Ruthless (Dark MC Romance)

by Vanessa Waltz

  SPIKE

  She was taking way too fucking long.

  I should have never let her leave by herself.

  Cursing myself, I slammed the door shut behind me and jogged towards my bike. It was hours since Julia left my place. She promised not to take long. My mind was racing, filled with thoughts of what ifs.

  My lungs were tight, as if I’d smoked too many cigarettes. I hoped that Julia was just being a typical girl and was agonizing over which pairs of jeans she ought to bring, but Julia was anything but ordinary.

  Something’s wrong.

  I hopped on my bike and throttled it to Julia’s place, hoping to God that the pounding feeling in my heart was wrong. The tires screeched as I ground to halt outside the apartment. Julia’s convertible was still in the driveway, but the whole apartment was dark.

  Fuck.

  I jogged up the stairs and didn’t bother knocking on the door, I twisted the handle and it flew open. I stumbled over the threshold.

  A blonde man sat in the kitchen in the darkness. His pale eyes flinched from the sunlight behind me like a snake kept in the dark.

  “Spike,” he said, rising from the chair.

  What the fuck is he doing here? “Cain, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “You look surprised to see me at all.”

  Cain’s voice was taut with rage and his eyes looked bloody. He’s on Red again. “Where’s Julia?”

  He gave me a lipless smile that made my stomach twist. “She’s no longer your concern.”

  “Actually, I think I’m going to make that a club vote.”

  He inclined his head. “Fine. Let’s visit Crash, now.”

  What is this? My eyes scanned for Julia, but she was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t hear her in the apartment. It was as if she wasn’t there. A horrible feeling struck me with so much pain that I wanted to crumple on the floor.

  “Where is she? I’m not leaving until I know she’s safe.”

  He smiled at the fear trembling my voice. “She’ll come with us. Julia!”

  I finally heard her light footsteps, but tension gripped my body. Her naked body stepped into the room, her blonde hair in tatters and her arm covering her breasts. Dried blood covered her side and there were angry, red welts covering her body.

  “You fucking bastard.” My lungs constricted as I saw her abused body. I couldn’t fucking stand it. Without thinking, my hands balled into fists.

  I’ll smash his fucking face in.

  “Julia, come here.” I beckoned her.

  Something strange happened to her, something beyond the physical abuse. She didn’t look at me. Her gaze fixed on the floor, her shoulders curled forward in defeat.

  “Julia, answer him,” Cain’s voice snapped.

  “No.”

  What? I saw her lips form the word, but I didn’t believe. My body went cold as she limped towards Cain. The sick bastard wrapped an arm around her shoulders as if he was her protector.

  “Julia, you’ll be safe. It’s okay.”

  Her watery blue eyes stared out from under her wild hair at me. “No!” She clutched at his chest as if I was the monster. What in the hell did he do to her?

  It was like someone stabbed me in the chest. “Let’s go to the club.”

  He bent his head towards her as he stroked her skin. I was so furious; I wanted to lunge at him from across the room. He had no right to touch her. That beautiful woman who made me feel alive for the first time in years was dead inside. She was gone.

  “Go put on some clothes.”

  She nodded and slipped from his arms to disappear in the bedroom.

  Cain gathered his wallet and keys as if beating women was the most normal thing in the world. I couldn’t let him out of my sight. Once the guys saw her, they would make Cain let her go. I knew it. He was just too fucking crazy to understand that.

  We went downstairs and it sickened me to see Julia climb behind Cain on his bike. I clenched my teeth as she wound her arms around his waist.

  She should have been mine from the beginning.

  The guys were just as surprised as I was when Cain walked into the club with Julia and I in tow. She spun her blonde head around to look at me with a wide-eyed expression, like she was trying to say something. I took that as a sign that maybe not all was lost.

  The music dropped in the club as Crash spun from his chair to stare at Cain and I.

  “You’re not supposed to be out.”

  I scanned the members, my senses on overdrive. Pike and River hung casually on the bar, frighteningly close to Crash.

  What the fuck?

  A gentle touch around my wrist made me pause. Julia’s petrified face shook from side to side and her fingers dropped from my wrist.

  Don’t go.

  Why? I wanted to ask her. What’s wrong?

  “Yes, I know. It turns out the precinct is very receptive to certain—ah, persuasions.”

  He probably threatened to behead the whole precinct. Fucking perfect.

  Crash stood up suddenly. “Are you out of your fucking mind? We don’t threaten cops. We don’t need that kind of heat.”

  The whole club seemed to be listening in. The only sounds were the fans overhead, humming lazily.

  “I was out of my mind to think that I could trust you. You put me in jail for weeks. The VP of this club.”

  “Not anymore,” Crash chuckled harshly. “I’ll be damned if I let you run this club into the ground.”

  My shoulders tensed as they faced off. Unconsciously, I stepped in front of Julia. “Guys, let’s go into the office and settle this.”

  Cain’s blonde head turned to stare at me. He smirked at Crash as he turned back around. “Settle this. Yeah, let’s do that.”

  It was over before I could even blink. Several loud bangs exploded as Cain whipped his gun from his side and suddenly Crash was bleeding on the floor. Club whores screamed and half the club drew their weapons. Pike and River aimed their guns at me as I rushed towards Crash, who screamed in pain.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” I screamed at the two men blocking my way.

  “If you try to help him, we’ll shoot.”

  Several men I knew who were close to Crash elbowed their way to Cain, who regarded their red, shaking faces with little more than a glance.

  “I’ll fucking kill you!”

  Members of Cain’s group stepped in and raised their arms. BAM. BAM.

  Both of them fell to the floor with dark holes in their chests.

  Helpless, I watched Cain step over Crash, who moaned on the floor. He had been shot twice; I couldn’t tell where. His blood spilled around Cain’s boots.

  “Fucking traitor.” The old man stared up at the monster he helped create—the monster who turned on him.

  “This was always going to happen, Crash. It’s nothing personal.”

  He raised the gun.

  “NO, DON’T!”

  The whole club was in an uproar. A deafening bang silenced Crash’s groans and I sank to my knees as the only man who ever cared about me died in front of me. His wet eyes sought mine and suddenly froze. A bubble of blood grew from his lips and burst. Cain laughed at it. His laughter rang in my ears, along with the gunshot that ended Crash’s life.

  “This is fucked up!”

  Several shots blasted through the bar and I turned around, shoving Julia to the floor. Several guys beside me overturned a table, shooting at Cain and his posse, who ducked behind the bar. The death of the President made all of them unsure. Who the fuck do I shoot? Who’s my enemy?

  Those still loyal to Crash fired at Cain, picking off members of his close-knit circle, but they were almost just as deadly. Cain blasted anyone who was close enough with the shotgun he picked up behind the bar. I spotted Boomer, Max, and Tank, ducking cover under a table, their guns drawn. Like everyone else, they looked confused.

  I picked up Julia and yanked her outside. A bunch of us streamed out of the club, away from the gunfire. But where? Whe
re would we go?

  Julia’s whitened face stared at mine. “What the hell is going on?”

  There was no time to think. A group of men loyal to Crash ran down the length of the clubhouse, kicking in windows to aim inside and shoot. It was utter madness. Women trapped inside screamed. There were children with them, their shrill voices raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

  “Spike!”

  Tank and Max, along with a few others, jogged up to me.

  “What do we do?”

  Why are they asking me that? “I don’t know.”

  It was all over too quickly in a confusing haze of gunshots. Another group left the clubhouse, flanking the Crash loyalists. They shot them before they could figure out they were the enemy.

  All of us stared at the clubhouse entrance, where a tall figure emerged. Cain fired again in the air. BANG.

  “The leadership of the Dragons has changed hands. Crash is dead. From this point forward, I’m President. I do not want any more bloodshed.”

  “Get the fuck out of my way!” Max screamed at Pike and River, who stepped aside when Cain nodded. He brushed past Cain, reentering the clubhouse, and slumped on the ground next to Crash’s head. He moved his friend’s head to the side and wiped the blood from his mouth.

  “You killed him.” I said, my voice almost a whisper. “He took you in and made you what you are.”

  “He had to go. He was a risk to the club’s future. By putting me in jail, he forced my hand.”

  “You put yourself in jail, you crazy asshole.” I no longer cared about the twin guns pointed to my chest. Crash was dead, killed by his own protégé. Behind me, Julia plucked my leather cut.

  “Don’t do it, Spike,” she breathed against my back. “I still need you.”

  I swallowed my surprise. She still cares about me. Julia wasn’t broken after all; she was just pretending to be. She was acting the whole time.

  The extremity of that burst in my head like a firework, fizzling out almost just as quickly.

  The man who helped you find your parents’ killer is dead.

  Cain’s heavy boots creaked the wooden floorboards as he made a beeline towards me. He stared at the patch on my jacket that said: Vice-President. Taking a switchblade from his pocket, he lunged at my chest. I was frozen in place, unable to move. Pike and River had me in their sights. Julia screamed behind me and I hoped for her sake that it would be quick.

  He grabbed my jacket and ripped the stitches around the VP patch and ripped it from my chest as if he dug inside my ribs to snatch out my still-beating heart.

  “Your time as Vice-President is over, Spike.”

  He eye-fucked me and slammed the patch against Pike, who caught it with a shit-eating grin.

  Members bolted from Cain as he swept around and parted the crowd. No one ever killed a President before. The Dragons never had such a ruthless leader, and no one knew how to handle it. Isn’t anyone going to do anything? Are we just going to let him get away with blowing away our President?

  I looked around at the bodies strewn on the floor. Those who stood up against him were dead already. At least a third of the club.

  Max, Tank, and I looked at each other. Tank’s grey hair and beard followed Cain, an expression of blind panic on his face.

  Cain moved around the clubhouse, circling Crash’s body like a shark. “This club will proceed with my agenda to remove the Tigers from Victoria. We will ambush them on Thursday and seize the shipment. I expect every member present. Anyone who doesn’t show up will be treated as a deserter. Pike, remind the club what happens to deserters.”

  “The punishment for deserting your brothers is death.”

  Death.

  I looked at Tank, who had two kids at home. He was too old for raids. One like this would be explosive. It would be a bloodbath. Not everyone would come out alive.

  “Spike, get rid of his body.”

  I couldn’t describe the rage pounding through my body as Cain looked at me with a little smirk, knowing how highly I thought of Crash and how it pained me to see him dead. He thought that he was being cruel by forcing me to bury Crash, but I wouldn’t want anyone else to do it.

  Max and Tank rushed over to help me as I grabbed underneath his arms. I tried not to think about how he was full of life only minutes earlier. His body was still pliable. It was as if he was still sleeping, but the charred, black hole in his chest and the blood dripping from his back said otherwise.

  We carried him outside and paused for a moment when we passed the line of bikes.

  “Let’s set him down here for a moment.”

  Crash’s body looked broken as it lay on the dirt. It was wrong. He didn’t belong there. I felt a pang as I realized he wouldn’t get the funeral he deserved. He paid for my folks’ funeral, and all he would get was a crude hole in the ground. Cain would never allow for a funeral. It was too risky. Word would get out to the other chapters.

  “What the fuck do we do?” Max said suddenly.

  “We need to contact another chapter and ask them for help. Tell them our VP has gone ballistic.”

  “They won’t believe it. They’ll try to contact Crash and then Cain will find out. He’ll kill all of us.”

  As we debated what to do, Crash’s bloody leather cut flapped in the breeze. His face was frozen in an expression of pain. It was beyond physical pain. He looked like he had his heart ripped out. I felt like mine was beating on the dust next to his body.

  “Let’s bury him first.”

  We dug his grave together, finding a few shovels tucked in the basement. Dirt flew into the air as we stood in the grave, Crash nearby in the shade. I chose a spot in front of the toughest looking tree. His body stiffened and his cheeks were sunken, and the tears flowed as I worked ever more furiously.

  The others climbed out to hand him over to me. I laid him carefully on the freshly dug earth and kneeled next to him.

  “Give me a minute.”

  My strangled voice sounded strange in my ears. I thought I would die with the pain in my chest. I adjusted his hands on his chest. It was hard to move his body because his limbs were stiff.

  “I’m sorry,” I said quietly to his ruined face. “I let you down. He was two steps ahead of me the entire time.”

  Another man’s blood is on my hands. When is this going to stop?

  The weight of his hand on my shoulder, squeezing slightly. His voice whispering words of comfort: It’ll be all right, son. We’ll get the sons of bitches. I promise.

  When I spoke again, my voice cracked. “I promise, Crash.”

  But already I was shoving him in a locked box in my mind, far and far away. Never again. I don’t ever want to feel like this.

  Then I thought of the woman who got me in this mess. Could I let her go? I tried stuffing her in the same box, burying her like I was burying Crash, but I couldn’t do it.

  When I tried, a sorrow like I’d never felt threatened to suffocate me. I knew I’d die for her, just like I knew I wouldn’t rest until I avenged Crash.

  “Spike.”

  She appeared in front of me like an apparition, standing over the grave. Her hair glowed in the sun like a halo. She climbed down into the grave, unperturbed by the body. Julia was tough as hell and it was one of the many things I loved about her.

  “It’s okay, Cain left with some of the others. Spike, I—”

  She slipped her arms around my waist and my head tilted down, catching her lips in a kiss. Her back hit the dirt wall, but she tightened her arms around me. Everything I felt exploded in my chest and I just wanted her—even if it was crazy, even if we were standing in a goddamn grave.

  “Spike.” Her voice was breathless with alarm, but even when she was scared she was so damn beautiful. Her thumb wiped tears from my cheeks.

  “Everyone’s lost their place in the world. We need to get the hell out of here before we’re both dead.”

  “Just follow my lead. Trust me.”

  I squeezed her tiny shoulders
. What could she possibly have her sleeve? How could she be capable of stopping him? “Julia, this is nuts. Every minute we spend here, we’re giving him more time to prepare. We need to get out, now. We could contact the other chapters for help.”

  She shook her head, looking terrified but determined. “You’ve forgotten. I’m a hustler. This is what I do. Let me fool him. If we leave, he’ll find us.”

  I wanted to argue, but her fingers dug into my sides as she kissed me again. Goddamn. What was it about her that made my heart fly out of chest? It was if nothing happened, as if Cain hadn’t beaten the shit out of her. She stepped back and smiled, strength blazing from every pore on her skin.

  Maybe she was stronger than me.

  * * *

  Over the week, the rest of the club fell into line as Cain assumed control. There was no more democratic voting; Cain was the dictator. He was undermining every rule of MC. No one was happy. You could tell from the tight, drawn faces on the members.

  No one would stand up against him. Not after what happened.

  This has always been his plan. From the beginning.

  I cleaned the bloodstained floors with a mop, relegated to menial labor after Cain ripped my VP patch. Members who were jealous of my promotion sneered at me. I didn’t fucking care.

  It was all for her.

  Julia kept her head down as Cain went about his business in the clubhouse, occasionally offering me a smile or a look to let me know that she was okay, but no one was okay. I was just biding my time.

  Max, Tank, and a few others were my only real allies. Every time I thought about how hopeless our situation was, I wanted to laugh. I walked by Crash’s grave every time I left the club and I thought that I could almost see his rage bubbling to the surface.

  You can’t just let him do this to me, Spike! C’mon!

  I’m trying! I thought desperately.

  Cain traveled everywhere with a pair of bodyguards and there was no telling what the rest of the club would do if I tried to get rid of him. Would they back me up or was their fear of Cain so strong that they would do anything he said?

  My stomach felt like lead when he called us in the office to discuss Thursday’s raid. To my surprise, an uncomfortable-looking Julia stood nearby in the corner, returning looks of confusion that everyone gave her. Old ladies were not allowed in the office.