“Well, we only have 13,” Snake stammers, “but they are all high quality,” and he motions for the men to get the girls out of the silo and they unlock it, realizing it’s empty except for those dead bodies left behind and that’s when I lower my fist. My men start unloading their weapons on the Vengeful Demons and the high power men in the SUV’s. The body guards surround the man that spoke Mandarin and have their weapons drawn. They shove him into the pricey SUV and shut the door.
The men have injured Snake and taken down the majority of Demons. Remington takes out one of the guards, but not before he took his shot. I feel a burn in my left shoulder and the force of the bullet swings my body around and I am pushed back against the tractor tire. Lucky pulls me back and around behind it and I fall to a sitting position on the ground. It sounds like a war zone with all the guns going off around me. I roll to my stomach and pull out the rifle I had on my back; I prop my arms up the best that I can with my injury and take aim. It hits the center of the glass on the back passenger window of the SUV. Fuck, bullet proof, I should have known. Just as the driver starts to take off with the vehicle I hear a combine start, it’s mowing over anything and anyone in its way, which includes some of the bodies of the Demons we’ve taken out. Blood and ground body parts spew out the back It takes some effort, but the combine tractor is climbing up on the hood of the SUV and smashes the windshield and driver in its weight. As the hood is caving in I see the door try to open but it’s unable to with the roof smashed down, I then see the window go down and the Oriental trafficker is going to try to escape that way, I have my gun aimed and take another shot and this one is right between his eyes and his body slumps half in and half out of the vehicle and is instantaneously shredded when the combine has successfully chewed it, taking the guards near the automobile with it. With all the blood and guts spewed everywhere, we are going to have to tweak the meth lab explosion idea and fast. We are out away from everyone, but there is no way at least someone hasn’t heard all the gunfire.
As the shooting has wound down and we realize it’s only us we stop and I see Remington, Phoenix and Justice surveying the area and making sure everyone is dead and the ones alive are secured. Right now we’ve only found Snake and one other member still alive. We gather together once the area is swept and check our crew. Everyone is accounted for but one with me a bullet in my shoulder, Rivet took a shot to his side but the rest are good, except we can’t find dad, where the fuck is my dad?
“Spread out, find Ruger, NOW!” I demand. This is not happening, I’m not losing him.
“Ben, Rem, get over here, man,” I hear Lucky call out from the barn.
Remington and I dash to the barn and see our father laying in a pile of dirt and hay, a shot to his heart. He’s not moving. Remington throws his head back, his fists clenched and yells out in a guttural angry roar, “Noooooo.” I am standing there in complete shock and then fall to my knees next to his body. Rem storms away, dragging back one of the only two Demons left alive to our dad’s body. As he holds the man up by his greasy hair, he takes his knife and slices his throat and throws the man’s body to the ground. He climbs on top of the man and rips open his shirt and cuts out his heart, he’s holding it in his hands when we hear a cough come from our father.
Everyone turns towards Ruger, and I put my arms around him, setting him in an upright position. “Damn, that fucking smarted,” he manages to rasp out and reaches inside his chest pocket and pulls out a blue tinted square, flat stone with a shattered bullet against it. “Stacks gave me this before she left back to Arizona, it’s a synthetic sapphire with her name on it. She said it was a tough as me and to keep it close to my heart, I think that damn woman might be psychic.”
I throw my arms around my father and hug him, then Remington pulls him to his feet and gives him a hug too. Dad looks down at the man with the slit throat and the heart laying next to him, “Damn, get a little violent there, Rem?”
“I thought you were dead,” is all he says.
“We need to get this done and get you guys out of here. Cuda, get the truck and get Ruger, Rivet and Benelli out of here,” says Justice. The pain finally hitting me, I let him take over. I know he’s got this. We get loaded in the truck and head back to the clubhouse where the docs are waiting. When we get about twenty miles away we hear the explosion and look back to see the sky where the silo was located turn black and red.
We get back to the clubhouse and they work on Rivet first since he’s in the worst condition. By the time they are getting started on me, the men are all back. Justice, Remington, and Phoenix are working with Lyric and some of the others arranging for the families to get the girls. Elle is by my side and refuses to leave me as well as Aqua Net by Rivet’s side.
By morning I awake to Elle and Brenna curled up tight against me. My movement wake Elle and she smiles up at me and gives me a kiss. “Good morning,” I say.
“Good morning,” but then her smile turns to a pout and she whispers to not wake up Brenna, “I told you not to scare me again. How’s your shoulder?”
“But I’m here now,” I smile and try to plead my case. “I’m sore as hell, but I’ll heal. Are the other girls still here?” I ask, kind of confused.
“No, they all have left with their families or Mayhem’s club is giving some of them rides back to Indiana and meeting a few families there,” she says and looks down at the little girl and kisses her on top of the head, “we still don’t have all the answers on this little angel.”
We manage to roll out of bed without waking her, and we head to the bathroom. I’m doing my business while Elle is brushing her teeth, “So, do we know anything?” I ask.
“Not much, she talked to Phoenix a little last night, I think her mom died or something, she said she was sick,” she says, “we can talk to him when we’re done in here and see if he found out anything.” We switch spots and finish up, check back on the girl who is still out and head to the kitchen, leaving the bedroom door open in case she wakes. Phoenix is sitting at the table stoically with Zen next to him, her hand on top of his. I walk over to the coffeepot and pour two cups as Elle gets the creamer out of the fridge for hers.
“Hey man, you okay?” I ask Phoenix.
Zen pats his hand lightly, and he shakes his head, stirring him out of wherever he was. “Yeah, I’m okay. That little girl, it’s fucked up, man. She said her mom was sick all the time,” he shakes his head again, “she told me her mom used needles to give herself “medicine” and then would sleep a lot. One day after her medicine, she never woke up. Still had the needle in her veins. She was shooting up in front of that little girl and didn’t fucking give a shit. That five-year-old girl had to take care of herself because her mom was too out of it to do it. She said it got worse after her dad left and didn’t come back earlier at the beginning of summer. Want to know some more fucked up shit?” he says now staring blankly ahead, “he wore the same patch as those pieces of shit that had her locked up in that silo! He was a fucking Vengeful Demon!” he states and slams his fists down on the table and slams his chair back and it falls backwards to the ground. Zen and Elle jump at the action. He stands now with his fists clenched and gritted teeth, “if that’s true, they took that little girl to sell after her worthless mom died in front of her. No loyalty to a club member’s family, no honor, they were going to sell her to the highest bidder.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Elle
The words Phoenix said made me want to throw up. Just the thought of what Brenna has been through and what could have happened. It broke my heart, and it was more than I could take. I ran to the nearest trash can and started retching. When there was nothing left, I leaned back on my heals and realized Benelli was holding my hair back out of my face. Zen was ready with a wet dishrag. Two little tiny feet tap, tap, tap up to me and her small fingers tug on my clothes. “Are you sick too? Are you sick like my mommy was?” a small, scared voice asks me.
“No baby, I’m not sick like your mommy was,
I’m okay honey,” I tell her and grab her into an enormous hug.
“Good, because I want you to be my new mommy, I want to stay here with you,” she says and grabs me tighter.
I hold her and look up at Benelli, and tears stream down my face. I can’t let her go back to the world she was in before. I won’t. Even if we do find her father, he’s from a club that did horrible, inconceivable things and I won’t put her back into it. “Okay, baby,” is all I say my voice cracking.
Brenna pulls back, looks at me and takes her tiny little hand and wipes the tears from my eyes, “Don’t cry Elle, I’ll be a good girl, I promise.”
“Oh, sweetie, you are a good girl. I’m just sad you had to go through all the awful stuff,” I tell her, and quickly not wanting her to ever have to worry about anything else I add quickly, “Are you hungry? Let me go brush my teeth and I will cook you whatever you want. Do you want to go brush your teeth with me?”
She takes my hand and we walk back to our room at the clubhouse. I’m so glad we decided to stay here last night instead of go home. “So what do you like to eat for breakfast?”
Brenna shrugs her shoulders and says with a mouth full of toothpaste, “I grab a box of cereal if we have any.”
“Do you like eggs, pancakes, bacon, anything you want?” I ask her after rinsing my mouth. She watches me and does the same, but she spits too hard and water goes all over the sink and wall. Just then, Benelli comes through the open door and kisses me on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she frantically says and grabs a bath towel trying to wipe it up and she’s in tears and looks frightened at Benelli. I can tell she’s scared and must have gotten hit by her father for anything and everything. Benelli sees it too.
He pats her on the head and gently takes the towel from her, “It’s okay sweetie, I’ll clean it up.” Her bottom lip starts to quiver and that man of mine puts his finger under her chin and lifts it so she has to look at him. She closes her eyes. “Brenna, look at me honey,” he says gently, “no one will ever hit you or hurt you again, ever, do you understand?” and she nods her head but I can still see a little uncertainty in her eyes and actions. “Angel,” he continues and squats down to her level, “I will promise you, just like I promised Elle, I will never, EVER, let anyone hurt you again and I always keep my promises, don’t I Babe?” and they both look up to me.
“Cross my heart, when he makes a promise he keeps it, and that’s why I love him,” I say making the cross motions across my chest.
“So, you guys love each other a lot?” she asks.
“Yes, yes we do,” Benelli and I say in unison.
“If Elle will be my mommy, does that mean you will be my new daddy?” she then asks.
“You don’t want us to try to find your daddy?” he asks but I can see that look in his eye, he’s as hooked as I am and is praying she’ll say no. There is no more way he’ll let her go back to that life than I will.
She takes his index finger and wraps her fingers around it, “I want you to be my mommy and daddy and I want to get to see Uncle Phoenix and Aunt Zen too.”
He lifts her up with his good arm and gives her a hug and he takes her hand and holds it in his and gives it a sweet, quick kiss. I actually see the tiniest of tear drops in the corner of his eye and to lighten the mood I say, “Ahhh, look, dad, she’s already got you wrapped around her finger.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he says, rolling his eyes and kisses me on the cheek. We walk back to the kitchen as he carries her all the way there and plops her down on the counter, “Okay, what are we having?”
“I asked her and she said a box of cereal, she didn’t answer when I mentioned all the other stuff,” I say.
“I’ve never had any of that other stuff,” she says, and we look at her blankly.
“You’ve never had eggs, bacon or pancakes or anything?” I ask, blown away. I mean, even if she was a drug addict of a mom, she never cooked anything for her?
She shakes her head no and we tell her that she is going to have it all. We guess at about how many people stayed at the clubhouse last night and get to cooking. I line a giant baking sheet with bacon and put it in the oven. I know some people cringe at that but I learned that in the oven it’s straight, perfectly cooked and I don’t get burned from grease splatters, it’s a win, win. Phoenix decided to take the eggs over, while Benelli is on pancake duty. She gets a big kick out of him making shapes and then flipping them in the air. I have decided to go all out for her first “real” breakfast and I have Brenna help me make biscuits from scratch. She’s having a blast squishing her fingers in the dough then helping me roll it out and we use a couple coffee cups to cut out the biscuits, placing them on a cookie sheet. Zen is making juice, more coffee and cutting up any and every kind of fruit we have.
Lucky strolls in the kitchen, “What’s all this?”
“Brenna has never had anything but cereal before,” I tell him, and his mouth drops open.
“Well, I want in on the fun too,” he says and pokes her belly and she giggles.
“We got to make biscuits and squishy all the stuff together. It was fun!” Brenna tells him.
“I wanna squishy stuff too!” he says and pretends to pout.
“Please mommy, can we let the guy with all the colors on him squish stuff too?” she looks at me and pleads with her hands clasped together.
I want to tear up at her calling me mommy but I try to hold it back and laugh at her description of Lucky and his tattoos.
“This colorful guy is Lucky and yes, we can make something else you guys can squish,” I say.
She pulls on the end of his long, red beard and tells him, “I like your name and your colors. My old daddy just had a black, scary skeleton head with red eyes and a snake coming out of its mouth.” I freeze and drop the coffee cup I was holding.
“Elle?” Benelli asks.
I tense and all I get out of my mouth is, “Frodo.”
Brenna being busy with Lucky and not noticing the fear on my face or even looking up from her playing with the extra biscuit dough, “Yep, that was my old daddy’s name, he was a meanie but my new daddy says he won’t let him hurt me no more,” she states and looks up and smiles at Benelli.
“That’s right, Pumpkin, you are, for sure going to stay with us forever now,” and walks over and kisses the top of her head. “I’m going to go talk to Elle, I mean mommy, okay? You stay here with Lucky.”
“Okay, daddy,” and she says, oblivious to any tension in the air.
Benelli leads me to the other room and wraps me in his arms, “her dad is, was, Frodo,” he states flatly.
“I remember that tat on his forearm when he, he,” I stammer out.
“Shhhh, it’s all over baby, he’s never going to hurt either of you again,” he says comforting me. Trying to change the subject, “Sooooo, I guess we’re mom and dad now, are you ready for all that?”
“I feel like I was put here on earth and went through all of this so I could be here, at this moment, for that little girl, ya know?” I say rationalizing my trauma, “I mean, what if all that I went through, was so I could be here when she came to us, to know maybe, some of the things that she’s been through, so I could understand and be here for her.”
“To make you the perfect person for her, the perfect mommy for her? I think you were sent here for me and I hate all that you’ve went through, but it made you who you are. You are so strong babe, I feel like you are here to be in both of our lives,” he says and pauses and then shakes his head, “I’m a dad now, I mean, not officially, but that’s our little girl.”
“I know,” I smile and look up and touch his cheek.
“I fell for you so fast Elle, faster than I ever thought I could for a woman, but that angel in the other room,” he takes a breath and holds my hand and his to his heart, “I already love her, she’s MY little girl now and I will spend the rest of my days to make sure she never has to go through anything like that again. Just like I promised yo
u, I promised her, you two are my family and I know it’s fast and crazy and we have to make it all legal and shit but I’m not going to let either of you go.”
I reach my lips up to his and kiss him. I kiss the man that saved me; I kiss the man that is willing to raise a stranger and give her a better life without a second thought. I taste him and I taste promise and future and a life full of happiness in his kiss and I could make an entire life with just the taste of that kiss.
Everyone is gathered together now in the dining area. We put a little bit of everything on Brenna’s plate, well plates, it took three to fit everything. I set one down and her juice and Benelli sat the other two in front of her. Her eyes were like saucers, “Is that all for me?”
“Yes, sweetie, but you don’t have to eat all of it,” I laugh. I just thought you could try a bite of each and see what your favorites are.”
One of the plates was just different kinds of eggs from sunny side up to scrambled with cheese to a ham and cheese omelet. Good grief, we went a little overboard. She stared at all the plates and contemplated what to try first. She reached out and picked up a strawberry and her eyes went wide as she chewed and a smile erupted on her face. “This is so good!” she exclaimed and picked up a piece of banana. That one she said was okay, but not her favorite. Next she started on the eggs and the creamy, scrambled ones were her favorite of that, but it needed ketchup. She tasted each and everything we gave her, including the biscuits we made, one with gravy and one with honey butter. “I’ve never ate so much in all my life. Look how poochie my belly is,” she said, pushing it out even more for effect. Her belly was a little poochie, so I figured I’d better have her stop before she got a tummy ache. I hope I wasn’t too late. When I started cleaning up and putting the leftovers away with the other women she jumped in to help too. I told her to go play with the other kids and her face lit up and jumped excitedly and took off in a run. Fireball and the club’s newest prospect Scott, who is Lexie’s dad, are washing dishes and sweeping. I’m used to prospects doing the grunt work by now, but it’s odd for me to see Scott doing it. Maybe because he’s already a family man, but I know he has to earn it like all the others before him. Benelli and the other men met up to handle some business from yesterday that we women aren’t supposed to know about, but I saw Remington and Justice dragging someone in to the factory when I looked out the window last night. I hope they pour boiling tar down his body for kidnapping and harming those girls. I hope they torture him and make him suffer.
Benelli's Elle: Unfortunate Souls MC Book One Page 16
