35. Nero
Chapter 35
Nero
Somos Los Peregrinos,
Hijos de la chingada,
Pasamos por el infierno,
Queremos todo or nada.
Ey, ey, ey
? Que viva el desmadre!
Ey ey ey
? Chinga todos a su madre!
B eer flies everywhere as Louie gets jumped in as a fully patched member. Members and regulars from the bar punch him and drench him with cans of Modelo.
All while obnoxiously chanting the Club’s fight song. Ari stands off to the side with Louie’s nieces and nephew, the youngest latching tightly onto her. Children never crossed my mind, but seeing her calm the little boy in her arms did some unexpected shit to me.
Leatherface stands with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Hueso stands with Ghost and another veteran member.
Hueso’s eyes meet mine from across the celebrating crowd. His head tilts back to the clubhouse, and I nod. We still have unfinished business.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” I tell Ari, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
Simultaneously, all patched members follow Hueso back into the clubhouse. We meet in the far back room, where only members are allowed. Hueso sits at the front of the table where Leatherface should be. He has a cigarette clenched between his fingers as he waits for all the members to funnel in before he speaks.
“Everybody sit down!” he shouts. The tension thickens when Leatherface walks through the door.
“Let’s get this shit over with,” he says, throwing his cut onto the large wooden table. Hueso shakes his head.
“That’s what you think of us?” Hueso scoffs. “I have brothers who died so that you could wear that cut. Have some respect for the cloth.”
The room goes silent as Hueso cuts the president’s patch off the vest. Both of them stare the other down.
“As of today, Cassiel “Leatherface” Ontiveros will start a three-month probationary period. For three-
“Just cut the shit and start the vote,” Cassiel says, cutting him off.
“Get the fuck out of my club.” Hueso snarls.
“Fuck you. Fuck all of you. You want to make me out to be the villain?” Cassiel snaps.
Silas steps in front of him, both chest to chest, staring each other down.
“These are your brothers now, Ghost?” Cassiel snarls. “Where the fuck have you been this whole time?”
“I’ve been picking up all messes you fucking made! You came here with one intention. And that was to feed your ego!” Silas throws back.
“Get out of my face.” Cassiel threatens
“Or what?” Silas challenges.
“Let him go, Ghost. We got bigger fish to fry.” Hueso calls from the front of the room.
Silas reluctantly moves at his elder’s command, spitting to the side before stepping back. Cassiel turns and looks straight at me.
“You’ll regret this.”
Letting the threat roll off me, I find relief in his absence. I’m voted in as President and Jasper as Vice President. A duty and an honor for both of us.
“Last order of business,” Hueso starts. “What do we do about the Italians?”
“We don’t have the strength to start a war right now.” Chunks says.
“Ghost, can you arrange a meeting with Savino Biondini for me?” I ask.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He replies
“What about the Russians?” Jasper asks. “They’ll want us to pick sides.”
“Our loyalty to the Russians remains, but we keep our nose out of shit that doesn’t belong to us,” Hueso states, handing me the gravel.
“All who agree say Ay.” I wait for the unanimous vote and slam the gravel down.
As soon as I return to the front lawn, I find a teary-eyed Ariella arguing with Cassiel. She looks at me with those ice-cold eyes before meeting me halfway across the lawn with a sharp slap to my face.
“Tell me it’s not true.” She goes to strike again, and I grab her wrist. I look between Cassiel and her.
“You son of a bitch!” I growl.
A surge of adrenaline has me lunging forward, shoving him. He staggers back slightly but finds his footing. His cold, dead eyes stare right through me. Just like hers, his are flooded with hurt and betrayal.
“Fuck you!” he grunts, charging toward me with a closed fist.
The punch lands squarely on my jaw. I swing back, hitting him in the left eye before the world turns into a blur of fists and shouts.
It takes four men to pull me off of him. Anger courses through my body, possessing me. I spit out blood and stumble to my feet. Through the swelling in my eye, I see Ariella walking in the opposite direction.
“Ari, I can explain.” My ribs hurt when I walk, but I continue to follow after her.
“How long, Nero?” her question demanding an answer.“How long have you been using me to get information on Genesis?”
“Ari, let me explain.”
“No! I asked you who was responsible for driving me that night, and you looked me dead in the eyes and said you didn’t know. This whole time, you’ve been playing me.” S
Something grabs my broken heart and twists it into a thousand pieces. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She can’t leave me.
“I can explain everything.” I reach for her, but she steps back.
“You told me this wouldn’t work with fears and lies.” She swallows the hurt in her throat.
“Ari.”
“No. This should have been over a long time ago. Even if this is all true, if somehow you developed real feelings for me, it will never work. You have been willing to be my lover, to run away and keep this hidden, but not once did you say you’d fight for me.” She blinks, and the heartache I’ve caused her slides down her cheek.
I wish I had more time to tell her what I felt.
“Preston may be a fuck boy, but at least he’s honest about who he is.” The weight of her words hit me in the most vulnerable spots.
For too long, I lacked the luxury of emotions. Now that I needed to show her that part of me, the one willing to fight for her. I shut down.
I crumple to my knees, searching for the blood I expect to pour out of my chest. I was sure as hell there was a wound the size of Texas in my heart.
She turns and walks away. She doesn’t look back. The same way Tala left me. And I let her go because, in the long run, I know she’ll be better off without me.