by Zara Teleg
“Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” Hack asked.
I just narrowed my eyes, ignoring his assessment. He walked with purpose. He held a huge coffee in one hand and his laptop in the other. His hair, which was usually plastered in place, was disheveled. He looked as if he had not slept.
Once all the boys were around the table, Colt got right to it. “We have some information. I’m glad you all came. This mission is going to be all hands on deck.” He rubbed both his hands over his face.
“This situation is way more dangerous than we first suspected. We are not just dealing with the cartel, but Marco Cordona and his new crew. He has been expanding fast and has his eyes on Sugar Maple and Black Rock. Infiltrating small coastal towns with little police presence is part of his plan. We need to find something we can use to get to him. Hack has been working tirelessly. We now know that Marco grew up in Columbia with his father, a cruel man, who was at the top of the cartel’s food chain. He has a brother, whom we are trying to locate. This brother was raised here in the States by his mother. She has since passed away. We think the brother is the key to getting out a threat of our own. Our other chapters are ready to go to war, if necessary. The cartel has been a threat to several of them.”
Moans and groans echoed around the table. I could see how exhausted Hack and Colt looked. Now I felt like a dick for being pissed that I was interrupted from my time with Juliet. They were trying to save our home from being taken over by a real threat.
“This is our home, and home to the people we care about most. I’m in. Anything the club needs. What can we do to find the brother?” I said.
Colt tilted his chin toward Hack. “Hack’s on it. We just got the intel this morning. We hope to have something by tonight. We’re trying to stay off the radar; we don’t want anyone getting wind of what we know or that we plan on defending our territory.”
Hack sat across the table just staring at the computer screen. His hand appeared to have a slight jitter as he swallowed the last of his monster coffee. He pulled a Red Bull and cigarettes from his bag. I watched him crack the can open and guzzle. I waited for the room to empty before speaking to him.
“Hack, you okay, man?” His gaze didn’t move from the screen.
“Hack!” I slapped my hand on the table, causing the can to jump.
His head shook as his bloodshot eyes finally looked from the screen. “Sorry.”
“Are you okay, man?” I asked again, waving my hand in front of his monitor.
“Yeah, I got to go do this from home. I don’t have enough security and jammers here to cloak my presence. I got to go home.” He closed the screen and began loading the laptop into his bag.
“Once I find anything, I’ll have you come over.” His glasses couldn’t conceal the dark circles behind them. He must have been at this for a while.
“You look like you need some rest. You can’t do your best work unless you have a clear head. Dude, take a fucking nap.” I snagged the Red Bull from his hand.
He nodded. “Yeah, I guess an hour won’t hurt. I’ll text you later, man.”
Rolling out from under Black Betty, I cleaned my hands and opened my phone when it alerted me again of an incoming text.
First text from Ledger: Need you at Hacks ASAP. Text on your way.
Second text from Hack: Get your ass over here now. Important.
The third text, two minutes later, Ledger: Where the fuck are you?
Fourth text, one minute later, Ledger again: Rage, where are you?
Jesus, these guys were worse than a nagging girlfriend. It had been only five minutes since I last looked at my phone.
Me: On my way. Keep your fucking panties on. See you in twenty.
Hack lived closer to Black Rock. He always complained Sugar Maple’s internet was too slow. The main feature he needed in a home was fiber optics or some shit like that. It didn’t matter to him what the fuck it looked like as long as it had optimum high speed. I rolled my eyes at the thought. I could do without all this shit. I liked having a phone, but I missed the good old days before the robots took over.
I pulled up to the curb of his small suburban neighborhood. Ledger’s bike took up the last space in the driveway. All the ranch-style homes looked alike. Hack’s was different because he was the only one that didn’t have all the fancy landscaping and shiny new exterior. He bought the worst house on the block but didn’t fix it up like all the other suburbanites, at least on the outside. On the inside, however, it was a modern marvel.
I knocked twice before letting myself in. I flinched at the sound of my boots squeaking across the just-polished black marble tile floors. I walked through the kitchen before getting to his office. Fancy stainless steel appliances were bright against the black quartz counters. I stole a beer from the fridge. His stash was neatly lined up on the shelves; everything in the refrigerator stood in perfect order. I would bet that none of those appliances had ever been used.
Sleek modern furniture decorated the living room. A 75” TV with every game system known to man all sat neatly underneath on separate shelves. He had special fans installed to keep his gear from overheating. Abstract paintings only he could understand adorned the walls.
The smell of cleaning products bothered my nose. I was amazed he spent any time at the club, knowing what a clean freak OCD kind of guy he was.
I heard the voices coming from the office. I didn’t announce my arrival. Hack bragged about his “smart home.” He had surveillance cameras everywhere. He must have been running a pretty sick business considering all the tech gear he had here. I pushed the office door the rest of the way. Holy fuck. It looked like the fucking FBI headquarters. Monitors were everywhere. His neat desk had cans of Monster and Red Bull covering it. An open bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label sat on the edge of the desk with a few shot glasses around it. I pointed to the bottle. “Are we celebrating? Isn’t that like a three-hundred-dollar bottle?”
Ledger poured me a shot, and another for them, judging from the remnants of amber in the bottom of the other two glasses. We raised our glasses together, before shooting them back. Smooth, I got why Hack preferred only the best.
“Not celebrating, brother. He refilled my glass and pointed to the chair. You may want to take a seat.” Ledger pointed to the buttery black leather executive chair.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “Sit? I think I’m okay. What the fuck is going on?”
“Sit.” Ledger and Hack said together.
“Fuck, you two are bossy.” I blew out a breath and sat in the chair, “Happy now?” I downed my second shot.
“Ledger, what the fuck’s with all the dramatics?”
Ledger began explaining how Hack found Marco Cordona’s brother in Florida State Prison.
“Okay, great, we got friends in there. The Dade County chapter should be able to help. We can get to him and use it against Marco as we planned.”
“Yes, but…” Ledger stopped and took a long breath. “We did some digging to find out why he’s in there.” He closed his eyes, rubbing his temples, before continuing. “Antonio Cordona beat his girlfriend nearly to death.”
“That’s fucking tragic, but why am I sitting for this?” I leaned back in the chair, waiting to hear why they were acting so peculiar.
“His file has pictures of the girlfriend, Anabelle Conti.” Ledger paced as he spoke. “She was unrecognizable after the incident, until the trial.” Hack handed me the folder of the reports and the pictures.
I opened the five-year-old report, taking out the woman’s photos. God, what a fucking tragedy. I found it hard to look at the girl’s beaten face and body as I moved from one photo to the next.
“So, what does this have to do with…” There were close-ups of swollen, beat, and bruised body parts. It was the picture of her arm that caught my attention. The wrist was black and purple. However, under the bruising was something I recognized. A fucking sideways figure eight.
My breathing became shallow, my heart sped. I qu
ickly flipped through the papers, getting to the trial. “What the fuck?” I growled aloud. I pulled out the close up, gripping the picture with both hands, letting the rest drop to the ground.
I could feel that familiar tingle. It started at my feet. The flush of heat rose through my body. It turned to fire as my beating heart pounded out of my chest.
Images of Juliet flashed in my mind. The scars on her face she covered with her hair. The scars on her pelvis. The nightmares. Everything became crystal clear. “Accident?” I screamed. “She told me she had a fucking accident!” I was spiraling.
Ledge handed me another shot. I drank it before hurling the glass across the room, crashing into a monitor.
“Fuck, Rage, calm the fuck down!” Hack yelled holding back my arms. “We knew you would react like this, that’s why we brought it to you first, before announcing it to the rest of the club.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “She’s alive and well, and now she’s your girl. You need to talk to her. You got three hours before our meet tonight to go to her and sort this shit out.”
I removed his hand. “What the fuck do you know?” I looked at the picture again, at the face I loved, busted and broken. My voice turned into a fractured whisper, “She said it was an accident. She wouldn’t talk about it.”
“Well, now, I guess she’ll have to talk to you.” Ledger said, picking the papers from the floor, placing them back into the folder. I snatched it from his hands, taking long strides to the door.
“Rage, wait,” Ledger called after me. “calm down before you talk to her. You can’t drive like this.”
My knuckles were white from gripping the folder so tight. I spun at the door. “Calm down?” I spat. “She fucking lied to me! Everything about her was a fucking lie,” I yelled, punching a hole in the wall next to the door.
I secured the folder under my jacket, tucked the top in my jeans, and took off on my bike faster than I ever had. The trees lining the winding mountain road were a blur of green. I was sweating, and my heartbeat was competing with the speed of my bike.
Turning into the driveway, I parked next to the Jeep. With each step toward the door, I felt like a knife was getting plunged deeper and deeper into my heart. How could she have kept this from me? Let me fall in love with her and never tell me?
I heard Lord’s barking before Juliet, or Anabelle, or whatever the hell her name was, opened the door. She offered me the most beautiful smile, holding a mug in her hand with her crocheted blanket wrapped around her. The scent of apples and cinnamon welcomed me in.
“Hey, handsome, what a nice surprise. I thought you were working on your truck today?” She took a step back, looking at my face for the first time.
“Rage,” her voice became shaky. “Rage, what’s wrong?”
Juliet
“Rage what’s wrong?” I asked, stunned by the hateful, angry look on his face.
“I don’t know. You tell me, Anabelle.”
My mug slipped from my hands, smashing to the floor, its contents splattering. My heart pounded. How did he know? I was speechless for a moment. I pressed my eyes closed. I could feel the tears building. I took in a shaky breath, forcing my eyes open to look into his.
“Rage, I’m sorry, I wanted to tell you.” I could only force out a whisper.
He held his hand up. “Stop lying. I don’t believe you had any intention of telling me.” He looked directly into my eyes, waiting for an explanation.
“You don’t understand. My life was in danger, is still in danger, and I will not drag another person into it. Why do you think I tried to keep us friends? I didn’t plan on falling in love with you.” A few tears escaped despite my attempt to hold them.
“In love with me?” he laughed. “That’s hilarious. You couldn’t love me and keep this from me. I shared everything with you. Things I’ve never shared with anyone.” His face looked so full of pain.
He unzipped his jacket, pulling a folder from inside. “I had to learn the truth from my brothers. From a police report,” he yelled with venom in every word. “I loved you. You filled the emptiness in me only to turn around and obliterate my heart.” He tore the folder open and held up a picture of my beaten face.
I ripped the photo of my beaten face from Rage’s hand. My finger touched the swollen and stitched face in the picture.
“No, Rage, you’re right. This is Anabelle Juliet Conti.” I said with a steely voice I wasn’t sure how I summoned. “She was a trusting girl. She was weak. She lost herself in a man who wasn’t who she thought he was. She had no idea what she was wrapped into until it was too late.”
I brought my fingers to the faint scars on my face, the same spots shown in the photo. I ran my fingers across the small jagged lines.
“I could’ve had these lasered off. You know why I didn’t?” I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. “These scars,” I pointed again, “remind me every day, that I was once weak. That I allowed this to happen to me. But no more.”
“You’re hiding from a cartel and didn’t think it was important to tell me. What were you planning on doing? You must know Antonio will be released soon.”
My eyes went down to the floor. I stared at the scuffed motorcycle boots that were mere feet away. I couldn’t bring myself to meet Rage’s angry face.
“Juliet, what were you going to do?” He stepped into my space, crowding me. “Tell me, Juliet, what were you going to do?” He spoke slowly, his voice was a low growl.
“I was going to run!” I yelled. The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
He took a step back, recoiling as if I burned him. The angry expression was now full of hurt. “You were going to leave?” He shook his head. “You bitch. You fucking made me fall in love with you, knowing all my pain, and you were just going to leave?” His fists balled at his sides.
“You think it’s going to be easy for me? You think I enjoy running around, looking over my shoulder with my whole life strapped on my back? You think I enjoy having no one in my life, leaving people I love behind? You think I want to leave you? I love you more than I ever thought it was possible. That’s why I couldn’t tell you all this. I didn’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
“So, you couldn’t trust me to protect you?” He hung his head, shaking it. “I would have died protecting you.” He began to turn away.
I grabbed his arm, but he pulled away. “Don’t you understand? I want love, not protection. I want the freedom to be me, not be watched over or babied. I want to live life on my terms. If I had told you the truth, what would you have done? Admit it, you would have been consumed by the need to protect me and watch my every move. You would have been obsessed about hunting down the person who attacked me. You wouldn’t have been able to look at me the same way, all you would have seen was a victim, a weakling you needed to shelter. And where would that have left me? I would’ve always wondered whether you were with me because you truly loved me or because you felt obligated to protect me.”
His eyes narrowed on me as his face twisted in anger. “Well, I guess, you don’t have to worry about that now, Anabelle, because I am done. You’ve destroyed anything I had left.” His hand was holding his heart.
The lump in my throat grew painful and tight, and the river of tears I’d been holding finally flowed in streams.
I said in a whisper, “You cannot protect me all the time. No one can. The day I moved and became Juliet, I decided I would be my protector. I would live free, making my own choices. I had a second chance at life. I won’t waste it. There are seven billion people in this world, I will not let two fucking assholes ruin my life. I want to live, experience, feel, love, make a difference. I can’t do that with a shadow. I’m sorry if you can’t understand that.”
I finally allowed my eyes to find his, hoping he would hear my plea. Those soft brown eyes that had shown me love these last months were hard and narrowed as they met mine.
The tears poured over my cheeks; I could feel the warm liquid running
down my neck.
“Rage, I gave up my family to get away…my mom, dad, little sister. Losing them was more painful than anything he did to me physically. Paige is five years younger than me. I missed everything—her graduation, college, broken hearts, everything. She’s my baby sister and best friend. She’s not nearly as strong as me, and I had to leave her behind. I’ve sacrificed a whole lot, so I could start a new life and keep them safe.”
With each word I spoke, the pain and heartache returned. The box where I kept it all in had been blown up, and each word was a dagger. My arms went around my body, hugging myself, attempting to find comfort.
“Rage…” My breaths had become short and staggered, practically hiccups. The words I tried to form would not come out, stuck in my throat.
For the past few weeks, I’d been thinking of how I could possibly leave him. Now I had my out. A painful one, one that would not give me the closure I wanted. The thought of never being wrapped in those arms again frightened me more than Antonio’s or Marco’s threats. But I had to let him go. His life being in danger if I stayed was something I couldn’t bear. So, I pushed.
“Rage,” I repeated, summoning all the strength I had left, “I cannot and will not let you take this on. I am sorry for lying to you. But my freedom is all I have left. Yes, I lied to you, but I had to. I’m sorry, but it’s clear now that it’s better for us to just go on our separate ways.” I recited, hoping he wouldn’t call my bluff. If he touched me, I would melt into a pool of mush and would do anything he asked of me.
