25. Havoc
Havoc
As we peel away from the Strip, I’m tempted to turn my bike around and put a bullet in Titan’s temple. The only reason I stay in formation is for my club and Aimee. People are relying on me to keep it together when all I want to do is fall apart.
I spend the entire ride reminding myself why I can’t let this fester. How it won’t do anyone any good. I remind myself what’s at stake as we ride to the clubhouse.
It’s almost midnight by the time we return to the compound. But even if it’s late, Aimee and Luna are sitting at the very end of the front porch, waiting for us.
Luna jumps up to meet Ghost at his bike. Aimee doesn’t move, yet she doesn’t take her eyes off me.
“Church at ten tomorrow morning,” Steel says, idling beside Legacy. “We’ll talk about this then.”
I nod, and the two of them start toward the neighborhood, while the rest of the guys filter off in different directions. Some wander into the clubhouse, while others circle out back.
Luna waves goodnight to Aimee as she and Ghost walk away. He’ll likely work all night trying to track the Iron Sinners from the moment they left the casino. Just in case it offers any hints as to where they might be holding Aimee’s father. But I’m too tired to work or think.
When everyone is gone and it’s just me and Aimee out front, I head to where she’s sitting in a large chair on the porch.
“Late night?” She scans my face like she’s trying to read it.
I nod, and my temples throb as I drop into the chair beside her. “The club had a meeting with Titan.”
Aimee stills.
I didn’t tell her where I was going when I left because I didn’t want her to worry all night.
Besides, I’m not technically supposed to share club business with anyone who isn’t a member, and Aimee isn’t even my old lady.
But after leaving the casino, I let Steel know that I was going to bring this to her, and he didn’t order me not to, so here I am.
Either he figured it would just create more tension to argue with me about it, or he was too hung up on what Titan said about Tempe to care. Whatever his reasoning, I’m thankful.
I need to discuss this with Aimee so we’re on the same page.
“What did Titan say?” Aimee finally asks after a long pause .
I rest my elbows on my knees, staring out at the dark desert. “He said he wants you back by New Year’s Eve.”
“Or?”
“He’ll kill your dad.”
The smallest squeak escapes her lips with her sharp inhale. Her shoulders tense, and her back is ramrod straight.
“We won’t let it get that far,” I promise.
“New Year’s is barely three weeks away.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Aimee huffs, dipping her chin and shaking her head. “It does matter, Levi. We’re running out of time. Titan doesn’t make empty threats.”
“I know.”
“I could—”
“Don’t finish that thought,” I cut her off, my chest tightening.
“You’re fine if my father dies?”
“I’m not risking you .”
“That’s not an answer.” Her tone sharpens, but her eyes are filled with fear.
“Come here.” I snatch her hand off the armrest.
For a second, she resists, and I think she might keep physical distance between us to help maintain her emotional barriers. Thankfully, she doesn’t.
Aimee’s shoulders deflate, and she finally stands, allowing me to pull her onto my lap. Her legs hang off one side of the chair. And even if her hands stay in her lap, her body nestles close. She’s wearing nothing more than an oversized T-shirt with a blanket around her shoulders .
“I don’t want your father dead, Aimee. That’s why we’re having this conversation. I need you to trust me so I can get you both out of this.”
She wets her lips. “I trust you.”
Emotion clogs in her throat. It coats her eyes. I can only imagine how hard those three words are for her, given what she’s been through.
“What else did Titan say?” she asks after a long moment. “Did he say anything about me specifically?”
“It doesn’t matter what he said.”
Her face scrunches, and I’m sure she doesn’t agree, but it’s the truth.
Titan abused her and manipulated her. He violated her in ways she’ll spend the rest of her life working through.
His words don’t mean shit to me. It’s a picture he wanted to paint.
An illusion he created in his head. He doesn’t know Aimee, and she was never in a willing relationship with him.
If she were, he wouldn’t have ordered a doctor to sterilize her to force her to submit to him. He wouldn’t have had to do everything in his power to make her hate me—forget me.
Or worse, do things he thought would make me turn against her.
It shows how little he understands us. I never needed my future with her to look any particular way. I just needed her.
“I promise, Aimee. It doesn’t matter to me what Titan says.”
Doubt stirs in her gaze. “He had me at his compound for eleven months, Levi. ”
“I know that,” I reassure her. “And when I finally get my hands on him without an audience, I’m going to make him pay for every single thing he did to you. But you need to know that none of it makes me look at you differently. Not one fucking thing. I know who you are. End of story.”
“You know who I was.”
“No—”
“Levi.” My name is a plea and a grunt.
It’s frustration. Defeat.
A glossy sheen coats her eyes as she rests her hand on her stomach. Low, where I know her scar hides beneath her T-shirt.
“Look at me, Aimee.” I tilt her face to mine. “I know things have changed. We aren’t those kids we once were. But I see you, and trust me when I say that girl I remember is still in there. Stronger. Fiercer. She’s even more beautiful.”
“You only think that because you don’t know everything.”
“Then tell me.” I shrug. “Or don’t. But just know it won’t change a thing.”
Her fingers clench where they rest over the scar on her abdomen. “Did Titan bring this up tonight?”
I nod.
“I figured. He was always so proud of it.” She swallows hard.
“When did it happen?”
“About a month in.” She surprises me by actually answering.
“My father bargained with Titan when he first took us because Titan needed his help with some documents. He agreed to do what Titan asked so long as Titan didn’t touch me.
That was enough for a while. Titan locked me in a room, and I was alone most of the time.
But I’d barricade the door so I could sleep because I knew at any time things might change. ”
My thumb continues to skate back and forth on her thigh. But I don’t move or speak because she might stop talking.
“Titan made good on his word and kept his distance for a few weeks.” Aimee sighs. “But then Titan’s men found the letters you wrote me at my dad’s house, and for some reason, my dad’s cooperation was no longer enough.”
“He got jealous?”
“Maybe. He got so angry at those letters that he started trying to convince me that I wanted to be there. He said my feelings for you were the problem and that he’d fix it .
” She uses air quotes. “He stopped caring about my dad’s demands and decided that no one could tell him to stay away.
That I was his. But when I tried to fight him on it…
” She shakes her head. “That’s when he did this. ”
Her fingers grip her shirt again.
“He figured if he broke me, I’d give in, so that’s what he did. He broke me, Levi. And after that, nothing mattered. I stopped fighting because he owned me, and he did what he wanted.”
“He raped you?”
I’ve spent weeks avoiding asking this question because I’m already on the verge of snapping. But now isn’t the time to be afraid. If she can face this conversation after being the one who went through it, then I can be strong for her.
“I didn’t try to stop him.” A tear slips down Aimee’s cheek. “I should have tried to stop him.”
“That’s not consent.” I wipe her tear away.
Aimee nods, defeated.
“Did you choose to be there, Aimee?” I wipe away another tear. “Would he have let you leave if you asked?”
She shakes her head.
“Then that’s not consent. That’s abduction. Abuse. Rape. What happened to you is not okay, and it’s not your fault. You need to know that.” I don’t understand how my voice remains calm.
Inside, I’m steaming.
Raging.
A storm ready to rip everything apart.
“The things that happen at that clubhouse…” Aimee shivers, but it’s not cold with the blanket around us, so I know it’s not that. “If there is a hell, then it looks something like what happens there.”
“You’re here now,” I remind her.
Steely determination stirs in her eyes as her tears are replaced by anger. “Only because my father risked his life to get me out. I thought I lost him. I watched them shoot him, and I grieved his death. I’m not doing that again.”
“You won’t have to,” I promise.
“I appreciate the sentiment, and I’m sure you believe that, but if it comes down to it, I’ll do whatever it takes, Levi. You need to know that.” She meets me with a hard stare. “I owe him my life. ”
“Your life isn’t up for negotiation.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not saying I’ll just go willingly or that I won’t fight back this time. How do you think I ended up in that basement and not back at the compound?”
My eyebrows furrow. “How?”
“Just because Titan found me again didn’t mean I was the same girl he remembered.
I fought back, Levi. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of breaking me again.
He locked me in the basement, figuring that after enough time, I’d change my mind.
Who knows, maybe if your club hadn’t shown up, I would have. ”
“You wouldn’t have.”
“I wouldn’t,” she agrees with the slightest lift in the corner of her mouth—her shoulders lighter. “Well, that’s the whole story. Or most of it. I’ll leave the gory details to my nightmares if you don’t mind.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“What do you think about all of it?” She bites her lip, watching me, waiting for a reaction.
“That I’m going to make Titan pay for every single thing you just said.”
“You don’t hate me? Or—” She drops her gaze. “You aren’t regretting what we’ve done now that you know the extent of it?”
“Fuck no. I don’t regret anything other than leaving you, Aimee.” I tip her chin up.
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t know.”
“I should have known you wouldn’t disappear like that. I’m sorry. But you need to know that what happened doesn’t change a damn thing when it comes to how I see you, Aimee Landry. And it sure as fuck doesn’t change my feelings for you.”
“Oh yeah?” She slips her arms around my neck, a glimmer of confidence sparking. “How do you feel about me, Levi?”
“I fucking love you, that’s how. Always have.”
Her brows furrow. A hint of sadness. Hope. All swirled with a hundred things I can’t decipher in the dark.
“You do?”
“With my whole twisted heart.”
She doesn’t say it back, and that’s fine for now. Her lips meet mine, and she pulls me closer instead of pushing me away.
It’s enough.
She’s enough.