Chapter 19 Bleeding Hearts
Chapter nineteen
Bleeding Hearts
Roxy
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Scorpion yelled at Angelica, yanking her up from the barstool. The bar was full of patrons, but no one stepped in to help her as she stumbled.
“I was thinking with my dick. You’re familiar with that,” she shot back, regaining her balance.
I knew from experience that no one wanted to be on Scorpion’s radar.
He made snap decisions, not giving a fuck who he hurt.
Yet, it didn’t stop most of the women in the room from wanting a taste.
Angelica was an exception. She stood toe-to-toe with him, not giving an inch.
Rage surrounded them, tangible, as he screamed more insults directly into her face in the middle of the barn.
“Are you done?” she asked calmly. I thought Scorpion was going to hit her, and my feet shuffled a few steps forward.
When I realized I was the only one moving towards the bar, I turned slightly, motioning for Cactus to do something.
Angelica was his sister, and with how close they were, he should have been standing in front of her.
Instead, his feet never left the dance floor.
“She can handle him.” He held me by my elbow, but when I pushed against him to free myself, his grip tightened. “If I get involved, he’ll swing faster,” he whispered.
I made a face at him. “She’s your sister,” I pleaded.
“Trust me, he may back down now if I defend her, but that won’t be the end. He will play emotional games, using Bri against her, until he thinks she’s paid enough. There’s no telling how long that will last, and he’ll send me out of town as punishment.”
A protector wouldn’t stand by when he could deflect the situation.
Cactus might have been right, but I hated standing next to him when all I craved was for him to do something.
Anything. Somewhere underneath the logic was a man who was alright with letting his sister take the hits. What did that mean for me?
Scorpion didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. No one dared to look away from him. “No wonder your daughter thought it was okay to whore it out in a cemetery.” It wasn’t surprising he knew, even though Cactus and Huck had taken care of it.
Angelica’s hand came out, slapping Scorpion in the face. “You’re right, I’m whoring it out, sitting at a bar fully clothed. You’ve slept with at least four club bunnies this week.”
His face went pale, highlighting the red mark on his cheek. “You’re the only one I’d ever let hit me. Don’t do it again.” He leaned forward, taking up her personal space.
She didn’t bow down to him. Their lips were a breath apart. “They like to wait for me in the back parking lot to gloat. I’m done playing these games with you.” Anyone watching this shitshow knew she wasn’t in control.
“I shouldn’t be getting a phone call saying you’re in the bathroom fucking the bartender when you’ve always been mine.”
Angelica shook her head. The bouncer had called Scorpion, lying about what she’d been up to.
We’d checked on her repeatedly, and even if we didn’t have rules in place, she’d never left that barstool.
This was a ruse. She turned her back on him, but Angelica didn’t get very far.
Scorpion locked her arm in a tight grip.
“Stay here.” He let her go, took two strides to the front of the bar and sucker-punched the bartender. I had to give the man credit. He held onto the bar, refusing to hit the ground. It didn’t help him.
Still, no one interfered. The man threw a few weak punches, but when they didn’t land, he went on the defensive. It was only slightly better. Scorpion delivered blow after blow, each one more vicious than the last, until the man’s face was nothing more than a bloody pulp.
“Please,” the man begged. “Fuck! Have a little mercy. I have kids.”
Angelica flinched. I tried to join the fight, but Cactus held onto me. Lulu shifted in my direction, but she was too far from the scene to do anything, even if there had been something to do.
The bouncers moved through the crowd, finally coming to the bartender’s aid.
They’d been standing on the fringes, watching like everyone else.
It would take more than a few of them to control Scorpion.
He wasn’t some drunk asshole. He was the president of the local one-percent motorcycle club.
They would escort him out without warning until the next time this happened.
“Don’t leave,” Cactus told me. He moved with the rest of the club, each biker blocking a bouncer.
I caught Lulu’s eye, nodding towards the front of the barn. It was time to go before they even realized we were gone. She nodded, making her way slowly towards me. We didn’t need any bikers to suddenly understand we were leaving. They would just put guards on us, thwarting our escape.
Lulu and I made it to Angelica, and she let us guide her out of the place. None of us said a word as we got in the car. A fun girl’s night had turned into a brawl, and we were so used to the violence, we didn’t run.
We were almost to the motel when Angelica swiped at a tear. “Maybe I should see how much the saloon is worth and sell it.”
“Where would you go, sweets?” Lulu whispered. She had known Angelica longer, but I thought Ang was too good at running the place. I couldn’t see her ever giving it up.
“Anywhere but here.”
“Now, you’re talking nonsense.” Lulu’s voice broke into what seemed like a million pieces. “If you sell and take Bri, they’ll win, and you’ll always feel you’re on the run.”
I felt that. “It might be worse on the other side, but at least it’s different. The only good thing? It wouldn’t be this place.”
Angelica turned in her seat. “You know from experience?”
“I’ve always picked the worst choice for me, but I’ve learned one thing since being here. You don’t have to keep bleeding over old shit. Close it. Don’t pick the scar. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck in the same loop forever. Too bad we couldn’t drown him in the pond.”
“What about my brother? Is he a wound you’re going to let scar before you leave?” A look passed between us. Her eyes were soft, as if she knew what I was already going to say, and a quiet agreement passed in the silence. She’d step aside, and once I was gone, pick up his pieces.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her she was one reason I wouldn’t stay for Cactus. “No. He’s too busy taking care of everyone else first to remember how to relax. I won’t force more on him.”
We knew better, but we’d formed a friendship tied together with hope. Sometimes, hope’s cruelest trick was pretending escape was real.
As I opened my motel door later, I looked over my shoulder. Hoping I’d hear a motorcycle turning into the parking lot. It was funny how I kept waiting for a sign to prove me right when I’d already walked away.
***
Cactus
Scorpion strutted towards his bike. “I’m going to the cage fight, if anyone wants to come with.” I wouldn’t care if the fucking thing blew up with him on it. He’d gotten his way in the bar, and now he was going to find a fight, like he hadn’t had enough.
I said nothing, afraid something truthful would slip I wouldn’t be able to take back. The last thing I wanted was all hell to break loose. If it did, I’d deal, but his attitude was getting old. I had one place I needed to be before she got any more wrong ideas.
She hadn’t followed my instructions, dismissing them carelessly. I should have been angry. Fuck, I was furious. Underneath, there was something worse. For once in my adult life, I was afraid, and I hated the way it twisted through my heart.
If she had been in real danger, I would’ve lost my shit. This was a well-known bar. She hadn’t been alone. This wasn’t about her safety. It was about me.
She’d slipped away, and I wanted to yank her back to my side, but I couldn’t.
It would be the one thing that made her run faster, and I wouldn’t have a fucking chance in hell of keeping her.
I knew exactly where she was heading. Tonight had given her a better reason to ice me out. It wouldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.
“Which bitch are you running to?” Scorpion asked me.
I rubbed at my eyes, running my hand over my face before I answered. I needed a minute so I wouldn’t jump off my bike and beat him to a bloody pulp. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I protected what’s mine, while you stood there like a pussy.” He smirked, knowing he had me in a precarious position. “She’ll never walk away from me, no matter how much you want her to.”
If I had stepped in, there was no doubt in my mind, he would have made it worse for my sister, but Roxy saw it differently. She had wanted me to show strength. I didn’t, and the disgust in her eyes wouldn’t let me forget it.
“If you think I’m a bitch, challenge me.” I leaned against the seat of my bike, crossing my legs at the ankles. I wanted to appear relaxed, when I was anything but. “She’s not yours, and she’s not standing around waiting for you either. You’re just too stupid to realize you’ve lost her.”
He stood from his bike, cracking his knuckles.
“You think they’ll follow you? I have never lost a fight.
The rest of our territory fears the Saints because of me.
” Charging, he threw a punch the second he got close.
I caught it and gave him one back, harder.
My knuckles reddened as they grazed his cheek.
“Guys,” Huck tried to step in, but Scorpion held his hand out, stopping him.
“You think you can take me? No fucking way.” He swung at my side, but I stepped away just in time.
Scorpion’s fist caught the flaps of my club cut, but he left himself wide open.
I slammed my fist into his gut, forcing a grunt from his lips.
It didn’t stop him. He tried to land a left punch, followed by an uppercut that nearly clipped my chin.
We hit the ground hard, and my weight landed on top of him.
I kept swinging until my knuckles split.
The blood mixed with the sweat. Scorpion dug his elbows into the sharp gravel, using the leverage to twist, bucking me off.
He forced his fist into my gut. I couldn’t catch my breath, but I wouldn’t stop.
Not now. I’d bowed down to him for far too long.
“Break it up.” I thought that might have been Aces, but I didn’t stop defending myself until a few brothers pulled Scorpion off of me. A few more grabbed me under my armpits, hauling my ass up to stand.
“What the fuck was that?” Definitely Tumbleweed. “We’ve never taken potshots at each other. You should have challenged him.”
“You know, we’ve never had a wise man.” Scorpion shook off the brothers holding him, swiping his bottom lip with his thumb. It hadn’t split. “Maybe it’s about time to retire our first one.”
Is he really going for an age joke?
“Don’t call me. I’ll be busy at the cages.” He swung his foot back over his bike, giving a fake salute before he roared out of the parking lot. He didn’t need to look behind him, knowing most of the brothers would follow. Only the executives lingered near the bikes.
I eyed them, waiting for someone to take another swing. My fists clenched in anticipation. I came and went as I pleased, preferring not to bond over brotherhood. It didn’t make me well-liked, but I did the job, and no one had ever had any complaints.
“I fucking told you this was fucking going to be bad.” Tumbleweed spat his chew on the ground. He scanned me, looking for broken bones. I could have told him there were none. “I fucking called it, and no one listened to me.”
“What the fuck are we supposed to do, huh?” Flash barked.
“Scorpion scared the whole damn territory.” He paced, shaking his head.
“Now, I’m not the only one thinking his dick gets more action than his fucking brain.
” Flash’s jaw clenched, turning to pace in the opposite direction.
“Fear fades, and when it does? I don’t want to go to war. ”
All of their heads turned in my direction. “I do my part for the club, and that’s it. Don’t look at me to lead the rebellion. I don’t think any of us can fix him.”
I swung my leg over my bike, heading towards the shitty motel. I knew where the damage had hit, but I had thirty minutes before I’d get my chance to stop the bleeding. One shot to make it right, or lose her for good.