Marek (Knights Corruption MC #1) (8 page)

Slamming her door, Trigger’s niece, Adelaide, quickly walked toward us, the sight of the blood-soaked pavement never once making her falter. Although she wasn’t a part of our way of life, she knew enough about it from her uncle, and her visits to help us, to know we lived dangerously. She gave no indication that she wanted to know more, and her uncle made damn sure she wasn’t exposed more than she had to be.

Pulling her long blonde hair on top of her head in a messy bun, she knelt down beside us, placing her black bag on the ground next to Tripp’s thigh. Sensing help had arrived, a guttural moan exploded from his throat, the sound putting us all on alert. While his groan reminded us of his dire situation—like we needed a reminder—his pain also gave us hope, seeing as how he hadn’t moved or made any other noises in quite some time.

“What happened?” Adelaide asked, gently pushing up his blood-soaked shirt so she could get a better look at the damage. Her almond-shaped eyes widened when she realized the poor guy had been shot four times. “I need you to help me,” she said, looking between me and Hawke, who’d been a permanent fixture next to his brother.

“With what?” I asked, scooting back a little as she moved closer on her knees. I heard a noise come from above me, but it wasn’t until I jerked my head to the right that I realized it had come from my VP. He was watching Adelaide with such intensity it instantly put me on edge. In all the years we’d known each other, I’d never seen him react to a woman like this. It was weird, and it was freaking me out. Since he was still crowding my personal space, I jabbed my elbow into his shin, directing his attention on me and not on the woman who’d been called in to help a fellow brother. Widening my eyes and flaring my nostrils was enough to make him back up a step, averting his eyes from Adelaide in the process. Although not gazing upon her lovely face seemed to be distressing him.

“I need to gently roll him over to see if there are exit wounds. If there are, I think there is a good chance I can help him. Possibly,” she contemplated, her brows furrowing in thought. “If not, if the bullets are still stuck inside, he’s going to need surgery. And although I’ve assisted in many an operation, I don’t have the experience or necessary instruments to take on such a task.”

I hadn’t even thought about that shit. Her words caused my chest to deflate, the last reserve of hope I had swirling around inside escaping through the long breath I pushed from my lips. What were the chances all four bullets shot clean through his body? The answer was slim.

Preparing for the worst, Hawke and I cautiously rolled his brother off his back, all the while cushioning him as best we could. Tripp groaned, his hands clenching into loose fists the more we moved his lifeless body. “It’s okay, man,” Hawke mumbled near Tripp’s ear. “We’re just trying to patch you up.” The pain in his voice just about undid me. He was trying to remain strong, all the while shoving his panic way deep down inside.

When Tripp was finally resting on his side, Adelaide brought out a pair of scissors and cut the material from his body. Luckily, we’d been able to remove his cut before she’d arrived, otherwise, she would have tried to slice through that as well. Once his back was exposed, she gingerly felt around his skin with the tips of her delicate fingers.

Searching for holes in his flesh.

She reached into her bag and pulled out gauze, wiping away as much blood as she could so she could better assess the damage. “Well, it looks like three of the four bullets have gone straight through, but there’s still one stuck in there. And it looks like it might be close to his heart.” She looked over at me first, then met Hawke’s eyes before subtly shaking her head. “He needs surgery, and he needs it quick or else I don’t think he’s going to make it.”

Hawke’s voice shattered the otherwise silent air. “Fuck!” he screamed, leaning over the body of his dying brother. He whispered something in Tripp’s ear, words no one but his sibling heard. As soon as he gathered his resolve, he jumped to his feet, walked around Tripp and pulled Adelaide to her feet. Everything happened so fast I barely had time to react. But Stone filled in for me, taking the few necessary steps to brace Adelaide on her other side. “You have to fix my brother,” Hawke gritted through clenched teeth. I knew he was doing his best to hold his shit together, but in the process he was scaring the hell out of Trigger’s niece. She didn’t ask to be dragged into our mess, and the mere fact that she’d dropped whatever the hell she was doing and raced over to the club said a lot about her character.

“Hawke,” Stone warned, a rare gesture of possessiveness brimming just underneath the surface. “She already told you she can’t perform the surgery, if that was where this shit was headed.” He pulled her to the side, Hawke’s grip loosening until his hand fell to his side. Unspoken threats were whispered between the two men while I decided what the hell we needed to do.

Adelaide eyed both men cautiously before gently pulling away from Stone, a strange look of hurt in his eyes when she moved. She smiled tightly before speaking again. “I think I may have another plan,” she promised, pulling her cell phone from her purse and quickly punching the numbers. She took a few steps forward for some privacy, everyone watching after her in anticipation, the air suddenly thick with a mixture of hope and uneasiness.

Sully

A noise from the hallway jerked me awake—not that it took much, since I was an extremely light sleeper. I guess I’d been conditioned that way since I was a child, always wary of who was coming through my bedroom door. Sometimes it was my father, paying me one of his
special
visits, and other times it was Vex. Once my possessor declared me for himself, my father’s visits ceased altogether, some kind of fucked-up code among club members.

There were some nights I wished whoever had walked through my door was there to do me in, to act in such a way which resulted in me taking my last breath.

To kill me.

Trust me, I realized it was morbid to put those kinds of wishes and dreams out into the universe, but if destiny proved anything thus far, it was that my life was not my own. Therefore, destiny was a goddamn liar. I had no control whatsoever over my own fate; I had to leave that in the hands of the men who surrounded me, stifling and suffocating me to the point I no longer saw any joy in the world. Granted, I hadn’t seen much of it to begin with, but there were exceptions. Some days, at least. The soft song of a bird, the cool night breeze kissing my skin as the sun dipped below the horizon, the colors from the sunset embedding their awesomeness into my memory.

But the older I became, the less I saw these things as beauty, and the more I saw them as the universe’s cruel joke at my expense. For as tempting as Mother Nature was, she spit in my face.

I could look but not touch.

I could feel but never experience.

While lost to the pity party for one, my bedroom door crashed open and slammed into the wall with such force I was convinced there was a gaping hole where there once was smooth plaster. One more distasteful thing to look at.

Vex rushed into the room, frantically searching for something he’d obviously hidden, but probably couldn’t remember where. His eyes were as wide as saucers, his pupils dilated to an unhealthy level.

“What the hell are you looking at?” he yelled. His mood swings worsened the longer he snorted that poison. Thankfully, he didn’t make me get high with him anymore. I hated every single second he forced the shit up my nose, but I didn’t have a choice; it was either comply or endure some of the worst beatings of my young life. Truthfully, I think he stopped pressuring me because he’d become greedy. That and he was tired of hearing me complain, even though I gave in each and every time. Whatever the final reason was, I was grateful.

“Nothing,” I muttered, quickly looking down at my trembling hands so as not to further aggravate him. Along with the mood swings, his paranoia heightened as well, forever accusing me of conspiring against him. As if I had anyone to even talk to, let alone plot against him with. Everyone in the club stayed clear of me, even the women. They knew Vex was unstable, and they chose not to have to deal with his crazy ass.

Normally, a young woman had her father to turn to for protection, but in my case my father was worse than Vex, simply because he held no love in his heart for me, which he proved over and over again. Rico Yanez being one such prime example. Never mind that he’d sanctioned the union between Vex and me when I was only fourteen years old, knowing damn well what a psychopath he was.

With the back of his hand, he swiped what few trinkets I’d been able to save over the years clear across the room. The glass from a snow globe shattered against the wall, tearing me apart because it was the last remaining item I had from my mother. Tears instantly welled behind my eyes, but I bit the inside of my cheek to distract myself from the pain building in my heart.

Vex knew exactly how much the trinket meant to me, and that it had not met with some sort of demise before was a miracle. For as cruel as he was, I thought there was a tiny piece inside him that wouldn’t completely leave me with nothing.

But I was wrong. Of course I was wrong. What kind of stupid woman believed there was still some sort of humanity residing inside the likes of Vex, especially after all I had witnessed and experienced over the years?

“Fuck!” he shouted, walking quickly into the small closet we shared. Rooting through the mess, he yelled in frustration over and over again.

Even though my voice was not wanted, I needed to know what he was looking for. Maybe I’d seen the item, and the quicker he found it the quicker he would leave.

“What are you looking for?” I whispered, my voice loud enough for him to hear. He abruptly stopped all movement, turning on his heel so fast I thought he was going to trip over his own damn feet. Leering at me, he clenched his hands into tight fists, the craziness in his eyes coming out full force.

“You wanna know what I’m lookin’ for?” he sneered. I remained quiet, silently berating myself for even opening my mouth to begin with. With every step he took closer, I braced myself, either for him to verbally berate me or for his fists to do the talkin’.

When I didn’t respond, he reached for the book I’d left on a side table and whipped it at me. Thankfully, I’d been watching his every move and ducked at the very last second. Even if the book had hit me, it wouldn’t have done much damage, seeing as it was a thin paperback. But still, any chance I could escape his wrath was a win, although it didn’t happen often at all.

I knew it was in my best interest to answer him, even though my voice alone could cause him to fly off the handle even more. “Yes. I just . . . I just thought I could help you find it,” I said dejectedly, looking back down at my lap.

“Well,” he responded, “if you wanna help me so much, get off your lazy ass and help me look for my guns.” He didn’t wait for me to move before he tore the room apart, destroying the calm I’d tried so hard to create inside our bedroom. We didn’t have much, but what we did have was neat and organized. I hated chaos. I couldn’t stand a messy room, the scattered items instantly making me anxious. It’s funny, I would give anything for a messy room to be my worst problem, but cleanliness was the only thing I could control, so I held on to it with everything I had still pumping inside me.

Knowing full well he was going to lash out at me if I didn’t help him, I scrambled off the bed, the oversized T-shirt I had on falling down and hitting me mid-thigh. I had on boy shorts, but he couldn’t see them under the shirt. I never purposely wore anything tight or revealing, mainly because I didn’t wish to call any attention to myself, his possession of me casting over him in a near demonic way sometimes. Plus, the one time I wore clothing which actually fit me, he’d freaked out and accused me of wanting to have sex with every single one of his brothers.

It was the first time he’d raped me, but it certainly wasn’t the last.

His eyes quickly grazed over my body before he resumed searching for his weapons. I breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t focusing on me and helped him scour the small space.