Consumed By Rage: A Stained Souls MC Novel - Book 1

by Zara Teleg

  Bile burned my throat as it shot up and I gagged, trying to push it down and not choke behind the tape.

  He laughed, and with a quick swipe, he used his blade to slice my shirt wide open, exposing bra-covered breasts.

  “I admit,” he said, placing the knife’s edge between my breasts, “you did put up quite a fight last night.” His fingers traced the deep scratches on his face. “But it was worth it.” he gyrated his hips.

  Last night…

  I was sitting by the fire, drinking wine, listening to soft music when I heard a car pull into the driveway. The squeaking brakes screamed over the music—it was Ivy’s car. I kept telling her she had to get those fixed, they could wake the dead. She couldn’t stay away. I was going to miss her bossy ass.

  I didn’t get up. I knew she would pour herself some wine and follow the light of the fire. It would be nice to spend one last night together. I would have to make her drink a few glasses so she wouldn’t hear me sneak off in the morning. Luckily, she arrived this late—it was dark enough that she wouldn’t see my jam-packed Jeep and figure out my plan.

  The lights from the house cast her shadow before her as she approached the fire. I could see it from behind me. I was snuggled in my blanket, holding my knees to my chest. “Hey, girl, glad you c—”

  My eyes widened when the shadow behind me grew large. Before I could scream, a hand went over my mouth and another around my waist, hauling me up and out of the chair. The wine glass next to me spilled over and crashed to the ground, shards of glass sprinkling like glitter on the stone below. “I’m glad I came, too,” the deep voice gritted out.

  Where I lived, it didn’t matter if I screamed. I guessed he realized that, too, and he let go of my mouth and spun me to face him, cold-cocking me the minute our eyes met.

  My cheek and brow took the brunt. Fuck, Joker hit hard. He loosened me up, almost inviting me to fight back. I got a few kicks and swings in, but not enough to damage him. He ground himself against me when he held me from behind. I was reaching and grabbing for anything I could. I clawed his face and ripped his medallion from his neck in the shuffle. My thin lace shirt ripped, fragments of the light pink material falling to the ground.

  I kept struggling. “Keep fighting, darlin’, you know I love it.” He pressed his hardness roughly against my back, making sure I felt him. I kicked and screamed to no avail. He was too strong.

  Daggers of pain shot down my nearly broken arm, which he held behind my back. “Sweet cheeks, come on, give me more.” His free hand grabbed between my legs. “Makes me hard.” The words were hot and wet in my ear. Vomit was inching its way up my throat at the thought. I stopped struggling, trying to gain my strength as he dragged me across the yard.

  “Ahh, now why did you go and stop?” Jokers body odor was suffocating.

  “What do you want from me?”

  “Oh, sweet cheeks, you know what I want, but that will have to wait. We’ve had enough fun, for now. We gotta get out of here.”

  Out of here? Oh, no. My heart hammered against my chest. I screamed as he twisted my arm further and pushed a cloth over my face. The chemicals invaded my nose and mouth. My breathing was already so rapid I pulled them in quick. I was down in seconds.

  “Enough,” commanded Marco. “You’ll have plenty of time for entertainment when your job is complete. Now, go.”

  “But, I—” Joker started.

  “Leave now.” Marco’s words were sharp and unyielding.

  Joker couldn’t just go. No, he leaned in one last time and whispered “until later” and licked my face.

  I felt vomit rising again. I jumped when the door slammed. Paige was next to me, knocked out, leaning over in her chair.

  “Anabelle, look at me,” Marco ordered.

  I kept my head down in defiance. A sharp whistle followed. His goon’s large shiny shoes clicked across the floor, stopping at my chair. My face was yanked up and turned toward Marco, the man who held my fate.

  “You were not easy to find. I was shocked the moment I saw you with the group of lowlife thugs you live among; it was like a gift. You had not a clue that I was coming for you and Paige.”

  I tried turning my head, but the goon’s cologne-scented hand kept it in place. “You are a defiant woman. I will never understand what Antonio saw in you. He nearly lost his mind when I told him he must give you up to join the family business. I knew he couldn’t handle it without some pharmaceutical courage, but I had no idea it would have such an effect on him.”

  “Now, I was sorry he roughed you up. But then you went and testified against him…” His finger waved back and forth as he shook his head. “You really shouldn’t have done that. I’ve lost four years with him, and this made my father very unhappy. We were to run the operation as a family. But you and that dirty cop stuck your fucking little noses where they don’t belong. Not for long.” A wicked grin crossed his handsome face. His half-tinted gold sunglasses covered his eyes, but he still reminded me so much of Antonio.

  “It took a lot of time and money, but my brother is coming home. Your death at the hands of our enemies will be just the motivation he needs to get back in line.” His elbows were on the table, fingers woven together in front of his face. “Your disappearing act made the whole plan so easy. After all, Anabelle no longer exists. No one will even bother looking.”

  He pointed to the man holding my face and motioned for him to remove the tape. I screamed as he roughly pulled it from across my mouth.

  I then straightened, trying to act like I wasn’t in pain everywhere. “What do you want?” I said, with venom in my whisper.

  “Ah, yes, that is the question.” His fingers now tapped together. He sucked his teeth and said, “You have nothing I want. I need you dead, but just killing you after all the trouble you caused didn’t seem enough. You will atone for your deeds. You will pay with blood and your body. Oh, and of course, since it was my brother whom you wronged most, it’s only fair your sister pays as well.”

  Those were the words that did me in. I knew he meant every word, Gavin told me what a sick twisted man he was. Through the half-open eye, I penetrated a stare and forced out the words, the dryness in my throat made them nearly a whisper, “You’re a monster. She has nothing to do with this. I was the victim, not Antonio.”

  Incessant laughter followed. “You had your spell on Antonio. You kept him from taking his rightful place in the family empire. Your influence was poison to our family. I won’t allow you to be his kryptonite. As long as you are in this world you will make him weak.”

  Marco took a long breath. Silence for what seemed like an eternity. “Your body will pay back a debt owed. You will be begging for death when we are through with you, and I shall grant your wish…in time.”

  I forced the words out through my pain, “Gavin will know, and he will find us.”

  “Gavin?” he asked, surprised. “You mean the ex-cop who helped you convict Antonio?”

  Ex-cop? What was he talking about?

  He must have read the confusion on my face and laughed maniacally. “Ahh, you thought the cop was going to rescue you? What, he didn’t tell you?” He laughed again. “He was thrown off the force two and a half years ago for going rogue.”

  No, it couldn’t be true…Gavin would have told me. Marco had to be lying. He wanted me to believe there was no hope.

  “Marco, Paige had nothing to do with this.”

  “You took my brother from me, it’s only fair. In this life, we can only count on family.”

  “Familia primero, mi amor,” I said in a low whisper. Antonio used to always say, “Family first, my love.”

  Marco stood from his seat. “What did you say?” I clamped my mouth shut and looked at the floor. The big guy took a few steps back as Marco came to my side. He yanked on my hair forcing me to look up at him.

  “I asked what you said?” At first, I didn’t answer, then a stupid surge of courage mixed with anger had me spitting in his face. He froze and pulled some
thing out of his jacket to wipe his cheek.

  “Ahhh, Anabelle you still have spunk.” He backhanded my face so hard my teeth chattered. I held back the scream, clenching my jaw, showing no pain on my face.

  “You don’t need to worry about your sister.” He pointed to the goon with the large, shiny shoes. “Sebastian, will be taking care of her.” Marco’s grin was wicked. “You and your sister have helped me pay a few debts.”

  “No…” Before I could speak any more, the tape was slapped back over my mouth. I struggled in anger and squinted my half-open eye to get a look at the enormous man, the jagged scars on his face made him look like a monster. He hid a portion of it behind large glasses. He was impeccably dressed and bore no sign of humanity in his stoic stance. The first words he spoke were in a heavy Columbian accent, “Boss, where do you want her?”

  Marco turned his back and made his way to the door that was being held open for him like he was royalty. He stopped and waved his hand in the air. “Put them both down stairs..”

  “But boss, you promised—” Sebastian began as he stroked Paige’s hair.

  “I said, both. Now.”

  Rage

  “Man, you are going to wear a hole in the floor,” Hawk groaned as I paced. My brow drew in as I stared back at him. He knew how wound up I was. He held his hands up in surrender at my glare. “Hack said it wouldn’t be much longer.” He passed me a shot; I shook my head. I needed a clear mind to drive out as soon as he gets a location on Ivy’s car.

  “I feel fucking useless and helpless just waiting here. She could be anywhere by now.”

  “I know, but we have to wait. You don’t want to cost yourself more time by heading in the wrong direction. We’ll find them. Juliet is a strong woman. She’ll be okay.”

  I passed the rec room to find a group of brothers that just came in, prepared to ride out with us. Where? I didn’t fucking know. Every member of our chapter was here now. Shelly was helping the other girls get food and drinks for them. Even though the brothers had an obligation to contribute in situations like these, this was no obligation to them—they all knew and adored Juliet. I got a wrath of shit every fucking day from them after we had broken up. I was sure they would rather have her here than me. She had sucked everyone into her world of loving-kindness. Her smile lit up every room she entered.

  I spun and smashed a hole into the wall. Everyone turned to look at me. I couldn’t breathe in here any longer. I had to get outside.

  Colt leaned against the wall behind the building. He sucked in hard on the joint between his fingers. He offered it to me before letting out a long stream of white smoke. “It will take the edge off.” I took a hit, letting the smoke fill my lungs. I tried to pass back what was left. “Finish it. You need it more than I do.” He lit his smoke and gestured to Leo, who was darting straight at me.

  Leo and I hadn’t seen each other in a few days. He had been away with Shelly. They came back as soon as they heard what went down. Sympathy was all over his face when he pulled me in and whispered, “Juliet is one of the toughest women I know. She can handle herself.” He only got a nod from me when Hawk came barreling out the door, looking around before spotting us. “Hack’s got something.”

  “Ivy’s car was tagged in the turnpike system crossing into Florida. It looked like Joker was headed to Tallahassee.” Hack pointed to the screen.

  Both my hands scrubbed my face. “Fuck. That’s a big fucking area to cover.” My pacing began again.

  Colt called the Tallahassee chapter. They talked to Hack, and we set up a meet. Tomorrow morning, we would be there, and hopefully not too late.

  Crossing into the city limits, my eyes took in the vast city and became painfully aware of the enormous task that finding her would be. It was the longest drive of my life. Every part of my body ached from the tension I carried as I rode.

  The meet was at a dive go-go bar in the city. I’d been in the Tallahassee clubhouse before, but never the titty bar that acted as their second site. There were two girls on the small stage shaking their asses. I headed straight to the meeting room until halted with all the other guys. We were made to wait outside the room; Colt and their chapter’s president, Cain, had to talk first. I felt like a caged animal waiting outside the room. I was offered several drinks, but I turned them down.

  Ace, who was usually all smiles, found me immediately. He aggressively walked over with a pissed-off look on his face. “I thought Juliet was your girl?” He pushed me. “How’d you let those bastards get her?”

  “I don’t owe you any explanation, brother. All you need to know is that Juliet and her baby sister need to be found.” I pushed him back the same way.

  “You have no idea what the fuck you are dealing with here.” His expression was full of worry.

  “And you do?”

  “Yeah, I do. Those assholes in that cartel are cruel soulless fuckers. They deal in drugs, guns, women, and children. Do you get that? As in sell women, never to be seen again.”

  Another member got between us. “Ace, why don’t you go get us a bottle, huh?” He pointed to the bar. “Rage, good to see you. Sorry about that. Ace had a regular at a strip club. He was real close with her.” He blew out some smoke before he continued, “The girl’s ex was a member the cartel, and he did not take kindly to being replaced by Ace. Word has it that he sold her to traffickers across the border.” Tapping out his smoke, he hit my shoulder, “We’ll find your girl.”

  “The cartel used to have a pipeline through Tallahassee that didn’t give us any trouble. We stayed out of each other’s business. Until Marco Cordona decided he was going to set up shop here,” the brother explained. “Now we are in a constant battle keeping those fuckers out of our business.”

  Hack was set up at a table. He was using some info that Cain’s guys gave him to pinpoint where the girls might be. I wanted to get a lead so we could move. I was drowning there waiting.

  “I got some interesting information,” Hack announced.

  We all quieted.

  “We aren’t the only ones who are looking for Juliet. That cop, Gavin, may have a better idea. He had some good connections. Only…” he paused and let out a sharp breath, “Gavin’s no longer a cop. He got suspended and then fired from the force for going after the cartel on his own, outside of his jurisdiction. He interfered with a bust and got his ass handed to him. Now he’s working as a bounty hunter and a private investigator.”

  I was dialing the number Ivy gave me before he finished. We don’t deal with cops, but a bounty hunter and defamed officer, fuck, we could do that.

  A half hour later, a few of us were riding out to meet the little prick. Ivy had given me a brief history of Gavin and Juliet’s relationship. I was not happy that Gavin was harboring feelings for Juliet and it pissed me off that Juliet seemed to trust this guy to protect her, but not me. No, I didn’t like this guy at all.

  Juliet

  Rage’s arms pulled me in tight, his soft lips touched mine, sending chills through my whole body. Even though he held me, I couldn’t get warm. Why wouldn’t he speak? I kept pulling him closer, but he just smiled down at me. Rage’s face began to disappear. No! Don’t leave, please. I’m sorry, please stay. I touched my head. Water trickled down my cheeks.

  My eyes began to open. I blinked slowly, trying to get them to adjust to the darkness. I used my shoulder to wipe the dampness from my face. Blackness cloaked the room, making it impossible to see anything around me. The musty air blasting through the vent was frigid. My fingers and toes were numb, making them hard to move. An intense headache competed with the throbbing pain in my face. The tiniest bit of warmth against my back made me aware of the body next to mine. I tried opening my mouth; the tape that had sealed it shut had been removed. My lips felt swollen, and I tasted dried blood on them. I nudged the body next to mine. I hoped that it was Paige, that they hadn’t separated us.

  A whisper came from my cracked lips. “Paigey…” I croaked her childhood nickname.
/>   Nothing.

  “Paige, please answer me,” panicking, I whispered louder, waiting for an answer.

  A small groan escaped her as she moved just centimeters. “Ana…” a low voice struggled to whisper back.

  I let out the breath I was holding, relieved that hers was the body next to mine. “Oh, Paige…” I leaned into her as close as I could, “I’m so sorry you got dragged into this.” My voice hitched, and my eyes welled, but no tears came. Dehydration left nothing for my body to spare. We leaned into each other. The friction caused my broken body to ache. “I will find a way to get us out of here,” I promised her.

  A door opened. It creaked loudly, breaking the silence. Light streamed down the staircase. It was dim yet blinding in the blackness of the basement. We both jumped and huddled our bodies even closer with our hands tied behind our backs.

  We stayed silent. The only sound came from the shoes that clanked heavily down each step. The stairs moaned under the weight of the man. A large shadow appeared, then the massive body that belonged to it. It was him—the monster. The man with all the scars; the slight limp in his step gave him away.

  He turned on a small flashlight. He aimed it around, highlighting areas of the basement before finding us. The light was so shocking when it hit me, I squeezed my eyes shut. I could feel the tremors rolling off Paige’s small body. God, please. Please send someone to rescue us before it’s too late. I had pushed away everyone who cared, attempting to save them; now there might be no one left who could save us.

  With my eyes still closed, I listened to the clicking of his fancy shoes on the damp concrete as they got closer and closer. I braced myself as the large body loomed over us.

  I heard the sound of a cap twisting off plastic, and then he kneeled by Paige. “Open,” he directed her. I could barely see, but he held the bottle of water to her lips. “Sip slow.” He tilted the bottle allowing her to drink. He wiped the dribbles of water from her face gently.