Storm- A Wings of Diablo MC Novel #8

by Lake, Rae B.

  “Oh fuck." Duo grabs hold of me tighter. They all know we’re here now. This is about to turn into a fucking blood bath. Seems like a fitting way to go out.

  "Easy." I keep my hands raised, not caring if they all pulled their weapons on me right now. They could be trying to intimidate me, but if I make a motion to go for my gun, they will open fire on Duo and me.

  "Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing snooping around in the rain by my club?” I look over my shoulder, but I don't want to turn away fully from the gator. I catch only a glimpse of the man behind me and the patch on his kutte. He's the president.

  "You must be, Chains," I say loudly.

  "You know me?" He asks.

  "No, I don't know you. I don't know any of you, but I know this woman, and I need help getting back up to my club. We have a whole club gunning for us right now, and we’re just trying to get out of your territory." I explain, hoping to get his attention by saying another club will be rolling through his town. In all my years being in the biker scene, one of the first things I've learned from any motorcycle club is we don't like people in our shit. If they laid claim to this area, Inferno's Clutch wouldn't want the Spawns to run through here looking for us.

  "Bring them inside. I want to hear what they have to say." Chains orders from behind me, and instantly a group of men converge on us. They grab us by our arms and pull us inside the clubhouse to have a conversation.

  The clubhouse seems to be some form of an old warehouse. It's large and made of mostly brick. I'm surprised to see the inside is pretty updated, though. At least it's fucking warm.

  "What fucking club are you from? And where is your back up if you are with them?"

  "I'm with the Wings of Diablo."

  "The Wings?" Someone asks from the side, "Ain’t that the new club over there in New Orleans?" I turn to look at the man speaking; his kutte says that he is the VP.

  "That’s one chapter. The original chapter is further up the east coast." I reply, not wanting to give them the exact location in case they want to start trouble.

  "Yeah, we know them. Wire is a fucking beast." Chains comments as he leans against a table in the room and crosses his feet in front of him. His body is completely relaxed as he observes the two of us standing here soaking wet and dripping on his floors. "Why the fuck didn't you go to New Orleans then? I'm sure your chapter there would’ve helped you." He squints his eyes at me.

  "Things are a little complicated right now."

  "Unfucking complicate them." He barks.

  If I tell them the truth, they may have the same reaction as Vado and his boys down in Puerto Rico. When you abandon your kutte, you abandon your family. No one likes a fucking deadbeat. I would have to take my chances right now. "I abandoned my rags. Realistically, I could be riding back home to my grave, but I need to get her there."

  "You fucking pussy. We should put a bullet in your head right now." Someone else steps in from the side, and I can feel the tension in the air getting thick. It’s going to be Puerto Rico all over again.

  "Easy, boys. Whatever they’re doing up there in the Wings is none of our business. In fact, I don't think-" He is cut off abruptly by someone toward the back.

  "Orza?" A man steps up and through the crowd, quickly making his way toward us. Duo pops out from behind me. I try to pull her back, but she’s looking toward the man walking toward us, a smile on her face.

  "Leo? Oh my god. what are you doing here?"

  "Leo?" A woman speaks up.

  "Tiny, you know this woman?" The president turns and asks.

  "No." Tiny shakes her head. "Leo, what are you doing?"

  The woman in the back may not know Duo, but the man who walked up to us surely does. I can tell he isn't part of the club. He is dressed in a tailor-made suit, and his hair is perfectly neat. He has mafia written all over him.

  "Sloane, this is Orza Juric." The man turns to talk to the woman who is now making her way to the front. Chains reaches out and stops her, but she gives him a look, and he lets her go. She must be the president's ol’ lady.

  "Juric?" The woman asks, and she takes a few more steps in our direction.

  "Orza, this is my cousin, Sloane. Most people call her Tiny, though."

  Duo steps out from behind me and puts her hand out, "Hey, I'm Duo." Tiny shakes her hand and then looks at her cousin.

  "Juric, they are the Croatians, right?" Tiny asks Leo, a small, confused frown on her face.

  "Yeah, and this woman right here is Liam Juric's daughter. Liam is the brother of Marko Juric, the boss of the whole Juric Crime Family."

  "Oh shit! I know them." I turn, and someone with the word Fuse on his kutte turns to Chains, "Pres, Marko Juric is big fish. Not someone to fuck with."

  I can see the gears turning in the president's head. The mafia isn't a group anyone wants to have trouble with. Now he knows the precious prize standing in his clubhouse; I’m hoping he will change his tune.

  I let Duo and this Leo talk, focusing back on Chains. "As I said before, I'm not here for problems. I need to get her back up to my club for her father to come and get her. The bike I lifted is fucked up, and we have a long road ahead of us. She has no clothes, and it's fucking freezing out there. I'm trying to get the fuck out of your space before the Spawns roll through and cause the fucking mayhem and destruction I know they’re capable of." I list all the reasons I have for them to help me.

  "Alright, man. I hear you." Chains stands up straight but doesn't give me a straight answer. He calls to his woman first, "Tiny, call it."

  "The Deluca's have a long-standing truce with the Juric family. According to Leo, it's been strong for generations. I think we should do what we can to help."

  I feel like I can breathe for the first time since we rolled up to the back of this clubhouse.

  "You heard ‘em, boys. Let's get them taken care of." Chains walks up to me, but instead of the welcoming I was expecting, he glares down at me like I am a piece of shit. "You abandoned your brothers. Pieces of shit like you shouldn't be allowed to walk out of my club. You say you’re trying to bring this one back, maybe trying to make amends, makes no fucking difference to me. Either way, don't think because we helped you this one time, we will be so fucking gracious again. Shit isn't free either. We will expect something in return at a later date. Watch yourself." He stares me down and walks by me, bumping me hard on the way.

  I have to take it. I’m at the bottom of the totem pole, and honestly, based on what I've done, that is where I belong.

  "Come on, let's get you something warm to wear." Tiny grabs Duo's hand, and they walk toward the back. Leo brings me along. They get us some dry clothes, food, water, and someone named Brake does a quick patch up on the bike we brought with us. They let us stay the night until the rain ends, and then they send us the fuck on our way with warnings if we bring any mess to their door, they will come looking for us.

  The ride up is quicker than I imagined. Probably because I’m riding like a man on a fucking mission who wants to get this shit the fuck over with. About a hundred miles from the clubhouse, Duo taps my shoulder. It’s the first time she has asked me to stop since we started on the long drive. That’s impressive. Usually, people who ride bitch get uncomfortable very fast and need to stop at least once an hour. We’ve been going for hours, and she has barely uttered a word.

  I look at her over my shoulder for a second, and she mouths the word bathroom. There is a rest stop coming up where we could rest for a few minutes.

  "You do really well on the bike." I praise her when she comes out of the bathroom. She squats to stretch out her legs for a second before she moves closer to me.

  "I adapt well. If you told me I had to sleep in a fucking trunk, I'm sure I could do that too." She smiles at me and goes back to the bike. A low rumble vibrates through my gut. Sure, the Inferno's Clutch members did a bit for us and gave us some food, but that was hours ago. I am starving already. "Let's see if we can get some food before we head back on th
e road." I indicate the other side of the small rest area where there are a few fast food stores. Something we can go in and get quickly is just what we need.

  I order a burger, and she does the same. We sit down at one of the outdoor tables, and I just let the sun shine down on me. It's been so long since I’ve been able to sit down and relax, even if it is just for a minute.

  "You think your MC family is going to let you come back?" She asks me between bites.

  "No," I say before I open my eyes, "Probably not." I take a swig of my soda. It is sad, but I know it is foolish of me to think otherwise.

  "Really?" She puts her sandwich down.

  "You don't really understand how the motorcycle club family works." I know she is part of the Juric Crime family, but things are a little different for us. "The men and women in that club are my family. If I needed a fucking kidney and they were a match, they’d give it without a second thought. We fight together, we kill together, we succeed together, and we fall, always together. When you accept your kutte and your patch, you’re vowing on your life that you will put the family, the club, above all else. I went against my word, and for that, there is no fucking forgiveness."

  "True, but there must be some understanding? Vale may be a fucked up crazy person, but he is your brother. I’m sure you felt the same thing about your brother as when you vowed to protect the brothers at your motorcycle club." She shakes her head in confusion. "How can they kill you for doing something that’s only natural? Don't any of them have families?"

  "Yeah, my club isn't like a lot of clubs. Sure, we do things under the table a lot of the time, but we try to stay on the right path for the most part. A lot of the members have wives and children running around. Keeley has Lily."

  Duo smiles wide, clearly happy to hear about her cousin, "How is she? The last time I saw a picture, the baby had just been born."

  "Lily is a handful, but we all love that little princess."

  Duo looks away, "You think Wire would expect to die because he went off to protect Keeley?"

  I look away, "That's different. He's the president and can do whatever he wants to do."

  "No, it's not different. He’s a person with a family, the same as you. You fucked up. You followed a man completely off his fucking rocker, but he's your brother. You did the only thing you could do, and if your club doesn't fucking understand that then they are just as bad as he is.”

  I shrug my shoulders and go back to my sandwich. I hope they see it that way, but there’s no guarantee they would.

  She takes a great big swig of her drink, polishing the last of it off. "Let me hit the bathroom one more time, and then we can get back on the road."

  "Yeah, I'll meet you by the bike." I watch her go into the women's restroom and go to take a piss myself. When I come out, she still isn't finished.

  I walk to the other side and stand by the door. Fucking women always taking so goddamn long in the fucking bathroom. What the hell do they do in there? For fucks sake.

  "Duo, let's go. We have to get back on the road."

  I don't hear anything.

  "Duo!" I call again. My muscles tense, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. I push open the door, hoping there aren't any other women in the bathroom with her. I don't see anyone in there. She fucking ran away. I almost laugh at the fucking irony of it when something flailing catches my eye. It is a shoe, or rather a leg being pulled out of the window. Duo.

  "Fuck!" I run out of the bathroom and dash around to the back of the small truck area. My heart is beating out of my chest as I search for her. There are semis parked all over the place, and I know if they get her in the back of one of these trailers, I will never fucking get her out. Relief washes over me when I spot her. I run toward her, and when the fucker holding her sees me, he turns and fires. I don't hear the shot because they have silencers on their weapons. The bullet hits the side of the building, and I'm so fucking grateful there’s no one here but a few truckers who all seem to be either getting food or sleeping in their trucks. He has a black bag over her head and her hands tied behind her back. From the moans I hear coming from her, I'm sure she is gagged as well.

  I rush him and roar in pain when he shoots again, and this time, the bullet clips my shoulder. "You piece of shit." I push them both down and punch him as hard as I can across the jaw. When I look down at the fucking vest he’s wearing, just a fucking prospect for the Spawns. They really are sending everything they have to get Duo back for my brother. I wonder what the fuck kind of deal Rooster had with Vale that gave them this close of a bond. It makes sense they’d want to work together as both of them are ruthless as fuck.

  The kid moans and one of his teeth flies across the asphalt. "You stupid fuck!" I grunt as he tries to put his hands up to stop the onslaught of my blows. I use my elbows to break through his block. He grunts a curse and reaches down to his side. I have to readjust my body when I see the knife come up. I’m caught off balance, and he rolls on top of me, turning the knife toward my chest. The blade alone a good eight inches. If he gets it into my chest, it would fucking kill me.

  The fucker might be little, but he is strong as fuck. Stronger than I thought he was. I lay on the ground as he uses all his fucking weight and strength to press the blade down into my chest. I can feel the very tip pierce my skin, and in that instant, I roar in desperation, trying to get him off me, and I push up. It moves the knife an inch or so away, but he’s still moving it closer to me. Unless I'm able to dislodge him, I'm going to end up a fucking dead man here on the asphalt, and Duo is going to end up right back in that basement with my brother. Where he will rape her and force his seed on her.

  The mere thought of that shit happening to her makes me disgusted with my brother and myself. I made a promise to her and to my family I’d get this girl back. I am going to fail them again. The guilt threatens to overtake me, and it also gives me a final burst of strength. With my remaining strength, I push my hands forward to move the blade away from my chest, and I swing my head straight up and into the man's face. Blood explodes from his face as the bones in his nose splinter and pierces the sides.

  "Fuck! Ahh!" He screams in agony, dropping the knife for the briefest of seconds, long enough for me to grab it. I turn the knife in his hand with the blade pointing upwards, and I ram it straight into the soft spot under his chin.

  I watch as the light in his eyes dims before I let him drop back down to the ground. I look around to make sure I’m not missing anyone. When I don’t see anyone, I move to Duo, trying to pull the bag from her head. She is kicking and fighting like a crazy person by the time I get there. Just like her normal self, it takes me a few minutes to get her to calm down enough to pull the bag off.

  “Hey, hey, it’s me. Just me.” I get the bag off and let her finally see me. When she does, the tears start to fall from her eyes as if she opened up the faucet. I make quick work of the gag in her mouth and just hold her to my chest as she cries.

  “Don’t cry. You’re alright now. Nothing is going to happen. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’m here.” I say softly as I rock her in my arms while we sit in the dirt.

  “Storm, I can’t do this. I don’t know why they think I have any power. I can’t do this.” She cries, and the sound of it just breaks me apart. My brother and I brought her into this, and I’m watching bits of the snarky woman from the bar dying right in front of me. I would do anything to fix this for her, and even though I’m doing the best I can, it doesn’t seem to be enough. If we hadn’t tried to bring her into our fucked up plan, they would have never gone for her. People wouldn’t be searching for her to return her to my brother so he could torture and rape her. Of course, she’s scared. I don’t know anyone in this situation who wouldn’t be.

  “You don’t have to worry about any of them anymore, Duo. I’m not going to leave your side. If I have to come into every fucking bathroom with you to make sure no one fucks with you, then that’s just what the fuck I’m going to do
. You hear me, Duo. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” I want her to feel the oath that I’m swearing to her right now. I want her to feel how serious I am about keeping her safe.

  She stares at me for a second before she buries her face deeper into my chest.

  “I know, Storm. I know you mean every word of what you just said, but this is something more than just you. We can’t do this alone.”

  I sigh and look at the horizon in the direction of my old club. I don’t deserve their help or call them my brothers again, but I would go to them for her sake. I would beg and grovel and give my own life if it meant she would be free of this nightmare we brought to her.

  “We won’t be alone; my brothers will help us. That’s just the type of people they are. We have a whole army behind us. We just have to get to them. That’s all we need to do.” I kiss the top of her head. It’s a sweet gesture and far more intimate than I think I should be doing, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel right.

  “Let’s get out of here then.” She looks up at me, those blue and hazel eyes bewitching me like they do every time I stare into them.

  “You trust me?” I ask, knowing I don’t deserve her trust.

  “I’ll tell you this, once we get out of this, I will follow you to the end of the world. You have got to be the purest person I have ever meant in this life. I need someone like you in my life. Now I’ve found you, there’s no way I’m going to give that up.” She raises an eyebrow and runs a hand into my hair. “You’re like my own personal Tarzan. Swing me away and keep me safe, Storm.” She giggles and then tries to get up.

  Thoughts of me throwing her over my shoulder and tossing her on the bed are enough to have me holding onto her longer than what’s needed. She stirs things to life inside of me I thought would long ago have been dead. I mean, we are on the run for our lives from not only the fucking mafia but also from an enemy motorcycle club and my psychotic twin brother. It’s hardly the time I should be thinking about diving balls deep into a woman, but fuck me if I don’t want to rip her clothes off right now and take her in this parking lot. I don’t even care if there are people around.