Thrash (29 page)

But I can’t think of that shit right
now. She’s just got to take care of his ass, dismiss him, and shut
it down. Whatever she had him doing to look into Butch’s sentence
needs to fucking stop. A club member gets locked up, it’s club
business. Family or not, it’s not up to her to get him out, and she
knows that.

I signal to the guys we got watching
the doors that I’m going in. They move back out of respect and keep
their semi-automatics tight in their grip. We had to pull men from
a few of our support clubs in the Bay Area for full coverage just
in case Mancuso struck again. The guys we got here are a little
short on brain power, but they know the drill, and most of them
know their livelihood depends on what we’re willing to sell them
and when. They need us, and that need makes them eager to avoid
fucking up, so this is working out well.

The safehouse used to be a tiny cottage
a few miles off Highway 1, down a narrow dirt road that is almost
invisible to the naked eye if you don’t know the markers to look
for. Now, all the windows are boarded up, and there’s only one way
in and one way out. We soundproofed it as best we could years back,
and it does a decent job. Inside, there are three men. Two are from
the support club, and the third is Michael Mancuso—Princess’s twin
brother and Ruby’s long-lost son.

He’s sitting up on the mattress we’ve
provided him that’s on the floor. He’s hunched over and doesn’t
even bother to lift his head when I come into the room. I nod to
the guys who are babysitting him this shift and tell them to wait
outside. For a moment, they pause. The last time Michael and I were
in a room together, it was with a prospect, and the kid lost his
shit and started wailing on the prospect so I ended up wailing on
him. It got bloody and mean, but Ruby’s made Jim bring the kid
home-cooked meals and fresh clothes every day. It’s not his fault
he’s this fucked up, she reasons.

“
You check out that lead I
gave you?” Michael asks. When he lifts his head, I can see the
black eye and swollen lip from our last encounter. I hope it
fucking hurts and Ruby’s not been made aware of his injuries and
provided him with any ibuprofen. He deserves to feel every moment
of pain for how he beat his sister.

Even though I’m starting to understand
him and why he did it, the reasoning is still fucked.

“
Took it to the club,” I
say and walk to the chair in the corner of the room and sit down.
Earlier, when we were in Church to take a vote about Chief’s
funeral, I brought up the little nuggets that Junior shared with
me. Club voted him down cold, which is a problem, because I think
he’s telling the truth.

According to Junior, it’s his cousin
Tony who’s running the show back in New York. Tony doesn’t have the
rank or the right to make the decisions he’s making, but he’s doing
it anyway. And the first decision Tony made when he got out of the
hospital was that he wanted Alex dead. Junior says that Tony did
some kind of bullshit initiation process with him then gave Junior
the gold Desert Eagle he says all his father’s men carry. It’s the
Mancuso signature.

He was given a choice—kill his sister
or Tony was going to kill him. Junior hasn’t been able to make
contact with his dad or Uncle Emilio, his father’s underboss,
because he’s got his own charges pending, but he doesn’t think his
dad knows what Tony’s up to. Still, New York is a hot fucking mess,
and Junior was more than happy to do Tony’s bidding. Or so Tony
thinks. To this day, he maintains he just snapped in a moment of
fear and couldn’t stop himself. He never wanted to hurt his
sister.

“
And?” he asks.

“
They think you’re full of
shit,” I say. “Got no reason to trust you.”

“
She’s my sister,” he
says. His large brown eyes look sorrowful and thoughtful. He isn’t
pissed like he was last time. Now he’s just resigned. Then again,
last time was when Jim delivered the news about Ruby. So maybe I’m
feeling generous, but I’m gonna cut the kid some slack.

“
My twin sister. I’m
trying to help her, and since she refuses to let go of your club, I
guess I’m trying to help you, too. Tony’s out for blood, and he
knows by now that the plan he concocted didn’t work. Think about
it. You cannot possibly understand the choice I had to make, but do
believe that everything I did was to protect my sister.”

We go back and forth for another few
minutes before my phone rings. I ignore it the first time, but by
the second call, I pull it out of my pocket and see NIC across the
screen. Sliding my finger over the green bar, I bring the phone to
my ear. She’s sniffling and breathing heavy.

“
Nic?” I say. Concern
fills me, and I stand from the chair and walk to the door, where I
signal for two of the men to come back inside. I walk to my bike.
Whatever’s going on, it doesn’t sound good.

“
Jeremy,” she says in a
rush. “I need you to find Jeremy.”

“
What’s going on?” I ask,
positioning the phone between my face and my shoulder so I can
strap the half helmet on my head.

“
He took my car and went
after Darren.”

“
Why’d he go after
Darren?”

“
He was defending me,” she
says. Her voice sounds strangled and hoarse.

“
You okay?” I
ask.

“
I am now,” she says on a
whisper. I let her know I’m going to be there soon and hang up the
phone, instructing her to lock the doors and stay in the spare room
because that’s the safest room in the house.

Jeremy’s phone rings once before he
answers it with a clipped, “Got it handled, Sir.”

“
What happened?” I ask,
this time far less cordial than I was with his sister.

“
Jennings came to the
house and gave Nic some kind of folder. She told him she didn’t
want him looking into Dad’s case anymore. Everything seemed fine,
so I turned my TV on, but the next thing I know she’s fucking
screaming. By the time I got to the living room, that sick fuck had
her on her knees with his dick in her face.” The air drains from my
lungs as rage fills my heart. I can’t focus on anything with the
next words I hear. “He tried to make her suck his dick, probably
rape her, too.”

I failed her. Because I left and came
here to take care of shit I don’t have any business worrying about
right now, I fucking failed her. My stomach churns, and my mouth
goes dry. For the briefest moment, it brings back what happened to
Chel and how we found her.

“
I stopped him,” Jeremy
says. “Got a few licks in before he ran. I don’t think he knew I
was in the house. He didn’t get far.”

“
Where is he?” I grit out,
barely able to say the words. I’ve known anger, and I’ve known
rage. I’ve even known fury. But this shit is fucking me up and
making me see red in a way I never have before.

“
Trunk,” Jeremy says.
“This is club business, right? I called a few of the guys and
they’re meeting me at the club house.”

“
Good,” is all I can say.
It’s like I’m on autopilot as I climb onto my bike, fire her up,
and kick up the stand. I hang up the phone, shove it in my pocket,
and peel out down the road for the highway.

In no time at all, I’m at the house and
opening the door to the spare bedroom. On the floor, beneath the
window, is Nic. She’s pulled up her legs and her arms rest atop her
knees. In her right hand is a pairing knife. Her hair is a little
messy, and her eyes are red, but she looks a lot better than I
expect. I had expected her to be crying or even afraid. But no.
Sometimes I forget how strong my girl really is. With a steady gaze
she says, “I’m fine.”

“
He hit you?” I ask,
striding into the room and crouching down in front of her. Very
slowly, I reach out, and she lets me take the knife. With the way I
went off on her earlier, I’m relieved she doesn’t try to slice off
some of my flesh.

“
Just across the face,”
she says. I move my hand up to gently cup her cheek.

“
I’m so sorry, baby,” I
say. “I really fucked up this time.”

“
Our kid is screwed,” she
says, letting out a heavy breath. I crack a smile that I don’t
mean, and she responds with a soft laugh that doesn’t meet her
eyes.

“
Yeah,” I say and press my
lips to hers. “But he’s gonna be ours.”

I give it another moment before I stand
and pull her up with me. As much as I wanna be here all night with
her, I got shit to take care of.

“
It was Darren,” I say,
finally making the connection. “The guy who hit you—it was him.”
She nods her head and diverts her eyes.

“
Nine times—now ten. I can
tell you exactly how each time went down. Sometimes it was a pop in
the mouth like tonight, sometimes it was much worse.” With big
eyes, she looks up at me. “I’ve never told anybody that
before.”

“
He ever try something
like he did tonight?” I ask, fucking terrified of the
answer.

“
You want the answer to
that?” she asks, sadly. I let my eyes fall closed for half a second
and vow that I’m going to lay waste to this piece of
shit.

“
No, but I need the
answer,” I admit.

“
Darren Jennings has
violated me in every way you can imagine,” she says as her face
heats and tears pool in her eyes. Looking at her and knowing what
she’s been through, I can’t help but be selfish enough to feel like
shit for not knowing and not protecting her. And I made her bring
that shit home. I made her deal with him when I should have been
there.

“
He’s going to pay for
what he did, for every single time he put his hands on you. I
promise you, baby. Never again.”

“
Where is he?” she
asks.

“
Jer’s got him at the
clubhouse. We’re taking care of it.”

“
I want to see him,” she
says. I shake my head and tell her that’s not going to happen. “I’m
the one he hurt, not the club. I get that you gotta take care of
this, but so do I. Please, take me with you.”

Chapter 24

The ride to the clubhouse was tense. I
didn’t feel right about bringing Nic with me, but I also didn’t
feel right about leaving her at the house all scared and fucked up.
Not that she was showing she was scared or fucked up. Truth be
told, she mostly looked pissed. But that’s how she is. She’s good
about hiding her emotions when she wants to. Still, I couldn’t deny
her this. If she needs to see the prick take a beating to feel
better, that’s what I’ll give to her.

Inside the clubhouse, in the game room,
the pool table has been pushed aside. Diesel and Grady stand on
either side of Darren, making sure he doesn’t move an inch. Across
the room, leaning up against the wall, is Jeremy. His arms are
folded, and his eyes are trained on Darren like he might kill him
if he flinches wrong. I know the feeling, but I check myself before
I make a mess that we can’t get out. We’ll be able to get blood off
the concrete, but not so much off the pool table or the
sofa.

“
She shouldn’t be here,”
Diesel says, catching my eye and lifting his chin at Nic, who
follows behind me.

“
She needs this,” I say
and defy any one of my brothers to say a word. Shit’s upside down
right now and I don’t know what Jeremy told them. He did well
tonight. I’d rather he had let me call my brothers, but that’s
selfish. He saw a way to help his sister—my woman—and he took it.
And he did it the right way, knowing this was club business. Can’t
be mad at that.

Wyatt strides in behind us carrying a
wrench, a large flathead screwdriver, and a large bottle of bleach.
He sets the wrench and the screwdriver down on the pool table and
the bleach on the floor. With a nod of his head, Grady and Diesel
each grab one of Darren’s arms and lift him off the couch. His eyes
are wide, and he struggles, but is totally outmatched by my
brothers. They shove him to his knees, and each places a foot on
his ankles to keep him in place.

“
Come here, kid,” Wyatt
says to Jeremy, who responds immediately. Wyatt directs him to
stand behind Darren and to hold him by the hair so he can’t turn
away. “Prove to me that you’ve got enough heart for this
club.”

Jeremy grabs Darren’s hair at the roots
and yanks his head up with both hands. I turn to Nic and place a
kiss on her temple. “You don’t have to watch this.”

“
Yes I do,” she says. As
much as I wish she weren’t here, I can see that she’s
resolved.

“
He scared you—back then?”
I ask.

“
He separated me from
everything I ever loved,” she says just loud enough for everyone in
the room to hear. Jeremy’s grip on Darren’s hair tightens, and both
Diesel and Grady twist their boots into his ankles. Darren squirms
uncomfortably and whimpers in pain.

“
You never have to feel
that way again,” I say and place a hand on her stomach. There’s
nothing physically there to feel, but I swear—now that I know she’s
got my baby inside her, I can sense the difference. I might be
crazy as fuck, but I’ve been hot for this girl for a decade now.
“What we got going on, it ain’t gonna end. We got this
shit.”

I can feel my brothers watching us, but
I don’t give a fuck. This is for her, not them. “But before we can
move on, we got to end this. All that shit he did to you—you let it
out now, baby. Let him have it.”