Chapter 9
Gabriella
Arriving at the clubhouse was just as chaotic as I expected.
Before I’d even had the chance to bring the car to a complete stop, the back door was ripped open and a rugged, scarred face appeared through the open door.
“Ahh, shit,” the man spat. “You’re gonna need stitches.”
He slammed the door shut again, only to open it again once the car had come to a stop.
“You hurt, Missy?” he glared at me.
“Um, n-no,” I stuttered, feeling ridiculously intimidated. He threw a bandage over the back seat anyway, landing in my lap.
“Doc, thank God you’re here. I need a whiskey,” Vienna whined back, throwing his hands over his eyes. “And a beer. And a beard comb.”
“I’ll get you fishing wire, a shot, and a razor. Take your pick which one you want.”
“You’re a cruel man.”
“And you’re sending me into an early grave.” And then he turned his attention back to me. I flinched under the intense, angry gaze. “Are you here for decoration, or are you able to move this heap of shit closer to the clubhouse so I can get him out?”
“Had you not dramatically thrown yourself over the bonnet and ripped my doors open, I might have stood a chance,” I snapped back.
“Less talking, more moving. Now git!”
He slammed the door shut for the second time, and I managed to pull the car forward exactly one centimetre before the door was ripped open again.
“Payback, bitch!” a young-looking man laughed, blowing a streamer in Vienna’s face, the sound loud and blaring in the small car.
“Pivot, why aren’t you dead yet?”
Pivot’s response was to blow the streamer again, this time slower, the tip of it hitting Vienna’s nose.
“Pivot!” someone yelled, and the next thing I knew, Pivot was being propelled backwards, his body levitating for a second before slapping against the concrete with a painful thud.
“Get your ass out of the car, Vienna!” Hacksaw grinned, grabbing Vienna’s ankles and hauling him halfway across the seat until his legs dangled out the door.
“I am practically dead, Hacksaw. Literally hanging on by a thread. Could you show some compassion?”
“I did. I was going to shoot at you to get you out of the car. This seemed like the better option.”
“How generous,” I muttered under my breath.
But Hacksaw didn’t listen. He bent down low, grabbed Vienna’s arms and hauled him over his shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re back, brother. But, as payback for doing something so utterly stupid, we’ve given everyone permission to throw darts at your ass. Best hope none hit you from now until the time it takes me to reach your bedroom.”
And with that they were off, dodging flying darts, hurled tennis balls, and whatever else the club could get their hands on at a moment’s notice.
And then I was alone.
I looked around at the familiar place—the clubhouse I’d once danced in, the courtyard I’d once snuck through, and let the memories wash over me.
I was slightly annoyed I’d been left to my own devices. But that was the way this place worked. Everyone knew their role. They knew they belonged. They didn’t wait for an invitation because they had never needed one. If they were prospecting or patched, they knew they had a family.
I, on the other hand, didn’t have the same assurance.
Behind the doors of that clubhouse was the room of the man I loved. But it also housed a president who hated my club, and by extension, me. As well as an entire club who knew what I had done—some had even been witnesses to it.
“Oi, new girl,” a voice called. I turned in the direction of the noise to see Rachel leaning against the doorframe. “You coming?” she asked, but she was already walking over to me.
“I just…”
“Needed a minute?” she asked, hopping onto the bonnet of the car.
“Yeah.”
She was silent a moment. She plucked a thread from her jeans and then leaned back on the bonnet, her weight on her hands as she tipped her head back and looked up at the sky. “I’ve been in your shoes, you know.”
I looked at her with a frown and scoffed.
“It’s true,” she laughed. “I don’t know how much you know about Dante and me—”
“The bare minimum,” I interrupted.
“Well, let’s just say it hasn’t always been sunshine and roses.
I’ve been dragged through these doors after being kidnapped.
Dragged back through these doors after running away.
Dragged back through after running away a second time—although that time I took Dante’s son with me.
A son he knew nothing about. Yeah…” she breathed, lowering her head and taking in my horrified expression.
“I’m no prize, Gabby. But I do know what it feels like to walk into the lion’s den knowing they all want to maul you. ”
“And what if I want to maul them in return?”
Rachel laughed again. “Good. They deserve it every now and then. I’ve given as good as I’ve got. Don’t let them bring you down. Because they will try. Their loyalty to their brother won’t let them do anything else. But if you’ve got fight, you’ll be okay.”
“And what about you?”
“What about me?” she frowned.
“Will your loyalty to Vienna not have you acting the same way?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know the full story, so I’m in no position to take sides. Do I like seeing my hair buddy so hurt? Of course not. But that doesn’t mean you haven’t hurt just as much.”
“And you caused a large portion of that hurt,” I reminded her.
She blanched for a second. “True. I killed your brother. Dante killed your dad. There’s a lot of bad blood between us.”
She hopped down from the car.
“But like it or not, Gabby, this is the only home you have for now. You make peace with it the best you can and make friends, or you go it alone. Your choice.”
With that, she wandered back into the house, leaving me alone—cursing myself for already alienating the one person who had extended friendship to me.
I pushed away from the car and followed her inside. There was no other choice.
Walking through the clubhouse was both unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Strange and yet comforting.
This wasn’t exactly the same place. The old clubhouse had been ruined in an arson attack by Macbeth a few years back. This was the new and improved version, owned by Dante and not his dad and grandad.
But everything was almost an exact replica, it was hard not to let the memories whisper to me as I passed through the hallways.
“You really like me, don’t you, Luke?”
“Do what you must. But I’m not leaving her. I love her.”
“Good morrow and sorrows, Vienna. We won’t be doing this again sometime.”
The last one had me flinching, remembering the look on his face when I had publicly dumped him in front of both our clubs. After my dad had thrown what remained of my—our—baby at him.
How could he stand to be in the same room as me?
I wandered through hallways I had once snuck down, until I came to the room Vienna called his own.
The clubhouse was a weird dynamic. When Crash was in charge, this place had been used by everyone. It was sort of a dorm room for anyone who didn’t have somewhere to go.
Because they lived on a compound, there were houses for the club members—especially those who had families. But some of the lower members didn’t have their own house, and so they crashed here.
There was a house on the other side of the compound, and that’s where the old president lived after he retired. But that hadn’t happened. Warrior had passed away, Crash had taken over the main clubhouse with Dante and Macbeth, and the other house had become another dorm room situation.
Vienna had spent his twenties hopping between the main house and the safe house.
I knew that once the fire happened, the whole family moved into the house at the other end of the compound, and once the rebuild had finished, Dante had tightened security.
Now, club members, especially prospects or hang-arounds, were not permitted to sleep in the main clubhouse.
They either crashed on a sofa in one of the houses in the village, or they used the safe house.
His family was behind these doors, and since what had happened to Bee in the fire, he wasn’t taking any risks.
I knew all of this because we’d scoped the place out.
We’d asked around. We’d got the information through one mole or another.
It was easily done, especially since the compound was now open to members of the public during the day.
They were able to go to the cafes, shops, hairdressers and so on, so long as they were respectful and left before dark.
I knew Jenna lived here ever since Crash had died. And I knew Rachel’s dad was living in Jenna’s old place. I knew Vienna basically lived here now, as close to his president as he could be, keeping guard over the children like they were his own.
I knew all of this, because Nico knew all of it.
There was so much the Riders knew about the Devils. Which made it impossible for me to believe that the Devils didn’t know just as much about us in return.
Which also made me ask the burning question—how could they not know what was happening with the women? With me?
Or did they know, and just didn’t care?
Neither was ideal.
If they didn’t know, that didn’t instil me with confidence that Nico would be taken care of.
If they didn’t care… well, I didn’t want to entertain that possibility.
Shaking my head, I pushed open the door to Vienna’s bedroom, just in time to see Rachel slap his hand away from the needle.
“It’s for your own good!” she snapped.
“It’s fucking massive!” he hissed back.
“You forced Shark to get his when he was stabbed!”
“He was stabbed with a rusty blade! Look at this,” he said, lifting his top up and exposing his bloody skin. “This is nothing but a flesh wound. It doesn’t need that,” he hissed, tipping his head in the direction of Doc’s hand. “Injected into me.”
“Dante,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes.
Together, they pinned Vienna’s wrists to the bed and held him down whilst Doc injected him.
“There,” Rachel cooed, slapping his cheek. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“You’re a cruel woman. You’re no longer my hair buddy.”
“I’m afraid we already kicked you out of that club for not living up to the rules.”
“What rules?”
“One, have nice hair. Two, have nice hair. Three—”
“Doc, can I request only one visitor at a time?” Vienna snapped. “In fact, I’m feeling kind of tired. Make them all leave.” He waved his hand at the door and closed his eyes.
“Aye, right, sweetheart? Is there anything else His Highness requests?”
“Where to start?” He took a deep breath, ready to launch into what was no doubt about to be the most ridiculous list of demands in history, and then was interrupted as Doc got to work stitching up his wounds.
“Doc, that hurts!”
“What do you want me to do? Bring kittens in and have them lick your skin back together? It’s gotta be done.”
“Don’t be silly, Doc. There are no kittens on this compound.”
“Maybe. Steph might have snuck one or two in,” Rachel shrugged.
“She better fucking not have,” Dante said, finally paying attention.
“Why are you all focusing on kittens when Doc is shredding me?” Vienna said.
“I’m not shredding you, I’m fucking fixing you.”
“Yeah, painfully.”
I stayed in the doorway, watching the dynamic unfold.
From the way Rachel continued to tease him, to Dante and his brothers laughing. To the hissed remarks from Doc, and the beers flowing freely.
On the outside, this may seem cruel. Vienna looked like shit—to call a spade a spade. But this was how they showed their affection. Ruthless teasing and endless jokes.
I stepped forward without even realising, wanting to be involved, wanting to belong.
That was, at least, until every pair of eyes turned in my direction.
Dante’s were blank. Rachel’s flashed with pity and fire. The men were a mix of confusion, anger and humour.
And Vienna’s?
Vienna’s flashed with something I didn’t even dare begin to decipher.
“Out!” Rachel barked suddenly. For a second, I thought she was talking to me. But then she started gathering up all the medical supplies and shoving the men towards the door.
“I wasn’t fucking finished,” Doc protested as she ripped a bandage from his hands.
“We’ll send up those magic kittens, don’t worry about it. Come on. All of you, out!”
“You heard her,” Dante barked when a few of them hesitated. “Get out before I tell her where I hid the potato peeler.”
That did it.
The men rushed from the room, some of them almost barging into me in their haste to get out.
“Your room is right next door,” Rachel murmured to me. “Everything is set up. Get some sleep, and come find me tomorrow. Let’s talk.”
She closed the door behind her.
“Is anyone going to explain the potato peeler situation to me?” I asked when it was just me and Vienna.
“Probably best you don’t know.”
I nodded, and let the silence fall over us both.
Me.
Vienna.
And a million unspoken questions.