Page 5

Rachel

Doc finished sewing Shark up - not without a lot of screaming and yelling coming from the cheerful patient. At first, our teasing had annoyed him, but we soon got pained smiles out of him, and he even gritted a few remarks back at us.

“If I don't die on this stupid bed, I'll kill you myself. And Jenna, you can consider yourself divorced. And I’m keeping the fucking dog.”

“Go to hell, Vienna. Seriously, fuck yourself. Your dad should have wiped you on the fucking curtains instead of spaffing up your useless mother.”

“You’re a piece of shit as well, Rachel. I can’t throw threats at you, but that doesn’t mean I’m not wishing you a painful death in my head.”

You know, pleasant things like that.

I stayed close by Vienna's side, doing my best to keep the atmosphere light-hearted and upbeat because it was what Shark needed.

It was clear to anyone that his wound was horrendous, and had Doc waited any longer, there was a serious chance he wouldn't have made it. Doc had said that the knife had missed all vital organs, but by the remnants left behind, it had been a rusty, crudely made blade. Which meant that Shark was still at the risk of infection.That’s if the bleeding could be stopped before he bled out.

And yet all I could think about was that we were wasting precious time. I was a selfish cunt, but I didn’t want to be here, watching Doc stitch Shark up. I didn’t give that much of a shit now that the immediate danger was over. I wanted to be out there, looking for Dante.

I knew enough about the club to know we had to wait for Crash to arrive before we could make any serious plans. I also knew that we weren't fully aware of what had happened, and without facts, it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

I also was well aware that the club was on the precipice of a war with the Rough Riders.

The Devil’s Disciples would declare all-out war for Dante without even thinking twice about it - but they had to plan it.

They had to be prepared. Women and children needed protecting, and we needed weapons.

Lots of them. Otherwise, we may as well just allow them to take us to the firing range and shoot all of us point blank.

But it was fucking hard to hang about in this room, in Dante's room, and not feel utterly fucking useless.

“Hey,” I said to Vienna. “Who is in charge with Dante and Crash both absent?”

“Zach,” he said simply.

“Right. I told him to deal with the rest of the club.”

“Then I change my answer to you, since you’re throwing orders around.”

“You’re handing the reins of the club over to me?”

“Not my reins to hand over, but I reckon you’ve got the balls to handle it.”

“Best I can do, brother,” Doc said, interrupting our conversation. “It ain’t pretty, but you ain’t dead. I'd call that a win.” He gathered his belongings up from the bed and cleared away the blood-soaked sheets Vienna had ripped up.

“Thanks, Doc,” Shark said, a sheepish grin on his lips.

“Thanks?” Vienna gasped. “You told him you were going to play skipping rope with his intestines. That deserves more than a ‘thanks’, wouldn't you say, Doc?”

“Stop stirring the pot, you little shite,” Doc said, waving Vienna away.

“Right, that's it. I'm officially hurt,” he gasped, clutching at his chest. “None of you appreciate me.”

“Cry harder, Vienna,” I said.

He rounded on me, a shocked look on his face as he clutched at his heart. “I just handed the club over to you. How could you betray me like this?”

“Because you're a pot stirring little shite,” I laughed.

“And from Rachel, too! You've all corrupted her into hating me. My best mate’s old lady. For shame.”

“Are you going to declare a plague upon all our houses next? Get back to Wisteria Lane, you major drama queen.” I rolled my eyes at him, and then squealed as he slowly bent down, bringing his face up close to mine.

“Tut, tut, my little hair buddy,” he clicked his tongue at me, and then grabbed his beard and hit me in the face with it, making me burst into more laughter.

“I'm telling Dante,” Jenna said.

“Snitches get stitches,” he threw over his shoulder, and then his eyes went wide. “Hey, now that’s an idea! You can be little patchwork sheets together. Wouldn't that be cute?”

“Idiots,” Doc huffed, heaving the bag off the bed and barged his way between Vienna and me as he walked out of the room.

“A pleasure as always, Doccy,” Vienna waved, before turning the wave into giving him the middle finger when his back was turned.

“Right, ladies, gents, and patchwork sheets, fun’s over,” he declared when Doc walked out of earshot.

The light atmosphere was sucked out of the room as Vienna dropped the pretence and became the biker the rest of the community feared.

His entire posture changed, seeming taller than ever. His eyes were dark and ferocious, his chin set in a fierce grit.

“Someone here knows something. I don't know who, and quite frankly, at this moment, I don't care. Whatever is said in this room does not get repeated,” He paused as his eyes fell on the woman at Shark’s side, “Jenna, my darling—”

“I know, Ven, I know,” she said sadly. “I was just here to make sure Shark was alright. Now that he’s been taken care of, I'm leaving.” She gave Shark a kiss on the cheek and squeezed his hand tightly.

“Keep an eye on him for me, Vienna. Rachel, keep an eye on him, keeping an eye on Shark.

Don't let him play with the stitches for the love of God.”

“Rachel can't control me.” Vienna rolled his eyes and gave me a playful shove.

I grabbed the edge of the bed to stop myself from falling over, refusing to retaliate, even though my hands literally stung with the need to shove him out of the fucking window.

“Ignore him, Jenna. I'll keep him in line,” I promised.

She gave me a big hug, kissed Vienna's cheek, and promised to send Hacksaw up here on her way to church.

“Rachel—”

“I'm not going anywhere, so don't even fucking ask, Vienna. ”

“I wasn't going to,” he said, immediately holding his hands up in surrender. “I know you well enough to know you're going to want to hear every detail. It's not protocol, but I'm not about to argue with an angry old lady.”

“That better be old lady, as in club and not age.”

“Take it whatever way you want it.”

“Bit forward. I’m spoken for, I’m afraid.”

“When the cat’s away…”

“Vienna, you’re asking to get shot,” Shark breathed, holding his stomach as he laughed at the two of us.

“So what's the plan?” I asked, moving over the bed and sitting down next to Shark, my back resting against the headboard.

Vienna sighed heavily and dragged his hand over his face. “We find Dante.”

“Right. And how do we do that?” I asked as Hacksaw walked into the room.

“What do we know?” He asked, coming to stand next to Vienna. He folded his arms and looked down at me. I paused for a moment as I looked at the two men. They were fucking huge and looked like they could snap someone's neck without breaking a sweat.

Which didn't actually make me feel any better. If the Rough Riders were the ones behind this, they knew what they were up against, and must think they had the capabilities to take on men like this.

Who the fuck did they have in their corner? Stone Cold Steve Austin? The Rock?

“How did you get here so quick? Jenna has only just left.”

“I was already on my way up. Zach’s orders. He’ll be here soon. He’s making sure all the women and children are in church.”

“Fair enough. What can you remember, Shark?” I asked him, getting stuck into finding out the details, and pulling my attention away from dark thoughts. This club had a reputation for a reason, and people were idiots, believing themselves capable of things they weren’t. We'd come out the victors.

We had to.

“There's not much to remember. I came upstairs after the bang we all heard.

I figured Dante and Macbeth were fighting again, so I wasn't exactly rushing.

You know what they're like, and it's best to leave them to it and let them get it out of their systems. I was only going to stop it if it looked like one of them was going to get killed.

As I got further down the hallway, I heard more voices.

I didn't think it through. I ran for the door. It was locked, so I shoved it open.” He paused for a second and looked at me.

I nodded, knowing we all needed to hear this if we wanted to figure out what the fuck had happened.

I had been granted the privilege of being in this room; I wasn’t about to fuck it up by asking Shark to stop talking. I would not show weakness in front of these men.

“Dante was fighting with three men. Macbeth was not one of them. He stood at the window, shouting down to someone below. I managed to catch the words ‘car’ and ‘quick’, but my focus was mainly on Dante. He was bleeding heavily. The three men all had knives—” his words came to an abrupt end as he gasped in pain.

His hand pressed down over his stitches, and he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

“You're doing brilliantly, Shark. We all appreciate this. We know it's not easy for you,” I said in a soothing voice, stroking his arm.

“Yeah, and if Dante was here, he'd rip my arm out of the socket, shove it up my ass and make me vomit it back out. Get your hand off me. Please.”

I snatched my hand away.

He was absolutely right. I had to remember my place here. Dante wouldn’t tolerate me touching another man, even if I was just trying to comfort him. I had already pushed my luck by being curled up against Vienna’s side. Dante would blow a fuse if he saw it.

“Go on, brother,” Vienna said, his voice devoid of emotion. The only thing that betrayed his anger was a small tick on the side of his cheek.