Page 24 of Sinful Deeds
‘The only way you’re leaving me sweetheart is in a body bag and I’ll decide when that will be.’
He wasn’t always evil. There was a time I wanted to be wrapped in his powerful arms. I was warm and safe there. I loved the way I’d have to stretch to reach him. How he’d hold me so tight and lift me off the ground to meet his lips. I never feared the way my feet hung inches from the floor then because he had a hold of me. Nothing like how my feet are hanging now. Thrashing about trying to find something to leverage myself on so my neck doesn’t snap. His squeeze is so hard, I can’t even cry.
I fight as long as I can, but I’m deprived of air for too long. I can’t hold on much longer. I lower my eyes from him, not wanting his face to be the last thing I see, when my life drains out of them. The man I once thought I loved. A man who hates me so much he’s killing me.
Headlights from the street outside shine through the blinds and wash over my face, and his grip loosens just before I pass out. I slide down the wall I’m pinned against and I can feel the floor under my feet. He takes a step back, scanning my body from my bloodshot eyes to my feet. Gasping for air, I draw my hands to my raw throat to shield it from any more abuse. Tears sting my eyes. I want to scream at him to get out, but I’m afraid to set him off again.
I shudder when he leans in, his fiery breath crawling across my skin. With his cold eyes locked on mine, he reaches for his gun. He raises the gun, inserts the magazine and presses it against my temple. It wasn’t the first time he hit me, but it would be the last. I close my hand around the stem of a lamp and crash it against the side of his head. When he falls, I grab my keys and run. I can’t call the police. He is the police. So I do the only thing I can do. I get the hell out of there as fast as I can, but he doesn’t stay down. He keeps getting up. He keeps turning up. He won’t quit until I’m dead.”
Chapter 16
Chainz
My muscles chord undermy skin as I listen to her soft voice tremble and catch in her throat. An undeniable anger building in my gut and radiating through my extremities. I want to kill that son of a bitch. Bring him back to life just to torture him until he’s begging me to kill him again. I’ve never wanted to carry someone’s burden as much as I do now. To take that pain away from her.
Something switches off inside her by the time she finishes her story. The chaotic storm, I crave in her eyes, turning to an empty black hole. There’s more to her story, more than one dark night that made her run and keeps her hiding. If I push too hard, I might never get her back from the hole she’s crawling into.
She picks up the flask and tips it back, draining it empty. I take it from her and run my hand along her arm, but she won’t let me touch her. She shifts her weight, putting too much distance between us. She slips her shirt on, hiding her fucking perfect tits. Which pisses me off even more.
I’m a selfish bastard for wanting to rip it back off. I want to take her in my arms and protect her from the world, from herself, from her memories. I fight the urge to touch her, to want to fuck her until she forgets all about him. I give her the space she needs. There’s darkness in all of us. I wonder if when the time comes, and it will, when she sees darkness in my eyes, will she trust that she’s safe with me?
“I know that was hard, but I have another question.” Her head jerks up, her eyes zoning in on me as if my voice is guiding her back to reality.
“You don’t seem to understand the rules of this game. It’s my turn to ask a question. I want to know what Tank meant when he said he wouldn’t let history repeat itself.”
The vulnerability she’s experiencing slips away, replaced by the fiery challenge in her tone. I love that despite all she’s been through, she’s not afraid to call me on my bull shit.
I suck in a sharp breath, not wanting to relive such a low point in my life, but I dig deep inside myself to give her what she needs. “Her name was Amera. Her father hired the club to protect her from a street gang that called themselves Ninez. The gang made their money selling drugs and women. She got tangled up with them in a bad way, but after a near overdose she wanted out. Only they wouldn’t let her. We rescued her and took her in. We offered her protection and a safe place to get clean. When the doctor confirmed she didn’t have any STD’s and there was no permanent damage to her health, she became driven to turn her life around. I’m not proud of myself, but I took her into my bed. In the year she was with us, she seduced us all with her lies. Even my brothers accepted her. We made her one of us, but she betrayed the club. She went back to the gang and led them to us. I let my guard down. I trusted her, and they ambushed us. Lost three good men in that fight. A fight that never would have happened if I hadn’t closed my eyes to who she was.”
I hang my head, the memory weighing on my shoulders. I failed as their leader once. My emotions clouded my judgment. It was that night I made a promise to myself not to let another woman past the walls I built around myself. It was for my own good and the good of the club. They need a leader capable of making the hard choices. Even though I redeemed myself in the club’s eyes, I don’t know that I ever will in my own. All I know is that it can never happen again.
“That’s enough for now.” I stand, digging my heels into the dirt for leverage, and reach out for her hand.
She looks up at me with a heavy glare. “Wait a minute, you can’t just leave me hanging like that. What happened to her?”
“She’s dead.” Raven shrinks back and I curse myself under my breath. I didn’t mean to sound so callous, but the buzzing of my phone in my pocket means I no longer have time to placate her feelings. I pull out my phone and read the 9-1-1 text from Tank. “I’ll tell you more of my story when you finish telling me yours, but right now I’m needed at the compound.”
