by Erin Osborne
“Did my wife scream to you to stop? Scream out in pain?” I ask, my voice full of contempt and malice.
“Yes!” he screams out. “It was my favorite part.”
That was the biggest mistake Jason could’ve made. He just pushed my buttons to the point that I’m not going to care about keeping him alive or not. Every other man in the small building can see the look on my face and knows that shit is about to get real. He’s about to be in so much pain that I don’t know how I’m going to keep him awake and feeling the maximum amount of pain we can dish out.
“I got somethin’ for this fucker,” Killer says, going over to the bench and reaching behind the table.
He walks back over and I see a bottle in his hand. It’s a spray bottle and I can see the closer he gets to me that it’s a glass bottle, not one of those plastic spray bottles. That can only mean one thing; he’s got a bottle full of acid. Killer is not playing around when it comes to this fucker.
“You want the honors or do you want someone else to have a shot with it?” he asks me.
Wood picks that moment to walk in the building. So, I motion my head over towards him and Killer hands the bottle off to him. There’s no pausing or asking questions of any sort. He just starts spraying the acid over the cuts on Jason. Meanwhile, Pops gets another one of my blades and tells one of the prospects to strip his pants, shoes, and socks off. The only thing he wants left on are his underwear. Irish also gets in on the fun with his own blade. He starts with Jason’s fingers slicing them off slowly and methodically, one by one.
Jason is screaming uncontrollably and you can see that he’s about to pass out from the pain and the acid eating away at him. His head is hanging forward and the screams die in his throat as Pops and Irish are cutting off his fingers and toes. The rest of the guys step forward and get their hits in before Jason dies. They leave just enough for me to get the last shot in and take the life from the dumb fuck that thought he could mess with us.
I take another blade from my collection and walk up to him. Using one hand, I pull his hair to make sure his head is up and that he’s looking directly at me when I take the last breath from his body. With my other hand, I bring my blade up and agonizingly slowly drag it from one side of his throat to the other. Killer is now dumping the acid all over Jason’s body to make him feel the maximum amount of pain before the life leaves him.
Grim tells the prospects that came with us to clean up the mess, get rid of the body, and then make their way over to the service at Joker and Cage’s house. The rest of us make our way over to the houses to get cleaned up so we can make an appearance and spend the rest of the day with our brothers, old ladies, and the rest of the people here for our fallen brothers and old ladies. Personally, I want to get to Keira, Kenyon, and Cory. I don’t want this shit to cloud my time with everyone before they all start heading out and making their way back to their own clubs and families.
~~**~~
The party is starting to get a little rowdy and I want to get Keira and the kids home. It’s been a good day full of memories being shared, spending time with brothers from other chapters we don’t usually get to see, and enjoying the time we need to as one family.
“You ready to go kitten?” I ask, picking Cory up from her bouncy seat.
“Yeah. You stay and visit with everyone. I got this. Darcy is going to help me get them settled in and then I’m just going to crash. Stay and be with everyone.”
“I don’t want to kitten. I want to be with our family.”
“This is your family. I’m not going anywhere and most of the people here are leaving soon. Be with them before they leave and I’ll see you when you get home. Wake me up.”
“You don’t have anythin’ to worry about anymore,” I tell her, hoping she’ll understand what I’m telling her.
“I know I don’t. That’s the only reason I’m going home with Darcy and her only. We don’t need any protection or someone with us. Please stay. I love you with everything in me Blade. Please give me this,” Keira practically begs.
“I love you too kitten. I’ll be home shortly.”
I hesitate and Keira can sense it. So, she leans up on her toes and kisses me before taking Cory from my arms. Yeah, I’d love to stay and continue catching up with everyone here, but I want to be there for my girl too. Apparently, she’s telling me that she doesn’t want me to be with her right now. Maybe Darcy and her need some time to decompress too. Get away from the people that they don’t know but they’ve spent the day with regardless because they knew it was needed by them.
I nod to Crash and Trojan to let them know the girls are heading over to the house. The three of us follow behind, making sure that we stay covered so they don’t know. Jason might be gone now, but that doesn’t mean that we’re going to let them out of our sight, walking alone. So, we’ll make sure they get home and then rejoin the party. And it is a party. We’re celebrating the life of the men and women that died being a part of something that we all believe in. Family, loyalty, respect, and watching out for one another.
Epilogue
Irish
It’s been six months since I lost Caydence. I’m learning how to be a single dad while balancing work and things I have to do for the club. This is one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do, but the old ladies of the club have been amazing. When I need to leave, they practically fight over who’s going to take Cassidy for the day or however long I’ll be gone. If I can’t get her to calm down or stop crying, Skylar is the first one to come running over to help me.
The old ladies have shown me more about raising a child, especially a daughter, then I ever thought I’d need to know. Changing diapers and cleaning up when she gets sick is easy for me. It’s a matter of putting her in clothes that match, not treating her like a little boy, the right things to eat and drink for her age, and what medicine I can give her to name a few things. I’ve taken her to the doctor and the days she has shots are over for me. I can’t leave her with someone else when I know my little girl is in pain. The women all check on us throughout the day, but they leave us alone for the most part.
When I’m not busy, my thoughts are always filled with Caydence. I’ve been told I need to move on and let myself fall in love with someone new, but I just don’t ever see that happening. Caydence and I were together for so long that I never imagined my life without her. Now it’s not just imagining what it would be like, I’m living it every single day. I try to keep her memories alive so that I’ll be able to tell Cass about her mom as she gets older. I want her to know how much Caydence truly loved her and wanted the very best in life for her.
Today, we’re getting ready to move someone into the house the club bought to help out domestic violence victims. Skylar apparently ran into this woman and her teenage daughter in town and knew she needed to help her. From what we were told in church, the woman was covered from head to toe in bruises and her daughter wasn’t looking much better. I’m on my way to the grocery store to make sure that the kitchen is fully stocked for them. It’s something I can do and take Cass with me, so I jumped when Grim was looking for volunteers. Plus, it ensures that I’m helping out, but that I don’t have to be around anyone else right now.
I don’t know what the future is going to hold for Cass and myself, but I know that I never thought it would be like this. I’m having Rage build a house for us that I always thought I’d share with Caydence. It’s now just going to be for the two of us. I’m making it large so that my daughter will have some place to raise her own family one day. And if she chooses to leave the club, then my grandbabies will always have a place to call home. For now, I’m just going to take it a day at a time and concentrate on my daughter, my club, and my work. Everything else is meaningless.
The End
About the Author
Growing up, I was constantly reading anything I could get my hands on. Even if that meant I was reading my grandma’s books that weren’t so age appropriate. I started out rea
ding Judy Blume, then graduated to romance, mainly historical romance, and last year I found an amazing group of Indie authors that wrote MC books. Instantly I fell in love with these books.
For a long time, I’ve wanted to write. I just never had the courage to go through with actually doing it. During a book release party, I mentioned that I wanted to write and I received encouragement from an amazing author. So, I took a leap and wrote my first book. Even though this amazing journey is just starting for me, I wouldn’t have even started if it weren’t for a wonderful group of authors and others that I’ve met along the way.
I am a wife and mother of five children. Only one girl in the bunch! My family and friends mean the world to me and I’d be lost without them. Including new friends that I’ve met along the way. I’ve lived in New York my whole life, either in Upstate or the Southern Tier. I love it during the summer, spring, and fall. But, not so much during the winter. I hate driving in snow with a passion!
When I’m not hanging out with my family/friends, reading, or writing, you can find me listening to music. I love almost all music! Or, I’m watching a NASCAR race.
I look forward to meeting new friends, even if I’m extremely shy!
Here are some links to connect with me:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ErinOsborneAuthor/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/author_osborne
My website:
http://erinosborne1013.wix.com/authorerinosborne
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/user/emgriff07
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I have to thank the amazing team that I work with. Vicky is my amazing PA and she is venturing out and trying new things to help us even more than she already does. We couldn’t do this without you!! Love ya girl!! Darlene, you help calm me down when no one else can. Yes, there are times when our bossy PA can’t do it. We bounce ideas off one another and are on the phone all hours of the night. Jenni, I can’t wait to see what the year brings with you as the newest addition to our team as our assistant PA. I love ya all!!
I have a new team of beta readers and I can’t wait to see how we learn and grow together. Here’s to the first of many more books to come!!!
Finally, my family. Even with all of the ups and downs, you continue to support me in continuing my dream of writing. I love you all!!