“N-no, I’m so sorry. So fucking sorry,” Granger sobs.
“Sorry doesn’t bring her back. Sorry doesn’t help with the nightmares and memories that plague me. Sorry doesn’t protect me! It doesn’t declare my future safety, now does it? You ran, Granger. You ran like a coward! If you needed help, you could’ve come to us, we would’ve helped you. At least then, we’d have known what we were facing. Did Fern know? Did she know that we were in danger, Granger?”
“Yes.” He hangs his head down in embarrassment. “She knew everything, she’s the one who helped me go into hiding. She said she’d take care of everything and that all I needed to do was stay alive. I begged her to stay out of it, but you know how she is… was.”
“So, you just left her here to take the fall for you? What did you think was going to happen, Granger? You stole from an outlaw club. Did you think they were gonna deliver some roses and forget the whole thing?”
“N-no. But I honestly believed she was gonna go to Malibu for help. She promised me she would and wouldn’t do anything stupid. I didn’t want you two hurt because of me, but she convinced me it was the right thing to do for our family.” The shame on Granger’s face has me looking away. I’m so damn mad that I’m having a hard time containing it inside.
“Feel bad all you want, Granger. But you should’ve been the one to come to the club for help. We all know good and well that she wouldn’t have wanted the club involved in family issues. She thought she could take on the world and solve everyone’s problems on her own. Make all the excuses you want, but ultimately, her death is on you.”
“You think I don’t know that!” he yells at me; my brother walks over and clocks him in the jaw. Doesn’t say one word, just gives him one of those looks that lets him know he’s crossed a line. A very fine line.
“You didn’t respect or think of this family, Granger. For that, you’re gonna pay. Can I leave now?” I look over at Malibu and he nods his head yes.
“I’ll walk you back, baby.” He walks over and places his hand on my mid-back before informing the men he’ll come back and join them once he has me securely placed with the other Ol’ ladies. I only wish I could predict the future, if I could’ve, we’d have never left the safety of the brothers in that broken down shed.
Malibu
My head is fucking pounding… the fuck? I hear whimpering around me, and even with my eyes closed, I know it’s Kassi. “Kass,” I manage to get out, still unable to understand what the hell happened to put me in this state of pain.
“Oh look, your Ol’ man is waking up.” I feel a kick in the ribs, the pain radiates through me. Someone did some damage to my body while I was passed out. It feels as if I’ve become someone’s personal punching bag. Only a pussy would beat the fuck out of a downed man.
“Stop! Malibu?” My woman cries out as the fucker’s foot continues to make contact with different parts of my body. Ready to fight, I come up swinging, only to find a Glock pointed right at my damn head.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” my captor says in a mockingly sing-song voice. I know that damn voice, where have I heard it before?
“What do you want?” I intend for it to come out as a demanding growl, but it comes out more of a pain-filled moan. “Who the fuck are you?” The motherfucker is wearing a riding mask, not even his eyes can be seen through the material.
“That’s not of any importance here, Malibu. It’s time for all secrets to be laid out, don’t ya think?” And just like that, it clicks into place of who this fucker is.
“Creed? The fuck are you doing?” Now, I’m pissed off. Did someone hire him to do this? If so, who? Who would be so damn stupid as to do this? I’ll figure it out, and when I do, there’s no place the fucker can hide that I won’t find him. Creed will also die for his betrayal. Something I don’t take lightly. I know he’s a known man for hire, but he should’ve never had the gumption to cross me. He’s already fucked my woman’s head up before… my bad, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s no excuses for what he’s doing now. None whatsoever.
“Couldn’t live with myself, Malibu. Told you that your actions were gonna come back to haunt you, should’ve listened to me.”
“W-what’s going on?” Kassi cries out the question. I know that my life, and hers, is about to irrevocably change. After today, I have no reason to continue living… not even the brotherhood is worth losing her over.
“Yeah, Malibu, what’s going on?” Creed, the fucker, taunts me. He knows that my life is fixing to be worth nothing and he’s enjoying the fuck out of it. “Do you wanna tell her, or should I?”
“Fuck off, Creed. I’m gonna end you,” I gleefully inform him, already planning out his death in my mind.
“Good luck with that, brother,” he snidely replies.
“Not your brother, fucker,” I combatively say, leering in his direction. He throws his head back and laughs in a maniacal way that causes bumps to form up and down my arms. Suddenly, I realize, he may not mean for me to make it out of this place alive. Speaking of, I scan the room and recognize where we are. The cottage, the place of Kassi’s interrogation, this place has some bad mojo and needs to be burned to the fucking ground. This is some fucking bullshit. How dare he bring us back here!
“Ah, recognize where we are? Your Ol’ lady strung up in the same chair as last time. Only this time, she’ll be the one making all of the final decisions. Can’t wait to see if she spares your life or not.”
Once again… the fuck?
“What game are you playin’, Creed? This is a pussy move if I’ve ever seen one.” I instigate him, trying to make him spew his bullshit at me. I want him to leave her be and focus his attention solely on me.
“No games, Malibu. It’s fucking truth time is all.” I look over at Kassi and mouth the words ‘I’m sorry’ at her. It’s hard to realize that in a short span of time, she’s going to hate me as much as she does those responsible for fucking her life up. Ultimately, at the end of the day, my actions are the ones that issued the last straw. A decision I’ll live to regret… for however long I’m allowed to live.
Today is my day of reckoning. I’ll answer for my sins, and am willing to give up my life in order for her to keep living. I will answer for my crimes against her, and pray that she’ll eventually forgive me and move on. I need to die knowing that she’s willing and able to move forward. Live and love again… find a man worthy of her.
“I’ll happily die for what I did. As long as you don’t touch one hair on her head, I’ll face my demons. You have to let her go.” I look over at him and notice his head nod. He had no intentions of hurting her outside of emotionally. I take in a heavy lungful of oxygen and begin telling Kassi everything. I hold absolutely nothing back. Her face stays blank as she hears about my role in her forced memories, that I am the reason she has to live each and every day seeing those fuckers and what they did to her and Fern. When I finish, Creed has me kneel on my knees in front of her, the gun placed against the back of my head.
“Today is judgment day, Kassi. You are Malibu’s judge, jury and possible executioner. You have a decision to make right here and right now. Are you willing to forgive Malibu for his sins, move on and stay together forever, or do we end him? And let me warn you, Kassi… I will be watching—closely. If I see you in any form of distress or unhappiness, I will end him. But I’m willing to give you the opportunity to decide. Can you forgive him and grow old with him, or do we just end him now and allow you to find love elsewhere? The clock is ticking.” He begins humming the themed tune from Jeopardy. “Da, da, da, da, da-da-da, da-dadadadada. Time’s up.”
“I love him,” Kassi finally says. “And as much as I want to be angry with him, I forgive him. I can understand why he did what he did. I’d have probably done the same thing if our roles had been reversed. I forgive you, Malibu. I meant my promise from before, whatever is in the past stays there… we move forward with a new beginning. I’m forever yours, Malibu. Now, tomorrow, for the r
est of our lives.”
“Is that your final decision?” Creed asks, cocking the gun in my ear. I hear the bullet enter the chamber and close my eyes, not sure if he’s gonna end me, or honor Kassi’s decision.
“That’s my final decision,” Kassi adamantly states, looking me in the eye. ‘I forgive you’ she mouths at me. My body relaxes, I can die happy knowing that in the end, she forgave me for being an ass. I feel a blow to the back of my head, the last thing I hear is my Ol’ lady screaming out my name as the world around me becomes a dark void of nothing.
21
Kassi
“Malibu, wake up,” I cry out. That Creed fucker left a little while ago, but not before issuing out orders to me. One, I can never share what happened here, either time. Malibu is to pay for his sins against me to me, no one else. Two, he meant what he stated, if I lied to him about my forgiveness of Malibu, he will end him. No if’s, and’s or but’s about it. It’s like Vegas, what happens here stays here. When I assured him that I meant what I said, he huffed and rubbed the back of his head… I have a feeling he thought I was lying, but I wasn’t. I’d already secretly had my suspicions that Malibu was behind it one way or another, I’d already dealt with that and decided that the night in question changed him in more ways than one. I needed to remember so that we could deal with it, it made us closer… stronger. I’ve already forgiven him, I wasn’t going to in the beginning, but over time, I found myself giving in. The day in the shower, when he was going to confess to me, was the day I decided there and then, that even though it hurt, he had to know. He was holding on to the past, and in a way, so was I. It may have initially hurt that he’d put me through that, but those memories have helped me heal. I don’t want the club to find out what he did, they wouldn’t be able to forgive and forget. He’d be out, and I couldn’t live like that. I’d have to make a decision between the man who owns my heart, and my siblings. Who can make a choice like that and live with heartbreak?
They are as vital to him as they are to me. So yes, I can live without everyone knowing. As a matter of fact, I’d prefer it that way. This needs to stay buried… only Malibu and I knowing the truth. This Creed fucker, however, I think Malibu and I need to come up with a plan where it concerns him. He’s a loose string we can’t afford to have dangling over our heads. My Ol’ man’s gonna need someone to work this out with, and I plan on being part of it every step of the way. Only the two of us in the end can know what we’re gonna do where it pertains to him.
“Malibu, wake the fuck up! I’m tired of finding myself tied to motherfucking chairs. Malibu!” I scream, because seriously, if I’m not cut loose soon, I’m worried I’ll lose my damn mind.
“Woman, stop your bellowin’,” he says as he begins to come around. “What’s the damn rush, I just need a few more minutes of shut eye.”
“Swear to God, Malibu. If you don’t get your ass up and untie me I’m gonna whoop yours once I’m free.” He opens up his eyes as I state this and begins scanning the room.
“The fuck?” he dumbfoundedly asks.
“Up, Malibu, untie me now.” By my tone, he knows I’m not messing around. He stands up and begins swaying on his feet. “Easy.” He grabs a hold of the couch and steadies himself.
He has a look of confusion as he lifts his head and looks around. “Shit,” he hisses out but rushes the best he can my way. “Fuck, baby, how long was I out for?”
“Long enough for my limbs to go numb.” When I answer him, he looks up at me and I see his horrored look staring back at me. “I’m alright, promise.”
“I’m gonna kill that fucker,” he issues the threat through a hiss.
“And I’ll be right there at your side, but first things first.” I lift my eyebrows and he starts loosening my bindings. He’s still staggering a bit on his feet which causes me to worry that he's gonna topple over on top of me. “Um… Malibu, all good?”
“Yeah, just a little dizzy, I’ll have you loose here shortly.” His words, even promising, come out with a slight slur. Makes me wonder just how much damage happened to his noggin when that fucker pistol whipped him.
“How many of me are you seeing?” I question.
“Just the one of ya, babe. My head’s throbbin’ and my equilibrium’s a little off. Be a little patient would ya, and stop yellin’ while you’re at it.”
My eyes widen at his declaration, because I’m speaking in a normal octave. “I’m not yelling,” I state in a normal tone. Okay, maybe a little quieter because I’m worried about him.
“Fuckin’ feels as if you’re screamin’ down the house.” He manages to get one of my arms loose, and I immediately reach up to feel the back of his head. He has a huge goose egg and moans in pain as my fingers lightly graze the area.
“We gotta get some ice on that as soon as I’m free,” I whisper this time, not wanting to make anything worse for him. I know that when one of my migraines hit, I’d prefer for everything to be nice and quiet.
Malibu
My world is spinning and I’m having a hard time keeping my feet planted in one place. I can feel myself stumbling and haven’t been this unsteady nor tripped over my own two feet since that one time my mom tried to teach me how to dance. Wasn’t one of my more finer moments, I managed to break my mom’s big toe by stepping on it. I don’t want any mishaps to happen to any of Kassi’s limbs while I’m trying to free her from these bindings. “Almost there,” I tell her as I feel her other arm come loose. I want to howl out the word ‘success’ since I’m not feeling much on my A game at the moment. That one small feat feels as if I’ve won a gold medal at the damn Olympics.
Looking down at her feet, I regret knowing that I’m gonna have to get down on the floor. When I go to lean over, I lose my balance and end up flat on my ass next to the chair. “Well, that didn’t happen the way I envisioned it happenin’,” I stammer out as my head once again spins. Rolling over to my side, I lay there and reach my arms out to untie one of her ankles. “Just a moment, baby, and you’ll be out of these ropes.” Even though my vision is swimming and my head is pounding, I concentrate all of my effort in undoing these knots. They aren’t terribly tight, and on any other given day I’d have no issue undoing them. It seems as if time is slowly passing by as I continue to struggle. What feels like hours later, she’s finally able to get up. Me however, the sense of puking overwhelms me if I attempt to move from the position I’m lying in. “Just leave me here, Kassi. I’ll get up later.”
“No, Malibu. We need to get ice on your head and get you moving. I’m worried that you may have a slight concussion. Come on, help me out here,” she says as she tries to lift me up. Her hands are under my armpits and she struggles to heave me up. “Roll over to your bottom, Malibu and get your feet underneath you. You have to assist me in getting you standing.”
“Just need to sleep for a little bit,” I tell her, closing my eyes.
“No!” Is the last thing I hear before I succumb to darkness.
Kassi
“Fucking hell,” I mutter underneath my breath. “I need to start lifting weights more. I’m so out of shape.” I leave him lying on the floor and go make a baggie filled with ice. “Think, Kassi. We cannot be stranded here, what if he needs medical attention?” I’ve got no medical background and Kaci isn’t here to google things for me. Shit, neither one of us have our cell phones on us. We left them in our room at the clubhouse when we went to visit Granger. Visit? Ha, that’s a joke. I’ve never quite had one like I did that night… wait, was that just tonight? It seems like days, if not weeks ago since I smacked Granger around. I start scanning the room, when I find nothing useful, I go into each individual room. There’s no landline that I can find… wait, the loft! It’s the only place neither of us went the last time we were here. Could I get so lucky? Climbing the ladder, it’s pitch dark up, so it takes me a minute to talk myself into venturing up here. “There’s no boogeyman, there’s no creatures gonna crawl out of any closets and come out and get me. Your man needs
you; you can do this.” My knees wobble as I make my final ascent on the top landing.
Not being able to see my surroundings, I open up the rest of my senses. My arms come out in front of me and I begin to maneuver my way around. There're only three walls in this room, the side I just came up is nothing more than posts and it’s not a tall one, so I know that I need to head away from that direction. I can just envision my ass tumbling over it and breaking my damn neck. I can only imagine the vision I make as I hold my arms out in front of me in case I fall. Making my way to the right, I finally find a wall and move my hands up and down the wall, hoping that there’s a light switch there somewhere. My foot catches on something and I fall to the side but manage to hold myself upright and my hands land on what feels to be a switch on the wall. To the left of that switch, a glow can be seen from a sliver of missing wall. Once my eyes adjust, I can tell it’s a closed door. “No one’s gonna jump out and get you,” I remind myself before finding the knob and swinging it open. The room is shadowed with the light emanating from that small closet, but it’s enough for me to see around me. Doing a quick scan, I see a chain hanging from the ceiling, figuring what could it hurt, I walk over and pull it. This is the first time I can say I’ve yanked a chain and something good came from it. The entire room is now glowing and I can see everything. I let my body relax and walk over to the small desk sitting in the corner of the room.
Forever Yours: Rage Ryders Templeton Chapter Book 2 Page 14
