Envy (23 page)

Before we head towards the address Strike gave to us, Dad decides to give Spliff a call to check up on the clubhouse.

“Did you mean that?” I ask Grim.

“If Lauren and Natasha are at the address, then I’ll do my best to look out for his sister.” Grim replies seriously.

I watch him as he straddles his bike, wondering how that would be possible if Strike’s sister lives in America.

“Right boys!” Prez shouts. “Everything’s all good back home, so let’s go and get our girls!”

The brothers cheer their agreements as Dad makes his way to Grim and me.

“Bomber is at the clubhouse.” He speaks quietly.

“Shit.” Grim grumbles.

“Better not tell Scrappy.” I warn.

“Agreed.” Dad nods. “He’ll have to find out when we get back, I need everyone focused on getting Natasha and Lauren back for now.”

He leaves to get on his bike and we all follow, heading out to the address Strike gave us. I don’t know what to think. Is Strike telling us the truth or is he throwing us into the fire?

I have no fucking idea what we’re walking into. I understand that Strike would want to look out for his sister but at the same time he’s never shown anybody any sort of compassion so why her?

Thirty minutes later we find ourselves pulling up to a large house. We stop our bikes a small walk away from the house. Again, it’s in the middle of nowhere. Convenient for whatever they have planned and the loud music they’re playing. The music is an advantage for us because any noise we happen to make is drowned out. Fucking stupid of them if you ask me but then again that’s the Devils. Before they had Demon and Strike to keep them in line but now they’re both gone they look to Savage. However Savage is more interested in having his hands on the girls and not thinking about the actions of his men.

Makes me wonder how fucking decent the US Kings of Rebellion brothers are to keep it together when Savage doesn’t pay attention to shit. Maybe his VP did all the work?

We spilt into two groups and have a look around the building, making sure there’s no surprises from the outside. We all meet back up around the back and I’m just fucking itching to get in there and get my woman back.

“Listen up.” Prez announces. “We split into groups and go room to room, the house is a big fucker so we need to be careful. We don’t know how many men are in there so keep your eyes open. If you see the girls, protect them and get them the fuck out of there.”

Grim and I are together, nobody argues because they know we have the most to lose in this fight. Leaving the rest of the men to go wherever they have been ordered to by Prez, Grim and I walk thought the front door. But before I walk through, Grim stops me.

“We will get them back.” He walks pass me, holding his gun high and gives me a murderous grin. Grim the VP of The Kings is in full control right now. God help anyone who gets in his way, Lauren is the only woman he has loved and he will do anything to get her back. Just like I want Natasha back, I knew I loved her and cared for her but now that we’re in this position I’m blown away by how much she means to me.

The music is loud and it works for us to cover our footsteps through the house. It kicks off pretty quickly, as soon as we enter a Devils member stands in front of us looking shocked to see us. I punch him square in the face knocking him to the floor. As he lands another Devil walks by and spots us. Grim takes care of him while I see to the motionless member on the floor.

It goes like that room to room as we get deeper into the mess. The house is a shit hole! Whores and drugs litter the rooms as we clear our path. Prez didn’t want us to go in here with the intent to kill, that’s not us as an MC. We’re together because we love motorcycles, we have shares in certain businesses and work at the businesses the club owns. Trouble does follow us though and sometimes we have no choice. So, unless we’re at danger, Prez wants us to knock them out instead, which can be a little harder but it’s working wonders for my stress levels.

The house on our level now becomes quiet, less Devils can be found and it’s not long until Grim and I meet Dad and Baby. Dad has blood splattered over his chest and I rise my eyebrows in question.

“Put down a Devil.” He grumbles.

Grim can’t help but smile. “One rule for yourself and another rule for the rest of us.”

“I had no choice.” Dad snaps, but I see the pleasure in his eyes.

Out of the corner of my eye I spot a man I don’t know. Obviously a Devil. He doesn’t know that I’ve spotted him and when I make eye contact with Baby, a silent agreement comes to plan.

“Now.” I announce and Baby steps to the side.

As Baby steps to the right, I swing a punch to the left, hitting the Devil straight in his face. He lands to the floor, groaning whilst holding his face. Grim whistles in praise and Dad just shakes his head.

I kneel down beside him. “You have our women. Where are they?”

“Upstairs.” He squeals. “Savage is with them.”

I look down at him with disgust and Grim gives his another swing to the face, knocking him out cold.

Scrappy, Uncle Brace and the rest of the brothers join us, confirming it’s clear. We make one more go around, making sure we haven’t missed anyone.

Turning to face Baby, Uncle Brace and other brothers, Dad tells them to secure them so they can’t move or speak while the rest of us check out upstairs.

“And get rid of the whores.” Grim orders, looking over the sobbing naked women bunched in the corner.

As the last word comes from Dad’s mouth, I hear a high pitch scream and my body freezes.

“Tasha.” I breathe and run up the stairs as fast as I can.

I can hear Prez demanding me to stay calm but I can’t. That was my woman, I know that for certain. I sense Grim close by, if Natasha is here then Lauren is too. I hope so badly that they’re ok.

Two men come out of nowhere and block our way. Grim takes one whilst I fight the other. It’s tricky to do this on some fucking stairs but Grim and I over power them and they tumble down to the bottom of the stairs.

“I got you brother.” Grim nods before we continue further up the stairs.

This is a large house, so these stairs are a grand feature. Not that the Devils cared for that with the shit lying around. As we reach the top, all I see is doors lining across the hall but I hear a laugh come from my left, I’m pretty sure that was Savage.

“That was Savage.” Grim growls.

We slowly walk towards the door, Scrappy and Dad following behind and when we reach the door on the end I put my ear to it and I hear Savage talking.

“You belong to me now Natasha.” As soon as I hear that I’m pissed.

I kick open the door and see Savage standing over Natasha. She looks a mess, but I can’t focus on that right now. I need to see to the man standing over her.

“Like fuck does she belong to you!” I roar.

Savage’s eyes widen as he looks us over. “What are you doing here?”

“Devlin.” Gasps Tasha as she looks me over.

“Shut the fuck up.” Savage shouts down to her and I see red.

I lunge toward Savage and tackle him to the floor. I land punch after punch on his face, feeling pleasure when I see his blood erupting from his face. I don’t stop and Savage tries his best to roll over and get me off him but it’s no use. I have the upper hand and I’m fuelled with a consuming rage. How dare he fucking touch my woman and claim she’s his!

“No fucking way!” I scream and hit him harder.

Savage isn’t fighting any more, in fact his head has flopped to the side. I fight of my brothers when they try to stop me but I need this. I want to get this out. The anger that I’ve been holding in and there’s only one person that manages to stop me.

“Dev.” Her voice comes out small and my hands automatically pause.

I look toward Natasha and I crumble inside. Her face has blood smeared all over, her lip is bust and she’s in her fucking underwear. If I wasn’t so concerned about her I would carry on beating the shit out of Savage. He’s a dirty fucking rat that needs to be taught a lesson, but Natasha means more to me so I get off of Savage and crawl over to her.

“Baby.” I croak, wanting to cradle her face but too scared to touch her. “Who did this?”

“Strike.” She says, as a tear slides her face.

“He’s dead now.” I let her know and I see the relief on her face.

“Savage did his bit too.” She adds and Scrappy gives Savage a kick in response.

“Where’s Lauren?” Grim kneels down beside her as I wrap her in the sheet from the bed.

I see his eyes as he looks over Natasha, he prays that he doesn’t find her looking the same and I don’t blame him. If I were in his shoes, I would be hoping the same.

Natasha looks over to him. “She’s asleep in the room down the hall. She won’t wake up Grim. Believe me, I escaped Savage and tried to wake her up but she wouldn’t wake up.”

Natasha cries and I go to hold her but Grim beats me to it. He kisses her on the forehead before racing out the door. Baby follows him out and Scrappy secures Savage on the floor as my Dad enters. He looks sickened at the sight of Natasha but with one look I let him know that I don’t want him to say anything until we have her back at the clubhouse.

With her body covered with the sheet I pick her up as gently as possible to not hurt her any more. I carry Natasha out the room and down the stairs ignoring the horror in her eyes as she scans the area around us. I want nothing more than to hold her closer and cherish that I have her back but I can’t do that until she’s home. I can’t relax until I have her away from this shit hole.

“Are you able to ride the back of my bike?” I ask Natasha as we reach my bike outside.

“Yes.” She nods, but I don’t think she can.

I hear movement from inside the house, quickly standing in front of Natasha with my gun aimed high I relax when I see that it’s Grim. However, he’s holding an unconscious Lauren. Dread spreads and Natasha peaks from behind me.

“We need a car.” Grim orders, facing Dad. “Get someone here with a car now.”

Without a question, Dad gets on the phone and orders whoever is on the other side to get here with a car and fast. So while we wait I try my best to keep Natasha warm and calm.

“Is Lauren ok?” She asks me, looking over to her best friend.

“She’s still knocked out.” I reply as I hold her in my arms.

Thankfully, the headlights of a car drives towards us and I breathe a little sigh of relief. I’m not happy yet and I won’t be until I get Natasha out of here.

“I’ll see you soon.” I tell Natasha as we walk towards the car.

“Why? I’m riding with you.” She frowns.

“No baby, you’re going in the car with Lauren.” I open the car door and guide her in. “You need to look after her, I’ll see you very soon.”

I kiss her on the forehead because her lip looks pretty bad and she gets into the back of the car. Her eyes forever watching me. As Grim lays Lauren in after her, resting her head on Natasha’s lap, I watch the men throw Savage into the back of our van that Spliff has driven.

I can’t wait to finish the fucker off.

I follow the car that Natasha and Lauren are in, Grim is beside me and the rest of our club behind us. Even Dad is behind us, we aren’t following the standard positions because he knew Grim and I would want to be as close to the girls as possible.

I didn’t tell Natasha where we were going, she probably thinks we’re taking her to the clubhouse. The truth is, they both need to go to the hospital. If it was any of the brothers, they would probably be looked over by College, our very own doctor. I want them to be cared for properly and have the best equipment to patch them up, however much they need to be.

We wave goodbye to most of the brothers and Spliff driving the van with Savage inside, when we pass the turn for the clubhouse, it’s not the best idea for so many of us to turn up on our bikes with two injured women. We could be the best behaved men in the world and people would still judge us by our looks. Between the bikes, leather, beards and tattoos, they take one look at us and decide we’re trouble.

Following the car inside the hospital grounds, I see Natasha turn around in the back of the car to look at me. Probably working out for herself what’s really happened. I’m fully expecting her to kick off when I help her out the car, but she surprises me and settles into my arms as I carry her inside. Grim is behind me, holding a still sleeping Lauren.

“I love you.” Whispers Natasha.

I kiss her forehead. “Love you too baby.”

“What are you going to tell them?” She asks, sounding worried for us all.

“Don’t worry about that.” I whisper as burses approach us in a rushed panic.

“What’s happened?” One of the nurses asks us as they look over Lauren and Natasha.

“These are our partners and we found them like this in an old house.” Grim replies.

As a bed and wheelchair are rolled over for the girls, the nurse who asked the question frowns at us.

“What were they doing in an old house alone?” She asks.

I help Natasha into the wheelchair and Grim lays Lauren down on the hospital bed.

“They were kidnapped.” Is all I say.

“Are you going to help them or not?” Dad asks sounding pissed at the judgemental nurse.

She rushes away shouting orders at the nurses and giving the doctor a brief as they run away. Another nurse who seems friendlier than the previous one shows us to a private room where we can wait for updates on Lauren and Natasha. The room is a faded pale pink with childish pictures of animals and alphabet letters and it’s already pissing me off.

The nurse has obviously put us here for another reason which we find out ten minutes later when the police arrive.

“Shit.” Scrappy groans.

“Hello boys.” Officer dickhead grins.

Beside him stands a pretty little thing, blonde hair with bright eyes and big tits. I find it odd because I’ve never seen a pretty police woman before. Her partner gets out a little notebook and begins to tell us why we’re here, there’s no need, we all know.

“We’re here to have some questions asked on behalf of Lauren Ashford and Natasha Hopes.” He continues.

“Of course.” Grim replies and then goes back to clenching this jaw.

“What happened?” The police woman asks and Dad tells them the truth while the rest of us stand and listen. Obviously he misses out the fact that we were involved.

“So the house was empty when you got there?” She asks.

“Yes.” Prez answers.

“Why don’t I believe you?” Her dickhead college asks.

“I don’t know officer.” My Dad answers. “But I assure you that what I say is the truth and I want the men who did this caught because I see those two girls as my daughters and I want justice for what happened to them.”

At this he has nothing to say. The female officer looks at Dad in sympathy. “We will do our best to catch the people responsible.”

Eventually they leave but not before the fucker promises to come back and ask Lauren and Natasha some questions when they are able. As soon as we’re alone my dad is on the phone to the men he hired to do the dirty work and clean up.

“Is it done?” Is all he asks.

The men we hire for rare jobs like this are highly dangerous. These are thugs and they don’t mess around. We only use them when we know we are able to make their large payments because if we didn’t, we would have bigger problems than dealing with the Devils.

They used to specialise in tidying up after themselves and now they offer their services to only those they want to associate with. So we should be honoured that then even replied to us, never mind doing business, but we have to be careful.

Guaranteed when the police show up, there will be no sign of any Devil member, along with anyone’s blood or any type of DNA for them to collect. It will be clean but not obvious enough for them to know someone has been covering their arse.

We wait around for what feels like a lifetime, but in reality it’s only been forty minutes. Scrappy and Baby wanted to stay but Dad wanted them back at the clubhouse instead. I’m so fucking tired but I cannot and will not go to sleep until I’ve heard about Natasha.

There’s a light knock on the door before a man walks in, his white coat and clean looks obviously making him the doctor. He looks from me, Grim and Prez before asking who is here on behalf of Natasha.

“That’s me.” I stand.

He gives me a little smile. “I’m Doctor Wilson. I’ve just checked in on Natasha to see how she’s doing.” He takes a deep breath and my body tenses, what the fuck is he pausing for?

“She has obvious cuts and bruises to her face, we’ve had her bottom lip stitched up and we explained that it will most likely scar. Natasha also has some bruised ribs that luckily didn’t break. We’ve explained that she can easily treat these at home with some paracetamol or ibuprofen and plenty of rest. Her breathing will have to be shallow and we’ve explained the breathing exercises to her.”

I listen to his words and everything else he has to say but they don’t calm me. All I can hear is all these injuries that Strike gave to my women and regretting that I didn’t hurt him when I had the chance.

“Are you also here for Lauren Ashford?” He asks me.

“No that’s me.” Grim steps forward.

Doctor Wilson gives Grim a smile, it’s less welcoming than the one gave me and I take a look at my big brother and see why. Grim is looking tense and pissed, I get why but the fixed glare probably doesn’t help.

“Lauren has no injuries but she still hasn’t woken up. We’re expecting her to any time now as the drugs that were given to her are showing signs of fading. It’s a good idea to have someone sat with her when she does wake because she will be very confused and disorientated.”

“No problem Doc, I ain’t leaving her side.” Grim nods.

“I also need to talk to you privately.” The Doctor tells Grim.

“I’ll wait outside.” I offer, Dad following behind.

“Wonder what that’s about?” Dad asks.

“Fuck knows, but I need to see Natasha.”

“You love her.” He points out.

“Is it that obvious?” I laugh.

“Yeah son.” He laughs. “She will make a good old lady for you.”

I look over at him and give him a silent nod. Shit is too emotional right now.

“Ok then.” Doctor Wilson announces as he appears from the room, Grim closely following him. He looks less stressed, probably had to have some reassurance from the Doctor. I just hope it wasn’t bad news, those fucks could have done anything to Lauren while she was knocked out. The idea makes me sick with worry.

“If you follow me, I will take you to them now.” Doctor Wilson indicates down the long corridor.

“I’ll head back then.” Dad announces and places a hand on both mine and Grim’s shoulder. “Take care of those girls.”

Keeping the emotions away, we nod in return to Prez and watch as he leaves. Then I snap to attention when Doctor Wilson asks us to follow him. I can’t wait to see Natasha and see how she’s doing. I won’t leave her side ever again, she will probably get sick of the sight of me but I don’t give a shit. As long as Natasha is safe, that’s all I care about.

“This is their room.” The doctor announces as we indicates to a plain door to his left. “We thought it would be best for them to have a joint private room. After what’s happened, it’s probably safer.”

“Good idea Doc.” Grim nods and goes to open the door.

“Visiting time will end in two hours.” He lets us know.

Grim pauses and I turn to look back at the Doctor. “We won’t be leaving them.”

“I understand, but that’s against the hospitals rules.” He replies firmly.

I stop Grim from stepping towards the good Doctor and answer for both of us. “No offense, but we don’t care for the rules. Our women were kidnapped and hurt, we are not leaving them alone again.” I stare into his eyes. “Get that?”

I see him swallow. “I think that under these rare circumstances that we can bend the rules.”

“Good man.” I pat his shoulder and follow Grim into the room.

Grim quickly makes his way over to Lauren, and she’s still knocked out. It’s weird looking at her like that, sleeping and deadly still. I look over to the bed on the other side of the room and see Natasha sat over the covers with pillow plumped up behind her. Her face is free of blood and I see the stitches on her lip. She’s wearing one of those hospital gowns and she looks like hell, so why the fuck am I thinking I can see some boob from this view and wanting to see more?

“Hey baby.” I stroke her hair because I’m scared shitless to touch her anywhere else.

She’s holding an ice bag to what I’m assuming is her bruised ribs and she looks like she’s struggling to breathe.

“Are you ok?” I ask her, pulling up a chair and getting as close to her as possible.

“Yeah.” She says quietly. “Just hurts to breathe.”

“But you can breathe right?” I panic, looking her over.

She laughs and immediately winces. “Don’t make me laugh.” She frowns.

“I made you laugh?” I ask, feeling very confused. I didn’t do anything to make her laugh. Is this the drugs kicking in?

“Your face.” She smirks. “You look cute.”

“You’re making fun because I’m worried about you?” I ask.

She nods her head and I can tell she’s being careful to not laugh again.

“How’s Lauren?” She asks.

“Still waiting for her to wake up.” I look over at Lauren still sleeping. Grim holds her hand whilst stroking her hair. I’m so thankful that we have them back safe and sound.

I want to punish every single Devil member, luckily for me we have some locked up in our warehouse for me to play with when I get Natasha out of here.

“I can’t believe she came out there.” Natasha shakes her head.

“She loves you, she wanted to save you and the rest of the women.” She seems confused by what I say, so I fill her in on everything.

“I’m glad he’s dead.” She frowns. “The world is better off without him.”

All three of us think about that for a minute until a moan from beside Grim has us all waiting in anticipation. We’re all watching Lauren as he head moves from side to side.

“Brandon?” She asks.

“Thank fuck.” My brother sighs and jumps onto the bed, lying beside Lauren.

Natasha squeezes my hand tears rolling down her cheeks. Kissing her on the forehead and breathe her in.