Chapter 30
Rachel
The next morning, I woke up earlier than the rest of the house. It was still dark outside, and Dante was snoring softly next to me. But I knew there was no going back to sleep. I’m surprised I slept at all, considering what had happened between us.
I was hurt. I was confused. And I was so fucking turned on every time I remembered masturbating before his greedy gaze.
In short, I was a mess.
So instead of fighting to try to catch a few more minutes' sleep, I slipped out of bed, snatched up my discarded clothes, quietly leaving the room.
As I made my way through the unfamiliar corridors of the Scottish clubhouse, I followed the soft sound of music, not at all surprised to see Vienna passed out on the bar.
I started to wake him, then stopped, noticing the utter carnage around me.
There were men in various states of undress. One of them was sleeping with his head between a naked woman’s thighs. Another was sleeping between two women. They were on their backs on the pool table, and he was on his stomach, bare ass in the air, one hand on each of the woman’s tits.
There were pint glasses everywhere, remnants of powder that I assumed was coke considering there was some lined up on the bar, and food on just about every surface, including the walls.
And that’s when I noticed the man, stark naked, hanging from the roof.
“What the fuck?” I hissed, grabbing Vienna and shaking him awake.
He jumped a foot in the air, immediately coming roaring to life.
Even in his sleepy state, he had himself positioned in front of me, shoving me behind the safety of his large form in the blink of an eye.
Before I could even process what was happening, or even open my mouth to tell him to calm down, he drew the gun from his back pocket and aimed it in front of him with a snarl.
“Whoa, whoa,” I breathed, placing a hand on his arm. “It’s just me. Sorry,” I said, pulling a face as he spun back around and rubbed his bleary eyes with the barrel of the gun.
“Rachel?” he murmured, his voice still full of sleep and confusion. His hand was still by his face, the gun resting on his forehead. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Stopping you from shooting the entire place up for no apparent reason?” I said, attempting to make a joke.
“Don’t wake me up like that in the future, and you won’t have to worry about such things. What did you want?”
“Well, it seems a bit fucking redundant now, but I wanted to know what the fuck Eagle was doing pinned to the wall.”
Vienna frowned for a second and then looked at where I was looking. “Oh yeah,” he said, breaking out into a laugh. “I forgot we put him there.”
“Why is he pinned to the wall?” I persisted.
He shrugged at me. “Dante wanted to kill him. He can’t kill another president, it’s frowned upon. But there’s nothing in the guidelines that says he can’t pin him to a wall and use him as a human dartboard. Especially if the rest of the club takes a vote in favour of it.”
“Why would his club vote for that?”
“Because he disrespected you, Rachel.”
“And that’s enough?” I almost spluttered, causing him to give me a strange look.
“I don’t think reality has quite set in for you yet. You are the old lady of the founding president. The Leeds charter commands a lot of respect, and Dante rules over that place.”
Jenna’s words came back to me. Reigning supreme.
I had assumed she was joking, but apparently, this shit was serious. I always knew Dante hated the thought of another man disrespecting me. I didn’t think he hated it enough to use him as a human fucking dartboard, though.
“Jesus,” I breathed, slowly approaching Eagle. “You guys really did a number on him.”
I didn’t feel sorry for him, but I couldn’t help but cringe at the state of him. There were still darts in his legs, hands, and stomach, and there were holes over his entire body.
“I made this one,” Vienna told me proudly, flicking the spot on Eagle’s forehead.
“Were you aiming for his head?” I asked, looking at the sheer amount of holes and bruises on the man’s body.
“I was aiming for his nose, but I’d had one too many and my aim wasn’t on point. I’m hoping he fucks up again and I can do better on round two.”
“You scare me sometimes,” I told him, not entirely joking.
His response was to pick up his beard and smack me around the face with it, before whipping it over his shoulder like a scarf and walking away as though I had offended him.
“You’re a stupid bastard. Did you know that?” I said to Eagle, my voice soft as I shook my head in sympathy.
“Please,” he pleaded. “Please let me down.”
“I can’t do that. If I let you down, will you have learnt your lesson? No. You wouldn’t.”
“I have learned. I promise. I won’t speak to you like that again.”
“And yet, you think I’m the soft touch who will feel sorry enough for you to get you out of your own mess?
I’m afraid not. You can stay hanging there and think about what you did.
But just know,” I said quietly, stepping closer to him.
“If you ever raise your hand at me again, you will live to regret it. If it was up to me, you’d be hung up by your eyelids until the weight of your useless body snapped them off.
I’m sure you’ve heard enough about me to know what happened with Macbeth.
And that was me being kind. Keep that in mind,” I kissed his cheek and then patted it softly before walking away, ignoring his cries for help behind me.
“Have you finished playing with the victim?” Dante growled from my ear, making me scream out in fright.
“What the fuck are you doing skulking around in the shadows?” I gasped, clutching at my chest as I took some deep breaths to steady my nerves.
“You weren’t where I left you, Rachel. I wanted to see what you were doing out of bed.”
“Well, now you know.”
“I never know anything where you’re concerned,” he muttered with a luck I couldn’t quite decipher. “Get your shit together. We’re leaving as soon as the kids are up.”
“I’m great, Dante. Thanks for asking,” I muttered sarcastically. “Vienna almost shot me, but don’t worry. I’m great.”
He looked me up and down. “Remind me to take him to the shooting range. You don’t look hurt. He must be out of practice.”
My mouth fell open when he turned and walked away from me, not at all concerned that his vice president was waving guns around like an utter lunatic.
“You’re not even gonna address the gun thing?” I asked.
“Did you wake him up?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Err… yes?”
He laughed and carried on walking. “There you are then. Chalk it up to a valuable lesson learnt.”
I shook my head and hurried to catch up to him. “I’m just going to ignore that and pretend you give a shit. I actually wanted to run something past you before everyone else is awake.”
“What is it?” he looked down at me, not bothering to slow down his steps.
“I wondered how you felt about taking Bee to self-defence classes.”
“For what?”
“To learn how to make paper fucking berets and practice her chop stick skills. What the fuck do you think I want to take her for?”
“Your sarcasm is such a fucking turn on,” he said dryly. “I meant what makes you think she needs them?”
“Well, I’ve been looking it up, and as well as being an excellent physical exercise, it’s also really good for mental focus as well.
It might help her channel some of her rage and learn how to let go of it.
Plus, when she comes home with things to learn, it will be a really good way for you and her to bond when she’s kicking your ass. ”
He chuckled softly. “It’s your call, Rachel. If you think it’ll be good for her, I’ll trust your judgement. Ask her what she thinks, and we’ll go from there.”
“Just like that? It’s that easy? You’re not going to argue?”
“Just like that,” he grinned at me and then reached out, grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. “Now, go on and get your shit together,” he slapped my ass and pushed me away. “I want to get the fuck out of here before the rest of the cagers take over the A1.”