THIRTY
Harper
Though not exactly a sprint back to her family’s house near the clubhouse, Harper returned in record time. The moment the front door shut, she leaned against it, overcome with tears.
The pain of what she’d just heard tore through her like a physical knife.
She was floored that Cain would take a beating for her. Or that her dad had gone for it.
He must know Cain couldn’t survive something so brutal. One beating would be bad enough, but to endure five in a row was suicide.
“Oh, baby. What is it?” she heard, and seeing her mom coming down the stairs, she tried so hard to compose herself, but the sobbing just wouldn’t quit.
Her mom’s hug just made Harper cry harder; she felt like she was betraying her family by having feelings for Cain and wanting him to live.
But she couldn’t help it. Those feelings wouldn’t go away.
Once seated in the kitchen, Zara said. “Now tell me everything.”
It all came pouring out in a rush.
“I’m so sorry, Mom. I shouldn’t even be defending him. I told Dad I’d say goodbye, but…”
“But you couldn’t.”
“I hate myself.”
“Harper Alena Marinos, you never say that about yourself!” she could be such a rottweiler when she needed to be, but then she petted Harper’s hair off her face. “You have feelings for this boy. I get it. I fell for a bad boy, too.”
Harper snorted. “It’s hardly the same, though.”
“Maybe not. But it doesn’t diminish your feelings.”
“I can’t be with him. Even if they don’t kill him.” Her stomach twisted at the thought. Maybe she should have encouraged him to steal her away. But Cain was right; she needed to be close to her family. Any future man would have always known that about her. And somehow, he’d figured it out. Did that make Cain her right man?
“Did Dad talk to you about what he would do with Cain?”
“Yes. He asked if I needed him gone.”
Gone meant dead. Harper hardly breathed.
“I’m a mother, Harper. For what he did to you, yes, I want that boy to be punished.” She smiled sweetly like a soccer mom, but Zara Marinos could be the most fierce woman in the room. “But I can’t in good conscience sentence a man to death just because of who his biological father was. Hades didn’t raise him.”
“But he looks like him.”
“Enough like him. Seeing someone resembling him was more of a shock. But he’s not identical. And as angry as I feel for him hurting my baby girl, I was impressed by the way he came to the club to speak with us. He even said if his birth father were alive today, he’d kill him for me. Murder is such a sweet act,” she half laughed. So did Harper. Only in their world would it be sweet.
“It sounds like you’re giving me permission.”
“I’m not. It’s not for me to say either way what you do, Harper. Love is reckless, it’s not meant to be sedate. If love isn’t making your heart pound out of your chest, or have you making crazy decisions, is it really worth fighting for?”
“Well, I can’t be with him, so he’s being an idiot offering that stupid ritual. They’re going to tear him apart. He’s only one man, not a cyborg.”
Zara stood and came around the table to hug Harper. “Sweetheart, I married the baddest biker man in Colorado. Things work out somehow. The way they’re meant to. If it’s Cain, then it’s Cain. If it’s not, your biggest bad man will come along one day. No sweet man for my girl, this much I know, hm.” She half laughed and kissed the top of Harper’s head.
“Sweet men are boring.” She grumbled. And lunatics were a pain in her ass, but right then, her heart was in the club basement with the biggest lunatic she’d ever met.
And for the first time, she prayed he’d live through whatever was about to happen.
Because she might love him.
* * *
Seeing Cain perched on a stool near the bar when she entered the clubhouse was not something she’d expected, and Harper, not usually a clumsy woman, stumbled with her steps, and her mom walked into her back with an oomph.
Cain jack-knifed off the stool when he saw her but didn’t go any further, almost like he’d been ordered to stay away from her because his entire body was bristling with an energy she felt in her fingertips.
Every brother was in attendance. They’d probably come for the show.
Automatically, her feet walked toward Cain, and he looked smirky about it until she redirected herself, sitting at the nearest table with her brothers, who were glaring at Cain.
“What is he doing here?”
“I’m here because you’re here.” Cain was the one to answer, and the heat filled her belly. She couldn’t look at him, or she’d do something wild by flying into his arms until the nightmare disappeared. And then she’d go one step further and beg for him to take her away, where no one could find them for a month.
She couldn’t handle it, so she looked away, knowing he was staring. His hunger was palpable in every breath she inhaled.
“Dead man walking is about to go in the ring. Dad let him out so he could have a last meal. We’re not animals; we can feed a loser before we kill him.” Smirked Zane, and Harper shot him a vicious stare.
But it was the matriarch who said. “Zane, if you can’t be an adult, go home.”
“Sure thing, Mom.” He grinned. As the baby, he’d gotten away with so much, but Harper wanted to wipe the smug smile off her brother’s face.
She looked at Knox. “And where are your wiseass remarks today?”
Wearing a wifebeater, jeans, and a cut-off shirt, his shoulders bulged when he shrugged. “Probably still asleep. Not had much of that since you brought this shit to our door.”
“Watch how you talk to her.” Cautioned Cain from behind. It took all of Harper’s effort not to spin around to look at him. “I told you, none of this is Harper’s doing.”
“She’s my sister.” Snarked Knox.
The rule had always been they could be turds to each other, but god help anyone else who ever tried it. They’d attack like pack wolves.
Cain didn’t seem to get that memo, and she bit her lip to stifle her smile.
“And she’s going to be mine . You don’t talk to her like she’s less than a queen.”
“A queen.” Snorted Knox. “This guy has lost brain cells. I’ll enjoy every second of beating your ass.”
“It’ll be the only time.”
“Five times.” Retorted an arrogant Knox, and he looked every inch a president-in-waiting with his air of superiority. “If you can last that long.”
“I will last.” He sounded so sure, and Harper’s heart twanged.
“There are bets you won’t.”
“Put a hundred grand on me lasting,” Cain announced, and it brought a shush to the clubhouse.
Preacher, who was sitting nearby with his son Sebastian, whistled through his teeth. “Seriously, he’s a genius or completely nuts.”
“He’s insane.” Mumbled Harper, chewing on her thumbnail.
“Thank you, baby.” Chuckled Cain.
“So, you want our money and my sister?” Said Zane.
“Just your sister. I’ll donate my winnings to the college fund for Harper’s slowest brother.”
She couldn’t hold back the bubble of laughter.
“That’s you,” both Knox and Zane said at the same time.
“Enough.” Her father announced, and everything became severe in the air like the wind had swept through.
Harper’s heart began knocking into her ribs. The dread was so thick in her throat that she wanted to vomit.
“Dad, this doesn’t have to happen.” She implored. Rider approached her and leaned down to tap his lips on her forehead. “He claims differently, doodle-bug. We see it through to the end now.”
“Let’s do this. I’m eager to get to the part where I have Harper to myself.” The madman declared, and Harper whirled around in her seat to glare at him. If he weren’t careful, any of the Souls’ brothers would put a bullet in him. But she only heard rumblings of laughter.
Cain sent her a wink. “Do I get a kiss for good luck?”
She wanted to. So much.
It might be the last time she’d ever feel his lips.
Even if he lived, she couldn’t be with him.
They were mere feet away, but it might as well be miles, and as the fainted smile stretched Cain’s lips in understanding, he winked again. “Save them up for me, sweet baby.”
Despite the dire situation looming over him, Cain wasn’t intimidated by her family, as many were, and it was a very intoxicating feeling to bear witness to.
With a sharp emotional pain in her torso, she rose to her feet.
None of this was right.
As she watched all the men trek toward the basement gym with the boxing ring, her eyes clung to Cain’s back, and her heart pinged with hope.
In another reality, their paths would have crossed, and they’d have fallen in love naturally. But would that love be as attached and dark as it felt now?
There was no answer because Harper was in this life, this universe. And as her dad said, they had to see it through.
“Mom, I have to be there.” She said with a determined tip of her chin.
Women and non-patched members were not usually permitted anywhere near sanctioned club business. But she was ready to push her way in if she needed to.
The lunatic was doing this because of her. If Cain was going to die, he needed one person on his side.
Oh, god, she had sided with Cain, hadn’t she?
The decision happened so rapidly, like breathing.
She wanted Cain to win this so badly she was shaking with fear.
“I know, baby. Rider has permitted you to be down there.”
She blinked, shocked. “Do you hate me?”
Zara shook her head. “Not even a bit. We’ll get through this like we do everything. As a family unit.”
“What about Dad?”
“You leave him to me.” she winked with a smile, and for the first time in forever, Harper smiled.
“You are the beating heart of this place. Do you know that?”
Zara gave Harper a quick hug and whispered in her ear. “We each contribute our worth, sweetheart. We’re a working cog; without one of us, it just doesn’t work. So if Cain is who you want, be stronger than you’ve ever been because he’ll need it. These men of ours are only as powerful as we let them be.”
Harper couldn’t believe she was hearing her mom give her permission. She looked at her, perplexed.
“But Dad won’t…”
“That man is under my thumb, baby.” Her mom chuckled, her eyes sparkling, and Harper believed it. Rider would bring down the stars if she wanted them.
“Now go. And remember what I said. You’re a Marinos. Act like it. If he wants to fight for you, then let him.”
All the old ladies who had gathered nodded at Zara’s wise words. Luxe looked at her and patted under her chin to tell Harper to keep it up. She smiled in return.
As she confidently strode to the basement gym, all eyes followed her, and she braced herself for one of the original members to tell her to leave. But no one did. Tag flashed her a smile. Hawk patted her back, Grinder gave her a one-armed hug, and Texas gave her a full, supportive hug and told her to keep strong.
Cain was already in the ring, looking relaxed.
She noted it was only the legacy boys in the ring with him. Knox, Zane, Sebastian, Pasha, Mateo and Dax.
“Get her out of here. I don’t want her to see this,” Snarled Cain, holding the ring’s ropes, clashing eyes with her. It was the first time he looked rattled.
“She stays,” Rider told him, and took his seat with his brothers.
Was that the tactic all along? To have her presence weaken Cain? She let their gazes hold for a minute and watched Cain breathing, trying to convey so much in that one look.
She chose a chair between Lawless and his son Saint and sat demurely, fingers locked on her lap. It was Saint who covered her shaking hands. “It’ll be fine.”
“Why aren’t you one of them in the ring?”
He looked bored as he raised his pierced eyebrow. “I prefer mind games over fists.”
It was Tag who explained the rules. There were very few, but she hardly heard a thing over her stampeding heart.
Whatever she thought it would be. It was worse.
The boys took turns throwing punches at Cain—his face, his body. And he just stood there, taking every hit as they cycled through. Sometimes, he stumbled. Early on, his nose started bleeding. Then his lip. Next, his eyebrows split open. Soon after, his eyes swelled shut.
After each punch, Harper flinched and swallowed her screams, pressing her lips tight together. She was coiled so rigidly she felt like she’d slipped out of her skin. All she could do for Cain was be there, willing him to live and keep breathing.
“Not much longer now,” Saint said in her ear, squeezing her clenched fists.
The brothers were all commentating amongst themselves, but she heard nothing but the sound of fists against skin. Her eyes bore into Cain. She didn’t know what was worse, having him on his feet so he’d have to endure more punches or watching as he fell to his knees, blood dripping out of his mouth.
It was the most horrendous, terrifying thing she’d ever witnessed. Harper’s breath was static as her dad walked toward the ring. Exhausted, the men were winded from beating him.
“That’s enough.” The prez announced, and a raucous sound of cheer made Harper flinch. She was up off the hard folding chair before she could stop herself. Cain was on his knees, hands holding him up, his head bowed, breathing raggedly as blood dripped out of him.
“One down…” Cain groaned, lifting his head to gaze at her with a bloody smile like he’d won a prize, not taken a hell of a thrashing. “Four to go.”
Dear god, she wouldn’t survive.
“Get him out of that fucking ring right now.” She issued a tone that made everyone stop what they were doing to stare at her. “You two.” She pointed at the prospects. They checked with Rider, who only nodded, and they ran into the ring to lift Cain by the arms, helping him out.
“I need a private room to clean him up. Dad?”
She stared at them all, daring just one man to deny her. Harper might be scared stiff and in emotional pain, but she was Zara Marinos’ daughter. She dared them to refuse.
“There’s one empty on the second floor, end of the hallway.”
“Take him there and be careful.” She issued to the prospects. “Butcher, I need you.”
“I’ll be behind you, Harper,” their medic smiled kindly. “I’ll grab my stuff.”
“Are you fucking joking?” it was Knox who spoke. Of fucking course it was.
She glared at him. “He’s bleeding out of his face. He could have broken bones. Will you take care of him so he can do this again tomorrow?”
“Fuck no!”
“Fuck no to you too, you little cretin.” She snapped, holding her tears at bay. Knowing she loved those men so deeply made it even harder to stomach their current actions.
Knox frowned and ran a hand over his hair, watching her.
“I know you all hate him, and I hate him, too.”
“Sure you do. We climb into bed with people we hate all the time,” scoffed Knox, with his tape-wrapped hands stained in Cain’s blood as he leaned into the ring ropes.
She ignored Knox, lifting her chin and locking eyes with her father. The understanding in his gaze cut deeper than any disappointment could. She’d always been a daddy’s girl—his doodle-bug, even now. Perhaps not right then, especially since she defied her family and beliefs.
She was a Marinos, down to her soul. They took care of their own first—always. But there was no denying where her loyalties lay now.
“He did this because of me, he’s trying to make amends for me because he knows what you knuckleheads mean to me. Who else should take care of him if not me, huh?”
“We could toss him to the gators, let them take care of him.” As always, the future MC president was not helpful, and she sent him a nasty scowl.
“We live in Colorado, dumbass. Show me where these gators are.”
“I’d be willing to travel.”
Oh, screw him and the ego he floated in on.
Cain needed to rest and recover. Being another dumbass man, he wasn’t likely to do that if he didn’t have someone strong-arming him into resting for the duration.
“Dad?”
“Don’t look for my permission, Harper, not when you know how I feel about this. You’re grown, even if I hate it.” God, he was sweet and breaking her heart. No man would ever match up to Rider Marinos. “You do what you wanna do, always have. You get that from your mom.”
“That’s right, I do. So that means I’ll be looking after Cain for the duration. If these clowns disagree, let them dare say it to me.”
She was sure she heard Preacher’s distinct chuckle as she marched out. “Goddamn, our girl is grown, isn’t she?”
And then she heard. “He took it better than I would have. You think he’s gonna last the next four nights?”
He better, she thought, her nerves shaking. And she made her way to the room upstairs to clean up the man who was stupid enough to put himself through this rigorous ritual.
And for what?
For love?
* * *
“Don’t say a word.” She said as she stormed into the room to find him on the bed being examined by Butcher.
“Wasn’t going to, sweet baby.” He groaned, obviously in pain, as Butcher palpated Cain’s torso.
“Is he going to live?”
“He’s bruised to fuck. I can patch up his cuts.”
“No, I’ll do that. Thank you, Butcher.”
The older man hitched his eyebrow but nodded in understanding. “Roux is here if you need her.”
“I’m fine.” His wife was an outstanding old lady, but was more likely to rile Harper into starting a mutiny. She wanted to get through these days unscathed.
She sorted through the medical supplies Butcher had left when they were alone. Cain was sitting on the side of the bed, his shirt off; the bruises already blossoming made her feel sick. “You are such an idiot.” She said, dabbing the blood as gently as she could.
He didn’t flinch when she worked over his cheeks. With a steel-gray stare, he scrutinized her expression, as if trying to uncover her secret opinions of him.
Emotions were on her surface, and she worked hard not to let them show. She looked up only when Cain touched her waist.
“Please, I need to touch you,” he spoke with a smoky voice.
“Fine. But don’t grab my butt.”
He grabbed her butt, and she had to swallow a groan of bliss.
She soon had his cuts cleaned and doctored with ointment.
“Why did you do this?”
“Are you going to kiss me now?”
“No.” she fumed, though her lips tingled when he gazed at her mouth.
“I’m injured, Harper. You could kiss me better.”
“This was self-inflicted, you lunatic. You could be in California drinking scotch on your balcony.”
“Not without you.”
Ugh , he was going to slaughter her heart. It was gaping open, begging him to come inside, and there was nothing Harper could do to stop it from happening.
“You’re alive now. The next night, you might not be so lucky.”
He looked so incredibly beautiful, even with his face busted. “Do you want me to live?”
“I’m not the evil monster here! Of course, I do.”
Cain smiled. “Then I will.”
“You can’t be sure.”
“I am.”
He was cocky enough to mean it.
But she’d been witness to how they doled out the punishing blows. No mere man could take that night after night.
“I’ve missed you, baby.”
Her heart flipped.
Though his lips were cut all over, he leaned in and tried to kiss her. She pushed him back gently. “You’ll open your cuts.”
“I don’t care. Kiss me, Harper.” He said huskily, his eyes burning with the evil lust she’d been drawn to from day one.
Harper couldn’t help but tremble as he brushed his lips against her cheek.
“You look fierce and protective when you’re angry. Unstoppable like a whirlwind.”
“Don’t charm me,” she chastised, stroking the hair back from his bruised forehead. “You were foolish to do this. To come back here.”
“Winning you is never stupid, wife.”
“Shush! Anyone could be listening at the door. You can’t tell them, Cain. They’d kill you.”
“What will you give me for my silence?” how smug he looked, and she felt a warm flutter. He would never change his wicked ways.
And she realized she wouldn’t want him to.
He looked so boyish that she smiled and moved across the room to sit on a chair. “You’ll keep quiet, and I won’t kill you myself.”
“You’ll kiss me when I win.”
Then he climbed to his feet and came toward her, towering over Harper; he gripped her chin, tipping it back to look at him.
“Say you’re mine.”
She was his. So his. All his.
But she wasn’t giving him the words yet.
She knocked Cain’s hand away. “Get some rest. I’ll bring you something to eat.”
The next few days would be the longest days of her life.
But she spent every waking moment with Cain in his room or the central area. They didn’t touch, but she gravitated toward him like a moth to a flame.
And everyone noticed.
She might not have said so in as many words, but she’d chosen her side.
* * *
The second ritual night was even worse than the first.
And she couldn’t stand watching it happen.
Cain seemed weaker, but he remained on his feet.
Finally lifted from the ring after her dad stopped the second round, he stumbled but still managed to locate her in the crowd. “Two down.”
He was certifiable, and her heart ached for that husband of hers and his idiotic romantic notions.
“He’s got more balls than I gave him credit for.” Someone remarked.
“I think I’m gonna lose a fucking packet.” One other said.
“He’s wonderful, so romantic,” Sunny whispered to Harper.
Like the first night, Butcher checked Cain over and deemed him alive and not too broken. Then Harper took over cleaning him. This time, she had to help him into the shower, washing him gently.
“Love your hands on me, little girl.” He grunted in pain as she touched a tender part of his ribs. Harper was close to exploding with fury and anguish.
“Will you stop this, please?”
“No.”
After getting some food and pain pills into Cain, he slept the rest of the night, with Harper watching over him.
When she left him asleep to find a drink, she poured the biggest vodka and downed it like a shot. Wiping her mouth, she turned to see her dad watching her.
“You okay, doodle?”
“No.”
“It was his choice, sweetheart.”
“It doesn’t make it the right choice.”
“He’d say different.”
“You sound like you approve.”
“No one will ever be good enough for my girl. I’d keep you at home with us forever if I could.”
She felt herself smiling. But then sobered.
“You want him to lose?”
“My wants aren’t in this fight, Harper. He’s Hades’ son.”
“And I’m your daughter.”
He smirked like she’d said the right thing. “Yes, you are.”
“Will I lose my family if…” she couldn’t finish the sentence, but they both knew what she was asking, and her dad’s smile dropped off his bearded cheeks. He came forward and grasped Harper’s face in his hands. “That will never happen.”
She breathed out. Okay. Good to know.
After spending a few minutes together, she said she needed to return upstairs.
Her decision was obvious.
It felt right.
There was no alternative.
She was Cain’s wife. He was her husband. And he was going through hell for her. The least she could do was meet him halfway.
“Dad?” He turned. “I won’t bring him to Christmas dinner if you don’t want me to. But please stop those knucklehead brothers from eating all of Mom’s sugar cookies. Save some for me.”
She saw the moment her decision registered in her dad’s eyes, but she didn’t stick around for his reaction.
Cain was out cold when she snuck back into his room. She shed her clothes and hopped into bed next to him. Still sleeping, he lassoed an arm around her and buried his face in her hair.
“Missed you, sweet baby.”
“I missed you, too.”
No more words were said. Not now.
There were still three more days to endure.