My bag is still on the bed and I quickly make sure no one’s been through it while I was gone. Everything is still there, and I slip it on my back. Retracing my steps down the way I came, I breathe through the anxiety of being caught and half jog down the mountain until I hit the main road into town.
I keep walking until I’m standing outside my childhood home. The place I once loved until it warped into a house of horrors.
If I could, I would never return but needs must, and this need is taking over my life and my conscience. My legs go numb from my hips to my feet as I walk up the drive. I lied last night when I caught the twins breaking in, I told them I didn’t live here and while I plan on never making this my home again, I did know where I was. I sneak in because I knew my father spends the night with his whore on Sunday nights and he wouldn’t be around. When the twins showed up, I didn’t know what to say so I went along with the lie.
Raising my hand, I knock three times, as loud as my heart beats inside my chest.
After a minute, the door opens, and I swallow the repulsion wanting to explode from me and force a smile to stretch my lips.
Before me, my father stands in his sharp suit with his slick backed hair and strong cologne.
As fast as a lightning strike, bewilderment hits him and then it’s gone.
“Aspen! You came home.”
“Hello, father.”
Mason
Cas’s anger is rising, and the Mercy chapter aren’t helping by making it so obvious they’re hiding something from us. Cas was right to drag us all here. Something is going on and it looks like we’re not leaving until we find out what it is.
“If you take me in one more circle, I’m going to end this chapter,” Cas warns and Gabe sits forward, grabbing his pack of smokes from the table he’s sitting at. Myles and me stick to where we are, perched on their bar and while Myles is growing bored, I listen to every word being said. Never again will I not be ready for trouble coming our way. It happening the once was more than enough.
“It started twenty-three years ago,” Gabe finally says adding a sigh before continuing. “Our brother, Shane, found out his Old Lady was fucking about with a guy in town, a guy who had been trying to shut us down for years. Anyway, she ended up pregnant and moving in with this guy. Shane lost his mind over her and snatched the kid when it was born. He had her for a week before any of us could find them. Shit turned ugly real fast between us and the townies. The kid was returned unharmed, but deals had to be made to keep the peace -”
“What kind of deals?” Sparky cuts in.
“We had to put Shane in the ground and pay up.”
Cas sits forward and demands, “How much?”
“$10,000 a month, we weren’t to deal in town or go into town, hence us moving around on the outskirts.”
“Hence your side deals?” Cas hedges and Gabe can only nod.
Anger ripples through the Willows Peak brothers and Grumps slams his fist on the table in sheer anger.
“You’ve been paying ten large every month for the past twenty odd years?” Grumps asks just to be sure he heard correct.
Gabe nods again, losing his fucking tongue to speak more of the truth.
“Fuck,” Cas roars and I feel his frustration. “It stops now. No further payments are to be made.”
“Cas, Mercy isn’t the quiet town you think it is,” Gabe argues.
“And what are you if not a Lost Soul? Or are we missing something, like your fucking balls?” I yell out unable to hold my tongue any longer.
Myles and I usually keep out of club politics, just follow our orders and do our own thing, but since nearly witnessing our sister being burnt alive, it changed everything. We need to be more involved, take the patch more seriously and it’s what I intend to do.
“I fucking agree. You let a civilian pull your dick, over two million of our money because you couldn’t hold our ground,” Cas says, fisting his hand again and again.
Gabe hangs his head and as I look around the bar, the Mercy brothers won’t meet any of our eyes. There’s nothing they can say and they don’t even try. Patches will definitely be ripped from leather during our visit, that’s for fucking sure. Over two million dollars, that’s not chump change.
“Set up a meet with this prick. I’m going to do what you should have done two fucking decades ago.”
Cas stands and glances around the place. “No cunt tells us where we can and can’t go…”
Gabe launches to his feet and stands before Cas. “Don’t do anything rash until you’ve met with Jacob.”
“Pussy,” Myles calls out and no one disagrees, brothers laugh and Gabe turns a bright shade of red. Grumps throws him a nod and a grin, and I pull out my smokes. This shit is crazy.
“We’re done for today, go wherever you want. I want our presence known, I don’t give a shit what goes down. We’re Lost Souls, not fucking pussies under the shadows of any fucker trying to stomp their rules over us.”
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I dig it out as the place grows louder with brothers resuming their conversations, turning their focal point on these bunch of pussies around us.
‘Aspen left, went to the bathroom and never came back. V.’
Shit.
“Who’s that?” Myles asks, looking over my shoulder.
“Tori, apparently our little friend is gone.”
Silently, we head upstairs and check if her bag is still here. It’s not. The bed is bare and I look at my brother.
“She came back?” Myles says.
“Looks like it.”
It shouldn’t but it leaves me with a bolt of loss in my gut. I thought for sure she’d stick around for a while. There was something about her that I wanted to delve into and explore. Sure I wanted to fuck the shit out of her, but it was more than that, and now it looks like I’ll never find out what I was searching for in her.
“Oh well, she wasn’t as curious as she made out.” Myles shrugs and adds, “I want to get out of here, let’s hit up town.”
We head out and Luca is walking in the same direction as our parent’s cabin where Tori is staying.
Nudging Myles’ arm as he walks beside me, I point in Luca’s direction and he hollers, “Oi, Luca, you want to come check out the bars with us?”
He looks between us and the cabin in the distance and then turns back. The fucker will keep his dick away from our sister, even if we have to keep him close to us.
“Why not.”
The three of us ride into town and park up outside the first bar we see. There are a few cars and trucks in the parking lot, and not one bike, apart from ours.
“Where’s the girl you picked up last night?” Luca asks as we walk into sets of eyes settling on us as soon as we’re through the door.
“Fuck knows,” we both answer.
Standing at the bar, some old guy comes trudging up and braces his hands on the bar top as he stares at each of us. He focuses on our patches and I’ve never been so proud to wear my cut.
“Your kind isn’t welcome here,” he huffs and murmurs of agreement hit us from the other patrons.
“Our kind? You’ll have to explain,” Luca speaks while Myles and I remain tight lipped.
“You stay on the mountain and we stay in town, that’s the deal.”
“Didn’t you hear, that deal no longer exists.” Luca pulls out a twenty and slams it on the bar. “You’ll serve us three beers and I’ll let you keep the change. If not, I’m in the perfect mood to smash the fuck out of your bar. Moral of this fucking story, you play nice, we play nice.”
Our presence is definitely being felt and the old guy snatches the bill and turns his back to collect three beers from the fridge.
He slides them across the bar and Luca is first to pick his up. He tips it to his mouth and drinks half the bottle before pointing it toward the back of the place where a pool table sits.
“In five minutes, you’re going to bring us another round while we shoot some pool. Give us n
o trouble, old man, and we’ll give you none.”
Myles is simmering with excitement beside me and I must admit, I’m amping up for a fight too.
Strutting across the bar, every single person is watching us, and we act like they’re not here at all.
“Rack ‘em up then, Luc. I’ll play you first,” Myles offers.
I slide onto the stool at the end of the bar and drain half my beer before putting it down on our table.
The back wall is lined with mirrors and I watch the bartender’s reflection as he places a call from the old phone hanging on the wall. His eyes keep flicking to us and then he hangs up.
Luca and Myles catch it too without making it obvious they’re watching him and start their game. With my back to everyone, I pull out my phone and place my own call.
“What’s up?” Cas answers.
“Myles, me and Luca hit up a bar in town, it’s tense as fuck but we’ve been served and we’re shooting some pool. I guess he’s the owner, he made a call looking shady as fuck.”
“You think you’ll expect trouble to arrive?” he asks.
“If it does, we’re more than ready and able to take care of it,” I assure him.
Between the three of us we’re ruthless as fuck and not afraid to throw or take a punch. In fact, the three of us are the ones to welcome the violence. We don’t trust him with our sister, but we have no problem fighting side by side with him. He was always in fights in high school and there weren’t many he lost.
“Okay, if no one shows, don’t cause any shit. Play your pool, drink your beers and leave. Don’t overstay and come straight back here.”
“Got you. Hey, Cas. You should have seen your boy, he did good. For a moment I wanted to serve him a beer when the bartender wouldn’t.”
A rough laugh booms down the phone and he says, “That’s my boy, watch each other’s backs and report to me when you get back.”
He hangs up and I put my phone away. Fuck all happens apart from being gawked at, we play a few rounds of pool and drink the second beer the owner brings over. We follow Cas’ orders and leave after a couple of hours, no trouble being caused and strut outside into the fucking cold.
Aspen
Two years I’ve been gone and not once did my father ever look for me, and not one thing has changed in the house. Even my bedroom is untouched. My photo frames and furniture are coated with dust, he didn’t let the maid at least clean it? Sitting on my bed, the scent of home -fresh linen and mom- cling to me and I hold back the tears. Since mom died when I was fourteen of cancer, nothing has been the same. I wonder often what life would be like now if she was still alive. Dad was certainly never the same and his actions only darkened after her death. I force them out of my mind and dig through my bag. The blade I’ve been carrying for the last three months is still as sharp as it was when I found it and it gleams in the sunlight pouring through balcony doors.
A soft knock at the door has me hiding the blade under my pillow before the door opens and my father stands in the doorway. His presence alone fills the room. Between him and the house, they’re closing in on me and I remind myself why I came back. The smirk on my father’s face doesn’t seem worthy of being repulsed by but my stomach sours.
“Aspen, Curtis is downstairs. He would like to see you.”
My stomach drops, in all my plans and fantasies about how coming home would happen, I never factored Curtis. My first and only boyfriend. If he didn’t kiss my father’s ass it might not have been so bad kissing him. He’s so boring and nothing like the twins last night. No, I can’t think about them. Focus.
“Now you’re home, things can go back to how they should always have been. Get changed and meet us in the parlour.”
He leaves and closes the door before I struggle to keep myself composed and I fall back on my bed. My father hasn’t asked one question about where I’ve been or why I left. He’s overly happy that I’m home and it makes the repulsion I feel toward him stronger.
Pulling myself up, I hunt through the wardrobe and again, nothing has been touched. I yank a stiff navy-blue dress from its hanger and change so quickly it makes me dizzy. Time to get this done, the sooner I end this the sooner I can flee from this town forever.
They’re both in the parlour room like my father said they would be, and while my father is standing by the drinks table pouring himself a brandy, Curtis jumps to his feet and crosses the room, collecting me in his arms. He even smells the same.
“You gave us such a fright, where have you been?”
His voice, the way he holds me like he thinks I’m a fragile doll, and his damn cologne, they’re all the same and I want to gag. I’ll never see either of them or this house like I once did.
“I…um…”
“All that matters is she’s home, and tonight we’ll celebrate by going to dinner,” my father booms from the drinks table. “Now, if you excuse me I have some business to deal with that won’t wait.”
My father leaves the room and I nearly sigh with relief and forget myself around Curtis.
Keeping close, too close for my liking, he leans in and whispers, “You will tell me where you’ve been and why you left.”
Stepping back, I plaster on my best fuck you smile. “Didn’t you hear my father, it doesn’t matter.”
His eyes narrow into the thinnest slits and his lips purse together tightly. Before I left, Curtis was planning on proposing and my father would have expected me to say yes. His father is the town judge and my father’s closest friend. I was content to go along up till that point. Now I’m back, not everything is going to be how it once was.
“Tell me one thing, why did you come back?”
My fake ass smile remains in place and I tilt my head. “Because I missed you, baby.”
I couldn’t sound more fake if I tried and I leave him standing in the middle of the room and head for the kitchen. I’m starving and I can’t dish out my revenge on an empty stomach.
* * *
Eating dinner is the same fanfare it always was. My mom was the one who loved to dine out and the only restaurant in town that caters to the stuffy arrogance of my father is Stripes, owned by the Harrington family. As soon as we walked in my father was bombarded by diners wanting to talk to him, offering to pay for his drinks and being douchebags. Of course, my father makes a big deal about my homecoming and my cheeks hurt from forcing myself to smile at each and every person who stops by our table. I physically have to bite down very bloody hard on my tongue when I hear how good it is I’m home.
I finish my chicken salad and push my plate forward. I guess my appetite hasn’t taken a hit even though the sight of my father happy and living without a care in the world should make me puke all over the table.
Curtis hasn’t taken his eyes off me all day and keeping up the pretence I want to be here is getting difficult to maintain.
“I was going to ask you a question before you left, once you’re settled, I’m going to ask you and I’m going to make you so happy.”
This time, a little vomit makes its way into my mouth and I wash it down with the rest of my red wine.
“Actually…”
The plates begin to rattle and the thunderous roar of numerous motorcycles riding up the street catch me off guard and I become more interested in what’s happening outside then telling him to keep his questions to himself, that nothing will ever happen between us again. With the twins I was burning for their touch, sleeping with Curtis is like sleeping with a virgin every single time. He would come within thirty seconds if I was lucky and he had no idea what he was doing.
My father stands, dropping his napkin on his plate. Curtis is quick to follow when my father walks toward the door like the little puppy he is. Well, I’m not going to hang back. I want to know what’s going on too.
No one else leaves the restaurant, choosing to watch through the huge windows. As my father is like a God to these people, they put their trust in him to send the big, bad bikers away.
&n
bsp; I step outside and there must be forty bikes all coming to a stop and facing the restaurant. One by one they kill their engines and the quietness surrounding us is freaky.
I hang back near the door and Curtis is quick to step beside me and sling his arm around my shoulders. My father stands like a king on the curb and his head slowly roams from left to right as he takes in the scene before him.
Only one biker climbs off his bike and steps closer to us. I recognise him from last night.
Cas.
I scan the bikers myself and stop when I see Mason and Myles. They’re both looking at me and Curtis’s arm over my shoulders. I can only hold my stare for so long before I cowardly look away.
“You’re lucky you’ve caught me in a good mood. My daughter has returned and we’re celebrating so whatever you’ve come down the mountain for, it can and will wait till tomorrow.”
Cas’s stare-off with my father breaks when he cuts his eyes over his shoulder and they land on me. His head tilts as recognition hits him and he cocks his brow.
“How nice. There’s nothing better than a returning daughter to her father.”
He walks towards my father and doesn’t leave much room between them. I witnessed Cas’s power last night, but I also know my father is a powerful man, I don’t know who I’d put my money on. I just hope it’s the biker who comes out on top.
“Midday tomorrow, you’re going to meet me here and we’re going to talk.”
“Are we now?” my father snidely mutters.
“Yes, we are.”
Cas walks back to his bike and lifts his hand, signalling it’s time to go.
“I’ll be here, midday, we’ll leave you to your celebrations.”
I dare to peek at the twins as they start their bikes and ride in their formation as they leave. Their eyes hold mine as they pass and then on Curtis. They don’t smile, there’s nothing from them, not that I would expect anything from either of them.
Father stands on the curb until the last biker has turned the corner and his shoulders rise and falls heavily before he turns to us.
Their Fractured Souls: Sons Of Lost Soul MC Book Six Page 4
