RAGE: President & First Lady Of The Death Dealers MC (21 page)

I grab my clutch and close the door behind me, deciding to
make this as painful for him as possible.
No more whimpering female. It’s
time to turn the tables on the prez.

I take a drink of my beer and impatiently tap my fingers on
the bar. I’ve been so antsy these past few days, and I can only attribute it to
the fact that I haven’t seen Raven all week. She’s been avoiding me, making all
kinds of excuses why we can’t meet up. I know it’s all a part of her plan to
make me beg. Fuck if it ain’t working. A ruckus from the boys draws my
attention, and I look to the door to see Ellen walking in.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Excuse me, big brother, but I grew up here, too.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. You know you’re always welcome.
Where’s Mikey?”

“With a sitter.”

“What sitter?”

“Jeez… I swear you’re worse than Daddy. He’s with Raven.
Stop worrying.”

At least I know where she is now.
Jesus. I’m like a crack
fiend.
I need to see her. I slip away quietly and ride out. The closer I
get to Ellen’s, the better I feel. This isn’t me. Maybe I do need some time
away from her. She’s sucking me in deeper and deeper, and I haven’t even fucked
her yet. I should turn around, go back to the club. I should. So why am I
pulling into Ellen’s driveway?

I let myself in and find her curled up on the couch with
Mikey, watching cartoons. They haven’t noticed me yet, so I take advantage of
the opportunity and watch them. She seems so comfortable with him. He’s asking
a million questions, and she answers each one with patience and enthusiasm.
She’d be a great mother. I make my presence known and she stares at me,
surprised.

“Unca!”

Mikey runs to me and I pick him up as I walk to the couch.
“Hey, buddy. What you doing?”

“Cartoon.”

The word comes out sounding like “cawtoon.”

“Yeah? Can I watch with you?”

“Yes! Watch cartoon.”

I sit next to Raven and she folds her hands in her lap,
keeping her eyes on the TV.

“Hello, Raven.”

“Hello.”

“Unca, I like Waben,” Mikey whispers.

“Yeah? I don’t blame you, little guy.”

He sticks his thumb in his mouth and gives the TV his
attention.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” I confront her.

“I haven’t. I’ve just been busy.”

“Is that why you can’t look at me?”

“Of course not. I’m watching TV.”

“If you say so.”

We sit quietly for a while. I watch the images on the
screen, not really paying attention. My entire being is attuned to her; I can’t
focus on anything else. She finally turns her head but not to look at me.

“He’s asleep. You should go put him down,” she says.

I take him upstairs and gently place him in his crib then
turn on the baby monitor. He looks so much like Eddie. It’s all my fault that
he’ll grow up without his father. His is the only death I’ve ever felt guilty
about. Mikey may not have his father, but I’ll be damned if I won’t be the
strong, male role model he’ll need. I kiss his forehead and head downstairs. I
find Raven in the kitchen with a bottle of Advil.

“Are you sick?”

“
¡Dios!
Why do you keep sneaking up on me?”

“Answer me.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then why are you taking pain pills?”

“Honestly, Gage… there are things that a woman just doesn’t
need to explain.”

“Is it your period?”

“
That
is one of them.”

She walks past me, and I follow her back to the living room.
She picks up the remote and starts flipping through the channels.

“When did it start?”

She mumbles in Spanish but doesn’t answer my question.
“Well?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You’re my business.”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Trust me, doll. In a few months, I’ll know your cycle
better than you do.”

“I doubt that.”

“Every man dreads that one week where he can’t get no
pussy.”

“That’s what this is about? You want to mark the week when
you can’t get any sex?”

“Yup.”

I bring up the calendar on my phone and wait, but she’s
still not forthcoming with the information.

“Fine. Let me put it this way. When did you start taking the
pills?”

She sighs and shakes her head in resignation. “Tuesday.”

“Good.” I put the phone away and pull her to me. “Now, come
here.”

She lays her head on my chest and her hand on my stomach,
taking a deep breath. My soul settles. This is just what I needed.

“I missed you,” she whispers.

“Were you trying to make me miss you?”

“Did you?”

“I missed you in my bed.”

“That’s not what I asked you.”

She runs her fingers along the patches on my cut. Another
first. No woman has ever been allowed to touch my cut. The mere fact that I can
allow and do all these things with her without even thinking about it confuses
me a little. I’m in unchartered territory here. This whole thing is going to be
a challenge but not one I’m going to back away from.

“Yeah, doll. I missed you.”

***

A tap on my shoulder wakes me up and I open my eyes to
Ellen’s confounded ones. She jerks her head toward the kitchen and storms off.
I carefully untangle myself from Raven and settle her into the couch, then head
to the next room to face my sister.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she whisper-shouts.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? She’s seventeen years old!”

“I know that.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“We were watching TV… fell asleep. That’s all.”

“Don’t feed me that bullshit.”

I take a deep breath and pull her to the breakfast table.
“Sit,” I say as I take the chair next to her. “You’re gonna find out soon
anyways, so I guess you should hear it from me.”

“Oh, God.”

“I swear nothing’s happened. But in a few weeks, she’ll be
eighteen, and we’re going to start seeing each other.”

“Seeing each other?” She raises her brows in curiosity.

“Dating… if that’s what you wanna call it.”

She leans back and regards me carefully. I can see the
wheels turning in her head and puzzle pieces clicking into place. Finally, she
smirks.

“You’re falling for her.”

“What? No. I like her, I’ll admit, but that’s it.”

“Mm-hmm.” She’s not convinced and frankly, neither am I.
“How much longer?”

“A month.”

“Be careful, Gage. I don’t want to see you in prison over
this.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t worry. And don’t say anything to anyone.”

“Goes without saying.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m going to check on Mikey.” She looks down at the watch
on her wrist. “Take her home. And pay her… sixty dollars.”

“Okay.”

She’s still asleep on the couch. I kneel in front of her,
then trail my fingers down her cheek and whisper her name. Her eyes flutter
open, and she smiles up at me.

“Wake up, doll.”

“Shit. I can’t believe I fell asleep,” she says while
sitting up.

“Come on. I’m taking you home.”

“Ellen’s back?”

“She’s upstairs with Mikey.”

I pull her up and she staggers, grabbing my arm. “You good?”

“Yeah… just still waking up.”

“Here.”

I hand her the money and she shoves it into her pocket then
sags against me. “I got the bike so you gotta wake up, doll.”

She grumbles incoherently, and I realize that I’ll either
have to carry her or we walk to her house. I tuck her under my arm and we make
our way outside and up the street. By the time we get to her door, she’s fully
awake. She buries her face in my chest and groans. Her hands slide under my cut
and up my back, then she drags her nails over my T-shirt.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ugh. What’s
not
wrong? I’m horny and frustrated and
I want you and I’m on my period. Pick one.”

“We’re on the home stretch now, babe. Not much longer.”

“God, I love how you smell. I just wanna eat you up.”

She reaches for my crotch and I pull away, taking a few
steps back. “Whoa.”

“You should let me.”

“Let you what?”

She moves toward me, biting into her bottom lip.
Jesus.
Why does she have to be so tempting?

“Eat you up.”

“Fuck, Raven. Don’t talk like that.”

“Why not? It’s not like I haven’t done it before.”

Rage overtakes me. Just thinking about it makes me want to
kill someone. “The fuck, Raven? Who the fuck had their dick in your mouth? Was
it the boy?”

“No, it wasn’t Chris. My ex back home.”

“That’s what you meant when you said you’ve done things? Did
he touch you?”

“No. It was a compromise. He was ready for sex, I wasn’t. He
got tired of hand jobs.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

He’s dead. That motherfucker better start picking out
caskets. Never mind caskets; there won’t be anything left of him to bury when
I’m done with him.

She pats my chest then takes the sides of my cut in her
hands.

“
You
don’t talk like that.”

“Why not? I’m serious.”

“That’s just it. Coming from anyone else, it might sound
like an empty threat… but not you.”

“What do you expect? I have to live with the thought of you
sucking some other dude’s dick.”

“Forget about it. I have. I can’t even remember what it
looks like… just that he was nowhere near your size.”

Her eyes twinkle with mischief and just like that, she
levels me out. “Not many men are,” I say.

“I’ll take your word for it, monster dick.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“I liked it, you know… seeing his face while I was doing it.
I can’t wait to see yours.”

She leans into me, and I have to take deep breaths to calm
my body. All I can see is her on her knees with her lips wrapped around my
dick.

“You gonna come in my mouth, Gage? You want me to swallow?”
She asks in a low, gravelly voice.

Jesus Christ. I think I can hear my balls turning blue.
“Raven—”

She winks, stands on her toes, and gives me a quick peck on
the lips.

“I’m going to get some sleep. Call me tomorrow?”

“Yeah, babe.”

“Dream about me.”

“
You
dream about
me
,” I tell her.

“Always.”

I see him before he walks into the diner. Taking a deep
breath, I prepare myself to face him. It’s time to put three years of drama
club to use. I square my shoulders but go back to wiping down the counter. The
chimes on the door jingle, and I smile up at him.

“Hi. Welcome to Millie’s. Just sit where you like, and I’ll
be right with you,” I issue my standard greeting.

He removes his hat and takes the stool in front of me. He
looks tired. The kind of tired that comes from having a stressful job. He’s
probably in his thirties but looks much older. His eyes are a beautiful shade
of brown, but are heavy with years of seeing too much shit. His brown hair is
parted to the side and neatly combed. I can tell he works out a lot because his
arms fill out his shirt very nicely.

“Okay… counter it is. What can I get you?”

“Coffee.”

“Regular or decaf?”

“Regular.”

“Coming right up.”

As I’m pouring his coffee, he introduces himself. “Sheriff
Adrian Renley. I’d like to ask you some questions, Miss Alvarez.” 

“Um… okay.”

I need to play it cool. I have to find a balance between not
knowing anything and knowing too much. He’s here, which means he thinks I know
something
.

“Are you acquainted with Mr. Gage Hunter?”

“I know him. Why?”

“How do you know him?”

“I met him through my sister. Again… why?”

“There was an incident on September thirteenth. Witnesses
reported a car being chased and shot at by two men on motorcycles.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. Have you caught those guys?”

“Working on it. Witnesses from Chiquita’s say the two of you
had a heated argument that night.”

“I wouldn’t call it that.”

“What would you call it?”

“A conversation.”

Millie walks up and places her arm around my shoulder
protectively. “Sheriff, what’s going on here?”

“Just asking some questions.”

“Well, since Raven is a minor, you won’t mind me sticking
around.”

“Of course not.”

Throughout the entire exchange so far, his expression has
not changed. Not even a twitch. He has one hell of a poker face because I can’t
tell what he’s thinking. He nods to Millie then turns back to me.

“What did you talk about?”

I look to Millie in mock confusion and back to Renley.
“What’s this about? I know it’s not illegal to talk to people.”

“It isn’t… but I know it was him those bikers were after.
And I believe you were with him.”

“Why would I have been with him?”

“You were seen leaving Chiquita’s together.”

“We went out back, talked, and then went our separate ways.”

Finally, I get an expression from him. He raises an eyebrow.

“Really now?”

“Yes… really.”

“You’re protecting him. I don’t know why or who you think he
is, but let me enlighten you.”

He opens a file folder I hadn’t even noticed before and
pulls out some pictures. He lays one on the counter and I look down at it. It’s
a gorgeous girl with the most intense green eyes I’ve ever seen. Glossy brown
hair, and lips women pay a fortune for.

“What the hell are you doing, Renley?”

Millie’s voice drags my attention away from the picture. She
looks like she’s about to rip the man’s head off, but he ignores her.

“That’s Janet Presley,” Renley says, pointing to the
picture.

I try not to react to the name, but I think he caught wind
of the fact that I’ve heard it before.

“Well… before Hunter got to her.”

He slaps down four other photos and I gasp in shock. Each
one is of Janet but documenting different injuries. The one of her face shows
her eyes black and blue and swollen shut. As a matter of fact, her whole face
is swollen and covered in cuts and bruises, her lips split. There are choke
marks around her neck. The others show her arm in a cast and horrible bruises
on her ribs and stomach.

“Is she… Did she die?”

“No, as far as I know, but she was raped and beaten within
an inch of her life. She fingered Hunter once she woke up, but she didn’t have
to. We had evidence, his semen inside her. A few days later, evidence goes
missing, she recants her story, and disappears from the hospital.”

“That’s enough, Renley,” Millie states with finality.

The wind chimes sound again and Gage steps in, murder in his
eyes. Renley grabs his hat but doesn’t pack up the pictures until he’s sure
Gage has seen them. He lays a business card on the table before he leaves.

“Call me.”

The two men glare at each other as Renley walks out. I can’t
move. I can’t think. It can’t be true. Gage would never do that… Would he? He’s
not that kind of man. Or is he? That night he was so angry about my clothes
comes rushing back. The way he’d slammed his palm into the wall… Did he really
want to hit me instead? And then when he spanked me at the club… was he just
holding back? And rape? This must be what Chris and Chrissy tried to warn me
about. With all the drama, I forgot to ask Gage about it.
Oh, God. What have
I gotten myself into?

“Raven.”

His voice sounds far away. I slowly raise my gaze to his, my
body trembling in shock and fear.

“Take her around back. Use my office,” Millie tells him.

He takes my hand and pulls me along behind him, locking the
door once we’re in Millie’s office. I stand in the corner, hugging myself
tightly. He reaches for me and I pull away, tears welling in my eyes.

“Babe?”

“Is it true? Did you… did you do that to that girl?”

“No! Of course not. Do you really think…?”

He sighs heavily and pulls out a chair, motioning for me to
sit. I do so tentatively, watching his every move closely. He crouches before
me, taking my hand in his.

“Janet was a friend of Ellen’s. She moved away after high
school but came back about two years ago. We messed around for a while, but
what she neglected to tell anyone was that she was running from an abusive ex.”

I stare into his eyes to try and catch any sign I can that
he’s lying. He returns my stare with eyes colored with hurt but not deceit.

“The guy found her. Went ballistic when he learned about me
and attacked her. He threatened to kill her if she didn’t say it was me. I got
her to change her story and, using some transportation channels I have access
to, I got her away safely… set her up somewhere else.”

“So, she’s alive?”

“Yes… and happy. She’s the old lady of another charter’s
president. Last I heard, she was having a baby.”

“And the semen?”

“Dude got it from a used condom I left at her place that
night.”

I can’t believe I doubted him. He’s not a rapist. We’ve been
in so many situations where he could have easily hurt me and he hasn’t. But now
I understand why Renley has it in for him. What he must have gone through….

“Gage—”

“I should have told you before.”

“What about the boyfriend?”

“He was taken care of. She’s Rambo’s problem now, not mine.
You believe me, don’t you?”

“Yes. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

He pulls out his phone, punches in a number, and places it
at his ear.

“Rambo… yeah, everything’s good. Look, I need a favor… it’s
going to sound strange… I need a picture of your old lady… yeah… something like
that.”

I listen to the one-sided conversation, admiring him even
more for wanting to prove that he’s telling the truth. A message comes in a
minute after he hangs up. He turns the screen toward me and I see Janet
smiling, her palm resting on a very pregnant belly.

“I’m sorry,” I repeat. I feel like such a dumbass.

“It’s okay. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“It’s just—”

“I’m not into raping or beating women—”

“Just the occasional spanking?”

He doesn’t even crack a smile.

“I would never hurt you, Raven, and I won’t let anyone else
hurt you, either.”

He straightens and moves over to the desk, leaning on it. I
drop my gaze to the floor, thinking of Lonnie.

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“Of course I can. Once everybody around here knows you’re
mine, my name alone will protect you.”

“Why? Why would anyone care about who you’re fucking?”

He tilts his head to the side and his eyes pierce my soul.

“It’s become way more than that, Raven… and you know it.”