“I’ve got this woman staying with me.”
“What the hell, man? I didn’t even know you were dating anyone.”
“I know. I’m not really. She’s just living with me.”
“Um…” he murmured. “Okay, so what’s up?”
“It’s complicated. And I don’t know if anything is actually wrong or not. But I got this message from her and now I’m stuck in this fucking traffic and I don’t know what to do.”
“Slow down, brother, tell me how I can help you,” he said. As always, he was calm as a cucumber. Nothing rattled Ryder, not that I’d ever seen. I took a deep breath, trying to follow his lead.
“Her name is Daisy. I met her a year ago at the hospital. She’s had it rough, man, really rough. But she had a baby and got herself back on her feet. She’s been staying at the shelter but a few days ago I ran into her again. We went out on a date —.”
“—I thought you said you weren’t dating.”
“Well, we aren’t. Not anymore. Or maybe, I don’t know, it doesn’t matter. But now, she’s staying at my house, not to live with me, just to take care of Chester.”
“Chester needs a babysitter?”
“Look, man, none of this matters!” I snapped.
“Alright, alright, tell me what you need.”
“I’m sorry. She's there now, at my place. At least I think she is. She called, left a message when I was going into surgery over an hour ago, said she was nervous, something about a car, I don’t know. I'm trying to get home, but I’m stuck in traffic. Maybe I should just call the cops? She said she was fine, man, I’m just worried.”
“Okay, okay,” he said. “I get it now. Tell you what, hold off on the cops. Slade and Riot are in town, hanging out at Slade and Diana’s condo. I’ll ask them to run over to your house and make sure everything’s okay.”
“Oh, that would be awesome, thank you. Tell them I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Will do. I’ll tell Riot to call you as soon as he gets there.”
“Thank you, brother.”
I hung up the phone, my head reeling.
If anything happened to Daisy and Alex, I don’t know what I’d do.
I slammed on the horn again, inching up one fucking infuriating inch at a time, fear washing over me like rain.
Daisy
After pulling Chester into the bedroom, I locked us in with Alex. It wasn’t easy. Chester resisted every step of the way, his hackles standing straight up and his teeth bared. He’d been so obedient and docile until now, so his menacing growl was a complete shock to me.
It was also a great comfort.
He was quite literally the only weapon I had.
With no way to call for help, I was forced to wait for Luke to give up and go away. I think deep down, I knew he wouldn’t, but I was trying like hell to find a way to stop my heart from exploding from my chest.
I picked up Alex, holding him tightly to me, as I paced around the room, weighing my options.
My first option was to open the door, but every single bone in my body shouted ‘bad idea’. I could talk to him through the door, and maybe that would work. I could tell him it was all a misunderstanding, that the baby wasn’t his, that I’d simply moved on. But nobody ever ‘moved on’ from a man like Luke and I wasn’t stupid, or scared, enough to latch onto that option. One look at Alex and he’d know.
And if he knew — if he knew for sure that Alex was his — then there was no doubt in my mind that he would try to take him from me.
He’d have to kill me first.
My options narrowed as I realized my only hope was that he would tire of making a scene and he’d leave.
“We’ll just stay right here,” I said to Alex, “we’re going to be just fine, baby. Shhh, don’t worry, don’t worry.” Chester sat down slowly, facing the door, his ears sticking straight up.
I could still hear Luke outside, his voice going on and on.
“Baby, listen, didn’t we have a good time together? Come on, Scarlet, you can trust me.”
I cringed at his words. I’d heard that from him before.
Trust me…
He said it every time. When he was trying to convince me to do some painful sexual act that I didn’t want to do, or when he was gaslighting me, attempting to get me to admit that I’d done something I’d not done. He had a lot of rules, and breaking them began an ugly cycle of control and manipulation, even from afar. Sometimes, his biggest games were played when he was out of town.
Trust me…
Trust me…
Trust me…
Never, I thought, holding Alex a little tighter. I’d learned that lesson a long time ago. Luke Sullivan was not a man to be trusted.
Not with your body.
Not with your life.
And most certainly, not with your child.
“Come on, baby. Ruby told me about the baby. I’m so pissed at her. I would have been right by your side in an instant if I knew you needed me. We were good for each other, don’t you remember? You know I’ll take care of you both. Just let me see him. Please, Scarlet? Just open the door. Let’s talk.”
I continued to ignore him, but his voice was rising. I knew the neighbors must be able to hear by now. I hoped like hell one of them would call the police.
Jason wasn’t due home for hours and anything could happen by then.
“Scarlet, you know I have more money than fucking God. I don’t know what kind of hustle you have going on staying at this rich doctor’s house, but I know I can make you happier than him. Come on, love. I mean no harm. Open the fucking door!”
He shouted that last part and I could hear the anger in his voice.
I’d seen the violent side of him and I knew how strong he was.
They didn’t call him the fiercest warrior in America for nothing…
Lucifer
This cunt was pissing me off.
I’d been standing outside this door for twenty minutes, begging her to open it. As soon as I got my hands on that little whore, she was going to regret crossing me this way.
Traffic outside the house was busy, with cars and people passing by occasionally. If I wasn’t so fucking recognizable, I’d have told them to fuck off. Instead, I kept my back turned away from them, and lowered my voice when they passed by.
I wanted to see my son. That was all.
That was all. I didn’t want to be the lead story on TMZ. I didn’t wanna beef with the fucking cops. Shit, I was on my way to a peaceful retreat and now this bitch has me banging on the fucking door like a goddamned chump.
Rage boiled through my veins and I struggled to keep from just breaking the damn window and opening the door.
If she didn’t open up soon, I was going to throw all caution to the wind and do whatever it took to get to my son.
It was her fault we had to do this the hard way.
“Scarlet, listen,” I growled. “This is your last chance. Don’t make this hard on both of us. Just open the fucking door, for fuck’s sake!”
I waited, listening. Nothing more than the growling dog and crying baby.
I shook my head and walked down the sidewalk and back towards my car. I unlocked it, opening up the passenger’s side door and then removed the pistol from under the seat.
I stuffed it in the waistband of my jeans and covered it up with my shirt.
I took a deep breath and walked back slowly, contemplating exactly how I should go about getting in there. I’d given up on going through the front door. As I approached the house, I saw a big window around the side of the house and slowly walked up to it.
To my surprise, the curtain was open. I peeked in and saw I’d hit the jackpot.
Scarlet was holding the baby, pacing around the room, with her eyes glued to the closed door. With her back to me, she had no idea I was watching her.
My eyes trailed to the baby’s face, and even streaked with tears, I could see he looked just like me. His eyes opened and I gasped when I
saw the bright shock of green and the bright red tuft of hair on top of his head. My heart swelled with joy.
My son.
My sweet, beautiful son…
I gazed at him for a peaceful, quiet moment, hypnotized by his beauty, shaken by the proof of his existence. A slow smile spread across my face and I was blanketed by the purest, most joyful feeling of love I’d ever felt in my life. I swallowed hard, my heart racing with ecstasy.
The need to be close to him was overwhelming.
I pulled the gun out and raised it up, slamming it into the window, breaking the moment of peace into a shattering chaotic explosion.
Alex cried out. The dog began barking and lunging at the window as Scarlet held him back and screamed hysterically as she turned to see me.
But all of that was drowned out by another approaching sound.
A low, gut-wrenching, vibrating rumble sounded in the distance, growing steadily as it moved closer, shaking the very ground I stood on.
Slade
So ol’ Bones was shacking up with some chick, huh?
Riot and I were both surprised to hear that, considering he was just about the most straight-laced of all us Gods. It was about fucking time, though. I was pretty sure he got his jollies off shagging hot nurses all day, but he would never admit that.
I was interested to see this girl, though, because we’d finally be able to see what his type was. Riot and I had a bet going. I was sure she’d be a petite, fiery redhead and Riot thought she was most likely some tall, mysterious blonde.
I guess we’d see.
Apparently, she was potentially in a bit of trouble. Ryder called and told us to get right over to Bones’s place and check things out. So, here we were, riding up on our bikes after winding through the ritzy part of the West Hills.
I wanted the girl to be alright, so don’t get me wrong when I say I wouldn’t mind a bit of action. Since getting married and settling down with Diana and our rapidly growing little boy, excitement wasn’t something I got much of, outside of the bedroom, of course. Motherhood hadn’t fizzled out Diana’s wild side in the least and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.
Since our boy starting sleeping through the night, we’d been going at it like rabbits again. It was nice. It was thrilling. Invigorating, even, but outside of that, well, the excitement in my life trickled in with little spurts.
Things like this.
Solid Ground was going strong, but basically we were the muscle. Nobody really needed muscle for long periods of time, so we had to be ready to go, ready to hit it hot and fast and hard and then quit it just as quickly.
That’s what we were good at.
So, to say I was ready for a nice, long fight was an understatement.
If there was some nefarious asshole there at Bones’s causing trouble, well, there was no doubt Riot and I could end it pretty quickly. Maybe we’d draw it out a little, though, just for fun…
It was a sunny day, the bright blue sky a gorgeous background to the fancy-ass houses and pretty flowers that lined their sidewalks and front porches.
A perfect day to kick some ass, if you asked me.
We drove up on our bikes like the couple of bad-asses that we are. Besides me, Riot was the toughest dude I knew. We went way, way back and I’d be proud to stand beside him in a fight any day.
We were tight as brothers and just as I knew he had my back, he knew I had his. Together, nothing could break us.
We cut the engines on our bikes and heard shouting right away.
A man was shouting from the side of the house. We ran over, listening as we came up on him.
“Scarlet, you made me do this! If you’d only opened the fucking door!”
We rounded the corner and came face to face with the one and only fucking Luke Sullivan!
I took a double-take, sure I was wrong at first. But as soon as he opened his mouth, I knew it was him.
“Who the fuck are you, mates?” he asked, his Irish accent unmistakable.
“What are you doing?” Riot asked, glancing at the broken glass on the ground. I could hear a baby crying inside and a dog barking and growling. I knew that had to be Chester, Bones’s shepherd and Ryder hadn’t mentioned a baby, but the sound of a baby crying always got me riled up.
Ain’t no good reason for a baby to be crying like that.
“I’m just picking up my son,” Sullivan said.
“You’re Luke fucking Sullivan,” I muttered.
“Yeah, bitch, so what?”
“Bitch?” I asked, squaring up against him, my anger rising to ten at once. “You just call me a bitch, motherfucker?”
“I don’t know who the fuck you are in your little matching leather outfits, but you two bitches can step the fuck back. This is a family matter. And you ain’t family!”
“We’re the Gods of fucking Chaos, motherfucker, and we’re going to fuck your shit up!” I said.
He laughed, scoffing at me, small bits of spit landing on my face.
I could only take so much. You know?
I had one motto. Hit hard and hit first.
Once I snapped, once you stepped over the line, like he’d just done — well, shit. I couldn’t be responsible for the ass-kicking you were about to receive.
And that was it. No more talking needed.
My fist landed on his jaw and he flew back, landing on his ass with a satisfying thump.
“Slade!” Riot yelled and I wasn’t sure if he was admonishing me, but what the fuck else was I supposed to do? Let some prick call me a bitch? I think not. I ignored him, standing over Sullivan and laughing at him.
“Who’s the bitch now, bitch?” I taunted. “You ain’t so fucking tough outside of the ring, are you, asshole?”
Quickly, he jumped to his feet and threw his fists up. We squared off again and just as I went to punch him again, a blur appeared in my peripheral vision and a blow slammed up against the side of my head. His foot and my body landed back on the ground at the exact same moment.
I shook my head, shaken by the force of his kick, unable to raise myself to my knees. I heard, rather than saw, Riot and Sullivan grappling on the grass next to me and within seconds, Sullivan was on top of him, pummeling Riot’s face.
“Fuck,” I growled, trying to get up, trying to regain my strength, not to mention my pride. It was shattered in one fucking kick to the head and I couldn’t fucking believe I’d let that happen.
After a moment, Sullivan stood up, leaving a bloody Riot lying unconscious next to me. I struggled to get to my feet, but I finally found the strength to stand up and face him again. He looked at me, his face swaying in front of me. I could hear the dog still barking, growling menacingly from inside the house and the baby crying and the girl, that I’d yet to even lay eyes on, screaming hysterically.
“What a couple of fucking pussies,” Sullivan growled, spitting on me again.
“Fuck you,” I spat back. “I’m going to fucking kill you, you bastard.”
I rushed him, both of us falling to the ground together. I punched him, landing two hard blows to his face, splitting the skin right under his eye as his blood sprayed over my fist. I went to punch him again, but he threw his elbow up under my arm, deflecting the punch away from him and grabbing my arm and twisting it behind me until he had me down and was on top of me again.
He slammed my face into the ground, hard, the sound of my nose cracking exploding in my head. Then, he turned me over, straddling me as he laughed again.
He hit me again, harder this time, so hard everything faded away.
His ugly fucking face.
The barking dog.
The screaming girl.
The crying baby.
Riot, still motionless beside me.
All gone.
Nothing left but me…
Just me, in the fucking darkness, licking my goddamned wounds, my pride completely shattered as I lay unconscious next to my bad-ass, bloody, best friend.
Fuck this shit.
<
br /> Daisy
I screamed and screamed, hoping like hell someone would call the police. How could the neighbors not hear all this shit? Luke was shouting like a madman, Alex was crying bloody murder, Chester would not shut the hell up and I was screaming ‘stop’ and ‘help’ like the world was fucking ending.
Where was the nosy neighbor Indigo now?
Helplessly, I watched through the broken window as Luke attacked the two Gods who’d appeared like a couple of fucking angels out of nowhere. When I’d first seen them walk up, I cried out with happiness. I recognized their vests because it matched the one Jason had shown me, and when I saw their names emblazoned on their cuts, I remembered Jason telling me about the two of them.
But, within seconds, Luke had taken them down and now they were lying on the fucking ground, a couple of useless sacks of leather clad, defeated angels. I’d been holding Chester back from the broken window by his collar, which wasn’t easy considering I was also holding Alex in my arms.
When I saw Luke come back towards the window, his bloody smile twisted across his face like the bad guy from a fucking horror movie, my flight or fight response kicked in big time. Using his gun, he knocked away the rest of the glass and began hoisting himself up to crawl though the window.
In seconds, he was standing in front of us, his boots on my bedroom floor.
“Give me my son, you cunt!”
“No!” I shouted, and before I truly knew what I was doing, my fingers that were tightened around Chester’s collar slowly opened. As soon as he realized he was free, he lunged forward towards Luke. I took off running in the opposite direction, flinging open the bedroom door and heading back through the house with Alex as fast as I could run.
The sound of a gun firing stopped me in my tracks.
My gut twisted as I heard Chester’s sharp, piercing yelp echo through the house.
“Fuck!” I cried, as I started running towards the kitchen. I grabbed a butcher knife from the knife block on the counter and turned back, sure Luke was coming after me. Instead, I heard more glass breaking and him cussing before I heard footsteps running away from the back of the house.
BONES: GODS OF CHAOS MC Page 14
