He didn’t own me anymore.
He didn’t have any power over me.
I could say whatever the hell I wanted to him, call him whatever I pleased.
“Luke.” Lily said. She stood behind him, but her voice stopped him. He turned around slowly, giving her his full attention. As soon as their eyes met, a slow, creepy smile spread across her face. “Baby, what the hell happened?”
“I fucked up, Lily,” he said, shaking his head. I couldn’t see his face, only hers, but her eyes softened and she nodded, putting her arms out. He stepped forward, embracing her.
My stomach turned.
“It’s okay, baby. So you knocked up a whore, so what? It’s nothing we can’t fix.”
My eyes widened at her words. Had she really just called me a whore? What did she mean, fix?
“I thought you’d be mad as hell,” he said.
“I was, but I’m over it. Besides, she’s kind of a bitch. I don’t like her. Do you want the baby or should we get rid of him, too?”
“No, way. That’s my son. We’ll just get a bunch of nannies to take care of him, I have it all planned out, babe. You’ll see. It won’t inconvenience you at all. Maybe he’ll grow up to be a good lad. I want him to grow up to be just like me!”
My guts churned at his words.
I eyed the door, taking a step towards it, clutching Alex to my chest. I leaned down, kissing his forehead, inhaling the scent of him. My heart ached to think I’d almost lost him. If I didn’t get us both out of here, that might still happen.
I moved towards the door, hoping I could get close enough while Lily distracted Luke. I took another step and Lily’s voice rang out.
“You aren’t going anywhere, bitch,” she said, her eyes raking over me with complete disdain.
“What?” I cried. I’d thought calling me a whore was all part of her plan, that she was just distracting him. If she’d not called me out, I could have gotten out of the house. Now, they were both staring at me and the look in their eyes told me they had no intention of letting me leave alive.
“Just let me go,” I pleaded. “I won’t tell anyone about this, I promise. I’ll just take Alex and it’s over. Please, Luke?”
“She’s lying.”
My eyes shot over to Lily, pleading her for help.
“She’s got a whole gang of bikers and some other bitches outside just waiting to come in here and blow a hole in your head.”
“You bitch!” I cried.
“Did you seriously think I would have your back? Some whore that seduced my husband and didn’t have the good sense to keep from getting knocked up? What kind of fool did you think I was? You really thought I would side with you, instead of my husband?” She laughed, walking over to Luke and putting an arm around his waist.
“Are you thirsty, babe?” she asked, looking up at him lovingly. “I grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the house. I didn’t know how much you had up here.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, leaning down and kissing her hard on the lips.
“I’ll get you a glass,” she cooed, breaking away from him and going to the kitchen, leaving us alone in the living room. He turned to me, his eyes staring me down like I was his prey.
“Hello, Scarlet.”
“My name’s Daisy,” I said.
He nodded slowly, sneering as he walked towards me, stopping right in front of me. He was so close I could touch him, hit him, gouge his eyes out. But Alex was in my arms and there was no way in hell I was ever letting him go again. Luke reached out and ran his fingers through Alex’s hair gently. His eyes peered into mine.
“Alex what?”
“What?” I asked.
“What’s his middle name?”
“Oh. Jason.”
His eyes widened in surprise.
“After Dr. Jason Boone?”
“No.”
“Right, sure. Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant, Scarlet?”
“Daisy.”
“Whatever,” he replied. “You could have come to me. You didn’t have to run off like that.”
“It’s not like we were in a relationship, Luke. Your wife is right. I was just a whore to you.”
“Perhaps,” he said. “I mean you are a whore, but flesh and blood means something, doesn’t it? I have a right to know my son.”
“You raped me. You paid money to rape me whenever you wanted.”
He reached out, grabbing a curl from the side of my face and wrapping it around his finger. I shuddered in disgust and pulled my head away.
“You didn’t complain so much.”
“You paid me, and Ruby, for me not to complain. That was part of the contract, wasn’t it?”
“Tell me you didn’t enjoy it, just a little bit?” he asked, his face half an inch away from my mine, a sick smirk spread across his face.
“Of course she enjoyed it,” Lily said, walking back into the room, a ceramic coffee cup in her hand. “With that monster cock of yours, baby? Any woman would love it. Even a whore.”
Luke laughed and pulled away from me, taking the cup from her.
“I couldn’t find a glass,” she said.
“I could have drank from the bottle, hell, that kid gave me such a headache, I’m going to need the whole thing.”
Lily waited until Luke sat down on the couch, then she went over and sat down in his lap, snuggling up next to him. He took a sip from the cup and she smiled. He took another and another, the silence in the room nearly drowning out the pounding in my chest.
“That hit the fucking spot, babe,” he said. “Thank you for bringing that. You do know how to take care of your man, don’t you?”
“Of course I do, baby,” she said, running her fingers through his hair.
He took another sip and sat back, stretching his arms out, as he stared over at me.
“So, how are we going to get rid of this problem of ours?” he asked.
“Did you bring your gun?” she asked.
“Hell, yeah,” he said, pointing to the table beside him, at the gun that I’d already spotted. “Got plenty of bullets out in the truck, too. One should do it, though, unless you want to have a little fun with her first.”
“Things have been a little boring lately, haven’t they?” Lily asked. “It might be good to shake things up a little, don’t you think? Get out of our little rut.”
“That sounds good to me,” he said, slapping her ass. He took another drink from the cup, a long deep one this time.
I eyed the door again, then the window. If I could get to the window and open the white lace curtain hanging there, the Gods would rush in. But that would mean gunfire, lots of it, and I couldn’t make myself take that risk just yet.
“Can’t we talk this out?” I asked. “I’ll give you guys partial custody or something.” I was lying out of my teeth, but I’d have said anything to get me and Alex out of here alive.
“The media would be all over that,” Lily said, shaking her head. “That won’t work. Then, everyone would know my husband was a lying, cheating bastard.”
Luke looked up at her in surprise.
“Hey…” he said. “That hurts.”
“What?” Lily asked, smiling down at him. “It’s true, right? That’s what you are. Oh, wait, I said I wasn’t mad, didn’t I?” She stood up, leaving him in the chair as she looked down at him. She shrugged and then leaned down, staring into his eyes. “I guess I lied.”
“What the fuck, Lily?” he asked. “You stupid bitch, talking to me like that…”
He went to stand up, his hand already raised to strike her, but he fell back into the chair instead. He shook his head, a confused look on his face, as he tried to stand up again. He made it to his feet this time, took one step, then collapsed onto the floor at Lily’s stilettos.
“What the hell,” he murmured, his voice a low, weak slur.
“Daisy,” she asked, leaving him there and turning to me. “Did Luke ever tell you anything about me?”
&
nbsp; “No, not really,” I answered, watching with confusion as Luke writhed on the ground.
“Figures,” she shrugged. “When we met I was in college at PSU. I was there on a full scholarship as a Chemistry major. At first, I thought it would be fun to learn how to make acid. I was a bit of a druggie, back then. Really into the psychedelics, but I loved learning. When I met Luke, he made me quit school. I could have had a promising career, but I turned all that down, just to be his wife.”
“Wow,” I said, nodding.
Luke struggled to get to his feet, his limbs splayed out around him like weak tentacles. Lily looked down at him, her eyes filled with hatred.
“You took my whole life away, you bastard,” she whispered, seething.
“What did you do to me?” he cried.
“I’ll tell you what I did. But first, I’m going to tell you what I didn’t do. I didn’t cheat on you. I didn’t hit you. I didn’t talk down to you, or call you names. And you know what else I didn’t do, Luke? I didn’t participate in fucking sex trafficking and turn into an evil, cold-hearted bastard!” Tears fell down her face as she looked down at him.
He was shivering now and he looked up at her with something I’d never seen in Luke Sullivan’s eyes.
Fear.
“You deserved every blow, you bitch!” he said, the words spitting out of him. He clutched his heart, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
“I really fucking loved you,” she whispered. “God, I was so stupid.”
“Lily…” I whispered, my head spinning. What the hell was happening? I clutched Alex to my breast, hiding his eyes.
“Oh, don’t worry, it’ll be over soon,” she said. She leaned down, grabbing a fistful of Luke’s hair and forcing him to look up into her eyes. “I’m not stupid, Luke. You always thought I was and now this is my opportunity to show you that I’m not. We’re all dying to hear it, right?” She chuckled, before continuing. “You might as well know before your little light switch turns off. Ever hear of a little thing called cyanide, baby?” She let go of his hair and his head slumped down. She walked around the room, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. “It’s really difficult to get, apparently, unless you’re in the FBI or the CIA. But you know what isn’t difficult? Making it! Of course, you have to know what you’re doing, but with a little bit of knowledge — oh, say, the type of knowledge someone might obtain while striving for a Chemistry degree — well, then you could easily make it yourself. Cyanide can be extracted from a number of plants, did you know that, Luke? Such as apples, plums, peaches…and oh yes, even apricots, darling! In fact, apricots are the best because you don’t need as many as you would if you used apples. Anyway, you use a little process that involves grinding up a hell of a lot of those apricots seeds, like so many you wouldn’t believe it, but you heat them up and do some other magic that a simple guy like you would never understand, Luke, and then voila! Cyanide! Isn’t that crazy? All from apricots!”
“Apricots!” Luke sputtered, his head wobbly, his hands weakly trying to grasp for the table. Lily reached over him and grabbed the gun, placing it on the kitchen counter, far away from Luke’s writhing, weak, pathetic grasp.
“That’s right, you prick. Could you taste it in the whiskey? I was hoping the taste of the whiskey was strong enough to hide it. I couldn’t try it myself, of course. I’ve been waiting for the right time to try it on you. I’ve planned on doing this long before I found out what you did to Daisy. You’re an abusive asshole, you’ve shown me nothing but that side of you for years. How many times have you hit me and laughed about it? How many times have you humiliated me? How many times did you think I would allow it before I’d snap and use my strength and intelligence to get away from you? What happened to you, Luke? You used to be kind. Was it fame that ruined you? Money? Or did you just get bitter?”
“Daisy,” Luke muttered, reaching out for me. “Help me, please…”
I looked over at him in a daze, shaking my head.
“Why would I do that?” I asked. “I’m glad you’re dying. You deserve to die. Does it hurt?” I asked Lily, looking up at her.
“It will. His blood pressure will lower until he has a heart attack. That’s when the real pain starts,” she said, a ghostly smile on her face.
I nodded, satisfied.
“Good.”
I walked over, standing over Luke, my hands covering Alex’s eyes and ears as I spoke.
“My son will never know you existed. He’ll never know the monster his father was. He’ll never be anything like you.”
He stared up at me and then froze before he began shaking, his entire body gripped in a seizure.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. The seizures come right before the heart attack,” Lily said, her voice calm as a gentle breeze. She reached over and put her arm around my shoulders as we both watched Luke die in front of us.
The seizure stopped, a long string of drool dripping from his mouth. His eyes opened, slow and dull and lifeless, before he stiffened again, his legs and arms straightening out around him.
“Ah, yes, there’s the heart attack,” Lily murmured, nodding slowly.
Luke’s body seized completely, until he stopped moving all together, his eyes closed, his head thrown back, his soul…gone.
“Should we do something?” I asked Lily.
“Yeah,” she said, leaning over and kissing my forehead. “Open the curtain, babe. He’s dead. Your friends can come in now.”
Epilogue
Chester ran around the bonfire the Gods built outside of the clubhouse, a slight limp in his gait, but otherwise healthy as ever. The fire sparked and sputtered, tall flickering flames towering over them all. Fire season had finally passed and the state lifted the fire ban a few weeks ago.
The God’s cabins survived completely unharmed, thanks to the excellent work of the skilled firefighters. The crisp Autumn chill had returned to the air, the leaves beginning to change from green to yellow, burgundy and brown.
The bonfire was massive and kept the chill at bay as they huddled around the warmth, the sound of country music pouring out of the clubhouse’s windows.
Grace and Ryder sat on the porch swing, with Oliver and Olivia grooming each other on the porch railing next to them, watching the family they’d built celebrate for no special reason at all tonight.
They celebrated being together, being alive, being exactly who they were. Jason had fallen madly in love with Daisy and Alex, quickly moving them into his home in Portland and filing paperwork to adopt Alex. They stood far away from the fire, their heads bent in conversation, Jason’s arm wrapped firmly around Daisy’s shoulders.
Riot and Lacey sat on the porch steps, drinking beer and watching the fire. Cherry was inside cleaning up after dinner. Wreck and Frankie had snuck off down a trail somewhere, just as they did every night, and wouldn’t be back for at least an hour.
Despite the couples paired up, it was still festive.
And with Slade around, every day was a party.
He’d brought Diana and Jeremiah to visit and the two boys ran around the outskirts of the fire, Alex chasing a giggling Jeremiah.
Everything had turned out just fine, just as it always did for the Gods.
After Lily poisoned Luke, the Gods came in and cleaned up. Once Grace called in help from her friends on the force and explained everything, everyone agreed on a story to tell.
The death of the famous Luke Sullivan wasn’t an easy one to sweep under the rug. A story had to be fed to the media, and it needed to be believable.
An overdose was the easiest of all.
With the coroner and a judge in their corner, these were things that made Solid Ground strong. They had everything in place to not only save a woman in need, but to tidy up the messy stories that were created in the wake.
Sometimes, that meant covering up a perfectly necessary murder.
Ruby went down for a multitude of charges, stemming over many years time. Her trial was scheduled soon and she
’d wouldn’t be hurting any other women. After raiding her place, Solid Ground was able to locate six other women that Ruby was trafficking and help them rebuild their lives.
Lily and Daisy formed an unlikely friendship and now that they lived so close to each other, Lily had been helping out to raise Alex.
Nobody ever expected things to work out the way they did, but they’d take this ending over nearly any other.
“You think I should tell her now?” Riot asked Lacey.
“Probably,” she said, kissing him lovingly.
“Yeah,” he replied, nodding firmly. “I’ll be right back.”
He walked over to Daisy and Jason.
“Daisy, can we talk for a minute?” he asked.
“Of course, what’s up?” she smiled, leaning into Jason.
“I got a tip from one of my resources today. When you first arrived, I put out a call to some friends to try to find your mother. Just in case you wanted to get in touch.”
“Oh,” she said. “And?”
“We found her.”
“You did? Where? Is she alive?”
“Yeah, she’s alive. In Memphis,” he said, handing her a folded up piece of paper. “This is her phone number and address.”
“Wow,” she said, holding the paper in her hand but not opening it. “Thanks, Riot.”
“It’s my pleasure. I wanted you to have the information. It’s up to you what you do with it. But let me know if you need any more information.”
Riot walked back to Lacey and cracked another beer, throwing his arm around her and pulling her close.
Jason turned to look at Daisy. She looked up at him, her eyes clear and bright.
“I forgot to give you something,” he said. “This seems like maybe the right time. Actually, I don’t even know if it’s yours.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“I forgot about it for a long time, honestly. The couple that brought you into the hospital gave it to me, I threw it in a pocket and didn’t think about it again.” He pulled a keychain with a dirty, plastic glass slipper dangling from it from his pocket. “Is this yours? They thought it might belong to you.”
BONES: GODS OF CHAOS MC Page 25
