Haven: Renegade Saints MC (18 page)

Suddenly, I saw Max running towards us.

Max

I had left the hospital just as I got the call from Danny. I almost hadn’t answered as I’d be home shortly. But he called again when I didn’t pick up, and then I started to realize that something had gone horribly wrong.

“Hello?”

“Tori’s gone,” Danny said instantly. “She came into the living room and we had this weird talk, and then she went to her room. When I went to check on her about half an hour later, the window was open and she was gone.”

“Fuck!” I cursed, hanging up the phone and sliding it into my pocket. As quickly as I could, I drove home.
Where could she be?
I panicked as the car sped along the streets. If Tori had left, I knew it was only a matter of time before Silas found her. Why would she do that? Why? After everything we’d talked about, after she promised me that she wouldn’t try to escape!

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of red hair in the center of Baker Park. When I whipped my head around, I saw that it was Tori. She was standing in front of Silas, who was down on his knees. I couldn’t see her expression from where I was, but I could tell that the moment was heated and tense. Silas’s body language made it clear that he was up to one of his old moods, and I could see that Tori was trying to back away from him.

I yanked the key out of the ignition and ran into the park, cracking my fist back and punching Silas hard in the face before he even saw me. As Silas’s body flew to the ground, Tori wrapped her arms around my waist and tried to drag me down.

“Max! He’s not worth it!” she yelled loudly. “He’s not worth the trouble!”

I stood over Silas’s groaning body with my hands on my hips. “The fuck he ain’t,” I sneered down at him. Silas was rolling around on the ground with his hands covering his face. Blood was pouring out of his nose and mouth and I could tell that I’d probably broken a few teeth. My hand already ached, but that wasn’t even the start of what I wanted to do to this asshole.

“You leave her alone,” I hissed as I stood up and kicked Silas hard the gut. Victoria cried out as she stepped forward and grabbed my hand, attempting to drag me away.

“Max, please,” Tori begged. “He’s really not worth the trouble!”

I couldn’t even look at her, that was how angry I was. I couldn’t believe that my wife would disrespect me so blatantly! She didn’t have any idea what was going on, but she couldn’t have picked a worse time to decide to assert her freedom. I could have tied her up and left her in the house for hours.
That probably would have been the better idea
, I realized with a groan.
At least that way she wouldn’t have gotten out
.

And all of this, just to see Silas! That bitch wanted to sneak out and meet up with her ex, who I was trying to protect her from! I couldn’t believe it—it was like Tori had thrown all of my kindness right back in my face.

“Come on,” I snarled. “We’re leaving.”

Tori had to jog to keep up with me as I ran across the park. She kept looking over her shoulder, glancing at Silas, who was still bleeding on the ground.

“Get in the car,” I ordered. “Now!”

Tori flushed as I grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her towards my car. I could tell she was about to cry but I didn’t care, I was so angry that I just wanted to get home and be done with the whole thing. I never wanted to think about Silas again; hell, I never even wanted to hear his fucking
name
. This was too goddamn much.

“Why did you do that?” Tori sobbed once we got in the car. “Why did you hurt him like that?”

I couldn’t fucking believe her! I was so mad that I was seeing red.

“Tori, tell me the fucking truth,” I hissed under my breath. “Why did you go out to meet him?
Why did you do that?
” I tried to keep my voice low but I was so enraged that it was impossible.

Tori trembled. “What the hell? I would
never
ask him to meet me!”

“Tell me,” I demanded harshly. “Tell me whether or not you planned to meet up with him!”

“I just told you that I didn’t!” Tori roared. “I told you! I fucking told you, Max! I didn’t plan to meet up with Silas, and I’d never do that!”

“Are you sure?” I stared into her wild green eyes. “Are you sure you wouldn’t do it, just to get back at me?”

I felt the hard, stinging slap of Tori’s palm across my face before I even saw her lift her hand. She hit me so hard that for a moment, I saw stars flash across my field of vision.

“You are such an asshole!” Tori cried. Her sobs were louder than ever. “I hate you! I wish I’d never married you!” She turned her body away from mine and slunk down far in the seat. “I hate you so much, Max. I never want to see you again!”

“And I never want to see you again, messing around with that shitbag of an ex,” I growled under my breath. “You come to me for help! You tell me that you’re done with Silas, that you never want to see him again! And I fucking believed you, Tori! You lied to my fucking face!” I knew I shouldn’t be yelling like this but I was too angry to even think about calming down. “You lied to my fucking face! You’re my goddamn
wife
!” I spat the last word out with as much venom as I could muster. “And you
lied like a dog
!”

Tori looked at me with tears beading on her long lashes. “I didn’t mean to lie, Max,” she said softly. “I swear, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” I muttered. “I can’t believe you fucking snuck out like that! What’s the fucking point of even
trying
to take care of you if you’re just going to throw it in my face? Why do I even
bother
?”

Tori didn’t answer, but I knew what she was thinking:
You bother because you made a promise to my father. That’s why you’re taking care of me. I know you don’t love me.

An odd feeling welled up in my chest, something like jealousy and anger combined. It wasn’t a sensation I was used to feeling, especially now, and it caught me off guard. I tried to take a deep breath and relax but my muscles were clenched too tightly. I looked at Tori. She looked the same as ever: sexy, foxlike face, long red hair, stunning green eyes. She was beautiful, but I wasn’t going to let some hot chick boss me around and sneak around behind my back. But something else kept me glancing at Tori for longer than I should have. I couldn’t admit to what it was because I didn’t even know. But it was like I felt some draw, some pull towards Tori that I shouldn’t ever have felt. It was dangerous, and it was the kind of thing that could ruin a man. The last time I’d felt it…ah, fuck it. No use going into that now.

“Come on,” I muttered under my breath. “We’re going home. And if you try to leave again, you’ll face serious consequences.”

Tori swore and scowled in the passenger seat. She hunkered down so the top of her flaming head was barely visible to other cars, and I could hear her muttering about how angry she was. Good. I was
glad
that she was angry; I was
glad
that she had been acting so defensive.

My heart was pounding in my chest and I could still feel the hot, blind rage coursing through each and every vein in my body. The shock I’d just experienced was immense—not because I wasn’t expecting it, but because I wasn’t exactly expecting Tori to elicit that reaction from me.

When we pulled into the driveway, Tori ran out of the car and ran sobbing into the house like a little girl. I rolled my eyes; she was going to have to grow the fuck up and stop trying to solicit my sympathy every time she did something wrong. I wasn’t that kind of man anymore, the kind of man who could be swayed by a smile or a sweet caress. No, I was a tough man, the leader of the Renegade Saints.
And some people even think I’m a murderer
, I thought to myself.

Danny was sitting in the living room, staring at the wall. When I let myself in the house, he stood up and his face darkened with blood.

“Man, I am so fucking sorry,” Danny said. He twined his hands together in front of his lean, muscular torso. “I am so fucking sorry,” he repeated. “I should have kept a better eye on her, I should have known she was up to something when she kept talking about mechanics.”

“What?” I frowned. “Who the fuck is a mechanic?”

Danny sighed. “I dunno, man. She comes in here all high-minded and sits down and starts telling me how much more bank I’d be making if I wasn’t in the MC anymore, how I’d be fuckin’ rolling in dough if I set up my own mechanic business.”

“What the fuck?” I glared at him. “And you fucking believed her?”

“No,” Danny snapped. “I didn’t fucking believe her, boss. I just thought it was fucking weird, and I thought she was acting strangely. Then she went off to her room, which wasn’t a big deal because that’s usually where she hides when you’re gone.” He rolled his eyes and took a long pull from the bottle of beer clutched in his hand. “I don’t fucking get it, man.”

I shook my head. “She’s in fucking trouble,” I snarled. “I saw her at the park with that asshole ex of hers. She says she didn’t meet him on purpose, but…” I trailed off. “I can’t believe that. She fucking lied to me. My own wife lied to me.”

Danny shook his head. “Women,” he said with a sigh. “They’re all untrustworthy bitches.”

My heart aches as I thought of poor, dead Talia. Talia never would have done this to me. She never would have lied. Sure, we fought but she’d never have run off and met up with her abusive ex-boyfriend and then slapped me when I tried to rescue her. Some of the hot anger was coming back as I remembered the way Tori had slapped me in the car, like she hated me.

Well right now, I hated her too.

“Talia never would have done that,” I said aloud. “She was a good girl, a good fiancée. She would have been a good wife, too.”

Danny nodded. “She was a hell of a woman, boss,” he replied. “I miss having her around sometimes. Do you think about her a lot?”

I bit my lip. I’d talked about this with Paul a few days ago, and part of me didn’t feel like circling back to the subject so quickly. But then I realized I couldn’t keep it in any longer, had to confess to someone how I was feeling.

“I think about her every goddamn day,” I said softly. Closing my eyes, I could almost
see
Talia’s wild smile, her long dark hair whipping over her shoulder as she rode behind me on my bike. “I miss her so much.”

“I know,” Danny said. He reached out and clapped a hand hard on my shoulder. “It’ll get easier, man, you know. With some time.”

“I don’t think it ever will,” I said sadly. “For a moment, I thought Tori and I were gonna have something real special. I know we didn’t exactly get hitched under the most ideal of circumstances, but I thought we were really gonna be important to each other.” To my surprise, my sinuses started to burn and I realized tears were welling up in my eyes. I felt like the world’s biggest pussy, but I knew that at least Danny wouldn’t judge me.

“Things can still change, man,” Danny said. “This is a rough time, you know that. Once you get shit taken care of with her, maybe things’ll calm down.”

“Maybe,” I said darkly. “But it’s not the same, you know? I miss Talia. I miss her scent, I miss her hair, I miss the way we’d fuckin’ scream at each other until two in the morning. She was a woman who knew how to keep up, she was someone really special.”

“Tori is, too,” Danny replied. “She’s just messed up right now.”

I let out a long sigh. “You can say that again,” I muttered. “Do you know she actually tried to pull me away from beating her ex to a pulp? It’s like she
wanted
him to survive!”

Danny shook his head. “It’s hard to see your abused gettin’ beat on,” he replied. “Sometimes you feel obligated to them somehow.”

I shook my head and laughed humorlessly. “Then she’s a fucking moron,” I said slowly. “She’s a fucking imbecile if she doesn’t want that motherfucker dead and rotting in the ground.”

“Give her time,” Danny replied. “You don’t know, man. Maybe she’ll come around after all.”