Fender: Soulless Kings MC

by Andi Rhodes

  Her mouth opens and closes several times, but no words come out. She swallows, the action visible in the column of her slender neck. A neck that used to be a sexy as fuck display of my mark, my claim on her. Now it’s like a blank canvas, clean, fresh, new, and I hate the urge to dirty it up that slithers through me.

  “I don’t know what you want from me.” She shrugs but then does something so reminiscent of the old Charlie. She straightens her spine and squares her shoulders, her MC princess persona like a second skin that she wears with pride. “I had nothing to do with what happened. Fucking nothing! That doesn’t matter though, does it? You already have your mind made up, so my words don’t mean shit to you.”

  “That’s not true,” I argue.

  Liar. You’re just as guilty as being judge and jury as your brothers.

  “Dammit, Fender, it is and you know it. Your brothers have your brain so warped that no matter what I say, you’re not going to believe me. Unless, of course, I tell you I did plan it. That I betrayed you, set you up and burned your world to the fucking ground.”

  My tenuous hold on control snaps like a rubber band that’s stretched too far. I advance on her and push her backward until she hits the wall, pinning her there with my weight, my face inches from hers.

  “You don’t get to talk about my brothers,” I sneer. “You don’t get to sling accusations at the Soulless Kings and get away with it. Not after what you did.”

  She attempts to shove me away from her, but she’s a pint-sized pixie and I don’t budge. Her physical strength has never matched the fire in her temper, and this is a perfect example of that.

  “Ya know what?” she asks, the attitude seeming to fizzle out through her slumping shoulders. “Forget it. You don’t believe me, fine. Just do whatever it is you’re gonna do to punish me. It certainly can’t be any worse than what I’ll face at the hands of the Black Savages when they learn the truth.”

  The resignation in her tone sets off an emotion in me that I haven’t felt in a long time, that I haven’t allowed myself to feel. Being sad is weak. Being sad gets people like me killed. Being sad is a luxury that a Soulless King isn’t granted. I take several steps back as if to physically distance myself from the feeling.

  C’mon Fen, don’t let her do this to you. You’re better than this. Stronger.

  The problem is, apparently I’m not. Not when it comes to Charlie. I shove the emotion into my vault and do my best to ignore the way her eyes appear dimmer, like her life essence is slowly dwindling away to nothing.

  “You say you had nothing to do with it. Everyone else says otherwise.” I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and glance at the time before folding my arms across my chest and widening my stance. “You’ve got four minutes to convince me that you’re telling the truth. One minute for each year you were gone. After that, my shift is over, and if I still don’t believe you, maybe Piston can get some answers.”

  Her eyes widen for a brief moment before she narrows them and shoots daggers at me.

  That’s better. Fight me, Charlie. I welcome it.

  “I don’t know how to convince someone who doesn’t really want to be convinced.”

  “C’mon. You fucking sank your teeth into me when you were doing Black Savages’ dirty work. Gotta say, you had me convinced then.”

  I’m baiting her, taunting her. There isn’t much she can do to prove her innocence. I want her to be innocent, I want her to be the girl I loved, I want to be the man I was before that night. But we don’t always get what we want. And on the off chance that I’m wrong, that there is some way she can earn my trust back, I’m willing to give her a few minutes to try.

  “I loved you, you idiot!”

  “Bullshit. You fucking used me.”

  She runs her hands over her face like I’ve exhausted her, and when she lets them fall to her sides, her mouth opens and closes like she wants to say something but can’t. Or she can’t find the words.

  I stand there, waiting, watching her eyes dart back and forth between me and the door. Before I know what’s happening, she’s advancing on me. When she’s mere inches from my body, she jumps and instinctively, I catch her.

  Her mouth crashes down on mine as her legs wrap around my waist. I grab her ass and carry her back to the wall, trapping her between my now throbbing boner and the cold concrete. I brace my hands on either side of her head and lean into the kiss.

  Charlie moans when I thrust my tongue past her lips and tangle it with hers. I’m blinded by the rush of heat she’s ignited in me, all hatred and anger gone as I give in to what she’s offering. I grind my pelvis against her, and the friction has me moaning just as loud as her.

  “Gotta say, when we said we’d do whatever it takes, I’m pretty damn sure this isn’t what we fucking had in mind.”

  I freeze at the intrusion, my mouth still fused to Charlie’s. Our eyes are now open, and we’re looking at each other like teenagers who just got busted by the teacher for making out behind the bleachers in the gym.

  “I’m gonna assume you now know for a fact that she had nothing to do with that night… prez.”

  I lower Charlie to the floor and take a step back. After a few deep breaths, I turn around and face Piston. His eyes automatically lower to the bulge in my pants and when he returns his gaze to my face, his eyebrows are raised. He’s lucky that he’s more than just a brother, my VP. He’s my best friend and that’s the only thing that’s keeping me from beating the shit out of him for the way he just spoke to me.

  “Don’t you dare talk to me that way,” I growl. He may get to keep breathing but he’ll damn sure know he’s crossed a line. “I’ll do whatever the fuck I want, whenever I want, however I want. And if I want to use her like she used me, I’ll fucking do it.”

  Piston narrows his eyes with suspicion. He sees through my bullshit statement about using her. I’ve never been able to fool him about anything and that’s usually a good thing. Not this time, though.

  He stalks toward Charlie, and it takes everything in me not to react. When he reaches her, he doesn’t touch her, but he does get in her face.

  “You fucking bitch. I gotta hand it to you.” He huffs out an evil laugh. “In under an hour, you’ve managed to once again sink your claws into him. You must have some premium pussy. Maybe I—”

  The crack of her palm on Piston’s cheek echoes in the room. I’m shocked at her action, but I shouldn’t be. She’s a Black Savage after all. My little pint-sized pixie is back, and she’s not taking shit from anyone.

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve—”

  “Stop.” The word tears out of me with so much force that if the Nightmare Room weren’t so solidly built, the walls would crumble.

  Piston whirls on me, shock written on his face, while Charlie doesn’t move a muscle, doesn’t react.

  “That’s enough.” I walk toward the door. “Piston, let’s go. You can have your turn later.”

  “You’re just gonna let her get away with that?”

  You’re damn right I’m going to let her get away with that. At least for now. While I clear my head and re-evaluate what the hell we’re doing.

  That’s not what comes out of my mouth though.

  “No,” I respond, shaking my head. “I’m punishing her.”

  I open the panel that houses the control for the room and turn off the light. Once the darkness hides both of them from my view, I hear Piston’s footsteps as he comes toward me. I then tap the screen, from memory, to open the door. Piston and I exit into the hallway, him sporting a sinister grin and me sporting a goddamn headache.

  As Piston starts to chatter on and on about what he plans to do to her when he starts his shift, my mind wanders and I tune him out. I thought I knew what happened. I thought that there was nothing Charlie could do to tip the scales in her favor.

  Then she kissed me. One fucking kiss and every illusion I’d held on to for the last four years had shattered.

  I’m transported back to square one wi
th no idea what the hell is going on and zero clue how to fix that. I loved Charlie then. I believed she loved me. Now I don’t know what love is anymore, only hate exists in my world. But one thing is certain: if Charlie keeps kissing me like that, I’m liable to forget what hate is, too.

  Chapter Nine

  I wonder what I would’ve done if I had known who he was before he staked his claim on my heart.

  Charlie

  I don’t know how much time has passed since Fender left, but I know it’s been a while. I stood in what I think is the middle of the room with my arms crossed over my chest until my legs burned and my knees started to buckle. I didn’t want to cower in a corner.

  Now I’m sitting next to the door, leaned back against the wall with my legs stretched out in front of me. I can’t keep from shivering anymore, but I make up for it by glaring at the ceiling. I don’t know where the camera is, but I hope my eyes are pointed at it.

  I’m pissed. So fucking infuriated, I hope he never comes back just so I can smite him by starving while I glare at the ceiling, hating him until the end.

  Or at least I wish I hated him.

  His words play in my mind and they slice through everything I’ve ever known.

  I’m punishing her.

  You’ll have your turn later.

  Like I’m some toy he can pawn off to his friends. Fuck him and fuck his punishments. Fuck his vulnerability. Fuck his pain. Fuck it all.

  “You’re a bastard!” I yell, pretending what I’m looking at really is the camera.

  I don’t expect an answer, so I’m surprised when a voice booms from the speaker which is above my head. It isn’t Fender’s. “You have five seconds to move away from the door. If you choose not to, you’ll be shot with a stun gun as soon as the door opens.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Five. Four. Three…”

  I turn my head toward the door and debate on whether I should try to run or not. No? We’re on an MC club’s property as far as I can tell. I’m not an idiot. They guard their fences just as much as we guard ours.

  Am I even a part of that ‘we’?

  “Last chance,” the voice says.

  I can’t move, even though I know how stupid that decision is. I move, they win. I do what they say, they win.

  I cross one ankle over the other and lift my middle finger into the air.

  The room suddenly brightens, and I close my eyes against it, unable to adjust.

  The latch clicks and the door opens. I have my hand shielding my eyes from the light, and I’m not even standing, but the man holds true to his promise, and a jolt of electricity rocks my body. My arms shoot by my sides, and my head knocks into the wall, but I only register the noise from it. I can’t feel anything but the voltage pulsing through me.

  It stops after a minute, and I gasp for breath. I yank the clamps that are dug into my side off me and scramble back away from the door.

  I’m still catching my breath and running my hands over my body as if to brush the shock away. Shit, that hurt.

  The door is pushed open further and Fender’s best friend, even back then, appears with a grin.

  Piston.

  “There,” he says, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Now we’re even.”

  The handprint I put on his face earlier is long gone while I’m pretty sure I’ll be feeling the effects of that shock for at least a day. I wouldn’t call that even.

  “Is it your turn to play?” I sneer, eyeing the chair he drags in behind him.

  He closes the door behind him and places the chair in the center of the room. “Sit.”

  “No.”

  He raises a brow. “Did you already forget that I’m not as nice as Fender?” He glances at the stun gun now secured at his hip.

  I stare at him and ball my fists at my sides. “What is it that you want, Piston? To know if I had something to do with the raid on Soulless Kings? No, I didn’t. It’s been four years, so if you haven’t been able to figure that out by now, you must not be as smart as you think you are.”

  “Maybe it isn’t all about that. Maybe it benefits us to have the little Black Savages’ princess at our disposal, have you considered that?”

  Yes, I have considered that. Kidnapping an MC princess is a hell of a way to send a message, and it’s also a surefire way to start a war. But they’re missing something. I’m the princess who left the castle. I abandoned my family. As much as I know they’ll raise hell to come get me, it’s only out of loyalty. I’m pretty certain most of the Black Savages couldn’t give a fuck about what happens to me.

  He nods to the chair. “Let’s go.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I said so.” His face is hard as stone, and I can see how much he hates me right now. I can feel it filling the room, making it hard to breathe.

  He puts his hand on the stun gun, and I lift myself to my feet. I don’t take my eyes off him as I walk to the chair and sit. I give him the same dead look he’s giving me and hope it sends the message that the feeling is mutual. I remember liking Piston. He made me laugh, he was always so nice to me. Now he looks like he’s changed as much as Fender has.

  He secures my wrists to the arms of the chair and then my ankles to the legs.

  When he’s done, he stands up straight and stares down at me. The hate in his eyes is still there, but they flicker with something else so fast I almost miss it.

  Pain. He had people die that day too.

  “I’m gonna ask you a few questions, and you’re going to be honest with me. If you’re not, there will be consequences. I’ll be able to tell if you’re lying.”

  “How will you be able to tell? Because they aren’t the answers you want? You’re looking for someone to blame, Piston, and—”

  A cracking sound echoes off the walls when the back of his hand connects with my cheek, and my head whips to the side. I bit my tongue when he hit me, so blood now coats it.

  “The only things I want to hear coming out of your mouth are the answers to my questions, is that understood?”

  Answers you won’t accept.

  I spit blood on the floor and clench my eyes shut with the migraine that seems to be getting worse every time someone comes in here. Piston doesn’t wait for me to respond before he dives in.

  “Did you know about the attack on Soulless Kings before it occurred?”

  “No.”

  “No,” he echoes. He shakes his head, already pissed. “You’re the daughter of our rivals’ MC president, and you didn’t know about a war they planned to wage.”

  “I was the daughter of the MC president.” My voice comes out as a sneer, but my eyes burn from the memory of my father’s funeral. “There’s a new president now.”

  He smacks me across the face again, this time using his other hand, and I whip in the opposite direction I was facing. My breaths are coming heavier, and I grip the edge of the chair’s arms, digging my nails into the wood.

  “That wasn’t an answer to my question.”

  “You didn’t ask a question!”

  He grips my jaw and forces me back to look at him. “Did you know about the raid before it happened?”

  “No!”

  “Did you know Black Savages were planning a war?”

  I jerk out of his grasp. “No, I didn’t. I didn’t know anything.”

  “And you expect us to believe that?”

  “No.” I spit more blood onto the floor, splattering Piston’s boot. “I expected Fender to believe it, but never you. Never your club.”

  “Why? Because you fucked him? You never meant anything to him, Charlotte.”

  My ears are ringing, but it doesn’t drown out Piston’s words playing on repeat in my mind. They’re similar to Fender’s.

  Don’t mistake what we had for liking anything about you other than what’s between your legs.

  I let my head fall forward some and stare at a patch on Piston’s cut. It’s the Soulless Kings’ symbol and one I remember seeing so clearly fo
r the first time inked into Fender’s chest. It was how I found out he was a member of a rival club. He hid his cut from me, but he couldn’t hide his ink. Not forever.

  I wonder what I would’ve done if I had known who he was before he staked his claim on my heart. Would I have still fallen in love with him? At the time, it didn’t feel like I had a choice.

  “You’re right,” I whisper, not really even talking to Piston. “I never meant anything to him.”

  I peer up and look into Piston’s eyes after getting the admission out. It wasn’t for Piston, but this is.

  “But he meant everything to me. I didn’t set him up, and I would’ve told him if I knew something was going to happen. I would’ve betrayed my family for him, just like I ended up doing anyway. I killed one of my own to protect him.”

  Piston’s face is still hard, but his eyes have softened some.

  “But you know what?” I ask, a humorless laugh crawling up my throat. “I regret it. I should’ve never betrayed my family for you people, or even for him.”

  That seems to piss him off, and he lifts his hand to hit me again. He pauses when his phone beeps, and he pulls it from his pocket and stares at the screen for a moment before piercing me with a glare.

  He turns and walks to the door, beeping coming from the panel he presses. Soon he’s gone, and the light turns off, basking me in darkness yet again.

  Chapter Ten

  Did he just give me the answer to all my questions, the antidote to all my fears?

  Fender

  “We’re doing this now?”

  Piston strides through the door and off the small cement slab that sits at the front of the clubhouse. I catch sight of the stun gun at his hip and the spatter of blood on the back of his hand. My gut twists into knots, but I force it to unravel and focus on the task at hand. I’ll get an update from Piston later. Right now, I need to focus. We need to focus.