Broken (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 1)

by Michelle Betham

  ‘Maybe it won’t come to that.’ I let go of Gator and throw him a small smile. A thankful smile. I got myself some loyal brothers in this club. ‘Killing someone.’

  ‘You hope,’ Odi sighs. ‘Because if Viper…’

  I look at him, narrowing my eyes again. ‘She just needs some time to calm down, OK?’

  Odi raises an eyebrow. ‘You think?’

  ‘She’s had over a year to calm down, Mack,’ Gator adds.

  ‘And for most of that year she’s been Christ knows where being taught some kinda vigilante shit by some mysterious guru who seems to think she’s got every right to carry out this fucked-up retribution. She’s had no time to just sit and think about the consequences. We’re giving her that time. So, we keep her in the safe house, we make sure she’s OK, I go see her…’

  ‘You think fucking her on a regular basis is gonna solve everything, huh?’

  I’m getting tired of Odi now. ‘Support me or get the fuck out, Odi. I ain’t got time for your crap.’

  He stays where he is, and again I feel a wave of relief swamp me. Like I said, the loyalty of my brothers is unquestionable.

  ‘It’s gonna go a long way to taking her mind off what she thinks she needs to do. All right?’

  ‘You really think she’s gonna be swayed that easily?’ Gator asks, and I swing round to look at him.

  ‘Anything’s worth a fucking try. What else we got, huh?’

  ‘And what happens once you’ve turned her head?’

  I look back at Odi, my mouth twisting up into a smirk because I really do think I’ve got this worked out now. Shit! I’m freakin’ good! ‘I make her my old lady, officially this time, and everyone lives happily ever after.’

  I shrug, and they laugh and, yeah… she really ain’t gonna be a problem no more. Not once I’ve finished with her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Izzi

  I’m woken by shouts and what sounds like a fight going on outside. It’s barely 6.30am but something’s obviously going on so I jump out of bed and yank open the curtains.

  ‘Shit!’

  My fingers grip the window-sill and I bow my head, breathing in deep before I look back up at what’s going on out in the yard. I swear, I could kill Sam for this…

  ‘Jesus Christ, Zeb…’

  I quickly pull on denim shorts and a T-shirt and rake my fingers through my hair before I run out on to the porch.

  ‘Zeb!’

  He lets go of the prospect he’s got hold of – it’s Fitz, I think – and throws him back against his bike before he turns to look at me. ‘Izzi, baby, you doing OK there, princess?’

  Fitz pulls himself to his feet and reaches for his gun, but Zeb’s too quick for him, and before he’s even pulled it from the waistband of his jeans Zeb’s knocked it from his hand and I watch as it drops to the floor. Zeb picks it up and looks at Fitz, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘Seriously? You were gonna pull that thing on me?’

  ‘Nobody gets in here…’

  Zeb holds up a hand to silence him, and I lean back against the wall and watch him at work. ‘Well, y’see, y’all keep telling me that. Your friend round the corner there, he told I couldn’t come in here, and your brother round the back, he kept spieling me the same shit, too, yet, here I am.’ He shakes his head. ‘Man, that president of yours gotta look again at the security issues you got going on here.’ He looks over at me and flashes me an all-too-familiar grin. ‘Everything all right here, darlin’?’

  I nod, and I can’t help smiling back.

  ‘You know this guy?’ Fitz shouts over to me.

  ‘Yeah, I know him.’

  ‘You know he was coming here?’

  I slowly shake my head, although, I did have an inkling – after my conversation with Sam yesterday – that this might happen, and there’s a part of me that’s still angry at Sam for sending Zeb here, despite me telling him I could handle this. And I don’t even know how the hell they knew where I was, I can only think that they must have traced the call. But I don’t need this. I don’t need saving. I don’t need a fucking bodyguard.

  ‘Shit, Izzi, you’re breaking my balls here. Mack’s gonna go freakin’ apeshit.’

  Zeb turns his attention back to Fitz. ‘I’ll handle your president. You just tell him I’m here.’

  ‘Who the fuck is this prick, Izzi?’

  Zeb moves forward, right into Fitz’s space and Fitz tries to back away but instead he just backs up against his bike. ‘This prick can be your worst fucking nightmare, kiddo, so, to avoid anything unpleasant happening, why don’t you just carry on doing what you’re supposed to be doing and I’ll be over there. With Izzi. Nothing for you to worry about. OK?’ He hands Fitz back his gun, and Fitz slowly takes it from him, sliding it back down into his jeans. ‘And don’t even think about pulling that on me again, y’hear? ‘Cause, son, I got weapons on my person that could render you pointless in a fucking heartbeat.’

  I fold my arms and look down at the ground. Mack’ll be on his way now. Or he might send Odi, but I’ve got a feeling Mack’ll be here himself. Soon. Either Cam or Denny will have already called him the second Zeb showed up, but that won’t faze Zeb. Still, it’s not a stand-off I’m particularly looking forward to.

  Zeb saunters across the porch towards me, his hands in his pockets, an air of arrogance surrounding him. He’s a handsome son-of-a-bitch is Zeb, if you like your men slightly older, rough and dangerous. And with his short but permanently unkempt dark hair that always seems to be falling over his deep brown eyes despite his attempts to keep it pushed back, and tattoos adorning his arms, neck, chest and back he looks about as rough and dangerous as they get. But his goatee beard kind of gives away the fact he’s a slave to an element of grooming because it was always kept pretty neat, and it seems he’s still sticking to that regime. And his eyelashes, hell, I wish I had lashes like that. I’d never need to use mascara again.

  He stops just in front of me and smiles, and I smile back. I used to be terrified of men like Zeb, once-upon-a-time. Now I ache to be like him – tough, taking no crap and fighting to the end. I need to be like him. And, yeah, OK, I’ve changed my mind. I’m so fucking happy he’s here.

  ‘C’mere, princess.’

  I jump into his arms and wrap my legs around him as he swings me around, then he puts me down and kisses me and I cling onto him. Milek Zebrowski. Zeb. American-born of Polish descent, and the first man I let touch me after Aiden. Mack wasn’t the first. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to come here and let someone like Mack Slayer touch me like that knowing the last man to be with me in that way had been Aiden. I’d needed to be broken in gently; to be taught how to fuck like a biker whore, how to act like I wanted the dirtiest sex; how to give the dirtiest sex. I had to be taught how to behave like someone I’d never been before; someone I was going to become, for the rest of my life. I needed help to change. Zeb was my teacher on that score. Sam taught me to fight. Zeb taught me to fuck.

  He pushes me back against the wall and laughs quietly, and the second his hand drops to my hip I breathe in deep. He taught me good, and I owe him so much. And I haven’t had sex in days, Jesus, what the hell am I turning into?

  ‘What crap have you gotten yourself into, Izzi, huh?’

  ‘Sam shouldn’t have sent you, Zeb.’

  ‘You’re in trouble, princess. I can’t have you in trouble.’

  ‘I might’ve messed things up, just a little,’ I breathe, because his hand’s slipped down my shorts now, his fingers grazing my skin and I like it. The lessons I learned from him are still very fresh in my mind, and now he’s here… yeah, maybe I need a refresher course.

  ‘And I’m here to clean that mess up, OK?’

  His dark eyes bore into mine, and he laughs again as he touches me, and I’m wet, and he knows that. He knows I’m ready. He knew I’d be ready the second I laid eyes on him.

  He kisses me again as he pushes my shorts down and I step out of them, kicking them away, my mou
th never leaving his. And I remember the first time he’d kissed me like this – my first lesson. I’d felt sick, because Aiden had only been dead a matter of weeks and I was betraying him; betraying his memory, in the most sick and sordid way. I’m still betraying him now, but at the same time I’m avenging his death, I’m doing it for him. Yes, it’s twisted and wrong and none of it makes sense – did I really need to turn myself into a killer? Yes, I did. Did I really need to become this dark and messed-up person? Yes. I had no other choice. Justice as we know it was never going to happen, and I couldn’t live with that. It was either this way, or I give up. I let them win. They won’t win. I won’t let them.

  He lifts me up again and my legs are back around his hips and I cry out quietly as he thrusts into me, a reminder of how this all started.

  ‘Oh, baby, I’d forgotten how good you feel,’ he groans as his fingers dig into my thighs and he thrusts harder, slamming me back against the wall. And then he looks at me, and he smiles that smile and I laugh because we used to have so much fun, me and Zeb. He was teaching me how to become a low-down dirty whore while his uncle taught me how to kill a man, and we had fucking fun. My former self would hate me for who I’ve become; the level I’ve stooped to. ‘I’d forgotten how well I taught you.’

  ‘You taught me good.’ I press my mouth against his ear as I speak and I wrap my legs tighter around him, practically squeezing his cock into submission until he comes in a barrage of animalistic cries, and over his shoulder I watch Fitz watching us, and he’s shaking his head and I know he’s going to tell Mack, of course he is, because I’m Mack’s property. Nobody else is supposed to touch me, but Zeb is different. He’s different, to anything and anybody I have ever met before, even Mack and his crew. And Zeb, he can handle Mack Slayer.

  He pulls out of me and puts me down, turning me around so I face the wall and I splay my hands out against the wooden boards as he yanks me back against him. ‘You want me inside you again, baby? Your choice, princess.’

  ‘Just fucking do it, Zeb.’

  He laughs again, and it vibrates right through me it’s so deep and low and I gasp as his fingers find my clit, his touch sending out shots of something warped and wrong to flood my body. ‘Oh, baby, you really are one bad, bad girl.’

  ‘You made me this way. You created me.’

  ‘And aren’t I a clever boy?’

  I laugh too, but that laugh turns into the deepest, guttural groan as his fingers slide inside me, his other hand stroking me, touching me; everywhere. And I move my legs a little further apart to give him more room.

  ‘You let me know when you’re nearly there, baby.’

  He pulls me away from the wall, pulls me back against him, and I reach back to bury my fingers in his hair as he finger-fucks me harder, both his hands working me like the genius he is until I collapse in his arms, the orgasm he brings me to hot and heavy and so fucking good my knees almost give way beneath me. My whole body shudders as wave after wave sweeps over me, and he holds me and continues to keep his fingers inside me until it’s over. Until my inner grip releases him, and only then does he pull out of me.

  I turn around and back up against the wall, and I smile as I watch him wipe his hands on a bandana he pulls from his jeans pocket before he reaches down between my legs and slowly wipes me dry with it, his eyes never leaving mine. He tucks the bandana back into his pocket and moves back into my space, reaching out to cup my cheek and he kisses me, long and deep and slow. Then he pulls back, only slightly, and smirks. ‘Hey, Izzi.’

  I smile back, running my fingers lightly over his beard. ‘Hey, Zeb.’

  He kisses me again, and for a few seconds I let the memories return. ‘You should put some clothes back on now, princess.’ He lets go of me and steps back. ‘Your boyfriend’s gonna be here any second.’

  He’s right. Mack’ll be on his way, but I’m still getting my head around Zeb being here; how good it is to see him. ‘I’d forgotten how nice it is being naked, with you.’

  He moves a little closer and rests his hand against my neck and his mouth’s on mine again, his teeth gently nipping my bottom lip. ‘We got work to do, sweetheart.’

  I sigh and push him away, crouching down to retrieve my shorts. ‘Mack’s not gonna be happy.’ Understatement.

  ‘I can handle Slayer.’

  He watches as I step back into my shorts. ‘Maybe you don’t know him as well as you think you do, Zeb.’

  He slides a cigarette between his teeth and lights up, taking a drag and blowing smoke up into the air. ‘I know more than enough, Izzi.’

  I lean back against the wall beside him and take the cigarette from his hand, helping myself to a drag. Like I said, I’d never smoked before, and I don’t really smoke all that much now, but I needed to be ready, for anything. I needed to be able to snort coke, smoke weed, whatever it took to fit into this world I’m becoming frighteningly attached to. But that all really started with Sam and Zeb, it didn’t begin here. They were my induction. But back then there was a safety net, there were barriers, borders keeping me safe. There’s none of that here. And this is the reality.

  ‘I need to see Sam, Zeb.’

  He takes the cigarette from me and slides it back between his teeth. ‘You’ll have to make do with me.’

  ‘I can’t even talk to him. They took my phone.’

  He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a cell phone. ‘Here.’ He hands it to me and I take it. ‘Present from Sam. Keep it safe, use it to call him.’ He looks at me and winks, that familiar smirk back on his handsome face. ‘Or me.’

  ‘You not staying long, then?’

  ‘Long enough,’ he sighs, taking another deep drag on his cigarette before tossing it onto the wooden porch floor and stamping down on it.

  I hear the dull roar of a Harley engine and both Zeb and I look up as a bike pulls in off the road and makes its way up to the house. It’s Mack. Who else would it be?

  ‘Go put that phone somewhere safe,’ Zeb says to me, not taking his eyes off Mack, who skids his bike to a halt and climbs off, throwing his helmet down on the ground before he and Fitz start talking. ‘Inside, Izzi. Now.’ Mack starts striding towards the house and I feel my stomach churn. ‘Go on.’

  I look at Zeb, but his expression is as it always is – stoic. You don’t ask too many questions where Zeb’s concerned. He knows what he’s doing.

  So I head inside.

  And wait for the storm to break…

  Mack

  ‘Get the fuck off my property.’

  I’m pissed. I’m fucking pissed as hell. Some punk turns up, beats the shit outta my prospects then fucks my girl and he expects me to, what? Shake him by the fucking hand? Offer him a beer? Tell him to help himself to my liquor and my old lady?

  ‘I ain’t going nowhere, brother.’

  ‘Get the fuck off my property before I break your freakin’ neck…’

  Jesus fucking Christ!

  He twists my arm up behind my back and slams me up against the wall before I’ve had a chance to draw breath, and I can hear Fitz and the others running to my aid but I don’t need their help.

  ‘Back off, Fitz!’

  ‘Mack…’

  ‘I said, back off! I can handle this. Get back to your posts. Now!’

  I feel this dick’s breath on my neck as he leans in to me, his fingers grasping my wrist tighter than need be. I swear, I’m gonna kill the motherfucker the second he lets go of me.

  ‘You might be able to tell your lapdogs what to do, Slayer, but you ain’t telling me shit.’

  I wrench my arm free of his grip and swing around, immediately drawing my gun but he’s just as quick, and draws his, too. We’ve reached stand-off. And then he laughs, and I almost pull the fucking trigger he’s got me that wound up.

  ‘We really doing this?’

  He’s one cocky dumbfuck. ‘And you’re, what, exactly, to Izzi?’

  ‘A friend.’

  ‘You fuck all your friends, huh?’<
br />
  He laughs again, and I’m losing it here. I’m seriously fucking losing it. ‘You could say I taught her everything she knows.’

  Jesus, I’m gonna kill him, I swear, he’s fucking testing me. ‘She ask you to come here?’

  ‘She needs me. She’s in trouble, and she…’

  ‘She needs me…’

  ‘Whoa, am I sensing some envy flying around here?’ He lowers his weapon and tucks his gun into the back of his jeans. Now the fucker’s just confusing me. ‘Listen, Mack, I ain’t no threat on that score, OK? I don’t do relationships. I ain’t got the temperament. And I wasn’t aware you had it, either. But I hear you might’ve fallen hard for my girl Izzi.’

  ‘She ain’t your girl.’

  He takes a step forward and I keep my weapon raised. I don’t trust him. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why he’s here, so I’m staying on my guard. ‘Not like that she ain’t, no. But I made her. What you see, what you get, that’s all on me. She’s my creation.’

  What the fuck is this asshole talking about?

  ‘Mack?’

  I swing around, and she’s standing in the doorway and, man, she looks so freakin’ beautiful. But she’s just had his dick inside her and I don’t know if I can go there again now. Shit! Who the fuck is this prick?

  ‘Something you wanna tell me, darlin’?’

  She walks over to me and the second she touches me I know I’m going back there. Whatever the fuck’s going on with this guy it ain’t gonna affect what we have. I’ll make sure of that. I’ve put my whole fucking life on the line for this girl. Everything. So I’m taking her.

  ‘Mack, this is Zeb.’

  I turn back to face him. ‘Zeb?’ He leans back against the porch railings and lights up a cigarette, offering the packet to me. I decline. I need a drink, not a cigarette. I need something stronger than tobacco. ‘And who the fuck is Zeb?’