Indulgence

by Liz Crowe

  She didn’t give me time to say anything else before turning and walking away from me. My mouth opened to call out to her again but I quickly snapped it shut. I’d catch up with her later. I had no intention of letting her walk away from me permanently again, and perhaps I needed to take this slowly. Fuck, I wasn’t known for slow, but for Evie I would do anything.

  And she was wrong.

  We’d always be those kids who loved each other.

  Underneath all the shit that was me today, I still loved her.

  It was fucked up, though, that it had taken Jeremy’s death for me to admit that.

  *****

  Darkness blanketed the clubhouse when I arrived back there at midnight to meet up with King. It was one of the club member’s birthdays, so most of the boys were out celebrating with him.

  King stood leaning against his bike waiting for me, a grin stretched across his face. I pulled up next to him and waited for his instructions.

  “Did you and Hyde get that job done this afternoon?” he asked.

  “Yeah, the debt was settled. And it was clean.” We’d collected off one of our junkie customers who hadn’t paid in over a month. Surprisingly, no blood had been shed.

  He nodded. “Good. Now, you ready for some fun?” he asked, a dangerous tone to his voice. I knew what ‘fun’ meant to King.

  With a nod of my head, I said, “You lead the way.”

  No other words were exchanged and his bike roared to life.

  Our destination was fairly close, only about a fifteen-minute ride. When we pulled up outside the run down house with two bikes outside, my gut seized with a mixture of anticipation and concern. King was known for pulling some crazy shit in his time, but to fuck with fellow bikers was a little past crazy.

  “What’s going on, King?” I asked as I walked towards him.

  “One of these fuckers stole off my sister. Payback’s gonna be a bitch.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “And?”

  “And what?”

  “I’m sensing there’s some other shit going on here. Don’t fuck with me, brother, tell me the full story so I know what the fuck I’m walking into.”

  He lit a smoke and took a long drag. When his gaze hit mine, the grin from earlier was gone from his eyes and a hard look had replaced it. “You’ve got a sister, right?” He waited for my nod and once I gave it, he continued. “My sister is a lot younger than me, twenty-three, and one of these cunts was dating her and thought he’d share her around with his mates at a party when she was drunk. Lucky for her, a friend of mine was there and stepped in. The cunt fucked off and she didn’t hear from him again until three days later when he showed up at her house and beat her up and stole the money she’d been saving.”

  “Fuck,” I muttered, understanding his reason for being here now. I’d be here, too, if it was my sister.

  “Yeah, fuck. Skylar didn’t fucking tell me she was dating him because if she had, I would have put a fucking stop to it. The fucker is a Silver Hell member. I only found all this shit out when my friend called me to ask how she was.”

  Fuck.

  If what I figured was about to go down did actually go down, we were about to declare war with the Silver Hell MC.

  King finished his smoke and stubbed it out. Slapping me on the back, he asked, “You with me, brother?”

  I never hesitated when it came to my President. “Yeah, I’ve always got your back.”

  His eyes lit with that dangerous gleam again. “Let’s go party then.”

  He strode to the front door and banged it hard with the palm of his hand and yelled out, “Open up, motherfucker!”

  We waited for less than a minute before the door was yanked open. A pissed-off Silver Hell member glared at us, but only for a second, because King stepped inside the house and sucker punched him. The guy dropped to the ground, knocked out cold, and King stepped over his body to walk down the hallway.

  I entered the house and the stench of cigarette smoke, booze and sex hit me. Fuck, I hoped the women had left already. King was unpredictable, yes, but my guess was he wouldn’t leave any witnesses alive to tell the tale.

  The hallway led into a filthy kitchen full of dirty dishes and rubbish strewn across the counters. It was empty so we continued into the living room. Still empty in there, but a bloodcurdling scream from an adjoining room alerted us where to go next. King picked up the pace and kicked the door in without even attempting to open it. Jacked up on adrenaline and a desire for revenge, nothing would stop him now.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” King thundered as he came to a halt the minute he entered the room.

  I followed him in and stopped, too, sickened at the sight in front of us. A Silver Hell’s biker had a naked girl strapped to the bed, spreadeagled. He sat atop her but I could see her face, and she didn’t look to be any older than about sixteen. And it wasn’t consent written across her stricken face.

  “Fuck,” I muttered. I’d seen a lot of shit in my life, but this type took the fucking cake. The fact the guy was still fully clothed gave me hope that he hadn’t done too much to her yet. Regardless, this shit was fucked up.

  The guy shifted off the bed and came towards us, a menacing glare in his eyes. “What the fuck business is it of yours, and how the fuck did you get in here?” He was tall and built, and his body was tensed, ready for a fight. He’d obviously never met my president; I’d never known King to lose a fight.

  “The name Skylar ring a fucking bell, asshole?” King demanded.

  A look of recognition crossed the guy’s face but he said, “Never heard that name in my life. Now fuck off and leave me the hell alone.”

  King seethed with anger, the rage clinging to his words as he said, “Your first mistake, Marco, was fucking with my sister. Your second mistake was raping the girl on your bed, and your last fucking mistake will be lying to me.”

  He stepped towards Marco and punched him hard in the face. The sound of bone cracking vibrated around the room. The guy retaliated, aiming a punch at King’s cheek, but King blocked it, shoving the guy backwards and into the wall. As he sagged against it, and slid to the ground, King advanced and stood over him.

  “Wanna tell me the truth now?” he asked, his voice deathly calm and controlled.

  Marco glared up at him and then spat at his feet. “Your sister was a good fucking root, man. That cunt of hers was sweet and tight -”

  King cut him off with a punch to the jaw. His head swung to the side and hit the bedside table before King hauled him up by his shirt, swung him around and shoved him forcefully into the other wall. It was obvious from the look on King’s face that he had only one thing on his mind – death.

  As King continued to rain pain down onto the guy, I turned my attention to the girl on the bed. Terror flashed in her eyes and as I walked towards her, her whole body flinched as if she was trying desperately to escape me.

  I shook my head. “You’re safe with me, darlin’,” I murmured as I pulled my knife from its sheath. Cutting the ropes tied to her wrists and feet, I freed her. She scrambled into a huddled position with her knees up and arms around them, and stared at me in silence, obviously waiting to see what I would do to her.

  Fuck, I hated this shit. Hated the fear she felt because of a man who believed it was his right to take whatever he wanted from a woman.

  I sat on the bed beside her and pointed at King who was still beating the shit out of the rapist asshole. “That man’s sister was used by the guy who was raping you, and that’s why we’re here. He won’t stop until he kills the guy, at which point we’ll take you wherever you want to go. You’re safe with us. Okay?”

  Her eyes widened and then she nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered, her body visibly relaxing a little.

  “Good. Now where are your clothes?”

  She jerked her chin towards the corner of the room and I located them and brought them to her. “Get dressed, ‘cause I don’t think we’re gonna be here much longer,” I said as I to
ok in the bloodied mess King was creating.

  I left her to it and walked back to where King was. “You need a hand, boss?” I asked.

  He stopped mid-punch and looked up at me. His long dark hair stuck to his sweaty face, his eyes held the crazy that I knew he was made of, and his breaths were coming hard. “Does it look like I need a fucking hand, smartass?” he asked. He’d knocked Marco unconscious and, by the looks of it, Marco’s remaining breaths were limited.

  I grinned and shrugged. “Just making sure, old man. I mean, you’re nearing forty so I figure your body might start letting you down soon.”

  “Fuck off,” he muttered, and went back to what he was doing.

  I waited in silence. The only sounds in the room were of fists colliding with bones and the grunts King made as he took his revenge. I’d lost count of the number of times this scenario had played out over the last thirteen years. King liked to take back-up when he went on one of his missions, but he rarely needed it.

  The sound of whimpering caught my attention and I turned to the girl. She stood by the bed staring at King, tears streaming down her face. My natural instinct was to go to her and wrap her in my arms; however, I figured after being attacked by one stranger, she’d hardly want another stranger touching her. Instead, I said to King, “Can we hurry this the fuck up, ‘cause we’ve got a woman we need to get out of here.”

  King straightened, took a step away from the body lying at his feet, and turned to me. Blood covered his shirt, some of his face and his hands. He looked like he’d stepped out of a horror movie but it wasn’t anything I’d never seen before. His gaze flicked to the girl. “You wanna see me end his life so you know for sure he won’t ever hurt you again, or would you prefer to leave the room?”

  “Fuck, King, like she needs to see anymore shit,” I said, before she could answer him. King had some fucked-up ideas sometimes.

  He glared at me. “Let the girl decide. Maybe she’ll surprise the fuck out of you.”

  I returned his glare before turning to her. She stood staring at me in panic, shaking her head at the idea. It looked like she wasn’t even taking breaths.

  I nodded and started walking to her. It was clear she was about to lose her shit and I needed to get her out of here. When I reached her, I pulled her close to me and said, “It’s okay, I’ll get you out of here before - ”

  The shot rang out and her scream tore through me as her eyes looked past me to King.

  Fuck.

  Motherfucker.

  I gripped her harder and levelled an angry stare on King. “What the fuck?” I roared, “She didn’t want to fucking see that!”

  King’s eyes had morphed from wild crazy to deranged crazy. When he spoke, his words dripped with lunacy and the hardness that was signature King. “I don’t give a fuck what she thought she wanted. She needed to see that.”

  “No, she fuckin’ didn’t.”

  We faced off, glaring at each other. King was amped, his body taut and full of rage. I knew that look from past experience. He hadn’t rid himself of the need to exact revenge yet; he still had more in him and he’d have to find a way to work that out of his mind and body before the night was over.

  He dismissed me with a wave of his gun. “Get her out of my fucking sight.”

  She whimpered in my hold, her body wracked with sobs. Without another word to King, I began dragging her out of the room. I moved fast, and when we made it to where the other guy was lying passed out in the hallway, I stepped over his body and roughly pulled the girl outside with me. I knew what King would do with him and she didn’t need to see any more death.

  I had her on the back of my bike and was just about to leave when another gunshot sounded. A moment later, King stepped outside and stalked to us.

  “You take her, and I’ll call Bronze,” he ordered, still with that deranged glint in his eyes.

  The cops.

  Of course. Shit was gonna go down between Storm and Silver Hell over this if they ever worked out it was us responsible for the deaths of two members. King had Bronze on our payroll and it was a smart move to give him a heads-up over this.

  As I sped off in the direction the girl gave me, unease slid through me. The two clubs had existed for years on a mutual agreement to leave each other the fuck alone. The events of tonight had obliterated that agreement, and while Storm was capable of holding its own, I didn’t want to go to battle.

  A battle meant death and destruction.

  Two things I’d seen enough of to last me a lifetime.

  Chapter Three

  Evie

  I stepped out of the shower, wrapped myself in a towel and walked to the vanity. The woman staring back at me in the mirror seemed more like a stranger than me.

  When did I lose myself?

  I spread toothpaste onto my toothbrush and tried to avoid my thoughts. They came hard and fast, though, relentlessly chasing me. Trying to force me to face them.

  A year ago when you gave up on Kick.

  That’s when you lost yourself.

  Lost your way.

  I spat out the toothpaste and rinsed. Slamming the toothbrush down, I muttered, “Shit.” I reached for the towel and dried my face. Staring back at myself in the mirror, I traced my finger over the dark bags under my eyes. Leaning closer to the mirror, I stared hard at myself.

  Fuck, my grief and exhaustion plastered my face.

  Moving my face away from the mirror I reached for my skincare and slathered it on. I still couldn’t be bothered with makeup, but at least the skincare might help.

  Jeremy’s funeral yesterday had taken every last drop of energy from me. And then seeing Kick had sucked anything remaining.

  Kick.

  Why the hell had he come back? The last year with no contact had been hard. Harder than the years where we’d been apart but still in touch. At the time, I’d thought those years were hard – having him there but not having him as mine. I’d finally gotten my head together over it all only to have him come and screw with my mind and my heart again.

  Just when I’d decided not to care about anything anymore, he’d shown up, and I couldn’t get him out of my mind. Turns out I still did care about something. Or rather, someone.

  A loud knock on my front door distracted me from my thoughts. Shit, at eight o’clock in the damn morning. Really? They could go to hell, I wasn’t ready for visitors.

  The knocking turned into loud banging and then I was stunned to hear a female voice I knew well yell out, “Evie, are you home?”

  My sister. Who I hadn’t spoken to in years.

  “Yeah, give me a minute,” I yelled back and hurried into my bedroom to put some clothes on.

  When I opened the door to her a couple of minutes later, I was surprised to find a woman who hardly resembled my sister staring back at me. Julie had been a thin, well-kept blonde the last time I’d seen her, which was about five years ago. Today, she was overweight, brunette, and had aged more than the five years she actually had.

  “Hi,” I said, hesitantly. We hadn’t parted on the best of terms, and Julie was a bitch at the best of times, so I’d learnt to hedge my bets as to her mood over the years.

  She glared at me. “I know you’re judging me already so just quit it,” she snapped as she pushed past me to stalk down my hall.

  I shut the door and turned to follow her. “I see you still haven’t learnt to use your filters.”

  When we reached the kitchen she dumped her bag on the table and graced me with her glare again. “I just say it as I see it. And you can’t tell me you weren’t standing there staring at my fat, judging me.” She placed her hands on her hips and waited for my reply. Almost as if she was ready for a fight.

  “I wasn’t judging you, Julie, but I won’t deny I noticed it and wondered how you’d gone from where you were to this.”

  She moved her hands off her hips to hang by her sides, her body easing out of its tense state a little. Only a little, but that was a lot for Julie. “Thank fuck
someone can be honest with me.”

  My tiredness and grief mixed with the absurdity of this whole scenario and caused laughter to bubble up and escape my lips.

  She commenced glaring at me again and demanded, “What’s so funny?”

  I shook my head and threw my hands up in a defensive gesture. “Well, you come to see me, and rather than saying hello and starting a conversation like any normal sister would after all these years, you have a go at me and barge into my house. How screwed up are we? Seriously, it’s fucked up, Julie.”

  She thought about it for a moment and then nodded and gave me a slight smile. “Yeah, I guess it is. But hell, with our family, you can’t blame us, right?”

  She had a point. “Right.” I took a breath and asked, “So why are you here?”

  Her whole face softened. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen Julie’s face soften like that. “I heard about Jeremy.”

  My stomach rolled and my breath caught at the mention of his name. I reached out to hold the chair to steady myself.

  This is too hard.

  I worked to catch my breath again and the nausea passed, but I remained silent. What was there to say, anyway?

  “I’m sorry, Evie. I know how much he meant to you.”

  I met her gaze and found only concern there. She had no ulterior motive for being here which I would have suspected in the past. “Thank you,” I said softly and sat at the table.

  Julie sat as well and kept talking. “Have you seen Kick?”

  “Fuck,” I muttered, “do we have to talk about him?”

  She shrugged. “Any discussion of you and Jeremy is pointless unless Kick is involved. The three of you were almost joined at the damn hip.”

  “Jeremy and Kick had a falling-out five years ago, Julie. And Kick and I went our separate ways three years ago, so any inclusion of Kick in this discussion is pointless.”

  “Shit,” she murmured, connecting the dots in her head. “I’d heard you and Kick broke up but I just figured you would have stayed friends like you did the first time you broke up. And I never would have thought Kick and Jeremy would ever stop being friends. What happened?”