Chapter Eight.
Rascal
Returning to the clubhouse, I headed straight for my bunk.
I couldn’t handle being around anyone right now, and I was a damn mess.
Hallie had been innocent. The word kept rattling inside my brain.
How the hell could I ever give Hallie back what she’d lost?
I couldn’t. Five years and our child. Both were irreplaceable. And that was down to me.
My door opened, and the one member nobody could kick out walked in. Founder and Chaplain, Big Al commanded instant respect.
He sat on my chair and kicked his boots off before putting his feet up on my bed. Damnit. Big Al was settling in. I glowered and hoped Big Al would get the message, but instead he pulled out his phone. Fuck me if he didn’t start playing a game.
Someone knocked on my door, and Big Al called out for them to enter. Dollar entered with two mugs of coffee, a bottle of whiskey and one of tequila. Party at my bunk then. Dollar checked me over, nodded, and left.
Big Al slid a mug over, and I took it. Even in this state, I knew the consequences of refusing a founder. We sat in silence as I dived back into my thoughts.
“Hallie will never forgive me,” I said.
“Maybe.”
“I wouldn’t. Christ, I betrayed her. Sat there smug, pompous, and so damn righteous, so certain I was right. I’d seen her. But it hadn’t been Hallie. Someone stole her face, the same as they snatched our future and child.”
“Yup.”
I reached out and grabbed the tequila. “Brother, I screwed up massively. Ain’t no way I can give Hallie back what she lost.”
“Nope.”
“One-word answers, Big Al? Is that it?” I whined.
“When I’ve got something to say, prospect, I’ll say it.” Big Al unscrewed the bottle of whiskey and took a swallow.
“If I were you lot, I’d kick me now. Six brothers were arrested because of my quest for vengeance. Don’t think anyone else has fucked up on that scale.”
“Nope.”
I wanted to throw the tequila at him, but uncapped it and swallowed. The burn caught in my throat.
Big Al pointed his bottle at me. “You lost your daughter.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I didn’t deserve her.”
“That’s not what’s biting you.”
“Damn it! I killed my own kid! Big Al, I might not have ordered Hallie to get a beatdown, but I was the reason she was in prison. If those other statements hadn’t been falsified and others had done their jobs, Hallie stood a chance of getting off.”
“Yup. But people chose to lie and hide shit; that ain’t on you.”
“But it is. They did it because they trusted my account and wanted to make sure Hallie went down for her crimes,” I replied.
“Which weren’t hers.”
“No. And we’re back to Hallie won’t forgive me.” I sighed and took another long swallow.
“Why’s Hallie here?” Big Al asked.
“For truth and revenge.”
“So, help Hallie get them. Show her you really are remorseful. You wanna know why you hated her so much? Because you still care for her. You loved that woman with everything you had, and then you assumed Hallie betrayed you. You were wrong, prospect. Own it. You can sit here and wallow or get off your ass and assist her to get what she wants. Which is stone-cold revenge against the bitch that stole her whole life from her. Hallie doesn’t want platitudes or pats on the head. She needs blood.”
“Five years ago, that would have appalled Hallie.”
“Not now. The woman you loved is dead. She died the moment you accused her of trying to kill you. What was left was raw, and it moulded who Hallie is today. Don’t go looking for your former girlfriend.
You’ll never find her. Accept this version and hunt that cunt down and make her pay,” Big Al said.
“I will,” I promised. “But tonight, I’m wallowing in all these shitty feelings. I plan to get hammered, and then I’ll start on that.”
Big Al tipped his whiskey to me. “Sounds like a plan, prospect. Get to it.”
Hallie
I stared, stunned, at the wreck in front of me. Jesus, Shane had hit the bottle hard last night.
“What do you want?” I demanded.
“To talk.” He even sounded rough.
Before I could say another word, Shane swept in and picked me up. He carried me upstairs to the first bedroom he found, slapped a pair of handcuffs on me, and cuffed me to the bed.
“Shane!” I shrieked with astonishment.
King erupted from the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. “What the ever-loving fuck? This is my room,” he growled out.
Shane shrugged.
I yanked on the cuffs, rattling them. “Make him un-cuff me now.”
Shane shrugged again. “We’re talking.”
“Talking?” King repeated in disbelief. His gaze raked Shane over. “I’m impressed. Looks like he finally found his balls. Play nice, my queen.”
With that, the traitor headed back into the bathroom, leaving me gaping.
“Did he just do that? Did King abandon me?”
“Stop being so dramatic. I don’t recall you being a diva,” Shane said as he sat down.
“Let me the fuck go!” I yelled, and Shane smirked.
“I like this,” he replied.
“Are you for real? I’m about to rip your head off and shit down your throat,” I threatened.
“Gross, but apt. Hallie, I’m not here to fight. You want Jane’s head on a platter. So do I. She took several precious things from us. We can’t get them back; we can make her pay.”
“I’m going to do that,” I replied sharply.
“And I’ve a right to help.”
“No, you don’t! You sent me down. This is my revenge.”
“And I’ve contacts around here you don’t,” Shane retorted.
“That’s true,” King called from the bathroom.
“Asshole! Stop listening in and come and release me,” I snapped.
“Nope, you’re fine where you are. I might borrow them after. Make sure you stay put,” King shot back.
“I’m an adult!”
“Then act like one. Work with, not against, me. We’ll find that bitch together and take her down. I swear I won’t touch her. She’s all yours, that’s what you want, right? Blood?”
“Who the fuck are you?” King asked, coming out wearing sweats and a tee, and staring at Shane incredulously.
Doubt crossed Shane’s face.
“I want her screams, pain, regret, blood and life,” I seethed.
“That cunt owes me that and more. Jane will suffer at my hands, and she’ll understand exactly what she subjected me to.
And when she can’t talk because she’s begged herself hoarse, I’ll hurt her more.
She won’t know when I’m going to give her that final blow, and I’ll keep that bitch on edge. ”
“Damn, you’re hot,” King remarked, eyeing me with fake intensity. I launched a pillow at him. “You put that overused cock anywhere near me, I’ll bite it off.”
“Tell me that’s not hot?” King inquired of Shane, who was gazing at me. Lust flickered across his face before disappearing.
“Mail’s here,” King announced, heading downstairs.
“King, you raging asshole,” I shouted.
“That’s me.”
“Shane, so help me God, if you don’t…”
“Shut up, Hallie. You’re talking too much,” Shane demanded, and I gaped. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks, and Shane sat back and watched.
“I’m going to hurt you so badly,” I threatened.
Shane just shrugged. “Whatever. You can do that once we find Jane.”
“Here.” King threw a brown envelope at me, and I looked down. It had my name and nothing else, and my gut clenched. I opened it, ignoring Shane.
“Lovely, a poison pen letter,” I said. “Looks like Jane is resorting to cheap tricks as she can’t physically reach me now.”
Both Shane and King lunged.
I shrieked and backed up against the headboard. “I will kick both your asses!” I yelled.
Shane stopped himself in time, but King crashed into me. A muffled squawk came from me, and then I sank my teeth into his pec.
“Fuckin’ bitch!” King roared and shoved backwards, using my stomach to do so. He pushed the air out of me, and I wheezed.
“I’m going to kill you,” I panted, trying to catch my breath.
King made a second grab for the letter, ignoring me, but Shane snatched it first.
“Fingerprints!” I yelled.
Shane waggled it, showing he was holding it with his tee.
I refused to look at the strip of tight abs now on display.
The Shane I’d loved hadn’t been so ripped.
And that was enough of that reminiscing.
I hated him, and I needed to remember that, although I did take a second glance. Yeah, nothing there to tempt me.
“Wow, she has a hatred for you,” Shane muttered.
“The bitch shot me; I think that’s a given,” I replied.
Shane turned the letter toward King, who looked worried.
Jane had outdone herself. There was a woman’s figure pasted to the paper with her insides ripped out.
My head was stuck to the top of the body with my eyes gouged out and my throat slit.
On the floor were my intestines, with animals feeding on them.
“That’s very graphic,” I replied, amused.
“Jesus,” King muttered, shocked.
“Jane’s unravelling,” I added.
“Should we leave state?” King asked.
“No, I ain’t running,” I said as Shane also spoke.
“No, that bitch stole five years from Hallie; she pays for it. Jane doesn’t get to win.”
King looked between us. “Are you willing to risk Hallie’s life?” he demanded of Shane.
“It’s Hallie’s choice, and she doesn’t want to leave. I’ll support her decision,” Shane replied.
“How sweet. For five years you assumed I tried to kill you. Where was that level of support back then? I’m fully capable of standing on my own two feet.” I glowered at Shane.
“Not saying you ain’t. I owe you, Hallie, and we both know I can’t ever make up for what I did to you. But you can let me have your back,” Shane replied.
“I don’t trust you,” my words landed, and Shane flinched.
“Can’t blame you for that. Guess I earned that,” he murmured.
“Yeah, you did. What do you think? That because you’ve learned I was framed, and I was innocent, I’d forget?
I ain’t ever going to forget, Shane. What I went through in prison destroyed the person I used to be.
Charity? Fuck that. Be kind. What and get shit on?
Be polite. Get the fuck kicked out of you.
Those are my new lessons, and ones I took to heart.
This, whatever this is, doesn’t appeal to me.