by C. M. Allen
The look in Maverick’s eyes when he asked was one of confusion. “Why do you need to speak to her without me here? Anythin՛ you have to say to her you can say in front of me.”
Yes! Don’t leave me in here with this psycho, please!
I wanted to scream out at him, but then Dekes got up out of his chair and walked over to whisper something in Maverick’s ear. When he looked up at me again, I could see the defeat in his eyes, he was going to leave me alone in this room with him. He leaned down to kiss me. “He just wants to talk to you about what happened up there. I’ll be right outside the door, ok?”
I reached up and griped his hand tightly as I stared into his eyes, trying to silently convey all my fears. His head tilted to the side as he looked back at me and I thought that I’d won, but then he stood to his full height, and I watched as he walked out the door, Devin falling in behind him.
The second the door clicked shut, Dekes moved to stand at the end of my bed. “Looks like I got here just in time to remind you about what happens if you try to fuck me over, Miss Lancaster.”
I turned my head to the side, so I didn’t have to see his face. “I wasn’t going to tell him anything other than what you told me to say.”
Chuckling, he moves into my line of sight again, keeping his hands buried in his pockets. “You mean you weren’t in here thinking that you can save his life by telling him about my plans? Or, maybe you were thinking Miss Sabatini’s uncle could help you, no?” My eyes went wide at his mention of Ava’s uncle. Chuckling at my reaction, he cocked his head to the side. “Come now Miss Lancaster, you really think I wouldn’t know what’s going through that little brain of yours? To answer the question I just know you’re dying to ask me, yes, I know all about Ava’s uncle and who he is. After all, Mr. Di Mozé works for me. Now, moving on. You have one week to break things off with Mr. Reed or I’m going to have to have Devin pay Ava a little visit. Are we clear, Miss Lancaster?” Leaning in closer, he whispered in my ear, “and just to save you the time, there’s nowhere she can go that I won’t find her, and the same goes for you too, trust me.”
Hearing a commotion outside, the door was pushed open just before Ava barged in. “I don’t give a shit who he is! I’m going in to see my friend, asshole!”
Ava to the rescue! Yes! I can always count on that temper of hers when someone is dumb enough to try and tell her what to do. Especially a male someone.
When Roman walked in behind Ava, I almost had to do a double take. “Easy there, Darlin՛,” he soothed, placing his hand on the small of her back. Waiting for Ava to lay into him for telling her what to do, something strange and not very Ava-like happened. She actually calmed down at his words.
What the hell?
“Well, hey there Harp, it’s good to see you awake,” Roman said, eyeing Dekes. “We didn’t ah... interrupt anything here, did we?”
Holding my eyes hostage, Dekes answered. “Miss Lancaster and I were just finishing up. Now, you get some rest and take care of yourself. I’ll be seeing you soon.” Were his final words before walking past Roman and Ava then out the door.
The door clicked shut behind him and I looked up at Ava to motion for her to come closer. When she did, she leaned down. “What’s wrong? Who was that guy?”
“I need to ask you something about your uncle.”
No sooner were the words out of my mouth, the nurse walked in and announced for everyone to clear the room while she ran some tests.
Damn it!
After she drew some blood and checked the IV, she handed me a little cup with two pills in it. When I looked up at her in question, she informed me. “Those are for the pain.” Nodding, I swallowed them down with the water she handed me. “Now get some rest, and I’ll be back to check on you later.”
Once she was out of the room, Maverick walked back in. “There’s my girl,” he took a hold of my hand in his, kissing me on the forehead before sitting down. “How are you feelin՛?”
“I’m ok. Where’s Ava?”
“Roman is talkin՛ to her in the hall. They’ll be in here in just a minute.”
Needing to know how he knows Dekes in the first place, I asked. “How do you know him, Dekes?”
Leaning back in his chair, his actions sever our clasped hands, causing mine to instantly go cold at the loss of his warmth. “That story is a long one. But the short version is, I started to work with him to bring down The Slayers as part of a plea deal I was offered when I ended up in prison a few months back. The only reason I took the deal, besides gettin՛ released from prison, was because I wanted to destroy those fuckers after what they did to my family and Nicole.”
At the mention of Nicole’s name I couldn’t help but wonder if he ever knew that she had a brother. “Do you know if Nicole had any siblings?”
A crease formed between his eyes at my question. “Ah, well, yeah, she had an older brother. He was in the military when we were together though, so I never met or saw him. Why?”
Yawning from the sudden sleepiness I felt coming on, I tried to keep my eyes open. “Do you know whatever happened to him or her parents after...”
Yawn.
“After she died?”
Yawn.
Those pills the nurse gave to me must be causing me to be so sleepy. But I needed to fight it, I needed to stay awake so I could figure out how to fix this!
Feeling his lips on my forehead, I heard him say in a low voice. “You need to get some sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.” Those were the last words I heard before I faded off into a deep sleep.
CHAPTER
6
Maverick
Driving back to my parent’s cabin, all I could think about was Harper and how she was acting so strange at the hospital. Particularly when Dekes walked in. If I hadn’t known that she’d been through such a traumatic situation in the past three days, I’d go as far as to say that she seemed afraid of him. The way she gripped my hand so tightly when I went to leave, I wondered if I missed her trying to give me a signal of some kind? I would have never left her alone with him in the first place if he hadn’t threatened that I could lose my chance at getting Worm from him. He explained that he needed her assurance she wasn’t going to cause any waves and kept this whole situation just between us. Said his job would be on the line for handing Worm over to me instead of to the authorities, like he should have done. Even though his reasoning made sense, I still didn’t understand why he couldn’t just do that shit in front of me. But with the threat of losing Worm, I gave in. There was no way in fucking hell I was going to lose my chance at revenge for what that piece of shit did to her.
Pulling up to the cabin, I spotted five bikes lined up, telling me that Butch, Roman, Axle, Repo and Gunner were all here. Exiting my truck, I made the trek to the back side of the place where I knew they’d all be. Rounding the corner, I headed down the stairs that lead to a cellar my father had specially built. It had all tile floors and walls, and several drains in the floor.
He’d had it made for situations just like this.
Opening the door, I was instantly slapped in the face with the strong stench of blood, sweat and piss. When I walked further into the room, I saw all five of my men standing around a badly beaten Worm, who was tied to a chair in the middle of the floor, the duct tape Dekes slapped on him still firmly in place. If there was one thing I knew from experience about having duct tape over your mouth, is that it was a bitch to breathe through your nose when it was broken and bleeding all over the place.
I was all too happy to give the order for them to have a little fun with him before I arrived, but I made it very clear that no one but me was to make the decision to end him. “Welcome to the party, Prez.” Axle said first.
Simply nodding at his greeting, I looked over at Roman. “Remove the tape so I can ask this piece of shit a few questions.”
When Roman yanked on the tape, he ripped it at an angle, tearing some of Worm’s own flesh off, causing him to scream out in pain.
<
br /> Pussy.
That shit does hurt like a motherfucker, but you never let your enemy see that kind of weakness.
Coming to stand before him, I didn’t even get a word out before Worm just started vomiting his lies all over me. “I didn’t fuckin՛ do what Dekes said I did! It was him! He did that shit to your woman! He...” I didn’t even let him finish before I motioned for Roman to shove a rag into his mouth.
Trying to keep myself calm and not just start hacking parts of his body off, I crouched down in front of him, so he had a clear view of me. “You came into my fuckin՛ home, shot my man, kidnapped my fuckin՛ woman, and beat her. Then you tried to rape her!” I shouted the last part, losing the battle to keep calm when having to think about what he tried to do to her. Standing up, I looked down at him. “All I want to hear out of that mouth of yours is; did Skull order it to be done?”
When he tried to speak again, the rag muffled his words, so I motioned to Roman to pull it out. “Skull didn’t order shit! That crazy motherfucker Dekes is the one who took Harper! He took me too! Just ask your bitch, she’ll tell you!”
The only way I could keep my hands to myself and not strangle the life out of this asshole right now was to pace. I paced back and forth as I listened to more of his lies. Stopping in front of him once again, I enlightened him. “I did ask her, and you know what she told me you prick? She told me that you took her to that cabin and then she fought you off when you tried to rape her!”
“That fuckin՛ bitch is lyin՛!”
Clenching my fist, I swung out, connecting with his face. I hit him so hard that blood sprayed out of his mouth along with a few of his teeth just before the chair he was tied to toppled over. I leaned down and shouted in his face, “you’re fuckin՛ lyin՛ to me!” I stuffed the rag back into his mouth, knowing with satisfaction that it was causing him more pain in his jaw, that I had hoped like hell I’d broken. “Since you want to continue to spew nothin՛ but lies, it looks like we’re goin՛ to have to take things in a different direction.” Motioning to Repo and Gunner, I ordered them. “Get him strapped to the table.”
Butch, knowing my plan and what was about to happen, went to get the two things we were going to need. “Remove his pants,” he said, grabbing the peanut butter and the box next to it off the shelf.
“Looks like our boy here really pissed Harper off because she cut his ass up good.” Axle observed as Repo and Gunner dragged a struggling Worm over to the table and tied him down, pulling his pants down around his ankles.
Once he was tied down, I lifted his shirt up. Looking at all the cuts on his stomach and on his legs, all I could think about was how terrified Harper must have been when she fought him off, causing a sick image in my head to materialize before I quickly pushed it away.
Leaning down closer to his ear, I whispered. “I’m proud to see that she cut your ass up good for what you tried to do to her you piece of shit.”
Roman slipped on a pair of thick leather gloves and scooped a good amount of the peanut butter out of the jar. Walking over to where Worm lie on the table, he began to wipe the peanut butter over his dick and balls as Worm tried to jerk his wrists and feet out of the ropes that held them in place.
Roman removed the leather gloves as Butch set the box onto Worms legs. “Last chance to tell the truth, motherfucker.” Butch warned him as I watched on.
Nodding at Axle to remove the rag, Worm began shouting. “You’re all fuckin՛ dead you sick sonofabitches!”
Leaning over closer to his face, I gripped a hold of his jaw, hard. “This is your last chance to tell me what I want to hear.”
“Fuck you!” Was his only response.
Motioning to Butch, he opened the box and let the first of three huge rats out, and it made a fast bee line straight to Worm’s dick that was covered in the peanut butter. It began to gnaw on him, causing him to scream out in pain. “You want to tell me what I want to hear now, or should I tell Butch here to let out the rest of them to make a meal out of your measly little prick!?”
He was so consumed with screaming out in pain that he didn’t answer me, so I nodded to Butch to let out the other two. They both quickly joined the first rat and began to bite and chew on Worm’s dick, causing a blood curdling scream to fill the cellar. “Ok! I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Get these fuckin՛ things off my dick!”
Roman threw back on the pair of heavy leather gloves to remove the rats, one a time. Seeing the bloody mess the rats made of his flesh made me feel a pinch of discomfort for my own dick.
Once the last rat was gone, I growled. “So, talk.”
Taking several deep breaths in, he said. “Ok, ok, Skull and I did talk about takin՛ the bitch from you, but I swear to fuckin՛ God we never followed through with the plan. I was knocked out and taken by fuckin՛ Dekes before we could follow through with it!”
“You just wasted my time. Let the rats out.” Butch immediately released them and they began to gnaw their way around Worm’s dick again.
Now, the thing about rats is, they can get into such a feeding frenzy that they don’t stop until there’s nothing left. Especially if they haven’t eaten in a few days like these ones.
Listening to Worm’s screams as I watched them chew off the last of his dick was music to my ears for what he’d done to Harper. “Do you think he’s tellin՛ the truth?” Butch asked me.
“Dekes may be an asshole, but he’s fuckin՛ DEA. There’s no reason to even think he could benefit from killin՛ Vulture and kidnappin՛ Harper. What would be his motive? He needs us to take Skull’s shipments, so fuckin՛ with me like that wouldn’t be in his best interest. He needs us.”
Nodding his head, he scrubbed his hand over his chin. “Yeah, I know you’re right. It just seems odd for Worm to keep up with that story.”
“He’s a loyal fuck is all there is to it. Guess we have to give him that much.”
We’d both noticed that the screaming sounds had died down to a gurgling noise and turned around to see that the rats not only ate through Worms dick, but they also made a large hole through his stomach, and were now literally swimming in his intestines.
“That has to be one of the most fucked up ways to die man.” Roman chuckled.
“Those God damn things even chewed up his liver,” Axle added, leaning over to look at the rats handiwork.
Pulling my phone out to look at the time, I saw that it had been over two hours since I’d left Harper at the hospital and I needed to get back. Taking a few pictures of Worm’s body, to send to Skull later, I turned to Axle and Gunner. “Burn the body and dump the ashes in the lake. I need to get back to the hospital. I want to be there when Harper wakes up.”
IT HAD BEEN FIVE DAYS now since Harper was released from the hospital, and it felt as though she was drifting further away every day that passed. She had asked me what happened to Worm, and I told her that he had more than paid for what he’d done to her and left it at that. But then she wanted to know if he was still alive. My only answer to that was silence, giving her the answer she already more or less had known. I wanted to try and protect Harper from that side of my world the best I could. I had already let her down where that was concerned, and I didn’t plan on repeating my mistake. When I took her back to the clubhouse, she fought me the whole time, saying that she didn’t want to be in the same building as Roxy, so I made Roxy leave for the next two weeks until Harper was feeling better. But then she said that she didn’t want to be around the other members either. I had Chainsaw’s old lady, Emma, try and hang out with her and keep her company, but she just refused. I was at my wits end with her moods changing from one minute to the next and was out of ideas on how to make her feel comfortable and safe here.
Hearing a knock on my office door, I shouted out. “Come in!”
When the door opened, I saw Roman standing there, but then he moved aside to reveal her, Ava. And in her usual Ava fashion, she simply told me. “I’m taking Harper home with me.”
Standing up from the surge of
anger that now churned in my belly at her words, I rounded the desk to stand in front of her. “The fuck you are.”
“It’s not up to you, Maverick,” Harper said, moving Ava aside as she stepped into my office.
Running my hands over my hair, I looked at Roman and then Ava. “Leave us alone.”
“I don’t think so...”
“Ava, just let it go and give the man a minute to speak to Harper,” Roman placed his hand on the small of her back as he directed her out of the room and shut the door behind them, closing Harper and I in together.
Leaning back on my desk, I crossed my arms over my chest. “What is this? What the hell is goin՛ on with you lately, Harper? It seems like everythin՛ I’ve tried to do to make you feel safe and at home here, you’ve found some kind of problem with it.” Uncrossing my arms, I moved closer to her, placing my finger beneath her chin and raised her eyes to meet mine. “What’s really goin՛ on with you?”
The look that slid across her face was one of sadness, but then quickly morphed into one of anger. “The problem is Maverick that I don’t feel safe. Not here locked up in this Godforsaken clubhouse, and certainly not with you,” yanking her chin out of my grasp, she took a step back away from me and closer to the door.
The pain that hit me in the chest at her words felt as though someone just twisted the hunting knife they buried inside me. “You don’t feel safe with me?” I asked in disbelief that she was really saying this to me right now. I knew there might be a chance that she wouldn’t feel safe in my world anymore, but after the connection we had shared, I didn’t really ever think she would leave me.
“I’m leaving with Ava. I need time away from this whole messed up situation, Maverick. And I can’t do that here with you.” I only got one step closer before she quickly added. “I’m sorry, I just can’t do this with you anymore,” and then walked out the door, shutting it behind her.
I stood there stunned for a few moments before rounding my desk to sit back down in my chair.
