All For You (Snakes Henchmen MC Book 2)

by Alivia Grayson

  “I ain't here to take you down just yet, brother.”

  “Why not just end this, Hammer? Why drag it all out?”

  “You wanna die that badly, brother?” He chuckles while I grab the wooden chair from beside the door. I plant it close to his knees backward. I straddle it, resting my arms across the back of it.

  “It ain't a matter of wantin' to die, brother, it's a matter of having no choice.”

  “There's always a choice, Ghost.”

  “The only choice I have is whether I die by Vidal's hands or the hands of my club. There ain't no choice to be made, Hammer The only regret I have in this life is leavin' Avery.”

  “Why didn't you just take her and leave?”

  Ghost scrubs his hands over his tired face and sighs. I ain't never seen this man look so beat down. Where's the strong, cocky, never would give up in any situation, crazy motherfucker I once knew?

  The man I see before me right now has given up. I never thought I'd see the day.

  He looks up at me, eyes tired, “You think that thought didn't cross my mind? It did, for a moment. Where would we have gone?” Anywhere. He could've gone anywhere. “Vidal would never have stopped hunting us. Avery is, “Family property,” for cryin' out loud.” He rolls his eyes.

  “Besides, I couldn't leave the Snakes, you guys are my family. I thought I could have Avery and keep my family. I guess, deep down, I knew I was kiddin' myself. But I couldn't give her up, Hammer. I fuckin' tried. Believe me, I did.”

  “I know, man.” I reach over and clasp his shoulder. Ain't nothin' worse than waiting to die, I don't imagine. All the fuckin' time you have to think about the woman you love and the fact you have to leave her alone. Only a real man will walk away from the woman he loves and the life they thought would be theirs. This man did exactly that.

  “You will make it quick, won't you? Don't think I want my last living moment to be filled with your kind of torture.” He's laughin', I'm not. I simply nod to let him know it'll be quick if it comes to that.

  “Will you do somethin' for me, Hammer?” I nod. “Will you keep an eye on her for me? I know it's a lot to ask, and you don't have to do anything, just make sure nothin' happens to her. Please?”

  I can do that for him at least.

  “Don't give up just yet, brother.”

  This place looks like any other restaurant. Top notch and probably costs a fortune to eat here. Stuck up motherfucker. I wonder how much Vidal pays and what he does to have the entire police force on his side. Hell, this prick owns the whole damn state!

  Yeah, MC's rule the towns and cities around, but if this cunt wanted us all gone, we would be. Draven Vidal has more power than any of us first anticipated.

  I've parked my bike across from the restaurant like I did yesterday. Bikers like me don't get to walk into Draven Vidal's restaurant without risking a bullet through the brain. I ain't that stupid. But I need to speak with Vidal today, I don't have time to fuck around. That's why I'm here.

  Shepard knows what I'm up to, hence why he's kept me so damn busy. Oh, the motherfuckers threatening our club are still out there somewhere, although we're beginning to wonder. They're too quiet. They ain't made a move all week. Some of the brothers are wondering if Vidal ain't already begun sorting this shit as a gesture of goodwill.

  Good fuckin' will? It would make more sense if Vidal was behind all this shit in the first place. It all started around the time he found out about Ghost and Avery. And there's no way I'd put it past him. When I look at it like that, I know there's no way he'll let Ghost live, no matter what I do. He wants blood and he'll make sure he gets it. The fact of the matter is, it's either Ghost or us.

  The worst of it is the fact Shepard has informed me that Vidal wants to be there when Ghost is put down. By me.

  Cunt!

  “You shouldn't be here.”

  “Nor should you.”

  It doesn't surprise me that she's walking toward me, I should have seen her coming. Though it was pretty fuckin' stupid of me to be parked across from the Mafia Don's restaurant and space out, I could've been killed and I wouldn't've even seen it coming! Even little women such as this one carry guns.

  “My cousin won't be happy that you're outside his restaurant again.”

  “Couldn't give a fuck what he thinks. I'll leave when he grows the balls to talk to me.”

  “Ghost always said you were a tough one.” Her pretty smile fades as quickly as it came. Eyes filling with tears. I know better than anyone what it's like trying to save the one you love only to have them taken from you. It's hell on earth. But I had hope inside of me back then that I'd find Cindy. Avery has no hope of saving Ghost, she's literally waiting around to hear her man is dead.

  I also know what it's like to wish for one more moment with Cindy. Just so I could tell her all the things I should've told her back then. This woman in front of me has all that pain to come.

  I won't stop fighting to save Ghost, even though I know deep down there is no saving him. If we want to keep our women and kids safe, if we want them home and living normal lives. We need Vidal to come through with his end of the deal. But for that to happen the Snakes need to come through too.

  That doesn't mean I can't give the man something he longs for before the dreaded hour arrives.

  “I know I have no right to ask, and you could easily tell me no. But,” She swallows hard and folds her arms around her waist.

  She's a pretty girl, shoulder-length brown hair, big brown eyes, big breasts, curvy hips. Just Ghost's type, but not the kind of girl he usually ends up with. She's dressed classy in a deep blue colored dress that makes her look as though she was off to dinner in a big fancy restaurant. On a date, maybe. But I'm guessing she dresses like this a lot on the orders of her cousin. Just like his sister. Appearances are everything.

  “Could you tell Ghost that I love him?”

  Her eyes narrow when I hand her my helmet, she takes it nonetheless. “Put it on, and get on the back of my bike and hold on tight.”

  “What...”

  “Just do it before someone notices.”

  She does, too trustingly for a mafia princess. I'm a fuckin' biker who has issues with her cousin, I could be leading her to her death because of Ghost and the situation he's in. But Averyl isn't to blame, Ghost chose to ignore Vidal, he chose to claim this girl, he's as much to blame as she is.

  Ten minutes later we're at the clubhouse. I climb off my bike and she follows, taking off the helmet and placing it on the seat. “Why have you brought me here?”

  “I think you know the answer to that, Avery.”

  She nods. “I was scared to hope.”

  “Don't be scared, just follow me.”

  That's a lot for me to ask of her right now, don't be scared. She has a lot to be scared of. She's not thinking clearly, all she wants is to see Ghost. Does anyone think of anything but seeing the one they love when this could possibly be the last time?

  The looks I get from those in the clubhouse... Idiots. Luckily for me, Shepard isn't around. I don't know where he is and I don't much care. He'd kill me for this, no doubt about it. But he's probably with his wife and kids while the rest of us ain't seen our families all week. Tank ain't seen Nova and Ember in four days, he ain't coping.

  Shepard should know most of these guys don't work well when they go too long without seeing their families, getting their dicks wet, etc. I suppose the frustration they feel is keeping them angry enough to kill at will. But it feels like we're in fuckin' limbo!

  “I'm gonna give you ten minutes alone,” I tell Avery as we stand outside Ghost's rooms. She nods her head erratically, eyes wide. “Say what you need to say. Say goodbye, but make sure he knows that you'll be okay when he's gone. Trust me, he needs that.”

  She lowers her eyes for a moment. She's not going to be okay when he's gone, but she has to tell him that she will be. The last thing a man wants to hear before he goes off to meet his maker is that the woman he loves will be anythi
ng but okay without him.

  She grabs my arm as I move to walk away, stopping me in my tracks. “Thank you, Hammer. I won't forget your kindness.” I simply nod and walk away from her.

  I may well have signed my own death warrant by bringing her here, but so be it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Avery

  The door closes quietly behind me. The man I love doesn't turn around to see who's entered his room, he simply stands gazing out of the tiny window at the huge tree outside.

  I wasn't expecting the room to look this nice. It's a real bedroom, with a large TV in the corner on a dresser, desk beneath the window with a chair pushed under it. Letters litter the top of it. My man has been writing them, I can tell. I bet there's one for me, and my heart breaks even more just thinking about it.

  He's dressed as he always is. Jeans, wife beater under his cut. His close shaved head is turned away from me so I can't see if he's still bruised from the beating my cousin gave him, the beating he took like a man to show respect to my cousin. Not once did he retaliate and hit back, he just took it all and it broke me to witness it.

  Draven forced two of his men to hold me there so I could see it all, what happens when I sleep with men like Ghost. It didn't matter to Draven how much I loved Ghost, he simply told me that would fade.

  It will never fade. This isn't some kind of puppy love. That man beside the window, the tall bear of a man is my soulmate, and we will be together in life or death.

  “Danny?” I say his name softly, his head shoots to my direction. He looks both relieved and confused to see me.

  “Baby, what are you doing here?”

  “I needed to see you. Hammer brought me here so I could...” I can't say goodbye. I want to be brave. Oh, do I want to be brave right now. I want to show him that I'll be okay, but I never will be. “Danny,” I reach out my hand to him, he takes quick strides toward me, grabs my hand and pulls me into his big arms.

  Is this really going to be the last time I feel his arms around me?

  “You shouldn't be here, baby girl.”

  “I know, but I had to see you.” I tighten my grip on him as he presses a kiss to my head so hard, yet so tender that I feel it in my soul. I look up at him and he crushes his lips against mine. I kiss him back with so much passion. I need him to feel it, to know that I love him and I will never let him go.

  We met just three months ago in a bar in town. I shouldn't have been in Bardsville, I only live ten minutes away in Mooreston. My cousin wouldn't have liked it. Bardsville is a biker town. But I was out with some girlfriends and we intended to have fun.

  Ghost walked up to me at that bar. He was so handsome and dangerous looking. His short dark hair, big brown eyes, that smile that melted my panties, those muscles, and... I knew he had a steel horse right outside which made my heart beat fast. I wanted him the second I saw him.

  The girl's warned me all about the elusive Ghost, the man who was called so for his ability to get in and out of places without being seen or heard. I didn't understand how he would be able to do that with the size of him, but I didn't question it.

  They told me he was a slut and sleeps with anyone. He's probably killed people, my friends warned. That should've put me off, but it didn't. There was something about him that drew me to him, all part of his charm no doubt.

  We talked for hours, he made me laugh, made me feel more beautiful than anyone ever had. Some would say it was just a line to have me falling in bed with him, maybe it was, and maybe I shouldn't have fallen into bed with him that first night, but he was everything I never knew I needed.

  He didn't leave me alone after that night, told me I was his choice of drug and he needed me like he needed air to breathe. I figured he didn't know who I really was. Who my family was, and I hadn't said anything to him. I'd tried to keep our relationship secret from my cousin and his men. Sneaking around to meet with Ghost whenever I could. So I told him the truth, scared he'd walk away from me. Especially because he was a biker and my mafia Don cousin detests bikers.

  But Ghost didn't walk away. Instead, he held me and told me that if I was any other girl, he'd walk away and never look back. But then no other girl had ever stolen his heart the way I had.

  We knew then that we were in love, that we needed to keep our relationship on the down low. Just until we'd found a way to tell Draven and Shepard without either of them killing Ghost. Because we both knew it would have been seen as a betrayal.

  It's like the story of Romeo and Juliet. Torn apart by two sides who don't really need to be fighting about anything. Sneaking around to see each other because we couldn't bear to be apart. Knowing deep in our hearts that we'd never truly be allowed to be together.

  But, of course, they did find out and all hell broke loose. God, I have begged, pleaded, prayed, and even gotten on my goddamned hands and knees in front of my cousin and poured my heart.

  Draven isn't all bad, he loves me like a sister. He took care of me when my father died and my mother took off. I know he sees it as his duty to keep me from people like Ghost, but he can't control my heart. He can't control my love for this man.

  I thought he'd make an exception, let me be with the man I love. But his refusal means Ghost is going to die tomorrow and I will be forced to watch. I might not be physically dead, but everything else inside of me will die with him.

  He finally breaks the kiss I'd just gotten lost in and pulls my head against his chest. I breathe him in with my eyes closed. Before I can stop myself, I tell him, “I won't survive this.” Me and my big mouth!

  He grabs my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. His eyes are like fire, there's a storm brewing within them. He would never show me his fears, but then I'm not really sure he has any. My fighter till the end.

  “You listen to me, Avery Vidal. You will survive this, baby. You will move on and meet some guy who will give you the world.” I shake my head. I can't hear this! “Yes!” He yells, making me whimper. I don't want his last memories of us to be this. “Yes,” He repeats more calmly, softly. “I don't want you to waste your life mourning me, Avery.”

  “But I love you so much, my heart is breaking.” I sob while trying to stop myself.

  “I know, mine too.” We hold onto each other tightly, never wanting to let go, but both knowing we have to. “I love you, butterfly. Never ever forget that I love you. You were the only thing that ever meant anythin' to me other than this club. You brought me to life, baby. And knowing you loved me is what will get me through this. I will die knowin' that I was loved.”

  My heart is shattering with each word. Ghost never had a family, he was an orphan, pushed from foster home to foster home all his life. Until he found the club and they took him in. They are his family and they are going to mourn him just as much as I will. But where their grief will ease, mine never will.

  How do you let go of the only love you'll ever have?

  I know I have to, but I just don't know how.

  “I will always love you, Danny. Remember that I will never stop loving you.”

  I pull him closer, holding on for dear life. But I jump, startled as the door flies open, banging hard against the wall beside it.

  “How dare you defy me?!” My cousin is seething.

  He forbade me from coming here. Pretty much made sure I couldn't go anywhere without someone following me. I'm surprised it took him this long to catch up with me. And I realize I've probably got the guy I gave the slip killed. Draven doesn't put up with mistakes. Letting me get away was a huge mistake. That guy will pay dearly for it.

  Draven makes a grab for me, but I manage to grab Ghost's face and steal one last kiss from his perfect lips before I'm being forcefully dragged away from him. “I love you, Danny!”

  “I love you, too, baby! Don't ever forget that!”

  “I won't, I promise!” I yell back as I struggle against Tony as he drags me out of the clubhouse kicking and screaming. Every step is a step further away from the man I love. One step
closer to joining him in death.

  But I have one last trick up my sleeve. One last attempt to save my man's life. It has to work, it just has to!

  I don't know how long I'm sitting in the back of the car before Draven climbs in beside me, anger dripping off of him, and the way he slams the makes me jump.

  He doesn't speak as Tony drives us toward Draven's house. My mind is racing. What if he killed Ghost in revenge for me coming to the clubhouse when I swore to him that I wouldn't?

  Oh god! I'm really never going to see him again.

  When my aunt died, Draven's mother, I was heartbroken, she was like a mother to me. But I still had my father there to show me everything would be okay.

  My own mother never gave a damn about anything but how she looked and being the queen of the world. I certainly didn't mean anything to her. That's why my aunt meant so much to me, no question asked, she was always there.

  When my Papa died three years ago, I thought the pain would never end. His sister, my aunt Loua, wanted me to move to Italy to live with her. But Draven didn't want that, he'd made a promise to my father, and he kept that promise. He took me in, gave me a home the same way he did Maria when their mother died and their father was cast out of the family.

  Maria is a year younger than I am, but we've always been close. I pity her when she finally falls for a guy. If he doesn't meet Draven's approval, then he will be killed. Simple as that.

  You think what he's doing to me is bad? He'll be ten times worse when it comes to his precious baby sister.

  I know about all the stupid rules that come with this life, I was born into it. I just never realized until it happened to me how hard it is to love someone you're not supposed to love.

  “I warned you, Avery. Why you have to be so defiant is beyond me. After everything I've done for you!”

  I sigh as he continues to yell about how selfish I am, how he'll make sure I'll never get away from him again. I had no idea I was a prisoner, I'm a grown woman who fell for the wrong man, and in doing so it has cost him his life. I don't know if I can live with that. In fact, I know I can't.