Chapter Four—Rory #2
“Lucky you,” Rory said with biting sarcasm. “You had the fucking choice. I don’t. And, motherfucker, you still have a choice. You didn’t have to stick around once you found out who Bash was.”
“Easy for you to say, you little prick. My entire life was a fucking lie.”
“Boohoo for you. Now, your entire life is a fucking charade. Either you’re pretending to be so tortured about the women Bash kills or you’re a self-pitying pussy who can’t stand on his own two feet.”
DeLuca stiffened. “I take umbrage to that.”
“Kill me then. Throw me in the fucking creek. But you aren’t intimidating me into backing down.
I was born into this life, Easton. Mom tried to steer me in a different direction by dressing me in suits, but Dad’s a biker.
Our entire family. The cousin I love the most emulated his father.
We were weaned on club life. You, though? You were normal.”
“What’s your fucking point?”
“Work for Bash. Run circles around Dad. But if you really do like and admire Aunt Meggie, help me to protect her. Please. I can’t do both. I can’t safeguard her and my father on my own. I might still lose both of them. Bash is unstable.”
“Even if I agree, how do you know I’m telling the truth?” DeLuca asked after a moment.
“I don’t,” Rory admitted. “But I can see in your eyes that you want things to be different.”
“You still don’t know that for sure.”
Swallowing, Rory turned and looked out over the horizon.
Even days away from March, it was cold, although the frost was relenting, and the days grew longer.
Waning sunlight gleamed off the water’s surface.
On the opposite shore, the evergreens made up for the sparsity of leaves on the other trees interspersed through the landscape.
DeLuca stepped next to him and leaned against the concrete. He laughed softly. “Turn Creek, right?”
Finding no amusement, Rory nodded.
“Infamous at the club house. Didn’t some twins push Bash over?”
Rory smiled. “The Terrible Triplets.”
“Oh, those little motherfuckers.”
“Don’t feel bad.” He explained what Axel, Ransom, and Ryder had done to his father. “Anarchy and revenge are their thing.”
“Fuck.” DeLuca chuckled. “My parents would never overlook that shit.”
“Dude, most parents wouldn’t, but the Caldwell boys are a breed of their own.”
“We’re Caldwell boys,” DeLuca pointed out.
“Dad gave up his Caldwell card years ago. He’s a Donovan to the bone. If everything I’ve discovered is true, that makes him an inherent enemy of our grandfather. Cee Cee despised Logan.”
“Don’t give a shit. Johnnie’s still a Caldwell and so are you.”
“Sometimes, I wish Dad wasn’t so loyal to his grandfather.
I wish he had taken Cee Cee’s name. Just to break whatever hold Logan has over him.
” DeLuca didn’t seemed moved, so Rory pointed something out, hoping it hit home.
“If you won’t help me save Aunt Meggie, your admiration of her doesn’t mean shit. ”
“Your father admires her.”
“He doesn’t count. He’s a jackass. And it isn’t admiration. It’s bitterness and privilege. He can’t believe she passed him up for Uncle Christopher.” Rory snorted. “My aunt has always had sense.”
“Why don’t you go to Outlaw? That’ll save her.”
“And make me lose my dad, DeLuca. Even if my mom survived that trauma, she wouldn’t ever be the same.
I have no one to help me. Uncle Mortician would try to figure something out, but he isn’t a real officer.
He’d have to go to Uncle Christopher if Dad wouldn’t listen.
I would lose both my parents. Dad to a gruesome death and Mom to grief.
As fucked up as my father is, Mom loves him.
Even if she keeps going to spite him, he’s her anchor.
I’m not pretending I’m doing it only for her.
It’s for me and Mattie, too. Dad’s death would affect my immediate family. ”
“If I help you and Bash finds out, I’m dead anyway. He’ll send in another son.”
“Who are they? Let me know—”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know those fuckheads. They’re violent killers.” DeLuca shrugged. “Bash is a complicated man. A lot of his erratic behavior is fueled by drugs, but he simply loves to have women at his mercy.”
“Is he targeting my mom and sister?”
“Nope,” DeLuca said with a sigh. “It’s all Meggie. There are documents, Rory. Some motherfucker named Randolph brought them—”
Rory jerked and straightened. “Jesus Christ. Randolph Foy?”
“Yeah, with the—”
“Imperials,” Rory said. “That’s Aunt Meggie’s nephew. That motherfucker! He’s in Salt Lake City?”
“He was, so was his mother because he’s a stupid motherfucker and she came to save his life. The woman fucked like there was no tomorrow. Pussy, ass, mouth, tits, hands. She’s a fucking machine.”
“Is she still there?”
“No, Bash let her leave and gave her two or three months to meet his demands.”
“Which are?”
“Fuck, I don’t know. I didn’t want to fuck a pussy constantly filled with cum and spit, so Bash refused to fill me in on the details.”
“That’s fucking gross.”
“It’s the truth. She was there two weeks and, other than taking care of Molly, all she did was fuck.”
“Molly’s alive?”
“Fuck. Forget I said that.”
“DeLuca, please, if you have any fucking decency left, tell Outlaw, then go to Bash and ask him to negotiate terms for her release. If he needs money that bad and he truly wants to work something out, Outlaw might consider talking.”
“To help her, I have to fuck her, and I’m not doing it.”
“That isn’t true!”
“Cleaner and Tom Harris charge money for her pussy, Rory. Bash told me I can have her and keep her as mine. Or I can sell her back to Outlaw if I split the money with him. The only way I can prove my allegiance to that deal is to let him watch me fuck her. She’s seventeen, incoherent on a good fucking day, and rail thin because they feed her once a day. ”
Rory didn’t know the ins and outs of common sense and decency. But he did know DeLuca was probably Molly’s only chance to survive. What was one distasteful act compared to the litany of pain and subjugation she’d endured?
Trying to convince DeLuca that he had no choice might be futile. He seemed adamantly against the idea. Saving her at all might also be a lost cause. She might’ve endured so much trauma, she was better off dead.
CJ still missed her, but so much other shit had happened, the ache was waning. Besides, other more solvable issues needed Rory’s attention.
“Do you know where Randolph is?”
“Probably back in Michigan.”
“Goddamn,” Rory breathed, remembering the letter Gramps handed to Mom. He needed to get back to the shopping mall, so he could call an Uber and make a pit stop at Mom’s office. If Rory got the letter and brought it to Dad, maybe his father could redeem himself. “This is so goddamn bad.”
“Care to let me in on it?”
“Fuck no. You get on my team, I’ll tell you. Otherwise, fuck you.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I’m not telling you, Easton. I don’t know where you stand. You’re really on my side? Call off that cunt. Talk to Uncle Christopher. Meet with me, CJ, and Ryan. I’ll tell you where, but you come in tightie-whities or something where we’ll see if you’re wearing a microphone or a camera.”
He grunted.
“You were the great Easton Love, dick swinger extraordinaire. I’ve seen some videos on YouTube of your shows at the club you worked at. You can step into a fucking role to help me.”
Not answering, he stared at the water for a long while, then completely changed the subject. “By cunt I assume you mean Tabitha.”
“What is she to Bash?”
“The daughter of a club member.”
“Why does she want Aunt Meggie to go to a fucking cabin?”
“Answer me first.”
“If I like the fucking question.”
DeLuca huffed and sidled a glare at him.
Rory lifted a brow.
“Fine, fuck. What gave her away to you?”
“Aunt Meggie hates her. Even before she got fed-up and wants anyone who fucks over her fucked up, she hated Tabitha. That speaks volumes. Mom, Aunt Zoann, Mattie, Reb, Lolly, fuck any other woman taking an immediate dislike to Tabitha wouldn’t raise such a fucking red flag.
Aunt Meggie? Yeah. My aunt is fair and she generally tries—tried—to get along with everyone and see the best in them.
With Tabitha? She disliked her immediately. ”
“Outlaw’s instincts have rubbed off on her.”
“Don’t minimize her instincts, jackass. She’s a very smart woman.”
“Is there anything else that gave Tabitha away?”
“Other than her stuck on repeat, Aunt Meggie needs to go to a cabin? Nope. Nothing at all.” Rory scowled. “Her supreme lack of subtlety was a dead giveaway.”
“Are you sure you aren’t just a suspicious little motherfucker? Outlaw and Johnnie don’t suspect anything.”
“I’ll answer that but tell me what the fuck she wants. Why does Bash want Aunt Meggie at this fucking cabin? Does he want to rape her too or merely kill her?” Rory knew Bash, so it wouldn’t be an either/or with that motherfucker. “Or both?” he asked, needing confirmation.
During Dad’s disappearance in December, Ryan told Rory that Bash planned to kill Aunt Meggie. He hadn’t mentioned rape and Rory hadn’t met Bash at that point.
Rory kept Ryan’s information to himself, risking Aunt Meggie to save his ungrateful father. Yet, logic told Rory why Bash wanted Aunt Meggie at a secluded cabin. It might be hard to kill her in Hortensia with her detail, but it wasn’t impossible. If he only wanted her dead.
Goddamn. Dad had to do the right thing with the letter.
He had to. Deep down, Rory felt they were at a critical stage and Bash was preparing to move in.
If Dad didn’t behave and do the right thing, Rory would be forced to betray either him or Aunt Meggie and live with the other’s blood on his hands.
“Bash wants to talk to Meggie.”
DeLuca’s voice broke into Rory’s frantic thoughts and he glared at him. Hadn’t this motherfucker told him a few minutes ago he was supposed to kill her? “You’re a fucking liar.”
“Watch your fucking tone—”
“Fuck you. My dad’s involved in this, too.” Fuck him for trying to gaslight Rory. “If Dad helps Tabitha get Aunt Meggie to some stupid cabin, that crosses a fucking line. He’s signing her death warrant.”
“The outcome would still be the same,” DeLuca said tiredly. “Your father dead and your mother not long behind.”
It felt as if a bucket of stones dropped in Rory’s gut, and he pressed his lips together.
“You involved yourself in this situation,” DeLuca said flatly. “Now, you have to deal with the knowledge or live with the fallout.”
Rory dropped his gaze. He didn’t want to give DeLuca the satisfaction of watching him fall apart, because the motherfucker was right. Rory had no backup, only an abstract plan that required the help of a man who’d been sent as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
A hand landed on Rory’s shoulder. “Johnnie doesn’t know Bash’s intentions, Rory.
What I know is he honestly wants to talk to Meggie without the fear of Outlaw or one of the other Dwellers rushing to take her away.
Is it ideal? No. Is it smart? No. Not for Bash or Johnnie. If Bash is high, he’ll hurt her.”
“You just fucking told me Bash wants you to kill Aunt Meggie,” Rory yelled, offended DeLuca took him for an idiot. He knocked DeLuca’s hand off his shoulder. “It isn’t both, fuckhead. I think he does want her dead. No, I know he does.”
“Ryan told you.”
“Did I say that?” He wouldn’t rat out Ryan and get him in trouble. “But it’s interesting you’ve backed away from your fucking about face.”
DeLuca scowled. “You will get yourself killed. Back off if you know what’s good for you.”
“Does my dad know?”
“Rory, for the last fucking time–”
“Shut the fuck up. You assholes want my aunt dead.”
“If you spout that bullshit, you’re going to be responsible for a fucking bloodbath.”
“Then fucking kill me–”
“Fuck!” DeLuca lifted his hand in the air.
“Right hand to God, he just wants to talk to her. I swear. I’ve also been listening to see if they’ve managed to convince her so I can be there instead of Cleaner.
Bash does listen to me sometimes. But he has to be sober and he has to be away from those other violent pricks. ”
“If you want to help her, why’d you agree to come—”
“I reformulated my plan after your dad took me to the old Donovan farmhouse and she was there. In under ninety minutes, she told off five bikers, put me in my place, listened to a bunch of smelly motherfuckers, beat the fuck out of Outlaw, absolved everyone, then calmed her husband down. It was fucking amazing. I decided to protect her as best I can. But if she can do all that with Outlaw, Johnnie, and those other fuckheads, I’m banking on her finally getting through to Bash. ”
“You want her to meet with him at a secluded cabin?”
DeLuca nodded. “I do. Just to talk. I swear. I wouldn’t lead her to her brutal rape and gory death.” He offered a sad smile. “She’s the key to it all and the only hope to save not only your dad, but the club too, and avoid a bloodbath.”