Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
TORCH
“ T orch!”
They’d touched her.
“Brother?”
They’d drugged her.
“Jesus, Torch?”
I’d make them pay.
“Brother, snap the fuck out of it!”
Their blood will pour by my hands.
“Torch, think. Think, brother.”
They used her, drugged her, chained her, bruised her, hurt her.
“They will die,” I snarled, focusing on the door that led out as I tried once again to lift off the ground.
I needed to get to them.
I needed to hunt.
To torture.
And kill.
“Torch. Brother, they’ll suffer. They’ll know what pain is, but we need to be smart about it.”
No.
I clawed at the ground before I pushed up again.
“Let him up,” someone said.
“ Mon amour , no.”
“Tech, get Henri out of here.”
“Kind of busy.”
“Do it. I’ll help Torch. Country, I have this. Trust me.”
Hunt.
Torture.
Kill.
“Fuck. Now,” someone yelled.
The weight on me disappeared. I jumped up and started for the door until something solid knocked my head to the side, and I stumbled back.
Spitting blood out, I slowly moved my gaze to my target and grinned.
My smile disappeared when I remembered what I was meant to be doing.
I went to dodge Blaze, but he hooked his fucking beefy arm around my waist and threw me across the room, where I landed with a crash against a table and chairs.
Shaking my head, I stood and blinked at the guy.
“You with it now?” he asked.
“Sure.” I smirked before I ran at him and threw my arm back to smash my fist into his gut.
He heaved out a breath, even as his punch connected with my ribs.
“You want blood? Take mine for now.” His hand wrapped around my neck and squeezed.
Lifting my legs, I kicked out. Blaze flew one way, and I, the other, landing hard on my back.
My oxygen was gone.
I sucked on dryness, getting nothing in.
Blaze stood above me with blood trickling down from his hairline.
My lungs started working as he said, “We don’t walk into their world without a fuckin’ plan, Torch. You want Wrenley to suffer if you get her sister’s man in trouble with the law? If any of the brothers get into trouble over her situation, it’d crush her. You don’t want that, right?”
Closing my eyes, I clenched my teeth together.
Hunt.
Torture.
Kill.
Opening my eyes, I glared up at him as I knocked my knuckles into my temple.
Wrenley had been crushed enough.
I wouldn’t put more on her.
“No.”
Blaze grunted and held his hand out to me. “We’ll get them for what they did.”
I took his hand, and he pulled me to my feet. My body complained, but I ignored it. I pushed the pain down and focused on his words.
We’d get them.
They’d pay.
But we had to be smart so Wrenley didn’t get crushed.
Nodding, I dropped his hand and my shoulders.
She was already crushed by me setting Tech onto her phone.
“Brother.” I jolted slightly from the hand landing on my shoulder and looked up into Country’s gaze. “You got it under control?”
“For now,” I told him.
His grip tightened. “They will pay.”
I nodded.
“What do you need to do?” he asked.
But I didn’t understand the question.
Death stepped up. “He’s comin’ back to the house with me.”
I shook my head. Wrenley wouldn’t want to see me.
“Torch, Wrenley ain’t angry at you.”
“She is.”
“She’s not,” Death said. “Obviously shit had already been on her mind. Then when Wren found out about her phone being hacked by us, it was the last straw that set her off. She might be a little annoyed still, but her anger wasn’t toward you.”
Clenching my jaw, I looked off to the side and knocked my fist against my thigh.
Didn’t matter if she wasn’t angry at me. I wouldn’t put her through seeing me.
“I’ll stay here.”
Death’s jaw clenched. “Brother?—”
A little Frenchman saved me from hearing Death say more when Henri stalked out of the hallway spewing loud French words and pointing at Blaze.
Henri was beyond pissed, and all Blaze did was smirk at him, even when Henri smacked him in the chest.
Shock rocked through me when Blaze replied to him in French, since I didn’t know he spoke that language as well. But whatever Blaze said caused Henri to huff, jut his hip to the side, and place his hand on it.
“Are you serious, mon amour ?” He waved a hand toward the blood running down Blaze’s temple. “You call this uninjured?”
“Henri” was all Blaze said.
Henri stuck his middle finger up in Blaze’s face and turned to me. “Maybe you need to hit him harder to knock some sense into him, oui ?”
Wee?
What did that mean again?
Henri waved a hand around. “Doesn’t matter. Are you okay?”
“Yes?” My answer sounded like a question since I wasn’t sure what answer would stop him from staring at me like a nice but impatient and intense parent who cared.
“Bien.” He nodded.
I don’t understand you, man.
He shot Blaze another glare before turning and strutting back down the hallway.
“Jesus Christ,” Quake drew out. “How the fuck did we go from holdin’ our brother down to two brothers fighting? And then that firecracker of a Frenchman defuses the situation more by swearin’ and yellin’ at Blaze.”
The tension in the room lessened.
Death got close again.
Fuck.
“No doubt you’re gonna go to her place anyway to watch over her from the outside while the other brothers figure out how we can take those bastards down in a way that won’t come back to bite anyone on the ass?”
Goddammit
I nodded before stretching my neck and running a hand over the back of it.
He grunted. “Then I’ll give you a lift.”
Meaning, he didn’t want to leave me alone in case I got any other ideas and went out on my own.
Which I could.
If things went down and the cops got involved after I took matters into my own hands, then them arresting me wouldn’t be a problem. Not for me. Wrenley would be safe. I’d make sure those cunts were taken down in a way they wouldn’t be breathing again.
I’d take the fall solely.
“Fuck that,” Death snarled as he rested a hand at the side of my neck. “You’re not goin’ out on your own. You have people who goddamn care about you, Torch, so get that fuckin’ idea outta your head.”
Clenching my jaw, I thought, How the fuck does he know?
Country chuckled. “You should know by now, Death’s a mind reader, but your thoughts were pretty fuckin’ loud, brother.” Country crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m orderin’ you to leave them alone until I give the go-ahead, Torch. Hear me?”
Fucking hell.
“Yeah, Prez,” I said tightly.
“Good.” Country looked to Death. “Since Gun and Saint are already there, I won’t send any more brothers as backup, but we’ll all be on rotation as a just in case.”
Death tipped his chin up. “Appreciate it.”
Country waved him off, and the group went back to doing whatever they had been.
Warmth weaved into my chest.
This was my family.
Death tagged me by curling his arm around my neck. “Let’s go. You’re comin’ in my truck.”
I didn’t bother fighting. They knew me and would now keep an eye on me more than usual until I could get my hands on those motherfuckers.
Death shook me a little. “We’ll get them,” he said, voice gruff and low.
The news of what happened to my Wrenley would be hitting him just as hard. She was his woman’s sister, and he’d known her that little bit longer.
When I got into his car, I took note of how tense his body was.
Yeah, he was fighting the idea of going after those boys hard.
Hunt.
Torture.
Kill.
With my palm, I rubbed at my temple and reminded myself that we had to be careful. Wasn’t for me. But for the women and club.
And I’d do anything in my power to protect my obsession and my family. Even if it meant I had to wait to have the blood of those fuckers running over my fingers while they writhed in pain by my hand.
“I should have done somethin’ the first time I saw her reaction over a text,” Death mentioned softly, yet there was a pissy edge to it.
“I ain’t judging, but why didn’t you?” I just wanted to understand.
“Raya said they’d spoken about it and Wrenley had asked Raya to let her deal with it. We were gonna step in if she needed help. She just didn’t come to us, and fuck, brother, I was still new with Raya. I didn’t want to push my boundaries. Raya will be kickin’ herself for it enough. Christ.” He slapped his hands against the wheel.
“Standin’ back makes sense. Not like you could’ve done much back then when she wasn’t ready.” I ran a hand over my face. Hoped I was saying the right things. “She needs help now.”
“And she’ll get it. They’ll fuckin’ pay.”
Teeth flashed. “They will.”
Death pulled into his driveway. I got out and started for his side gate, which would lead me to the part of the fence I’d jump to be outside her window.
My pulse picked up, causing my heart to go crazy over knowing how close I’d be to her.
My obsession.
The one shining star in my dark mind.
“Torch, wait up,” Death called, stopping beside the front fence where he jumped to get to his woman’s. “Why don’t you come in and check on her?”
Shaking my head, I took a step back. “No.”
She wouldn’t want to see me.
I was the one who got Tech onto her.
It was because of me her secrets were discovered.
Because of me she’d lost herself and screamed, cried, and was hurt.
I’d hurt her.
“Torch—”
“Leland, what are you doing?” Raya called.
Death watched as my eyes widened, and I took another step back.
“Nothin’, darlin’. Just comin’ over.”
“Is Torch with you?”
I was going to choke on my heart as it crawled up my throat.
“Yeah,” Death said, ratting me out.
Her footsteps approached the end of her porch. “Torch, can you come inside for a little bit, please? Wrenley wants to talk to you.”
She wanted to talk to me.
Me?
Why?
Wasn’t she scared by how I acted?
I’d lost myself to the darkness, and she’d seen it. She witnessed what I could become.
But I also didn’t want to upset her again.
I couldn’t stand to see her cry more. The tears she’d shed were already implanted under my skin.
“Torch?” Raya called.
Fuck.
Wrenley wanted to talk to me.
But if I made her upset again, I wouldn’t be able to deal.
“Brother, it’ll be fine,” Death said.
I swung my wide gaze up from the ground to his.
“She doesn’t need to see me,” I told him and swallowed thickly. My gut twisted. Chest ached. Christ, even my hands shook.
“Torch, please,” Raya said.
Fucking hell.
I should say no. I should hide.
Moving beside Death, I nodded up at a wrecked Raya with red-rimmed eyes as she smiled softly. I followed Death with my head down, body tense, and thoughts spinning.
And I promised myself that if she cried, I’d run. I wouldn’t be the cause of her pain again.