Chapter Two
Finally, she spoke, “I was there the day Gabriel busted my mother’s door down, he grabbed her by the throat.
His eyes looked wild as his fingers tightened around her throat.
I saw the insanity take over his soul the moment her life ended.
He tossed her body down on the floor like she didn’t matter, like he didn’t care whether she lived or died.
I was all of five years old when he killed her and I swore then and there that one day I would see him and his family dead.”
“Holy shit,” Hot Rod whispered under his breath. “Why would he take her life like that?”
The woman shrugged and then told him, “Because he is a pig and he didn’t want to have to pay child support I imagine.
He and his family were gems like that. If he didn’t marry her they felt that I couldn’t carry the precious Sanchez name then I didn’t exist, I guess.
After he threw her body to the floor he simply turned around and walked away like nothing important happened.
He didn’t even bother to close the door on his way out.
” She scoffed in disgust. “Like I wanted their damn last name. Fuck that.”
“Does that make you Gabreil’s kid then?” Hot Rod asked. He could hear the footsteps around the woods coming closer. He didn’t think the woman heard them yet but he knew what to listen for. He nodded to seemingly agree with her but he was also sending out a message to the men coming closer.
“No, I am not his daughter, I don’t want anyone to know who he was.
He didn’t want me then and I don’t want him now.
But yes, half my DNA is his, not that he can do anything about it now anyway.
He went and got himself blown up a couple of weeks ago and I can’t say I’m all that sorry he did either.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy honestly.
That saves me the trouble of doing it myself I guess. ”
Hot Rod just shook his head. “That’s harsh little girl, very harsh.”
She just glared at him. “Mister you have no idea what harsh is until you’ve lived the way I did.
Growing up with that name was harsh. I had it because my mom wanted the world to know what my father didn’t do and that was to make it right, but I never accepted it and neither did he.
Then he made her regret giving it to me.
Then as soon as I could, I threw that damn name away and he knew it, I made sure he knew it. ”
Ridge and Titus stepped into the clearing and they both just glared at the woman in the sling.
“What is this? More of that cursed Sanchez family showing up?” Titus asked.
“Oh, hell no, don’t you dare address me as a Sanchez!” she yelled. “I’m not one of them, never have been, never will be.”
Hot Rod shook his head and pointed out, “But your mama said you were Gabriel’s daughter, she gave you his last name.”
“That’s not the way it was, but he killed her anyway. I may carry his DNA but I was never part of that family, thank God. They never acknowledged me in any way, shape or form. So I have that much going for me at least.”
“So why did you come all this way then?” Ridge asked.
“She wanted a front row seat to their demise or so she said,” Hot Rod informed his brothers. Shaking his head he admitted, “Can’t say that I blame her either.”
The woman squirmed in the sling then she got to her knees and grabbed the ropes that held her. “From what I saw earlier, you were able to get your hands on Ricco, is he still alive?”
Ridge frowned and asked, “How long have you been here anyway?”
She smiled even though her eyes sparkled with anger. “Long enough to see what I saw. Is he still alive? I thought I heard a gunshot after you took him inside the clubhouse.”
Titus looked at his brothers then looked back at her. “No, he tried to force an issue and we had no choice but to shoot him. We didn’t want to but he gave us no choice.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to explain that to me, I would have shot him anyway.
He was an even bigger pig than Gabriel and I never thought that would be possible.
So now all you have left to go to war with is Lily and Canto and that crazy ass boyfriend of hers.
Oh, and let’s not forget old Edwardo. But please kill him last as he needs to see every one of his children die first.”
“What about Lily’s boyfriend?” Ridge asked her.
She shrugged. “What about him?”
Titus stared at her. “He’s known as the Vulture, right? We heard that he likes to fly planes in and drop bombs.”
The woman nodded. “Yeah, he’s called that but if you have the guts to do something about that little prick, you can stop him cold. He has to sneak in the back door to catch you unaware. But if you know he’s coming, then he loses that surprise factor, right?”
Ridge glanced over at Titus and Hot Rod. “Well hot damn, she’s making sense here.”
Titus studied her for a long minute then asked, “How do you know so much about the family? I mean you claim to hate them, so why do you know so much about their habits and all?”
She leaned back on her heels inside the sling.
“Because I watched them for a long time now. I learned their habits. I couldn’t walk up to their front door and announce myself, could I?
Like being related to them doesn’t make you safe.
I didn’t want to end up like my mother, so I stayed in the background.
I listened and I watched. I learned who they were by listening to their conversations.
I learned how they treated people by watching who they hung out with and I watched them grow more cold and unfeeling every time I saw them.
And Lily... Damn, she’s a real piece of work, you know?
So cold that she makes her father look almost human.
” She paused then said, “The only one of them worth even a hesitation might be Canto but even that is iffy. Even he’s turning cold now. ”
“And what about the Vulture? Where does he fit in the family?” Ridge asked curiously.
The woman shrugged her shoulders. “You know Vultures are birds of prey right?” she asked.
“But you take away their wings and they got little to nothing left to fight with. Just hobble and jump around on two legs with no way to fly. Yeah, he’s got a plane but if you aim for one of his wings, he’ll be grounded.
Easy pickings then.” She smirked. “But knowing his plane is loaded with arms and you clip his wings, the blast will probably take out his whole fuselage too. No coming back from that, he’ll just be gone. ” Her eyes glittered.
Hot Rod just shook his head. “Girl, you are armed and loaded for bear, ain’t ya?”
“Mister, I’m just tired of seeing them step on everyone.
Sick of them killing people rather than make anything right.
Then they just walked away. They never get arrested or stopped,” she said wearily.
“My mom was a victim from the day Gabreil first saw her. He decided she was going to be his lover and she didn’t get a vote on whether she wanted to be there or not.
He never bothered using protection so when she got pregnant with me, he didn’t bother caring about his responsibility either.
No, he just walked away. She tried, she really tried to care about me, but every time she looked at me she saw him and his callousness.
He never cared for her or me but he wouldn’t let us go either.
The day he snapped her neck he just walked out of the apartment like there was nothing left for him within those walls. ”
“Where did you go after that?” Ridge asked her.
“My mom’s sister came over that night. She found me and mom in the apartment and after she called the cops, she took me home with her.
My Aunt Mary raised me, she tried to make me see that the Sanchez’s were people I should just stay away from, so I always watched them from afar.
I never let them see me but I still watched and learned about them.
Because I knew that one day when I was grown, I was going to bring that whole family down.
I was going to spit in my father’s face and call him a loser.
” She sighed heavily. “Ricco took that day away from me but I can still bring the rest of them down.”
Hot Rod shook his head at her hate and vengeful heart. He understood it, but he knew it wasn’t healthy. He walked closer to the sling trap. Taking his knife out of its leather sheath, he cut the ropes that held it in place.
The woman hit the ground with a heavy thud and then she slowly raised her head to glare at him.