Bed of Roses (Devil Savages MC)

by Harley McRide

  Then, she was being lifted. She opened her eyes, the room nothing but a blur. Faces were blank, her brain only registering bodies. Gunfire rang out and she jumped, not expecting to hear or feel anything, assuming that she had been shot, and her brains now painted the dirty concrete floor. When she was carried toward the door, it registered that she wasn’t dead, but in fact in the arms of…Twelve Gage?

  *****

  Twelve Gage had been keeping an eye on Rose the entire night. When he had heard Tonto and Sandman discussing she had been found in the arms room, his distrust only grew more justified. He had been pissed she was bounced in so fast and not required to go through the year probation that everyone else had to do. Tonto and Sandman were his priority, and his brothers. He knew all too well how the power of pussy could fuck a man up firsthand and refused to let them, and the club, pay the price.

  He had been escorting two less than model citizens out when Rose had took off in Raven’s car in a hurry. His curiosity had gotten the better of him, so he followed. What he hadn’t expected was to find Rose in the middle of a damn hornet’s nest.

  “Stop! The girls! I have to get the girls!” She wiggled to free herself from his hold but it was useless.

  “We gotta get you out of here. Now.”

  “No! My sisters are in there! Let me down!” She thrashed her arms and legs, relieved when he sat her on her feet.

  “Wait, what?” He finally stopped to listen to her.

  “Lacey and Alice are in there. I have to get them out of there before it’s too late!” She took off back toward her tormentors but he stopped her.

  “No! You go to the car now! Lock the damn doors and if anyone comes toward you, get the fuck out of here. I’ll go get them.” He didn’t give her time to argue, shoving her through a thick crowd of people and disappeared through the ocean of bodies that were clueless to what was happening around them. Minutes ticked by like hours and her heart threatened to explode. She had no idea what to do. If she went back in and they had succeeded in rescuing her sisters, she would only put them all in harm's way again. If she remained here, she couldn’t help and would never forgive herself if something happened to any of them. Just as she made the conscious decision to go back in, grabbing a knife she found in the glove box of Raven’s car, Twelve Gage came barreling toward her with both of the girls in tow. They were bauling but appeared uninjured. She let out a relieved breath and unlocked the doors to allow them entrance.

  “Here. Get them home, then get back to the Pit.” Twelve Gage didn’t seem phased by what he had just witnessed, his demeanor unchanged from his norm. She knew better than to question and didn’t want to think about what her future held. The important part was she had her girls, safe and sound.

  The entire way to her house, she didn’t speak. The tears had ceased somewhat from the back seat, and despite the anger she felt at their stupid dangerous actions, she couldn’t scold them. Not now anyway. She was merely relieved they were alive, and no worse for the wear. As the car rolled to a stop outside their tiny little rundown home, she felt the night’s events catch up to her. Unknowing what awaited her at the Pit, she turned in her seat. “We will discuss this in the morning. I’m just glad I got there before something happened to either of you. I love you girls.” They looked first at each other then her, unsure if it was a trap. When she didn’t yell or say anything else they said they loved her and hauled ass into the house, flipping off the lights before she pulled away.

  *****

  Tonto couldn’t believe the call he had just received. When he had told Sandman of the whereabouts of their newest member and woman, his old friend had revealed finding Rose snooping around in the storage room. Normally, loads were stored at the Pit only long enough to secure that no one was following them and unloaded at their warehouse the next day. The best place to hide things was in plain sight, or so he thought. The room had been reinforced with solid steel, and locked with enough locks that Houdini himself couldn’t gain entrance. So, how the hell had she gotten in? More importantly, why? As much as he didn’t want to believe it, the evidence was stacking against her. Could she be the snitch who had been giving information of their shipments? He thought back to the time he had taken her to the office. He had been prepping the schedule before they had met, and instead of locking up the paperwork, he had left it knowing that the room was locked. Had she been trolling for information while they seduced her? He wouldn’t be played a fool…not in his own damn house. It was time their little Rose coughed up some answers, and quick.

  *****

  Rose walked cautiously back into the Pit, unsure what her fate held. She knew that it didn’t look good, but if they gave her a chance to explain, maybe they would see that she hadn’t been running over into enemy territory willingly. Her adrenaline pumped through her veins, numbing the pain that had already began to set in. Her ribs were tender, but what faced her ahead would hurt more.

  Clueless to what had gone down at the Pit in her absence, the sight that met her when she walked in made her choke back a scream. On one side of the empty room lay Nic, one of the Prospects she had spoken to a few times, dead. There was a wound in his chest; big enough that whatever caliber had done the damage was larger than most common handguns she was familiar with. Smack dab in the middle the others were gathered, all staring in her direction. As she neared, she noticed the hostages tied and bound. The Diablos were stupid for thinking they could get away with this. They might be known for their lethal ways, but they held nothing up against the Devil Savages.

  “Good. Now that we’re all here, let’s continue. Blade, let’s see some of your handiwork,” Sandman instructed, not peeling his eyes off Rose. Blade unsheathed a long knife, running its edge along the Diablos’ face, fileting it open. Muscle and fat folded out, showing the cheekbone through the gush of blood. As the man screamed, he moved to his next cut. Rose almost vomited as the tip of Blade’s knife dug in the man’s eye socket, carving out his eyeball. He stabbed it, removing it from the guy’s head and yanking until the string that connected it tore in two. He flicked it onto the man’s lap with his finger, laughing.

  “This is what happens when you fuck with the Savages. You steal from us, sell drugs on our turf, and harm our family, we return it tenfold,” Tonto growled. He pulled out a hatchet, grabbing one of the other Diablos’ by the head of the hair. With a perfected swipe he cut a strip of the man’s scalp off, tossing it onto one of the other three unharmed Mexicans. What scared her more was the fact that after he had sliced off the dude’s wig, he stared directly at her as if sending a message to her. She didn’t know what to make of it, or why, unless he seemed to think she was somehow involved. The morbid torture continued, and she was forced to stand there and watch. After a dick had been added to the lobbed off body parts pile and she held her hand over her mouth to prevent the puke that erupted in her mouth from exploding all over the floor, Tonto crooked his finger at her. “Come with me. Now. Boys, find out what I need to know.” He turned and walked away, not waiting for her to catch up. Sandman followed, intentionally not making eye contact with her while a few of the others circled around the hostages. From the looks the brawly men gave, anything left after they were done would be able to be carried out in a lunch box.

  It took Tonto every ounce of willpower he had to keep his cool when Rose walked in the room. Her face was battered, her body hunched over and the look of terror haunted her eyes. When Twelve Gage had called, he hadn’t expected this. If she were truly only in the Diablos turf to get her rebellious sisters or not, he was pissed at how badly she was roughed up. It was an obvious message to the club and less about her either way. There would be more scalps to fall for this. Those muther fuckers were only adding torture before their deaths.

  It wasn’t until she was in a small office and the door shut and locked behind her before they spoke.

  “You have one chance to come clean. After that, I’ll hand you over to Raven. She may be your friend, but don’t think for a s
econd she won’t kill you dead where you stand. She is the head ol’ lady for a reason. That bitch is more ruthless than most of our guys combined,” Sandman growled, sending goose bumps over her skin—and not the good kind. She looked between him and Tonto, anger building inside of her. For two men who now had their mark and fucking initials permanently tattooed on her tit, they were quick to pass judgment and think she had something to do with all of this, whatever it was. Instead of filling her in on details or explaining their reasons for thinking she had somehow betrayed the club, they demanded an explanation that she couldn’t give. What was she to say? Oh, I accidently saw the illegal guns you have and stumbled into the Diablos’ house party only to get my ass saved by Twelve Gage? Hell, even she didn’t believe it. Who knew what else had gone down, but something told her it was more than what she had seen. Her heart clenched at the memory of Nic’s lifeless body lying in the other room.

  Sandman watched her closely, waiting for her to give something—anything—that would take the heat off her and give them the real rat behind the blood bath and lost merchandise. The man in him wanted to check her for injuries and find out what had gone down, but the Savage in him had to put that aside and deal with the issues that affected the club first. For the first time ever, he felt torn. Being a Savage had always came first nature. Nobody or thing came above the brotherhood. Until Rose. Now he saw what the vets had to deal with. Except, instead of Rose being one of them, she was standing at the barrel of a loaded gun facing serious accusations. If it were anyone else, pain would be involved in getting answers. They were taking it easy on her, but there was no way they could let her see that.

  Her features floated from scared to anger and something he couldn’t read. Deep down, he hoped she was clean. As much as he knew the possibility was slim, the idea of losing her before he got a chance to show her who he really was when the leathers came off pinched inside. He hadn’t come close to allowing someone into his heart in a long time, and depending on how this went down, he might never again. Rose walked up to him and looked him straight in the eye, her voice low and full of rage. “I can see that no matter what I say, it won’t do any good. You both have condemned me without explaining what the fuck is going on, so I won’t waste my breath. This whole thing was a mistake. I’ll show myself out.”

  “If you walk out that door, you seal your fate, Rose. Tell us what you have given the Diablos and we’ll let you leave alive.” Rose couldn’t believe her ears. They were threatening to kill her now? Now. When she needed them more than ever. When she needed them to pull her in their arms and hold her, showing her the love they had yet to give, they did the opposite. Fuck this. Fuck them. She turned and stomped out, slamming the door behind her. All eyes fell on her while she walked to the door, using all of her will to hold it together. She didn’t look back. If she did, chances were the tears that stung her eyes would gush out and only make things worse. The screams of pain that reverberated from the Diablos, made her jump and pray that fate wouldn’t hold the same for her. Once she cleared the door and set out on foot for the long walk home, Rose let all of the pain and despair of her lost love and the hurricane of emotions from the night unleash. Her cheeks ran with smeared makeup, unable to dry in the night air before more ran down. “I’m so stupid!” she raged. “As if they could be capable of love. This is my own damn fault! Look, mom, I’m just like you. Stupidly believing in a fairy tale. There is no happy ending…no light at the end of the tunnel. Fuck you Lucky Charms dude! Luck doesn’t exist either!” Her voice hushed into a whisper, “There is no true love, just a world of pain.” The open road offered no argument, bringing only a wave of more devastation to wreak through her body. She was alone, like she had always been.

  The Pit grew smaller in the distance behind her and she slowed, stopping to take a moment she so desperately needed. Her world had fallen apart in the matter of one night. What was supposed to be the best night of her life, helping their financial situation and finally getting to be with the two men who held her heart, had turned into her worst nightmare. The farther she parted from what could have been a new future for her, the harder her heart broke.

  The rumble of a motorcycle sounded in the distance, she contemplated running through the ditch and hiding in the woods but knew it was no use. If they were coming to finish her off, then so be it. The kids would go to a foster home, which sucked, but maybe they’d get a good family who could give them a chance in life. She slowed her steps, accepting her fate.

  Brent slowed to a stop beside Rose, giving her a look of pity. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”

  She looked at him suspiciously, shaking her head. “No thanks,” she muttered and continued walking, holding herself together the best she could. After what she had just been through, she was surprised she was vertical. Her adrenaline had begun to fade, the pain wracking through her. Her ribs throbbed. Her head ached. But her emotions were unbearable. None compared to ache her heart was experiencing. He rolled the bike to a stop in front of her, blocking her path.

  “Come on…you can’t walk. It’s like twelve miles from here.” He handed her a helmet, not giving her another option. She didn’t know if he would take her back to her death or if he would really take her home, but she found she didn’t care. She was tired, emotionally drained, and didn’t give a shit anymore. Death began to look better and better. She reached out and took the head gear and put it on, climbing on the back of his bike without a word. When he pulled away, she closed her eyes, not wanting to see. Rose allowed herself to close down, numbing herself to the outside world. She was on autopilot, her self-preservation taking over.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rose woke in her bed after noon. She looked around, somewhat surprised she was still alive. Her head throbbed, her side hurt, and just opening her eyes seemed to shoot pain straight to her brain. The annoying melody of Scooby Doo thumped through her walls and she sat up. Death would have been easier. She crawled out of bed, looking down at the leather outfit she still wore and grunted, stripping down. Once she had her normal sweats and faded t-shirt on, she stumbled to the bathroom to wash the war paint off her face before the kids saw. Unfortunately, part of it didn’t wash off. Bruises dotted her features in brighter shades than the mounds of makeup she had worn.

  Her mother greeted her, smiling as if her being home and sober was normal. She had Matty sitting with a bowl of dry Cheerio’s in front of the television, and Isabella coloring at the table. Rose shook her head. I’m dead. This has to be punishment purgatory for the sins I’ve committed. That’s all this is. It’s not real.

  “Hey. You feeling okay?” her mother asked, showing more concern in the single question than she had most of Rose’s existence. As if the visible bruises weren’t a tip off that ‘feeling okay’ was probably not the best thing to ask her at the moment. She didn’t know what to say, but instead stood there in disbelief, half expecting demons to rise out of the floor and carry her off to hell. Lacey came stumbling in, glancing at her mother and then to Rose with the same look of disbelief she had.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Lacey lashed out. Despite the trouble she already faced, her snotty attitude and hate exploded. Rose got it. Hell, she felt the same way, but instead of being a victim and going butt wild, she had grown up and used their mother as an example of what not to be like.

  Terry, their mother, looked taken aback. Rose wanted to laugh; despite how wrong it was for Lacey to be so disrespectful even though the kid was right. “I live here, remember?”

  “Coulda fooled me. Rose pays the bills and raises us. You are only dead weight for her to carry.” Lacey walked away, leaving Rose somewhat proud. Underneath the girl’s erratic behavior and teenage bullshit, she did understand. Maybe there was hope for her yet.

  “What was that about?” Terry asked.

  Rose rolled her eyes, not bothering to humor the question, and plopped down on the sofa opposite of her. “So, get tossed out by another prospective husband and come back
to play the mother of the year roll?” She kept her eyes glued to the television, too tired and emotionally numb to care.

  “NO. Well, yeah, I guess but, this time things are gonna be different. I promise.” Her words held no meaning. Rose had heard it a million times before. When she didn’t answer, her mother continued, “So, why aren’t you at work? I have a few interviews lined up so things should be looking up for us soon.”

  Something inside Rose snapped. “Really? You want to know why I’m not at work? See, I have been working three, count them three fucking jobs and juggling the kids just to keep a roof over their head while you are out snorting dope up your damn nose and sucking dick! Last night, your twins took yet another turn in your footsteps and wound up in the middle of a Diablos party. I’m sure you’ve heard of them, and given that you are still breathing, you haven’t been stupid enough to sleep your way into their organization yet. I had to leave a job that would have changed our luck from the tips I was getting mind you, to go hunt them down and drag them home before they were killed or worse. But that’s not all…in the process, I had the shit kicked out of me, a gun shoved down my throat, and marked as a muther fuckin’ nark to the only group of people in this world who were willing to help! Now we are fucked. I now have to start over and find another three jobs to slave at to put food on the table. So excuse me if I’m not giving you the heartfelt welcoming you think you deserve!” Before Terry could ask any questions, Rose got up and headed back to her room. “If you decide to take off again to go get your fix, come let me know so I can take care of Matty and Bella. Otherwise, leave me the fuck alone.” She slammed her door, thankful that she would still be able to hear if the babies cried, or were left abandoned to fend for themselves. Trusting them in Terry’s care was wrong to do. Faith of her mother’s maternal capabilities were nonexistent. Much to her surprise, she heard her looking after them, cooking the evening meal and even running the vacuum. She knew it was short lived and wouldn’t last, but took advantage of the break and remained snuggled under her blankets, escaping from life. She snuck out to grab a glass of water, finding little excuses to check on the kids periodically, surprised that her mother had lasted an entire day. No alcohol or drugs were littered anywhere, and the woman always had a hopeful look each time she emerged. Yet, each time she crawled out from under her rock, she avoided her.