Marek (Knights Corruption MC #1) (34 page)

“Calm down, man. Not here. Save that shit for Chambers,” Stone grated, his patience for the young member’s hot temper waning. His cold stare shut Zip up just as he was about to spout off again. The boy was constantly itching to settle unpaid debts between the two clubs, only ever knowing about the destruction they’d caused in the past couple years against his brothers. He had no idea just how far back it went.

Motioning to Hawke, I tried to dispel any further rantings from Zip. It was a day for relaxation, a cookout in full swing as the sun dipped low in the horizon. “Go find him someone to occupy his time,” I demanded, jerking my head toward the small group of females huddled together across the compound. “And make sure you don’t offer yourself up as well, seeing as how Edana will be here any second.” He laughed, but I gripped him by his collar. “I mean it, Hawke. I don’t need her freakin’ out. Can’t handle that today.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be on my best behavior.” He saluted, winking as he turned a staggering Zip toward the laughter of one of his future bedmates.

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” I muttered, taking a pull of my beer while I watched them walk away.

It was days like this that reminded me of who I was, what I was in charge of. Looking around the wide open space, the confines of the large metal gates keeping us safe, I watched as people enjoyed themselves, filling up their plates while they caught up with people they hadn’t seen in some time.

Our cookouts were a time to chill and appreciate what was real in life, family and friends being the most important. Although, in our crew, friends
were
family. We had a few people who didn’t always see eye to eye—Trigger and Stone being the two men who jumped to the forefront of my mind at the moment—but everyone here would take a bullet for the person standing next to them. Women included.

To be an old lady of one of the men, they had to love and embrace the club, and everything that went along with it. Good and bad. And that was a hard thing if someone didn’t grow up in this life, which was why most outsiders weren’t built for it. The only person I knew of who wasn’t fully integrated, yet was around us from time to time, was Adelaide.

I knew something was brewing between her and my VP, and the best of luck to them for trying to figure it the hell out. There was many an obstacle in the way, her uncle only being one of them. But my boy deserved to be happy.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
“Hey,” Stone greeted, bumping my shoulder with his as he took a seat next to me. “Party’s good. Weather’s nice,” he assessed. “And Sully sure looks hot as fuck.”

It took me a quick second for his words to penetrate, and when they did I offered the only retort that would hit him right back.

“Adelaide sure looks tasty,” I said, watching his expression fade from amusement to shock.

Then controlled anger.

The smirk I threw his way played with him until he cursed out loud and rose from his seat, making a quick beeline toward the woman I’d teased him about. He was becoming so predictable when it came to her, and if he wasn’t careful, it was gonna bite him in the ass.

My eyes roved through the large crowd, men laughing and drinking, women gathering together to no doubt talk about the men, and children zig-zagging between the adults as their screams of happiness broke through the air.

A light tap on my shoulder made me turn my head to the right. Sully sat beside me before I fully realized it was her who’d called my attention. “Are you having fun,
Prez
?” She laughed, her beautiful eyes studying my face as if she were never gonna see me again and wanted to remember every line. When her gaze landed on my mouth, she bit her lip and fidgeted in her seat. The heat from her body warmed me, even though we were both already baking in the sun.

Her hands rested in her lap, her fingers clenched tightly to the hem of her short dress. Daring to sneak a peek at her exposed legs, my pants had suddenly become quite the hindrance. All I wanted to do was whisk her away and thrust inside her, making her scream my name, no matter if she was heard or not. But I’d not taken my hands off her for the past month, and it was as good a time as any to practice restraint.

“I’m good,” I answered, finishing off the last of my beer. “Are you?”

“Yeah,” she said, taking a quick look around. “I really am.” She smiled wide and my heart flipped. Sully had been so reserved when she’d first come here, and rightfully so. I’d plucked her from her life and shoved her into a world she’d feared as long as she could remember. But my actions, as well as my club’s, had proved she was safe with us, and every day since I’d seen her come alive. Breathing in the air as if it were truly a gift. I saw the world differently through her eyes. I appreciated the little things because, in a way, she was experiencing them for the first time herself. No matter if it was a walk along my property on a nice day, or running a mundane task such as grocery shopping, she treated each excursion as if it was the biggest deal. And for her, it was. She hadn’t been allowed off her compound much at all, the world around her taunting and excluding her from a life she would never know.

Leaning in to give her a lingering kiss, her tongue captured mine and for a brief moment, our surroundings faded into obscurity. When we finally pulled back, I heard a round of gasps and someone whistled off in the distance. Turning toward the noise, I shook my head and huffed, the eyes of everyone attending glued to me and Sully.

“The hell you all lookin’ at?” I yelled, a genuine smile on my face for the first time in what seemed like forever.

The woman to my right the sole reason for it.

Sully

“Come on, Sully. We’ll be right back,” Adelaide promised, snatching my hand in hers and pulling me toward her car. The sky had darkened, most of the KC members well on their way to not remembering the gathering. “It’s just two little blocks down that way.” She pointed to her right. “We’ll be back before they even know we’re gone.” She smiled, and her expression was contagious.

“I don’t know. If Cole finds out, he’ll be pissed, not to mention it’s still not safe.” I bit my lip on the last word, watching my friend closely.

“Not safe from what?” she asked, tipping her head to the side.

Even though Adelaide and I were fast becoming close, I still held how I’d come to be there safeguarded. She would inundate me with questions, ones I couldn’t even begin to know how to answer. Not wanting to taint her image of me, or put her in harm’s way, I chose to keep my mouth shut.

“Just in general,” I lied. “It’s getting dark, and there are unsavory people lurking around every corner.”

She shook her head in amusement and dragged me toward her car. “Come on. I have an unhealthy craving for nachos and cheese and they ran out a while ago. Plus, we could use a couple more bags of ice.” Trying to convince me to go with her, she added, “Wait and see. They’ll all be happy we had the foresight to think ahead, their beer warming as we speak.”

“It’s only two blocks away? And we’ll be right back?” I prompted.

“Promise.”

“Okay,” I conceded.

She had to threaten the men guarding the gate, using her uncle as bait. I laughed every time she did it because the expression on the men’s faces never failed to be priceless.

In my nervousness, I continually played with my wedding band, twisting it around and around, counting the seconds until we were back inside the KC compound. Uneasy about upsetting Cole was second only to the fear of my club kidnapping me right back from their sworn enemy. Then I could kiss everything good-bye.

Cole.

Adelaide.

My life.

Pulling into the parking lot, we both quickly exited the vehicle, my eyes searching our surroundings to make sure we were safe. We walked into the store and immediately noticed only two other people inside, and they were both women. “I’ll grab the ice while you get what you need,” I told her, making a beeline toward the freezer area. Opening the door, the cold waft of air hit me, instantly making me shiver. As I searched, I heard the ding of the bell over the front entrance. Tossing some damaged ice bags aside, I finally found what I was looking for.

Standing up, I allowed the freezer door to slowly close in front of me, gripping a bag in each hand and thinking about how much better I’d feel once we joined the party again.

Raising my head, I caught my reflection in the door, and in that split second I saw a man standing behind me. The image was quick, but there was no mistaking the one person who’d damaged me for years, torturing me for his own sick amusement and making me wish every day that fate would step in and take me from this cold world.

“Hello,
sweetheart
,” he rasped, his voice pure evil. There was no time to defend myself, or to even scream for that matter. Painfully bruising my arm with his fingers, Vex leaned in closer and threatened me—not that his mere presence wasn’t making me tremble already. A sharp pain erupted in my midsection, and it only took me a moment to realize he’d roughly shoved a gun into my ribs. “Make one sound and I’ll kill that little bitch you came in here with. First, I’ll make you watch me torture her, then I’ll blow her fucking brains out.”

I reacted quickly. “I don’t know her. We just walked into the store together.” Having no idea how long he’d been watching me, I tried to call his bluff.

“Nice try. But I’ve been watching you for quite some time. I know she’s a friend of yours, just like I know it’ll rip your heart out to watch her life slip from her . . . all because of you.”

Shit! What was I going to do? The last thing I wanted was to put my friend’s life in danger, but I knew if Vex walked me out of this store, I’d end up dead by his hands.

Or my father’s.

The bags of ice dropped to my feet and hit the ground, barely making a noise. Adelaide was not where I could see her. I prayed she didn’t show herself because, if she did, my situation would certainly become more precarious.

“Vex, please,” I pleaded, which only earned me instant bruises on my arms from his grip as well as my side from the muzzle of his gun.

“Speak again, bitch, and I’ll shoot you where you stand,” he sneered. Tears instantly welled and my thoughts ran a million miles a second. More people suddenly filtered into the small store, and it was then he chose to make his move. “Don’t come willingly and I’ll make good on killing her. Test me.”

The thing was I didn’t need to test him. He was crazy enough to walk right up to her in front of witnesses and shoot her dead. Sanity had left Vex a long time ago; in its place was madness, worsening every day.

I had no idea why my father kept him around as long as he did. Actually, that was a lie. I
did
know why, but it still wasn’t a good enough reason to excuse his recent behaviors.

Vex’s father, Manny, had been my father’s best friend, until he went and got himself killed, dealing on the side and hiding the profits away from the supplier. When my father tried to right the wrong and exact revenge for Manny’s death, he put himself right into harm’s way. It was Vex who’d rescued him, hence making him put up with his crazy shit for years. There were times I thought my father would say fuck it and put a bullet in Vex, but he never fatally punished him. It was during those times, where there didn’t seem to be any consequences, that I used to think crazy needs crazy, and that my father would be lost in a way without Vex’s instability.

Hell, Vex’s unsettling nature probably made my father feel somewhat normal.

Yanked back into the horridness of the situation, I prayed for more time to come up with a plan of escape. But it wasn’t to be. Vex found his chance to steal me when three young kids tripped into the store, drunk and causing a much-needed distraction. Ushering me quickly toward the front door, he shoved me through first, his gun still digging into my sensitive flesh. I never even tried to look for Adelaide, for fear she would see me and jump to my defense.

Once we’d made it outside, we walked toward the back of the building and straight toward a beat-up car. Throwing open the trunk, he shoved me inside before I could even think about protesting, even though I knew any resistance was futile.