard Blizzard scoff behind me. Anthony shot him a glare, his eyes narrowed.
“I want my woman back,” I said simply. “If he’s hurt her, I’ll kill him.” I wasn’t about to beat around the bush. Marco DePalma was a dead man. Anthony could try and stop me right now, but one way or another I was going to take him out.
He raised his hand and scratched at his chin. “You say he’s hurt my niece?” The question was aimed past me to my VP.
Blizzard didn’t hesitate to answer. “On more than one occasion. Our man said when she pulled her gun and ordered Chelsea into the car that she was sporting some pretty nasty battle wounds.” He talked through gritted teeth, the thought obviously wearing on his mind.
“She was an illegitimate child. She came from an affair with one of his maids.” I looked up at each of his boys and I could see the pride in his eyes. “To him, she needed to earn the right to be a part of this family. Her mother left before she was born. We didn't know anything of her until she appeared around a year or so ago making claims. Marco was disgusted. But for us, as soon as she proved her DNA, she was family. She has my blood in her veins, it doesn’t matter what it was mixed with. I should have stopped it before it got to this point.”
This strong man sat in front of me, his head hung like he was ashamed of his actions. He could stare a man in the eyes before shooting him dead, but when it came to family, there was nothing more important.
Maybe we weren’t so different.
“Grant will give you the information to find Marco and get your…woman…back. I believe you’ll do what you see fit and I will consider what you’ve told me here today.”
With that, we were dismissed. There was no bloodshed and I had a way of reclaiming what was mine. I was done. I merely nodded and turned on my heel, my brothers following me out the door and into the hall.
Our buddy Grant was sporting a split lip and was crumpled against the wall. Wrench was grinning and Ham was staring down at him with utter disgust. Time was running out and the only thing I was concerned about was getting the information I needed to bring Marco down and save my girl.
“Leo, call the boys, get them on their bikes,” I ordered. Wrench grabbed the piece of garbage by his arm and dragged him with us as we walked down the prim and proper hotel hall.
“Let’s get our girl back.”
“Hand me your cell phone,” Rose said, her voice shaking.
I glared but pulled my phone from where I’d tucked it in the side of my bra. She took it from my palm and turned it off before tucking it into the pocket of her jeans. I pushed myself against the door of the car, trying to stop myself from being thrown around as the driver maneuvered side streets, weaving in and out of traffic. He was good, I had to give him that.
I knew nobody would find us now. If they were giving chase, they would have lost sight of us a while ago. Rose watched me, the gun in her hand laying across her lap.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered quietly. The car was big, but we were still close to the driver and his sidekick. I wasn’t sure if they could hear us.
“Why?” I asked sadly.
“I had to. They made me.” Her good eye filled with tears, the other was so swollen I wondered if there would be permanent damage. But why should I care.
“I told you the club could help. We could have protected you.”
“Shut your mouth, whore.” I jumped as the front seat passenger turned to snap at me. I recognized him. He was one of the creepy men that Rose tried to get us to go home with. My eyes widened and a slow smirk grew on his face. It was disgusting and made me feel dirty.
“You…” I stuttered, looking back and forth between Rose and my captor. “It was a setup. That’s why you were so upset, so eager to go with them,” I shot at her accusingly. I felt the anger build up in my stomach, replacing the fear.
I’d been set up.
“Oh, so the bitch finally gets it.” He laughed, turning back around to face the windscreen.
I glared at Rose and she hung her head. It was clear she was ashamed of her actions.
“How could you?” I sneered. “I was your friend. I cared about you, I fucking cared about you!”
Her body flinched at every word.
Good. I hoped they were hitting her where it hurt.
“It’s not you!” She sobbed. “It’s the club. They hurt my family. They took my cousin and my grandfather and our business.”
“Bullshit!” I cried. I wanted to reach out and slap her.
This friend that I had come to love, she had betrayed me and now my fate was in the hands of mad men who were about to do who knows what to me.
We pulled into a rundown area. The houses were old, falling to pieces and in desperate need of a paint job. I knew we hadn’t been driving for long so we must be still in the Athens area, but I’d never been to this side of town. It sent a shiver up my spine. I had no idea what was about to go down, but I knew in my gut that it wasn’t good.
I was going to get hurt.
We pulled up to a large house. It wasn’t like the rest, it was newer and it didn’t fit in.
“Watch her,” creepy bar guy ordered, giving Rose an evil eye. She bobbed her head up and down, acknowledging the order but not looking at him.
Both men hopped out of the car and walked up to the front door. If I had any chance of getting out of this situation, it was now.
“Rose, please,” I pleaded, tears filling my eyes. “We’re friends. I love you. I care about you. Please don’t do this.”
She looked up from where she held the gun in her lap. “I tried to steer them away from you. Tried to make it so you wouldn’t get hurt. I set the timer on the bomb wrong so it would blow up after you were out. I tried to stop you from going into work that day they shot up the gym. They weren’t supposed to do that! They were just supposed to grab you!”
I watched the anxiety building inside of her. Her hands were shaking and she was throwing her head back and forth like she had some major internal struggle. I looked over the seat and realized that the idiot driver had left the keys in the ignition. I watched as they stood at the front door of the house, probably waiting for someone to come open it. No doubt holding me at gunpoint out in the open would possibly draw attention, even in this type of area.
I looked back at Rose. “We can get out of this. We can go to the club. They’ll protect you. You’ll be safe there and your dad won’t be able to find you,” I talked quietly and quickly. I saw her eyes flick to where the men stood. She was considering it. I could see it. “You don’t have to do this, I know you think you do, but you don’t. I can prove to you the club didn’t do what you think they did. I can prove it.”
I saw the front door of the house was now open and the men were walking back to the car, laughing and joking like my life wasn’t in danger. It was one big joke to them.
I reached out to her, my hand moving slowly even in my desperate need to get the gun away from her. I felt the cold metal under my hand but before I could close my fingers around it, the car door flew open behind me and I was wrenched out.
I screamed, hoping that someone would hear me. “Get off me! Put me down!”
I saw Rose fumble with the handle and dive out the other side. “Stop it!” she cried. “You’ll hurt her!”
McCreepy laughed, watching as the other man held me tightly as I kicked and fought. He snatched the gun from Rose’s hand. She tried to grab it back off him, but he pushed her in the chest causing her to go sprawling on the concrete driveway.
“This what you wanted, whore?” he asked, pointing the gun at me. My body instantly froze.
People lied when they said your life flashed before your eyes before you died. My life did not flash before my eyes. There were no deep and meaningful thoughts that ran through my mind. I didn’t question the choices I’d made or whether I wished I had one more chance to do things differently. All I thought was, I wonder how much this is going to hurt. I saw his finger pull the trigger, it
was slow and purposeful. The smile on his face growing wider and wider.
Rose screamed. “No!” Shuffling along the concrete, holding her broken arm to her body and reaching out with the other hand. I let out a puff of breath, accepting my fate as the trigger was forced all the way back.
Click.
There was no loud bang. No flash of light before the darkness consumed me.
What there was though was laughter.
McCreepy was in hysterics, almost doubled over and wheezing. The man holding me couldn’t suppress chuckles either.
“You thought...” he attempted to speak but had to take a moment to calm down. “You thought we’d give the little backstabber a loaded gun?”
Rose looked like she’d been slapped.
I bared my teeth and threw myself forward, only to be restrained.
He laughed again. “She’s been stringing you along this whole time and you think we would trust her? Don’t you think we knew you’d play the pity card and try to turn her to your side? Almost had her too. I saw it in her eyes.” He laughed again. “Or should I say eye.”
The man behind me forced me up the path, shoving me and causing me to stumble and fall. My knees grazed the concrete and my palms were now scratched and stinging. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t have time, I was dragged to my feet and pulled up the front steps. I could hear Rose behind me, sobbing. McCreepy told her to shut the fuck up and I wanted to turn and give him a piece of my mind. She was hurting, she was broken. Yes, she had betrayed me but I couldn’t help but still feel protective of her.
She’d been fooled too. I just knew it.
Walking through the doorway I could feel blood dripping down my leg from the scrapes on my knees. The carpet inside the door was a light creamy color.
Good. I hope this stains you fucker.
I felt the blood drop from my leg onto the floor. It was slightly satisfying.
We walked down a long hall, the house was nice. Tidy. Almost as if no one actually lived there. At the end of the hall there was a door. I didn’t want to open the door. I knew where it would go. Right into a basement.
“How bad guy cliché,” I spat, causing the man behind me to laugh.
He reached around me, turning the door handle and pushing the door open to reveal some stairs. His chest rubbed against my back and I could feel his breath in my ear. I shuddered. Just a mere touch made me feel dirty. Taking a deep breath, I held my head high as I took each step. Every time I put my foot down I told myself ‘you are strong, they won’t break you.’ I hoped I could convince myself that the words were true because I had no idea what I was walking into.
The temperature changed dramatically when I reached the bottom of the long staircase. It was cold and with only a light T-shirt on over a pair of tight stretchy workout pants and track shoes, it felt like I was inside a freezer. The place was dirty, not like upstairs at all. There were boxes covered in dust and old tools scattered everywhere. A sofa was pushed against the far wall and other household items were everywhere.
“Chelsea! I’m so glad you could join us. Rosalie has told me so much about you.” The man appeared out from behind a pile of boxes. I knew this was Rose’s dad.
I didn’t respond, just glared at him which only made him laugh. He walked closer. He was done up in a gray pinstripe suit and tie and his hair was cut short. I didn’t miss the Italian accent either. It was prominent enough for me to know that English was his second language.
“I hope my boys treated you well,” he said, gesturing to the two men.
“They didn’t force me to hold my hand on any burning stove tops, so that’s always a bonus,” I sneered.
My smart remark only made his grin grow wider. “Yes, you are everything I was hoping you would be.”
“And what exactly were you hoping I would be?”
“Strong.” His smile turned into a smirk and I could feel the promise of pain in his eyes. “The strongest ones are the most fun to break.”
Ropes were bound around my wrists and ankles and I was forced to sit on the cold concrete floor against the wall. Marco has disappeared upstairs with McCreepy, leaving the other man with us. I could hear him coming back down the stairs now, but he was alone. I didn’t know how long they’d been gone, but my ass had gone dead a long time ago and my body was so frozen I wasn’t even shaking anymore—I was just numb.
My stomach was in knots and I felt as though I might puke. My mouth filled with saliva, but I forced myself to swallow, not wanting to show these men how I was really feeling despite my death glares and sharp tongue.
I was scared. So fucking scared.
I heard Rose’s breathing catch on a sob just as Marco stepped back into the cold room.
“Go clean yourself up, Rosalie.” Her father’s tone was not caring and gentle but rather disgusted.
Rose looked over to me as if debating with herself whether to leave me alone with these men. It didn’t matter. I had the feeling if Marco was the type of man to treat his own blood the way he treated Rose, he wouldn’t care if she was in the room while he hurt me. She stood up on shaky legs and started walking to the stairs, stopping in front of her father and looking up at him.
“Please, Daddy—” She didn’t even have time to finish her sentence before she was sent skidding across the floor crying out in pain.
“I told you, you have not yet earned the right to address me that way,” he yelled, the sound booming in the closed space and hurting my ears. He stood over her whimpering body.
“Leave her alone,” I yelled, fighting at my restraints.
He looked up, surprised by my outburst. Bending down, he grabbed a fist full of her hair. “This girl lied to you, she lured you to places and attempted to hurt you and you are speaking up for her?” He shook her and she cried out again.
“Someone needs to speak for her. Obviously, her pathetic excuse for a family won’t,” I spat.
He laughed, the sound more like a witches cackle. He pushed Rose away. She pushed herself to her feet and gave me one last look before disappearing up the stairs. I heard the door shut behind her and I was alone.
Marco walked forward. “You know, for a whore, I suspected that you would be more submissive.” He pondered as though he was just speaking his thoughts out loud. “But then again, losing both your parents at such a young age must’ve been very traumatic for you. Made you grow up a lot faster.”
“I didn’t lose them.” I snapped, my voice cracking. “They were murdered!”
He rolled his eyes. “I know, I was there.”
“So you’re here to finally wipe me out too. The one that got away.”
He shrugged. “Actually, it was just convenient. The club took something from me years ago. When my father was jailed, I expected that I would take over. But the Brothers by Blood came along before I even had a chance and snatched several business deals straight out from under me.” His voice was low but filled with venom and hate.
“You snooze, you lose,” I muttered sarcastically.
Marco stormed at me, his sparkling dress shoes stomping on the floor. He reached out and wrapped his hand around my throat, pulling me up to my feet and making it hard to breath. I could feel his fingers digging into my neck, his nails puncturing my skin.
“Killing your dad, the man who put my father away should have made him happy. But it didn’t.” He held me against the wall and got right in my face. “It’s because of those disgusting bikers that my father handed everything over to my younger brother. Framing them was meant to bring them down, a way to gain our business back, but when that didn’t work, I had nothing. It should have been mine. I should be running things, not Anthony!”
I could feel small bits of spit on my cheeks. Things began to blur and my head felt heavy. He tossed me to the floor and I bounced, hitting my head on the concrete. I was dazed and groaned as I rolled onto my back, attempting to relieve some of the pressure that I felt in my head. I knew I was bleeding, feeling the blood drip down the side
of my head and into my ear.
He pressed his foot over my stomach and slowly began to apply pressure. I gasped for air and my stomach wrenched as I heard a snap. I felt like I’d been stabbed. I couldn’t breathe properly and I was starting to panic. I knew he’d broken one of my ribs and it had probably pierced my lung. I screamed, the pain was so excruciating.
“My father didn’t see the potential I had! He said I was too angry, not level-headed enough.” A sadistic smile appeared on his face. “But I was level-headed enough to organize his demise.”
I heard a gasp.
The room was silent apart from my ragged breathing.
“You told me the club killed Granddad,” Rose whispered. “You said this was what it was all about. Getting revenge on the club for hurting my family.”
I hear Marco scoff loudly. “If the DNA test hadn’t proved it, I would never have believed you were my child. You definitely don’t have the brains.”
Tears poured down my cheeks, I just wanted this to be over now. I wanted it to be done. I was starting to wish he would just shoot me.
I felt her body next to mine, but with the lack of air getting into my lungs, things were beginning to fade in and out. “Oh my God, what have I done?”
I felt her cool hand on my face.
It was soothing.
Rose may have made some bad choices but just like I had, she’d been deceived by someone who was meant to love her.
I wanted to be angry, but this wasn’t her fault.
“Losing her will be enough to send Optimus crazy. And without a strong leader, the club is going to fall to pieces.” I heard his laughter again, but it sounded so far away now.
“Hold on, Chelsea,” she whispered. “Please just hold on.”
I managed to force my eyes to clear so I could see the room. Marco’s back was to me, but I could see the man stand to his feet behind him, his eyes were wide as they stared at me.
I was confused.
That was until I saw the gun that was hovering above me. Rose’s hand was shaking, but she was pointing it over me, directly at her father.
Chelsea (The Club Girl Diaries Book 2) Page 24