Secret Mayhem (24 page)

“
Where
’
s Shay?
”
Ava asked.
“
I
have to help him.
”

“
No,
sweetie,
”
Blaine said.
“
Shay
’
s gone. Okay? Now, I need you to come with me. I
can explain more. But I need to keep you away from the Lost Men. You can trust
me.
”

Ava knew she had no choice. Blaine
put a hand inside of his leather cut and gripped the handle of his gun. It was
a silent threat. When Ava looked into his eyes again, he motioned with his head
to start walking.

“
Sweetie,
what I
’
m going to do for
you is nothing compared to what the Lost Men want to do
…
got that?
”

Ava nodded and walked.

She missed Shay and she fucking
hated Back Down Devil for doing this.

twenty-four.

Shay never feared the dark in his
life. Even when he was a kid. It was Caius who was afraid of the dark. Shay
used to keep a flashlight under his pillow so Caius would feel safe in their
bedroom. But right now, Shay was tied to a chair in a dark room. Gaige and Nate
had done the wonderful honors of bringing Shay to the building where Kaity had
fought and was then cut by Caius.

Shay suppressed all his emotions.
This was about survival. This was about finally getting the opportunity to face
his brother. The rest of the bullshit with Back Down Devil, the Lost Men, and
even Ava would be handled when the time came.

A light turned on, followed by
another, another, and another. They made loud noises as they turned on. The
building was empty and Shay sat right in the middle of the fight circle.

Two men stepped from the shadows.
They wore full suits and ties. With wide shoulders and thick necks, they were
definitely part of Caius's security team. Their life wasn't much different than
Shay's except the fact that Shay got to look like an outlaw and act like one.
Plus, a motorcycle was much cooler than some tinted window piece of shit car.

“
Hey,
fuckers,
”
Shay instigated.

The man on the left nodded. Then
the man on the right punched Shay in the face. Shay rocked to the left, but
didn
’
t fall from the chair.
His jaw ached and a ringing sound buzzed in his ear for a few seconds.

He shook his head and groaned.
“
Fuck. That felt good. Where
’
s Caius? He got what he wanted.
”

“
We
’
re securing the perimeter,
”
the man on the left said.
“
Making sure your friends don
’
t come back.
”

“
Did
you see them? They had my hands tied and fucking threw me into the building,
literally. They're not coming back for me.
”

“
How
sad,
”
the man on the left
said.

Shay looked at him.
“
You know, did anyone ever tell
you that you look like a giant cock wearing sunglasses?
”

The man smiled.
“
My associate is going to loosen
things up while we wait for Caius.
”

Shay turned his head and saw the
man sliding a set of brass knuckles over his fingers.

“
Come
the fuck on
…
what do you
want?
”

The man on the left bent down.
“
He likes blood. Lots of it.
”

The man on the right punched Shay
again. The metal crushed against his face. This time he and the chair went down
and his head smacked the concrete floor. The entire room started to spin. The
man kicked the chair so Shay was on his back.

“
Time
to match it up,
”
he said as
he bent down.

Another hard swing hit the left
side of Shay
’
s face. Shay
’
s head snapped to the right. He
felt a pop in his neck and he started to throw up.

“
Aw,
”
the man said.
“
Look at him. He
’
s fucking puking.
”

“
Get
him back up. We can
’
t kill
him.
”

Shay closed his eyes and felt
himself being lifted. Once he was back in his original sitting position, he
opened his eyes. The room stopped spinning, but the pain got worse.

“
Are
we done?
”
Shay asked.

“
Not
quite,
”
the man on the left
said.
“
Now it
’
s my turn.
”
He reached into his suit and
pulled out a pair of cutters.
“
I
’
m going to send your club a
little joke. Wouldn
’
t it be
great for them to receive two of your fingers? Just like your friend.
”

Shay looked at the man and spit a
glob of puke and blood. It hit the guys jacket and shirt. He turned the cutters
point down and stabbed them into Shay
’
s
left forearm.

Shay let out a harrowing scream.

“
That
’
s enough!
”
a voice boomed.

Silence filled the room except for
Shay
’
s heavy breathing. He
wasn
’
t going to pass out.
Not like this. Not tied to a chair. If this was the end of his life, he would
accept it and take it all in. He wouldn
’
t
close his eyes and succumb to it.

A set of footsteps echoed and Shay
watched his brother come into view.

Caius.

Still a few inches shorter than
Shay, skinnier, his face long and slim. He had a devilish grin on his face and
his eyes were tiny dots of pure evil.

“
You
hurt my brother,
”
Caius
said.
“
I said to keep him
still. Loosen him up.
”

“
We
did sir,
”
the man on the
left said.
“
He threw up.
Then he spit on me.
”

“
So
you stabbed him?
”

“
I
was going to cut off two fingers,
”
the man said.
“
For fun.
”

“
For
fun,
”
Caius said. He looked
at Shay.
“
See the help I
have?
”

“
I
see,
”
Shay said.
“
Pussies who fight a guy when he
is tied up. Punch him with brass knuckles on. Stab him. Yeah, that
’
s the kind of help you would
have. The kind that does all the dirty work because you're not man enough to do
it yourself."

Caius
’
s
lip curled. He charged at Shay and wrapped his hand around the cutters buried
in Shay
’
s arm.

“
Weak?
”
Caius asked.
“
You think I
’
m weak? Look what I
’
ve done.
”

Caius pulled the cutters from Shay
’
s arm. The pain surged again and
blood seeped from the open wound. Shay gritted his teeth and hissed, refusing
to show any pain in front of his brother. That would please Caius too much.

Shay kept his eyes open wide and
stared at his brother.

Caius lifted the cutters and rubbed
his thumb along the blades. He collected the blood on his thumb and then licked
it. He smacked his lips together.

“
My
blood, your blood,
”
Caius
said.
“
Our blood, Shay. We
’
re brothers. Until death.
”

“
Fuck
you,
”
Shay said.
“
Look at you. Look at this game
you
’
re playing. You
’
re weak. You should be the one
fighting me."

 Caius pulled a gun from his jacket
and looked at it. He nodded.
“
Maybe
you
’
re right. I just needed
to secure the area, that
’
s
all. I didn
’
t tell these
guys to do what they did. They just
…
respect me that much.
”

“
That
’
s right, sir,
”
the man on the left said.

Caius pointed the gun at Shay. Shay
braced himself to be killed.

One shot rang out and the head of
the man on the left damn near exploded. Then he pointed the gun at the man on
the right and one more shot did the same.

Both men dropped and Caius tucked
the gun away.

“
There,
”
Caius said.
“
My apologies for what they did
to you.
”

Shay looked to his left and right.
He
’
d seen hundreds of
bodies in his life, but this started to bother him. His brother was a fucking
sick man.

“
Why?
”
Shay asked.
“
What is all this? You just
decide to blow up my car? Start a war?
”

Caius nodded.
“
It wasn
’
t that. I just wanted you to die, Shay. I wanted
you to suffer. Seeing the control that fucking club has over you pissed me off.
You
’
re not meant for that
life. You
’
re not meant for
any life. When the bomb exploded, and you weren't in there, I saw the way it
affected your club. And the more I researched
…
the more I talked to Strokner
…
the more I realized how powerful you really are, Shay. I mean, Strokner's lips
flap more than a fucking hooker
’
s
do. Come on, you guys trust that man? He damn near led me to everything. To the
land with the bodies. To the fights. Everything.
”

Shay swallowed hard.

Fucking Strokner
…

He hated that pompous businessman
asshole. And the only reason he had been involved in the club was because his
daughter had been shot and killed at a fight.

“
Wasn
’
t my decision to get in bed with
Strokner,
”
Shay said.

“
So
your club has weaknesses.
”

“
Everyone
does.
”

“
Not
me,
”
Caius said.
“
I just proved that to you. Those
men were good to me. But it was time for them to die. I made that decision.
”

“
That
’
s right
…
I forgot Caius was short for
God
.
”

Caius laughed. He touched Shay's
face.
“
Oh, my brother. Look
at you. You need a shower. A suit. A purpose. I
’
m
sorry this has to be like this. But I
’
m
going to take over your town. It
’
s
perfect for what I want and need.
”

“
You
’
re doing a hell of a job.
”

“
Where
’
s your club at now?
”

“
I
don
’
t know,
”
Shay said.
“
They threw me here because I
lied to them.
”

“
Lied
…”

“
About
you. I knew it was you doing this and I held the information back.
”

“
Why?
”

Shay leaned forward.
“
Because I wanted to fucking kill
you myself. You weak piece of shit.
”

Caius
’
s
eyes widened and he looked like he could cry. He curled his lip and looked
down. His hands were shaking and when he made a fist, Shay was ready. He didn
’
t fear his brother
’
s physical violence.

Caius punched Shay in the nose,
making him bleed, but then Caius jumped back. He shook his hand and held it as
he tried to catch his breath.

“
Should
have kept your guys alive,
”
Shay said, laughing to taunt his brother. Blood dripped into his mouth and he
swallowed it.
“
Come on,
Caius, hit me again. Or untie me. Let me fight you like a man. Let's settle
this.
”

“
There
’
s nothing to settle,
”
Caius said.
“
I
’
m
taking everything you have. I hate  you, Shay. All I wanted to do was destroy
the world with you by my side. You turned on me. I fucking hate you.
”

“
I
hate you too, brother,
”
Shay said.

“
Your
club abandoned you,
”
Caius
said as he collected himself.
“
And
I guess I won
’
t need to
visit AnnMarie and sweet Stephanie.
”

“
Jonesy's
family?
”

Caius smiled.
“
I was going to do bad things to
them. I gave him an order and he listened. However, I was prepared for your
entire club to come after me."

“
I
’
m alone,
”
Shay said.
“
You
just said you checked the area.
”

“
I
know. But I have backup, just in case.
”
Caius pulled out a small black box.
“
This
is a detonator. I figured you would all surround me here. I just wanted to know
if Jonesy was dead.
”

“
He
’
s dead,
”
Shay said.
“
He
slit his wrists.
”

Caius laughed.
“
Can
’
t blame him. I did make him eat his own tongue.
”

“
You
pussy.
”

Caius came at Shay again. This time
the punch hurt. Caius cried out. He then held the black box out and pressed the
button.

For a second, Shay saw it all
ending. Caius brought him here to kill them both. To die as brothers. Together.