Gage, p.14
Gage, page 14
They were separated when they were taken by CPS as little kids and they never saw each other again. That’s so incredibly sad.
The door opens and Gage walks in with two small takeout boxes, holding the door open for Penelope. “There’s my girl, I have been waiting to see you.”
She’s still wearing her pajamas and her hair is messy from sleep. “I slept in this morning.” She giggles her sweet sleepy giggles.
Gage pulls out her chair that is next to mine; she has her own little laptop that is made for kids. She likes to pretend that she is helping me.
“Dad made me get up,” she pouts.
I smile at her; she has really taken my heart. “How dare he do such a thing!” I say dramatically.
Gage pulls up a chair next to us, setting the food in front of us. “Where’s yours?” I ask.
He looks sheepish. “I kind of ate mine on the way here.”
I look at the burger and I have a suspicion of where he got it. “You went and got it at Marie’s, Terror’s mom, didn’t you?”
Stealing one of my fries, he states, “I have no clue what you are talking about.”
“Well, what did you see?” I ask casually not wanting to be obvious that I want to know too.
“They were there together; your dad was very different with her and Marie was happy.”
My heart settles in my chest. “Good. I think she deserves happiness just as much as my dad does. She will be safe with him.”
He doesn’t look pleased with the idea. “Your dad is a pain in the ass, but he is a good guy.”
Penelope looks up from eating her burger, ketchup is smeared across her mouth and cheek. “You said a bad word.”
He chuckles. “I know baby girl. Uncle Gage has a bad mouth sometimes.” He reaches over and musses up her hair.
I love to see him with her. Every time that I do, it makes me want to have babies with him more and more.
I want them to be raised in this life as she or he will have so many protectors and people who will help them grow up.
We eat our food with Gage stealing almost all our fries. Penelope was cute when she pretended not to notice.
“We have a club meeting in five minutes, call me if you need me.” He kisses me and I smile against his lips.
“Alright, us girls have work to do.”
Penelope opens her little laptop and starts typing away. A bit later she is tired of it and walks to the corner of the room where she keeps toys to keep her preoccupied.
“Penelope, when did you want to have that sleepover?” I turn around and ask her.
I freeze in my tracks when I notice a little bear she is holding, it looks kind of weird. I catch a glimpse of something strange with its eyes.
“Penelope, can I see Mr. Bear?”
She runs over to me, setting the bear in my lap. She goes back to the corner playing tea party with her baby.
I lift the bear up to look in its eyes and I try not to panic when I see what looks like to me a little camera in its eyes.
I turn it over and run my finger down, feeling stitches down the back seam. The stitches were not a part of the bear because they are a totally different color than the bear.
I lift the bear to my ear, listening. I swear I can hear a camera lens click off. What the fuck?
I run to the door and pull it open. “Leland, stay with Penelope. Do not let her out of your sight.”
I can tell he wants to ask what is going on, but I need to get to the guys. I rush and grab my laptop, carrying the bear under my arm.
Without knocking, I barge straight into the room where they are having their meeting.
Everyone looks shocked to see me.
“We have a major problem.”
I see the shift in everyone the second I say that and I go straight to Royal. “How long has she had this bear?” I ask him.
“What the fuck is going on?” he asks.
Everyone is looking at each other, confused as to what is happening. I know I am not making sense.
“I’m not sure, I didn’t buy it for her. I thought one of the guys got it for her.” I look around the room at the guys to see if anyone had bought it for her.
They shake their heads no.
That’s what I thought. “When she was playing with it earlier, I noticed something off with its eyes. I asked her to let me see and I saw a fucking camera lens in its eye.” I take Royal’s knife off his side and I rip open the back of the bear.
I wanted to be wrong, how I fucking wanted to be wrong.
I follow the corner up the head of the bear, stick my hand inside and I pull out a camera.
“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Royal roars and I let my head hang for a second before I snap into gear.
I take the chip out of it knowing I can track it back to the people who are watching.
I take the seat Royal had jumped out of, opening my laptop. I push the card in and get to work, ignoring his screaming.
I feel someone at my back, and I know it’s Gage. I look at him and rest my head on his hand on my shoulder.
“She told me that it spoke to her. But I thought with how great her imagination is, she was making it up.” He is pale as a ghost.
I hack into the main software and there is a whole list of videos. I scroll to the very first one.
I sync it to the TV on the wall so everyone can watch. We watch as it looks like someone is walking inside, holding the bear.
The door opens and it shows Penelope sitting in the playroom at the Club here. The bear is sat down on the table in front of her. “I got you something.”
I try to place the voice and my question is answered when fucking Gretchen sits down beside her. “This bear is magical; he wants you to take him everywhere, okay? You must take him everywhere, especially around your uncles.”
I am shaking with so much rage, I don’t think I can breathe. “That’s a good girl.” At that she leaves and Penelope goes back to playing, totally oblivious.
“Let me track where she has been watching this from.”
It's silent as everyone watches as I zoom in on the dot on the map. It’s within an hour away from us.
I zoom in and out until it shows a huge metal building and right on the front door it says, “Soulless Serpents MC.”
“Gage, what was the name of the president of the MC?” I do not want to be right.
“Kurt.”
I close my eyes. “Kurt is the name of the guy who is Gretchen’s sugar daddy.”
I swear you can hear a pin drop. “We now know why Kurt had such a problem with me from the start. Gretchen is the cause of this and it makes sense how they knew we were going to be there. He went for us from the start because of this fucking bitch.” I slam my fist onto the table.
Royal is pissed. “She used my baby as fucking bait to keep an eye on all of us because she is pissed. That’s why the crazy fucker Kurt was starting shit because of her rank pussy.”
We are all connecting the dots.
“Let’s fucking ride,” Gage says, but his voice is emotionless.
Everyone stands in unison but Royal looks unsure. I want nothing more than to go with them and raise all kinds of fucking hell.
“I will stay with Penelope,” I tell Royal.
He looks relieved as everyone files out of the room but Gage. I pull him to me, kissing him. “You better not get hurt or I will kick your ass.”
He laughs. “I will be safe, baby. How about I save that cunt for you?”
I shiver dramatically. “I love when you talk dirty to me.”
He kisses my forehead, letting his lips linger for a moment. “See you in a bit.” It's hard watching him leave and it takes every part of me to tell him not to go.
Knight has been completely silent during all of this; he is the happiest in the group but right now we are seeing a whole different side of him.
Reaper is silent as usual with Terror by his side, checking to make sure his gun is loaded. Even the prospects are going; Leland is loading up too. That causes my heart to sink, he is a baby.
“Bye, Daddy! Have fun on your ride.” She waves to everyone, and they all look at her. She is a living reminder of what they are fighting for.
Her.
I take her hand and we watch them leave. The whole place is completely empty but me and her. “How do you feel about making some food for everyone for when they get back?”
She jumps up and down. “Spaghetti?” she practically begs.
“Come on.” We walk together to the kitchen.
* * *
Gage
* * *
The vibe of my brothers and I is intense. We have faced battles, hard ones, but this is nothing like we have had to do before.
We are going to destroy.
I will not fucking rest until they are all dead, most of all that bitch, Gretchen. I have never hurt a woman in my life, but I want to kill her.
My body is itching to put a bullet in her brain.
Andrey is on my left, Knight on my right and we ride. The drive there takes half of the time because of the speed we are going.
We don’t slow down when we reach the open gates, we go right fucking through them.
We stop in front of their clubhouse and we look around the lot. I was expecting to ride in with their guns blazing at us.
But there is not one person here.
Royal jumps off his bike and slams the door open looking inside, again there is no one here.
Then it hits me like a ton of bricks.
“FUCK!! Let’s get back to the girls!”
It hits everyone at once what the fuck I’m meaning. I don’t even wait for the others, I thunder out of their lot.
I am coming, River! I am fucking coming!
CHAPTER 13
Gretchen
I screamed the second she fucking saw the camera in the bear, fucking bitch! I hate her so much.
That leaves me no time to get out of here before they show up to kill me. A plan forms in my mind.
I open a bottle of rubbing alcohol that I had on the counter that I used to clean Kurt’s wounds.
Tears fill my eyes, the alcohol stinging them. I run out of the room, fake crying and straight into Kurt’s arms.
“What the fuck is the matter?” He pulls me back. His body is just now healed from everything they did to him.
“River, she threatened me again. She sent a text,” I sob, smiling into my hands.
“I am really tired of that fucking bitch. I want to fucking make her suffer for the way she destroyed my life and yours.”
He’s had a limp dick since she stabbed him, he can’t get it up anymore. The hate I have for her is nothing he has for her, but God I hate that bitch.
Gage was mine and she stole him.
I want her to suffer.
She has fucking destroyed my life. Every fucking dime I get in my bank account, she drains. I have no money; I am at Kurt’s nasty mercy. I know it’s her doing everything because I saw what she could do before I was forced to leave because of that cunt.
“Let’s kill her, let’s end her,” I plead with him.
“Okay,” he says.
“Let’s load up, boys. We have a fucking cunt to rape and some sinners to kill.”
I stand back, grinning and watching everyone load up and head to the club. Who’s the joke on now, River?
* * *
River
* * *
Penelope and I are in the kitchen singing along to the radio and she’s shaking her little booty to the music. It's hilarious.
I grab her arms and we dance around the kitchen; the guys have been gone around forty minutes or so.
I have fought the urge to call him and make sure he is okay, but I don’t want to alert Penelope to what is going on.
There is an alert at the gate and I look at the screen on the wall to look at the camera feed.
My heart stops at the sight of the entire Soulless Serpent MC at the gates of the club. But nothing is as bad as seeing Gretchen on the fucking back of Kurt’s bike smiling like she has won.
Oh, hell fucking no.
I turn around and look at Penelope. I will fight to the fucking death for her. There is a safe room that the guys made for her years ago in case something like this happened.
“River, we know you are there!” Gretchen yells and Penelope looks at the screen. “Hey, she was the one who gave me my bear.”
I get on my knees in front of her. “Penelope, I need you to put on your big girl ears, okay?”
Her face changes at my tone as I have never spoken to her this way. “Those people outside are bad men, okay?” The fear fills her eyes. “You go into your safe room and watch TV. Do not come out until I or one of your uncles tell you to, okay?” I push her hair out of her face.
I take her hand running through the building and into the laundry room, flipping the little button to open the door. “I will be right back for you. I love you okay, P?” I hug her tight, helping her inside.
I shut the door and alarm it. The guys will get the alert on their phones letting them know the safe room is in use if something happens to me.
I slide the washer in front of the door so it’s completely invisible. I shut the door and stand outside of it gathering myself, pushing all of it out of my mind, dad’s training coming out.
I can hear the banging at the gate; they’re trying to break in. If they want to fucking fight, then we will.
I put the code into the armory room, and grin at the sight of all the guns. First thing I grab is a bulletproof vest, slipping it over my head.
I hear them still trying to break through the gate with gun shots and ramming.
I throw my hair into a bun and grab a sniper rifle and a few pistols attaching them to my body.
I run up the stairs to the main top of the building. I set the gun in the place the guys have made for the sniper rifles in situations like this.
I lay down onto the roof, look into the scope and see Gretchen screaming at some of the men wanting them to get through.
I grin thinking of the first one I want to take out. Gretchen goes to the gate and tries to press in the code.
I take out my phone, setting it beside me. I decide to take the fucker that is standing next to Gretchen.
I do not care about any of these fuckers but Gretchen and Kurt.
Those two are mine and Gage’s.
I line up the scope, pull the trigger and the bullet hits him in the head. Blood sprays from the wound, covering Gretchen in his blood.
She screams at the top of her lungs, trying to wipe her face; she is too stupid to even duck for cover.
I shoot one of the members whose head is sticking out from behind one of their bikes and he hits the ground with a thump.
They start shooting back toward me. I guess finally spotting me on the roof but they do not know it’s me.
This is the most fun I have had in a long ass time, it’s like playing hide and go seek with stupid fuckers.
They pop their heads out and I shoot, taking them out.
I can see quite a few of them are getting antsy and I have a great feeling that they are going to bounce out of here.
They left him to die in the bar, left him hanging there too busy trying to get into women’s pants to care.
You think they care now?
I start shooting at their feet as they are hiding behind their bikes and bushes. I decide to start shooting at their bikes, hoping that will put the fear in their asses or even the possibility of hitting their gas tank and causing an explosion.
I look at my phone to check on Penelope in her safe area; she is looking at the TV and holding a blanket that was in there and a juice box.
This is why I am doing this.
None of them deserve to live.
No more fucking with them.
There are ten of them left.
I concentrate. One of them runs for their bike and I hit him in the back of the head. Gretchen is screaming and telling them not to be pussies.
One of the guys is coming up the road in a van, my eyes widen when he doesn’t stop and rams straight into the gate.
The gate doesn’t give, but it does creak open a bit.
He pulls back and one of the members slide inside the crack. “Well, I guess this is it.”
I let out a deep breath, shooting the fucker watching him go down. They start pushing through faster and faster, running in different directions.
I shoot as fast as I can, but it’s no use.
Gretchen, Kurt, and five others have made it through the gate and are heading for the club. I get up off the roof, unloading the gun and setting it against the wall.
I hear the door open below and I haul ass downstairs. Using my phone, I knock out all of the camera feed so they can’t see me on the screens downstairs.
“Whoa, these fuckers are loaded,” one of the members says. I am calling him dumb-dumb number one.
One of the creepier looking ones steps into the light. “I wonder where that little girl is we had to watch?”
They all separate and I follow the one who mentioned Penelope through the rooms and back hallways.
I will not be satisfied until I see the life leave his eyes. He slips into the Knight’s office and I’m walking right behind him; he doesn’t even notice me.
My dad taught me to walk in the shadows, to blend in and not be seen. I take out my knife, waiting for him to notice me.
He looks at all the medicine in the cabinet, locked up. He lifts his gun and tries to use the back of the gun handle to break it.
I walk up behind him, tapping him on the shoulder. “Yeah I wouldn’t do that.” He whips around in shock.
He doesn’t get a word out. I lift my knife, slamming it straight through his face and down into his spine. “Where is Penelope?” I mock him. “Penelope is not here, her auntie is.” I twist the knife in his face, blooding pouring down my hand and onto the ground.
I pull the knife out, his lifeless body slamming into the floor with a thud. “What a pussy.” I stare at his lifeless body.
