Page 3 of Karma (Deranged Drifters MC #23)

Chapter Three

Griffin’s Beach Venom

“ W ould you stop it?” Undertaker asks from the waiting room chairs. “You’re making me dizzy.”

Jamie sits on his lap, and she softly says, “Leave him be. He’s worried.”

If Venom wasn’t so preoccupied with Marnie, he’d focus more on how the hell Undertaker can fit in one of the tiny ass chairs. Or maybe they just seem tiny because the man is a mammoth.

“This can’t be happening,” Venom mumbles as he continues pacing against Undertaker’s will. He makes another lap around the small waiting room before looking up. “Did anyone find Raena?”

“She slipped away from us,” TK says.

Looking at Colt’s father, Venom wills him to offer up a different answer. A better answer. The one that tells him that not only did his mother get captured, she waits for Lex to get back to the clubhouse to take care of her.

“We’ll find her,” Colt assures.

“And when you do?”

“They don’t call Lex the Female Psycho for nothing.”

Lex simply shrugs and gives Venom a knowing look. His best friend will make sure his mother pays for what she’s done to his love.

“What the fuck happened?” Snake’s voice bellows in the small room.

Just as Venom’s about to give him a piece of his mind for not being at his daughter’s wedding, Lex steps up to the plate to take one for the team instead.

“Um, well, you’d already know if you’d, you know, been at your daughter’s wedding.

It was really beautiful, actually. At least, until Venom’s psycho bitch of a mother showed up with a gun and tried to shoot him.

Marnie pushed him out of the way to take the bullet herself,” Lex says.

“Again, something you’d have witnessed and been there for if you’d, you know, been there. ”

He glares at her, but his face pales as he locks on the same thing Venom does. Lex is covered in blood. Marnie’s blood. If her dress wasn’t black, even more would show.

“You helped her?”

“No, I just stood there thinking how strange it was to see the bride wear fucking red. Seriously? Of course, I did what I could to help her,” she snaps at him. “I seem to be the one around when people in this club get shot. Something I wouldn’t mind changing.”

Looking down at his shirt, Venom sees more blood, and he wants to hurl. Again. Outside the hospital when Marnie was wheeled in, he lost what little he’d eaten for breakfast.

“This shouldn’t have happened. She should have let me take the bullet,” he says.

“We finally agree on something,” Snake says.

“And where the fuck were you?” Everlee snaps. “Our daughter took a bullet for the man she loves, and her father was nowhere around to help her.”

For the first time since Venom met Snake, he actually looks ashen. Contrite, even. “You know where I was.”

“Because you’re so far into your feelings that you can’t see past the fact that you were wrong about the man Marnie chose to spend her life with?” she says, her voice shaking. “You should have been there to protect her!”

“Baby—”

“Lex?” she asks and turns her back to her husband.

Startled, Lex’s head snaps up to Venom’s almost mother-in-law. “What?”

“When you get Raena, promise me that you’ll help me take care of her.”

“Yeah, okay,” she says and nods. She locks her eyes on Venom. “I just need parameters of what you’re okay with.”

“Kill the bitch,” he says, his teeth clenched.

A tsking sound comes from her, and she points with a wink. “Got it.”

“Marnie doesn’t deserve this.” He hates how his voice shakes. So much for being so tough. “I can’t lose her.”

“Venom—”

“Lex, I’m not gonna make it without her.”

Snake grabs his arm and yanks him into the hallway away from everyone else. Lex shouts to stop, but Colt holds her in his lap to stop her from following them. Whatever Snake wants to say is meant for Venom and Venom only.

“She’s stubborn,” he says, his eyes locked on Venom. “My daughter is one of the most hardheaded women on this planet, and that’s how I know she’ll make it.”

“I’ll never forgive myself if she doesn’t. If she doesn’t make it through, I want you to kill me.”

Snake looks taken aback. “Excuse me?”

“I’ve already lived without her once, and I can’t do it again. I don’t want to be anywhere Marnie isn’t. She’s one of only a handful of people who sees past the monster I was made into, and I need her.”

“I was wrong,” he says. “I didn’t think you were good enough for my little girl, but I was so very wrong. I’m sorry, Venom.”

They stare at each other, and Venom doesn’t know what to say. Instead, they stand in that awkward stance for a sufficiently long amount of time. It’s almost unbearable.

“She’s going to make it, and then you’re going to marry her. You’ll be the man she saw before I did. Just promise me that you’ll keep her safe and happy.”

Lex hurries into the hallway, but rather than attack Snake, she looks down the three hallways leading towards the waiting room. “Did you see someone out here?”

“No, why?” Snake asks.

“I swear, someone’s watching me,” she mutters. “Felt it at the wedding, too. You two good? We don’t need a doctor or defibrillator?”

“Marnie Banks?”

Venom runs back into the waiting room, and Lex points at him as she joins. “That’s your guy, Dr. West.”

“Now it’s my turn to say it, Alexis. We need to stop meeting like this,” the man in the dark blue scrubs says with a shake of his head before turning his attention to Venom.

“She’s out of surgery and in recovery. The bullet nicked multiple organs, which resulted in a significant amount of blood loss.

We had to revive her twice, but she’s stable now.

Critical, but I have no reason to believe she shouldn’t make a full recovery. ”

“I need to see her,” Venom says.

“It’s not—”

“Let him go, Doc,” Lex says.

He looks at her and sighs. “This way.”

“How do you do that?” Venom asks.

“Because if I don’t let you back, she’ll just sneak you back there herself. This isn’t my first rodeo with Alexis.”

“Probably won’t be the last, either, Doc. Go see your girl, Venom.”

Tapping his heart, he nods at Lex before following the man back behind the AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY sign.

Griffin’s Beach Marnie

O pening her eyes, Marnie feels groggy but smiles as she sees Venom resting his head next to their joined hands on the bed. Her parents sit in the chairs across from the bed, and she momentarily questions what happened.

The last thing she remembers is Venom’s face over hers as he cried. And there was pain.

“You’re awake,” Snake says and jumps up. He walks over and takes her free hand. “You scared me.”

“How bad is it?” Marnie asks, her voice hoarse.

“You’ll be okay,” Everlee says and moves to gently hold Marnie’s ankles at the foot of the bed. “The bullet hit a couple of organs, but they’ve repaired everything.”

The bullet. That’s what happened. Venom’s mom tried to shoot him, and she took the bullet for him. The fog begins to lift. “And your mom?”

“Nothing yet,” Venom says before pressing his lips to her hand. “You should’ve let me take that bullet.”

“Right after I promised to do whatever it took to keep you safe and not let anything hurt you? Not a chance,” she says and takes her hand from her dad to gently rub her chest. “Why am I sore?”

Swallowing, Venom stares into her eyes. “They had to revive you in the operating room.”

“Well, I’m glad they did.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there, kiddo,” Snake says, and she looks over to see his lip quivering. “I’ve been such an ass about all of this.”

It feels as though water sloshes around her head as she nods, but it slowly fades. “Yeah, you sure have.”

“I was wrong, sweetheart. And I should’ve been there. Not just to walk you down the aisle, but to protect you. I’ll forever hate myself because I wasn’t.”

“Well, you’ll have another chance when she’s out and healed,” Venom says. “You can do it then.”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“No?”

The look in his eyes is nothing short of pure terror. Her simple word has him worrying she’s changed her mind about marrying him and being committed to him for the rest of their lives. And she’d have reassured him already if her brain would just move at a normal pace.

Swallowing, Marnie blinks, realizing it’s the pain meds affecting her. “I want to marry you today.”

“Love, you’re not getting released for a couple of days, at least.”

“Then we’ll get married here. You wanted the wedding, but I would have been happy to do it at the courthouse. I just want to be your wife.”

“Marnie—”

“Lex and Colt got married in the hospital. What better couple to mirror our marriage after?”

He searches her face but smiles. “Are you sure?”

“I want to be Mrs. William Maddox as soon as fucking possible. You think Lex is still around? She should be here for this.”

The smile he gives her makes her stomach flutter, and she’s immediately annoyed and disappointed she’ll have to wait to consummate her marriage because of his demented mother.

“I can promise you she’s still in the waiting room with Colt and most of the others. I’ll get them and Gunner, and I’ll be right back, love.”

Everlee takes his place and takes her hand. “What do you remember?”

“I remember it was hot. I always thought it was bullshit when they’d say it on TV or whatever, but it felt like fire ripped right through me. And I remember Lex. She helped save me, didn’t she?”

A shaky smile appears on her lips. “She did everything she could to stop the bleed, but you passed out. I was a frantic mess, but she stayed calm. Kept checking your breathing and all that while the paramedics took their sweet time. Then she gave you CPR until they made it around back and helped bring you back.”

“Well, I get it now.”

“Get what?” Snake asks.

“Why people really hate you for going against her.”

He laughs and nods. “I suppose so.”

“You fucking owe her,” Everlee snaps. “She saved our girl.”

“It’s funny that the woman who threatened to pound me into the pavement saved my life.”

“Oh, don’t think for a second I wouldn’t have kicked your ass if you didn’t make it,” Lex says and walks in with Colt and Gunner. “How you feeling, kid?”

Slowly smiling, Marnie blinks. “They have the good drugs here.”

“Yeah, they really do. Now, Colt, do you see this? How the bride’s supposed to be the one wearing the gown instead of the groom?”

Marnie laughs, her stomach aching only slightly, when Colt reaches out to tickle his wife. She giggles and tries to move out of his reach. Even covered in dried blood, she can lighten even the heaviest of situations, and Marnie’s grateful.

“I made a decision,” Marnie says and turns to Venom. “When I grow up, I want to be Lex.”

“Trust me, I make it look much more glamorous than it really is,” Lex says with a smirk. “So, are we getting you two hitched or what?”

Reaching out for Venom, she interlocks their fingers. “Tell me you love me.”

“I love you more than anything on this earth, love,” he whispers and kisses her hair.

“And this is why I don’t want to wait to get out of here to marry you,” she says, tipping her head up to let him kiss her lips. “Gunner, let’s finish this.”

“Yes, ma’am.”