by Amanda Heath
The backdoor to the other limo opens and a familiar head of hair appears. I can’t see him all the way over here but I would know that platinum blonde head anywhere. No one else carries themselves like Sage Benito. I breathe a little easier because I know we aren’t facing down the scariest members of the mob.
Sage and I were once best friends. However, this was over ten years ago. We shared a love of science fiction books and old school rock music. It was never romantic between us, despite how sexy Sage is. You just have chemistry with some people and not with others.
I look around our limo and take note of everyone’s faces. Lola looks ready for anything but then again I knew she would be. Lola faced down a horde of gang bangers and lived to tell the tale. Chutney looks nervous but otherwise fine. Annabella is a mixture of scared and pissed off.
Without saying a word I open the door and climb out. A look of surprise comes over Sage as I step out of the car. He knows about my past with Victor, he shouldn’t be all that surprised. I may not be with Victor anymore but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a part of my family, a part of my life. I don’t think we’ll ever see eye to eye but I’m not going to leave him to die at the hands of the mob.
“Ashley Southerland. I didn’t think you cared one way or another what happened to Victor Gage anymore. We could have taken care of this a long time ago.” I feel Lola get out of the limo behind me but I don’t turn around. I just walk closer and closer to Sage. His dark green eyes come into focus along with his square jaw and crooked nose. His skin is smooth and a healthy tan color. I always used to think his hair was dyed because his eyebrows are black, but that isn’t the case. The second I saw his mother I knew it was natural. She has the same platinum color and she didn’t care what she looked like so I know she wasn’t dying it. The woman is a hippy to the extreme and wouldn’t put something harmful like bleach in her hair. That’s also why Sage is named Sage. Just in case you were wondering.
“I’ve known Victor since the day I was born. You can’t just push that to the back of your mind and forget.” I stand a few feet in front of Sage, Lola standing to my right, Annabella comes up on my left and I feel Chutney behind me.
Sage looks at all of us and slowly drops his smile. “You sure came with a lot of backup. Not much I can do with Lola and Chutney Daniels here.” He glares at me and crosses his arms over his chest. “You’ve got me by the balls.”
“Then take the money you want for Victor and hand him over,” I spit out, crossing my arms over my chest to mimic Sage. Then I start tapping my foot because I’m getting impatient. This shouldn’t be so hard or taking so long.
Sage lifts one hand up to tap his index fingers against his chin. “Have you read the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout?” he asks randomly.
I lift one eyebrow at him. “Yeah, but I’m curious as to why you would ask. It might be science fiction but it’s also a romance.”
He laughs, dropping his arms by his side. “Yeah, but that Daemon Black is just so damn dreamy.”
I sigh and step closer to him, the girls moving with me. “Quit stalling, Sage. Where the fuck is Victor?”
He gets an annoyed look on his face and takes a step back. You might not believe me but Sage doesn’t hit women. He knows Lola and I take out our problems on other people’s flesh. So if Lola and I started beating on him, he knows he’d get his ass kicked. “He’ll be here shortly. They seemed to have a problem with keeping him under control.” He looks over at Annabella and smiles. “He didn’t like it too much when we decided to contact his sister.” He looks back at me and the smile fades. “He’ll be happy to see you, Ashley. He seems to think you’re married to a biker.” He laughs and the sound grates on my ears. He’s trying to get a rise out of me and I don’t know why. “I wonder where he got that idea.”
I look at Sage blankly, not rising to the challenge. He really wants me to hit him and that’s setting warning signals off in my brain. “I am married to a biker. You know that Sage. I also know that Victor knows and it’s for him and I to deal with. You have no part of it. And as soon as we get Victor out of here I’ll never have to see you again.”
Sage purses his lips and takes a step closer to me. I can see his eyes working overtime. He’s thinking and Sage thinking is never a good thing. “How did you know that Victor knew? Because the way he tells it, the only other person who knew Victor knew, is his best friend.”
That’s his angle. He wants to know where Talon is. “Cut the shit Sage. I don’t know where Talon is and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. I dislike him but I don’t wish you dead. Because we all know that’s where you’d end up if Talon got hurt.”
A truck pulls up before Sage can reply. It backs up until it’s parked with the tailgate facing us. The tailgate is down and showing a very pale body with golden brown hair.
All the air leaves my lungs. I feel my knees give out and there’s a whooshing in my ears. But I still hear Annabella scream. I hear myself cry out in horrible gut-wrenching pain.
Victor stands in front of me, his lips in a goofy smile, holding out his hand for me to take. I grab it and he pulls me out of the car. “Why are you smiling like that?” I ask, laughing when he twirls me around.
“Because I have the most beautiful woman on my arm tonight.” He pulls me into his chest and kisses me like there’s no tomorrow. His tongue plays with mine, his lips gentle yet firm against my own.
I pull away and throw my arms around his neck. “I don’t know about that. But I do know you look super dapper in this suit.”
He laughs and walks backwards towards the front of the house we are about to enter. My mother made us come out tonight for this dinner function. I had to be dressed to the Ts and Victor had to wear a suit. The poor guy hates suits.
Victor’s hand comes up to my face and he holds me still. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world. You’ve always been the most beautiful woman to me.”
“Shh Ashley, breathe. It’s going to be okay,” Chutney whispers in my ear. I feel her skinny arms wrapped around my shoulders, holding me close to her body.
“I-I…I-I c-can’t…b-bre-reathe…” I feel like my heart is ripping out of my chest. You know you say things like “I no longer love him” after you break up but truly, that love never goes away.
Chutney sticks her head in my line of sight, breaking my view of Victor’s lifeless body. Her blue eyes plead with me to get up and snap out of it. But I can’t. “You are breathing, you’re just not doing it well. It’s going to be okay. I swear to you.”
I can only nod.
I stand in front of Victor in my school uniform. We were talking about what to eat for dinner but then Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” comes on. I immediately start dancing around, moving my hips this way and that. I totally forget that Victor is even in the room.
“Ashes,” he says simply and I look over at him. I feel my face flame up and I stop dancing. He holds up his hands and waves them at me. “Keep going. I’m enjoying this.”
I laugh but it’s fake. “No, I’m too embarrassed now.”
He shakes his head and moves over to me. Then he starts moving around to the music. I’m mesmerized by the way his hips move. I didn’t even know a guy could be this sexy while dancing. Before I know it I’m dancing with him.
When the song ends we both stop and start laughing. My stomach hurts and tears leak out of my eyes. But he doesn’t seem to mind when he grabs me up and smashes his lips against mine. “I love you, Ashes. Only you could start dancing to Madonna in the middle of a conversation,” he says when he pulls back.
And then suddenly I snap out of it. I look up at Sage who is holding Annabella back with a look of pain on his face. She beats at his arms and when my brain clears enough I hear her shouting things I can’t believe. “You fucking bastard! You told me he was alive! You told me you just had to teach him a lesson!” She goes limp against him and I see the pain get worse on Sage’s face. “You told me you loved me…” she whispers.
I see her nod at me. I gently reach under her shirt at her back and wrap my hands around her gun. Lola got this gun years ago and I’ve wanted one similar. The handle on the pistol is made out of shiny ivory and the barrel is gold plated. Blade had it special made for her.
Before I know it, I have it pointed at Sage’s forehead. His eyes get wide and I’m ready to blow his brains out because I’ve figured a lot of things out in the past few minutes.
One, Victor isn’t supposed to be dead.
Two, Sage is the reason Annabella is no longer on drugs.
Three, I know number two, because Sage looks at her like Rage used to look at me. With all the love in the world.
“You have five fucking seconds to explain this to me,” I say, waving my free hand around.
“They were supposed to deliver him alive. I swear to God, Ashley.” He pauses and looks down at a hysterical Annabella. “Annabella and I have been seeing each other for a few months. When Victor pulled his stunt, I tried to keep the heat off of him but Barney had it figured out. They took him and ransomed him out to Annabella. I’ve already paid the money. I don’t know what happened between then and now.” His arms hold Annabella tightly like he never wants to let her go.
I know it’s an odd thought but they could actually work together. Annabella is so jaded and cynical towards life she wouldn’t blink an eye at what Sage has to do.
The door of the truck opens and Sage’s little brother Micah gets out. He’s about a foot shorter than Sage and ugly. He’s always given me the creeps. “Chill out chicks. He ain’t dead.”
We all stop breathing.
Then there’s movement all around. Lola shoves Sage back so Annabella can get free from his arms. She runs over to the truck and jumps up into the bed. I keep my gun pointed at Sage’s head while Micah comes up and points a glock at my head. Chutney grabs my hand and starts tugging.
Annabella starts sobbing louder and I have that overwhelming grief start to come over me again. But then her words penetrate my mind. “He’s alive! He’s fucking breathing! Thank you God!” I don’t look at her because I’m worried if I drop my gun Micah will shoot me. He’s a dick like that. He’s always been insane and trigger-happy.
“I’d drop the gun if I were you,” says a male voice I don’t recognize.
I don’t flinch or drop my gun. I don’t care who’s behind me, I’m way more worried about Micah.
“Bud, shoot him. He’s not gonna let Ashley go.” Bud…Bud, I know that name! It’s Chutney’s driver slash bodyguard. He’s ex-Special Forces and a great man. He’d take a bullet for Chutney and back in the day he’d take one for any of us. When we were running around getting into trouble, he just drove us. Never batting an eye at us or telling us we were dumb. Though he was always the one who called one of the brothers to come get us out of trouble.
A big boom goes off but it’s not Bud or Micah’s gun. No it’s the gun I have in my hand and the bullet hit Micah in the thigh. He drops to the ground with a grunt and Lola runs over to kick his gun away.
Bud walks over to the truck and picks Victor up. He gently tosses Victor over his shoulder and strides quickly to the limo. I put my gun back on Sage and then I slowly back away. Annabella chases after Bud and Victor while Lola, Chutney and I walk backwards side by side.
I realize then that I always had these two beside me. With all the drama in my life, I tend to forget I had the two best friends ever in these two women. I let them down when I left, when I didn’t fight for Rage. I let myself down and I went back to being a girl I couldn’t be proud of.
I seriously hate myself right now.
Sage’s forest green eyes never leave mine. I see the rage building behind his eyes. I’ll be seeing him again for shooting his little brother or for letting Annabella get away.
I’m the last one in the limo and right before I drop my gun I mouth, “Bring it.”
Sage leans over and puts his hands under his brother’s armpits to drag him to their limo. Blood is everywhere but I don’t feel bad. Micah would have killed me without a second thought. In that moment it was him or me and I would choose me every time. “You’re dead,” Sage mouths back.
I slam the door on his words, which echo in my head even though I didn’t actually hear them. Looks like I’ll be on lockdown for the rest of my life.
***
Bud took us straight to the hospital. The last time I was here my nephew Asher was being born. I haven’t seen the little guy in a few days. And since everything that’s happened, I don’t think I’ll be seeing him any time soon.
I’m just happy Uncle Greyson is a part of the mob. He’ll keep my family safe. Me, on the other hand, I’m unhappy to report he can’t do anything about it.
Annabella, Chutney, Lola, Bud and I sit in the waiting room outside of surgery. Apparently Victor had a gunshot wound in his shoulder and one in his leg. He was beaten pretty badly with a bat they think. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a metal one. He was black and blue under his shirt that we cut off in the limo. I wanted to see what we could do to clean him up.
Chutney holds on to Annabella while she cries. I don’t think she’ll be running back to Sage any time soon. Not after seeing her brother that close to death…again. Victor has seriously got to stop getting himself into these situations.
Lola and Bud sit on either side of me. We don’t talk and the only noise is Annabella. I know they flank me because they’re scared of who’s going to show up. It’s not going to take long for the rest of the mob to find out I shot Barney’s youngest son. For some damn reason, everyone loves the creeper.
Annabella and I decided not to call my family until I leave. There would be too many explanations I’ll have to lie through. I’d rather not handle that right now.
But then Rage bursts through the door, followed by Storm and then Blade. This is when I close my eyes and groan. The three of them look around at us and I know one of them is going to blow up. My money is on Rage. But then again, Blade can throw a pretty good tantrum. Storm will just glare at us and probably find somewhere to spank the shit out of Lola. Kinky assholes.
Rage storms across the room stopping right in front of me. I don’t look up to meet his eyes; I just stare straight ahead at his t-shirt covered stomach. His hand comes up and his finger goes under my chin, lifting my face until I meet his pissed off eyes. “You get the fuck up right now. Then you go out the front doors of this place and you get on the back of my bike. Don’t fuckin’ argue. Don’t fuckin’ talk back.” He leans all the way over and gets in my face. “Just. Fuckin’. Do. It.”
He grabs my arms then and hauls me out of my seat. I don’t argue with him because I know he was scared. I was scared with Micah pointing his damn gun at me. It was one thing to threaten me with it and another thing altogether to have that look in his eyes.
He wanted me to die.
A cold shiver goes down my spine at the thought. Rage doesn’t touch me on our way out of the hospital. He just stomps forward, nurses and regular people moving out of the way with shocked looks on their faces.
Once we get outside, my heart stops. I see my mother getting out of Courtney’s car. Court’s wife, Rachel, gets out of the car next, holding my nephew Asher. Then I see Court step out with his mouth open, looking at Rage. I know he sees the tattoo of my name on the side of Rage’s neck. Court doesn’t miss much, if anything at all.
I just put my head down and follow Rage to his bike. He doesn’t know who they are because I was never brave enough to introduce them. He should know my mom but I think he’s too pissed off to notice her right now.
They call my name but I ignore them. I have no words to say to them right now. Everything is crashing down arou
nd me. My two past lives are starting to converge together. And I don’t even know where to begin to keep them separate.
Rage throws his leg over his bike and sits his perfect ass down. The engine revs a second later so I climb on the back of it. I put my arms around his waist and hold close to him. I take in his cologne and the way his stomach still feels just as fit.
Then I’m free from it all.
It’s like five years hasn’t passed since the last time I was on the back of his bike. I’m home again and my heart doesn’t understand why I ever left this place. This place where the wind blows my hair back and blocks out any other noise. Nothing matters here but Rage and I. We are alone on a crowded Dallas street. Everyone can see us but it doesn’t matter. We’ve always been on display.
Rage drives for what seems like forever. When he ends up in Meadows, I think he’s about to go to my mom’s house but he turns down a different street. Then he pulls into the garage of a nice two-story home.
It’s a farmhouse in the middle of a suburb where every other house is the same. I know before he even turns off the bike that this is his house. Even when he couldn’t stand the sight of me he still moved to Meadows. I know he did it to be close to me.
“You bought a house three blocks from my mother’s,” I whisper once the bike has been shut off. I pull my hair away from my face and tie it back with the ponytail holder on my wrist.
Rage’s shoulders are tense and he doesn’t move to get off the bike. “I hated being that far away from you. Here I could see you every day and you would never know.”
“That’s sweet in a really creepy way,” I state, getting off the bike and looking down at him.
He sighs and stands up in front of me. Then he grabs my face in both hands and hauls me towards him. My chest is flush with his and I find it hard to breathe. Not because he’s holding me too tight but because I haven’t been this close to him in so long I forgot how beautiful he is. “Don’t you ever face down the fuckin’ mob by yourself again. You’re fuckin’ lucky I ain’t gonna lock you up in my basement,” he growls before moving around me.