FORSAKEN: The Punishers MC

by April Lust

  I chuckled. “But Centerville is a small town,” I reminded the kid. “You know we don’t always have a big budget for those things.” When his face fell, I felt guilty. “But you know, I’ll say something to the board about it the next time we meet,” I added. “You never know; it might work out.”

  By late afternoon, my feet ached. I told Toby I was going to take a small break. When he nodded, I gratefully dashed into the atrium. It was a sunny, open space where people in the community would post ads for yard sales and the like. It was especially warm after the sun had been hitting it for hours, and I closed my eyes and breathed in. Something brushed against my arm but I didn’t open my eyes. I thought it was Patches, coming to make sure I was okay. Just a minute or two and then I’ll go back in, I thought. He can wait just another couple of seconds.

  But before I could react, something grabbed me and tugged me off to the side. I stumbled, opening my eyes at the last second. It wasn’t Patches; it was Randy. I opened my mouth to yelp and he clapped a hand over me before I could make a sound. Dragging me over to the corner of the atrium, he pulled a knife out of his jacket and pressed the blade against my throat. I could feel the edge of the steel against my skin and I whimpered as Randy shoved the cold metal hard against me.

  “Don’t make a sound, girly,” Randy said. He was breathing heavily and he pressed his body against mine. I could feel he had an erection. Disgust swam through my body and I tried to twist away but Randy was stronger. “You wear that just for me, baby? You look so damn yummy in that.”

  “I didn’t do anything for you,” I managed to spit.

  Anger flashed in Randy’s eyes and he jabbed the knifepoint into my neck. I felt it break the skin; a trickle of blood ran down my chest.

  “You better tell your boyfriend to stop poking around,” Randy said in a heavy voice. His breath smelled like stale tobacco and rot and I flinched. “Did you know he made a little visit to the police station?”

  I opened my eyes wide. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my voice shaking. I took a deep breath and tried to steel my nerves. “I don’t know what he does.”

  “Well, you better make it your business,” Randy said. He pressed the blade into my neck and I whimpered. “Because if he doesn’t stop, you’re gonna be the next crime scene. You got that?”

  Chills ran down my body. “I understand,” I said softly.

  I thought Randy was going to reach out and grab me but he pulled the knife back and tucked it in his jacket. I stood there shaking as he walked out of the library, whistling confidently. Even though I felt like I was rooted to the spot, I forced my legs to move and walk back into the library. When I looked in the corner, I saw no sign of Patches. It was like he’d vanished.

  “Oh, my god,” Toby said. He came up to me in a hurry with a wad of tissues clutched in his skinny fingers. “Angel! Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I said. My heart was pounding at the inside of my chest. “Can you give me a ride home?”

  “Sure,” Toby said. “Can you wait a few minutes?”

  I shook my head. “No,” I said. “It has to be now.”

  Tony sensed the urgency in my voice. He promised he’d be right back as he dashed off behind the front desk. As I waited, I knew I had to call Trey. He had to know about this, and soon.

  Chapter 17

  Trey

  I was out riding with Ram and Wolf when I got the call. Patches sounded hysterical, and I could tell he was really frightened. Anger boiled up in me as soon as his little yipping voice filled the earpiece of my phone. He wasn’t acting like a Skullbreaker; he was acting like a damn pussy.

  “Trey, something happened!” Patches bleated into the phone. “Something happened to Angel! She’s gone!”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I pulled my bike over to the side of the road and closed my eyes. A million horrible thoughts were running through my mind. Angel could have been kidnapped, or dead, or dismembered and lying in a ditch somewhere. Panic racked through my body and I barely heard what Patches was telling me.

  “And when I got back from the bathroom, she was gone!” Patches gasped.

  I could tell he was distraught but I had no patience for him right now. If he hadn’t fucked up, Angel would still be safe and sound. This was all my fault for letting her go to work in the first place, and if I’d put my fucking foot down, she’d still be fine. Goddammit!

  “Stay there,” I ordered. “Look for her. I’m going to call her now.”

  I hung up on Patches without saying goodbye. Just as I was about to dial Angel’s number, my phone buzzed in my hand. When I saw it was her, relief and terror both spiked in my body. I knew it wasn’t necessarily her cellphone, but maybe someone who had kidnapped her was using her to get to me. I shuddered as I answered the phone.

  “Angel?”

  “Trey!” Her voice was scared but she didn’t sound like she was in immediate danger. “Trey! They came to the library! They scared me, Trey!” Her voice broke and I could tell she was about to start sobbing. “Trey, I’m home. I got a ride home. I’m safe, but I’m scared. You need to come home right now!”

  Tucking the phone into my pocket, I gunned my bike into gear and sped towards home. Ram and Wolf followed close behind — the reassuring roar of their bikes helped me realize I wasn’t alone in this, no matter how bad things got. Angel would be okay, she was at home, she was safe. She just had to stay there for a few minutes, until I got home, and then I could pull her in my arms and make sure nothing bad would ever happen to her again.

  I could have killed Patches. If he’d had any chance of getting patched into the Skullbreakers, it was long gone. He’d risked Angel’s life — possibly even Chuckie’s life — and I couldn’t ever forgive him for that. He’d had one job and he’d ruined it and fucked everything up. When I saw him again, he’d be lucky if he walked away with all of his teeth.

  The constant, reassuring presence of Wolf and Ram behind me roared in my ears. I knew they were dying to know what was going on, and I wanted to tell them. But protecting Angel was more important. The longer I thought about it, the more rage I felt fill my body. I couldn’t believe any prospect of the Skullbreakers would have been so stupid! Especially after I’d gone out of my way to tell the guys what was really going on.

  The ride home seemed to take forever. Angel’s car wasn’t in the driveway and for a moment I panicked that she’d up and gone somewhere. But she opened the front door, her silk blouse clinging to her generous bust, and looked at me with such a mixture of relief and horror that I felt my chest swell.

  She ran out into the yard. Her arms were around me and squeezing tightly before I’d even finished climbing off my bike, and I pulled her close and inhaled her sweet, musky fragrance. She was shaking and trembling and her forehead was damp with sweat. She looked like she’d been through hell.

  “What the hell happened?” I demanded, holding her at arm’s length. “What the hell, Angel? Where did Patches go?”

  “I don’t know,” Angel said. She looked around and I could see her pulse racing in her throat. “I looked for him and he was gone!” Her voice had a touch of hysteria in it and I watched as a tear squeezed out of her eye and dripped down her cheek. She continued, “I went into the atrium for a break and closed my eyes, and then one of those creepy guys was there! Randy! The one who grabbed me before!” She opened her eyes wide and looked at me. “And he grabbed me and stuck a knife at my throat and told me if you didn’t stop snooping, he was going to kill me!”

  I slowly digested the information. “Patches went to the bathroom,” I replied. “He must not have told you, the fucking idiot. I’m going to kill him!”

  “It wasn’t Patches’ fault,” Angel said quickly. I rolled my eyes. “He was watching me all day!”

  “Except for, like, the five minutes when he actually needed to pay attention to you,” I growled.

  Angel shrunk back. “Trey, please!” Her voice was rising to a hyst
erical fever pitch. “Trey, I don’t know what it is you’re doing but you need to stop!”

  “That’s right,” I snarled back at her. “You have no idea what it is that I’m doing, because it’s none of your business, Angel.”

  Angel’s eyes got wide and she backed away. A flush was rising on her pale cheeks and I could tell she was getting more heated with every passing second. She waved her hands in the air, gesturing wildly. “Trey, you have a family now,” Angel pleaded. “Don’t you see that? You have me! You have Chuckie! Our son. Remember? You’re his father, Trey. Why don’t you start acting like it?”

  A small, rational part of me knew Angel was just trying to make a point but I couldn’t help the rage that was building slowly in my chest. If it hadn’t been for her, and her parents, and her goddamned wealthy upbringing, this wouldn’t be happening. Angel and I would have stayed together and raised Chuckie the way he should have been raised from the beginning. I may never have gotten involved with the MC, but I sure as hell could have put Angel through school. Maybe she’d even be some kind of famous scientist or artist by now if she hadn’t had to work so damn hard. The oddest mix of rage and betrayal swirled through my body.

  “Leave me alone,” I mumbled. “I don’t want to be around you right now. If you keep pushing me, I’m gonna say a lot of bad shit, Angel.” I stalked past her and pushed her to the side.

  Angel let out this hurt little gasp and dug her fingers into my arm. The skinny digits felt like they were made of ice. “Trey, please listen to me!” Angel jumped in front of me and stared deep in my eyes. She was wearing heels and she was tall, almost as tall as I was. Her green eyes flared and sparked with anger. “Think of us! Think of your family!” She pleaded at me with her eyes. “Trey, you have a family now. You can’t jeopardize our safety for the sake of some stupid fight! Come on, think about it!”

  An electric shock of anger went sliding though my body. I couldn’t believe she had the nerve to pin this on me when she was the one who had left. I couldn’t even think clearly anymore, and all traces of the rational Trey left my body. Before I even knew what I was saying, I turned on Angel and raised my voice as loudly as I could without actually yelling. “Do you understand what you’re saying?”

  Angel blinked at me; she didn’t answer.

  I continued, “You’re the one who left me, don’t you remember? And it’s pretty fucking rich of you to rub it in my nose that I have a family now,” I snarled, getting close to Angel’s face. The blood drained from underneath her skin, leaving her pale and featureless. “You never told me about Chuckie! He’s my goddamn son and you never told me about him!”

  Angel’s nostrils flared. I was so mad I wanted to walk out of the room and never see that fucking hypocrite woman ever again. She didn’t have the courage to dignify me with a response.

  “You never told me about Chuckie because you didn’t think I was good enough to be his father. You didn’t think I was good enough for you either. That’s why you fucking left me, isn’t it? That’s the real reason! It had nothing to do with your precious little Mom and Daddy!”

  I knew I should just shut the fuck up but I couldn’t, the anger was building too strongly and I wanted to hurt Angel with everything in me. I wanted to make her feel the pain and abandonment I’d carried around for almost ten years. I wanted her to know just how fucking badly she’d really hurt me. I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to see her cry. I wanted to see her break down and admit she’d been wrong, that she was responsible for the way everything had turned out. I imagined the words coming from her lips: they would feel good, like warm butter. I closed my eyes.

  “I want to hear you tell me you fucked this up,” I said in a soft, low voice. Keeping my eyes trained on Angel, I watched her every movement. “I want to hear you tell me, Angel. I want to hear it from your fucking lips, you got that, honey?” I put extra emphasis on the last word just to hurt her.

  Angel opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. I knew I was past the point of no return, that none of this shit mattered anymore. It didn’t matter what else I said, as long as I’d threatened Angel like I had, she’d never wanna talk to me again. Hell, she probably wouldn’t even want to see me after this.

  “Tell me,” I said, deadly serious. “Tell me you fucked up. Tell me I wasn’t good enough, Angel. Tell me I’m still not good enough for you or your fucking son!”

  Angel didn’t answer. Her lower lip trembled and I could sense that she was about to start crying.

  “You can’t say it,” I continued in the same level tone. “You can’t admit it because you know it’s the truth, Angel. Well, you wanna know the real truth?”

  Angel shifted her gaze to the floor and I watched as hot tears spilled from her lids and ran down her pale cheeks. Something vicious and angry twisted up my guts and I slammed my fist into the wall.

  “The real truth is I don’t have a fucking family, Angel! I haven’t had a family since the moment you left me almost ten goddamn years ago! You ruined this for me, you got that? Do you fucking understand?!”

  I hadn’t been this angry in years and it was spilling out of me like water from a busted dam. The more I ranted, the angrier I felt. It was coursing through my veins like molten lava. Just like a volcano, the more I exploded, the more passionate I felt.

  “Go on, cry,” I said dismissively. Angel looked at me with wide, frightened eyes. I shook my head in disgust. She was fucking pathetic. She couldn’t even own up to ruining both of our goddamn lives. “Fucking cry!” I screamed loudly. “Fucking cry and pretend that’s gonna make everything better! Cry and pretend like Chuckie won’t grow up hating you for making him live without a dad! Sure thing, Angel, I’m sure it’s all going to be just fine!”

  The last words came out as a growl and Angel crumped in on herself, falling to the floor and burying her face in her pale hands.

  Chapter 18

  Angel

  I was in a daze as Trey stood in front of me, yelling until I’d fallen to the floor and covered my eyes with my hands. My whole body was shaking and I wished I could have melted and fallen into the floor. The more he yelled, the more upset I felt. It wasn’t fair, what he was saying! It wasn’t true!

  “I never thought you weren’t good enough for me,” I said in a quavering voice. It was the first phrase I’d uttered in ten minutes.

  Trey immediately stopped yelling and stared at me with wide blue eyes. “I don’t believe you,” he scoffed. “Tell me the truth, Angel. Tell me the fucking truth, you got that?”

  “That is the truth,” I insisted. “I always loved you, Trey.”

  “That doesn’t mean shit,” Trey snapped. “If you really loved me, you wouldn’t have fucking left!”

  His words stung, even more than any of the previous accusations he’d lobbed at me. “That isn’t true,” I said, my voice stronger than before. Trey kept his eyes glued to me as I peeled myself off the floor and stood upright, albeit shakily. Suddenly, I was aware of the incredible sexual tension in the room between us. I could have sliced it clean through with a knife.

  “So?” Trey glared at me. “If that ain’t different, tell me otherwise. Tell me, Angel. I need to fucking know.”

  I shook my head. “It wasn’t like that, Trey.”

  Trey blew a stream of air out between his lips. “Enlighten me, then,” he snapped. “Tell me what the fucking truth really is, then, Angel.”

  I blushed. “My parents hated you,” I said softly. Even just the mention of Mom and Daddy made my heart racer even faster in my chest. “They didn’t like you, and they didn’t want you around me.”

  “Well that’s fucking obvious!” Trey roared. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me. “What else, detective?”

  I bit my lip. I was getting sick of his shitty attitude, even though I probably deserved it. “My father threatened to hurt you if I didn’t leave you alone,” I said softly. “It was the night of my eighteenth birthday. You know that, Trey. But what I don’t get is
why didn’t you come back.” Remembering this was the most painful thing of all. “Daddy told me he was going to hurt you, but then you could have still called me! I was an adult! I could have run away with you!” Bringing this up made all of the hurt from the past seem fresh and new and before long, a fresh wave of sobs had hit me. I sniffled and cried and stared at Trey’s unforgiving blue eyes.

  “I did,” Trey said flatly. “I showed up the next morning and there was some fucking muscle in the driveway who tried to threaten me and pay me off. Then your mother came out and told me to leave you alone. She said you didn’t want to see me, and she told me if I didn’t leave, she’d call the police.”

  Trey’s revelation hit me like a ton of bricks. All of these years, I had just supposed he’d stayed away because he’d wanted to stay away. I thought he never wanted to be around me again, and that was why he’d left and never come back. I’d always thought it was my fault for pissing him off that night, for not taking him seriously when he said he wanted to impress my parents. Now I realized just how very wrong I’d actually been.