Chapter 22
Tico
Walking down the hallway, I stop at the door that leads to the two rooms we’d modified and converted to make one large workspace for when Chief needs to work on one of us.
Cobra, Psycho, Gorgon, Corvus and Jesse are lined up along the wall while Liam’s lying on the medical bed with Chief leaning over him.
Taco leans against the opposite wall and he tilts his head in my direction when he sees us, silently telling me he has things covered.
In turn, I look at each of them, giving them a dip of my chin in thanks.
I’m about to step back when Ember enters the room, and I freeze as she walks over to Liam so that she’s on the opposite side of Chief.
Liam looks up at her, confused, and then winces in pain as Chief pulls the bullet out of his arm.
Ember steps closer and rests her hand on his shoulder before leaning down, whispering something in his ear too low for me to hear.
His eyes widen slightly and then his face softens as he dips his chin and answers her quietly.
Then she walks up to everyone that was hurt, hugs them, and whispers something to each of them.
Whatever she says to them, they all seem to stand taller, prouder afterwards.
Then, she stops at Taco, and surprisingly, she talks to him the longest.
“Always, Queenie. We’ll always have your back, our vicious little Queen.”
Ember stares at him, stunned, for a moment, and then smiles softly. “And I’ll always have your guys’ backs.”
Taco looks down at her with pride. Then his gaze lifts to meet mine as she crosses the room back to my side. His lips quirk a little as he nods with a look of approval.
I snake my arm around Ember’s waist, pulling her into me, but her worried gaze still sweeps the room.
“Don’t worry about the guys, Queenie,” Chief tells her, adopting Taco’s apparently new nickname for her, as he cleans up Liam’s arm, prepping him for his stitches.
“I’ll have them patched up in no time.” He pauses, his assessing gaze roaming over her, noting each visible bruise.
Though there isn’t much skin showing since she’s wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans.
“Since you fought tonight, let me know if anything feels off or if you are suddenly in a lot of pain.”
She gives him a soft smile and nods. “I will, Chief.”
We head upstairs and as I shut and lock the door behind us, I see the exact moment when the adrenaline crash happens. I step forward quickly, thankfully able to catch her before she falls in a heap on the floor.
“I…I’m sorry,” she whispers as her head rests on my shoulder.
“Don’t be, Vicious. This whole day has been eventful, but especially the last couple of hours. What all do you need to do before bed?”
She hesitates for a moment. “Just use the bathroom, take my hair down, and change. I already did the rest in the locker room. I wasn’t sure if I’d be on the back of your bike on the way back, otherwise I would have already taken my hair down earlier.”
I carry her into the bathroom but then hesitate. What if her legs give out again?
Ember narrows her eyes at me. “You’re not staying in here while I pee, Diego.”
I hesitate again but then give a curt nod. “Fine, but holler if you need help. I don’t want your legs giving out again or you getting hurt.”
She rolls her eyes, but her lips twitch as if she’s holding back a smile and her cheeks pinken slightly.
I slowly lower her and my hands hover around her waist until she’s stable.
Then, I head back into the bedroom and pick up her bag that she’d dropped when she collapsed.
Setting it on the counter, I back up toward the door and give her a hard look in the mirror.
“I mean it, Vicious. You holler if you need any kind of help.”
Her face softens. “I will, Diego.”
I shut the door behind me and pace my room.
My heart is still racing from the attack.
Thank fuck no one was killed or seriously injured.
I exhale hard. Tomorrow we’ll get answers, even though I know the main purpose of this attack was most likely to test our defenses and take back Ember and Pyper if possible.
Pushing away my anxiety, I take off my cut and lay it over the back of an armchair.
Then, I take off my boots and strip down to my boxers.
I hear a grunt coming from the bathroom and pause, but Ember doesn’t call out for help.
A moment later, I hear her zip up her bag and then she opens the door as she leans against the door frame.
She’s dressed in a little tank top and some short shorts.
I bite my tongue to keep back a groan at how sexy she looks.
She pauses, her eyes widening as they roam over my body.
My chest puffs when I see the appreciation and desire in her eyes.
“See something you like?” I tease and she smirks.
“You know I do, but I didn’t realize you had this much ink. It’s gorgeous.”
I grunt as I step forward and lift her back into my arms, needing her close. “Daemon did most of it. If I hadn’t mentioned it already, your ink is stunning as well.”
“Daemon did most of my earlier work, too, but I did the vast majority of them.”
I walk over to the bed and sit her down on the edge.
She reaches up, wincing slightly as she groans in pain.
I sit down next to her, but she flinches slightly when my hands reach forward to help her.
It takes me a moment before I realize the side I’m sitting on is the same side as her scar on her face.
“I would never hit you, Ember,” I tell her, purposefully using her real name so she knows I’m serious.
She swallows thickly as she nods. “I know,” she whispers, “but it’s hard to break that habit.”
I raise my hands again, slower this time. She doesn’t flinch this time, but her body tenses.
“Relax, Vicious. Let me take care of you.”
My fingers work to undo her bun, taking out the multiple hair bands before gently unbraiding her hair.
It takes a few moments, but her body gradually relaxes.
When I run my fingers through her hair to untangle it, she moans and fuck if my cock doesn’t twitch in response, but nothing is happening tonight.
Especially after her near collapse just a moment ago.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask as I continue running my hands through her hair, hoping she’ll open up with me. For a moment I don’t think she’s going to say anything but then she nods, ever so slightly.
She tells me about growing up, how her father treated them, how he killed his first two wives in front of her, then she tells me how she got into fighting.
“That was the only time he ever looked at me with pride. After that, if he looked pleased, it was only because I won a fight and made him and the club money.”
She then fills me in on what else happened over the years and what led up to them leaving and coming here.
“Well, I for one am glad you came here.”
“Me too,” she replies as she leans back against me. I wrap my arms around her.
After a few minutes, I hesitate to ask, but I am curious. “How did you get your scar?” I ask gently.
Her body tenses again and I feel a slight tremble go through her.
“It was the day after we buried Mom,” she whispers as she clenches and unclenches her hands.
“Normally, we were never allowed near the homestead part of the compound, but that day, Dad dragged both Pyper and me there. I was nine and she was two. I ended up having to carry her to avoid getting hit every time she couldn’t keep up or fell down.
He left Pyper with some other women and took me further into one of the buildings.
When I first saw Jezabelle kneeling on the floor, one of the other women they keep there, I froze.
Those few seconds gave Dad, Scooter, and Uncle Ryan enough time to tie me to a chair. ”
Another tremble runs through her and I tighten my arms around her, but not so tight that I’d aggravate her injuries from tonight.
“Dad told me that all the extras Mom had allowed were no longer permitted. That Jezebelle was going to teach me how to behave otherwise I’d be beaten.
When I refused, Uncle Ryan held me still while Dad and Scooter each carved a section of this ‘v’ into my face to mark me as Viper property.
Dad said I needed a visual reminder to remember that my life was not my own and that he owned me.
Then, Uncle Ryan gave me the scar that runs over my ribs,” she says as she pulls up her shirt and shows me a diagonal scar that is about five inches long.
“Jezebelle cleaned and stitched me up after that. It took a long time for the scars to heal, but that didn’t stop Dad from hitting me for his so-called infractions.
Even when I was strong enough to take him, he still ended up beating me.
But that was only because it was him and three or four others attacking me at the same time. ”
She’s quiet for a moment before I lean down, kissing her temple. “You have my word, Ember, that I’ll do everything in my power to keep you from falling into their hands again. Pyper, too.”
Her body finally relaxes against me again. “Thank you, Diego.”
A thought has me releasing her and standing to cross the room. “I almost forgot,” I say as I pull an envelope out of my cut and walk back to her. “This is your cut from tonight.”
Her lips part slightly at the sight of the thick envelope and then her brows dip in confusion.
“What do you mean, ‘my cut’?”
This time, it’s my turn to stare at her in shock and then I curse under my breath. “Those assholes never gave you anything from your fights?”
Ember frowns and shrugs slightly. “Well, yeah, but at most it was a couple grand. And that only happened a few times. I usually only got a few hundred dollars each fight. That’s why I worked at the diner, their bar, and had my little space in the bar to tattoo.
Everything else—utilities, food, clothes, hygiene items, school supplies, personal items—I had to cover for both me and Pyper.
Dad said that since he paid for us growing up, it was now my turn to pay for everything.
The trailer had already been paid off for years, but if anything needed to be repaired, that cost was on me, too. Same for my ol’ beater of a car.”
I exhale slowly as I try to control my anger. “Well, that’s never going to happen here. You will always get your fair share of the cut every time you fight.”
Her fingers tremble slightly as she takes the envelope from me. Then her eyes widen when she looks inside and her hand flies to her mouth as a strangled sob escapes.
“I’ve never had this much at once, Diego. Never. Pyper… I can finally get Pyper the things she needs. Even replace my tattoo equipment I had to leave behind.”
Tears streak down her cheeks and I sit beside her again, pulling her into my arms as she repeatedly thanks me.
“You don’t have to thank me for this or things like this, Ember. Never.”
“I want to, though,” she says, her voice trembling as she sniffles and tries to stem her tears. “You don’t know how much this means to us. How much you mean to me. How much everything you’ve done means to me, to us. Thank you doesn’t even begin to cover everything, but I still want to say it.”
I lean down, kissing her forehead and hold her until her tears subside. A few moments later, she shivers, and I help her stand. “Let’s get you in bed.”
We climb under the covers and she gnaws on her lip as she settles on her side, facing me.
“What’s going through your mind, Vicious?”
She sighs. “I just wish I could be there to hear what Uncle Ryan and the others say when you interrogate them. And to dish out some of their pain as well,” she says with a hard edge to her voice.
I hesitate, knowing she was going to bring this up at some point.
On the one hand, I know she said she was willing to help with any female problems, but am I really okay with that?
It’s not that I don’t think women can handle the things we do, because I know they can.
It’s more of a ‘do I want to expose Ember to that’ kind of scenario.
I could always have Xochitl come down with Poison, her Enforcer, but there are times when they’re out on runs, or I should say missions as they call them, and are not able to come right away.
It would be nice to not have to look outside the club when those issues arise.
If I really am okay with Ember helping us out with any women we need to take care of…then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for her to be down there tomorrow. If anything, we could use it as a test run to see how she’ll react.
My mind flips back and forth between allowing her or not. Finally, I decide it couldn’t hurt to bring it up to mis hermanos (my brothers) tomorrow in Church. Then a thought occurs to me that I hadn’t thought of before.
“I’ll bring up your offer to help tomorrow in Church, Vicious. But even if the vote doesn’t go your way, I think it would be good if you are down there when we talk to Ryan and later, your dad and Scooter once we get our hands on them. This might just be the closure you need.”
She stares at me in shock, her mouth opening and closing, but no sound comes out. “Are you serious?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Yeah, Vicious, I am.”
She lunges forward, kissing me. “Thank you,” she breathes as she pulls back. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”
My mind flashes back to a time a few years ago, but I shut the door on those thoughts before they try to drown me again. I do know how much that means to someone because I’ve been in a similar position before.
I pull her into my arms and she rests her head against my chest, her fingers drawing lazy circles on my chest. Feeling Ember in my arms and in my bed feels right and it brings me a feeling of peace that I hadn’t expected.
Peace that I appreciate since I know things are going to be beyond fucking tense around here for a while.
“Night, Diego.”
“Night, Vicious.”