Chapter 17
The last thing Hades wanted to do today was tell the Obsidian Riders who his father was, but he had done it. After what felt like a million questions, he shut the meeting down and headed toward the elevator.
He caught Harley’s eye and then averted his gaze. She sat at the bar with her sister, but her eyes had been on him the entire time they had been there. He had been avoiding her all day. After they fucked all day and well into the night, he watched her sleep for several hours before slipping out of the room. He didn’t want to be near her when she awakened. The shame that filled him when he thought about how vulnerable he’d been with her wasn’t something he felt like dealing with, so he didn’t.
The only reason she was at Underworld Customs with him that day was because he needed to hand her off to her sister for a little while. He’d already spoken to Major about it and let him know he needed to watch Harley carefully. The next step was telling her she wouldn’t be going back to his house and covering her costs for new clothes and shit. He planned to have Major keep her on lock and key. He really didn’t care if she had patients or not. Until his father cleared up this mess with Drew, he would need to make sure she was safe.
Then keep her home where she belongs. Hades shoved that thought out of his head. He needed space. Harley had him acting like a new man, and he finally admitted to himself in the wee hours of the morning as he watched her sleep that he was afraid. She scared the shit out of him because she made him feel something other than rage. She made him wonder what it might be like to really have her as his. Not in the possessive kind of way he wanted to claim her, but in the way that she chose him, and he chose her every day. Where love was present between them.
Hades shook his head. Love wasn’t for him, and Harley was the reason his mind was so fucked up in the first place, which solidified his decision to have her go stay with her sister. He turned his body to walk in her direction. Every step he took felt like a stab wound to his heart, but he knew this shit had to be done.
Cati looked up at him and quickly moved out of his way as he approached. Harley looked at him nervously. There was no doubt in his mind that she felt the shift in him. He hadn’t gone back to the way he used to treat her. Instead, he ignored her completely after taking something so precious from her all night long, over and over again. He felt like an ass for making her feel this way, and he felt like a bigger ass for the spark of hope that flashed in her eyes as he walked up on her. He was about to crush her spirit, but it needed to be done. Once this shit with Drew was handled, he would let her go and try to forget about her. In his mind, that was the better alternative than growing closer to her and allowing her access to hurt him.
“You gon’ go stay with your sister until this Drew situation is handled,” Hades said, not giving her time to speak.
Just as he thought, he saw a fleet of emotions flash across Harley’s face before she settled on sadness. Tears filled her eyes as she quietly asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
He frowned. In the back of his mind, he was kicking his own ass for making her feel this way. She was sensitive and soft. Like my mama. She deserved so much better than this. Than him. His jaw ticked, and he ran a hand down his face. “Nah, man. You didn’t. I just need you to stay out of dodge for me, aight?”
He pinched her chin and turned to leave when he heard someone a few barstools down snort before saying, “Didn’t take him long to kick you to the curb, huh, bitch?”
Hades stopped in his tracks and slowly turned, but he was too slow. All he saw was a flash of dark purple and black leather as Cati lunged at Vixen.
Major, who had been observing the scene comfortably from his own barstool a few feet away, jumped into action. It was a rider rule that there was no fighting amongst family, and that included significant others. Hades knew Major worried this would earn him a violation, but that was far from the case.
As soon as Major had Cati by the waist, she yelled, “I told you about speaking on my sister, ho! Talk about any other mothafucka in here, but my man and my sister are off limits! I swear to God I’ma fuck you up as soon as I get the chance. I promise you that, Victoria. ”
Cati’s use of Vixen’s real name was a major violation. The club respected given names to the highest degree, but again, Hades wasn’t worried about that. He kept his eyes on Vixen, who nursed a rapidly swelling eye. As soon as she opened her mouth to respond, Hades spoke calmly. “You violated.”
Everyone stilled. They all knew what those two words meant.
Vixen’s face crumpled as she looked at Hades. “W-what?”
“You heard me. You violated. You’re not one of us anymore. You’ll need to hand in your patches and leathers by the end of the day.” Hades spoke so evenly and calmly that everyone looked at him with caution, wondering when the other shoe would drop.
Slowly, Vixen stood, wobbling slightly from the blow to her head. “B-but, rules state there’s no disrespect to members. She’s not a member.”
Hades walked over to Harley and snatched her left hand up, showing off her ring. “The fuck did you think this meant? She is family. She is a part of the Obsidian Riders.” He turned to face everyone else. “Let that be a fuckin’ lesson to all you mothafuckas. This one right here? She’s off-limits. Respect her as my equal, or you’ll be out of the club on bad standing too.”
“Over that bitch that just got here?” Vixen cried, never understanding when to shut the fuck up.
Hades snatched her up so fast, nobody had time to process. With his large hand around her throat, he dragged her like a rag doll over to the elevator, jamming his finger into the button repeatedly. When the elevator finally opened, he tossed her in before leaning down and placing his hand on the door to stop it from closing. “Don’t no man like a pick me ass bitch. You better off going to find you a white boy. After you drop your shit off, you’re exiled from this side of town. If you’re spotted, the riders have full permission to handle you however they see fit.”
Her fear excited him, and he laughed menacingly as he pressed the button for the main floor and stepped away.
When he turned around, he bumped into Harley’s small frame, and his excitement died down.
With tears still swimming in her eyes, she looked up at him, silently pleading with him as she asked, “Did you mean all that?”
Hades looked down at her, and though he wanted to spill his guts to her, he refrained. Tink was a dangerous being, and he needed to train himself to stay far away. She could do way better than him, and it was best she learned that now.
Slowly, he ran his hand down the side of her face and down her neck, drinking her in before dropping his hand. “Lay low and take care of yourself. Lu is going to bring Pixie to you. Spend some time with your sister. Reclaim that bond. Be good.”
Before she could respond, he turned and walked toward the stairway, forcing himself not to look back as foreign emotions consumed him.
Unease filled Harley’s heart as she looked around the crowded club. After being cooped up in her sister’s apartment for the last three weeks, being out in a crowd of people didn’t sit right with her.
She looked down at the ring on her finger and knew it was only a matter of time before they were busted, and dread filled her as she thought about the aftermath of this silly outing.
“Would you stop worrying?” Blair shouted as she dropped into the booth next to Harley and slung her arm around her shoulders.
Harley rolled her eyes with a small shake of her head. Blair and Sage didn’t know Hades like she did. Cari had no excuse though. She had known Hades much longer than her and knew what he was capable of, yet she was the ringleader of this grandiose plan.
Harley had learned pretty quickly that Cati was no longer the sheltered and abused little girl. Her sister flourished into a social butterfly, and Major had done his best to keep her contained, per Hades’s orders, but that all came to a crashing halt that night.
“Is she over here being a party pooper?” Cati asked, sitting down on the other side of Harley and breathing heavily. She and Sage, who sat next to Cati, had been living it up on the dance floor and throwing back shots. Harley was the only sober one because she knew this whole night would backfire on them.
“She is,” Blair replied. “That man has her shook.”
Cati grabbed Harley’s hand, rubbing the finger with her ring on it. “We knew he would find us eventually, Lady Bug. It’s about having a bit of fun before that.”
“How can we have fun if he’s about to completely lose it on all of us? And what about Drew?” Harley was paranoid.
Being cast out of the comfort of Hades’s home had her on edge. She’d enjoyed reconnecting with her sister and appreciated her time with Cati, but she hated that it had to be at the expense of whatever she and Hades had been building. Major did his best to create a comfortable environment in their apartment for Harley, but she missed Hades. She didn’t understand how they spent such an intimate night together, only for him to turn around and throw her away.
“Hey,” Cati said, “when have I ever let anything happen to you?”
Harley’s heart dropped. That was a loaded question, but the answer was still clear as day. With a guilt-ridden heart, she said, “Never.”
“I didn’t ask you that to make you feel bad, Lady Bug. I just want you to lighten up. We will take whatever punishment those men have for us together, okay?”
Harley shrugged. “If you say so.”
Nervous butterflies still fluttered around her stomach. Church with the Obsidian Riders wouldn’t last all that long. That was where Major went, leaving the sisters alone. It was only a matter of time before they were found, and Harley knew it wouldn’t be good. Another small part of her wondered if she would get to see Hades finally because of this…
“Shots!” Sage cried, brushing her wild curls out of her face. Cati grinned and wiggled in her seat happily. Harley was happy her friends and Cati got along so well, though it was a given. She always praised her sister to her friends, and Cati knew all about Sage and Blair before they finally met a few days ago over dinner at Cati’s house. It felt like her world was complete. Well, most of it. There was a self-proclaimed devil-shaped hole in the middle of her heart where Hades had visited fleetingly.
Harley watched her sister and best friends interacting. Blair with her long, sleek black weave and blue mini dress. Sage with her two-piece boho inspired outfit with tapestry designs and her bouncy curls, and Cati with her short, edgy cut and black one-piece.
Though Sage rarely went out or spent money on anything other than items necessary for her survival, she knew how to have a good time, and Harley knew Cati appreciated that. They were both free spirits, and in no time, their threesome had become a foursome. She wished she could have more fun and turn up with them, but it seemed she was the only one leery of what they were doing. Sneaking around and waiting to get caught felt wrong to her, and something in her gut just wouldn’t allow her to drink. She felt she needed to stay alert.
Before she could try to refuse the notion of taking the shots Sage and Blair were busy pouring up, the entrance of their section suddenly became crowded. In the middle of the sea of men piling into their entrance was Drew.
Harley stilled, grabbing onto her sister’s thigh. Cati looked at her, trying to hand her a shot glass, but when she saw her sister’s stricken face, she stilled. “What’s wrong?” Cati’s eyes followed Harley’s gaze, and her brows pulled in. “Lady Bug, who is that?”
“Drew.” She whispered the word, but Cati still caught on, and she immediately stiffened.
Falling in line and killing the good time, Sage and Blair froze, catching sight of Drew, a man they never truly liked.
The partygoers in the club continued to enjoy themselves all around the section Harley sat in, but for her, time had stood still. She knew coming there that night had been a bad idea. She should have put up more of a fight. Now, she felt the manic gaze of Drew on her, and she questioned her discernment. She had been so sure Drew would never harm her, but by the look in her eyes, she wasn’t sure that was fact anymore.
Slowly, he walked toward her while the men he was with blocked the entrance to their section.
Cati stood and positioned her body in front of Harley, which immediately triggered her. She knew her sister’s heart, but there was no way Harley would simply sit back and allow Cati to protect her at the cost of her own safety anymore. Those days were long gone. Quickly, Harley stood up and stood by Cati’s side. “You can’t keep doing that, Cati. Stop putting yourself in harm’s way for my sake.”
Cati side-eyed her while still keeping a careful eye on Drew as she tried to push Harley back down onto the seat of the booth, but she stayed planted in place, refusing to back down.
There was no time for them to bicker, though, because Drew was in front of them, eying Harley and completely ignoring Cati. Before he could speak, Cati made her presence known as she tapped away on her phone. “I dare you to say one word to her. Our men are already on the way.”
Relief flooded Harley, but she still stood there, trembling and praying like hell Drew would leave peacefully.
He smirked and slowly looked at Cati. “Who the fuck are you?”
As he spoke, Harley noticed he still had slight bruising on his face and wondered if they were from a few weeks ago when he popped up at her house.
“I’m her sister. The Obsidian Riders are on their way. Hades might just kill you this time around.”
Harley was surprised by her taunting nature, but she shouldn’t have been. Cati had always been strong-minded and said whatever she wanted. That was part of the reason their father treated her the way he did. He liked to teach her lessons and wanted to take her down a few notches, but it clearly never worked.
Drew slowly looked Cati up and down as he licked his lips, and a cocky grin spread across his face. “I see why yo’ daddy did you dirty, ma. You fine as hell.”
Cati stopped tapping on her phone, never finishing her text to Major, as she stared at Drew, completely frozen in place by his disgusting words. Harley couldn’t explain it, but the feeling that took over her felt completely foreign to her. She had told Drew those things in confidence, back when they were locked in. Back when she was in love and enamored by him. She thought she could trust him, and she felt like a fool for always seeing the good in people.
She felt betrayed in the worst way. She felt guilt for sharing such intimate details about her sister’s life with someone who didn’t treat them with great care. She felt like she let her sister down again. Above all that, she felt pure rage course through her, hot as lava, and she was no longer in control of her movements.
Never in her thirty-four years of life had she hit someone, but she would allow Drew to pull one more first time up out of her. Quick as lightning, she cocked back and hit him with a right hook, and then she followed behind with a left hook. Cati stood there stunned by his words as tears gathered and then fell from her eyes, but she snapped out of it when she saw her sister in action. She jumped in, hitting Drew wherever her fists would hit. Sage jumped on Drew’s back, and Blair kicked at his shins.
They would not let up on Drew, and for several seconds, the men he rolled up on them with sat there transfixed at seeing their boss get beat down by a bunch of chicks.
Eventually, Drew knocked Cati to the floor, further fueling Harley’s rage. All she saw was red at that point. It wasn’t until Drew had her hemmed up against a wall by her neck that she realized her girls were all held back by the men with Drew. She could barely see them because Drew’s enraged and bloodied face took up most of her view as her heart hammered in her chest.
“I don’t know what the fuck has gotten into you,” he said, squeezing her neck just enough for her to know that he could snap it if he wanted, but not enough so she couldn’t breathe. He slammed her head against the wall, causing her to shriek in pain as tears rolled down her face, and she clawed at his hand. “But you need to remember who the fuck you belong to.”
With his other hand, he felt between her legs, and she silently thanked God that she opted to wear form-fitting jeans instead of a dress tonight.
“Please,” she gasped the word out, peering at him through the tears in her eyes.
“Please what, Harley? You want me to stop? You never used to tell me to stop. You used to remember that this is my pussy. Mine. You gave this shit to me, bitch. I don’t know what the fuck has gotten into you, or who, but I’m going to have a fun time reminding you where you belong tonight.”
He squeezed her pussy, causing her to close her eyes tightly while she cried. She felt violated and in danger. She wiggled against him, but he pressed further into her body before licking her neck, causing her to shudder away from him.
“Drew, please,” she whispered, trying to push him away.
“I could fuck you right here in this club, and nobody would bat an eye. I own this city, Harley, and not even that big motorcycle riding nigga can protect you from me. Tell me, do you want me to fuck you right here in front of everyone?”
He bit her neck, causing her to cry out. “Help! Please!”
“You know I like it when you scream.” She felt Drew pulling his dick out of his pants, as her cries went unnoticed while the party went on around them.
Nausea hit her, and she felt like she was going to pass out as she felt him fumbling with the buttons on her jeans.