Page 16 of Deception (Deranged Drifters MC #22)

Chapter Sixteen

Griffin’s Beach Venom

“ H ow’s the house?” Lex asks and hands Marnie a beer.

Venom’s girl isn’t a beer drinker, but she’d drink gasoline if Lex handed it to her. In Summerville, they almost ended up throwing punches, and Venom appreciates both women for being willing to put the past aside and move forward. Both mean so much to him.

“It’s good. You should come and see it,” Marnie says. “I’m not the best cook, but I’ve been learning. If all else fails, we can order pizza.”

Lex laughs and nods. “Or… We can have a cook out and make the guys handle most of it.”

“Oh, I like how you think.”

It’s almost as though they’re friends. Venom drapes his arm over Marnie’s shoulder and steals a drink from her beer, earning him a playful slap. “Do I get a say in this?”

“No,” they say in unison and smile at him.

“I should be scared of this, shouldn’t I?”

Second chances never happened in Venom’s life, and it was the reason he couldn’t give Marnie one right away.

Lex showed him it’s possible. He let something slip to his ex-whatever-Cinder-was, and she felt betrayed.

Even though he betrayed her, she forgave him, and it opened up a world of possibilities for him.

After Marnie shattered his heart, he was terrified to let her back into his life.

Even though she put in every effort she could think of to show him she wanted everything he wanted in Summerville, his fear and unwillingness to give second chances stood in their way.

He was also terrified of Lex’s opinion if he did, but it all worked out in the end.

“We’re women of the same club. We should get along,” Marnie says, her hand wrapping around his back and squeezing his side.

“I don’t have any strong urge to bash her face into a table,” Lex says. “That’s an improvement over your last girlfriend.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you… Did you really do that to Cinder?”

He tenses, expecting an issue to arise. Talking about exes, even ones he never really cared about, rarely ends well, and the last thing he wants is an issue with Marnie because of Cinder.

“Oh, yeah,” Lex says and sips her beer. “Blood everywhere. It was ah-mazing.”

“I wish I could have seen that,” she says and giggles. “She really came out here hitting Venom without thinking it could cause a problem?”

“I don’t think the elevator always reached the top floor. The lights were on, but no one was really home. A few fries short of a happy meal. Get the picture?”

Laughing, Marnie nods. “I’ve heard things of that nature, yes.”

“Don’t mention her to Heidi, though,” Lex says with a grimace. “Still a sore spot.”

“Poor girl.”

Venom looks at his girlfriend in shock. “Wait, you’re not jealous or angry?”

Looking up, she gives him a sexy little smirk that makes his cock twitch. “You’re mine. What the fuck do I have to be jealous about?”

“Yeah, he is,” Lex says and clinks bottles with Marnie.

“William!”

Venom whips around with Marnie so fast that her beer spills onto the floor. Freezing, he stares at Raena. He expected a confrontation after not showing up to kill his newest stepfather, but he didn’t expect her to show up at the clubhouse.

“William?” Shep asks. “Of all the names you could’ve been given, I would not have pegged you to be a William.”

“Right?” his wife says. “He looks more like a Mason to me.”

“You know, Heidi, I can see that,” Lex says. “Definitely more of a Mason than a William.”

Brushing off their banter, Venom glares at his mother. “What are you doing here, Raena?”

She storms towards him, the air swishing and blowing her hair to reveal the bald spot she can’t cover from a fight with one of her exes. “The real question is why the fuck didn’t I get a call two nights ago? You owe me—”

“No, he fucking doesn’t,” Marnie snaps.

His mother lifts her eyebrows and looks Marnie up and down. “Oh, hunny, you think you can change him? I hate to break it to you, but he’s trash. And evil. He’s evil trash.”

“Oh, really?” Lex asks, her own eyebrows raised to mirror his mother’s actions. “Raena, is it? Why don’t you share with the rest of the class why you feel Venom owes you?”

“Venom?”

“You walked into your son’s clubhouse with no invitation without knowing his club name?”

Laughing, she points a bony finger at Lex, her fake press-on nails gone. “You’ve got sass. I can respect that. To a point. But I guess Venom’s as good a name as any, considering he’s nothing but poison.”

“That sounds like you’re talking more about yourself than him,” Heidi says with a chuckle.

The comment from her surprises Venom. He’s never really talked to the woman, and he assumed she hated him for bringing Cinder into the fold once Shep’s history with her came to light.

“Coming from a woman who tried to guilt her son into killing husband number… what? Twenty-seven? All for insurance money. That’s pretty rich to call him poison,” Marnie says.

“You don’t want to get in the middle of this, baby girl,” Raena says. “I can promise you that.”

“No, I can promise you that I am and will continue to stay in the middle of this,” she says and releases Venom. Stepping closer to his mother, his girl locks eyes with her. “He doesn’t owe you for being born.”

She laughs and pats Marnie’s cheek. “He should have been aborted, but I didn’t do that. In fact, I think you should owe me for him being here now.”

“Unless he does something bad to her, right? Then it’s not your fault. You did everything you could,” Lex mocks. “Yeah, that’s such a tired story, and no one here gives a damn.”

“Is he fucking both of you?”

“Does that bother you? Do you have an unnatural jealousy at that idea?” she asks before Venom can speak. “Do you hate the fact that he’s with one or more women who are better than you could ever have dreamed to be? Is that why you’re so angry all the time?”

Venom shivers and prays his mother’s as disgusted by the idea as he is when her eyes widen. “You’re sick,” Raena says.

“Hey, you look like a trashy kind of demented, so it was worth the ask,” Lex says before looking at Marnie who nods in agreement. “He’s not on this planet to do your bidding. If you think you have a leg to stand on in this room, you really are as stupid as you look.”

“Which is rather impressive,” Marnie says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You don’t know him, so I’ll let that slide,” Raena says.

Stepping forward, Marnie forces his mom to step backwards. “I know him better than anyone, and I know that as his mother, your job was to protect him. You failed at the only job I suspect you’ve ever had, so now I’m stepping in. Stay the hell away from him!”

“Or what?”

Lex laughs and sets her beer down on the table. “It’s probably best if you just leave and don’t find out. We’re more of a show than tell type of group.”

“Is that right?”

The smile drops, and Venom feels a chill flow through him. Lex looks scarier than she’s ever looked before, and his mother gasps, stepping back two steps. “Bitch, if you don’t leave now, you never fucking will.”

“Is that a threat?”

“She doesn’t make threats,” Melanie says to join the three-person barrier that’s formed between Venom and his mother. “Lex makes promises, so unless your goal is to die today, I’d suggest you do something other than stand there looking stupid.”

Looking up at Venom, Raena expects him to do something. To step in, but the truth is, he’s completely frozen. Of everything he expected to happen when he saw his mother again, this doesn’t even hit the top one hundred scenarios.

“Don’t look at him. You’re dealing with us now,” Marnie says.

“I’m his mother. Who the fuck are you?” she asks. “William, you better get your bitches in line and tell them the truth. You know as well as I do how horrible of a human being you are, and that you’re not capable of being loved. No one could love a monster like you.”

“You may be his mother,” Lex says while the rest of the old ladies join them, “but we’re his family.”

“He’s not a monster, and we won’t tell you again. Get the hell out of here,” Marnie says.

Looking around, his mother appears to understand the severity of the situation and the unlikelihood of winning this war she started. “This isn’t the end, William. They’ll see it soon enough.”

“You really wanna die where you fucking stand, don’t you?” Melanie asks. “Don’t test us, bitch. Some of us would take pleasure in slitting your fucking throat and hanging you to bleed out like a goddamn deer.”

“We’re really not the ones to fuck with,” Felicity says. “Mess with any of our men, and you deal with us.”

“And we’re the type to smile when we stomp your face into a fucking curb,” Heidi says, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face.

A cue Venom doesn’t see must’ve gone off because every woman begins to walk forward to force Raena towards the front door. The look on her face matches the astonishment Venom feels. This really is his family.

“You have thirty seconds to decide the rest of your life. Does it end here? Tonight?” Lex asks.

“Or will you leave and never come back?” Marnie asks.

“That’s my son!” Raena cries, pointing at him with a shaking finger. The only sign she feels fear.

Getting in her face, Marnie damn near growls, “He’s mine, and you don’t get to take him away. Stay the fuck away from him.”

A look of pure hatred flashes at Venom, but his mother turns on her heel and runs out of the clubhouse. If he could move, he would, but he stares just as stunned as the rest of the men around him.

“Is it sad that I’m a little disappointed she didn’t try us?” Melanie asks and adjusts her low-cut top to show off even more cleavage. “That was fun.”

Marnie turns and is on Venom in seconds, her hands cupping his face to force him to look at her. “She was wrong. You know that, right?”

“What?”

It’s a stupid question, but it’s the only word that comes out of his mouth as he stares, completely dumbfounded. He never expected this to happen.

“She was wrong. You’re not a monster, and you are capable of being loved. I love you. You’re mine, you hear me?”

Venom glances up to see Lex smiling with approval as she picks up her beer and takes a sip. The women all disperse to their men as though nothing happened, and he feels shell-shocked.

“What was that?” he asks to no one in particular.

“Lex explained that pretty well,” Heidi says with a shrug before wrapping her arms around Shep’s waist. “We’re family.”

“Bitches show up like she did, and we’re gonna throw down,” Felicity says. “On a good day. Between your girl, Lex, and Mel, your mother was on the fast track to end up cut into fifteen different pieces. And set on fire.”

Melanie laughs and hops onto the bar top in front of Jace as he moves to stand between her legs. “She would’ve learned real fucking quick we aren’t to be messed with.”

“I think the club is gonna be in pretty good hands,” Tess says and moves to sit on Jennings’s lap. “Bold and fierce. At least the women are.”

“Hey!” Jennings calls out before kissing her neck.

Slapping Venom on the back, Colt laughs. “Hopefully, this is the family you want because you’re fucking stuck with us now.”

“And we don’t let trash in,” Lex says. “Which is kind of why we were never going to let your ex in here.”

Shep groans as Heidi growls. “Thanks, babe . Appreciate it.”

“Are you okay?” Marnie asks, her concerned green eyes locking with his.

It takes his breath away, and he kisses her, his hand cupping the back of her head as his tongue slips into her mouth. He doesn’t know what to say, and he pulls away before he completely forgets they’re in a room full of people.

“I promised to protect you in the ways she never did, and I plan to keep that promise until the day I die.”

He picks her up, he carries her to his apartment. His plan is to make love to her all night long. The woman who proved he’s not only capable of love but worthy of it.

“Love me,” she whispers in his ear.

“For the rest of my life.”