by L. Grubb
He links his arms around my waist, pulling me close. Leaning down, he places a tender kiss to my bruised lips, and I sigh in content. Will I ever get sick of his kisses?
“Let’s go.” He unwinds himself from me and takes my hand, leading me out of the room and back to the raging party.
“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Alexis shouts at me, stomping over with a look of thunder on her face. “You could’ve fucking told me where you were going, Lauren!”
“Yo, chill, Alexis. What the fuck? Did you not guess that she was with me? Considering I wasn’t in the room either.” Champ stands protectively in front of me, his body tense.
“I guess. But she could’ve told me. I’ve been worried sick.” Alexis has the grace to lower her head to look at the floor.
“Look, Alexis. Sorry, okay? I should’ve told you. But you are being more dramatic than I usually am.” I purse my lips into a tight line, furrowing my brow at her. “How much have you had to drink to be acting like such a bitch?”
“Are you kidding me?” she shouts at me.
Ah, Cobra finally has enough courage to come haul his drunk girlfriend away. I don’t want to say something that I’ll later regret. We can talk in the morning.
Champ leads me to the bar; a drink is much needed right now. “Bud please and whatever Lauren wants.”
“Malibu and Coke please and make it a double,” I state to the prospect behind the bar.
Champ pulls me into his side, giving me a one armed hug. “You okay, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ll speak to her in the morning. God knows how much she’s had to drink.” I sigh. “She’s never gone off on me like that before though. I’ve done worse things that she could’ve shouted at me for and she never has.”
“I’ve got you, babe. Stay here tonight, and I’ll take you home tomorrow, yeah?” Champ kisses the top of my head before reaching out for the new beer that’s been placed in front of us.
“You sure that’s okay?” I ask tentatively.
“Of course it is, silly woman. I always want you with me, and I’m never letting you go again. You hear?” His words have a little force behind them, but a soft smile lifting on one side of his glorious lips softens them.
“Okay.” I smile back. Damn, I love this man so much that it hurts my insides. Why did I ever leave? I should’ve just confronted him with my issues rather than running.
“Want to dance?” he questioned, looking down into my eyes. My stomach flips as it always does when he stares at me with smoldering eyes.
“Sure.” I smile back at him. I grab my drink and head toward the dance floor, looking over my shoulder once to make sure he’s following me. His eyes are firmly on my ass so I put a little extra oomph into my walk.
When we make it to the dance floor, he palms my ass before spinning me to face him. He wraps his muscled arms around my middle, pulling me close. I finish my drink and a passing prospect takes it from me. I swing my arms around his neck and start shaking my hips to the rhythm.
I wake to the morning light streaming through the cracks in the blinds; I groan and look to my left to see Lauren curled up to me, softly snoring. She looks so relaxed when she’s asleep, no sign of trauma in her eyes or face, no battling to get through each day. Lauren is the strongest woman I know. And she motherfucking mine. I won’t let her run again. Never again.
I growl as I hear the knock at the door. Not wanting to move from my warm spot next to my beautiful girl, I groan inwardly and get up anyway. Shoving my legs into last night’s jeans, I trudge to the door and step out.
“What, Cobra?” I grouch, not impressed that I’ve had to move.
“Church, dude. It’s 11am,” he laughs at me. He knows I never sleep in this late. I’m an early riser, but with Lauren in my bed I guess I had no reason to wake up so early.
“Let me just put a shirt on.” I turn and enter the bedroom, quietly as not to wake Lauren from her slumber. Shoving a clean shirt on over my head, I look over to her one last time before leaving the room. I would do anything to be back beside her in bed right now.
When I enter the Church room, everyone is already there waiting.
“About time, son!” Prez bellows into the room.
“Sorry, Prez,” I mumble, taking my seat.
“Okay, now that we’re all here, I have something important that I need to discuss with you all.” He pauses and looks at each one of us in turn.
“And that is?” I ask, waving my hand in the air.
“We have to go to London to one of our British chapters. They need help with something that I can’t discuss with you,” he says, lighting a cigarette.
“When do we have to go?” I grumble. Don’t get me wrong, I love London. But I just want to spend time with Lauren.
“In three weeks. We have stuff here to wrap up first. Champ, how’s Lauren after all the shit happened?” Prez turns his beady eyes to me, probing mine for answers.
“She’s okay. She’s strong, Prez.” I force a smile and a nod of thanks to him for asking.
“All right, fuckers, we have a run in an hour, so get showered and shit. Go, you’re dismissed.”
We leave the room chatting about the upcoming run today and the London trip before going our separate ways to get ready.
When I enter my bedroom, Lauren isn’t there. Nerves swim in my gut, my head thinking maybe she’s left the clubhouse without saying goodbye, but maybe she’s gone for breakfast. I stand in the doorway, my head swimming with indecision at whether to hunt for her or wait ‘til I’ve showered. I opt for a quick shower, then go look for her.
Jumping in the shower before it heats up was an awful idea, I almost shrieked as the biting cold water hit my back. I did curse a few words though, if my mother would’ve heard, I would’ve got a clipped ear.
I climb out the shower, wrapping a small, fluffy, white towel around my waist and brush my teeth before returning to the bedroom to get some clean clothes. I almost jump out my skin when I open the bathroom door and Lauren is standing there, eyes wide with fright of her own.
“Jesus, woman. You trying to give me a heart attack?” I hold a hand to my chest to emphasize my point.
“I was just about to knock actually,” she replies.
Her eyes wonder down my body, and I see her swallow. When her eyes reach mine again, I can see the deep burning lust in their depths.
“Where have you been? I came back and you’d disappeared,” I ask her, sauntering to my dresser.
“Went for some breakfast, I was starving,” she replies, walking over to the bed and sitting down.
“Didn’t want to wait for me?” I tease her. I hear her soft laughter behind me, and I turn to see her shaking her head at me.
“You’re a big boy, I’m sure you can get breakfast yourself without me having to hold your hand.”
“You’re so funny,” I reply sarcastically. She’s a joker that one. But fuck me; she’s looking ravishing in one of my shirts. Unfortunately, there is just not enough time to spend loving her body.
I quickly get dressed.. “You okay, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, why?” She looks at me with a raised brow.
“Because you’re rather quiet this morning, that’s all.” I give her a smile before pulling her up off the bed.
“Just thinking about Alexis.” She hangs her head, I can feel her hands wringing behind my neck.
My stomach drops for her, I hate seeing her upset, hurt or anything. Fuck, I just want her to be happy.
“Shall we go wait for her in the main room? You need to talk to her.” I stroked my fingertips down her silky smooth cheek, pecking her on the forehead. “Come on.”
We enter the main room to shouting from Cobra. He has one of the newest prospects up against a wall, arm across his throat, and the look on his face is deadly. Oh shit.
“Yo, Cobra, what the hell?” I bellow across the room, speed walking to where they stood.
“This asshole ha
s been stealing from the club. I just caught him red handed in the Prez’s office, hands in the safe...” he trails off, his nostrils flaring..
“This true, boy?” I ask the sorry son of a bitch that’s pinned to the wall.
“No, it’s not like that, I swear. It just looks bad,” he answers, voice trembling.
“I know what I saw you bastard. Time for you to pay.” Cobra’s face is pretty much nose to nose with this idiot, fury is radiating off him in steady waves.
“Flipper? Take him to the basement; me and Cobra will be there shortly. You know the drill.” I take hold of Cobra’s shoulders, steering him away from the seriously frightened prospect.
“Calm it, Cobra. You know you can’t go down there until you’ve calmed enough to know what you’re doing,” I whisper in his ear.
He nods his head in understanding before shaking himself out of my grasp, traveling to the backyard.
“I’ll be back in a minute, sweetheart,” I murmur to Lauren, giving her a chaste kiss on the mouth.
I jog to the glass doors leading to the yard, intent on asking Cobra for the full story.
Finding him pacing the grass by the pond, I join him, patting him on the shoulder to let him know I’m here. Don’t want to scare the guy to death, not in his mood anyway.
“Calm down, have a smoke,” I insist, eyeing him from a few feet away.
He stops his rapid pacing, digging his cigarettes out of his tight pocket. Lighting one, he takes a long drag before releasing the smoke above him.
“Does the Prez know?” I ask him. He will need to be told first before any action is taken. Club rules.
“No,” is his clipped answer.
“He needs to know before any shit happens, Cobra,” I inform sternly to him. He needs to calm the fuck down and listen to reason. “You don’t want to get yourself in shit because you’re too angry to have your head screwed on straight.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, brother, not right this fucking minute,” he shouts at me, pointing his cigarette in my direction.
“I’m looking out for you! I don’t want to see you killed because of your stupidity.” I can’t believe this shit. I’m just trying to look out for my best friend, and he’s getting all hot headed and shit. Not cool.
His nostrils flare as he take a deep and calming breath. “Sorry, man. It’s just fucking pissed me off.”
“It’s fine. But either you tell the Prez or I will. You won’t get away with just offing a prospect without the Prez knowing first.”
“I know. You’re right. I’ll go speak to him in a sec,” he concedes, raking a hand through his hair.
Cobra is a hard guy to get frustrated, or even angry. It takes a lot to accomplish it. But when someone betrays this club, he’s like a volcano ready to erupt. And when he blows, it’s explosive.
Finishing the last of his smoke, he finally looks back at me. I see the anger in his eyes, the ticking of his jaw and his nose twitching. He’s ready to motherfucking blow and this shit isn’t going to be pretty.
“Want me to come with you when you see the Prez?” I ask him, cocking my head to the side.
“Nah, I’m a big boy. I can handle it.” He smiles at me.
We walk back inside the clubhouse in comfortable silence, the anger radiating off him can be felt around the room as everyone’s eyes are on Cobra.
I look around for Lauren as Cobra heads toward the Prez’s office. I find her with Alexis, sitting a bit away from everyone else, talking.
Leaving her to it, I saunter to the bar for a beer. That’s just what I need after that clusterfuck. “Beer please, Marcus.” I raise my chin in acknowledgment as he turns to grab me a drink from the cooler.
“You all right, bud?” he asks me.
I guess my frustration is etched onto my face. “I’m good, thanks.”
Grabbing my beer, I walk toward the guys in the room, who are conversing in quiet whispers.
“What are you horrible lot whispering about?” I question, brow cocked up in question.
“About what just went down. Fuck, the atmosphere in here was stifling,” Chip chimes in. He doesn’t really get involved in the physical aspects of the club, mainly computer stuff with Flipper, but Flipper actually gets involved with everything.
“Yeah, maybe, but that prospect...Whatever his name is, was in the wrong. He deserves the shit that he has coming his way,” I tell them. These douchebags are like gossiping old hags.
“Champ!” Cobra shouts from the area where the Prez’s office is. “Can you come with us?”
“Sure,” I reply, downing my drink and leaving the empty bottle on a table.
I make my way over to him and Prez and ask them, “What’s up?”
“It’s show time, brother, and I want you down there with me,” Cobra says, a smile breaking out on his face.
If there is one thing, besides Alexis, that makes Cobra happy is blood and gore. He’s our club hit man. He relishes the adrenaline it causes him.
I chuckle and follow them down to the basement where the prospect is hopefully tied down waiting for his punishment.
“Well, well, well, look what we have here,” Prez says, walking circles around the prospect who is tied to the chair. I can see the blood dripping down his hands from where he was struggling against the coarse rope.
I hear the growl that emanates from Cobra beside me. I turn a stern glare at him to calm him the fuck down.
“Think you can betray me and get away with it, son? I took you in when you had no one, and this is how you thank me?” Prez shouts. Spitting in his face, he continues his intimidation act of circling the worn down chair. “You’re a sorry excuse of a person. A piece of shit in my book. I won’t have someone here who can’t abide by the rules. I’ll leave you in the capable hands of the VP. Say your prayers now, you slimy bastard!”
Prez takes one last menacing look at the betrayer before leaving the room, patting Cobra on the shoulder as he passes.
“Time to play, brother,” I whisper in Cobra’s ear. A deadly smile is plastered on his face, his eyes darken. Danger written across his whole body. I stand back, away from him, arms crossed over my chest and a smirk on my face. This is going to be fucking fun.
“I’m glad I caught you red-handed, little boy. I get to have all the fun in making you pay.” Cobra stalks toward the prospect with slow strides, muscles flexing. “Shall we play a little game?”
“No, please. I’m so sorry,” the prospect begs. Hell, this kid doesn’t know Cobra very well. Begging just makes him happier, more dangerous.
“Too late to say you’re sorry, Luke. You knew the rules when you came here. You knew the consequences. You have no excuses.” Cobra’s voice gets louder the more he speaks, and I see Luke, now I know his name, wince.
I watch as Cobra heads to the table in the corner of the dark basement, his goodies already laid out waiting for him to use.
“Which toy shall I play with today, Luke?” Cobra taunts. “The machete? No, too lame. Hmm...Knuckle dusters? Nah, too boring. Oh, I have an idea.” Cobra picks up the drill and plugs it into a socket in the wall.
I swallow hard, knowing exactly what he’s going to do. He’s done this before to a traitor.
“Do you know what’s going to happen?” Cobra asks, pressing the button and whirring the drill to life. “This may hurt a little.” He presses the tip of the drill to one of the prospects biceps.
The prospect has tears falling down his face like the little pussy that he is. Well, he should have thought about what was going to happen before stealing from the club.
Cobra brings the drill to life against Luke’s arm, pushing. Blood starts flying out and Luke screams bloody murder into the mostly soundproof room.
“Stop! Make it stop!” he shouts out, snot and tears mixing on his face.
The drill becomes quiet, and Cobra moves to the prospect’s other side, repeating his previous action.
The screaming becomes deafening, and I grimace as blood splatt
ers over Cobra. Gross. I move back so I’m flush against the wall.
“Does that hurt?” Cobra whispers menacingly in Luke’s ear. “Was that painful enough for you?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer; he goes back to his table of weapons and holds up a double-edged knife. When he turns, I see the smile on his face, and I can practically see the clogs turning in his head.
“Ready for more fun, little boy?” he asks. Teasing the tip of the knife down one of Luke’s cheek and trails it slowly to his throat. He works the knife down one of Luke’s arms, making the prospect shiver and tremble, knowing what’s going to happen next. Cobra takes his time, teasing him.
Suddenly, Cobra plunges the knife into one of Luke’s legs, twisting the blade for maximum pain. The screams that fill the air is ear-splitting. Blood spurts up, landing all around them both.
“Fuuuuck!” the prospect shouts. “Please! Someone help!”
“No one can hear you, fuckface, so shut up,” I yell from across the room.
“Your screams make my fun better,” Cobra states.
For the next ten minutes or so, Cobra makes small incisions in painful areas. I notice Luke looking a bit pale, ready to pass out from the excruciating pain he’s experiencing.
“Okay, I’ve had my fun,” Cobra decrees, wiping the blood from the knife onto his black shirt. “Time to end this shit.”
And the finale is finally here. Cobra grabs his gun from its holster on his belt, aiming between the eyes of Luke. “Bye bye, motherfucker. See you in hell!”
Even though I knew it was coming, the sound of the gunshot jolted me.
And it’s over. Luke’s body slumps over in the chair, blood pooling at his feet. Cobra is covered in blood, his arms, and his face; everywhere you look on him there is the crimson color of Luke’s insides.
“Was that fun, brother?” I ask Cobra, smirking at him.
“Fuck, yeah. Damn, I fucking needed that!” he exclaims joyfully. “Need a fucking shower now, without Alexis seeing me first. She doesn’t need to be subjected to this kind of shit.”