Chapter 5 #2
Viper chuckled. “If you didn’t want her to go, why did you high tail it outta here and let her think you hated her?”
“I do hate her.”
“No you don’t, brother. Lying to yourself is only going to bury what’s left of your heart.”
“Fuck off and go get some pussy before you turn into one,” I said viciously, getting off the bed and moving into the bathroom. I slammed the door shut, hoping to block him out.
“Once you’re done having a cry, come out and help me. I got some shit I need help with.”
I ignored his jibe and let the shower run, blocking out all other sound, so I could block the pain away. Watching her drive past without so much as a word killed me. Had I meant so fucking little after all these years?
Viper and I stood on the outer banks of the shed while Neal whined about the pain in his arms. He was hanging from chains from the roof, his wrists bloody from where he tried to get free of the metal cuffs.
It felt good to hear the screams of agony as he was put through the ringer.
Each one of us wanted to hurt this guy but ultimately, we knew this was Ace’s kill. He was giving us all a crack.
I hadn’t tried yet, I didn’t want to accidentally lose control and kill him early.
Then again, we could resuscitate him and do it all over again. I was a big fan of that form of torture, personally. Viper’s hand was bloody from where he’d punched him in the ribs over and over again, causing welts to pop and blister blood all over him.
He’d stopped pleading for mercy over the last few minutes, so that was better. His whiny voice did something to aggravate me and in my current mood, that wasn’t exactly a good thing.
“Think you should get in there,” Viper said. “You need to work out some anger.”
“I’ll kill him in my current mood, brother.”
“The world would be better for it.”
“This ain’t my kill,” I said. “The sound of torture is music to my ears though.”
Viper chuckled. “This isn’t what I pulled you from your misery for anyway. Think of it as a bonus to put you in a good mood.”
“This other shit gonna put me in a bad one?”
“Potentially,” he replied. “Best get that anger out now, brother.”
Ace looked toward me then, and motioned for me to have a crack.
His face was pensive, taking in the different forms of violence we all tended toward.
Mine was erratic, scary at times. Even I lost myself in the senseless beatings and stabbings, but afterward it felt so goddamn good.
If Bear hadn’t taken us in and treated us like brothers, we’d probably be serial killers.
I picked up my blade and moved toward him. He shrunk back as much as he could, but the chains didn’t give much leeway.
“Don’t worry, Nealey boy,” I said, patting him hard on a shoulder that had been out of its socket not too long ago.
“I’m not going to do too much damage. That’s for Prez to do.
Thing is…this is going to be long and slow…
for the years of abuse you put the girls through.
Believe me, Ace may look like a saint, but he's far from it. He’s going to ruin your mind, body and soul.
We’re just having a little taste first. You don’t mind, do you? ”
“Fuck…y-y-you,” he finally spat out.
“Wh-wh-what was that?” I mocked him, earning chuckles from all around. “Don’t worry, Nealey boy. This is going to be hard and fast. You just happened to have caught me on a really bad day…and that sucks for you but it’s gonna be cathartic as fuck for me, so thank you for that.”
My blade slid down his back, between his shoulder blades. He let out a cry of pain which was music to my ears. I skimmed the blade around his arms and moved in front of him. He tried to spit in my face, but I moved my head just in time.
“Careful, you don’t want to use up all that hydration in your body,” I said.
“I happen to know that Prez is holding out for Chains to get better so he can take his frustration out on you. Good news is his arm is out of commission so you’ll be waiting a while, bad news is.
..we all have a lot of anger toward you, and what you did to our women…
so get comfortable…coz this is only the start of the pain. ”
I carved the letter S into his side. He let out a scream but this shed had been fitted with soundproofing in the last few days, so he could scream all he wanted, and no one would hear a damn thing.
Viper moved over to me, and motioned for me to follow. Hawk was up next with Neal, and I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.
I slid my blade back into my holster and looked over at Prez, who nodded at Viper. What the hell was I missing?
Once we were outside, I saw the blood all over us and motioned Viper to go inside to clean.
“What’s the deal?” I asked him once he was clean and in a new outfit. He was always slow in the shower.
“Our guns are being stopped up in Belfast,” he said. “We need to make a deal with the President of the Destructive Sons MC to get them on a safe passage to us.”
“What kind of deal does he want?”
“Drugs, we run them through Dublin and Limerick.”
“Won’t that put us in O’Farrell’s crosshairs?” I asked.
“It’s only for a few weeks, then we can tell the O’s what we know and they’ll be taken out.”
“Seems risky.”
“Since when don’t we live for the risk?” Viper asked. “You finished being a pussy now? Can we get some shit done?”
I smacked him across the back of head but I knew if Ace needed this, so we would do it without hesitation. We moved down to the bikes, and I followed him out of the compound and headed North.
Shona
I looked across the table at the same eyes as mine.
It had been years since I last saw my brother, and time had not aged him well.
I could see the worry lines on his forehead, and the bags under his eyes.
He was not living his best life, and I felt a little bad I hadn’t been in touch as often as I should have been.
“Why’d you come back, Sho?” he asked.
“You’re not happy to see your little sister?” I asked, trying to make light of the situation.
“Shona.”
I sighed and sat back in the booth seat of the local diner.
It had been so long since I’d been in Belfast that I didn’t even remember half the streets I needed to take to get to my childhood home.
Luckily, I remembered the diner my brother and I used to sneak away to, to get the best greasy burgers and shakes from.
Keefe was only two years older than me, but we’d been thick as thieves growing up.
That is until he turned 15 and my father started grooming him to be like him and my other brothers.
I’d lost my best friend that day. That was also around the time my life had turned to utter chaos and destruction.
“She called me,” I told him. “She’s scared.”
He slumped back in his seat and sighed, running his hand down his face. He always did that when he couldn’t control his emotions. It reminded me of Ace and sometimes of Savage. I’d seen both of them do that.
“I’m trying to get her out,” he said. “She’s fallen in with one of the prospects, and he’s using her.”
“She’s your little sister, Keefe. Do what you couldn’t do for me.”
The pain in his eyes told me I’d overstepped. I was surprised he had agreed to meet me after so long of me ignoring his calls, but somehow I’d known he was still the loyal brother I remembered.
“You didn’t need me, Shona. You had Zach.”
I flinched at the name of my dead husband. I still held so much guilt over him that it was hard to hear his given name and not just his road name.
“She needs me, Keefe. I need to get inside.”
“Hell no,” he said quickly. “Eat your food and go wherever you’re staying. I’ll have Darby call you.”
“Keefe.”
“No, Shona, I mean it. You are not to go near Dad or our brothers, okay? It’s not like it was when you were here. He’s…worse.”
Suddenly, the way my brother looked at me with fear made sense as to why he appeared like death warmed up. My father was an asshole, always had been, but I’d never known Keefe to be that scared of him. How could he have possibly gotten worse?
“How much worse?”
“You don’t need to know,” he said, finishing his burger and wiping his hands on a napkin. “I’ll have Darby call you tonight. Then you need to go home, back to wherever the fuck you Nomads are at.”
I frowned, but of course he wouldn’t know we went back to Kilkenny.
I hadn’t spoken to him in over ten years.
He left me there and I pushed my meal away, suddenly not hungry anymore.
I’d come because Darby sounded like she needed me, and now I felt like the world’s worst jackass.
Why didn’t I just tell Savage I was coming here to see her?
I wiped my face and hands with my napkin and pushed out of the booth, heading to my car. I guess that went as well as could be expected.
Once I got in my car, I headed down the road to the cheap motel that didn’t ask questions.
I didn’t want my name to be registered, just in case he had a hit on my name anywhere in Belfast. My father’s reach was broad, and I knew it could be lethal.
I’d escaped from him once, but I didn’t know if he’d let that happen again.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and unlocked it. Skimming through my apps, I had the urge to look at the photo I snapped of Savage. When I clicked on photos from prior to his return, I realised he had deleted it.
That motherfucker.
I shouldn’t be so mad. Looking at him would only make me cry, and I couldn’t think about that right now. I needed to get to my sister and get away from my father.
Then I could work out what our future looked like. I couldn’t condemn her to a life that I escaped from. I just couldn’t.
Fuck Keefe.
I couldn’t sit around and do nothing. I wasn’t the weak bitch I was back when he had known me. I was stronger now.
I had to go and appeal to my father. Maybe even pretend I wanted to visit him and make peace, and sneak her out later. I had to do something.