by Smith, T. O.
His eyes filled with tears and my chest tightened with an indescribable pain. "Amelia-" He didn't have to say anything more, though. I could already see what he was trying to tell me.
Ryan and Lorenzo were carrying my dad's lifeless body into the clubhouse. I ran over and reached them as they placed him on a table. I grabbed his hand and sat down heavily in a chair, my sobs wracking my chest. "Daddy, no." I sobbed. "You can't leave me. You can't fucking leave me." I sobbed.
My mom stood beside me, tears flowing down her face. I laid my head down on his bloody stomach, sobbing, not caring I was getting blood all over my face and hair. "Daddy, please come back." I cried. "I need you."
This shit couldn’t be fucking real. My dad was strong. He had gone on numerous runs and he never got injured. This couldn’t fucking be possible.
Katie came over and pulled my mom into her arms. I saw Cole wrestling the ATL president out of the van. I got up and stormed outside, my emotions morphing into anger. I was fucking livid, and I was ready to spill blood.
The president smirked at me as I reached him. "You fucking killed him, didn't you? Raping me and beating me just wasn't enough, was it?!" I screamed at him, my hands shaking with the anger and hurt I was feeling.
I jumped on him, knocking him and Cole to the ground. I began slamming my fists into the president’s face. I wanted to hurt him, to make him feel at least a little bit of the pain that I had been forced to feel.
Cole yanked me up and held me in his arms. I struggled against him, kicking and screaming. At one point, I even bit him. Lorenzo came over and Cole shoved me against him. "Get her the fuck out of here!" Cole hollered, shaking his hand that was bleeding pretty badly from where I bit him. "Lock her in a fucking bedroom for all the fuck I give right now. Get her out of my fucking sight."
I sent a kick flying into Cole's nuts before either of them saw it coming. Cole groaned, falling to his knees and clutching himself, his face painted into a look of pure pain. I swung back and did the same to Lorenzo. I snatched Cole's gun from his cut before he could stop me and shot the president and his brothers as they were pulled out of the van. Once the gun was empty, I threw it on the ground and stormed inside of the clubhouse.
"Honey-," my mom began as soon as I stepped inside.
I held my hand up to my mom's face, effectively shutting her up. "I don't want to fucking hear about how it's okay to be sad.” I snapped at her. “I don't want to hear that what I just did will fill me with guilt." I glared at her. "Dad wouldn't be fucking dead if I had just rode off and never came back like I should have. He would still be alive and making everyone here fucking happy if I had never started this goddamn shit storm in the first place."
I stormed away from her to my room, slamming my door shut and locking it. I changed my clothes into my ripped jeans, black tank top, boots, and my leather jacket with my cut. I threw my hair up into a bun and grabbed my gun and knife, making sure I had extra bullets.
I wouldn't be a victim anymore. I wouldn't let anyone else I cared about get harmed. If that I meant I had to ride out, I would. If that meant I had to kill every fucking bastard that crossed my path wrong, I would.
I was beyond the point of caring anymore. The one man that had stood next to me, supported me through everything, protected me to the best of his ability was now fucking dead, and it was all my goddamn fault.
I stormed out of my room and into the bar room. My mom was standing beside my dad's body, crying. Cole looked up at my entrance from where he was bandaging his dad's wound. He eyed my cut. "Been a while since you've worn that, isn't it?" He asked quietly, his eyes wary as he looked at me.
I ignored him, shutting off most of my emotions. I didn’t want to feel sad or helpless anymore. I just wanted to feel fucking angry. I looked over at my mom. "I'm riding out. I have my phone on me. Call me and let me when know when dad's viewing is."
I walked out of the club house and Cole grabbed my arm when I got halfway across the lot to my bike. He spun me around. "Where in the hell do you think you're going?" He demanded, his jaw clenched as fury lit up his eyes.
I glared at him. "That's none of your fucking business." I eyed his hand with distaste. "Unless you want your arm to be useless like your dad's, I'd advise you to let me the fuck go."
"I'm not letting you ride out of here like this." He ground out. "You're fucking emotionally unstable, Amelia. Feeling like this will only get you fucking killed."
Fury lit my features. "Hard to let my feelings get me killed when I don't fucking feel anything." I spat at him.
I quickly yanked his hand off of my arm, bending his wrist backwards. He quickly yanked his hand from my grasp. I spun on my heel and stormed over to my bike. I straddled it and took off.
The last thing I saw as I rode out was Cole standing with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, watching me ride out with cold, hard eyes.
~*~*~
I sat in the bar I had stopped at an hour out of town. It was a pretty shitty place, but I didn't plan on going any farther than this when my dad's viewing would be in a few days. There wasn’t any point in going somewhere far.
I sipped at my beer. A tall, nasty looking guy sat down next to me with his beer. He had a long beard and long hair that was pulled back into a pony tail. He looked oddly familiar.
He looked over at me and he clenched his jaw. "I fucking know you. You're that bitch that slammed my head onto the fucking bar." He growled.
"Small world." I said, not giving a damn. He could put his hands on me if he wanted, but if he did, I would gladly cut off every single one of his fingers in front of everyone here.
"Where's your boyfriend you were with, girly?" He asked me.
"I don't know what you’re talking about. Cole isn't my boyfriend." To answer his question, I said, "As far as I know, Cole is still at the club house treating wounds. What's it to you?" I snapped.
"You're with the DM?" He asked.
I snorted. Was this mother fucker really that stupid? "Can you not read?" I asked. "My cut clearly says Black Skulls."
His mouth dropped open, shock lighting up his features. "You're Amelia fucking Johnson, aren't you? Heard you stabbed Travis Louis. I bet he fucking hates you right now.”
I set my beer down slowly. I eyed him out of the corner of my eye carefully. I saw a flash of a gun on his hip out of the corner of my eye as he moved. I quickly stood up, pulling my gun out and putting it against his head. "Let's go outside, shall we?" I asked him.
Somehow, he knew too much, and I was going to shut him the fuck up.
He walked outside carefully with my gun pressed against the back of his head. Nobody said anything. I looked at them. "Call the cops or run your mouths and I'll kill you all and blow this place to fucking smithereens." I told them anyway.
We walked outside. "Alright, Amelia, where are you taking me?" The man asked.
"Take me to your vehicle." I told him.
He sighed and walked over to a big black SUV. I slammed him against the SUV and unarmed him completely. "Get in." I said.
He got in slowly. I looked at his dashboard and cursed.
Fuck, I knew he was too fucking calm for this fucking situation.
I yanked his badge off of the dashboard and glared at him. "What do you bastards want with us now?" I spat at him, anger roaring through my veins. The FBI were the last fucking thing these clubs needed.
He shot out of the SUV and slammed me against the vehicle, yanking my hands behind my back. "Amelia Johnson, you are under arrest."
I cursed.
~*~*~
Cole's POV
My phone went off and an unknown number popped up on the screen. "Hello?" I answered cautiously.
"Cole, don't hang up." I heard Amelia's voice say. I instantly sat up straighter. "I'm in jail. The fucking FBI are here. Hopefully, I can get out on bail come Monday."
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "For fuck's sake, Amelia, what did you do?" I asked her.
"Hurry up, Jo
hnson!" I heard a cop holler in the background.
"Holler at me one more time and I'll gladly add another fucking charge to the ones I already have." She growled at him. "Cole, just try your best to get me out of here before they get me for murder, too."
"I'll see what I can do." I ground out through clenched teeth. I knew something like this was going to fucking happen. She was fucking unstable, and she was causing more shit than we already fucking needed.
I heard Amelia holler at someone and the line hung up. "What's going on?" My dad asked as he sat beside me, drinking a beer.
"Amelia was arrested by the FBI, I think.” I muttered. “Her bail hearing isn't until Monday, so I can't do anything until then."
"She's gone for four hours and already sitting in jail." He sighed, shaking his head.
"Dad, this means the FBI are on our asses.” I told him. “Amelia's also not in the right state of mind at the moment, and God help us if she says something that she shouldn't."
He sighed again and ran a hand down his face. "We can't even grieve without something else popping up. The same fucking thing happened with Heather." He looked at me. "When is this shit going to end, Cole? How in the hell did we even end up here?"
I shrugged. "This is all I know, Dad, so I don't know.” I answered him. “The only thing that I know is that the clubs are falling apart and our women are getting hurt when they shouldn't be victims. Amelia was raped and beaten and then, Heather was killed. Mom ended up getting kidnapped. What woman is next, dad? This shit has never happened to the clubs before."
"I've got to get your mom to give up her position to you, Cole.” My dad said, sighing. “Amelia is going to have to take your spot. Between you, me, and Amelia, we should be able to pull ourselves out of this mess."
I didn't want to think badly of Amelia; I really didn't. However, she was mentally unstable at the moment, and she definitely wasn’t making the greatest decisions. "Do you really think Amelia is a good idea, Dad?"
He looked at me. "When Amelia is given a goal, she reaches it, Cole, no matter how long it takes. Of course, I think Amelia is a good choice."
~*~*~
Amelia's POV
I glared at the FBI agent sitting outside of my cell. He was an old bastard. He seemed so fucking old that I didn’t even understand how he was still part of the FBI force.
"They expect you to be able to stop me from doing something stupid?" I asked him, smirking. I was on a mission to get on every fucker’s nerves while I was here, and he was my first target.
"My age does not mean anything, Johnson. It'll do you good to remember that." He retorted.
I rolled my eyes. "Do you have a beer?" I asked, knowing damn well he didn’t.
He narrowed his eyes at me. "How stupid can you be, girl?"
I clenched my teeth. He'd be the first fucker I would kill when I got out of here. No mother fucker called me fucking stupid and got away with it.
"How many days do you have until you fall dead?" I snapped back at him.
"Is there a double meaning there, girly?" He asked, cocking his white-haired eyebrow at me.
I snorted. "Not at all." I said with a ton of sarcasm lacing my words.
He glared at me. "Keep up with the remarks and I'll see to it that you don't make bail." He snapped at me.
I glared at him. Jail was bad enough. I wouldn't allow this bastard to put me in prison. I've had enough bad experiences with closed in spaces and walls that seemed to hold a thousand secrets, including my own. It was a miracle I wasn't going stir crazy sitting in this cell. If they put another person in here, though, things would instantly go downhill.
~*~*~
Come Monday, Travis and Cole paid the money for me to be bailed out. When I stepped out of the court doors, half of the club was waiting for me. I smirked. "Lovely to see you, boys!" I exclaimed with sarcasm.
Cole smirked back at me anyway. I didn’t realize I would ever find myself saying it, but I actually missed Cole’s smirk. "We're going to need that cut, babe. You're the new VP of the Bloody Black Skulls."
I gaped at him, stopping in my steps. "I'm the VP of what?" I asked incredulously.
Travis chuckled at my expression. "Amelia, welcome to the Bloody Black Skulls. We'll explain it to you once we get to the club house. Just please, get on the back of Cole's bike."
I sighed. Shit was getting real. Like really fucking real.
I slid onto the back of Cole's bike, wrapping my arms around him. I rubbed his abs and leaned up to purr in his ear. "Let's go, Prez."
He groaned in that sexy way that was purely Cole, and turned around to give me a quick kiss. "Whisper that in my ear when we're alone, babe."
I smirked and leaned my head on the back of his cut. He pulled off at the head of the group.
Twelve
Cole was currently sitting at the head of the table with the gavel on his right, and I was currently sitting on his left. Travis was at the other end of the table. Although, Travis was no longer the president nor really a member of the club anymore, Cole demanded his presence at every meeting. I guess I could understand why; Travis had made these clubs great during his reign.
I was still a little lost on all of the decisions that had been made while I was locked away. To say I was a bit pissed off was kind of an understatement. When we had gotten to the club house, Cole had demanded that every member be sitting at the table, and he hadn’t told me anything. I looked pretty fucking dumb at the moment – I was the VP and I didn’t know shit.
"We need to settle some things." Cole began. "The FBI are on our asses. Two of our people have been taken in by the FBI - Amelia and Lorenzo. Amelia, did they question you?" Cole asked, turning his head towards me.
I clenched my fists on top of the table. I had been asking questions since I got on the back of Cole's bike and I had yet to get answers. He wanted to ignore me and do as he pleased? Shit didn't work like that, especially not with me as his fucking VP.
"If you don't give me the fucking answers I want, I'm going to shove this fucking gavel and your new president cut so far up your ass-." I snapped, narrowing my eyes at him.
Cole cut me off, sighing in aggravation. "For fuck's sake, Amelia, you have no patience at all." He ran a hand down his face. "My mom and dad stepped down from their spots as president. I was given the president patch, effectively joining the two clubs together. You were automatically given your place as VP because Luke was the only VP that had a kid that could take that place. We all voted on the name Bloody Black Skulls. You couldn't vote because you had gotten yourself locked up by the FBI."
I smirked at him, feeling better now that I wasn’t so fucking lost on all of the decisions that had been made. "Thank you.” I retorted. “To answer your earlier question – yes, I was questioned." Under my breath, I added, "Pretty fucking ruthlessly, in fact."
"What was that?" Cole asked. His eyes narrowed as they scanned my face. "What in the hell did they do to you?" He snapped, his tone dangerous.
"Amelia, we need your help. We're willing to strike a deal with you if you decide to help us."
I glared at the agent in front of me. He was tall and had a lanky build. His hair was almost jet black, and he had dark eyes to go along with it. I was pretty sure that his suit was Armani.
"Why would I need a deal? I don't have anything to hide." I told him, leaning back in my chair and clenching my fists in my lap.
"That’s what your mouth says, Amelia, but your body language says another. Would you like to visit some of your old friends from jail?" He asked, a nasty, sadistic smirk twisting his lips.
I spit in his face as he leaned across the table a little bit. He sat back, wiping his face with disgust taking over his features. "You can fucking burn in hell." I snapped at him, anger roaring through my veins. Who in the fuck did he think he was threatening my fucking past against me?
He stood up and looked at the camera as he closed his briefcase. "Bring her in." He snapped, walking towards the door.
/> He walked out and a bitch I never wanted to fucking see again entered the room. I jumped out of my chair like lightning, putting the piece of furniture between us. "Come near me and I swear I'll kill you." I growled, my stomach twisting with an uncomfortable feeling.
This bitch was ruthless. She didn’t feel any fucking emotions. She had made my time in jail horrible, and she had ruined any alliances my dad had managed to get lined up for me. She had almost killed me numerous times.
She ignored me, a smirk twisting her features as she walked closer to me with her hands cuffed in front of her. "We have some unfinished business, don't we, Amelia?" I knew it was a rhetorical question, so I didn't answer her. I just watched her with wary eyes as she tried moving closer to me. "I want to see you and your clubs all fall, Amelia. You will give these agents something to use, or I will make your death so painful-." She cut herself off as she quickly jumped over the chair I had put between us. We crashed to the floor, and she wrapped her arms around my throat. She pulled us up with the chain of her handcuffs pressing against my throat, cutting off my airflow. I clawed at the chain, desperate for air. "If you want your death to be quick and painless," she murmured in my ear as I gasped for breath, my hands trying to clutch onto the chain of her cuffs, "you'll do what needs to be done."
I blacked out.
I resisted the urge to rub my neck as Cole waited for an answer. "Nothing." I muttered. I knew he had clearly heard me, but he chose to ignore it. He resumed getting the answers he needed.
"What did they question you about?" He asked me.
"The ATL shootings, the deals with the DM, my dad's death." I rolled my eyes as the last one came to mind. "And apparently, I'm mentally unstable."
Travis snickered and I shot a glare over at him. "What?" He asked me, shrugging his shoulders. "Amelia, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think your mentally unstable, even if you did stab me. You've just been through some really tough shit, and you don't want to be a victim. You'll do anything to prove you’re not one. If that means being a ruthless, cold-blooded killer, then that's what you'll be to prove your point.” He gave me a small smile that was rarely seen on Travis. “Trust me, if I thought you were mentally unstable, I wouldn't have allowed you to be VP and I would have forced Cole to choose someone different."