Chapter 10
Ten
Brick
Panic wells up inside me as I pull my bike to the curb in front of her building. I don't know what I'm walking into right now. I should've gotten more information before I hung up. I was just so damn happy that she called for me I wasn't thinking about anything else.
I have to force myself to slow down as I make my way up the stairs to her place. I listen for a second when I get to her door just to make sure no one else is in there. What if they came back and made her call me? It's not going to stop me from going in, but I need to know if I'm about to get into a fight or not.
After a second of being by her door and not hearing anything, I ring the bell.
I hear her walking to the door, and finally it opens.
It feels like the sun is shining on my face, even though I know it's the dead of night. She's only been gone for a few hours; why am I this damn happy to see her? I could rationalize that I was worried about her safety and that's why I'm so relieved, but it's not just that.
I'm not sure what to do, so I wait for her to take the lead again. She's the one who called me over here. I don't want to overstep my bounds or say the wrong thing. When it comes to Luna, she can go from zero to a hundred with just one word. I'm not going to take the chance to say that word now.
"Oh, Brick." She whimpers and puts her arms out.
There's no hesitation on my part. I pull her into my arms and hold her. Her whole body is trembling as she buries herself in my embrace.
"Sweetness, what happened? Are you okay?" I want to pull her away so I can look her over, but that would mean letting her go, and I'm not ready for that.
"Yeah..." She clears her throat, and after holding me a second longer, she moves away on her own. "I'm okay; I just didn't know who else to call."
"It's fine. Call me whenever you need. What happened?"
She moves to the side, letting me into her place, and I see the apartment is absolutely destroyed. There are pictures and pillows everywhere. It looks like she was robbed, but nothing was taken.
"They fucking came back, didn't they?" I growl and fist my hands at my sides.
"No, no, don't worry. Uh, well, I did this." She shrugs and looks down at the floor, embarrassed.
My eyes widen as I take in her handiwork.
"Why in the hell would you do this to your own apartment?"
She huffs a breath and starts to walk away. "Oh, lay off. I had a bad night." She plops down on the sofa and glares at me, as if to let me know I was the cause of her bad night.
"Okay, well, you want me to help you clean up? I know shit can get overwhelming." It wasn't exactly what I wanted to do, but if that's what she needed me for, I was here to help.
"No, I can get that done on my own. I found something." She waves me over to the couch, where she's sitting in front of a laptop.
Doing my best not to step on anything, I walk over to where she is and sit down next to her. I want to pull her into my lap just so she can be closer, but I'm not sure that's what she wants right now. I'll give her the space, at least for a little while.
"After I had my mini meltdown, I realized that it wasn't only out here that was ransacked when that guy came for me. It got me thinking: what if he wasn't here for me per se, but here looking for something? My room and Wendy's room were a mess too, and I know neither one of us did that. I looked around, and in one of my sister's favorite hiding spots was this thumb drive." Luna points to the computer, her fingers already trembling and her breathing coming in way too fast.
"What's on it?"
"Brick, I don't know what my sister was into or who these Seven-Oh-Seven people are; I'm being honest. All I know is she was sick. I never gave much thought to who was helping her stay sick. But after watching just a few seconds of that video, I know you were right. Wendy is into something that's way too big for either of us to handle on our own. I don't know how to get her out of this one." Her words tremble, and I see the start of tears forming on her lash line.
"Shhh, it's going to be alright. Show it to me." I lean forward, ready to see whatever's on this thumb drive. It can't be that bad.
She reaches over and presses the space bar, which starts a video on the screen. Instantly, I know my original thought about it not being that bad was wrong. It's fucking worse. Clear as day is a video of Dutch, the current leader of the Seven-Oh-Sevens, beating a man who is tied to a chair. It doesn't stop with just the beating, though; he pulls out a Glock and fires a shot point-blank at the man's head. Just when I think it's over, there's another video of a few members of the Seven-Oh-Sevens checking and bringing in crates full of automatic weapons, another video of them killing, more drugs—over and over.
When Luna turns to bury her head in my shoulder so she doesn't have to look at the screen anymore, I reach over and stop the playback. There is more than enough here to get several members of that gang sent away for life. I don't know how Wendy got her hands on something like this, but I know for sure they will kill her to get it back.
For the first time, I don't doubt the fact that she's still sober. This isn't her running off somewhere to get high. She's off somewhere fighting for her life. That is, if she's still alive.
"They must have found out that she had this. They're going to kill her. They are fucking hurting my sister like they did to those people in the video." Luna cries hard into my chest, and it's breaking me to pieces.
I'm used to her being tough as nails. I never thought she'd break down like this, but when the world seems to be crumbling around you, it only makes sense to crumble a little right along with it.
"Hey, come on, we don't know that." I do my best to soothe her. Even as the words come out of my mouth, I know there's a very good chance she could be absolutely right about her prediction.
Luna cries for a little while longer before she takes in a deep breath and wipes the tears from her face. "Sorry."
"No, don't. You never have to apologize for your feelings around me. If you need to cry, fucking do it. Just don't lock me out." Raising my hand to her face, I swipe a tear that's perched on the tip of her nose, and she smiles softly at me.
God, this woman is beautiful. Even in her worst moments, I've never seen anyone as breathtaking as her.
"So what do we do about it? Should I give it to the cops?"
"Hell no. Sure, some of them may wind up going to jail for this, but there are far more of them who aren't on the video. The minute they find out it was you who ratted them out, nothing is going to stop them from taking revenge. Not only are you going to have to worry about your sister being killed, but yourself as well. There would be nowhere you could hide."
She nods her head as if she figured I'd say that. "So what? Tell me what to do. I'm not used to any of this."
"Well, if they were in here looking for this, it's obviously important to them. We can use this as leverage to get Wendy back. Maybe make a trade. That is, if they have her."
Luna gasps and grips my forearm hard. "You think they might have killed her already?"
"No, no, that's not what I'm saying at all. I mean, maybe Wendy got away in time and is just hiding out, which is why she hasn't been able to get in contact with you. There are a million different possibilities that don't mean she's already dead. Have a little faith, sweetness."
Luna shrugs and looks away from me. "If you say it, I believe it."
Those simple words strike me harder than I thought possible. "You mean that, don't you? You trust me even though you know what I've done in the past. You know who I am?"
"I do know who you are, Brick. Sure, you're not going to win any Citizens of the Century awards, but you're still a good man. Honest and protective. The only thing separating you from a lot of people is the drive to finish what you started. How many people have wished they could avenge their loved ones? Hell, they make movies about people like you. All blockbusters." She chuckles, and I follow along with her.
It's true; I'm pretty sure my life before prison would make a hell of a movie.
"The point is, I can't judge you for what you've done. All I can judge you on is what I've seen from you since I've met you, and by far you're one of the best men I've ever laid my eyes on."
Pride.
It's been a long time since I was proud of something in myself. Sure, my club, my bike, even my craftsmanship, but something in my own soul—it's been a long time.
I don't know what to say to her. The air seems so fucking heavy. Luckily, she takes that moment to stand from the couch. "You want a drink or something? I promise my house isn't always a wreck like this."
"Yeah, some water or something would be nice."
"I have iced tea."
With a nod from me, she walks off to the kitchen. It's only then I realize that she's not walking correctly. Instead of walking flat-footed, she's walking on her tiptoes. When she comes back with the cups of iced tea, I see the grimace on her face.
"What's wrong with your legs?"
"My legs? Nothing. It's my feet that are killing me."
"Why?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because some asshole made me walk MILES back home in the middle of the night." She squints her eyes at me.
"The hell I did! You chose to do that on your own. I told you to stay." I fight back. I'm not going to be blamed for this.
"Yeah, sure. I was going to stay after you basically told me you thought I was working with the enemy. That's the perfect place for me to be." She rolls her eyes and comes to sit next to me again, placing the iced tea on the table in front of us.
"You could've called a cab or had one of the guys take you home. There were options." I turn in her direction.
"There were no cabs riding around, and I don't know your fellow biker brothers like you do. I don't just run along and hop on anyone's motorcycle. You've got to be special for that." She winks at me, and I feel like a fucking fool.
Sure, it was her decision to leave, but just like she had options, so did I. I could've gone after her. I could have called her a cab myself. I could have made her stay.
"I'm special, am I?" I question, pulling her leg up so I can get a look at her foot. Thankfully, there's no cuts, but I do see how red they are.
"Don't you know that by now? You're the only one who gets me this mad besides my sister, and that's saying a lot." She leans back on the couch's arm while I start massaging her aching feet.
"Well, I'm honored." I lift her leg and kiss the top of her shin before I really start trying to take away her pain.
I never understood the lure of a good foot rub, but that didn't mean I wasn't talented at giving them. Seems like my previous experience was playing in my favor.
"Oh god." Luna moans loud and lets her head drop back while I continue what I'm doing.
This was meant to be strictly to help heal her hurt, but it's turning into something more very quickly. My body is revved up.
Going from not knowing if she was okay, then seeing the danger that she's in, back to realizing she's in my arms has my hormones on full blast.
I want to kill something and fuck something. Those urges are both strong.
"Luna," I groan when she gasps and her back arches up off the couch. "You're fucking killing me here."
"I'm sorry." She moans again, "No, I'm not. That feels so damn good."
My thoughts go back to earlier in the night, and I remember we had started something that definitely needs finishing. The problem is I'm not sure if she's up for that right now. After all that's happened tonight, maybe she doesn't want me touching her like that. Still, if I have to keep hearing her make those fun noises, I'm going to lose my mind.
Suddenly, all of her noises stop and she stares at me, her chest heaving up and down as she tries to compose herself.
"You want me to stop?" I ask, ready to drop her foot at a moment's notice if she tells me to. I want to respect every boundary she has.
"Stop? No. I want more." Quick as a snake, she sits up and grabs hold of my collar before pulling me down on top of her.
Talk about taking charge.
I guess I'm not the only one who is going crazy here.
Our teeth click together as our mouths collide. The world spins around me and I'm losing my grip on reality. Is this what I've been missing all this time?
No, I'm absolutely sure that Luna is the only one who can make me feel this way.
She's the only one who's ever made me want more.
If she's asking me for it, then I'm going to give her more than she could ever fucking dream of.
I only hope she's ready because I don't do anything half-assed.