Chapter 34
Vienna
Now
“Where the fuck is your cut?” Dante snapped at me, followed by Rachel slapping me round the back of the head and calling me an idiot.
“Misplaced it,” I muttered into my brew, my head throbbing—not because of the slap, but because of everything else.
I could still smell her on my skin. Still hear her breathy moans in my mind.
“Misplaced it or gave it to the woman I saw sneaking out of here last night?” Rachel asked, busying herself with making the kids some lunch.
“It was cold and—hey!” I snapped as she swiped my cup away from me. “I was drinking that.”
“You were looking into it as though the tea leaves were about to give you some guidance. I can do that instead. You’re an idiot and you’re fucked. Good morning.”
“Why was Gabby here?” Dante asked, putting Axel down on the floor and leaning against the counters.
Axel immediately ran over to his pile of bikes and cars stashed in the corner, and Bee came towards me, putting her tablet down on the table in front of me with the words good morning written on it.
“Good morning to you too, rockstar,” I grinned at her. “And Gabby was here because—”
“Actually, more importantly, why are you always here?” Rachel interrupted. “Why has this house suddenly become the sleepover club? There’s the house at the end of the road that you’re all supposed to use. Why have you taken over one of my guest rooms?”
“Well, considering you skinned a man alive in that house, it’s sort of lost its appeal,” I muttered back.
“The location wasn’t important. I can assure you, I’m perfectly capable of skinning a man alive in this house, too. Especially men that give their cuts away.”
“I gave her my spare. My main one is just there,” I said, thumbing over my shoulder in the direction of the bar.
“So why was she here?” Dante repeated.
Rachel flopped down next to me, throwing a bag of potatoes on the table, smirking to herself as she sliced through them with the potato peeler.
“She just needed a breather, brother. That’s all.”
“She got back okay. Hacksaw saw her trip the cameras late last night.”
“Good,” I muttered, not saying anything else.
Because she hadn’t texted me to say she arrived safe and sound. She hadn’t spoken to me at all since last night.
Yet another slap in the fucking face.
Just as Dante looked as though he was about to say something else, the kitchen exploded with life.
Monster came rushing in with his old lady, Steph, who was grinning from ear to ear, earning herself a nasty glare from Dante.
Ant came in with Gemma, the pair of them bickering about the garage, closely followed by Tools, who told them it was none of their business what happened in his domain.
The poultry twins and their old ladies, Nicole and Emma, came in next, but whatever they were saying was drowned out by Riley calling over to Dante.
“Hey, boss, have we heard anything from Bambi or Waltzer lately?”
Bambi was an old prospect of ours. Long story short, he covered a crime for Rachel and earned himself a fully patched membership in return for a lengthy prison sentence, where he served as a mole.
Waltzer was a NOMAD, who had long since been one of our prison spies, and currently teaching Bambi all the tricks to surviving.
“Not for a few weeks now, why?” Dante replied, keeping a wary eye on Steph, who was smirking slyly at him.
For months now, Steph and Dante had been in a battle over plastic animals. He wouldn’t let her buy real animals, so she covered the entire compound in tiny fake plastic ones.
Dante had hired a team of men and paid them an eye watering amount to remove them all. And we were all waiting for Steph’s next move.
“I just think it’s weird that we haven’t heard, that’s all.”
“For God’s sake, Riley,” Rachel snapped. “We’ve enough trouble here as it is, let’s not go looking for more, eh?”
“You’re doing that wrong, you know,” Monster told her, sliding into the chair next to her. “You’re supposed to—”
“I think I know how to peel a potato,” she hissed, lifting her arm high in the air when he tried to take the tool out of her hands.
“You’re taking too much skin off them!”
Rachel let out a dry laugh. “Again, I don’t think you need to tell me about skin, Monster, thanks.”
She didn’t even look up as she said it, just kept dragging the peeler down the side of the potato in her hand with the same steady, methodical rhythm she’d been using since she sat down.
Thin strips of skin curled away beneath the blade, dropping into the bowl like it were the most normal thing in the world, like she weren’t sitting there casually referencing one of the most fucked up things to have happened in this club.
Monster, to his credit, didn’t immediately back down. The poor stupid bastard had been the one to clean up the aftermath of Rachel’s murderous streak, and still he didn’t catch on.
“You’re butchering them,” he insisted, leaning in like he had a death wish. “There’s a technique to it.”
“There is,” Rachel agreed pleasantly, finally glancing up at him. “It’s all in the pressure. Too much, and you take chunks. Too little, and you’re there all day. You’ve got to find that sweet spot where it just… slides.”
She demonstrated as she spoke, the blade moving smoothly, another strip falling away in one clean motion.
“It’s actually quite satisfying,” she added, almost thoughtfully. “How easy it is, once you get the hang of it.”
Monster frowned at her. “You’re still talking about potatoes, right?”
Rachel’s smile widened. “Mostly.”
That got a snort out of me, because I already knew exactly where she was going with this, and judging by the way Dante pinched the bridge of his nose without even turning around, so did he.
“They’re softer than you’d think,” she went on, turning the potato in her hand and starting again. “Bikers, I mean. Everyone assumes they’re tougher because of all the ink and muscle and attitude, but once you get past that first layer…” She hummed lightly. “Not that different, really.”
Monster blinked at her.
“Right,” he said slowly. “So we’ve just gone straight back to skinning people, have we?”
“You brought it up,” she pointed out.
“I did not.”
“You did,” I cut in, lifting Rachel’s brew to my lips since she’d cruelly taken away mine. “You started talking about technique. She’s just elaborating.”
Monster looked between the two of us like we were the problem. “You’re both fucking insane.”
Rachel shrugged, completely unbothered. “I’ve been called worse.”
“Yeah, but not by me. I’ve always supported you. By him,” Monster said, jerking his thumb toward me.
“By everyone,” Dante corrected flatly, finally turning back toward us. “And yet somehow she keeps proving them right.”
Bee tapped something on her tablet and turned it slightly so Rachel could see, her mouth twitching in the faintest hint of a smile.
Rachel leaned over just enough to read it, then let out a soft laugh. “Exactly,” she said, reaching over to squeeze Bee’s shoulder briefly before going back to her potatoes. “At least someone here appreciates my talents.”
“What did you put?” I asked, craning my head to see the tablet. Bee pulled it close to her chest, scowling at me. I gave her a wink over the top of my cup and smirked into the drink.
“Women and their secrets, eh, Monster?”
“You think we keep secrets, do you?” Steph asked from her spot on the floor with Trex.
“Oh, cheers, mate,” he muttered dramatically, rolling his eyes and flopping back heavily in his seat. “That’s me in the doghouse.”
Axel let out a loud, triumphant “vroom!” from the floor as he launched one of his toy bikes straight into the leg of the table, completely oblivious to the conversation happening above him.
“Future Devil right there. When is he joining the Descendants?” I asked, watching him for a second.
“Give it a few years yet,” Dante grinned. “But he’ll be in that cut in no time, won’t you, buddy?” he said, bending down low to scoop up his son.
The room settled again after that, the noise folding back in on itself, conversations overlapping, the usual rhythm of the place reasserting itself like it always did.
I let it wash over me, content to be on the sidelines for once instead of acting the fool.
I had to take comfort in this. In what I was given. Because this was my life—and it was a pretty damned good fucking life. I had a family here. And despite wishing certain things were different, I knew that I had it so much better than most.
But my thoughts always went back to her.
Gabriella.
She’d made it back. I knew that. Hacksaw had confirmed it, the cameras had picked her up, and on paper that should have been enough.
But it wasn’t. Nothing was ever enough where she was concerned.
Why hadn’t she text me? Why hadn’t she called me? Why hadn’t she done a single fucking thing to let me know she was okay?
And then, out of nowhere, an alarm rang out into the kitchen, silencing us all for a split second.
And then we sprang into action.
“Steph, Jenna,” Rachel snapped, pulling a gun from under the table where it had been taped. “Get the kids.”
“Already on it,” Steph replied, scooping Axel out of Dante’s arms and grabbing hold of Bee’s hand. Jenna was already hugging Trex close to her chest, her eyes wild and full of panic.
“Get them to Church,” Dante said. “Take them out the back, down the door to the cellar, and go up under the garage. Tools!”
“Yes, boss?”
“What are we up against?” he asked, stopping to place a kiss to Bee’s head as Jenna and Steph ushered them out of the kitchen.
“Riders. And it looks like they’ve brought the whole damn club with them.”