Betrayed (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 2) (17 page)

She leans back against the bar and jerks her head at the prospect as he comes over to her. ‘Two beers, and a couple of tequila chasers.’

I can’t help but smile. ‘You know what tequila does to me.’

‘Then we could be in for some interesting entertainment later.’

I look at her, my mouth twitching up at the corner. ‘Zeb hasn’t asked for a repeat performance yet.’

‘He didn’t like it?’

‘On the contrary. What we did had his cock hard for hours afterwards.’

‘Pity I couldn’t stay and watch. I wanted to. But I guessed
he
wanted you all to himself.’

I look down, and then I raise my head and glance around the clubhouse.

‘You looking for someone, honey?’

I turn my head and my eyes meet hers. ‘No.’

‘You didn’t see him then? Mack? He was here a second ago…’

‘I don’t know what you want me to say, Cora. Do you want me to stand here and tell you I still love him? That I still want him, need him? Because I don’t. I don’t.’

‘You’d rather he just left, huh?’

‘Yes.’

‘So you and Zeb can get on with your lives, without him hanging around…’

‘Yes, Jesus, of course I’d rather he just left. That’s his intention, and I’d feel so much better if he walked away now because I…’ I stop talking, and I take a long, deep breath because I’m not entirely sure what’s going to come out of my mouth if I carry on.

‘You want my opinion, Izzi?’

‘Not really, no.’

She raises an eyebrow and downs her tequila shot and I watch as she sucks on the lemon wedge, her eyes fixed firmly on mine. ‘I gotta be at
Six
soon.’ She grabs her beer and leans in to me, her lips gently brushing my ear. ‘You take care, darlin’. And if you need me, you know where I am. That old man of yours, he don’t need to know everything.’ And then she pulls back and winks at me before she leaves the clubhouse, but not without flirting outrageously with a couple of the guys on the way out.

But I’m not taking her up on her veiled invitation. I don’t want to. All I want to do right now is go home, and sleep…

Zeb

I slam him up against the wall before the fucker can even register what’s happening.

‘I fucking told you, brother. You lay one finger on her and I fucking kill you.’

‘So kill me. Go on. I’m yours for the taking.’

Arrogant fucking asshole!

I let go of him and throw him back against the brickwork, raking both hands through my hair. I’m starting to look like a freakin’ idiot, making all these idol threats then carrying none of them out. But as much as I want to put a bullet in his messed-up brain, I got shit I need him to do first.

‘You think I didn’t see you in there, huh? Holding her hand and whispering in her ear? You think I didn’t
see
that?’

He holds his hands up in defeat, and it makes me want to punch his perfect jaw line ‘til it shatters. ‘She don’t want me, Zeb. She said so herself.’

I take a deep breath and try to calm the anger rising up in me, I can feel it, fighting its way to the surface, but I need to keep it in check, for now.

‘She don’t want me, brother. You did a good job on her, you almost got her completely brainwashed…’

I lunge towards him again but he’s got his gun out and raised in a second, and I step back, and try to batter that anger back down. There are other ways I can get to him. ‘You never met your momma, did you?’

He narrows his eyes and stares at me, but he keeps the gun raised. ‘What the hell has that got to do with anything…?’

‘It was my dad. My low-down fucker of a father, he killed your momma. He mowed her down and left her dying in the street like some worthless roadkill.’

He don’t say anything, but his expression’s changing, he’s trying to take in what I’m telling him here.

‘My father, he killed your momma. And Sam, he knew. Not at the time, but he’s known for a long while now. He’s just been waiting for the right time to take his revenge…’

‘What the fuck are you talking about, Zeb?’

He slowly lowers his gun, but he keeps hold of it. And all I can feel is a numbness starting to take over, sweeping over me so fast there ain’t nothing I can do to stop it.

‘He didn’t want to tell you. Sam. He didn’t want to tell you just who it was who’d deprived you of your real momma, but I think you deserve to know the truth, Jesus,
I
had to hear it in all its messed-up reality, so why shouldn’t
you
, huh? Why
shouldn’t
you know who…?’

‘
Enough
, Zeb!’

Sam’s voice causes me to stop mid-sentence and I turn my head to look at him. His eyes are blazing and his face is a mask of anger, but I don’t give a fuck. This is gonna get sorted,
my
way. ‘Cause there ain’t nobody putting my wife’s life in danger. My asshole of a father, he ain’t getting that chance. But he ain’t making me his bitch, either.

‘What the
fuck
is he talking about, Sam?’

‘Get him out of here, Izzi.’

I look at Izzi, and her face, man, I’m scaring her again, and that fills me with a pain so intense it physically hurts and I clutch my stomach as she comes over to me. But the second she touches me I shake her off, and she flinches like I just burned her or something, and that pain shoots through me again.

‘Sam? You gonna tell me what the fuck’s going on ‘cause, y’know, I feel like we’ve been down this road before and I ain’t a fan of secrets. So start talking.’

‘He needs to know the truth, Sam.’

‘You had no right to tell him anything, Zeb. That wasn’t your place.’

I can’t help the cold, humorless laugh that escapes and that causes Izzi to take another step back. ‘You have no fucking idea, do you…’

‘Get him out of here, Izzi.
Now
!’

I stare at Sam, and I shake my head but I’m done here. I ain’t got the energy no more. ‘I’m tired of this shit, Sam.’ I take Izzi’s hand and look at Mack. ‘It’s over.’

Izzi

‘What the hell was
that?
’

‘This ain’t your business, Izzi…’

‘Oh no. No. You don’t get to stand there and tell me this is…’

He raises a hand to my neck and pushes me back against the wall and the look in his eyes, it’s terrifying. And then it’s almost as if he’s suddenly broken out of a trance, his expression changes instantly and he lets go of me, steps back and drops to his haunches, clasping his hands together and dropping his head. And I can’t shake the fear, it won’t leave me.

I kneel down in front of him and tentatively touch his cheek, and he slowly raises his head.

‘I promised to keep you safe, princess. Didn’t I? I promised nothing would hurt you.’

‘Zeb…’

He stands up and starts dragging his hands through his hair, backwards and forwards, his eyes darting this way and that, it’s like he’s taken something, and I don’t want to feel scared, but I do. I am. I’m scared.

‘I’m gonna fucking finish this…’

He opens the door but I run over to him, slamming my hand down over his, and his eyes burn into mine, and that fear wells up inside me again.

‘You ain’t stopping me, Izzi.’

‘You think I’m just gonna let you walk out of here, to go Christ knows where, and do – what? What are you gonna do, Zeb, huh?’

‘I’m gonna fucking finish this.’

He pulls his hand away from mine and walks out of the room, and all I can do is watch him leave. And hope to God he comes back.

Mack

‘You had no fucking right to keep that shit from me, Sam.’

He don’t even put up an argument, and that aggravates the fuck outta me.

‘You knew, and you told
him
…’

I don’t even know where this is getting me; what good it’s doing. I was barely three days old when my momma was killed, I never knew her. So why the fuck am I so freakin’ angry about this now?

‘Why’d you tell him, Sam? Why’d you tell
him
and not me?’

‘Because I wanted Zeb to kill him. To kill Kes.’

His words slam into me so hard I have to lean back against the wall to steady myself and, Jesus, I thought
I
could be a cold-hearted bastard at times, but this one, he just knocked it right outta the park.

‘This is about
revenge
?’

He shrugs, and I can’t believe what I’m hearing. ‘Revenge, retribution, something like that. Just as Izzi felt the need to avenge her family’s murders, I feel that same need.’

‘But you ain’t man enough to do the job yourself, huh?’

He smiles, but it don’t reach his eyes.

I go over to him, and I’m right up in his face but still he don’t flinch, he don’t even blink. ‘And you don’t even think
I
was man enough to do the job? I mean, it was
my
momma he killed, not Zeb’s. So why him, huh? Why him and not me?’

‘You have enough to deal with.’

I laugh, I can’t fucking help it. What the fuck
is
this? ‘Jesus…’ I step back from him and start pacing. I can’t get my fucking head around any of this shit.

‘Zeb’s done this before…’

‘And I haven’t?’ I’m fucking angry now, I’m pissed off and I’m angry.

‘Your head hasn’t been in a good place for a while, Mack. I was just trying to…’

‘What? Spare me?’

‘If that’s how you want to put it. Yes.’

I laugh again, and that anger, it’s starting to grow now. This shit ain’t happening. ‘You should’ve told me, Sam.’ I lean back against the wall and look up at the sky. Clouds are gathering, black clouds. Soon everything’s gonna go dark and that storm, it’s gonna hit us, and the damge it could inflict, ain’t nobody can predict how bad that’ll be…

Chapter Twelve

Izzi

I’ve been at the clubhouse since half past three this morning, because I couldn’t sleep. Zeb hasn’t come home, and I can’t get in touch with him, so I couldn’t sleep. Coming here and keeping busy, that’s the only thing that’s working for me right now.

‘What you doing here so early?’

I turn to see Mack standing in the kitchen doorway, all dishevelled and tired, wearing nothing but battered jeans that hang loose on his hips. I’d forgotten he practically lives here, at the clubhouse. ‘I couldn’t sleep. Thought I could be useful here, keep myself busy.’

He raises an eyebrow. ‘At five in the morning?’

‘Why are
you
up so early?’

‘I heard a noise. You coulda been anyone, darlin’. And I might not be President of this club no more but I still gotta look after this place. So, why aren’t you running a mile from me, huh? Why aren’t you telling me to get outta here, I mean, we ain’t supposed to be anywhere near each other, are we?’

He walks into the room and goes over to the coffee machine, pouring himself a cup.

‘Zeb isn’t here.’

He looks at me over the rim of his mug. ‘He at home? He know you’re here? ‘Cause if he does I’m reckoning he ain’t gonna be far behind…’

‘I don’t know where he is.’

He narrows his eyes as he continues to look at me.

‘He left here yesterday, after you and him…’ I stop talking for a second and turn away.

‘Izzi?’

‘He said he was going to finish this – whatever the hell
this
is. And that was the last I saw of him. I don’t know where he went, and he isn’t answering my calls so…’ I turn back around to face Mack, and I shrug. I don’t know what else to do. ‘I couldn’t sleep. Without him. So I came here.’ And now I’m beginning to wonder why. Had I really just “forgotten” that Mack lives here? Or did I come here because I knew that only too well? And at this time in the morning, we’re the only two people here. Did I realize
tha
t? When I rode down here in the dead of night?

He puts his mug down and walks over to me, and I don’t move, I make no attempt to stop him. I don’t know what’s happening anymore, I feel like I’m losing control of everything but I can’t let that happen. I can’t. Not now.

‘You don’t have to stay here, Izzi.’

‘I do,’ I whisper.

He shakes his head and reaches out to stroke my cheek with the back of his hand and the second he touches me I shiver, and I don’t pull away. I let it happen, because I’m scared, and I need just a moment of comfort, just one, brief moment. ‘Let’s get outta here, baby. Let’s leave, right now…’

‘I can’t, Mack.’ I take his hand and gently pull it away from my face, but I keep hold of it. And when his fingers slide between mine I respond by squeezing his hand, and I don’t know why. I can’t do this. Everything’s changed, and it really is too late for us now.

‘He doesn’t deserve you, Izzi.’

‘Please, Mack…’

I feel a wave of pain so unexpected, so intense rip right through me and I take a deep breath, my other hand flying to my stomach.

‘You’re worried about Zeb, I get that…’

‘You know what he’s capable of, Mack. And I don’t know where he is, what he’s planning to do… this whole messed-up scenario, it’s crazy and wrong and I don’t understand…’

‘Zeb isn’t a stupid man, Izzi.’

We both turn around to see Sam walk in, but Mack keeps hold of my hand, despite Sam’s eyes dropping to my fingers wrapped around his. I don’t want to let go. I don’t, because I’m scared.

 
‘Do you know where he is?’ I finally let go of Mack’s hand and walk over to Sam.

‘No, Izzi, I don’t know where he is. I just know that he won’t do anything stupid.’

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘He said he was going to end this, Sam, what the hell does that mean?’

‘Izzi, sweetheart, right now I know as much as you do. But he isn’t a stupid man…’

‘He’s going to finish the job.’

I turn to look at Mack. ‘And what does that
mean
, Mack?’

He leaves a couple of beats before he replies. ‘Sam wants him to kill his own father.’

My head shoots back around to face Sam, whose expression is so impassive it’s frightening. But then I remember that woman I used to be not that long ago – a woman who was willing to do anything it took to avenge the death of the people she loved. I remember that look, that almost dead-eyed expression. I remember it, because I’ve been there.

‘Sam?’

‘Kes – Zeb’s father – he robbed me of the life I could’ve had by killing the girl I loved, and you more than anyone should know what that feels like, Izzi.’

I shake my head because I don’t understand this, any of it. ‘You
asked
him to kill his own father?’

‘Kes needs to know that no matter how long ago this happened, I never forgot that pain, the agony of not knowing if that life I could’ve had would’ve saved me from the life I ended up living.’

‘This doesn’t make any sense…’

‘It makes perfect sense, Izzi. You know that, sweetheart, you’ve been here.’

‘You put my husband in danger…’

‘Zeb can handle himself.’

‘Did he
agree
to it? To killing his own father because
you
asked him to?’

‘He resisted.’

‘And now he’s disappeared. Jesus, Sam, yes, he can handle himself. But he isn’t thinking straight, and we all know what he’s capable of… I mean, what do you want me to do here? Sit back and wait for him to come home, like he’s just popped out for some fucking cigarettes? What the hell are you asking him to do?’

‘Izzi?’

I glance over at Mack who’s standing calmly at the back of the room, leaning back against the countertop, his arms folded.

‘We can go. Now. Just the two of us. We can leave all this crap behind us. It’s that easy.’

I stare at him for a second or two, and I don’t know what I’m feeling now. I don’t know what to do.

‘Mack… is this wise?’ Sam’s voice is quiet and calm, but there’s also a hint of warning in his tone.

‘Come with me, Izzi.’

I walk over to Mack, and it’s not because I want to, it’s like I’m being pulled in his direction by some invisible string, and I can’t stop myself. ‘I can’t, Mack. Zeb – he’s my husband, and despite anything you might think, he loves me…’

‘So much that he just ups and leaves, for what reason, huh? To carry out some twisted vendetta on behalf of someone else? To sulk because shit ain’t going his way? We don’t know where he is or what he’s doing and that’s selfish, Izzi. He’s left you behind, knowing you’re gonna worry about him, and you think those are the actions of a man who loves you?’

‘You don’t know
what
he’s feeling.’

‘And neither do you.’

His eyes burn so deep into mine, holding my gaze, I can’t look away. ‘He’s my husband, Mack…’

‘We pack a bag, grab our bikes, and we just ride, Izzi. Anywhere, it don’t matter, we just ride…’

I shake my head but I still can’t break the stare. I’m so confused now, so tired. ‘Please don’t do this, Mack.’

He stays silent, but his eyes are saying so much as he continues to stare me down.

‘I can’t leave,’ I whisper. ‘I can’t.’

He bows his head, and I take that as my cue to walk away. To leave before something happens that I don’t need, none of us do. Things are complicated enough, and this – it can’t happen. I can’t let it…

Mack

‘The Mack Slayer I know wouldn’t run from something like this.’

I look up and stare at Sam. ‘You don’t know the first thing about me.’

‘I never had you down as a coward.’

OK. He wants to push me? He’s got his wish. I stride over to him and grab him by his collar, shoving him back against the wall, the kinda anger rising up in me that I ain’t felt in a long time. ‘You call me that again, and you’re gonna wish you’d lost the ability to fucking speak.’ I let him go and step back, taking long, deep breaths as I try to calm myself.

‘You’re a sanitized version of the man you used to be, Mack.’

I slowly look up at him, and I want to lash out again, show him the kind of man I
could
be if I open those floodgates, but I’m in no mood to prove shit to him. ‘She needs to get away from him, Sam. She ain’t the girl she used to be, and maybe you’re right. Maybe I ain’t the man I once was, either, but I’m no coward. And I ain’t running from nothing. This ain’t my mess, it’s yours. You dragged Zeb into something he didn’t ask to be a part of;
you
caused this. You pushed that wedge between him and Izzi, and you saw her just now, come on! She don’t know
what
the fuck she wants…’

‘And you aren’t helping, doing this to her. Confusing her.’

‘I saw it in her eyes, Sam. I saw it, it was there. She wavered, she actually thought about coming with me but there’s something – I dunno. It’s like she’s scared.’

‘This still isn’t her world, Mack. For a while she let it surround her, she let it take over and she did one hell of a job of making people believe she belonged here. She doesn’t. But she fell in love with Zeb, and yes, that was a curve ball even I didn’t see coming, and because of that I can’t force her to turn her back on him, to be disloyal, to
leave
him. I can’t do that.’

‘Do you care about her?’

‘You know I do. She’s like a daughter to me, I love her.’

‘Then you should want what’s best for her.’

‘Right now, Mack, this is only what
you
think is best for her. And you and Zeb, you’re hardly the best of friends. He doesn’t trust you, doesn’t want you around, and if I’m being honest I don’t think you being here is helping. In fact, it’s probably fuelling an already volatile situation.’

‘You want me to leave?’

‘I think it might be for the best. Yes.’

‘I wasn’t planning on going anywhere yet. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere without Izzi.’

‘I think it’s best you move out of the clubhouse, go find some place else to stay. Keep your head down, and stay away from her, Mack. Stay away from Izzi. Keep your distance and let
her
decide what she needs to do. You can’t force her to go with you, and you can’t make her love you. You need to give her some space.’

I drop my head and sigh, dragging my hands back through my hair. ‘I’m hoping for the impossible, aren’t I?’ I look back up, and Sam’s expression, it’s a little confusing.

‘I can help.’

‘Help with what?’

‘I said I can’t force her to leave Zeb, and I can’t. I won’t. But if that’s a decision she comes to all by herself… If Izzi decides she wants to be with you, I can make sure you both get out of here safely. I’ll guarantee that, I’ll make that happen.’