by Amanda Heath
Blade walks in front of me down long hallways, weaving us into a catacomb of tunnels. I think it was designed to confuse the person walking around. You would only know your way around if you had a map.
Rage walks behind me, close enough I feel his warmth but far enough so he doesn’t touch me. Storm and Lola follow behind him. Everyone is quiet and I realize how alone I feel among people I used to know. Normally I would be with Lola and we would gossip about the club whores and old ladies. Storm and Rage would be behind us quietly watching out for us and having their own quiet conversation. Blade would probably be balls deep into some young thing… and gross, I don’t even want to imagine that.
Now we are divided because I have become the enemy. They think I chose Victor over Rage, but in reality, Rage chose for me. He pushed me at Victor because he couldn’t understand why I still cared. I was his girl, I shouldn’t care about the well-being of a man I used to be with. I tried to explain to him that wasn’t how the world worked, but as always, he was right and I was wrong. I don’t know how I let our relationship come to that. Used to be I would have given anything to just be next to him, but now I couldn’t wait to be far away.
Blade stops at a metal door and I don’t even know how he knew it was the right one. Everything looks the same down here. He takes a set of keys out of his pocket and slips one into the lock. The door swings open but all I see is darkness. Rage reaches around me to flip a switch and the light suddenly comes on. It’s dim but I can still make out Talon’s face.
His longish brown hair hangs into his bloody eyes. I’ve always thought Talon was hot but I’ve never been sexually attracted to him. I think in the long run we were way too similar. He was running from the person he is inside of himself, just like I was. But we were too stubborn to be friends despite being kindred spirits. His head slowly lifts up and his sea glass green eyes meet mine.
Surprisingly, he doesn’t glare or say anything insulting to me. “It’s about time you got here, legs. I was wondering if these assholes were bluffing.”
I roll my eyes at the stupid nickname he gave me long ago. He always said he’d never meet a lady with a set of legs like mine. If you haven’t figured it out, he’s a leg man. “And what did you think they were bluffing about?” I ask, stepping into the barely-lit room. The floor is concrete as are the walls. Talon is cuffed to a pole in the middle of the room, his arms behind his back. He sits on the floor and blood is all over his clothes. His once perfect face is black and blue in several places, making the scar through his lip more striking.
He didn’t always have that scar. Once upon a time he was flawless. Then he went to Iraq. Much like Victor, he’s scarred inside and out now. “The main man told me they had you in here. Said I could have my one phone call before they offed me.”
My heels click and clack as I make my way closer to him. I bend down at the knees and squat before him. “And why would you make me your one phone call? You hate me.”
Talon laughs, the sound raspy. “I don’t hate you, legs. I actually want you to have my babies but Victor would kick my ass if I even tried. I always told him there wasn’t anything sexier than the thought of you wrapping them legs around me while I pounded into you.” Whether he’s full of shit or not, I’ll never know. That’s the thing with Talon; you can’t always believe the things coming out of his mouth.
I do know, at this moment, he was trying to get my estranged husband into his infamous rage. Rage stalks past me and slams his knee into Talon’s face. I see blood pool along his lips as Rage backs away. “Don’t fuckin’ say another thing about her. I’ll fuckin’ kill you before we get what we need.”
Talon spits out some blood near my feet, probably hoping to get me to jump or something. I’m married to a guy called Rage, I’ve been around enough blood and gore that a little from his mouth isn’t gonna chase me off. “Cute. Can we get to the point here? I’m just about done with this crap.”
“You sure know how to pick em, legs.” He uses his shoulder to wipe off his mouth before looking up to meet my eyes. “You gotta tell em it wasn’t us who blew up that girl’s car. You know neither of us would hurt a female. I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. I wouldn’t go around killing mob members and beating the shit outta some motorcycle idiots. My dad is running for president.”
I look into his eyes and I watch the wheels turn. He’s too weak to hide the lies in his eyes. Or maybe he thinks if he lies in front of them that I’ll play along. But what he doesn’t know is I could care less about him. If he and Victor are out there being vigilantes, then they deserve what’s coming to them. “You must think I’m stupid. You must think I never overhead things I shouldn’t have. You must think I would keep your secrets for you.” I stand up to my full height and glare down at him. “I believe you didn’t blow up Chutney’s car. Neither you or Victor would physically hurt a female, that is true.”
Talon’s breathing starts to become labored and I know he’s getting nervous. I don’t know what he thinks I know, but it must be real good. “I could never think you were stupid, Ashley. Well, you do have horrible taste in men so that does count against your smarts.”
“I know Maggie meant a lot to you, but she made her own choices. Let’s not even get started on Annabella. We’d be here all day,” I tell him softly. If he’s not going to talk, I’ll make him talk. I hate to use this card but I have to. People’s lives are on the line.
“You don’t know anything Ashley, so just shut up.” Talon growls like I knew he would. You can’t say his little sister’s name without getting a rise out of him.
My legs carry me until I’m standing next to him, then I sit down on the ground as close as I can get to him without touching. You don’t touch Talon without permission. He’s snappy like that. “Maggie was a sweet girl but she had a problem, Talon. It’s not your fault, it’s not anyone’s fault. Well, I guess it was her fault. Your parents tried so hard to get her to go to rehab, but she wouldn’t. The drugs controlled her until they took her life.” I lean over Talon until I’m the only one who can see his face. I silently wipe away the tears flowing out of his eyes. I won’t let anyone else see this. We are alike in this way too. We don’t show weakness.
“You can’t go around playing God. That’s not how the world works. I know you want vengeance but you can’t have it. Neither can Victor. At least his little sister is still alive. She hasn’t gone too far, yet. She might not ever be able to make amends, but she’ll be able to live.” His green eyes look into mine with so much pain it’s hard to see. I always knew he was tortured. I think he was tortured long before he lost his sister.
Maggie was a year younger than him. She was in my grade at school and she got involved with the wrong group of people by the time she was sixteen. She was dead by eighteen. She did heroin once and never looked back. She went from living in a ten-million-dollar mansion with an eighty-thousand-dollar car to living on the streets and having sex with random men for money to pay for the drugs. Her parents really tried to get her off the streets but she refused to get off the drugs. They made her a different person.
Much like the pain in his eyes, it was hard to watch. I watched Victor’s best friend go from a happy teenager to an angry man. His parents finally had him sign up for the army so he could get away from it for a while. Take his angry out for his country. I’m sure it helped with votes in the election. This is Texas after all.
“She used to come into my room and bitch about some inane thing, drove me fucking crazy. I used to wish she’d disappear for a while, but I never wished she would be gone for real. The last thing I ever said to her was horrible. I called her a whore and all these bad names. I just couldn’t understand why she was acting like that.” The tears have dried from his eyes and once again I see the man I know. The one who put me down every chance he got. The moment we’ve shared is over. “Last night, Bastard attacked us. Vic and I were out at this club. Some pretty little thing asked him out and I went along to find someone to w
arm my bed. He came out of nowhere. Hit me upside the head with his brass knuckles. I was out of it for most of it, honest. Victor wouldn’t just leave me lying there. And you know that.”
I do know that. That’s why I’m trying to piece all of this together. “Was there anyone else around? Did you see anyone in the shadows?”
“I think there were three other guys. Not them.” He nods his head towards the door where our silent audience still stands. “I honestly don’t know what they’re talking about. Vic and I have nothing to do with hurting the Wraths. They may run drugs but they don’t deal around here. Not that I know of. The mob, on the other hand, sell to kids. Not only drugs but also guns. The guys we killed, they had this house in the ghetto. They had girls, Ashley. Pre-teen to eighteen. They were all high as kites. They were selling them as sex slaves, trafficking them. I couldn’t walk away until they were all dead.”
My blood runs cold. “You…” I clear the thickness out of my throat and sit down on my ass, my legs no longer able to hold me up. “You killed actual mob members? You killed men in the family? Do you know what you’ve done? You and Victor have put everyone you know and love in danger. You’ve put my family in danger. My Uncle Greyson works for them. He’s been in Victor’s life for a long time.”
“I’m fucking safe and you know it. They wouldn’t touch me, not with who my father is.” Talon says this with confidence and I want to punch him. So I do. My fist comes out, locked up how Rage showed me years ago. I connect with his jaw sending his head back onto the metal pole.
“You’ve killed us all. You didn’t even think of Victor did you? You didn’t think about him because you’re too stupid to get out of your own head. I don’t care what those guys were doing. There’s a special place in hell for those kinds of people. You both have families. They don’t give a fuck who your father is. You took away a source of income. You took members of their blood. You don’t fuck with the mob unless you have a death wish. Only a man who had nothing left does what you did.” I spit at his feet, as I get to my own.
I rush past the four gawking pairs of eyes in the doorway. I hear heavy footfalls behind me but I keep going. I have to make phones calls. I have to get my family out of the state. I have a baby nephew, who’s turning one soon. My mom, two of my brothers, my uncle, my aunt, my cousins and Annabella. They are all part of Victor’s family.
“They’re fine, Glossy. The mob isn’t gonna touch them. Your uncle is too important to them. Victor and Annabella, they’re screwed though.” Rage’s words make sense but I don’t listen to them. I just have to get to my cell phone and get everyone to safety. How could Victor do this? How could he put all of us in danger? He doesn’t know this world; he doesn’t know how it works. I know bad things happen. But they happen everywhere. Why dwell on something you can’t change? These men are really bad people. They don’t care who you are, where you come from, they will kill you for no reason. You fuck with them; no one will ever find your body. No one will ever find out what happened to you. You’d just be gone.
The things they would do to you before you disappeared…unthinkable.
“Baby, if they were goin’ to hurt any of you, it would have already happened. They ain’t gonna touch you.” Rage walks right up behind me; close enough to touch, yet so far away.
“It’s so easy for you, isn’t it?” I ask, hysteria rising in my voice. I feel yet another freak out coming on.
“What’s easy for me?” I hear the confusion in his voice and I realize he doesn’t even know what I’m talking about.
“For you to start back up with calling me Glossy and baby. My name’s Ashley. You lost the right to call me by pet names when you broke my heart.” How many times will I let the men I love hurt me? How many times will I watch them walk away, me a little bit more broken than I was before?
When I finally make it out of the catacombs the main area of the club is alive with activity. And a sight I thought I would never see again, graces the stage set to the left of the bar.
Chutney walks onto the stage in red kitten heels, a red lacy tank top and a black pencil skirt. Her hair is pulled up into a high ponytail and she smiles when I catch her eye. Then she starts singing “I Hate Everything About You” by Threes Days Grace.
I’ll tell you, there is nothing more strange than seeing that high-class girl up on stage singing an emo rock song like she was born for it. Her voice is smooth but edgy, making it at odds with her clothes and personality.
I remember the first time she got up there and sang for us. Of course all the Daniels children can sing, or so I’m told, since I’ve never heard Storm sing. Rage won’t do it in public but I heard him plenty of times around our house.
I walk to the back hallway where most of the rooms are. I find a quiet corner and call my uncle. Seeing Chutney up there singing her heart out seemed to calm me down. But that’s something she’s good at. You can’t imagine how many bar fights between the brothers she’s broke up by getting up there and singing whatever her heart wants.
Uncle Greyson answers on the third ring. “Hey Ashley. Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“Yeah. But I need to ask you something. Since I can’t leave and this is important, is it okay to talk on this phone?” Something else I’ve learned from club life, don’t talk business on a non-secure phone. Though since Uncle Greyson works for the mob, I’m sure his phone is secure. I know mine is.
“Sure, sweetie. But what’s this about?”
I close my eyes and lean against the wall, slowly lowering myself to the floor. I bend my knees and rest my forehead against them. “Victor did something really bad. That’s not gonna come back to hurt us, is it?”
I hear him sigh and I hold my breath waiting for his answer. “I’ve already taken care of it. Uncle Barney knows none of us had anything to do with that. The only person that isn’t safe is Annabella because I refuse to claim her.”
I grit my teeth. “Did they take Victor last night?”
“I’m not allowed to say anything about that.” Which means yes, they took him.
Fuck.
I’m about to open my mouth when a familiar figure walks down the hallway. One with honey-colored hair and eyes. The freaky matching eyes are what draw you into their power. It makes them exotic and you have to have a taste.
“Annabella? What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask the she-devil who broke two of my brothers’ hearts.
Seven
There are people in my life I wish I could just wish away. The bitch standing in front of me is one of them. I hang up on Uncle Greyson without saying goodbye. He’s loyal to the mob; he’s loyal to the people who have taken care of him for the past twenty years. They even paid for him to go to med school. He’d rat Annabella out right now.
I know I should just hand her over, hand her over to the people who want to use her against Victor, but I’m not going to. I would never do that to Victor no matter what was between us.
“Looking for you of course.” She says it so simply in her smoker’s voice. She pulls a pack of Reds out of her purse and sits down on the floor in front of me. She’s wearing this short black dress with leather knee-high black boots. Her honey-colored hair is down around her shoulders framing her delicate face. “I’ve been in this hell hole for three days. Can you believe that? Me, in a place like this.”
“Why are you here then?” I want to reach across the hallway and wring her neck. I used to love this girl like she was my own. I taught her about fashion, makeup, her period, and even explained sex to her. There was a time we could talk about anything but now there is this huge concrete wall between us. Her past actions left her alone in the world. Sometimes I think she wants it that way.
She puts the cigarette to her lips and uses a pink lighter to light it. “I’ve been undercover for Victor. I came in and pretended to be a hanger-on, isn’t that the right term?” She blows out a thick cloud of smoke and waves her hand around to clear it from her face. “It wasn’t fun at all. All these sleazy
men touching me, trying to get me in to bed. As if. I told Victor it wouldn’t work because I wouldn’t touch any of them with a ten-foot pole.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, but you’ll do drugs and spread your legs for random men, but bikers aren’t your thing?” As if.
“I didn’t spread my legs for anyone. The only men I’ve been with are two of your brothers. I might see sex as a weapon, but that doesn’t mean I’m a whore. I had the money to buy the drugs, just like I had the money to go to rehab.” She takes another hit off her cigarette before going on. “All the things I’ve done in my life were starting to eat at me. I couldn’t handle the thoughts in my head anymore, so I started doing anything I could get my hands on. Weed and meth mostly. I wasn’t about to touch heroin. I know how I operate. I would get addicted and overdose. That’s how most of the addicts on that shit go out.” She laughs, the noise grating on my nerves.
“I don’t care what drugs you did or that you even went to rehab. You chose to hurt everyone around you. You chose to pit two brothers against each other. Some thing’s you just can’t forgive.” Like the pregnancy she got rid of. That child was a part of my blood, so she killed something I loved. It makes me sick women like Annabella can get pregnant and just kill their unborn babies. Especially when I can’t have any of my own.
Annabella looks at the floor as her jaw clenches. “I’m not here to talk about what I’ve done, Ashley. I’m here to ask for your help.”
“Then why did you bring all that other shit up? You think I want to talk about what you’ve done?” I want to scream at her, want to push her around until she’s as hurting as much as I am.
“I wanted you to know I’m clean. I haven’t done any drugs in months. I just never told Victor. He called me three days ago and asked me to come here and see if I could buy some drugs from the brothers. No one ever offered me anything. Though I know some of the club whores were doing blow in the bathroom. I didn’t ask them where they got it from.” She stabs her cigarette on the ground and leans against the wall, catching my eyes.
