I picture Tess saying her vows to Viper as she stands dressed in a white dress, looking beautiful, staring at Viper lovingly as she says I do. It hits me then why she doesn’t want to marry me—she’s already fucking married. And what the fuck is she doing here at the Blood Brothers compound? Has she been a snitch this whole time? Did the Forseekers send her in here undercover, to make one of the members fall for her and gives her inside information?
Oh my God, she’s been lying this whole time. She doesn’t’ love me, she’s just acting, and I’m the stupid fucking asshole for falling for her. She knew what she was doing, fuck…. She even slept with me the first night, probably thinking how easy it was to make me fall for her. How could I have been so fucking stupid. I feel deceived, and I feel played. This whole time….
I see red when I picture her in bed with Viper, laughing at how gullible I was. Without thinking, I stride over to the dresser and smash all the items on there with the back of my hand. But that doesn’t mask the anger one bit, so I go wild and lift the dresser with two hands and throw it to the floor. Drawers fly open and clothes fall onto the ground, but I don’t stop; I can’t stop. I want to hit something and someone.
I go to the chair in the corner and lift it, throwing it across the room. Next is the mattress, nothing feels heavy in this moment. I feel like the Hulk, my anger giving me strength. I hear banging at my door, but I don’t open it because I know whoever is on the other side will get the beating of a lifetime. I storm to the bathroom next, and seeing Tess’s toothbrush, hairbrush, and her collection of creams on the counter, I pull back my hand and swipe them all to the floor. Only then do I lean both hands on the sink and let my head drop as I take deep, even breaths. Blood pours from my knuckles from the glass I smashed, and I turn the faucet on and rinse them under cold water.
“Hey, man, open up!”
I hear Tracker yelling out from the hallway outside my bedroom, but I just stare into the mirror, looking over my reflection with disgust. You fucking idiot.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Tess’s Blood Brothers T-shirt that she wears to bed, hanging on the back of the door. I turn to face it, my back leaning against the sink, and my breath catches in my throat as tears threaten to fall. Slowly and steadily, I shuffle one step at a time over to where Tess’s shirt is. With blood still on my hands, I take it off the hanger and bring it up to my face, inhaling her scent. Feeling defeated all of a sudden, I cry into the shirt.
I can hear voices at my bedroom door, and then I hear it—I hear her voice. Tess. I drop the shirt to the floor and storm toward the door. I unlock it and swing it open. When I do, my gaze zones in on Tess, whose standing there with her eyes wide open, her mouth an almost comical O shape. I briefly spot Tracker, Rhyder, Prez, and Hawke surrounding her, but they don’t exist to me right now—the only person who does is Tess, and she couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
Before I open my mouth, Tracker steps in front of Tess and places his hand on my chest, pushing me back.
“Get the fuck out of my way, Tracker, this is not your business,” I growl. I push his hand aside and try to move him out the way, but he doesn’t budge. I look over Tracker’s shoulder and find Tess, her face a mask of confusion.
Large hands grab my face, and then I’m suddenly brought into Tracker’s line of sight. “Don’t do it, man. Not here, not like this.” My chest rises with the heavy breaths I’m sucking in, and my gaze lands on Tracker when I force myself to look away from Tess.
“Get… the… fuck… out of my way,” I snarl, grinding my jaw. But again, he doesn’t move aside.
“Blaze, what’s going on?” I hear Tess ask, her voice on the verge of tears.
With all the strength I can muster, I push Tracker aside, making him fly into the wall. I take the two steps needed to get to Tess and point my finger at her. “You fucking lying bitch, you are gonna pay for this.” I grab Tess by her shoulders and shake her. “What did you think, I wouldn’t find out? Oh, you’re good. Too fucking good,” I say sarcastically, a bitter laugh coming out of my mouth.
“Blaze, please,” Tess pleads as she reaches one hand up and cups my cheek. I pull away from her straightaway, and she stares at me, confusion written all over her face. Suddenly her gaze falls to the folder on the floor, and she catches a glimpse of herself on the page half hanging out. She turns and walks slowly toward the papers before she kneels down and picks it up, scanning it. “You know,” she whispers, defeat in her voice.
“Is that all you can say? I know?” I ask, walking over to her.
She turns to face me, tears now streaming down her face. “I wanted to tell you. I did. But….”
I shake my head. “No buts, Tess. You’ve lied to me this whole time. This whole fuckin’ time we were together, you belonged to another.”
I hear my boys behind me—Hawke whispers “fuck me,” and Rhyder tells him to shut the fuck up. I’m close to telling them to get the fuck out, but they need to hear this—they are my brothers, my family, which is more than I can say about this woman who’s standing in front of me.
“Blaze, please, it’s not like that,” she says, stepping closer, her hand coming up once again. I step back, not wanting her to touch me. Right now, all I feel is betrayal and anger, not a very good combination. She drops her hand and pushes her hair behind her ear. “Please, Blaze, give me a chance to explain.”
I stand to my full height and glare down at her. “I want you to pack your fucking things and get the hell out. I’m giving you this chance to leave quietly, because so help me God, Tess…. Oh, wait, I’m sorry, Teresa, isn’t it?”
“Blaze, please.”
“If you don’t do what I say, I’ll call that husband of yours and tell him he can come and pick up his whore.”
A flash of something that looks like fear crosses her face, but then she drops her head and cries into her hands, her shoulders slumping defeatedly, letting the papers fall to the ground.
After a minute she lifts her head and blinks her eyes, then looks up at me. I don’t know why, but in this moment, I think how beautiful she looks. But then I shake my head; I’m a fucking idiot.
“Okay, Blaze, if that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want,” I state, toying with my lip ring.
She nods once then walks past me and heads out the door.
“Hey!” I yell, stopping her in her tracks. She slowly turns toward me, her eyes shining bright with her tears, her mascara staining her cheeks. I point into my room. “Take your shit, I don’t want any sign left that you were ever here.”
She glances toward the room then back at me. “I don’t want it.” She looks at my brothers. “I’m sorry, Quill, I’m so sorry about everything. Thank you for making me feel like part of the family. And please, say goodbye to Jasmine and the kids, I’ll miss them so much.”
Prez looks over at me, then back at her, his facial expression not giving any hint of what he’s thinking.
“I will,” is all he says.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
She turns to walk away but takes one last look at me. I fist my hands at my sides. I can see how vulnerable she is, and I hate myself for feeling a little sorry for her. “Just burn it,” she says, looking back toward what was once our room. “Just burn it all.”
Without another glance, she runs down the hallway toward the exit, taking my heart along with her.
Blaze
“Get the fuck out,” I yell as Rhyder and Tracker start to lift the fallen dresser off my floor. They both stare at me once they’ve set it up against the wall again.
I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to face Quill. His piercing blue eyes help keep me focused.
“You’re angry right now, I get that.”
“Angry, doesn’t cut it,” I mumble. “Prez, you don’t even know the half of it.”
He nods then looks down at the floor. “May I?” he asks as he glances back up at me. I know he’s looking for permission to read he
r file.
Shrugging my shoulders, I look down at the file, then back up to Quill. “Be my guest.” I turn away and walk over to Tracker. He turns to face me. “You all right, brother?”
Staring down at the floor, I rub at my bottom lip with my thumb. When I look back up at Tracker, his expression is neutral, and I feel bad about how I reacted earlier. “I’m sorry I pushed you, man, I was just… angry.”
“Yeah, figures. Look, brother, you’ve got nothing to apologize about. We all loved Tess, she was one of our own. Well, so we thought.”
I nod my head, then hear, “What the fuck!”
I turn around and look at Quill, who’s still staring down at the file. He looks up at me, his eyebrows raised.
“You’re tellin’ me, Tess is married to Viper? The very same Viper who’s VP of the Forsseekers? The same Viper that we’re looking into, to see if he’s the one stealing the women on our streets to sell for prostitution?”
“Very same one,” I admit, then walk over to Quill.
“It says here her old man’s Jack Bronx.” He shifts the page toward me, his finger sitting under Jack Bronx’s name. “He’s the fuckin’ president!”
“I know, man. Fuck!” I growl as I turn around and sit on the edge of my mattress-free bed, the padded queen-size monstrosity still on the floor. My head falls down between my legs as my body slumps, and I run my hands through my hair and pull on the edges. I growl out loud, “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This whole fuckin’ time she was with me, she was married.” I look back up at Quill, who’s still shaking his head and reading her file.
“You think she was sent here by the Forseekers? But why?” Quill asks, still staring down at the document.
“I don’t know, Prez, I don’t know. I thought I knew her.” I laugh out loud then drop my head into my hands. “She fooled me, that’s for sure. Fuck, I even asked her to marry me,” I say, laughing bitterly. “I guess the jokes on me, hey?”
I feel Prez sit down beside me, and he lays a hand on my shoulder. “Man, the joke’s on us.” He stills then places the file on the floor. “I don’t know what’s going on, and why she kept this from you, and us, but I’m sure she has her reasons.”
I quickly turn to face him. “Reasons? Are you fuckin’ serious? There is no reason behind this—she lied this whole fuckin’ time. Her name is Teresa, for God’s sake.” I get up and storm toward my door, needing to escape this shit show for a bit. “I’m gonna get a drink. I’m sick of thinking.”
“Blaze!” I hear Quill yell out, and I turn around to face him. “Sit this one out tonight.”
I narrow my eyes, looking straight at him. “Ain’t no way I’m hangin’ back here while you boys are out there,” I say, pointing to the outside of the compound. “I’m comin’, and I don’t want to hear another word about it. I’m your sergeant-at-fuckin’-arms.”
“I know,” Prez says, getting up from the bed and walking over to me. He rests his hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t make me stay, I need to be with my boys. Can’t sit here not knowing what’s going on. I’m coming,” I say with an air of finality.
Quill stares at me for a while, then nods once. “Blaze, I promise you we’ll get to the bottom of this. If Viper is the one responsible for the kidnappings, then he will get what he’s owed.”
I grin wickedly. “If he is, he’s mine—promise me that, Prez.”
Prez chews on the inside of his cheek, then taps my shoulder. “Okay, brother, I’ll give you that. Now let’s go and get this drink.”
We walk out front to the clubhouse’s main room and ask Daisy for a couple of beers. “No, scratch that, give me a shot of tequila.”
“You got it, honey,” Daisy replies as she places a beer in front of Quill then a shot glass in front of me. I wait patiently as she fills it, then I bring it up to my lips and swallow it down.
“Another,” I say, tapping the glass on the bar.
Daisy pours another shot, and I knock it back, loving the burn in my chest as it goes down.
“Hey, brother, we need you sober tonight,” Prez cautions as he takes a swig of his beer.
“One more,” I demand, and Daisy looks to Quill for approval. He nods. She pours it, and I snatch up the shot glass and turn around, looking out into the main room. I spot one of our whores, Katie, and I run my gaze over her. She’s wearing a short black skirt, a plaid shirt tied into a knot under her breasts, and heels that have to be at least five inches. She’s talking with the other girls, but then her eyes latch on to mine, and she smiles shyly as she looks over at me. She reminds me of a high school cheerleader with her hair in ponytails and sucking on a lollipop. The other girls lean in and whisper in her ear, and she licks her lips and starts to walk toward me.
Suddenly Lu comes storming into the clubhouse, taking my focus away from Katie. “What the fuck did you do?” Luisa yells when she’s only inches away and we’re face-to-face. I can see a vein throbbing in her temple. “I just spent the last ten minutes trying to work out why Tess is crying out there. But she wouldn’t tell me, she just hurried to her car and left. Now tell me, Blaze, what did you say to her?” She jabs her long, red-painted fingernail in my chest.
I straighten and move closer, her nail digging in even further until it’s almost a sweet pain. “Not now, Lu,” I warn her, but she’s not backing down.
“You’re an asshole, she deserves better.”
I flinch and take a step back. “She deserves better?” I shout. I go to say something else, but Hawke steps in, lifting Lu from behind while she yells at him to let her down.
“Shut it, baby, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hawke says, then turns her in his arms and wraps his arms around her, grabbing her ass in the process and pulling her in tight against him.
“I don’t know what I’m—” She doesn’t get to finish that sentence, because Hawke smashes his lips to hers, shutting her up instantly.
After a moment, she pulls back, and she’s smiling. “You can’t just kiss me every time I say something you don’t agree with.”
He kisses her hard again, and this time when he pulls back, she jumps up and wraps her legs around his waist.
“Where are the kids?” he asks, a glint in his eye, and she replies, “At daycare.”
He turns around and starts walking toward the club-member rooms, letting out a mock growl. “Well, then, it’s mommy-and-daddy time, and mommy needs a spanking.” I hear Lu’s laughter ring out as they turn and head toward Hawke’s room.
I shake my head at their antics then turn around, placing the untouched shot glass on the bench.
Quill clears his throat, and I look at him, my eyebrows pulling together. He has an amused grin on his face. “What?”
He nods to a point next to me, and then I hear, “Blaze?”
I turn around to the sweet voice, and see Katie standing only a few feet away, her red lollipop in one hand. She reaches out and slides her other hand down my arm, her fingers leaving trails of warmth as they travel.
“Don’t do it, it’s not worth it,” I hear from Quill beside me.
I turn to look at him, the shots of tequila making my grin a bit wobbly. “Why not? She’s cute, isn’t she?” I slap Katie’s ass with one hand and squeeze her buttcheek with my other while still looking at Prez. She squeals, and I turn back and snatch her lollipop out of her hand and suck it into my mouth. I pull her closer and let my hand travel under her skirt. She’s wearing a G-String, so I slide my finger between her asscheeks. Her eyes dilate with lust, and I let my finger glide further down to the opening at her pussy. Leaning in, I whisper in her ear, “Fuckin’ soaked, and I haven’t even touched you yet.”
I pull back and watch as her tongue comes out to lick her bottom lip. I slip the lollipop out of my mouth and press it to hers, and she obeys immediately when I say, “Open up.”
She opens her plump lips and wraps them around the round top. I picture her doing the same thing around my cock, and I feel it jerk beneath my jeans. She p
ops the lollipop out her mouth with a loud pop, and breaths into my ear, “Take me back to your room.”
I smile wide, bringing my hand out from under her skirt but keeping it firmly on her ass. “No need to ask me twice, darlin’.” I look over at Prez. “Oh yes, brother, she is worth it—anything to make me forget Tess.”
Quill rubs at his jaw and glances between Katie and me. “I get it, I really do, I’ve been where you are before. When I thought Jasmine went back to her ex, I went crazy as shit and said things I shouldn’t have. All I’m sayin’ is, take your time, brother. You’re pissed and angry right now and want to forget her, but believe me, shit will be the same when you’re done.”
I laugh bitterly. “You’re right about one thing, I am angry, and I can think of one way to get that anger out of me, and Katie here is it. I’ll see you later, Prez.” I’m smiling as I walk off with Katie, and when we turn to walk down the hallway, we come face-to-face with Gunner and Selina.
Gunner shifts his gaze between me and Katie, then smirks. “Ain’t even gonna ask, bro.”
“Then don’t,” I say, and we make our way around them.
“Wait, where’s Tess?” I hear Selina ask, and I look over my shoulder at her.
“Tess? Who the fuck is Tess?” I say in reply, then turn back and grasp Katie’s chin in my hand, pulling her in for a kiss. She moans into my mouth, and I smile against her lips. “You want me, baby?”
She nods enthusiastically, her ponytails dancing with the action. “Very much.”
I turn back to Selina. She’s standing there with her mouth wide open, but her eyebrows are drawn inward as she frowns. “Sorry, we gotta go. You see, Katie has needs, and so do I for that matter.” Selina’s mouth drops open even wider, and Gunner laughs then shakes his head.
Tess Property of Blaze: Book #5 in the Blood Brothers MC Series Page 10
