by Bella Jewel
“Nobody will hurt you—you’ll be safe. It’s just until we can work this out.”
“I was locked up for five years, without any say in my life, without any control. You will not take my control away again. I won’t let you do this to me.”
“Aviana,” Alarick says, his voice calm. “We’re not goin’ to hurt you.”
“No,” I screech. “No.”
I turn and run.
I run as fast as my legs will carry me.
I move like I’m being chased, which I am.
The pounding footsteps of Cohen behind me has my heart racing harder and my legs moving at a rate I didn’t think was possible.
The sounds of Briella yelling at Alarick and Waverly calling my name can be heard, but with every frantic step, those voices get farther and farther away. I run like my life depends on it.
Cohen’s hand lashes out and grabs my shirt, and I’m being hauled back suddenly. I topple to the ground, my body tumbling across the dirt as he wrestles me like some sort of fucking nobody. His body lands on top of mine, but I don’t stop fighting. I kick, I punch, I bite, I hit him over and over again, squirming and thrashing, even though I can feel the rough dirt beneath me burrowing into my skin, slicing it open, scratching the surface. I don’t care. He’s not doing this to me. He’s not.
“Stop fuckin’ fighting me, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Don’t do this to me, I won’t let you do this to me,” I cry, thrashing my head from side to side, swinging my arms.
He manages to straddle me, and I thrust around with my hips trying to get him off, but there’s no use, he’s heavy and he’s strong.
He grabs my wrists and pins them above my head, forcing me to come to a stop, forcing me to abandon my fighting. “Let me go!” I scream, holding his eyes, mine no doubt frantic. “Please, Cohen, I didn’t do this. I swear I didn’t do this. Please don’t cuff me.”
He looks down at me, his face hard. “I have to, Aviana. You know I have to.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
My voice is pathetic and wounded.
“Because I have to protect my club.”
“What about me?”
He brings my hands over my chest and snaps the cuffs on them, officially trapping me. “I am doing this for you, too.”
“I hate you,” I hiss as he climbs off me and pulls me to my feet. “You will pay for this. Every single one of you will pay for this.”
He doesn’t say a word as he walks me back to the truck and pushes me into the back.
My heart, my wounded, damaged heart ...
It just broke for the final time.
11
THEN – COHEN
Who the fuck is her family?
I have dug and fucking dug, and the shit I’ve found out about Aviana’s family is utterly fucking terrifying. Not only are they running some serious illegal shit, they’re doing it in her name. Every single fucking thing is in her name, every house, every account, every fucking thing belongs to her and she doesn’t even know it. Those smart mother fuckers, keeping themselves clean, keeping her unsuspecting.
She has more than she could possibly imagine.
Her father is smart.
He’s also incredibly dangerous.
I’m determined to find out more, to find out why everything is in her name, to find out what kind of show they’re running and how they plan on involving her in it. If someone found out everything technically belonged to her, they could take her and everything would be theirs. It would be terrifyingly simple. Is that how her father wants it? If anything comes back on them, it’s automatically directed to her and he can start clean.
I don’t fucking know, but I’m going to find out.
I walk up my driveway, head in the clouds, and I consider all the possibilities of what they might be doing when I look up and see Aviana sitting on my front step. She’s got her head down, staring at nothing on the ground. She looks ... hurt. I pick up the pace and walk up to her, asking, “Hey, what’s happened?”
She looks up at me, and she has a sore and swollen eye. She’s got tears running down her fucking beautiful face and she looks like she’s had a hell of a day.
“Who did that to you?” I growl.
“My brother’s pathetic girlfriend,” she mutters. “We got into a fight, and they kicked me out. My own family kicked me out and let her stay in my house.”
I sit down beside her, and she turns to me. “Can you believe that?”
I shake my head. Mother fuckers, they don’t deserve someone like her. Not even fucking close. “I can’t begin to understand it, but you can stay here for the night. Let’s get that eye cleaned up.”
I stand and take her hand, pulling her to her feet. “Lucky Briella is still moping about her broken wrist—if she saw me like this she’d flip. I’ll have to tell her I’m sick so I have an excuse not to see her for a week. She already hates my family.”
“Sounds like she has good reason to.”
“She does.” Avi smiles.
I walk into the massive house that belongs to my parents, and their German shepherd puppy that Briella so fondly named Germy when she was younger, comes bounding out. Avi kneels down and wraps her arms around his fluffy coat, nestling in, and I watch as a huge smile spreads across her face. “Seriously,” she exhales. “This dog is the absolute best.”
“Yeah, he’s alright.” I can’t keep the grin off my face.
I find an ice pack for Avi’s eye while she’s busy playing with Germy, and then I take it back to her and hand it over. She presses it to her eye and glances around the house. “This place is massive; I don’t think I paid enough attention the other times I was here.”
“Yeah, it’s a good place. Want a drink?”
She nods. “Yeah, that would be great.”
I go to the fridge out on the back patio and she follows me out there. I grab two beers out, handing her one. We take a seat and stare out. It’s fucking nice out here, the sun slowly setting in the distance, a nice wind blowing across our faces. Avi takes a sip of her beer and glances over at me. “Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
She giggles. “I suppose you’re right.”
I wink at her, and we sit in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the afternoon. Only after we’ve done that do I dare to ask the questions burning on my mind. I want to know what she knows about her family, if anything at all. If she has no idea what they’ve done in setting her up, then she doesn’t know she could be forever in danger if people come looking for what she has.
“How come you’re not close to your family?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Ever since Mom died, I just became the invisible one. My brothers both help Dad run whatever shit he’s running, and I’m just a pain in the ass. They’re just the cold, selfish types of humans you never wish to end up with as family.”
“What business do they run that they have to keep so far away from you?”
She glances at me. “You know, the illegal shit. You’d probably know about it more than me. I do know they move a lot of drugs, that’s purely from overhearing conversations. The other night a few men came to the door and my dad made me run out the back door and go for a night. He said he didn’t want me to be around if things got dangerous. I think they were there threatening him or something like that. It’s not the first time.”
“Did he get rid of them?” I ask her, narrowing my eyes.
“Yeah, well, I mean obviously. They weren’t there when I got back. He said they had the wrong house, but I know he’s lying. There have been others come to the house and they suddenly ‘disappear’ I guess that’s what happens when you’re running the kind of life they are.”
Sounds like whoever he is sending away is looking for her.
Specifically, what she owns without knowing it.
“You ever see anyone and they approach you, or make you uncomfortable, you come to me, yeah? The
club will always have your back.
She smiles at that. “I’m glad.”
“You’re family, we take care of family.”
The look she gives me when I say that makes my fucking entire body want to go to her, to take her into my arms, carry her upstairs, and fuck her slowly all god damned night long.
“Would you hate it if I hugged you right now? I feel like I want to hug you for saying that.”
Fuck.
“You wanna hug me, you hug me,” I say, my voice far huskier than I’d like.
She stands with a smile and walks over, leaning down and wrapping her arms around my neck. It takes everything, fucking everything, not to just pull her onto my lap and kiss her until she’s moaning my name. I don’t do that, though. I wrap my arms around her, inhale the fresh scent of her hair, and hug her as hard as she’ll allow.
She exhales, almost in the relieved, relaxed kind of way.
Then she pulls back, but only enough that we’re now face to face, eyes locked. Fuck me, if she doesn’t move now, I’m goin’ to kiss her. I won’t be able to stop myself.
Her eyes soften in a way that tugs at my heart, and when she bites her lip, as if contemplating if she might just lean forward and finish it, a sound has her jerking back. She glances up and then quickly stands. I turn and see Samantha standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest, a scowl on her face. “What the hell is going on here?”
Fuck me.
Here we go with the drama.
“Was huggin’ a friend,” I mutter, standing.
“Looks like you were doing a whole lot more than hugging her. Who is she? Who are you?”
She’s scowling at Aviana now.
“I’m Aviana, we’re friends.”
“I doubt that,” Samantha snaps. “Why were you touching my boyfriend?”
“Fuck me,” I growl. “I’m not your fuckin’ man, Samantha.”
She looks to me now, horrified. “Excuse me?”
“We fuck, we go out sometimes, but I’ve never told you that we’re together.”
“You were making love to me just last night.”
Avi noticeably flinches and I could swear her face scrunches with ... Is that jealousy?
Does she want me as much as I want her?
“I was fuckin’ you, there is a big fuckin’ difference.”
“You were looking into my eyes ...”
“Where the fuck else am I supposed to look? The wall?”
“You’re a pig!” she cries. “I thought this was something.”
Fuck me.
“It ain’t.”
“I should leave,” Aviana says, sidestepping so she can get past Samantha without the risk of receiving another black eye.
“You’re not leavin’, you have nowhere to go,” I say to her, but she ignores me and hurries past Samantha.
“Aviana!” I bark.
“I’m okay,” she yells out, and then she’s gone.
Fuck me.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another.
I don’t want her out on the streets alone.
She’s not safe.
“I gotta go,” I say, rushing past Samantha.
“Cohen!” she yells.
“It’s over, Samantha!”
With that, I’m gone, too.
Poor Samantha, she probably deserved a better ending than that.
Right now, though, I’ve got more important shit to deal with.
Keeping Aviana safe.
NOW – COHEN
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Briella seethes, getting right up into my face, her eyes flashing with wild anger.
“I don’t need your shit, Briella. Back the fuck down.”
“She has been through so much. My god, do you have any idea what that girl has endured, now you’ve got her handcuffed like a god damned prisoner. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. You need to let her go.”
“I don’t need to do fuck all, what I need is for you to back off and worry about your own shit. Do you fuckin’ understand me?” I bark.
Briella flinches, but she doesn’t back down. “She trusted you.”
“She doesn’t trust fuckin’ anyone. She made it clear she wants revenge on this club, and you’re willin’ to just let her run around and get that.”
“Why are you doing this? Is it some way of stopping yourself feeling too much for her? What, Cohen? What is it?”
“Get the fuck out of my space,” I snarl.
“No,” Briella challenges, crossing her arms. “I’m not scared of you. Not even close.”
“I’m warnin’ you, Briella. You’re walkin’ a fine line.”
“She has been through so much, Cohen. She deserves a friend right now.”
“What would you know about fuckin’ friendship? You didn’t give her the time of day when she came back, either.”
“That was until I saw her break. I know what happened to her. What he did to her. She has every right to be hurt and angry, but she didn’t tell those men where we were.”
“How do you fuckin’ know that?”
“Because I saw her face, because I know her. She wasn’t lying. It had nothing to do with her. If you knew her as well as you should, you would have seen that, too.”
I did fucking see that.
I saw it when she was pleading at me.
But I had no choice.
This club has lost too much for us to take any risks, even if it means going against what feels right or wrong.
I had to do it.
There was simply no other fucking option.
“You need to back off,” I growl again. “I have work to do, go and find Alarick and tell him your problems.”
Briella shakes her head in horror. “I don’t know who you are anymore.”
She turns and walks off, and the moment I’m alone, I slam my fist into the motel wall so hard it shatters and a gaping hole appears. I roar with rage. I’m trying to do what’s right, I’m trying to fucking protect this club. I never wanted to fucking hurt her, not once. She was right, when we turned around and went out the way we came in on the dirt road, they were gone.
If she was setting it up, they would have been there waiting.
She made sure we got out safe.
I don’t know what I fucking believe anymore.
I want to believe in her, but I’ve seen the hatred in her eyes, the broken soul of a girl I once knew.
I let her down and, deep down, she wants me to suffer for that.
I can’t trust she hasn’t got a plan.
I just fucking can’t trust that.
“Everything good, brother?”
I turn and see Mykel standing by the door. He looks concerned, like he’s worried for my fucking mental health or something like that. He shouldn’t be, I’ve handled far fucking worse than this, and I’ll do it again.
“I’m good, brother. Briella was just rippin’ me a new one, nothin’ to worry about.”
Mykel walks in and leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms. “She’s worried about her friend, can’t blame her for that.”
“Never said I was blamin’ her, but she’s gotta know we’re doin’ what’s right here. Nobody particularly likes it, but we have to be careful. We don’t know what Aviana has planned.”
“We’ve checked through her phone, nothin’ at all in there. Ever think maybe she’s tellin’ the truth?”
“About not givin’ them the location? Yeah. About everything else? No. Trust me when I say that girl has a problem, rightfully so, but it’s eaten away at big parts of her and she wants to make us suffer for it. I’m not takin’ the risk that she won’t inform someone where we are.”
“Well,” Mykel says, pushing off the wall, “either way, Alarick has uncuffed her so she can sleep. She’s not goin’ anywhere, we’re keepin’ a watch on her. She’s all scratched up, but she won’t let anyone help her.”
I stand, walking toward the closet and jerking it open, pulling out th
e first-aid kit I always take with me when I’m not at home. I turn and say, “I’ll sort it out.”
“Be careful, brother. You ain’t her biggest fan.”
“I’m not bothered. Her bark is worse than her bite.”
“I hope so, for your sake.”
It’ll be fine.
It fucking has to be.
We’re running out of time.
12
NOW – AVIANA
Cohen opens the door and walks into the room where I’m sitting at the end of the bed with Kendric watching me like I’m some sort of fucking terrorist. They’ve even got him sleeping in the same room as me. What the fuck do they think I’m going to do? Murder them all in their sleep? For god’s sake. One thing is for certain, though, I’m getting out of here tonight. I’m going to escape this and never look back.
They don’t deserve my god damned help.
Without me, they’ll never find what they’re looking for.
Without me, they’re fucked.
Gone is the need for vengeance.
No, my vengeance will be knowing that they can’t get what they need when I’m gone.
My favor to them is that without me, they’ll fall.
They can all go to hell.
“I’ve got this covered for a few hours, go and eat, do what you gotta do. Call Zariah, see how she’s holdin’ up,” Cohen tells Kendric, who nods and stands, walking out of the room.
Cohen looks to me, and I stare at him. I refuse, outright refuse, to speak to him. I will not give him another ounce of myself. Not a fucking ounce. I sit on the end of the bed, eyes on him, rage pouring out of them. I don’t need words—he can see exactly how I feel about him in the depths of my angry glare.
“You need to clean those scratches or you’re goin’ to get an infection. You either sit there and let me do it, or I cuff you again and do it anyway. The choice is yours.”