by Jenika Snow
“Angelina.”
She heard Fury’s enraged voice behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Fury fighting with one of Sal’s men. A few other bikers were beside him fighting, as well. She started to make her way over to him, ready and willing to shoot the asshole that was going after her man, but she was yanked back onto her ass.
“Fucking traitor,” her father said and spun her around. A punch to her face had her gasping and stars dancing in front of her vision. The gun got knocked out of her hand, and the taste of blood filled her mouth.
“Fuck you,” she wheezed out and pushed past the pain. Another round of gunshots came close to them, and she ducked her head once more.
He chuckled, but it was dark, sadistic. She was now on the receiving end of the monster her father truly was. Before this she’d been shut up, hidden away from it and rarely seeing the violence, but hearing about it plenty of times. Those few times she’d seen it face-to-face she knew her life could never be what she wanted if she stayed.
“I see a little of that Cardona spirit coming out in you. Too bad you are no longer my blood.”
Good. She’d never wanted to be it anyway.
“Come on. No fucking way I’m I leaving you here when I have so much planned for you.” He pulled her forward roughly. “You know what happens to those that betray a Cardona.”
She was hauled up on her feet, but she fought every step of the way. As she tried in vain to get away from her father, he slapped her again. She moved her head to the side when he went to hit her again, and his palm skimmed her cheek. They couldn’t move fast because of his injured leg, and even though she tried to get free, or at the very least take him down, the ground was uneven and the gun he had pressed to her head had her escape attempts stilling for the time being.
She tried looking behind her shoulder, but with the uneven ground and being yanked around, she couldn’t focus. But what she did finally see was Fury’s enraged face looking at her in between the lethal punches he threw at the guy he fought.
She would not be a victim anymore. Angelina just needed to stay strong and think of how to get out of this alive so she could be with Fury, and never have to worry about who was coming after her.
****
The air left Fury and a roar sounded from his throat as he charged forward and tackled the man he was fighting with. He tried to keep an eye on Angelina, because that was where he needed to be, where he wanted to be. He needed to protect her, but the assholes kept coming out and attacking.
A prick charged forward, and Fury slammed his fist into the fucker’s temple. The bastard got a blank look in his face before he fell backward. Fury finished him off in a swift move, the guy’s life ended within a matter of seconds.
“Go, get her. I got this,” Birdie said, and Fury gave one nod before following Sal.
Even with gunfire erupting from all around him, with the scent of blood filling the air, and the violence coming from everyone like a toxic fume, Fury was focused only on Angelina.
Sal was trying to get deeper in the woods, but his leg was fucked up and he hadn’t managed to get very far.
Where in the hell does he even think he’s going? Does he actually think he can escape?
He’d obviously thought there wouldn’t be a fight, or if there was his men could take down the MC. What sane, smart person would come after an MC with a fucked up leg, thinking he could actually come out on top?
What Sal didn’t know was the Bleeding Mayhem didn’t back down, and didn’t let anyone fuck with them.
Fury didn’t have a gun on him, but he’d managed to snag a knife as he tracked them.
“Back the hell off or I’ll blow her fucking head off.” Sal’s words had Fury stopping. They were still a good distance from each other, but Fury wasn’t going to let this prick get away, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let him hurt Angelina any more than he had. Already Fury felt like he’d let her down, and he needed to make it right, make her see he could protect her.
“You want me, then let her go.” Fury didn’t know if bargaining would work, because honestly he’d never done it before. He’d always just gone into a fight and not looked back, or worried about the repercussions. He crept closer, and Sal took a step back.
“You want her as yours?” Sal said and turned his head to spit. “She’s a traitorous bitch. You sure you want to have something like that strapped to your side?”
Fury stepped closer. “She ran because of you and the life she didn’t want. That’s not traitorous, and being with me isn’t a betrayal.”
Sal shook his head. “It doesn’t matter because she won’t be yours. I’ll make sure she’s in the ground while you watch.” He straightened even further and sneered. “I wanted to see your club fucking fall to my feet and bleed out. You better make sure I’m good and dead or I’m coming after you and taking out every single one of you fuckers nice and slow.” Sal pushed Angelina out of the way and pointed the gun at Fury. He started shooting, but Fury was running toward him, the bullets flying past him and hitting trunks of the trees surrounding them. Sal kept trying to fire even after the bullets were gone. They crashed into each other and fell to the ground.
For long moments they fought, with Sal, being an old fucker that he was and injured, holding his own pretty damn well. Of course, the rumors about Sal and Marco Cardona had been that they were brutal.
But the knife Fury held fell from his grasp when Sal got an undercut in Fury’s chin. He fell backward, his teeth cut into his inner cheek, and his head cracked back on a boulder. Clenching his jaw through the pain, he tried focusing on Angelina.
He saw Angelina scrambling forward. She grabbed the knife and swiped out. She managed to cut Sal in the upper arm, and kept fighting him, trying to cut the fucker.
That’s my good, strong girl.
But Sal reared his hand back and backhanded her hard enough she fell backward, the knife being knocked out of her hand. Blood came out of her mouth, and Fury gritted past the pain, trying to get rid of the haziness in his head. He pushed himself up, the pain enough he groaned deep in his throat. He charged forward again.
Sal picked up the knife, and just as Fury got to him Sal swiped out, slicing his shoulder. Fury hissed out and stumbled backward against a tree, bracing himself with one hand.
This fucker is stronger than he looks.
Sal turned and went over to Angelina at the same time Fury was moving toward him. But the ground was shifting out from under him, the knock to his head when he’d fallen previously starting to rise up and try to claim him.
Sal wrapped his hand around her throat and pushed her up against the tree. Even from the distance Fury could see the sweat beading on Sal’s forehead, and knew the man was in pain.
“You fucking bitch. You’ve disgraced our family, shit on Marco’s memory, and gone into bed with the very men that helped bring your brother down.”
Fury breathed through the pain, grabbed the knife that had fallen from Angelina’s grasp, and tightened his hold around it. Without thinking about it anymore he rushed Sal, placed the blade right at his carotid artery, and sliced him wide open. Blood sprayed outward, covering Angelina. Her eyes were wide, but Sal had let go of her to cover his throat, trying to stop the bleeding. Fury moved away, and Sal fell backward, gurgling. The arc of blood that came from his throat was in time with the beating of his heart.
Fury grabbed Angelina and pulled her in close, trying to shield her from the sight of her father dying, of the violence around them.
“No. Let me see. I need to watch this end.” She faced her father on the ground, and Sal stared at them as the life in his eyes dimmed. And then he was lifeless, the gunfire seeming to have stopped completely, and shouts from the MC surrounding them.
Fury turned Angelina away from where her father lay dead, cupped her cheeks, and looked into her eyes.
“Just focus on me, baby.”
She nodded. Blood covered her face, her eyes wide, and she was breathing hard an
d fast.
“Are you okay?” He was so fucking worried about her right now.
She blinked a few times, but then nodded again. “I’m fine. It’s over,” she whispered, and then she started crying.
He pulled her in and just held her, knowing the relief she felt was consuming. The tears she cried were of happiness, of freedom. He knew that as much as he knew that he fucking loved this woman so damn much. He wouldn’t let her go, would always protect her, and if he died trying, then he’d do it for her. She was his world now, his old lady, and no one would get between him and Angelina.
Chapter Nineteen
The carnage of the fight was all around them, the aftermath having blood on his hands and his heart still racing. Stone turned in a circle, the woods surrounding him, the cabin just up ahead. The rest of the MC were heading back to the cabin, and he could hear Stone talking on the phone to the men that would clean up the mess here. There were bodies all over the place, bullet holes in the trees, and pools of blood seeping into the dirt.
Shorty ran a hand over his hair, feeling sweat, grit, and blood covering part of the short strands.
“You okay, man?” Dealer asked, looking just as dirty as Stone did. But Dealer was wounded, having gotten grazed by a bullet. He’d been field patched up, and sported a rag that was starting to be saturated with blood.
“I’m good, man.” Shorty looked at one of the Cardona men just a foot from where he stood, face down and dead. He turned his head and spit out a mouthful of spit and blood. “I’m glad all these Cardona fuckers are lifeless. Makes the day better.”
Dealer snorted. “We’re getting ready to head out of here. Not sure how far the gunshots traveled, but it’s smart if we leave.”
Shorty nodded, his mind on one thing, one person.
“Cleaners can be here in an hour. They got a crew in the next town over, so we lucked out in that regard,” Stone said after disconnecting the call.
Shorty thought about the woman Nando had. That fucking asshole had run out of here when shit started to get really bad. Had he thought the MC could just lie down and take what Sal and his men brought? Well, the prick hadn’t known what was coming.
“Fuck,” Shorty said under his breath.
“Man, you okay?” Stone asked and moved up to stand beside him.
“Is no one concerned about Trixie’s daughter?” Shorty rolled his head around on his neck and breathed out. He was antsy as fuck, and all he kept thinking about was the wide eyed look Trixie’s daughter had given him right before Nando was able to slip out from under them.
From the moment he saw her just yesterday at the clubhouse, something in him came alert. He couldn’t describe the feeling, but he’d taken notice of her instantly, his heart beat faster, and this primal side of him rose up. He’d wanted her in that moment, her curvy body calling out to him, and his cock punching out in lust. But this situation was all kinds of fucked up.
“Of course we’re fucking concerned. It’s an innocent woman that got caught up in all of this.” Dealer was the one to speak. “But I heard Angelina got the fucker with a bullet to the shoulder. If he doesn’t bleed out we can at least hope he’s in some serious pain. That’s something.”
It wasn’t enough.
“We’ll find her, Shorty,” Stone said. “Dirty and the others are already working on connections to track down Nando. He can’t get far with us on his ass.”
They sure as hell better find her. And when he had his hands on Nando, Shorty was going to really fuck that asshole up.
****
Fury and Angelina gotten back to her apartment just an hour before, and although she was still shaking from what had happened, having Fury here, everything working out, and her father finally gone, had this calm settling over Angelina. She lifted her hand and rubbed her skin, the pain there physically and mentally. Her father, a man that she’d had felt no connection with, hadn’t seen her as anything but leverage for what he needed in order to gain something in his life. It was Marco that he’d loved, that was his legacy. She was just a pawn, and even if that should have hurt more than it did, Angelina had always known the truth deep down.
And her mother, God, hearing her father say her mother wanted nothing to do with her, that she was lost in her own world, in pills and alcohol, wasn’t a surprise either.
“Baby?”
Fury’s strained voice came from behind her, and she looked at him. He stood there, his clothes covered in dirt and blood, his face appearing weary.
“Let’s take a shower. Let’s wash all this fucking hell off of us.”
She couldn’t have thought of a better thing to do in that moment. Letting him lead her into the bathroom, she turned on the light and saw the tub was still filled from all those days ago. But she didn’t think about any of that. Meeting Fury might not have been on the most honest and true of terms, but since that time things had changed. He’d saved her life, made her feel alive, and this was where she wanted to be—with him.
After draining the tub and starting the shower, Angelina turned and faced Fury. They didn’t speak, and as he helped her undress, mindful her body was sore, she felt her love for him. Yeah, she loved him, and it just hit her right now like a ton of bricks.
Lifting her hands and cupping his stubble-covered cheeks, she smiled. “I love you.” Whispering, she held her breath, waiting to see what he’d say, if he’d say anything.
“I love you, too,” he responded, and leaned down to kiss her lightly on the lips. “I fucking love you, Angelina.”
She smiled against his mouth and wrapped her arms around him. Only when the room started to fill with steam did they pull away and step into the tub. The water from the shower moved down Angelina’s body, and she closed her eyes in pleasure and contentment.
Fury pushed her hair away from her shoulders and leaned down to kiss the side of her neck. Goosebumps formed along her skin, and she sighed and leaned against his body, using his strength the way she desperately needed it.
“Let me care for you, wash you.”
She felt herself nod.
His soapy hands felt incredible on her flesh, and she sighed. As the water washed the bubbly remnants away, he turned her around so her back was to his chest now. His skin was smooth and warm, slick and hard. He washed her hair with gentle, caressing movements, and although she felt his erection on the small of her back, she knew he didn’t want sex right now. This was about the two of them just being here together in this moment.
“I killed your father, Angelina,” he said, and she opened her eyes, staring at the tile across from her.
“Yes, you did, but he was never really my father, not in any of the ways that mattered.”
He didn’t respond, but just held her. “I love you,” he said again, and she turned around to face him. The sound of the water beating against the tiles didn’t drown out the emotion in his voice.
“I love you, too, Fury.”
He wrapped his arms tighter around her and kissed her forehead. “A part of me wants to be good, abide by the fucking rules, for you. But I don’t know how to be a good man. I don’t know how to be good enough for you.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want you to be anything you’re not. I love you for who you are, Fury.”
He just held her. “Stay with me, Angelina,” he said, his voice deep, his chest vibrating against her ear as he spoke. “It’s fucking insane, I know, and the circumstances don’t make this ideal, but I can’t not have you in my life.” He pulled back and looked down at her. She blinked back the water from the shower, wanting this from him, and also knowing how crazy this all was. “You don’t have to be afraid or worried anymore. You don’t have to look over your shoulder or think you can’t have a life.” He smoothed his thumb along her cheek. “I want to be good for you, good to you. I want to start from the beginning, do the whole dating scene.”
She smiled. “Dating scene? I can’t say I’ve ever really done it either.”
He chuckled softl
y. “Yeah, me either. But I want to take you out, show you off. I want to buy you flowers, feed you chocolates, and hold the damn door open for you because you deserve to be worshipped. I want to give everything to you because you deserve no less.”
Her smile faded as her heart beat faster at his words.
“I can’t promise you a white picket fence, or anything like that, but I can promise that you’ll always be safe, loved, and you’ll be the only one for me.” He continued to smooth his finger over her cheek. “I can promise you that I’ll always be true to you. You’re my old lady, baby.” He kissed her softly. “Tell me you want that, baby. Tell me you want to be mine, to be by my side.” His voice was so soft, and slightly hesitant, as if he were afraid she’d tell him to fuck off.
“I want that, too, Fury.”
“How the fuck did I get so lucky to have you in my life?”
She shook her head again. “I think we’re both lucky, Fury.” And they were, because how could it be wrong to be with someone that made her feel so right?
****
One week later
“We’re not doing enough,” Shorty said to Fury right before he was about to leave.
“Brother, we are doing all we can. We’ll find her.” Fury placed his hand on Shorty’s shoulder and nodded once. “We’ll find her,” Fury repeated.
Shorty just gave a chin tilt and turned to leave, and the silence that stretched on was deafening.
Angelina gathered the plates that were on the dining room table. They’d had over a few of the guys, but the quiet dinner that was supposed to be what tonight was about, had turned into Shorty bringing up Allie, the girl that Nando had taken. There hadn’t been any word on where Nando had gone, or even if he still had the girl. Was she even alive? Trixie, Allie’s mother, was distressed, which was to be expected, but there was nothing they could do aside from use all their resources to look for her. But with her father dead the Cardonas were up in arms. Angelina had tried contacting her mother, but when she’d gotten hung up on, and then the number changed, she knew her mother had closed the door on her. Maybe her pain and grief were just too much? Maybe Angelina leaving had destroyed what they could have had?