Explosive (A Bleeding Scars MC)

by McCarthy, Abby

  "Don't talk to him. Not a word. You got me, Alex? Let me handle him. I've got this." We followed Hades outside the diner, where a light misty rain had made everything slick.

  We approached Hades. I hadn't yet shrugged off the disgusting feelings from the bathroom.

  "Alejandra. You're as beautiful as ever," Hades said smugly. I had no doubt he was completely aware of the assault on me by one of his goons in the bathroom.

  "You and I need to have a come-to-Jesus," Gunner spoke low and menacingly. I'd never heard anyone talk to Hades that way.

  "Is that so?" Hades mocked.

  "Yeah, it's so. You don't come near Alex. You never bothered to be a parent to her while she was with that sick fuck, Enrico. You don't get to contact her. You don't get to breathe the same air as her. I'm going to make myself perfectly clear, if either you or one of your dumb fuck Runners come near her again, our war’s expanding. You understand me?"

  Hades stood a little taller, squaring his shoulders. "She's my flesh and blood. I made her, and I'll do what I want with her."

  "No, you fucking idiot. She's my flesh and blood and part of my family, and she will choose what the fuck she wants to do. When will you get it through your thick fuckin' skull that people aren't property?"

  "I should've let the boys kill you when I had you under my roof. Would've saved me a lot of trouble."

  "Let's be clear on that too. Choosing to join your club was the biggest mistake of my life, but you made a good amount of money on me in the ring, so let's cut the bullshit."

  Hades shook his head at Gunner. "You really think you have power, don't you?"

  I hated how carelessly he spoke to Gunner. I wanted to defend my brother. I wanted to do something other than listen to the complete bullshit coming from Hades’ mouth. The man from the bathroom walked up from behind Hades. He didn't look at me; I was grateful for that, but my eyes still shot daggers at him.

  Hades might not have been as well dressed as the men my uncle dined with, but he was lethal. He'd killed before. I could see it in his eyes. Once you met a killer, it was easy to spot them.

  Gunner stood a little taller, taking the smallest step towards Hades. It was bold and not what I would've thought Gunner would do. He was perhaps stronger than I'd given him credit for.

  "I'm not that kid anymore. It's far past time you learned that lesson." Gunner shot me a sharp look, "Let's go."

  WE PULLED UP TO THE clubhouse. Both of us were silent on the quick drive back. My mind was riddled with guilt, and fear of how unsafe I was. I could also clearly see that with or without me, Hades posed a threat to Gunner and his family. Why should I care though, right? I just met him. And Ace? He would be in the crosshairs of Hades no matter what I did, whether I stayed or went.

  The problem was I did care.

  Ace was at the computer when Gunner and I walked in. "Ace, I need a word," Gunner said, no doubt needing to relay what happened.

  Ace looked at me, I could see by the quick analytical way he watched me, that he was assessing if I was okay. I wasn't, not really anyway. I put the man in the bathroom behind me, just like I always did. I steeled a brave face and watched as Ace squinted, seeming to read me all too easily.

  Ace closed the window on his computer screen that he was working on. The screen went to a password page. "Alex, can you give us a minute?" Ace blew out a breath and stood.

  "Actually, if you see Shane out there, will you send him back here?" Gunner asked.

  I nodded and moved about the clubhouse, but didn't see Shane. There was a lot of noise between the machines and other equipment running. It was clear that even though they referred to this large place as their clubhouse, they very much ran a successful business out of it.

  I got a couple of waves or grunts from several men as I moved about. Reggie, who was working on a bike, stopped what he was doing and looked up at me, "Something I can help you find?"

  "Not something. Someone. I'm looking for Shane."

  Reggie pointed to an old truck where a man with a welding mask covering his face was using a blow torch against the hood. "That's him."

  "That explains why I couldn't find him. Thanks."

  I moved to where Shane was welding. The helmet covered his face, but his sandy blonde hair curled around the edge.

  "Shane," I said his name once, but he didn't seem to hear me. "Shane!" I yelled louder.

  Startled, I watched his body jerk, and he stopped what he was doing. He lifted his welding mask and made eye contact with me.

  "What's up, Alex?"

  "Ace and Gunner need you. We ran into Hades while we were out."

  "Fuck," Shane cursed, and quickly headed to find Ace and Gunner.

  I sat down on one of the couches in the common area and pressed my palms to my eyes. What in the world should I do?

  "That bad, huh?"

  I looked up and was startled to see Reggie sitting across from me.

  "That shit with Hades goes back forever. He does something to us, we retaliate. The shit is old, and the entire club is done with it. Whatever happens next, don't take that on. You get what I'm saying?"

  I looked at him confusedly.

  "He's hurt everyone. He's killed. The things he did to Gunner, and what happened to Charlie because of him? All I'm saying is that nothing that happens when it concerns Hades Runners is on you."

  I nodded. They would be at war no matter what I did. I couldn't be the reason that the scales tipped. I'd never been much or had much, but these men had a lot. They had each other's backs in a way I don't think a book had ever shown me. It was one thing to read about loyalty, it was another to experience it. I couldn't be the person who brought them down. So what if Hades hurt me? It wouldn't be the first time.

  This simple, easy, one-sided conversation with Reggie had my mind whirling. I stood and decided I needed to go back there. I was acting on impulse and without self-preservation. I mean, what if I turned on Hades and then Ace and Gunner no longer wanted anything to do with me because I was a plant? What if I was disposable to them? No. I couldn't think like that. I had to trust them.

  "It's pretty heated back there. I don't know if you want to go back," Reggie calmly suggested.

  "Thanks, Reggie, but I think I probably should."

  He looked at me skeptically, but didn't stop me as I walked down the hallway knocking on the office door.

  "Busy," Gunner shouted from the other side of the door.

  "It's me," I called back, hoping they would open the door for me.

  The handle turned, and I took a deep breath, praying I wasn't making a huge mistake, hoping I was making things better, not worse.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alex

  I walked into the room and could physically feel the tension rolling off of each man.

  "Alex, ain't really a great time," Gunner said with tightness to his voice.

  I locked my eyes on Ace, who sat behind the desk. For the first time, I noticed all of the video cameras that looped both the club and his home. I'd seen security, but this was incredible. It moved so fast; screens flicked from one location to the next and were split up into sections of the large computer screen.

  "I need to tell you a few things." My mask was up, and I squared my shoulders. I needed to be strong for this. I watched as Ace, noticing the change in my body language, sat up straighter.

  "Alex," Shane began, but was cut off by Ace.

  "Think we should all sit down."

  "Then get the fuck out of my seat," Shane grumbled.

  Ace gave Shane a chin lift and moved from behind the desk, then he grabbed a folding chair from against the wall and opened it, positioning it between another open chair. Gunner sat on one side, and Ace sat on the other. The placement felt strategic in some way as if Ace was somehow saying they both had my back. I sat, and Ace grabbed my hand, linking our fingers. I started to talk, but then stopped because I didn't feel right with him holding my hand. What if what I was about to tell them seemed like a betrayal?
I couldn't live with myself.

  Releasing Ace's hand caused him to jerk. Shocked that I would do that, he stared at me, in a way that made me unsure of myself and made my voice falter when I finally spoke. "I know a lot just happened with Hades, but I think I have a lot to tell you. I think you need the full picture. But to tell you the entire story, I think I need to start at a place that is going to hurt and be difficult for me to talk about."

  "You don't need to talk about anything you're not ready to talk about." Gunner placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a slight squeeze then dropped his hand.

  I nodded. I knew I needed to do this. "Growing up, my childhood wasn't like young Gun's. I was either around Enrico, my grandfather, men, or staff. I was educated by a tutor, and if I didn't get answers right, they would hit the back of my thighs with a switch that left welts for days. It was not a kind life. I did not have people around me like you." I looked to Gunner, and then turned to Ace. "Or you.”

  "I had seen Hades on several occasions. He was not kind. He was not fatherly. I was twelve or thirteen when the men around me began noticing me. I remember my grandfather talking to Enrico, telling him not to let the men touch me, because I would be of more value when I was fully developed. After that day, my training included more. I was taught how a woman should dress, how a woman could seduce. I couldn't question why. I wasn't allowed to question anything. I was only to leave my room with a guard and never on my own. They would leave erotic romance stories for me to read. It did not make sense to me why they would let me read something that I actually enjoyed. The only thing I could figure is that they wanted me to be exposed to sex. It was their way of preparing me.

  "I was sixteen when they sold my virginity for a business deal. These were powerful men. Men who had specific desires."

  I was too lost in my story to feel how wired the room had gotten. I continued to tell them my story. My truth. I hoped that if they understood how my life had been that they would understand why I agreed to work with Hades.

  "I was their whore."

  Ace's metal chair scraped against the cement floor. "The fuck you were. You were a girl being taken advantage of. Not a whore. A-fuckin’-girl."

  "Ace," I said calmly, even though my heart beat wildly. "A girl has toys and is carefree. I was never a girl. I was a slave, or I was a whore. I hated it. But I knew my place."

  Shane lit a cigarette, and I could tell that even though we hadn't established a bond, my story bothered him too.

  "My point is some of the world's most powerful men have done things to me. Things I did not want, but had to do."

  This time, it was Gunner who stood and paced. I could see he was barely hanging on. I just needed to get this all out. Then, whatever happened, happened.

  "I was not in the house when you came for Charlie. I was away," I looked down, hoping they would understand what I meant by that without me having to go into detail about where I was. "When I got back, Enrico was a mad man. He was so consumed with how his home had been invaded. He murdered three of his men in front of me.

  "Grandfather was even more irate. He felt like Enrico had failed him, and that I was too important to his business. He moved me out in the woods with just the guards and me. It was... unpleasant."

  "How were you important?" Shane asked.

  Ace shot Shane a glare.

  "What, it's not like they couldn't have other women do the same thing. What was it about you?"

  "Are you fucking whack?" Gunner questioned Shane with more than a small bit of anger lacing his voice.

  "No, it's a fair question. You're right. There were a lot of women who were used for sex, and my family is very good at that. One of their associates has a thing for me."

  Part of me wanted to tell them how Sokolov was slightly obsessed with me, and I knew he hung his business deals with my grandfather over his head as long as he had access to me. He grew so attached, he would get wild with rage when he would discover they used me with someone else. It was one of the only times I saw my grandfather get upset. No, best to not bring my demons into this.

  "Fuck," I heard Ace curse under his breath. I paused to make sure Ace was okay. This was so incredulous. I was the one who had been through so much, but somehow, I felt like I needed to protect these men from it. I could see it affected them, and that further cemented that me being here was the right thing.

  "Get it together," Shane ordered Ace and Gunner. Gunner stopped pacing and sat back down.

  "Give me a smoke." Gunner held his hand out to Shane.

  "Charlie will kill me."

  "Don't worry about that shit. Give me a smoke."

  Shane handed Gunner a cigarette, and the room slowly filled with smoke.

  Now to tell them the extremely bad part. God, I hoped I was doing the right thing. My voice trembled with fear as I finished the story. "Hades visited me. He came to tell me Enrico and my mom were dead, and that you would be coming for me. He had leaked my location and said that he would give me my freedom and make sure I had a better life, if I came with you and got him information on you."

  "Fuck." I wasn't even sure who muttered that.

  "I don't want to be his pawn. After meeting all of you, I don't want anything to happen to you. He gave me a phone that I've had with me. I haven't given him anything really. So today, when we were at the diner, one of his men was waiting for me in the bathroom. He threatened me, threatened you, and then grabbed me."

  "I'm going to fucking kill him," Gunner spat.

  "I'm sorry," I finally said. "I don't want to be used anymore. I just wanted to be free."

  "I need a minute with her," Ace spoke low, but it didn't matter; both Shane and Gunner heard him, and they didn't argue. They just got up and left me there with Ace.

  "Have you been playing me? Has this time together been you, or have you been playing a role to be a snitch for your dad?"

  "It's me, Ace."

  He sat quietly, and I waited for him to say something, and when he did, it hurt. "I don't blame you for going along with Hades. Who wouldn't do the same thing as you? But Alex, you fucked with our trust, and although you had your reasons, I need to think." He ran his hands through his hair; I could see the frustration written all over him. "I think it would be best if you stayed at your brother's tonight."

  Ace stood and left. I was all alone, feeling bereft without him.

  I sat in his office for some time, all alone in my thoughts that had turned dark. I knew it was a risk telling them. Still, Ace needing space from me stung. It seemed like we had been building something, and then he just left. Maybe I wasn't worthy of his forgiveness. Maybe hearing about the highly paid prostitute I was raised to be was also the problem. There had been a lot of times in my life that I was alone, but for some reason, my solitude felt emptier than anything really had before.

  Before. What a joke! Before my five seconds of feeling like a regular woman. Before Ace rescued me. Before, I momentarily thought about a future so vastly different than how my life had been.

  I didn't understand why the darkness crept in; I just knew that it had. Perhaps when you have happiness, even tiny glimpses of it, once it was taken away, it creates a bigger hole than what was there before. I thought that by confessing my sins, I would be saving everyone; but as it turned out, I would be sacrificing one.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ace

  "Fuck, I fucking knew it. I knew she was hiding something. I should've guessed that Hades had gotten to her first."

  "Stop beating yourself up," Shane said, stomping his cigarette on the cement floor. "She came to us and told us. She clearly picked her side."

  "I'm going to kill Hades," Gunner grumbled for the third time.

  "We need to call Church. Fill everyone in," Shane spoke with authority.

  "A couple of guys are on a parts run, but they should be back soon," Gunner said. "I'll let everyone know."

  "One hour."

  I watched Gunner and Shane make plans for us to discuss what
Alex just told us, but my mind was on her. I was still too torn up about it all. I was pissed that Hades had gotten to her first. I was pissed she had to live the life she did, and I was pissed that she didn't come to me sooner.

  Sometime later, Alex still hadn't come from the room we left her in. I would have thought at some point she would have ventured down the hallway, but she hadn't. Our meeting was in full swing. A few of my brothers had argued that Alex couldn't be trusted. They thought she played us, and what was the guarantee that she wouldn't again. At this, I blew up and fucking lost it. "She didn't need to tell us shit. She took a fucking chance and was honest. We shouldn't condemn her because her life has been shit."

  "Enough of this bullshit. She's my sister, and I vouch for her." That meant something to the men, Gunner vouching for her. "If you got something else to say about her, then we need to handle that shit." He was getting pissed. I was beyond that already.

  I saw a few men grit their teeth, then nod in acceptance.

  "The real question is, what do we do with this info?" Donnie asked.

  "They don't know what we know, so why don't we use it to our advantage and tip them off about our meet?" Gunner suggested.

  I glared at him, not liking that. It would put a bigger target on her.

  Gunner reading my mood said, "If we can take out Hades once and for all, it won't matter that they know she told us."

  "This is a sound plan," Shane said, lighting another damn cigarette.

  "I say we vote," Reggie said.

  Shane nodded, and we commenced. Gunner began and voted yay. We went around the room and continued to vote. Most men were yays. The few who doubted Alex's integrity were nays. It got to me, and I couldn't help but vote nay, even though it was most likely the plan that made the most sense. I didn't like the position it put Alex in. If it were up to me, I'd just blow the fuckers up. Problem with that was that it'd be pretty obvious to the officials that it was me, but fuck it. I was down. We had a good number of cops on the take, but so did Hades.