Chapter 31 RINGO
My Angel’s caramel eyes dart up to mine, terror flickering through them before relief washes over her from head to toe.
I didn’t mean to scare her, but being woken by one of my club brothers to tell me my wife was in a container with her grandfather kind of lit a fire under my arse, and now I’m tired, grumpy, hurting, and fucking wild with fear that something might have happened to her.
“We’ll talk about the fact that you snuck out later,” I snap, and her eyes flare as she sucks her lips in between her teeth, biting down.
Does she even know how fucking sexy she is?
“You have tainted my granddaughter,” Banes snarls, drawing my attention, and Abbey spins back to face him.
“We’ve gotten off track,” she says, and I know she’s struggling with her emotions right now. I heard enough before I stepped inside to know what Banes did with Maggie.
I should just shoot the fucker now.
“The hard drive,” Abbey snaps. “What’s on it?”
“Evidence.” He grins smugly, and I ball my fucking fists, fighting the urge to lurch forward and smash his smug fucking grin right off his face.
“There is video footage of high-level government officials doing not so savoury things, as well as a list of names and locations. But again, nothing of your concern, Abigail. But it was a concern to the previous President of this club.”
Shit. Smitty.
“Explain,” I bark, and Banes remains quiet for a long moment, his eyes tracking over me and my wife. I notice his eyes linger on our hands and the way our fingers intertwine, and at how close we stand to each other.
“You don’t see the irony in the man you’ve chosen to be your husband?” he finally speaks, and fuck, I wish he’d just shut the hell up. “You’ve only been of legal age for a short time, Abigail. How is that different to me and Maggie?”
A strangled gasp flies from Abbey’s lips, and I want to fucking kill this motherfucker right the fuck now, but we need answers first.
“You’re kidding, right?” Abbey snarls. “Maggie is still a fucking child! And you’re her grandfather! There are so many things wrong with that, and nothing like me and Ringo. Now stop stalling and explain what Smitty had to do with the hard drive!”
“I see you speak just as vulgarly as these thugs,” Banes snaps before finally answering her question.
“The hard drive is encrypted, so Mr Smith couldn’t open the files, but he could read the filenames.
I guess seeing one named Nate Smith had him worried.
Part of the deal was for me to wipe him off the hard drive.
But he was a fool. I never intended to delete his files. ”
“Are you saying…” Abbey chokes, not able to finish that sentence, and fuck, I don’t even want to think of what he means but I can’t help it. I fucking know what this means.
“It all makes so much more sense now,” I mutter over Abbey’s head. “He was trying to cover his own arse.”
“Desperate men do desperate things to protect their secrets,” Banes preaches, making me want to fucking gut him right the fuck now.
“So he didn’t want anyone to find out he… what? Raped a woman?” Abbey asks, and Banes scoffs.
“Not a woman. A child. Two to be exact.”
My world tips on its fucking axis and I nearly stagger back, but Abbey’s knees go weak, and she nearly collapses, so I hold her up, bracing her shoulders, helping her stay upright.
“Smitty… raped two children?” Abbey squeaks, and Banes shakes his head.
“You call it rape. I do not.”
“Oh, my bad,” she scoffs. “I should have said he lay the flame within two children?”
“Yes,” Banes answers so casually, like we aren’t talking about one of the worst violations a human can do to another.
“I’m sure if you speak with Celina, she will confirm that it was an honour to have Mr Smith’s blessing in the name of the church.
Look at how she’s flourished ever since.
Wendy too, although I believe she met her death at your hand, Abigail. ”
I fucking stiffen, running his words through my head over and over to make sure I fucking heard him right.
Celina? Wendy?
Is he saying Nate found them through that fucking trafficking ring? That he raped them and then fucking kept them?
I think back to the relationship they all had. Celina was his favourite, gaining old lady status, but was she here of her own free will? She never acted like it was any other way. But then, I guess he probably groomed them if they were underage when they first met.
Shit. Fucking Smitty. I wish he was still alive so I could see his face when he realised his secret was no longer a fucking secret.
Then, I’d kill him in the most painful way.
Fire.
“You’re all sick!” Abbey yells, pressing her hand to her mouth like she’s fighting the urge to hurl. “This is all just so… sick!”
“Your attempted insults do nothing, so let’s focus on business, shall we?
” Banes sneers, parting his lips to speak again.
“That hard drive is worth more money than you can possibly imagine on the dark web. I’m happy to split the sale.
Fifty, fifty. Just hand it over and set us free.
You’ll get your money and never have to see us again. ”
This fucker is delusional if he thinks we are fuelled by money and I’m about to tell him so when Abbey speaks.
“You know, I kinda hoped you would somehow slightly redeem yourself,” she says, shaking her head in disbelief. “Instead, you’ve done nothing but cement your death.”
Spinning, those big doe eyes meet mine, and I can see she’s ready to leave, so I take her hand and lead her out of the container, ignoring Banes’ attempts to get us to stay.
“Lock it up,” I bark to Murf, who nods and does what I asked, as Abbey looks around to the men.
“Okay… who was it?” she asks, cocking her hip and crossing her arms over her chest. “Who dobbed me in?”
Fingers get pointed at Murf and Teddy, one of our young Sadists, and I smirk at how the latter flinches back when Abbey’s hands fly to her hips.
“What’s the saying? Snitches get stitches?” she snaps, and Teddy’s gaze darts to Murf.
“He ordered me to.” He points to Murf, who just rolls his eyes.
“No offence, Abbey.” Murf holds up calming hands. “But I don’t want to fucking die, and the quickest way for that to happen is to keep shit from my President.”
“Too fucking right,” I mutter, the burn of the cuts flaring now that the adrenaline from being inside that fucking container with the most twisted fucking man I’ve ever met has worn off.
Trying to appear like I haven’t been fucking sliced and diced in the last six hours, I slip my arm around Abbey’s shoulders, drawing her closer to me, and gently leading her away from the containers that are now acting as a fucking prison block.
The further away we get from the containers, the more I let go of my facade, and I start to limp, needing to lean on Abbey.
“Shit… I’m sorry.” She wraps her arm around my back, trying to help me.
My hip hurts more than the gash in my fucking side. I was worried when the knife went into my gut that it would hit something vital, but as far as the guys could tell, I got fucking lucky.
“We need to get you back to bed,” she whispers as we start crossing the yard, but I shake my head, and redirect her towards the container that sits over the dungeon.
“I wanna speak to Lewy first. He told me he has the hard drive Smitty was selling to Banes. Apparently, Nate had asked Lewy to try to access the files.”
“Oh… What are you going to do with it?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, limping up to the door and tugging it open.
Lewy’s head pops up from behind a screen in the back end of the container, and I hobble in with Abbey closing the door behind us.
“Sarg… I mean, Prez. Do you need something?”
I chuckle. “Shit, man. I don’t think I’ll get used to being called Prez. I’ve been Sarg for so fucking long.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Lewy waves me off.
“The hard drive. Any luck with your tech geeks getting into it?”
“Ringo!” Abbey scolds me as I lower to a seat, and Lewy chuckles.
“It’s okay. They are geeks.”
Abbey smiles, but it doesn’t meet her eyes.
She’s clearly exhausted. I guess she couldn’t sleep earlier, but I need to get her into bed.
There are some serious decisions that need to be made tomorrow…
or I guess it’s really later today given the current time.
But either way, she needs to be clearheaded, and the best way to achieve that is sleep.
“One of my guys has been able to get through the encryption on some of the files, including the one Smitty was worried about.”
My fucking brows shoot up, watching as Lewy stands, holding out a file for me, so I take it, hesitating to open it.
“I’ve ahhh… blurred out certain things,” Lewy explains, “but you really need to see who’s in the pictures with him.”
I don’t tell Lewy I think I already know, my eyes flicking up to Abbey’s to silently ask her if she wants to look away, but she just nods towards the folder, so I slowly open it.
“They are screenshots from videos…” Lewy trails off, and even though I was expecting to see younger versions of Nate, Celina and Wendy, I wasn’t quite prepared for just how young they were.
“Oh my God,” Abbey gasps, her hands flying to her lips as tears gather in her eyes. “They are so young. Are they even teenagers?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know, Angel. Fuck…” I hiss. “I should have known. How didn’t I fucking know?”
“How could you?” Lewy asks. “As far as I can see from the first video, the girls were purchased at some sort of auction. But Sarg… shit, I mean Prez…” Lewy scolds himself, but I don’t even care about that shit.
“What is it?” I ask, knowing whatever it is, won’t be good.
“Look at the other pictures.” He directs me, and I flip through them until I see what he needs me to see.
“Spud and Tups,” I mutter, and Abbey stiffens.
“Spud is locked up, but where is Tups?”
“Video surveillance had him going into his bungalow after Spud was dragged away. I haven’t clocked him leaving since,” Lewy offers, and I slowly stand.
“Keep an eye on his bungalow. If he exits, call Mex and Vender to grab him and lock him up too. Otherwise, we’ll deal with him when the sun rises.”
“Copy that,” Lewy says, nodding our way.
“Do you ever sleep?” Abbey asks, and Lewy offers her one of his rare smiles.
“Sometimes during the day. Otherwise, me and caffeine are best friends.”
She giggles, and we leave, fucking slowly since I can’t seem to hide my hobble now.
Jesus Christ, I’m too old for this shit.
We make our way back across the yard and down the path to the bungalow. I’m dog fucking tired, and I can see my Angel is now too, so I’m surprised when she stops at the bottom of the steps to my bungalow, looking like the weight of the world is on her shoulders.
“Angel?” I ask, and she sighs, tipping her head back to look up at the black sky of nothingness since the clouds hide all the stars.
“I don’t know how to make this work.”
Shit. My fucking heart sinks.
Is this it? Is she going to leave my old arse now?
“You want out?” I ask, hating how my voice cracks.
I told her before we got married that she could end it when all of this was over. I don’t want her to, but I’ll never force her into something again.
Those doe eyes blink up at me, the faint glow of the porch light showing me her flushed cheeks, and I brace myself for the worst.
“I don’t want out, Cam. I love you. I just never pictured having to raise Bobbi and Tahli here on a compound.
I kinda thought we’d live with your mum and sisters on your property.
” She shrugs as disappointment washes over her.
“And now that you’re the President… if I’m at your property and not here with you, it’s only a matter of time until you find yourself an old lady. ”
Her lower lip wobbles as she says old lady, and I reach out, cupping her cheek.
“Angel, no. Never. You are it for me. My wife. My old lady. My missus. My girl. My Angel,” I remind her, stepping up closer and pressing my forehead to hers. “I don’t know how to make this work either, but wherever I am, you are, got it?”
“But Bobbi… Tahli…”
“Angel, let me ease your worries. When I say you, I mean them, too. We are a family, and I know it’s all so new and messed up now that I’m the President, but we will navigate it together.
” I press my lips to the apple of her cheek before I continue.
“I want to be Bobbi’s dad and a big brother to Tahli.
I feel like Hope brought you all to me to fill the hole she left.
I need you, Abs. I don’t think I can do this without you. ”
Pulling back, her eyes dance between mine, her hands coming up to fist the front of my cut.
“If even one of the Doxies comes on to you and tries to steal you from me, I’ll fuck them up.” She stabs a sharp finger to the centre of my chest. “And I’ll fuck you up, too. I’ll—”
“Shhhh,” I chuckle, pressing my finger to her lips to get her to stop spitting venom at me. “The only woman I want is you until the day I die. I’m yours, Abs. You own me, not the other way around.”
She pouts, and it’s fucking adorable.
“You own me too,” she whispers, rising on her toes to press her lips to mine.
For a minute, I forget that I’m covered in cuts, or that I’m sporting two deep fucking gashes. I just feel her, taste her, smell her, and know, without a doubt, that I’ll love no one on this Earth more than her. Ever.
When we slip quietly back inside the bungalow, Jols and JD are still sound asleep.
I hold my fucking breath, trying not to make a sound every time I twist the wrong fucking way, feeling the burn of my hip and gut.
My wife can see the pain I’m in, and helps me back into bed, and once she joins me, I finally relax again.
I’m out like a fucking light in no time, but a loud bang has me gasping awake, who knows how long later as I jerk up in pain and blindly search for my gun.
“Shhh, it’s okay.” Abbey’s soothing voice fans against my ear, and I blink a few times to clear the haze from my eyes. “Someone is banging on the door.”
“Who the fuck is disturbing my beauty sleep?!” JD yells, dragging his naked arse out of bed, not even fucking concerned that he’s flashing my wife.
The fucker swings the door open, early morning light flowing in around him as one hand scratches his head, and the other scratches his fucking arse cheek.
Jesus fucking Christ. Maybe I should’ve taken the fucking President’s cottage.
“This better be good,” JD snaps. “I was having the best dream.”
“I can fucking tell.” Vender chuckles. “Can you point that thing in another fucking direction?”
JD looks down, obviously spotting his hard-on, and just shrugs, hiding the fucking thing with his hands as both Abbey and Jols giggle.
“What do you need, Vender?!” I call, and JD steps aside so Vender can see in.
“We have a problem,” he grumbles.
“We have a lot of fucking problems,” I mutter. “Which one brings you to my door at fucking sunrise?”
“Tups is gone, and he’s taken Spud and Banes with him.”