Biker Saviour: The Lost Souls MC Series (17 page)

“He’s here, we’re on our way to that fucker’s place now.”

He listens to whatever is being said on the other end and silently hands his cell to Pope.

He grunts down the line, his famous greeting letting you know he’s listening and he listens in silence until he hangs up and passes the phone back to Sparky.

“What’s the deal?” I ask, leaning on my handle bars.

“We’re to wear our hoodies, Cas doesn’t want anyone clocking our patches and I’m to leave him breathing,” he says, not looking happy at all.

“There’s worse ways to get a message through than death, Pope. We’ll make sure he listens,” Sparky offers, trying to lighten the situation.

Pope doesn’t say anything and climbs back on his bike. All three of us pull back onto the road and ride the rest of the way without any more interruptions.

Pope

Dean’s apartment block is in the most dangerous part of town and I can feel Sparky and Ricky watching me closely, the more I see, the more I see how Kyla lived like. A dirty fucking animal.

The corridors are filthy and littered with all kinds of crap, even drunks and addicts slumped against the walls off their heads. We approach Dean’s door and I withdraw my gun, Sparky and Ricky do the same and we position ourselves as a united front.

Banging on the door loudly, I give it five seconds before I bang again. I long ago lost the adrenaline for violence. The rush I see of my brother’s experience when we have gotten into fights has no effect on me anymore. It’s been business to me for a long time, but when I hear footsteps approaching us on the other side of the door, my heart thumps furiously and my hands tingle at the prospect of what’s to come. I’m angry above all else but I’m excited too. This is personal and this cunt is about to learn to be careful who he fucks over. I gave him the benefit of doubt when he first came to town because he left and it appeared he wasn’t coming back, but coming back a second time and trying to coax my daughter back to this hell hole, he should be expecting me.

The door is scarcely open when he sees us and tries to slam it shut again. All three of us barrel forward and force our way in. In less than a minute we are in and have Dean thrown onto his grimy couch shitting himself.

“You’re going to regret this,” he warns us, like we give we a flying fuck.

Sparky being closest to him, swings his fist out and slams into the side of his face. His lips busts open and Sparky jumps up and down laughing.

“Man that felt good. It’s been too long since I punched anyone.”

Stepping forward, I use my boot to slide the crap of his table and sit in front of him.

“You made a mistake today,” I say, leaning forward and punching him square on his nose.

His hands fly to his face and blood spurts through his fingers and down onto his shirt.

“I would’ve made this clear the last time I saw you but you ran off like a fuckin’ bitch. If you ever go near Kyla again, I will personally beat you till all your bones are broken, I will bring you to the point of death and then keep you alive over and over again. I will cut you, I will shoot you, I will do everything I can think of to cause you pain for as long as I can. You hearin’ me?” I cruelly say, low and threatening.

“I hear you, man. Just get out of here. I get the message loud and clear,” he pleads.

It’s not good enough, I want to see he hears me rather than just hearing he hears me. Before I can make a move, Ricky appears from behind me and heaves his heavy boot into Dean’s stomach. He doubles over trying to regain his breath but Ricky goes in again and boots him in the head sending him flying back on the couch.

I hold my hand up to stop him and he pulls back.

“I was making sure he heard you,” he mumbles, glaring in Dean’s direction.

“Do you hear us, Dean?” Sparky sneers.

“Yeah, man,” he wheezes.

“I swear to God, if you touch her again I will rip your hands clean off and shove them up your fuckin’ ass,” Ricky goes on to engrain it into his brain.

I stand up and slide my gun into the back of my jeans. The man who thinks he’s the big man is currently shaking before us. It’s safe to assume he understands us now.

“Let’s go, this place is making me feel sick,” I grunt.

I promised Cas I would leave him breathing so I have to leave now before I go back on my word.

“I promise I’ll stay away from her, but I can’t promise she won’t come back eventually, they always come back no matter who their daddy is. Once a junkie, always a junkie.”

I laugh low and menacingly, I stop walking towards the door and turn around, “I thought we were getting somewhere…”

I get interrupted by Ricky, pushing past me and jumping on Dean. His fist bolting into his ribs over and over again.

“If I had known you had anything to with her, I would’ve killed you when I had the chance,” he yells, still pummelling into his ribs.

His fierce protectiveness over my daughter is a good start for our chat later. Sparky goes to pull Ricky away but I stop him.

“Leave him, he needs to do it and Dean needs to remember it.”

He needs to do it because I want to see how far he would go to protect my daughter and there is obvious tension between the two of them left over from prison.

Ricky throws him against the back of the couch and starts laying into his already mangled face.

“Pope, Cas’s orders are for him to be breathing when we leave, if you don’t stop him the kid is gonna kill him,” Sparky warns me and I relent.

“Help me.”

The two of us grab an arm each and haul him away, his eyes blink long and hard and he comes back to us.

“He gets the message now,” Sparky whispers in his ear.

“Kyla doesn’t exist to you anymore, I swear to god I will fucking kill you if you go within a mile of her again,” Ricky roars at him.

One by one we bolt out of the apartment leaving Dean bloodied and unable to move on his filthy couch.

No one looks our way as we make our way to the bikes and ride off without looking back.

The ride is long and we don’t stop until we are in the compound and behind secure gates. Sparky walks off in front and enters the bar first, Ricky is second and as soon as he is through the door, I come up from behind and haul ass up against the wall, grappling with his shirt and cut to keep him in place.

He doesn’t ask me what my problem is or what I think I’m doing because he knows, this is what he’s been waiting for.

My hands slide from his cut up to his throat and I squeeze until his face turns red and his veins bulge under my touch.

“It’s time we had that chat,” I snipe at him.

He doesn’t fight me back and his eyes start to redden under the strain. Arms wrap around me and more than one set of arms.

I partially see Oak and Cas beside me and they stick close when I shrug them off. Ricky slides down the wall and lands on all fours, holding one hand to his neck and one supporting his weight on the ground. Coughing and gasping for air, he stays where he is and doesn’t try to retaliate.

“Is it serious for you?”

Talking is the last thing on his mind but I want answers now.

“Yes,” he chokes out, coarsely.

“You gonna treat her right and only her?”

“Yes.”

Damn right he fucking will.

“Do you love her?”

He pulls himself to his feet and wobbles a little before righting himself and stands tall.

“Yes, I love your daughter,” he answers, boldly and adamantly.

Whistles of shock hiss around the bar and I give the kid his balls, not many men would admit that to me to my face after I had my hands around his neck.

“I’ll give you one chance, if you hurt her you better ride that bike of yours far and fast cause I will hunt you down,” I warn him.

He nods and steps forward holding his hand out for me to shake. I grip it hard and pull him into me, whispering into his ear, “I’ve never been so fuckin’ serious brother, the only love I know is her. The rest of me is violence as you well know. Do not fuck her up.”

I release his hand and turn away. I hear his thanks as I walk through the bar but I don’t stop. I just gave him a fucking pass to be with my daughter and I need a distraction to stop myself from thinking exactly what that entails. 

As soon as I am behind my door and completely alone, I pull out my cell and hit Sally’s number.

She answers on the third call and the sound of her voice calms me instantly.

“Our daughter is in love and the fucker loves her back,” are the first words out of my mouth.

The line goes quiet for a moment and when she next speaks, I don’t know if she’s joking or being serious.

“You haven’t hurt him, have you?”

I pause briefly before replying, “Not yet.”

Kyla

Pacing the living room, from the door to check the street for any bikes riding up the road, and pacing back to the door. Over and over again. Nothing. They’ve been gone for hours. Hundreds of scenarios run through my imagination of what is happening now. Why did Kristen have to say anything? I told her I was fine, that should have been enough to please her to keep her mouth shut. Now I have not only my dad doing God knows what but Ricky is with him too. This isn’t what I wanted, embarrassment fills me again. Once again my previous decisions have come to bite me in the ass and around here my voice goes unheard when I tell them to let me deal with it.

A deep rumble crackles the air and I run back to the window. One bike rides alone and swings into my drive and parks up behind my truck.

It’s Ricky and from what I can see under the barely lit night sky, he looks to be in one piece. My heart thrums erratically as he rips his gloves off and cuts across the lawn to the porch. All the questions I’ve been asking myself regarding my choices previous to my time here, the one that keeps resurfacing time and time again is, what the hell does this man see in me when he first met me as something lower than a rabid animal?

Unlocking the door he comes straight in and locks back up behind him. I jump straight in and barrel him with questions.

“What happened? Where’s my dad? Oh God, is he hurt?”

He doesn’t say anything, he stands there waiting for me to shut the hell up. Pushing my palms on his chest, I shove him although he goes nowhere.

“Damn it, Ricky, will you just tell me,” I demand.

“I told you not to worry, what have you done since we left? Pace holes in the carpet?” he snorts.

His exact assumption hits me hard, he can’t know me that well.

“Babe,” he relents, pushing me out of the hall and into the living room, “I don’t know how many times I’ve got to tell you not to worry about your dad. To get your little heart beating a little slower, we went to Dean’s place, had a little chat, he accidently fell on our fists a few times and he landed on my boot a couple more.”

Shrugging out of his cut, his neck becomes visible and I gasp at the purple bruising circling his throat.

“Did Dean do this to you?” I shriek, moving closer to him to get a better look.

He grabs my wrists before I can touch him and pulls me into him.

“Dean didn’t lay on a finger on me, your dad and I had that chat.”

“My dad did this to you,” I whisper, unable to comprehend such a thing.

Once again, I’m left dumbfounded by the actions of the men in this club.

“Don’t look like that, it could’ve been much worse. I told him I loved you and we ended it shaking hands. This won’t happen again, unless I hurt you and as I don’t plan on doing that we’re all good.”

His promise doesn’t make me feel any better.

“Will this ever become normal?” I ask, falling down on the couch.

“Depends on you, it’s normal to me. I can imagine wanting to rip off any guy’s head who wants to date my daughter when the time comes, it’s only natural,” he says, falling down beside me.

Ricky mentioning a future daughter takes me by surprise. We haven’t spoke of the future, choosing to take each day as it comes.

“Ricky, I need to know what happened,” I urge, knowing it’s the truth. I will drive myself crazy imagining a shit load of possibilities otherwise.

“Your dad, Sparky and I went to his apartment and made sure he understood you are off limits to him from now on. We landed a few punches on him and I got a few good kicks in to his gut and head. We left him breathing and capable of getting himself a band aid.”

“I’ve been thinking all sorts all afternoon, I was so worried about you and my dad. It’s normal for you but to me, this is all new and unbelievable sometimes. I thought if something happened I’d be stuck here on my own.”

“You don’t need to worry about me, you’ll always be kept in the know. You’ve got two brothers who will do anything for you and then you’ve got the whole club behind you too when we’re not around. Do you understand how much you’re not alone anymore?”

I look him in the eye and see he is deadly serious, “I’m beginning to understand.”