Serena
“Penso che sto iniziando a innamorarmi di te, tesoro.” Dante whispers into my hair.
I don’t know what he is saying, but warmth envelopes me. His words sound sweet, caring, and most importantly, genuine.
I cuddled in closer to his side, his arm wrapped around me. I inhale his scent, a mixture of sex and something dark. I don’t know what cologne he wears, but I am obsessed with it. It’s not too fragrant but still strong enough to notice.
Knowing Dante, it’s something extremely expensive that is imported from France or something.
We enjoy the silence together, holding on to each other like we never want to let go until my phone starts vibrating on the bedside table. I guess Dante was kind enough to put it there for me last night.
I let it ring out, not in the mood to answer whoever is on the other line. I just want to stay in the cocoon we have created together. The moment it stops ringing, it starts back up again. I groan before turning over and see my mom’s name pop up on my screen.
Shit. I forgot to let her know I was staying out for the night. She must be losing her mind right now. I quickly answered the phone.
My mom’s frantic voice greets me, half yelling at me for not explaining where I am. The other half, thankful I am alright. I apologize for forgetting, and let her know where I am.
“Dante? What happened to Midas, Odin, and Zeus?” My mom surprisingly says.
“Nothing happened. Just exploring.” I tease back.
My mom lets out a hearty chuckle, glad that I am not tying myself down again. After another minute of talking, Mom says her goodbyes, telling me to enjoy myself ‘as much as I want’ before hanging up.
I rolled back onto the bed with my phone, wanting to check the dozens of missed text messages I got last night. A few too many from mom. And a couple from the Kings.
Midas: Just checking in, angel.
Please text me back.
Midas: Angel, text me back.
Odin: Ignore him, princess. Someone
is just in a pissy mood.
Midas: I am not in a pissy mood, you
dickhead.
I smile at the group chat between the four of us. It was Zeus’s idea, that way I would be able to get a hold of all of them at the same time in case the stalker showed up again.
The only other message I have is from an unknown number. Dread courses through me, terrified of what the message could be. My stalker is still out there and is now messaging me again.
Dante senses my panic and curls himself around me. “Are you alright, darling?”
“I think my stalker sent me another message.” I choke the words out as terror consumes me. Of course, when I am finally starting to forget about them, they have to do something to insert themselves right back in.
Dante grabs my phone from me and opens the message. His eyes scan over the screen before a flurry of Italian comes charging out of his mouth. He is speaking so fast and aggressively, I couldn’t catch a single word he was saying, but I can guess the words he is using.
“I’m going to kill them.” He finally says in English.
Them? What does he mean by them?
I grab my phone from his hands and see what he is looking at. A picture is pulled up of Midas, Odin, and Zeus with girls all over them. A girl gripping Midas’s junk. A girl kissing up and down Odin’s neck. Lastly, a girl on her knees in front of Zeus.
What catches my attention is the look on their faces. They don’t look like they want them touching them. That is the only thing that calms the potential anger that wants to build in me.
When I look up from my phone, Dante is gone. The light in his walk-in closet is on, and I can hear him mumbling to himself. I jump out of his bed, quickly dressing in my discarded clothes, and walk over to see what he is doing.
Dante is standing in the middle of his closet, only wearing a pair of black boxers. All rational thoughts leave my head, and my jaw is practically on the floor as I blatantly stare at his almost naked body.
Dante doesn’t look like a regular man. He is what dirty dreams are made of. His muscles look like they have been carved by Adonis himself. His chiseled abs catch my eye instantly. The mouth-watering deep V that disappears between his boxers.
Seeing Dante is panty-melting sexy, but seeing him almost naked makes me feel like I have no control over my body. Even after everything we just did together, and how thoroughly fucked I am, I would still gladly do it again.
The most prominent thought is getting on my knees for him so he can feed me his cock. His hands wrapped around my hair as he controlled my every movement. Forcing me to take as much as I can.
We will definitely be doing that the next time.
He throws on a pair of dark-washed jeans, a white T-shirt, a leather jacket, and a pair of sunglasses. He turns around, grabs my hand, and starts pulling me out of his room, down a long hall, a flight of stairs, and out the front door.
He pushes a button and the three-door garage on the right side opens all the doors. Inside, three very expensive cars are waiting. A bright red Ferrari SF90 Spider. A midnight blue Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica. Last, a blacked-out Mercedes G-Wagon. Dante grabs a set of keys that are hanging by the door before the lights on the Mercedes shine.
We walked over to the Mercedes, Dante opening the door for me. I climb into the seat, wanting to say something, but he closes the door before I can find the right words to say.
The drive is quiet. The tension radiating off Dante is making the air thick between us. His hand gripping the steering wheel tightly as he weaves through traffic.
I stare out the window, watching the world zip by as I think about that picture that was sent to me. I recognized that it was taken at the MC clubhouse. The memories of that place still send dread through me. Not a place I ever want to step foot in again. The biggest question I have is, is my stalker someone from the MC? But if it is, who?
The only people I know are Midas, Odin, Zeus, and their dads. It doesn’t feel right that the guys would be behind this, so is one of their dads my stalker?
Or… are they just trying to get between the guys and me?
I snap out of my thoughts when the car stops outside my house. Dante rips open his door and storms over to Midas’s house. I watch him through the window for a few moments before the shock wears off. I race after Dante as he rushes up the driveway. He doesn’t bother knocking. Instead, he rears his leg back and kicks the door off its hinges. I curse under my breath, knowing that there are only three options here. One, Zane, Ryker, and Axel are in there and kill Dante on sight. Two, Midas, Odin, and Zeus are in there and kill Dante on sight. Or three, Dante goes in guns blazing and kills whoever is in that room.
Panic wars in me, propelling me faster towards the front door, hoping to get in front of Dante and stop whatever is about to happen in there. Dante is standing just inside the front door, his gun drawn, pointing towards a very confused Midas. Odin and Zeus are standing behind me, looking equally as confused.
Midas snarls as his hand reaches behind him, readying to grab something. My guess is his gun. I rush in front of Dante, spreading my arms out, wanting to stop anyone from moving. My eyes meet Midas’s face, hoping he can see in my eyes that this is all over dramatic. The only problem is his eyes aren’t on mine, they are laser focused on my neck, on the very obvious dark hickey that Dante left there earlier this morning.
“What the fuck is that?” Midas screams into the room.
Dante chuckles behind me. His arm with the gun wraps around my midsection and pulls me against his body. “Isn’t it pretty? I left that on her this morning while I fucked her until she almost passed out.” The cocky tone of his voice would turn me if this wasn’t such a dire situation. “Looks like finally made her decision, and she picked the better option.”
Woah. What? I turn to Dante, ready to yell at him and tell all of them that I haven’t picked anyone. Midas rushes towards us, anger taking over. Dante pushes me out of the way, readying to swing at Midas, but Midas throws the first punch, a right hook, hitting Dante in the face. A growl erupts from his throat, and he tackles Midas to the ground. I watch in shock as the two of them start rolling around, punching each other.
I look at Odin and Zeus, wanting them to get between them and stop this, but they don’t move. They are just as confused as I am about all this.
Finally having enough of this, I take a step towards the duo on the ground, wanting to intervene and stop this, but they don’t notice me getting closer. I scream at them to stop, but they don’t hear me. Too focused on inflicting pain on each other. Or kill each other. Throwing insults and threats at each other, but it’s all static noise to me. I don’t hear the words they are saying, just wanting it all to stop.
Midas is on top of Dante, pinning him to the ground as he repeatedly punches him. I grabbed Midas’s arm, trying to stop the next blow to Dante’s face, but instead I took a full force hit from his elbow to my face. The crack of my nose stops Midas and Dante’s fighting.
I grip my nose, feeling blood pooling in my cupped hands. Both look at me with such shock and horror. I stagger back a couple of steps, needing space between them and myself. Odin and Zeus rush over next to me. Dante and Midas got up off the floor and tried to step towards me, but I put up my bloody hand, stopping them in their tracks.
I don’t say anything, I just walk out of Midas’s house and over to mine with Odin and Zeus. Once inside, I walk into the kitchen and grab a towel, some ice, and place it on my nose.
“Do you want to tell us what that was about, princess?” Odin cautiously asks.
I take my phone out of my pocket, open the message with the picture of them, and toss it to him. Odin and Zeus both look down at my phone. Their faces go from confused to guilty and then finally angry.
“I know you guys didn’t want them to touch you. It’s obvious from your faces. You don’t need to explain. I was never mad about it. Dante was. The only thing I want to know is who sent it to me.”
Before they can say anything, Midas and Dante storm into the kitchen. Both looked guilty that I got caught up in their fight. Midas looks at me as if he wants to comfort me, but with Dante getting closer to me, he turns to Odin and Zeus.
They showed him the picture that was sent to me. If he may get even angrier. “I’m going to kill him.”
“Who?” Zeus asks.
“My dad.” All four of us swivel our heads towards Midas, waiting for him to explain further. “Last night, when all that happened, I saw him with his phone in his hand. I had no idea he was taking a picture, but it makes sense.”
Midas, Odin, and Zeus start talking to each other, while Dante embraces me. He checks my nose, making sure it’s not broken. Thankfully, it’s not. Just hurts like a bitch.
Zero out of ten stars. Would not recommend.
So Zane is the one who sent that picture. Does that mean he is my stalker?
It weirdly makes sense. He has been extremely obsessive. I thought it was to my mom until that night at the clubhouse when he, Ryker, and Axel cornered me in that weird bedroom. The way they spoke to me, telling me I could become their queen. How they touched and kissed me was against my will.
He always seems to be around, inviting himself over for dinner. He came to my bedroom that one night and was pissed off when I mentioned Evan.
Were these all signs that I didn’t want to acknowledge?
Panic swells in me, the pain from my nose completely forgotten. This is not how I saw my Saturday going.
“Do you think that’s why he made us members last night? To get closer to ?” Odin looks at me with concern in his eyes.
I never knew they weren’t members. I knew they did jobs for their dad and the club, so I just assumed they were. More pieces are being added to the puzzle, and it’s starting to show me the answer that was under my nose the whole time.
“Is Zane my stalker?”
I didn’t realize the words left my mouth until four very pissed off faces looked like they were ready to charge out of my house and kill him on the spot. I rush to the kitchen entrance, stopping them in their tracks.
“We need to be rational about this. We need more proof before you barbarians do something stupid.”
“Quell'uomo merita di morire. Questo è solo un altro motivo per ucciderlo.”
Zeus, being the only sensible one out of the bunch, stands beside me. He looks to Midas, trying to get him to see reason, knowing I am right. We can’t just go out guns blazing and kill a man with only a hunch.
“As much as it makes sense, it doesn’t at the same time. I heard my stalker the night he broke in. It didn’t sound like Zane. So maybe he is the brain behind it and someone else broke in, or I am completely wrong.”
That seems to take the fight out of the remaining three.
Dante guides me into the living room, while the others trail behind us, and sits down with me. Midas picks me up, placing me on his lap. I can feel how tense his body is beneath mine. But his arms are relaxed around my midsection, like he doesn’t have a care in the world. I can see what this is. Midas is marking his territory in front of Dante. Not that Dante looks too pissed about it right now.
Now, we need to come up with a plan to smoke the fucker out and figure out who he is.
The rest of that day went out of control in more ways than one.
The five of us sat down and attempted to come up with a plan. I spent more time trying to get Midas and Dante not to shoot each other than to be productive. With one look from me, the bickering would stop, but they refused to agree to anything the other said.
It became very exhausting very quickly.
Odin and Zeus tried to play neutral in each argument, but Midas would give them a death glare every time they did. An unspoken conversation would happen between the three that would result in Odin and Zeus backing off until I stepped in.
The only thing that the guys could agree on in the end was for the Kings to keep their normal routine around the dads, not wanting them to become suspicious of us. With them officially becoming members of the MC, we all expected their presence to be needed at the clubhouse more often.
Odin seems to think the only reason for the chance of increased meetings is that their dads are hoping I will tag along and show up. Hell no. Never happening again. If I never have to step foot in there again, it would be too soon.
Which was proven when the three of them were called to the clubhouse later that night.
They were resistant to leave me alone with Dante, but he received a call from Marco, and he left shortly after them.
Today, the Kings showed up at my house in the late afternoon. All three were covered in cuts and bruises, but they refused to give me any answers as to why. No matter how much I pestered, their lips were sealed. Eventually, I relented, knowing they would keep their secrets, but I have my suspicions.
I don’t know the full scale of what they do in the MC, and I honestly don’t want to know. That world is so far from reality to me that the thought of even dipping a toe into it is jarring. But from the small glimpses I have seen and the rumors that float around this entire town, I know they are always stuck doing the dangerous and deadly work. Their dads don’t seem to care about their lives. If they died, I don’t even think they would care.
Knowing that I told Dante about Evan, it was only fair that I told the Kings too. It wasn’t an easy conversation with them, but none of them interrupted me as I spoke. I kept glancing between the three of them, needing to know what their reactions were to each vile thing that left my lips. Murder glared back at me from Midas and Odin. Zeus, on the other hand, looked as if he already knew most of what I was saying.
I don’t know how he knew, but he did. I could see it in his eyes. While there was still murderous intent, there was no shock like the other two.
I gritted my teeth and spoke words that tasted like acid on my tongue. All the pain and sorrow I felt for years, but endured because it was all I knew. How I isolated myself for a man that wasn’t even worthy of sharing the same air as me. The feeling I was so consumed by for him was nothing but lies. The pain he put me through, both physically and mentally. How I gained an eating disorder because I didn’t fit a standard of beauty, no matter how beautiful I thought I was.
The visible bruises vs the metaphorical ones left on my soul. How I took the words he said to me to heart, thinking how I would never be enough for him, or anyone. I wasn’t perfect enough to be by his side, even though he was the one who was far from perfect.
His family is a joke. A perfectly crafted lie to seem like they are the ideal American family. Even though they were far from that. Henry, a doting husband/father who worked in politics, wanted to make the world a “better place”. A better place for himself and his rich buddies who profited from the less fortunate.
Olivia, a wife/mother who was lucky enough to be able to stay home and raise her children, even though behind closed doors she barely paid attention to them unless it was something that made her look good. Three children who excelled at everything they did in life.
His father is almost twenty years older than his mother. He was a teacher at a university that Olivia attended. He was one of her professors, and she tried to seduce him to pass his class. It worked, and they kept their “love” a secret for a couple of years until she got pregnant with Evan. After that, she dropped out and gave up everything to be with Henry.
They quickly got married so Evan wouldn’t be a bastard, and they could pretend he was a honeymoon baby. It took ten years before they tried for another child. Sarah was born, shortly followed by Timothy.
When I finally finished with the first time I saw them at school, my throat was dry and my cheeks damp with tears. I promised myself that would be the last time I ever spoke his name again. Evan no longer deserved a second of my time. He deserved no more tears from me.
At the end of my story, I expect them to be all up in arms over everything. I expected having to calm them all down. Stopping them from going on a rampage, but that never happened. I could still feel their bodies coiled tight like a cobra ready to strike, but they didn’t say anything.
Midas was the one I was most worried about. Calling him a loose cannon would be an understatement, but he was the most collected out of the bunch. His eyes had hardened. His body was tense. It was clear to everyone in the room that a plan was cooking away in his head, but whatever it was, he kept it to himself.
Odin was the first to jump from his seat and wrap his arms around me, holding me tightly against his chest. His scent invaded my senses, erasing the past and showing me where my future was.
Zeus got up and wrapped Odin and me in his arms. Even more comfort swarms my body, but something is missing. I peek my head around Odin and lock eyes with Midas. I can see the internal battle he is waging. Wanting to give comfort but unsure how.
I wiggle way out of Odin and Zeus’s grips and rush over to Midas. I lock my arms around his neck and press my body against his. He goes rigid for a moment, unsure of what to do before slowly wrapping his arms around me and holding me close to him. A contented sigh leaves his lips, and he nuzzles his head into my hair.
The rest of the day was spent in their embraces. Watching movies and relaxing. We told each other some stories about our lives, which was harder for me than I would have liked. Most of my memories involving Evan and Cleo, and I didn’t want to walk down that particular memory lane.
I listened as the guys told me more about their childhood. Their fathers were more involved in the club than in raising them, so Pops took over that. Zeus recalled memories of the two of them rebuilding old cars and motorcycles together. He even has one of the cars that he and Pops rebuilt together in the garage at his home.
Odin talked about spending his time with Pops and his wife, learning how to cook. With his mom usually incapacitated because of her drug problem, Odin had to grow up too quickly. He needed to know how to fend for himself because no one else would help him. Except Pops.
Midas talked about the many conversations he and Pops shared. He taught him what being a leader was like. How important it was to guide and nurture those around you. To give a helping hand to anyone less fortunate than you. To be a better man.
“My greatest flaw in life is not living up to what Pops taught me.” Midas’s voice was thick with emotion. “When he died, it was like every good part of me died with him. My father got his claws into me, and I turned into him. I became exactly what he wanted. It’s the one thing I hate about myself the most.”
“You may have been that man, but that doesn’t mean you need to stay him.” I place my hand on Midas’s knee, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “That’s something I have learnt since moving here. We can choose to stay who we were. The version of ourselves that we hated. Or we can grow and become who we want. It just takes realizing that to make it happen.”
“And who do you want to be?”
“A queen.”