Page 40 of A Wrench in the Plan
Hot tears ran down my face. The men around me chuckled darkly. I’d never get that sound out of my head. It rose up against the sharp ringing that still echoed in my ears, nearly drowning out the dizzying sound.
“Might as well give you something, too,” Dustin said above me. “Pretty little face. Bet he wouldn’t want you if you were all fucked up.”
The blade of the knife dug into my cheek. It sliced through my skin, making me cry. He cut a line down my face without a single ounce of care, and when I finally felt relief from the blade’s point when he pulled away, I knew the pleasure I saw in his eyes meant that he wasn’t done.
“P-please,” I pleaded. “P-please d-don’t.”
Why was I so cold all of a sudden? My body was shivering and shaking uncontrollably.
“Now you beg me. Careful, it’s turning me on,” Dustin said darkly. “One more for the road.”
His fingers dug into my cheeks as he held my face still. I felt the sting of the blade against my skin again. When he was done, I was left with a line from the corner of my mouth that ran down my chin.
“Ain’t nobody gonna want you now,” he said, sounding so pleased that it made me want to vomit.
“Enough playing. We need to get back on the road,” the VP said. He filled my line of sight as Dustin and the other men stepped away. “Looks like you get to go home, bitch. That should make you happy.”
Then the door rolled down, shrouding us in complete darkness again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Evan
We were taking breaks in shifts. Some of the brothers were napping wherever they could get a spot in the clubhouse lounge. I told Mouse and Ingram to take Chry’s room, even though Mouse insisted I have it.
In fact, I was avoiding his room completely.
I couldn’t. The smell of him everywhere would have put me on edge even more than I already was. Seeing his space empty would have broken me. I had to stay strong. Going back to my place wasn’t an option either, since I needed to be close and ready to go the moment we had something. Every second counted, and I wouldn’t be the one holding us back, or worse, left behind.
So, here I was, sitting on one of the couches in the clubhouse, blankly staring at the cheesy romantic comedy flick that Boom had put on.
He loved that stuff. You’d catch him with those sweet romance novels all the time. The thought actually gave me the first urge to smile in probably the last twenty-four hours.
I couldn’t eat. Couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t sit without some part of my body twitching or shaking with nervous, edgy energy.
The waiting was killing me. Not knowing a damn thing was eating away at me on the inside.
I felt so lost and helpless that it was starting to wear me down. I was tired, but I wouldn’t sleep. Even if I could, I wouldn’t allow myself to. I was taking the blame for them being there on that beach, and I had to help get them back. I wanted to be ready the moment they had something.
With a heavy sigh, I pushed up off the couch.
There was a lifetime’s worth of pictures all over the wall. I’d glanced at a few before in passing, but never stopped to take the time to study them up close and personal. I wasn’t sure why I was drawn to them now, but I found myself blindly shifting closer to a few in the middle of the wall.
I smiled as I saw a young Cat and a couple of her sisters at a cookout here. She must have been seven or eight, her smile missing a few teeth. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a huge bow on top. The frilly white dress with pale yellow trim was just the cutest thing. It was then that I noticed Chry in the background, standing almost out of frame, his eyes on Cat like he was studying her. Almost as if he was trying to understand her. There was a protectiveness in his eyes that felt familiar and not at the same time. Something about it caught my attention for a long time, but I couldn’t say what it was about it. I didn’t think I’d ever witnessed him looking at her that way. Yeah, sure, he looked out for her. He cared for her. They were friends, and the three of us were really close, so of course he had this extra level of wanting her to be safe.
I shook my head, thinking that I could probably use some sleep. My brain was clearly pulling into the station at Delirious Town.
My eyes shifted to another picture. A couple of the older members in their younger days, leaning on their bikes, arms crossed over their chest, looking like a bunch of grumpy badass men who couldn’t be bothered with getting their picture taken. I had to laugh at that one. Especially, when the next image that caught my eye had B-ry and Cable looking all lovingly at their women. That kind of look that I would have sworn was only in the movies, like the one Boom was currently glued to. I kept going through the snapshots of the club, the images pulling me from year to year as it seemed to be organized. Well, somewhat. I guessed they just added stuff as it happened. It was strange to see the officers when they were just first starting out. A few of the old members as well. Blade with a dog, looking like the cute, little pup was the most precious thing in his life. A brother I didn’t recognize was standing next to him. He wasn’t particularly tall or built. Then again, I’m sure next to Blade, most people didn’t seem that big. Both their eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, but there was a closeness that I felt in that image, even though there was a few feet between them and neither of them was smiling. Something I couldn’t explain. I went on to the next and then the next, randomly stopping to study a few of them. Most of the brothers I recognized. There were a few I didn’t.
Curiosity got to me and had me shifting my focus to the wall I really never wanted to look at.
The wall of remembrance.
I hadn’t avoided the wall out of disrespect or a lack of caring. Even if I wasn’t part of the club— yet, hopefully— I felt that those people’s lives were important. That they were the foundation of this club, even if they weren’t around to see how far it had gone.
I just couldn’t, though.
Life was dangerous in general. Add on a club full of one-percenters, and well, that took dangerous up quite a few notches. There was something said when the underlying saying of this club was ‘watch each other’s backs.’ I respected it. I would even go as far as to say I needed that in my life. I craved to be around people that would give as much as I would— even if that was blood. Who would look out for me like I would look out for them. And the proof that this club was true in that was right there on the wall. Made it all seem a little too real. We all think we’re immortal until reality slaps us in the face, and for some, that slap comes with a final breath.
