Chapter 30 ABBEY
Inearly trip over my own damn feet as I lurch in the direction of Ringo’s lifeless body, but I’m jerked back when roars erupt throughout the room, fists flying in every direction as club brothers turn on each other.
“What’s happening?” I cry over the yelling, and Jols’ frantic eyes dance over the scene surrounding us.
“They need guidance!” she yells so I can hear her. “That’s what’s happening.”
“Get her out of here!” JD bellows before he disappears into the fray, but I shake my head frantically, jerking free of Jols’ grip.
“Hey!” she yells as I take off through the colliding bodies, towards my husband.
I duck just in time to miss a random swinging fist and get down and practically crawl the rest of the way, managing to get through everyone to find JD and Celina on the ground with Nate and Ringo.
Crawling up to them, I brush shoulders with JD as he pats Ringo’s cheek, while Celina starts howling as she stares down at Nate’s lifeless body.
“Is he alive?” I ask JD, who nods.
“He’s out cold, though. Not real fucking convenient when we need him to get control of his fucking men.”
I glance around at the chaos. Glasses breaking, chairs shattering, and tables crashing to the floor as they are used as weapons.
Looking over my shoulder, I search for Banes, my mum and Maggie, but I can’t see through the lashing bodies.
“You need to do it,” I say, grabbing JD’s arm and shaking it. “Tell them to stop.”
“I can’t,” he scoffs. “I’m not an authority figure to them. And you shot Spud, our VP.”
I roll my eyes. “I shot him in the arm. He’s still alive. Why isn’t he doing anything?”
“Are you stupid?” Celina sobs, her gaze looking harsher than I’ve ever seen it. “The balance has shifted. He’s not loyal to Ringo. He’s probably run off by now.”
I glance around, realising I don’t remember the last time I saw him.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
My eyes track over Ringo. There’s blood all over him, but I know a lot of it is Smitty’s. He has two gashes on his torso. One on his side and one on his hip.
I have no idea how serious they are, but the fact he isn’t waking up is scaring the hell out of me.
“Ringo.” I reach for his head, turning it towards me a little. “Please wake up. We have a fight to finish.”
Tears burn my eyes, but I try to fight them off. I need to see clearly with all the chaos surrounding us.
Cupping the side of his face, I run my thumb over his cheek like he often does to mine, finding my thoughts drifting to God, or whatever holy being there is that can help us right now.
“Please let him live,” I whisper. “Please. I’ll do anything.”
The screams of Doxies huddled in the back corner meet our ears, and Celina’s anger falls away as concern takes over her expression.
“They are going to kill each other if someone doesn’t stop this.”
I fear she’s right. This needs to end.
I know I’m not an authority figure, but someone has to take action, so I let go of Ringo and slowly stand, taking out my gun and weaving through the crowd.
I get shoved, and jostled, and have to duck more swinging fists again, but I make it through to the bar, which is covered in shattered glass, and I swipe my arm across it to clear the way before hoisting myself up.
Standing on the bar top, I use my boot to kick off some more shards before staring around the room.
I can’t see my mum, sister, or Banes, and my heart sinks knowing they have gotten away, but I guess they’ll keep for a different day.
Forcing myself not to think too much, I lift my arm high, pointing my gun to the ceiling, and pull the trigger.
The crack is loud, halting some, so I pull the trigger again, shooting a second round, which has most men freezing in place, blinking around to see what’s happening.
“YOU NEED TO STOP!” I yell as loud as I can, and slowly, eyes upon eyes land on me, and I feel my cheeks heat like I’m under a spotlight.
A loud whistle sounds, and Vender leaps up onto the bar beside me, Mex doing the same on my other side a moment later.
“LISTEN UP!” Vender yells, and the violent shouts dull to a whisper. “There you go, Abs. You tell them how it is.”
I blush at Vender’s words, wanting to ask him to do it for me, but I need to do this. I need to help put an end to this since it mostly came about because of me.
“You need to stop fighting!” I call, trying to dig deep and remember the tips I got from having to get up in front of the class and talk at school.
“Ringo challenged Smitty the right way according to your bylaws. The fight was fair, and Ringo won. He’s alive, and when he wakes, do you really want him to find the men he’s been fighting to protect at each other’s throats? ”
A rumble of chatter floats through the crowd of men as they glance at each other, but their eyes still come back to me.
“I understand a lot of you are confused. I know losing Nate will be painful for many of you, but the club has rules for a reason, and according to them, your new President is Ringo. So stop being a bunch of babies, shake hands or hug it out, and then clean up this mess, because when Ringo comes to, he’s going to be the best damn President this club has ever had! ”
“Damn right!” JD yells from the centre of the room.
“You fucking heard her!” Mex bellows. “Get this shit cleaned up!”
And just like that, the club brothers around the room start bro-hugging and smiling at each other like they weren’t just punching the living hell out of each other.
“My God, I don’t think I’ll ever understand the way you men think.”
Mex and Vender chuckle at my words before Vender leaps down, reaching up to help me down too.
As I weave back through the crowd, this time not fearing I’ll catch a stray fist, I get small smiles and nods from the men, and it warms my heart a little at how safe I feel despite the fact these are all very dangerous men.
Lewy is already working on patching up Ringo’s wounds, and JD and Jols are there on the floor beside him, staring down at my husband, who still isn’t moving.
A flutter of panic courses through me…
What if he doesn’t wake up? What if he’s slowly dying?
I start pacing, chewing on my thumbnail, too scared to move any closer to see if my husband is still alive.
Please don’t die. Please don’t die.
“He’s awake!” JD calls, and a sob escapes me, my knees buckling, but this time, it’s Casey and Darla who catch me.
“It’s okay, Abs.” Jols half laughs, half sobs as she turns to look up at me. “This fucker is hard to kill.”
We all giggle at that, and I find my feet again as Ringo’s groan meets my ears.
“Did I win?”
“Yes, you fucking crazy bastard!” JD laughs. “You won! Smitty is dead.”
I feel like I should be cheering, but the glee just never comes.
Smitty was the crazy one, that’s for sure, but his death doesn’t make me happy.
I don’t know if it’s because there’s been so much death already, or because I know what this means.
Not that I wanted my husband to die, not ever, but now… now he’s the ruler of this club. He’s the new President of the Southern Sadists.
It’s good for the club. But for me, not so much.
“Cameron Musgrove, otherwise known as Ringo, is our new President!” JD calls, and the sound of fists thumping over hearts fills the space.
Glancing around, I find the men all looking this way. Some wearing smiles. Others frown. A couple glare.
JD and Lewy shift in unison, helping Ringo sit up before lifting him to his feet, and he wavers on the spot for a moment, pressing his hand to his head.
“Fuck, I’ve got a killer headache.”
“A head like that should ache,” JD chuckles, and the rumble of Ringo’s matching laugh has the corner of my mouth tugging north.
He turns in a half circle, his eyes scanning the space, and I instantly know they are seeking me out. I get the feeling he’s checking to see if I’ve run.
I should. This lifestyle is hard, and I’m still on the fence as to whether I want Bobbi to be a part of that, but shit, I love Ringo. Like heart crushingly so. I don’t want to lose him, but to have him, is to be a part of this life… for good.
“Angel,” he rasps, and his voice nearly melts me.
The sight of him standing with his shoulders hunched forward, his skin covered in blood and some dodgy bandage work by Lewy, is almost too much to bear.
Shit… I can’t leave him. I can’t live in this world without him, no matter where I am. Look at everything he’s sacrificed for me. For Bobbi. No matter what sort of life I live from this day forward, it has to have him in it. It just has to.
“We’re still in a fight,” I snap, but there’s no venom to it, and his sluggish grin has me mirroring it.
“I fucking love fighting with you, Angel.”
A laugh escapes me, and I take a step towards him when a voice stops me.
“A deal is a deal.”
We look to the side to see my grandfather, my mother, and my sister, Maggie, being held at gunpoint by Murf.
Shit. They didn’t escape.
A swarm of butterflies race through my chest and down into the pit of my belly, and I can’t tell if it’s fear or elation.
They are still here. They aren’t chasing Bobbi. I can still end this.
“It doesn’t matter who the leader of this club is,” Banes snaps. “The money has been paid, so give us Abbey, Bobbi, and the hard drive, and we’ll be on our way.”
I flinch at the balls on Banes. Or maybe it’s not balls, but delusion?
“Old man, you fucked with the wrong people.” Ringo sighs, like he can’t be bothered dancing around the situation like Nate often did, and he tries to straighten a little more, using JD as support.
“We’re an MC. We do business differently, and fucking handshakes and conversations don’t always work out.
The deal you had with Smitty is now null and fucking void. ”
“I don’t think so.” Banes shakes his head, his eyes flicking to me before going back to Ringo. “We agreed to the club’s terms.”
“Not the club’s terms,” Ringo snaps. “This was never brought to a vote, so the only deal you made is with the guy dead at my fucking feet.”