Reckless

by Elizabeth Knox

  My eyes roam over the address Chris listed at the end of his text. I don’t even have to look it up. The text isn’t telling me meet him just anywhere. He’s just sent me the address for the county morgue.

  Angel...what did you do?

  Chapter 2

  “...and though her soul is soft, her soul was laced with steel”

  - Lauren M. Garcia

  Chaos

  Maria slipped out of bed too early for me this morning. I’m no good to anyone until my usual gallon of coffee hits my system. I don’t like that sweet and sugary shit, the bitter the better in my opinion. I look over to the bedside table and grab my phone, seeing that it’s past twelve. Fuck. I should’ve been up hours ago. Quickly I scramble, taking a brisk shower and then changing into a pair of jeans that don’t stink and a black tank top. The temperature’s dipped below freezing, but Even though it’s freezing out, I don’t find that I’m too cold. I slide my cut over my tank as I step out into the cold. Minutes late, I walk into the club, scanning for one woman in particular.

  She may think that she’s the greatest at hiding things, but she isn’t. I don’t press her, though. Every one of us has our own demons and I firmly believe that in our own time we’ll talk about our shit. Maria’s told me a bit, and I get the gist of it all, but I don’t ask questions. She’ll tell me, if she wants to tell me, whenever the hell she’s ready. I was pushed way too much as a kid to talk about shit and a lot of good that did me. It only made me quieter, more reserved. Hell, maybe it even turned me into the notorious asshole I am today gives a damn.

  “Chaos,” Maria greets, with the faintest hint of wickedness in her tone.

  She is seated on the bar. Not at the bar, on it. I shake my head and chuckle, never quite understanding why she loves to sit on counters. Maybe it’s a chick thing, or maybe it’s just her nature. She’s stuffing a sandwich in her mouth as I walk over to her, and wrap my arms securely around her.

  “Taquita” I respond back, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth before grabbing a quick bite of her sandwich.

  “Hey! That was mine.” Her eyes narrow with feigned anger.

  “Sharing is caring, baby. I haven’t eaten all day. Don’t want me getting all faint and passing out, do ya?”

  Maria places her finger on her chin and taps like she’s thinking about it, “Well, if you pass out then you can’t be a pain in my ass, so maybe it’s better that we don’t feed you.”

  I give her a firm spank on the ass, causing her to jolt in my arms. “Dios Mio, why is it always so hot when you do that?” she hums into my ear. I take a glance around the room and see that no one is here. Even if they were it wouldn’t stop me from what I’m about to do.

  I unzip my jeans and free my cock, rubbing myself along Maria’s leggings. She spits into her hand and wraps her hand around me, gripping me tight. as fuck in that way she only knows how to do. I’ve had a lot of hand jobs in my life, but the way Maria handles my cock is unlike anyone before her. Bitch owns every inch of me, and damn well knows it. I hook my thumbs under her leggings and free her trapped pussy from its confines, lining her wet lips up with my cock I plunge myself inside her, reveling in the sound when she screams for me.

  If she thought I was gonna go slow today, it isn’t gonna happen. Pain is the soft and sensual bastard, not me. with every thrust and grind I make sure Maria knows who she belongs to and that this perfect body of hers is all mine. I simply share her with Pain, and that might be something I’m reconsidering as I watch her expression soften into a lust-induced haze. She bites her bottom lip as she wraps her hand around my neck and squeezes, both of us wheezing for different reasons.

  “Oh fuck!” She screams out, tilting her hips up higher, begging me for more. I slow my pace, teasing her spoiled little pussy, waiting for her to ask like a nice little girl. She rubs her thumb over my Adam’s apple, furrowing her brows together and I know just how close she is to coming undone before my eyes.

  “Beg me for it” I direct her, staring into those sinfully dark eyes.

  “I don’t beg a man for anything,” she snarls, shifting her hips. Now her eyes aren’t only filled with lust; I can see that she’s pissed off. All the better for me. She’s going to lose her damn mind when I finally let her cum.

  The front door to the club opens and I don’t take my eyes off of her, even though she’s looked to see who’s come in. I truly don’t give a damn cause it won’t stop what we’re doing.

  I move my right hand to her shoulder, forcing her body to come closer to me. Thrusting myself as hard as I can inside her, I pull myself out of her and do it again, and again until she’s right on the edge, whimpering like my girl should be. I taunt and I tease that pussy of hers until I feel like she’s had enough, and the second her snugness traps my cock I’m releasing at the exact same time she is.

  She’s trying to hold back those moans, but she won’t take that away from me. I know her too well, Maria is a creature of habit. Every time she cums she looks right at me, almost like she knows that I silently command it from her. I look at her, and I see every way her beautiful face twists at the pleasure she’s feeling. When I think she’s on the end of it, I place my lips over hers and pound my cock into her a few more times for good measure. She takes her hand from my neck and grabs ahold of my cut, pulling me closer to her. I bring her against me, tapping her legs so she wraps her legs around my torso. She buries her head against my chest and I finally look up to see whoever it is that walked into the club. Trick is smirking like a devil. I’m sure he’s glad to be back home.

  Ignoring Trick’s devilish grin, I rise up and take Maria back to the bedroom, slipping underneath the covers with her securely in my arms. I know I have shit to do, but fuck it all. The only place I need to be right now is nestled with her, holding her against me, showing her that she’s safe.

  A few hours pass while we lay like this, Maria’s arm snug across my torso, her body pressed up against me. “Why didn’t he think it was important to tell me what’s going on?” It’s barely a whisper, but I hear it clear as day.

  “You want honesty, or for me to just tell you something that might or might not make you feel better?”

  She slams me with a pillow. Honesty it is.

  “If any of us had said a thing to you...you would’ve reacted immediately. We all know you would have. I know you better than your anger, Taquita. Not only would you have been furious and maybe done something stupid but you sure as hell would’ve been terrified too. I just like seeing you happy and didn’t wanna take that shit away from you”

  “I needed to know about all of this, do none of you see that?” Her words hit home with me. I get why she thinks that she needed to know, but we were handling it. We are handling it. There was no sense in Kyle blowing shit up the way he did. “I feel like I will never be in control of my own life, no matter the fact that my past is behind me. I won’t ever truly be rid of the Cartel or the things they have done”

  “You will, baby. We just gotta take it one day at a time. You’ve been free since the moment you were here. Don’t you see that?”

  “Free is an interesting word. Free, yet trapped. Free, yet not being allowed to do most of the things you want. And now I truly understand why I’ve seen so many brothers around me these last few weeks. They all knew, didn’t they?”

  I nod, running my hand along her side, trying to soothe her as much as I can.

  “I miss my family,” she admits quietly, her eyes filling with tears. “I miss my Padre and Camila. I miss them so much, Chaos. All of the time, I just miss them and wonder if it will ever stop. Will I ever stop hurting?”

  Fuck. I know that I’m not supposed to say a thing about Camila. Reed told me I couldn’t. But He doesn’t see the pain in her eyes, or the way she cries in the middle of the night. He doesn’t have a front row seat to the nightmares that make her thrash in the sheets, or a seat beside her when she drowns her pain in the bottle.

  Fuck what Reed said.

&nbs
p; “Camila is safe, and I’ll find a way for you to talk to her. I promise”

  Chapter 3

  The enemy is not fighting you because you are weak. He fights you because you are strong.

  - Anonymous

  Pain

  The second I make it to the morgue I see Chris in his uniform, waiting for me. I get off my bike and approach him, taking in how he’s changed over the past few years. He still looks like a kid, and I wonder how that’s even possible. Before I get too caught up in the past, I ask the question I’ve been dreading the ride over. I couldn’t find out in a text but nowI need the answer. “Is she dead?”

  “She?” Chris asks, confused as all hell.

  “You called me here ‘cause Angel OD’d again, didn’t you?”

  Chris laughs grimly, shaking his head. “No, probably sounds fucked up but I wish it was that easy. Angel is fine, saw her this morning. We’ve got a bigger issue on our hands and I think you should whip out that phone of yours and call your Prez”

  “Show me what we’ve got first” I tell him. If Reed needs to be here I’ll make sure he’s here, but if it’s some dumb shit there’s no way I’m gonna call him up and have him come here when he needs to be with his brother.

  “Alright then, follow me” Chris says, walking in the direction of the morgue, he opens the front door and we go down a small set of stairs before I’m led into a freezing cold hallway. This is where the dead are kept after all, it’s bound to be an ice box in here. I continue following Chris until he opens a door to the right and a body is out on display, a simple white sheet covers the man while a bright light illuminates him.

  “Fuck” I mutter, bringing my hand over my lips. Poor bastard has been cut to bits. The only people around who do this kind of shit would be...hah. Now I know why I’m here. “You think we did this, don’t you?”

  Chris shifts his stance, “Can’t blame me. Everyone knows your club is fucking brutal, and the force won’t even try to go near you. Last time the feds got mixed in and it didn’t go too well for us. Our Sergeant reamed our asses”

  “If we had done this we wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave a body.”

  “I had a feeling you were gonna say that. Not that it makes me feel any better. We’ve heard about the cartel reappearing recently and I’m not sure if this is them. It wouldn’t make sense if it is”

  Chris knows a fuck of a lot more then he’s letting on. “What do you mean by that?” I ask.

  “He’s our vic here has been spotted around with known cartel members. Why would they kill him when he’s one of them?”

  “If anyone fucks up bad enough, they die. There’s no tolerance for mistakes” I tell him, only knowing what I do because of Maria. She’s been our insider to how the cartel runs their business. I don’t even think Reed knows that she has a shit ton of knowledge. I bet that’s why Rafael wants her back. She knows too much. I pull my phone free and call Reed, telling him to meet me at the morgue. He needs to know. everything Chris has said to me, and I’m betting and I need his input.

  Chris and I wait for Reed to arrive. When we hear the bikes I expect it to be Reed and a brother. Who I don’t expect to see walking through the door is Darius, the head honcho of Purgatory.

  “Heard we got a filet a la Mexicano” Darius jokes. Reed doesn’t even react, instead walking over to the body and surveys the damage.

  Reed raises his eyebrows and looks to Darius, “Your guys didn’t do this?”

  “Hell no. There’s nothing that I don’t know about. I’m going to naturally assume your guys didn’t either. Makes me wonder who did...”

  “You and me both” Chris pipes up, looking at the group of us.

  “I heard rumors the Jackals were coming further North. Did the examiner mention any brands?” Reed asks Chris, who shakes his head back and forth.

  “No, he didn’t mention any but doesn’t mean there isn’t one” Chris goes over to the cabinet where a box filled with gloves sets and yanks out a pair, putting them on. Oh hell no. He isn’t about to do what I think he is.

  I watch as he lifts up the various limbs of the deceases, looking over his skin for any markings. He starts at his legs and then goes up to his shoulders, at a point he lifts his back and a small “Ah ha” spills from his lips.

  “Got something right here. Anyone wanna tell me what that is?”

  Reed walks around the table and takes a look, nodding. “Looks like someone tried to burn off a Jackal”

  “Is it wrong of me to assume that the Jackals and the cartel are not amongst friends?” Chris asks. I think we already know the answer to that.

  “No, they’re not. Bloody fuckers hate each other. Rumor has it that the Jackal’s are supporters of the Lopez’s. Lopez used to be the biggest competitor with the Ramirez’s a couple decades ago. Would make sense why the cartel boys would fuck up a Jackal if they were sniffing around” Darius tells us all. “Problem is, they’re sniffing in our territory which needs to stop. We have enough problems with the cartel...don’t need any more with these damn dogs”

  “Don’t think they give a fuck. Looks like we don’t just have the cartel on our hands anymore. We’ve got an even bigger problem”

  Darius smirks, “Aw, Reed. Lucky for you I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Remember the enemy of my enemy is my friend? I think we may be able to use this to our advantage.”

  “If you want to try to set up a meet go right ahead, make sure to let me know if anything comes from it”

  “You got my word,” Darius promises.

  “Let’s head out. Good work, Pain” Reed says as he walks out the door and into the hallway. For the first time in years I actually feel like I’ve done something right. I could get used to this.

  Chapter 4

  Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.

  - Anonymous

  Maria

  “What do you mean she’s safe? How do you know that? How long have you known it?” I fire off my questions like bullets leaving a chamber. I know Chaos has kept things from me. I know he did it because he cares. He’s kept a few things from me it seems, and no matter how much I care for him he needs to understand that he has to be honest with me. I haven’t seen my sister in years, or even spoken to her....and he knows that she is safe? How does he know that?

  Chaos’ face contorts with regret. He’s rethinking what he just said, realizing that he fucked up and shouldn’t have said a damn thing. He’s right. I’ll let some things go, but not others and definitely not this. “I just know and I’ll keep good on my promise. You just have to trust me”

  “You have got to be kidding me” I spit out, glaring at him with all my might. “You just said that Camila’s safe! My little sister who I tell you that I miss terribly...and from the looks of it you have known this for a while and you just want me to trust you? I am just supposed to be a quiet, well behaved girl until you decide I can speak to her? No. No. No. Nope!” I place my hands under me on the mattress and throw on one of Chaos’ shirts before I walk over to the door. I don’t give a damn that I’m completely bare under this shirt. Chaos is tall and lean so it looks like I’m wearing a dress, just hitting below my knees.

  I pull the door open with all of my might.

  Where the fuck is Reed?

  Reed is standing in the doorway of the clubhouse. I assume that he must’ve just come in. “Ah! You are the man I am looking to pick a bone with.” I snarl at him.

  “Listen, Mar, we’ll talk about this cartel shit later. There’s a lot on my plate right now.”

  “This isn’t about the cartel, culo. I want to know where my sister is, and if she’s okay. Chaos seems to think she is safe, so do you want to tell me how he knows that information and I do not?”

  Reed takes in a deep breath and sighs, looking to where Chaos has appeared right next to me “Sorry, Prez. I was just tryin’ to comfort her and shit. No idea she was gonna huff and puff at you for answers.”

  “What do you know about my sister?!
”

  “Why would I tell you when the cis heavy on my ass about giving you back to them? What would you even do if I did tell you where Camila is? Would you run over to her? Fuck, I know you would but you wanna know what would happen the second you got there? The cartel would be right behind you, happy as fuck that you were leading them to your sister. That’s why I didn’t tell you a damn thing? Cause of this fuckin’ behavior. I knew that no matter what you were going to make a big scene about shit. Telling you is too compromising for your safety and Camila’s. Not only would they have you again Maria, they’d have her. Is that what you really want?”

  “I only want to know she is okay. We haven’t spoken to each other in years....It has been years, Reed.”

  “I understand you’re pissed and rightfully so, but over my dead body are you gonna find out where she is and jeopardize you’re fucking safety. It’s my job to protect you, not send you to the executioner!”

  “You aren’t my father.” I snap, throwing my hands up in the air. “Stop acting like you are!”

  Reed laughs, “I’ve done a hell of a job compared to him. How do you think you even ended up with Rafael in the first place, Mar? Hmm? You think it was just by the Devil’s actions that he took you? Think harder. Think about that night, cause Rafael told me who handed you over to him and I think you don’t even know what happened.”

  “Explain.”

  “Your father traded you and your sister’s life for his, after Rafael killed your mother.”

  I shake my head in complete disbelief, tears threatening to break through at any given moment. “That’s a lie!”

  “Why would I lie about it?”

  “Not you, Rafael. He lied. My Padre would have never done such a thing, never. No. He wouldn’t...” Reed gives me a sympathetic look as I stammer off in my words. I stop talking, knowing better. Knowing that you can never assume anything in life and that there is always a possibility of the horrendous happening. Nothing is ever as it seems, and I think that I should know that more than anyone.