Page 131 of Renascence

I see red.

It’s everywhere.

The walls, the floor, my clothes… my hands. Especially my hands.

I stare down at my bloodstained fingers and palms, sticky with the thick liquid. This is what a man’s life is reduced to—a few pints of gooey fluid. I look back to the man in front of me, barely hanging on to this world. Even if I wanted to get some venom into him, he’s bleeding so much it probably wouldn’t do a thing.

“You get it all out of your system yet?” Crow asks.

“No, but this helped.”

“Go clean up, brother. See your girl. I’ll take care of this.”

My girl.My insides shrink at the thought of Emily. If she saw me now, she’d surely want nothing to do with me. She’s the type to do things through cops and courts, not torture. It’s just another reason why I should stay away from her. I’ll bring her nothing but pain.

I move to the sink in the corner of the room, cleaning up as best I can before heading home. My foot hurts like a bitch, especially after riding my bike, but I try to ignore the ache. I bag up my clothes and shoes to give to Crow for disposal, then stand under the spray of the shower, watching the crimson water spiral down the drain. My anger is renewed, but not at Vitalli and his men. At myself. I fucked things up with Emily. I broke my own rule and made things personal. She shouldn’t have been sleeping in my bed every night. I shouldn’t have taken an interest in her life. I shouldn’t have… fuck. There are too many things I shouldn’t have done, and even more I should have. Hindsight is a bitch.

I scrub every inch of my body, drying off and climbing into bed naked. I know sleep won’t come. I just wish my bed didn’t feel so big and empty.

***

“They got him.”

“Thank fuck.” A part of me breathes easier at Prez’s words.

“Yeah. He didn’t expect us to go to the cops. Motherfucker was armed up and planning to hit us when the cops stormed in. He’s got a few weapons charges heading his way, too.”

“Caught in the act. Let’s see him worm his way out of this one,” Razor says.

“I hate to say it, but you made the right call, Venom.” Chopper nods his approval. “If we’d gone in, who knows what would’ve happened.”

“Guess we should listen to our women more, huh?” Crow chuckles.

“Raven would want a seat at the fucking table,” Gage says, making everyone laugh in agreement. “Probably mine. Especially now with pregnancy hormones times two. Shit.”

“You just make sure you give her whatever she wants, motherfucker,” Chopper warns. “Those are my grandbabies.”

“Yeah, yeah, Pop.”

“Speaking of family, I wanted to put something to the table.” All my brothers focus on me, silly grins on their faces. “It’s not what you think. It’s about our next legit business.”

“What you got?” Prez raises a brow.

“Sweet Treats… it’s for sale.” I hand him the owner’s business card. “It seems to do good business, but the owner’s retiring.”

“A bakery? Who would we get to run it?”

“Emily,” I offer without hesitation.

Maybe I just want to keep her around so I can torture myself by seeing her every day, or maybe I want her to achieve her dream. Who knows?

“She definitely knows what she’s doing in the kitchen,” Motor agrees. “What about the business end?”

“She can do it.”

“Fellas?” Gage looks around the table. “I’ll check it out, and then we take a vote. I’m liking the idea, though. It’s local and zero opportunities for conflict. Could integrate with Ellen’s Events, too.” Mumbles of agreement sound around the table. “Okay, fuckers, get outta here. We’ll deal with the Krueger issue another day.”

We file out of the chapel and into the bar. All the women are gathered there, old ladies on one side of the room, Hounds on the other. Nita and Millie enter from the kitchen, setting out food. I make my way over, stomach growling.When was the last time I ate?