Rough & Real

by Hayley Faiman

  Her body jerks and her head turns to look at me. “Thank God,” she whispers.

  “Whatever else comes from this. They’re alive and we have a hell of a big family here to help us and them get through anything that comes our way,” I remind her.

  “Hell yes we do,” she murmurs as her lips tremble.

  The SUV pulls in and there’s a white van behind it, but it drives straight to the metal warehouse building off to the edge of the property. I don’t care about that, the only thing I can see is that SUV because I know my baby is inside.

  Mary-Anne’s grip on my hand tightens as the SUV parks right in front of us. She releases me and takes one step, then another toward the car before she runs. I do the same, my mind only on seeing my baby.

  The girls start to file out of the car and as soon as I see Rosalie the tears fall from my eyes. Her gaze finds mine and she starts to run toward me too. We crash into each other, our arms wrapping around one another and I inhale her scent. She was gone for less than two days, but it felt like a fucking lifetime.

  Pulling into the clubhouse parking area, I kick my stand down and turn the engine of my bike off. I don’t climb off of my machine quite yet, though. Instead, I watch. My gaze points toward my wife. I watch as she stands next to Mary-Anne and then I continue to study her as Rosalie climbs out of the van and runs into Ivy’s waiting arms.

  I love her.

  I’m pissed off, but nothing could shake the love I have for my wife. What we have isn’t perfect, never has been, but what we have is fucking real.

  I can’t let her go, and I can’t push her away anymore. What’s done is done. What will be, will fucking be. She’s mine as I’m hers. Now, we just need to define everything—simply, clearly, and with boundaries.

  “Called doc in to see the girls,” MadDog rumbles next to me.

  I lift my leg and climb off of my bike, running my hand through my hair with a nod. Rosalie looks okay, but Finley isn’t looking so good, and I’m sure he’s worried. I wonder if I should tell him what Rosalie said about her, but I decide against it. I’ll let the doctor handle it, and maybe it’s not as bad as Rosalie claimed—though I doubt it.

  “The guys strung up?” I ask, lifting my chin toward our warehouse.

  MadDog’s smile turns fucking maniacal. “Fuck yeah they are. Told the boys to hang them by the hooks in the ceiling. We’ll let them stay there until after the girls are checked out and settled in.” He doesn’t wait for me to reply before he walks toward his wife and daughters.

  I start to walk toward Ivy and Rosalie when I see MadDog’s son Bailey rush out of the clubhouse. I expect him to head toward his sisters, but he doesn’t. He makes a beeline for Rosalie and practically rips her out of Ivy’s arms to take her in his own.

  Ivy turns to look at me, her eyes wide in shock. I want to be surprised, but after Bailey’s outburst the other day, I’m not. However, this is his one free pass. I’ll be having a conversation with him a little later today. No way in fuck am I going to have him corrupting my baby girl.

  Continuing to walk toward Ivy, her eyes dart around before they drop as I approach her. I wrap my hand around her waist and tug her against my chest, my hand wrapping around the side of her neck and forcing her head back.

  “West,” she whispers.

  Running the pad of my thumb along the apple of her cheek, I stare into those light brown eyes I love so much. “We’re gonna be okay, baby,” I whisper. Watching as her eyes water, I lean down and press my lips to hers as I squeeze her waist. “Swear to fuck, we’re gonna be okay,” I repeat.

  “Okay,” she sighs. I sweep my tongue into her mouth once before I straighten and release her neck.

  “Let’s get our girl inside and to her brothers,” I murmur.

  Rosalie hesitantly walks up to us and I wrap my arm around her shoulders and bring her into my other side. With both of my girls flanking me, we make our way into the clubhouse. As soon as we walk inside the entire room erupts in cheers of joy. Grease barrels through the crowd and pulls Rosalie out of my arms to pick her up into a huge bear hug.

  Remi and Reid are anxiously waiting at his side, and as he releases Rosalie they surround her and give her hugs as well. This is our family, this is our life. It ain’t always pretty but it’s always one hundred percent fucking authentic.

  A few minutes later MadDog, Mary-Anne, and their kids walk through the door and they’re greeted the same way we were, with loud applause and cheers of joy. A beer is thrust into my hand, and the drinks start to flow.

  I gladly take a pull of my beer as Ivy disengages from my side. I let her, but keep my eyes on her the entire time. She wraps her hand around Rosalie’s as she talks to other people in the room, including her friends, Brian and Chad. Remi and Reid slowly find their way to her side as well.

  We may not have everything completely worked out between us, but I finally feel resolute in the fact that we’re not leaving one another. Not now—not ever. I won’t let her go and I’m going to stop being such a fucking pussy about my needs and desires.

  “Got your shit together?” Grease asks me.

  I don’t look away from Ivy, or the kids “I think so,” I admit.

  “Fucking finally,” he grunts. “Does it include taking out a prospect?” he asks with a chuckle.

  I think about that for a moment. I’m not sure if I want him dead, or if I’m going to use him. I know Ivy must be attracted to him, so what better person to have some fun with?

  “Oh fuck,” Grease chuckles. I glance up at him. “You’re going to play with him, aren’t you?” he asks.

  “You know, talking about your sister’s sex life is fucking disgusting,” I announce.

  Grease shrugs. “She’s seen me fuck my wife, more times than she can count.”

  “You’re a sick fucker,” I grunt.

  Grease winks but doesn’t respond. Instead, he walks away and leaves me to my thoughts. I don’t think much more about it. The next thing I know, the doctor arrives and the girls are all ushered into MadDog and Mary-Anne’s bedroom.

  “I’m going to go with them,” Ivy announces. I grab her hand and tug her back before allowing her to follow them.

  “Baby, I think they may not want to relive anything in front of their parents. Let the doctor find out whatever he needs to, he’ll relay the information to us,” I murmur.

  Her eyes widen. “That’s against patient-doctor privilege laws, West,” she mutters.

  I grin, as I shake my head a couple of times. “That shit goes out the window when the doc steps foot into this place. He knows it, too,” I explain, squeezing her fingers.

  “We’re going to head back home unless you want us to stay,” Brian says as he and Chad step up to us.

  Ivy shakes her head, pulling away from my grasp. I watch as she gives each of the men a hug and whispers something to them. They whisper back to her and small smiles are exchanged between them. “Remember what we said. Free training session for your girls,” Chad announces.

  I watch them walk out of the clubhouse and it dawns on me that I didn’t thank them for watching after my woman the way they did. I make a mental note to pay them a visit once this shit settles down a bit, and properly thank them.

  We wait for the doctor to appear for what seems like an hour. Ivy chats to a few of the other women, staying close to Mary-Anne and her posse. I don’t blame her, they’re probably both going through the same types of emotions.

  MadDog is bellied up to the bar with his son, Fury, and his brother-in-law, Sniper. I decide to observe. Not feeling much like conversing with much of anyone right now.

  My mind keeps drifting back to those little pricks hanging in that metal building. I can’t wait to make them fucking suffer. First, we need to find out what exactly they thought they would gain by taking our girls.

  The doctor appears and makes a beeline for MadDog. I jump to my feet and am at his side as soon as the doctor arrives. “I’d like to talk to you privately, Mr. Duhart,” the docto
r murmurs.

  “I’m joining, my daughter was there too,” I announce.

  MadDog stands and the doctor opens his mouth, he raises his hand and the doctor snaps his lips closed. “Fury and Camo are joining me,” MadDog announces. He stands and walks away toward his office. We all follow behind him, and the doctor brings up the rear.

  MadDog walks behind his desk and I walk in as he sinks down into his chair. He looks fuckin’ wiped and that doesn’t surprise me, but he looks like he’s also aged about ten years. I wonder offhandedly if I look the same—God knows I feel it.

  “The girls, they were dehydrated and hungry,” the doctor begins.

  “Just fuckin’ spit it the fuck out,” MadDog demands on a growl.

  The doctor nods. “Riley and Rosalie weren’t harmed much more than being slapped around a little, and of course the rope burns on their wrists. You’ll need to keep those clean. Unfortunately—”

  MadDog interrupts. “Finley was sexually assaulted?” he guesses and I watch in horror as the doctor nods.

  “Yes, Finley was indeed sexually assaulted. Her body will heal, in time,” he murmurs. “There was a little tearing, and a small amount of loss of blood as she was a virgin,” he explains, and my stomach roils.

  MadDog nods but doesn’t speak, his eyes close and he turns his head away. Fury steps up to the doctor. “Is there anything she needs?” he asks.

  “I administered the morning after pill for her, and have taken samples to test her for any STI’s,” he mutters softly. “She said they used condoms, but I prefer to be overly cautious,” he explains.

  “Thanks, doc,” Fury murmurs.

  “I gave her some pain meds to ease her discomfort. If you need anything else, please feel free to call. My only other advice would be to get her someone to talk to about her experience,” he states before he walks out of the office, leaving the three of us alone.

  We all stay silent for at least a minute. MadDog rises and the anger and pain swirling in his eyes is too much to fucking bear. He leans forward and places his balled up fists on his desk before he speaks.

  “I get the one who hurt my baby. I’m going to fucking cut his little dick off and make him eat it,” he growls.

  Fury lifts his chin. “Fuck yeah, let’s go torture some little boys who thought they could fuck with the Devils and live to see another day.”

  We file out of the office and MadDog calls for Sniper and Grease to join us. Once we’re outside, I see Dirty Johnny standing against the building smoking a cigarette. “You guys need any help?” he asks, arching his brow.

  “Fuck yeah, we do,” Fury growls.

  Dirty Johnny pushes off of the wall and throws his smoke to the ground before he steps on it with a twist of his heel. He follows us and I hear Fury telling him exactly what the doctor said. Johnny growls and it sounds purely animalistic.

  The warehouse is dark when we walk inside. I laugh to myself, those little fuckers are probably terrified being strung up in this dark as fuck building. MadDog flips the overhead lights on and sure enough, all five of the fucks have pissed their pants and are crying.

  “Lookie what we have here, boys,” MadDog barks. “Some little piss-ants that thought they would play at being men. Bit them in the ass, now didn’t it?”

  “We won’t say shit,” the obvious leader of the group, Benny, announces.

  We all let out low chuckles at his brave words. Oh, they’ll be talking, or screaming rather. I decide to make my first move, and it’s on the little boy who was apparently supposed to be for my daughter.

  Taking my favorite knife out of its holster, I walk directly up to him. He’s hanging by his wrists, his feet dangling in the air and his arms probably numb by now.

  “One of you needs to tell us what you thought you were going to accomplish by kidnapping our girls,” I shout out, but my eyes stay connected to this kid.

  His bottom lips wobbles but he shakes his head.

  “If any of you talk, you’re dead,” Benny announces.

  MadDog lets out a loud bark of laughter. “Boys, you’re already all dead. At this point, what information you come forward with will determine the amount you suffer before you die.”

  “How old are you?” I ask the kid.

  He lowers his eyes to look at the ground. “Eighteen,” he whispers.

  He doesn’t look eighteen, but fuck, maybe he is. “Pretty fucked up you let your brother get you killed. Mind telling me what was goin’ through your head?” I murmur.

  His eyes ignite and I swear to fuck they look like they could shoot fire at me. “You’re old, worn out, and a bunch of pussies. It’s time for new blood to come in and take control,” he spits.

  Fury wraps his hand around his stomach letting out a full-on belly laugh. I watch as he wipes fake tears away from his eyes. “You hear that, Pops? We’re old, and worn out, and pussies.”

  “Guess these little fucks sure showed us,” MadDog grumbles. “Though, I don’t feel like much of a pussy right about now,” he shrugs.

  “Funny you mention it, me either,” Fury murmurs.

  MadDog steps up a little closer to the prisoners before he asks which one violated his daughter. Stupidly enough one of them actually fesses up. “It was me. Never had a tighter snatch in my life,” he boasts.

  I think MadDog is going to kill him quickly when he grabs a knife from the side table that is loaded with weapons. He doesn’t. He cuts the kids clothes off, his shirt first, then his pants and boxers.

  The other boys gasp when MadDog grabs ahold of his minuscule cock. All of this he does completely silently. Then, he slowly saws off the guy’s dick.

  The boys all around their friend start to gag and then vomit as his blood-curdling screams meet our ears, and his dick is removed from his body.

  “He passed out,” MadDog murmurs. “Guess we’ll wait for the rest of it, then. I really don’t want him to miss anything.”

  “What’re you gonna do to him?” the kid in front of me asks.

  I turn my head to him and grin. “He’s gonna make him eat his own cock, kid.” He gags and turns his head to puke again. “You know, I thought it would be kind of hard torturing kids young enough to be my own,” I announce to the room.

  “Me too,” Fury states. “But it’s really not,” he shrugs.

  “Not in the slightest,” I grin. I press my knife against the boy’s stomach. “Anything else you need to tell me?” I ask him.

  His eyes water and he sucks in a breath. “They thought you’d make a bargain with them. They were going to contact you by tonight,” he whispers. “They just wanted you to leave us the club, let us take over,” he confesses.

  I shake my head. “Boy, that ain’t how it works.” He nods and for whatever reason, I feel the need to end his life quickly.

  I shove the knife into his gut once. He makes a gasping noise before I wrap my fingers in the back of his hair and tug his neck back, slitting his throat. His blood squirts everywhere, but his death is swift and virtually painless.

  “You did that quick,” Sniper mutters from behind me.

  Turning around I give him a shrug. “He gave me more information than the rest of the pricks.”

  “You forgot a couple important details,” he says, and I look at him in question, waiting for him to continue. “How many more are there? And who is, they?”

  I blink at his words. He’s fucking right.

  “You’ll never know,” one of the other boys says with an evil grin.

  “Maybe not, but we’ll make sure to leave your little friends a reminder of what happens when you fuck with our old asses,” MadDog says.

  We spend the next two hours torturing the assholes. The kid who hurt Finley wakes up in the middle of it and I watch as MadDog actually makes him eat his own cock. It’s fucking disgusting but deserved. When all of the boys are dead and hanging lifelessly from hooks, Fury turns to me.

  “Now we show any of their little friends exactly what happens when you fuck with us,” he
states.

  I lift my chin and help him take the guys down from the hooks. We toss them into the van. MadDog had one of the prospects line it with plastic before we got started. We load into the van ourselves as we can’t bring out bikes, we’re trying to be inconspicuous.

  Dirty Johnny has the least amount of blood on him so he’s our driver. It doesn’t take long to get to our destination, the rental house we picked these fucks up from. We quickly unload their bodies from the van and dump them on the front lawn. Then we climb back inside of the van and Johnny takes off.

  “You got your cops on payroll?” Johnny asks as he drives down the street.

  MadDog grunts. “Boy, been in this town for a long ass time, everybody’s on my fuckin’ payroll.”

  “Christ, MadDog just making sure,” he murmurs.

  The rest of the drive to the clubhouse is in silence. We’re all lost inside of our own heads, something that happens when you end the lives of five men who are really just boys. I didn’t know all of their names, and I don’t care.

  All I know is that they tried to play a game, a game that they thought they could win. It was a game they fucking lost, but in the end our girls, are the ones who suffered. All because we are members of this club, brothers in this group.

  I was thankful when MadDog sent a message to the entirety of the club canceling lockdown. Tinker brought us home. I hadn’t showered in a couple of days, and neither had Rosalie. I set her up with a bath and then took a long, hot shower myself.

  Once I was clean, I decided to make a good, traditional home-cooked meal. The kids almost wept, it’s been months since I’ve cooked something akin to comfort food.

  Tonight, Rosalie’s favorite meal of chicken, rice, broccoli and cheese casserole. I haven’t heard from West, but I don’t expect to either. I can only assume that he and the other guys are taking care of the men who took our girls. I know one thing is certain when it comes to West. He’ll do whatever it takes to protect our family from outside danger.

  “I’m tired,” Rosalie admits when dinner has been consumed and the boys have run off to play PlayStation.