I nod, “Yeah. I wanna know what happened to you, and I don’t want you to spare me the details. You came here for a reason. You obviously knew where I was and I won’t even ask how long you knew. But, you came here when you were hurt, kid. There’s only one reason someone does that. Usually it’s when they want one of two things. Help, or to get out of whatever they’re in. Relationship or otherwise.”
Abbey’s eyes falter for a moment and she closes them. “You know, you see the commercials and the awareness about the battered women. The ones who suffer silently for years and in that moment you think they’re pathetic. Like, how could they stay, right? How could they keep putting up with the same torment and abuse for years? I thought women like that were disgusting, how they wouldn’t stick up for themselves. It physically made me nauseous, until I was one of them. Until I understood how it happens,”
The room grows quiet for a couple of minutes while Abbey develops the courage to continue telling me her story. I can see it’s difficult for her, so I won’t press her. I’ll simply let her talk as quickly or slowly as she needs to.
“They come into your life as charming strangers. People who want to dazzle you at every chance they get. That’s how I met Toby, the first man to get me into a mess like this. He was a poker player in town for a tournament. Had lived in Las Vegas his entire life. Somehow even with how often I went out with friends we never crossed paths. It felt so weird but enthralling at the same time. He was sweet, said all the right things, and he was chivalrous. Until one night he’d just finished a poker game and we went out to celebrate his win. He’d left me on the dance floor of a club and I was dancing amongst the crowd. He said he was going to the bathroom and he’d be right back. Well, I thought he was the guy grinding himself on me. Turns out it wasn’t Toby,” Abbey shuts her eyes, her lip beginning to tremble.
“He yanked my arm and tore me out of the club, took me on the elevator and as soon as those doors shut, I knew what was coming. He kicked me in the head numerous times, told me I was a whore, I was meaningless. That night everything changed. I knew who he was and what he was capable of. Of course, I wrote it off like many other women do in the same situation. It’s a one-time thing, it’s something that can be fixed, blamed myself. I . . . I told myself whatever I needed to feel better.”
Abbey stops speakin’ and I consider this as my time to butt in. “Toby did this to you?” I ask, knowin’ a first name isn’t much but I figure I could narrow it down. He plays professional poker, name is Toby. I’ve found men on much less.
She shakes her head from side to side, “No, Toby didn’t do this to me, Dixon. Toby was my first boyfriend who . . . tricked me. I was unlucky enough to date two.”
Alright, so she’s datin’ another piece of shit.
“The second one . . . he came in as a rescuer, said he’d get me out of the situation after he saw Toby getting a little rough with me one night at a casino. Stupidly, the long story short is I ended up falling for him. I thought it was normal Dixon, I really did. I didn’t see the signs for months, or maybe they didn’t appear for that long . . . how the hell do I know. I’ve established he gets high on helping women get out of abusive situations only to bring them into another one later down the line. This . . . this is the first and only time he’s done this, but I . . . I won’t stay. I can’t. I’ve gone through this before and I won’t choose to do it again. I’ve known where you’ve been for a while, but I didn’t have the courage to come here. I didn’t know what I’d say, or how I’d act. The other night I didn’t have a choice. You were the only person I could run to and I knew you would help me. You’re my big brother. It doesn’t matter what’s going on. You’ll always have my back.”
I stand up, move around the chair and wrap my arms around my sister. “You’re damn straight, kid. I’ve always got you, and you never even have to ask. Now there’s only one thing I’m gonna need you to do. Just tell me this fucker’s name because you’re part of the Reapers now. We don’t let shit like this slide by to our own. It’s an eye for an eye kinda thing. Now I’ll give you the choice, we can kill him and make sure he doesn’t do this to another woman ever again, or I can make sure he feels pain like no other.”
Knowing Abbey, I already foresee her tellin’ me to spare him. “Don’t kill him, but . . . please make sure someone is always watching, making sure he doesn’t do this to someone else.”
“You got it,” I’m now the VP, which means I’ll be askin’ Damon if we can have an impromptu meetin’ of church so I can get the go ahead to go deal with this motherfucker. “Now I need you to tell me everythin’ about this guy.”
Chapter Twenty
She is strong, but not in the way most people think. She loves more than she’ll ever get back and she knows it. Yet, she loves anyway.
~ JM Storm
Dixon
I’ve let three days pass by. Three days of me not sayin’ a word to Abbey about the motherfucker Toby or her latest boyfriend who put her on bedrest for a few days. She’s been out walkin’ around since yesterday, chattin’ with the brothers and women at the club. I found out she’s a bartender at this exclusive club type of thing in the city. The ironic part is she knows Widow’s baby mama, Rebel. I put two and two together real quick. There’s a reason she didn’t tell me who she works for, because it’s Crave, LLC. AKA, the sex club. She’s a bartender at a fuckin’ sex club. Jesus, if her gram were only alive today. Surely the fact she works for Crave, LLC would’ve killed the woman if cancer didn’t get to her first.
Now I’m sittin’ next to Damon ‘cause I asked him late last night if we could have an impromptu issuance of church this mornin. After hearin’ everything my little sister said, I knew deep down I needed to sort shit out as quickly as possible.
“Why the fuck we up talkin’ so damn early?” Widow growls from his seat.
Damon looks to me, givin’ me the signal to speak. “‘Cause I asked. Look, I’ll keep this shit simple. Everyone here knows Abbey is my little sister, and on top of it, everyone knows the condition she came into the club in.”
“I heard she was beat up pretty bad,” Chaz says from the other end of the table, and I give a nod.
“Yeah, she was. Cheyenne and Sakura had to really watch over her those first couple of days.” Mouser adds.
“You find out who’s responsible?” Damon asks me.
I suck in a deep breath and grimace. “Bottom line, no. I know this isn’t the first relationship she’s been in that made her a punching bag. But, I know the name of the first fucker who put his hands on her. His name’s Toby and he plays poker professionally. Just because we don’t have the second guy’s name doesn’t mean we won’t be payin’ Toby a visit. My hope is Toby will lead us to the second fucker. Men like him don’t often give up on their girls’ that easy, you know?”
Kade scoffs, “Yeah, those fuckers are like leeches who don’t know how to let go.”
Amara sits on the other side of the table since I’ve been named VP, payin’ attention to the conversation but not adding anything. I’m sure she’s still pissed at what Damon did. We all know her heart was in the right place, but Damon doesn’t tolerate insubordination.
“I take it you want us to vote on whether or not to go after him?” Damon asks, cockin’ a brow.
Again, I nod. “Yeah. I could go after this fucker myself, but Prez, not even gonna lie. I want backup. I want this fucker to fear us so badly he feels obligated to lead us to the other bastard who put his hands on her.”
“Alright, all in favor of using the club to help Dixon find these assholes, say aye.” Damon instructs the room.
I meet my gaze with every brother and even sister who agrees to use the club resources to help. “Thank you all. I really appreciate it,” I say to everyone.
“There’s no need to thank us. We’re family, and we look out for our own. Now, I’m gonna naturally assume you want a couple people to go with you when you figure out where this Toby fella is.” Damon states.
“You want me to go with you?”
“Yeah, I do. I know you’re itchin’ to slam a sledgehammer into a set of kneecaps.”
Amara snickers lowly, nodding that she’ll go with me. She didn’t have much of a choice, but I’m glad she came to the decision on her own instead of gettin’ into another fight with Damon in front of everyone.
“Since we’re all here we should probably go over some other shit. Bad Bunnies Brothel should be opening by the end of September. We had some issues with permitting on some of the renovations we’ve been doing so there’s a slight hiccup in our timeline. Sakura came to me last night with everything, but we’re going to improvise in the meantime. As you all know, the goal was to have the house the girls’ are living in now as their private quarters. We were trying to keep it that way even through renovations, but we can’t do it. We’re in the hole right now with the fees we’re having to pay the state to operate this legally. After Sakura and I spoke there was really only one way to rectify the situation, to have the johns come into their private quarters until we can get the new location fully functional. Now, I’m gonna need two of you to be providing security. I created a schedule based on the times johns are supposed to be there. Mouser and Kade, your shift starts tonight at eight.”
“Shit, Prez . . . I told Ivy we could go out and have dinner tonight, just the two of us. It’s the first time we’ve had a dinner to ourselves since the twins were born. Sakura and Cheyenne offered to watch the kids. Can’t you put me on another shift?” Damon looks annoyed as hell, ‘cause he just explained we have schedules. If someone has somethin’ pop up we should just switch like people do at their actual jobs. Damon digs out a paper from his jeans pocket and slides it across the table. It lands in the middle of the table to where a few of the guys can grab it.
“That’s the schedule. If it interferes with something in your personal lives it’s on you to find someone to switch with. Now, I have some shit to attend to. We’re done here,” Damon tells the room, slamming the gavel down on the table. He rises and is out of the room before anyone can say a word.
“Anyone heard how things are up in Billings?” I ask, hopin’ Kade has some sort of update. I’m sure he talks to his brother a bit.
Every fucker in the room looks to Kade, “Why is everyone lookin’ at me? Don’t any of you talk to Zane?”
“They avoid it because your brother has this gift of making everyone want to throttle him,” Amara tells Kade, causin’ a bunch of laughter to break out amongst the brothers.
“Wow, I thought that only happened with me.” Kade laughs too.
“The construction is almost done at the club. I spoke to Zane yesterday and he told me what was happening and all that.” Amara says to the room.
“Why’d he call you and not Dixon?” Kade asks, gettin’ a hell of a glare from Amara.
“He wasn’t aware I’m no longer the VP. Plus, I think it was his last chance to flirt with me. He mentioned something about how the Raiders are pressuring him to make good on the alliance Fist acquired for him when he was a child.” Amara says.
Damn, Zane must be losin’ his shit up there. Fist offered Zane’s hand in marriage to one of the Raiders’ MC princesses. It would solidify two powerful clubs. But, from what I hear on the streets the Raiders aren’t as powerful as they once were. They used to have clubs all over California, but now they’re in one clubhouse just outside of Los Angeles.
“Cobra, can you do me a favor and see what sorta information you can find on a guy named Toby who comes around Vegas for poker tournaments?” Cobra’s more or less our inside computer guy. He’s not great, but he can track some people down when need be.
“Yep, sure can.”
“Great. Amara, Chaz, hopefully by tonight we’ll be payin’ a visit to someone.” Standin’ I push in my chair and leave the room. Everything should come together pretty quickly. If it doesn’t, I might go a bit crazy.
Chapter Twenty-One
I always wanted you. Even when I didn’t know what I wanted. Even before I knew you. It was you. You were the chapter that I didn’t know the words to, but knew it when it finally existed. When I finally found it and began to read, I knew I was home.
~ JM Storm
Indra
“Wait. What did you just say?” I ask, blinking a few times to make sure I’m in reality and not some imaginary world. With what Dixon just said to me, I could be dreaming, or something else. Never in my life have I heard someone say something so . . . brutal.
“Lemme guess. You’re thinkin’ you misheard me or some shit?” He smirks from the other end of the couch. Holy crap. He’s amused.
“Something like that.” I mutter, searching his eyes.
Dixon has spent the last half an hour filling me in on what happened to Abbey. Apparently, this isn’t the first time she’s been in an abusive relationship. She was unlucky enough to have this happen to her twice. Dixon told me how the club has something called church, where it’s a secret meeting between all members. I asked him to explain it in further detail and it really just seems like a board meeting. Kind of funny when I think about it, but that’s what it resembled to me.
Anyway, he said he’s looking for this guy named Toby, the first man who ever hit Abbey and he’ll have Amara smash his legs with a sledgehammer.
I thought he was kidding.
I don’t think he was.
“Does it bother you, that I’d resort to something so cruel?” He asks, placing his arms on his legs he rests his chin in his hand. I can’t say I hate anything about Dixon, but I do loathe the way he seems jovial about this.
“A little bit. Why would you put out hatred and violence when it only hurts people? And before you say you’re doing it for Abbey, remember, not everything needs to be met with violence. People can learn from their past mistakes.” Dixon and I are two different people, that will never change, but I can accept his flaws the way he accepts mine.
“Zen, you come from a different life than I do. You see different shit. In your world everything is good. You don’t see men who sell their daughter’s body just so they can get a score. You don’t have to go into warehouses where there have been dead bodies up to the windows. Plain and simple, you don’t see the same shit I do. In your world, with most of the general population things are good. I can’t say the same for mine. In my world, people are monsters. In my world, you can’t talk it out with these people ‘cause while I’m talkin’ they would’ve shot a bullet and killed me.”
My eyes widen at the visuals Dixon just gave me and with every one I could mentally paint the picture he was describing. I don’t need him to tell me we’re from two different walks of life, but we’re in the same world. I know there’s good and there’s bad, how there’s constant balance. However, I choose to believe the good in people heavily outweighs the bad.
“I . . . I just—” I start to speak my heart but Dixon interrupts me.
“Zen, you don’t have to be defensive with me. I’m not askin’ you to sit here and argue, or give me ten valid reasons you feel that way. You see everything in a positive light and fuck, it’s one of the reasons I love you so damn much. You don’t have the perspective of the glass is half empty, your glass is always half full.” As much as I’d love to be thanking him for commenting on my positive outlook, I’m too caught off guard with him confessing his feelings.
He did just say he loved me so damn much, right? Or did I hallucinate that? Heat flushes to my face while my stomach is doing summersaults inside my body. We’ve been dating for a month. Wait . . . has it been a month? Is that even enough time for your feelings to grow this much for another person? Holy hell. I’m losing it right now. I’m fucking losing it.
My heart starts beating so fast I feel it in my head. The walls physical
ly feel like they’re closing in on me and heaviness settles in my chest. Everything right now becomes a bit too much. I try to slow down my breathing but it doesn’t seem to be working. So, I grab ahold of the front of my shirt and pull it in and out causing a current of air to hit my chin and the bottom of my face. It’s cool air so that feels nice but it isn’t enough. It’s almost like my body is going into hyper overdrive. I know nothing good is going to happen right now when I see Dixon’s mouth moving but hear no words. It’s just silence. Everything is just quiet, like a humming sound and the next thing I know I’m falling forward toward his wood floor.
I come back to on my side, my head pounding with a damp cloth being pressed to my forehead. “How long has she been out?” Sakura asks. Glancing up I can see she’s the one pressing the cloth to my head.
“I . . . I don’t know. I ran to come get you as soon as it happened and . . . and I don’t fuckin’ know Sakura. Is she okay? What’s the matter? Jesus, is she gonna be fuckin’ okay?” He asks, sounding worried beyond belief.
I could interrupt but I stick to breathing, trying to calm myself down. I’ve had anxiety attacks before and I know that’s what this is. This was merely my anxiety getting the best of me in a moment where I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t do my breathing. I didn’t do my exercises my therapists had taught me. Instead I let the ugly beast win. I allowed it to take control over me.
“Dixon, look at me!” Sakura orders. I don’t look up at him, but I hear the sudden halt of his boots against the floor. “You just came out to grab me a couple minutes ago. Breathe. Okay? Just breathe. When she wakes up we’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise you, there’s probably an easy explanation.”
“What do you mean easy explanation!?” Dixon grumbles. Even though he’s flustered I can tell he’s worried.
Dixon (Reapers MC Book 10) Page 10
