Hellraiser (The Devil's Own #2) (26 page)

“Oh, you do?” he asks with a cocked brow before taking a seat beside me and drawing one of his legs up while leaning back on one elbow.

I look at him over my shoulder. “Why’d you say that?”

“‘Cause you’re hot when you’re all jealous, and don’t get me started on when you’re angry,” he answers behind a half grin, the twinkling in his eyes intensified by the sun behind him.

I sigh, turning my attention to the front of us. “I’m sorry.”

He slides closer to me and I tense up. The heat radiating between us is too much. He cups his hand behind his ears. “What was that? It sounded like you said sorry?”

I laugh lightly around the same time his arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me into him. The pounding of my heart is deafening. He kisses my arm softly and looks up to me under his eyelashes. “I’m sorry too, baby.”

“Hit me,” I say, searching his eyes. “Hit me with how many you slept with and I’ll decide whether or not your arm should be around me right now.”

The vibration of his chuckle shakes my arm. He pulls my body on top of his and I push off his chest, looking down at him with my legs straddling his waist. He cocks his head sideways, searching my eyes. His hand runs up my back before gripping around the back of my neck and pulling my lips down to his. He leaves them hovering there, silence hanging in the balance.

“Zero.” Then he pulls my lips down to his, my mouth opening for him and my thighs clenching together. His cock is pressing against me and I fight myself to not start grinding against him. He pauses and runs his finger from my temple down to my jaw. “Why me? Why can’t you choose the good guy? Follow the white rabbit?” he asks softly.

I throw my hands up, letting everything slip out. “Because what if I don’t want to follow the white rabbit, Brax? What if I like the dark rabbit? The rabbit that’s covered in scuff marks and dirt. The rabbit that
needs
to be wanted more. What if I’m naturally fucked up and want everything that’s bad in this world? What if that’s why I want you?”

He runs his thumb across my bottom lip, swallowing down roughly while searching my eyes. “I can’t promise you that I won’t fuck this up, and I can’t promise you that I won’t kill anyone who looks at you for a second too long, but I can promise you that I’ll fucking
love
you forever.” That may have just been the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.

“I love you, too,” I whisper, my heart expanding in my chest and my throat suddenly parched.

He smirks, his hands running down my sides.

His fingertips send tingles over my thighs and I close my eyes. “We’re going to be okay, right?”

He nods his head, bringing my hand to his lips. “Always.” He sits up and I swing my leg off him. “There’s something I need to tell you first. I’m not entirely sure how you’re going to take it, but you need to know.”

I nod my head. “Okay.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an old leather wallet with a pressed emblem on the front. My breath catches and my eyebrows pinch together.

“Where’d you get that?” I ask as he hands it to me.

“When I was living on the streets, pre-The Army, I lived under the Brooklyn Bridge.” He pauses and watches me. I flip open the wallet and a tear escapes me. He continues. “An old guy, Tippy, that was his spot, and everyone knew that that was his spot. He let no one in, the police left him alone, but he took me in. He let me stay under there with him, and although no one knew his story or how he came about that kinda life, the night I got recruited he was about to tell me. He dropped his wallet and I managed to pick it up. Is he who I think he is? Because that’s Tippy in the photo with the two little girls.”

“Yes,” I whisper, wiping the tears off my face, confusion setting up shop inside me. “Yes, that’s my dad.”

Hella

After dropping Melissa off to Jada’s so she can talk with Millie and her mom, I head back to the clubhouse to check in with Beast about the latest developments with this Army shit. To say I’m over their bullshit hanging over my head is an understatement, but I finally have news.

I walk into the clubhouse and then outside where the reception has turned into a full biker party. I nudge my head towards the boardroom and Beast nods his head, standing and coming over to me. We walk into the boardroom, closing the door behind us before taking a seat.

“You’re all wifed up now,” I say, pulling out a tin of cigars and sliding one over to him. He chuckles, clipping it, then rolling it around in his mouth.

“Don’t play the wife card on me, brother. I saw you earlier with Melissa. Looks like you’re not far behind me.” His eyebrows raise in question.

I smile. “Nah, weddings are too cheesy for someone like Melissa.”

He laughs, throwing his head back and lighting his cigar. “They all say that.”

“I got some news from Zane’s tech guy this morning about Kurr.”

“Yeah?” His face turns serious. “What’ve you got?”

“It’s a lot more complicated than we anticipated, that’s for sure.” I put the cigar in the astray. “We’re going to need to ride out and check the facts of this information to see if they’re correct, but if they are, then I’m not sure what the fuck our next move will be.”

“Why?”

“Because he came up blank. He couldn’t find a drop of anything.”

“Fuck.” He pushes back, the loud screeching of his seat scraping across the floor and echoing throughout the room. “That’s made it a little more fucking difficult.”

“Another problem is that when he hacked through the systems he needed to get through, he wasn’t sure whether his traces were covered or not. He said he thinks he covered his tracks, but depending on how good of a hacker they have, if their guy is smart enough, it’s possible they could trace it back to us.”

There’s a knock on the door and Beast walks towards it, swinging it open. “Hey,” Shelby says, looking between the two of us. “I was just wanting to say congratulations, Beast.”

“What? Right now?” I ask, standing to my feet.

“Yes,” she answers. “I couldn’t find you or get you alone all day. Layla and Asha are outside drunk, so I figured this would be my only chance.” Her eyes look pleadingly yet calmly between the two of us.

I look down to her neck. “You wearing a fucking teddy bear necklace?”

“Yes!” she hisses defensively. “It’s sentimental, not that I think you would ever understand.”

“Alright, well, we’re busy, so you can leave and thanks.” Beast shuts the door on her before turning back to me. “That chick is weird as fuck. Remind me why I gave her the manager position of our strip joint?”

“‘Cause you had your dick lodged in her, that’s why.” I sit back. “What’re we doing here anyway? What are we actually doing with this? What’re our options?”

“I’ll need to think on it. In this second, I don’t see any foreseeable danger.”

Despite what he says, I can’t shake the nagging feeling that something is wrong.

Hella

I walk out of the boardroom, past the bar, and straight to the door as Melissa and Millie come in.

“Hey.” I wrap my arm around Melissa. “What’re you doing back here?”

She looks at me, confused. “I got your text.” Her body relaxes in my brace.

“What text?” I ask, pulling her back. “I didn’t text you.”

“Yes,” she answers. “It was off your phone. You told me and Millie to come here and that you needed to run something by us.” Her eyebrows pinch together and my head starts swinging around the room to search for anyone holding a phone. I reach into my pocket and sure enough, my fucking phone is gone.

“Baby,” I say softly into her ear, “you need to leave. Right now.”

“What?” She steps back. “No, I’m not—“

“Melissa!” I snap.

Her face turns serious. “Wait,” she whispers. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” I begin directing them towards the door. “But you need to leave. Go back to
our
house.” 

“But, Jada dropped us off!”

I guide them towards the garage, watching everything from the corner of my eye. Each sound has me on high alert. I fish my keys out of my pocket and pull open the garage door. Handing the keys to Melissa, I point to the car. “Go straight home.”

“I can’t drive this!” she squeals.

“Yes, you can, and you will. Just don’t floor it. Go real slow.” I direct her towards the driver’s side door and open it up. Millie slides into the passenger seat.

Melissa turns the key and the deep rumble of the V8 vibrates the industrial-sized garage. “Holy shit,” she whispers, horrified. “Brax, I can’t. I’m not a good driver. I know how to drive stick, but not with this much power.”

“Hey.” I wrap my hand around her chin and tilt her head up to face me. “You got this, okay?”

She pauses, searching my eyes before confidence sets in. “Okay. Yeah, okay I got this.”

I bend down, kissing her hard on the lips before running my thumb over her bottom one. “Go straight home baby and lock all the doors. I’ll ring Jada and tell her.” She nods her head before putting in first and driving out of the garage door and onto the gravel road that leads to all the houses. I could be overreacting, but the chances are slim. Nothing like that happens unless someone purposely wanted those girls here, so I needed to get them out.

I walk back into the clubhouse just as Beast is leaving the boardroom.

“We got a problem,” I whisper to him. He pauses with a grip on the door handle. “Someone texted Melissa from my phone and told her to come here. My phone’s fucking gone. Something’s shady.” I spot Skid near the pool tables, motor-boating one of the club sluts. I have to take precautions. “Hey! I just sent Melissa and Millie back to my place. Go and make sure they got back safely.”

Beast’s head whips towards outside where Meadow is laughing with Phoebe. “Let’s cut everything off. Get everyone inside.”

It was mainly close family and brothers who were left here anyway. We both walk outside and I let out a whistle, catching everyone’s attention. The music stops and silence fills the air.

“Everyone inside. Now.”

No one asks questions. Everyone stops what they’re doing before piling inside. Beast grabs Meadow and we all walk into the clubhouse, locking the doors behind us.

“What’s going on?” Meadow asks, taking a seat on a barstool.

“Fucking bikers,” Phoebe whispers under her breath.

“What?” I tease as she picks up a drink. “Little miss MC princess not used to this?”

“Oh,” she quips. “I’m entirely too familiar with this. It’s why I never married a man in a cut.” I laugh before turning back to Beast.

I scan the room when Layla, Asha, and Shelby take a seat beside Meadow. My eyes narrow in on Shelby before Beast’s voice blares through the room. There was always something about Shelby that didn’t sit right with me, but I brushed it off because Beast vouched for her.

I lean into Beast just as he’s about to open his mouth. “Don’t you think it’d be safer for outsiders to not be in here?”

He pauses, thinking over my words. “Maybe.” He turns back to all the waiting people. “Devil’s, in church now. All of you.”

He turns and walks towards the boardroom as we all follow him in. Once everyone is seated and standing around, I close the door behind myself and take a seat.

Beast turns to everyone. “Someone has taken Hella’s phone and texted his old lady to come down to the clubhouse.”

“You got enemies?” a brother from one of the other chapter asks, leaning against the wall.

“None in our world right now. We’ve been playing good with mostly everyone. We have an idea on who this might be,” Beast says, watching everyone closely. “It has nothing to do with the club. This is persona—“

“
Hella!
”

Meadow’s screams pierce the atmosphere.

I shoot up off my chair and rush for the door. Swinging it open, I find everyone circled around in a crowd. When they see me, they all part and go silent. I begin shoving people out of the way until the crowd reveals Melissa on the floor in a bloody mess. I drop to the floor, my heart hitting the ground and my anger surging through me at dangerous speeds.

“Fuck!” I scoop her head under my arm, her face barely recognizable and her hair matted to her face with blood oozing out of a wound on her head.

“Hella,” Meadow whispers. “Hella, she needs a fucking hospital. The doc won’t be able to help this time.”

I nod my head, swallowing and pressing my fingers against her throat to time how slow her pulse is. “Call an ambulance and tell them to bring a chopper.” My heart contracts in my chest, her body floppy in my arms. My girl was slipping away from me in my very hands and there was nothing I could do to stop it. My jaw clenches as I brush away the hair from her face. “What the fuck happened?”

Meadow dials 911, tears streaming down her face.

“Hella!” Jada comes rushing through the crowd. “Millie’s gone. Whoever did this has taken her.”

“What the fuck is happening?” I whisper, clutching Melissa tighter in my hands. Melissa starts stirring, her head turning side to side and a light mumble escaping her. “No, baby, don’t move and don’t talk, I’ll sort it out.”

“Kurr,” she whispers before she’s pulled back into her deep oblivion.

It takes too fucking long before we hear the chopper sounding through the air. It lands in the field across the parking lot and I remain there with Melissa, fucking praying that she pulls through. If there is a God, I would fucking swear my ass to church every Sunday just to keep my girl here. I can feel my wrath pulsing beneath the surface, waiting until Melissa is in good hands before it rears its ugly head. I promised I’d never let anything happen to her and I failed.

The paramedics come rushing in with a stretcher, pushing me out of the way. I let them through and everything begins playing in slow motion. One of the paramedics begin screaming at his colleague before he starts chest compressions.

“Wait!” I yell, “What the fuck’s going on?” No one is listening to me. I hear the paramedic say, “Cardiac arrest.” And then, “Need to stabilize her before we can take her.”

I step back, chills traveling down my spine and my blood turning to ice. I took her presence for granted. I fucked with the time we had, forgetting that we’re all on a limited clock. My head pulses as a stream of anger and frustration tingles behind my ears.

They begin loading her onto a stretcher with an oxygen mask covering her face. I run up to them and ask which hospital she’ll be going to before they run outside toward the chopper, and just like that, she’s gone.

There’s an eerie silence that seeps through the air, everybody watching me, waiting to see how I’m going to handle this.

My hands grip around the edge of the nearest barstool, my head hanging between my shoulders as I pick it up and slam it down in frustration. “Jada!” I yell, keeping my eyes trained on the floor. She walks towards me. “Take me to where it happened.” She nods her head and I follow her out with Beast, Ripper, and Hannibal on my tail. It was well past midnight and Meadow stayed behind with Phoebe. We piled into Jada’s car as she drove us toward my house. When we pulled into the driveway, my car was still running, the doors pulled wide open, and the headlights displayed the thousands of gunshot holes that had been penetrated throughout my house. I ran toward the car to see blood splatters throughout the driver’s side. My anger spikes to an uncontrollable level and I slam the door closed before letting out an almighty roar. Beast walks towards the passenger side. “No blood here, but there is signs of a struggle.”

I rip my cap off and pull at my hair in frustration before walking to the front door of the house. I tilt my head, my eyes focusing in on a dart that’s stabbing a note into the wooden panel.
What the fuck?

Melissa

Three hours earlier

I pull onto the main gravel road that leads the way to Hella’s house, the loud rumble of the engine beneath us. “What the hell’s going on?” I whisper to myself.

“I don’t know, but something is weird.” Millie rests her head on the side of the door, her eyes scanning outside the window at the dark shadows of the night. This wedding has been crazy to say the least. After going back to Jada’s house to tell my mom and Millie about my dad, we barely got to my mother breaking out into tears before I received the text. We all assumed he had disappeared somewhere or died because his body was never recovered and missing from the wreck, but to have him homeless under a bridge hit me where it hurt. He may have not been perfect, but we still loved him. He was our dad and he was our mother’s first love. It breaks my heart that he didn’t think he was good enough to come home to us. We would have forgiven him for anything. He was our first hero.

We pull into the driveway at Hella’s house and I stop, leaving the car idling in its spot. I look around the house where the porch light is on. I look toward the front door and shake my head. Something doesn’t feel right. “Millie, I don’t think that text was sent to us to get us to the clubhouse. I think they knew he would send us back here.”

Right as the words leave my mouth, a group of men round the corner of the house cloaked in the darkness with hoodies and steel ghost masks on. Each mask has a distinctive mark or pattern on it, I observe. I quickly push in the clutch, but just as I’m about to slam it into reverse, both our doors are ripped open and Millie lets out a scream as someone yanks her out of the car by her hair. I swing my head towards the men who ripped my door open and into the bleak dark eyes of the man behind the mask just as his hand reaches in and pulls me out of the car.

“No!” I scream as I land on my back against the gravel. “Get off me!” My leg kicks up, connecting with his crotch before I turn onto my stomach and begin crawling for the field, the dirt from the gravel digging under my fingernails at my desperate escape. From the corner of my eye, I see a boot swing back before the side of my head stings and numbness takes over with a trickling of wetness flowing over my face. I cough out, turning onto my back, my eyes attempting to open. The bright stars shining above me start to smear from my losing grasp on reality before the sole of a military boot stomps down onto my face with a crack.

My consciousness drifts in and out. I can hear Millie crying. Tears attempt to prick the side of my eyes.

“What are we doing with her?” a low voice asks, his breath heavy.

“Leave her. We have to take the nun. Beat her until she’s unrecognizable to make our point to these bikers.”

“What point?” a female voice whispers harshly. “This wasn’t the plan.”

Shit, that voice sounds familiar, but I haven’t heard it enough to know who owns it.

“That they shouldn’t have come looking. We don’t work around your revenge. I’d start running now, little girl.”

“When Hella sees her, he’s going to have your head on a stick,” she sneers before the gravel under her departure crunches through the night.

“I’m counting on it.”

My body curls over as each blow they lay into my body molds into me. Hands go under my shoulders with one man on each side, lifting me to my feet and holding me up. A few other men bounce around in front of me before each of them take a turn at laying their brutality. Each blow that connects with my face or torso takes an inch off my life. My head drops between my shoulders as the metallic taste fills my mouth and slips down my chin towards my neck.