“What happened to Throttle?” Rosie’s question came out of the blue and I knew it had been something else causing her to worry.
“Cremated. Got a contact at a morgue.”
“Did you… uh, do a DNA test before?”
“No. Decided against it.” I wasn’t sure she’d understand if I explained it, but I’d already killed my dad and being responsible for the death of another family member, whether he was or not, was a mark on my soul that I didn’t need.
Rosie carried on working as I debated whether to tell her. “Knowing it or not doesn’t help him or me. He’s dead and he wanted to hurt you. I’m finding it easier to let go of that if I think he was just some random nobody. But finding out that my own blood wanted to take away the one thing I loved, just to hurt me, that’s a level of anger even I don’t know how to deal with.”
“What about your dad’s ashes, the photos, hell, even the cottage?”
“That’s for another day. It’s not going anywhere right now.”
I watched her, bent over the wing of a Mustang and figured I’d never seen anything so fucking gorgeous. Being away from her was torture, but being back with her was the finest, most beautiful hell I’d ever stepped into. I could feel her swamping everything about me, her essence trying to take me down, and I didn’t care one fucking bit. “Do you know how much I wanna to fuck you against that car right now?”
Rosie faltered for a second before clenching her ass cheeks together. She was feeling it, too. “Haven’t you already bent me over today?”
“Is there a limit I’m not aware of?”
“No, but in case you missed it, a girl likes variety.”
Wiping my hand on a rag, I replied, “Noted. So, I can still have you as long as I change it up?”
Rosie stopped and turned around, leaning her ass against the car. “A man who takes requests is such a turn on.”
When I was a few paces from her, I stopped to take her in. I always knew she’d turn out to be a stunner. “There isn’t anyway and anywhere I wouldn’t fuck you. If I want you, I’m going to have you.” This time, when she rubbed her thighs together, I could practically smell her pussy getting ready to take me on. “Show me see how wet you are.”
“The thought of being fucked against such a classic car, not gonna lie, it does things to me. But the grease monkey in me won’t let you. It would be a crime against Nicholas Cage’s Eleanor.”
I could imagine her lying on her living room floor, like she had that afternoon, watching Gone in 60 Seconds on repeat. But fuck, I was determined to have her against one of my cars and I didn’t care if JP’s panel beater would need to rework it. In fact, if her ass cheeks were imprinted on the metal, I’d keep it and hang it on our bedroom wall, just to remind her of what happened when we were together.
“Well isn’t this fucking cute. I prefer Transformers version of the Mustang myself. Barricade was a real bad ass motherfucker, brutal. He and his crew didn’t care about causing death and destruction, and I like that.”
Razor stepped out from the shadows with a murderous glare in his eyes, as he pointed a gun at both of us.
“I bet you thought you were gonna hunt me down, Wolf, and put a bullet in my brain. Shame getting your fill of this wild thing distracted you.” Razor inhaled, and his pupils dilated. “Does she taste as sweet and creamy as she smells? Fancy going two’s up before I end you both.”
My blood had gone from fiery to full on incinerated. “Shut the fuck up. How’d you get in here?”
Razor laughed at my question. “The best hiding places are always in plain sight. Been lying low for a few days. When I take over the Carnals and this pansy ass outfit, I’ll recruit new brothers who take security seriously, the very least, those who do a thorough sweep of an area.”
Even though he was the one with the gun, it was hard to give him my full attention. I knew it was necessary if we were going to make it out, but my body was tuned in to the emotions of Rosie behind me and she still hadn’t uttered a word. I was so close to her I could feel her, but she gave nothing away. After a few seconds, I realized why. She wasn’t terrified; she was fucking solid. My woman was taking my back even in the face of death.
“You’re quiet, Angel, you normally have so much to say for yourself.”
“No point talking to some people. You can’t change stupid.”
Razor’s face tightened and I was instantly back to wishing she’d be silent. I wanted to hear her speak, but those kinds of words weren’t what I was thinking. That was not going to help our situation.
“Looking forward to putting that smart mouth to a different use. Before I end you both.”
“Get in line. Anyway, too late—he already did that this morning.” Her sass would have been hilarious had it not been for the whole being held at gunpoint thing.
“She makes me hard just listening to her. Never really saw the attraction before, but I’m getting it now. Sweetheart, I bet I could make you enjoy it a bit more. A blade held against the throat heightens everyone’s pleasure.”
“You’d need to slit my throat first.”
Razor’s face stilled. “Finally, a point we agree on.”
Rosie had no idea what this kind of fighting talk did to him. I’d never seen him this excited about the chase, and it poured fuel on my burning rage to know he was amped up on erotic thoughts about my woman. I was going to enjoy killing this fucker. But right now, I needed to settle her down and find a way to get my hands on my own concealed weapon.
“Tell me how you planned it,” I asked, praying he’d want to brag. If nothing else, I needed to understand how he’d pulled it off so I could plug those gaps for the future.
“Throttle had the same unfortunate childhood I did.”
“Well, boo hoo,” Rosie sneered. “We all had shit childhoods.”
“Always knew he had a brother who’d killed his old man. Some of us had a rough ride in the kid’s home, but Throttle had it worse than others so I helped him out. I was up for club president when you fast tracked that shit away from me. Always knew you weren’t good enough. I just had to find out why and imagine my surprise when I discovered who you were.” Razor seemed pleased with his detective skills and I wanted to remind him that who I was and what I’d done wasn’t a secret; it was a damn public record. “One day, heard you arguing with JP about this cunt and knew that was my in. Throttle owed me and was happy to be the Sentinels newest prospect. When he got a look at that sweet candy, gotta tell you, took a lot to peg him back. Abuse he suffered, taught him a lot of stuff about how to really treat women.” Razor waggled his eyebrows. “If you get my drift.”
“Impressive,” I told him, bigging him up.
“Anyway, I figured why not go for the whole kit and caboodle. Two clubs are better than one and worth all the effort.” He shrugged like planning the demise of all these people was normal sane behavior.
“You’d have put your clubs at war with the Mexicans.”
“A minor blip on the path to success. They were next on the radar once I got my hands on my own army.” Razor was proud of his plotting and began to take a step or two to the side while gesticulating with his gun. As predicted, he was getting animated and distracted. “Throttle didn’t even want a seat at the table. Just your corpse and her body to fuck until he got bored. He had big plans for you, sweetheart, but I should have gone with my gut and taken you for myself. Would have been much more fun.” He smiled that sick grin again, the one that told me Rosie would have been nothing but an unwilling actress in a snuff film.
“Oh, I don’t know. I had fun with Throttle, you know, at the end.” I heard the inflection of pleasure in her statement.
“Owe you some payback for that and fucking up my plans. Gonna enjoy seeing how much pleasure you get from having a breaker bar rammed up your ass. If you’re lucky, I might stretch you a little bit first, with my fist.” Razor gripped his junk and shivered. “Already getting hard.”
While he was distracted, I stepp
ed directly in front of Rosie and feigned protection with my hands on my hips. I did it just enough to dislodge the t-shirt that was covering the top of my pants and hiding my Browning nine-millimeter. When she stiffened slightly, I knew she’d spotted it.
“Well, brother,” I sneered with derision, “Happy to die knowing that Digit found the club money and made sure that you’ll never find any of it. I’ve already told him how keen you are to fund Davis’s medical expenses.”
“He was my one fuck up. Could have taken care of Davis at any time, but Throttle promised he’d do it. He managed to convince me that having Davis would keep the bitch in line. Apparently, someone was getting antsy to leave. Never mind—him living life as a cripple’ll be just as much fun to watch. Shame he didn’t manage to do the same for JP.”
“You fucking asshole! You’re not even fit to mention his name,” Rosie spat from behind me, starting to get all agitated.
“Always wondered what his fixation was with you. He fuck you, Angel?” I wanted to say I’d never heard anything so vulgar before, but this was Razor and vulgar was his M.O.
As he knew it would, his words sparked more of Rosie’s rage. “I should fucking end you like I did your cock sucking friend!”
“Wolf, man, think I’m doing you a favor. She’s a live wire with that attitude. I’m sure she’d be too much for you to handle. Throttle said he had to hold her down so he could fuck her.”
Rosie finally exploded. “That fucker never did!”
It was my turn to laugh a little now. “You see, Razor, only a strong man can handle a strong woman. Only a lesser, weaker man would see her sass as attitude.”
I felt her push into me and pull the gun from my pants and that was the first time I thought my plan may fail, so I began to play act, flapping my arms around me to try to contain her.
“Calm the fuck down.” I tried to convey that I wanted her to give me the gun, but she didn’t go for it. She held it in my back out of sight. Worryingly, she could shoot me at any moment, but if she had plans of trying to take him out, we could be in trouble. I had no idea whether she’d ever used a gun and that could be a disaster. If she didn’t get a straight shot, Razor would in return and it was over for both of us.
“Look at you, Wolf, trying to contain her and keep her safe. When did you find those feelings? Dusting those fuckers off must have taken some time. That why you left her here for so long?”
“You’d best shut your mouth, Razor. Wolf’s men are everywhere.”
“I think we’ve already established those bunch of no marks fucked up.” He looked around. “Next thing those useless bastards will hear is bullets penetrating your skulls.”
Things had begun to escalate, which was insane as they already felt wildly out of control. I had to bring things to a close and I hated that the only way I could think of was to pretend to betray her. “Come on, Razor, think rationally. What if we came to some kind of arrangement?”
“No arrangement. I get it all.”
“Both clubs?”
“Yeah.”
“The money? You’d want the money.”
“Absolutely.”
“And Rosie? I can hand her over. You think you can handle her? Have at it.”
“Oh, especially her. I have an itch to scratch and I wanna see what all the fuss is about.”
“Declan,” Rosie whispered.
“We could trade then. My life, for all of that,” I agreed. “I just walk away and forget about everything. Start again, far away from here.”
Predictably, Rosie went to rush him, and I spun around to pen her in and grab the gun. Razor was too busy enjoying her demise to notice, and while he was smiling like a victor, I got the gun upright and was pointing it back at him, mirroring his pose.
“Rosie, get the fuck out of here,” I ordered.
“She takes a step and she goes first. I swear to Christ I will empty this chamber so fucking fast—”
Before he could finish his speech, I pulled the trigger and fired off a round, straight into his shoulder, causing him to roar and buckle down in pain. When he dropped his gun, Rosie sprung into action and kicked it to the other side of the workshop. I’ll admit, the wolf within me loved the chaos of seeing him writhe on the floor in pain as blood pumped from his shoulder.
“No one takes what’s mine.” I bent over him, shouting so ferociously that I knew spit was hitting his face. “You think you can beat me? You, beat me? You should have pulled the trigger when you had the chance.” I slowly brought the gun up in front of his face until the butt of it was resting between his eyes.
“You never learn. Showboating never pays off. Your need to be seen as the victor before you pull that trigger was always your weakness.” I pressed it harder, knowing it would be leaving an imprint on his forehead.
His eyes were wild and he was so enraged at being stumped that he was foaming at the mouth. The wolf inside me was calm, finally satisfied that he’d played the game to perfection and outsmarted his prey. Even with my back against the wall, I was able to best the situation and turn the hunter into the hunted. My wolf was the one thing everyone under estimated. The wolf did not play well with others unless it was leading the pack, especially with those who wanted to take me down.
I’d done what I’d needed to do. I’d looked into his dark eyes and seen the evil I was about to save the world from having to endure. I applied even more pressure and looked at the gun briefly to confirm that it had now broken through the skin on his forehead.
“You know the saddest thing about betrayal? You always expect it from your enemy, never a trusted brother. It’s a lesson you’ve helped me appreciate.” Razor did not like hearing any praise related to his failure.
“Rosie,” I said, leveling my eyes on her, just like I did when I needed that ultimate connection. Like I did when I needed her to feel safe and loved, exactly like we both did when we were having sex. “This is my gift to you. If you hurt, I hurt. It’s that simple. You’ll never have to be afraid again.” Razor began to scuffle his heels on the workshop floor, as he knew the end was coming and my connection with her was temporarily lost as she looked at him. “Eyes on me, baby. Don’t give him that power. He dies knowing he was so insignificant, we couldn’t even be fucked to watch.”
As soon as her eyes calmed and rested upon mine once again, I squeezed the trigger. The loud crack of the automated weapon made her jump, but still, her eyes never left mine.
The underside of my arm felt wet all of a sudden and my face was spattered with the evil insides of Razor’s head. Only when I smelled the familiar taint of rusty blood did my grip on the gun loosen.
That night, in a twisted, fucked up version of fate, Rosie and I were back where we’d started. Stood over the lifeless body of an evil motherfucker who had tried to take her away from this world and away from me.
Five years later
When the universe is pushing and pulling you in the exact same direction, go with it.
Go with it and enjoy the ride.
Razor’s body went to join Throttle’s. After being dumped in a wooden crate and cremated at night like some John Doe, his ashes were swept out and scattered out back at the crematorium. The guy who did it insisted that if he had to do this sort of thing, he was going to leave it up to nature and the elements to decide what happened. The bodies would blow where they may.
After some intense research by Digit, he found that the cabin where Throttle had taken Rosie had belonged to him and him only. There was no big family connection or mystery. The place was quaint and beautiful, and it was so off the beaten track that unless you knew about it, you’d struggle to find it. When she took me to the shed, I felt the energy of my dad in that space and it was oppressive. I hadn’t been in his presence, dead or alive, since I’d killed him. I had no desire to take him and do anything with his remains. As far as I was concerned, he’d already got his payback for how he treated me. I leafed through some of the newspaper articles about my trial and told Rosie e
verything. When we walked away from that place, I never wanted to talk about him again. He would stay there and not infect our lives.
The last thing I did before we drove away was run back to the jeep and grab the gasoline. We stood back and watched as the shed burned, and the ashes of my father intermingled with the ashes of everything else.
The little cottage was left intact. Someone, someday, would come across it and put it to good use.
Two weeks after JP was released from the hospital and well enough to talk seriously, there was what could only be described as a town hall meeting between the Carnals and the Sentinels. What had started out for him as a desire to build a family and a brotherhood had turned sour. He’d nearly lost so much. All he wanted was to restore old cars, go riding with Vix, and see his friends for beer. I knew that what JP had was the gift of life, a second chance to strive towards it. When you watched the undying love between him and Vix for any length of time, you knew, deep down, that was the ultimate goal. It was what I planned to give Rosie for the rest of her life. She fucking owned me and had captured every part of me; she always had. I couldn’t give her that life, or JP the commitment he needed for his Angel if I was still the head of a criminal MC. At the town hall, all members of the two clubs took a vote on the future. The Carnals’ illegal businesses would be sold off to the Mexicans for a handsome price, and every Carnal would get their cut of the sale. The deal we struck with Miguel put us on a calmer path for the future and there was no longer any MC rivalry.
JP stepped down as President of the Sentinels. He sold me the workshop on the understanding that the clubhouse was kept for cook outs and a haven for those brothers who needed to escape nagging old ladies. He also wanted to come and work on cars when he felt like it.
Sentinels Classic Restorations was born that day and every member of the old Carnals who wanted in was welcome to come and work there. Even Davis came on the payroll, and that guy had suffered more than most.
Angel Page 19
