Page 59

Rachel

After a restless few hours, I finally fell asleep on the sofa, just as the darkness of the evening was beginning to creep in.

Gemma had texted me to say she had taken Bee to Jenna’s, and they were going to stay there until the men returned.

I fell into a restless sleep on the sofa, my dreams plagued with fire, gunshots, and death.

Until a noise awakened me.

I startled awake, my eyes shooting to the door, my hand snatching the knife I had left on the table.

“Put the knife down, Rachel,” Dante said, his voice weary. “It’s me.”

“That’s even more of a reason to clutch this knife, as far as I’m concerned.”

He sighed heavily. “Not tonight. Please.”

“What happened?” I asked, placing the knife on the table and taking in the absolute fucking state of him.

His jacket was ripped, his clothes were covered in soot, and his jeans were stained with blood.

He collapsed against the door with a bang, sinking to the floor and rested his elbows on his knees, hanging his head down low. “What the fuck do you think happened?” He said, his voice devoid of emotion.

I stood up, wanting to go over to him, wanting to offer him some comfort, but couldn’t find it in me to make my feet move. Instead, I folded my arms and glared at him. “How many did you kill?”

He looked up at me then, his eyes bloodshot. “Funnily enough, we didn’t line them up and count them.”

“Ballpark. One? Ten? A hundred?”

“We did what we needed to do.”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right. You know that, don’t you? ”

“Where did you pick that up? The back of a motivational calendar?” He pushed himself to his feet, stumbling slightly as he did so. “Two negatives make a positive. Isn’t that what you once said to me? Every person who died tonight was a massive bloody positive.”

“What did you do?”

He made his way over to the cabinet, snatching up the whiskey and drank straight from the bottle.

He closed his eyes tight, clenching his jaw as the liquid burned its way down his throat.

He turned to me and raised the glass. “We stuffed these with tissue, set them alight, and threw them in every building. Anyone who came running out was shot on sight.”

“And how many innocents did you kill? How many old ladies or children were in those houses?”

He shrugged.

“Oh, you don’t care?” I stormed over to him and snatched his arm, forcing him to look at me. “What if they had been Bee’s age?”

“I did what needed to be done.” His entire face was blank, his eyes scarily calm. It unnerved me. How could someone be unaffected by the level of death and destruction he had just caused?

“And do you feel better?”

“I watched Crash rip the heart out of their president, so yeah… I feel fucking fantastic.”

“You killed the president?” I breathed, horror clamping around my heart. “You declared official war?”

“Brace yourself, Darlin’. This party is about to get a hell of a lot more interesting.”

“Okay, I’m not sure if you’re in shock or—”

“Shock?” He barked, throwing his head back with a laugh.

“I fucking loved it, Rachel. If given half the chance, I’d do it again.

What do you think happened to the men who didn’t die from the Molotov's or gunshots? Answer me!” He roared, spit hitting my face as he seized me by the shoulders and shook me. “What do you think I did to them?”

“Get. Your. Fucking. Hands. Off. Me,” I said, each word coming out clipped. The way he was manhandling me regardless of the burns that were still healing was evidence enough that he was too far gone to reason with.

“Answer me! What do you think I did to them? ”

I remained silent, clamping my lips shut, refusing to give into his rage. “I killed them with my bare hands, Rachel. I sliced one man’s throat and ripped out his windpipe.”

“And why are you telling me this? Do you expect me to be impressed? Congratulations, Dante. You’re a mass murderer. I’ll be sure to send you a ‘well done’ card every anniversary of this date when they cart you off to prison.”

“I won’t be going to prison.” he rolled his eyes and shoved me away from him, snatching the bottle of whiskey back up.

“Yet. You won't be going to prison yet . I can see right now you’ve bought a one-way ticket to the pity party. Oh no, poor Dante, he killed so many people. How terrible he must feel,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Can’t you see how stupid this all is?”

“Fuck off, Rachel. You knew what you were getting into.”

“Did I? Did I, really? Because as I recall, I wasn’t exactly given much fucking choice!”

He laughed at me then. Really laughed at me.

And then he marched forward, seizing the back of my neck and dragged me towards the front door, throwing it open with such force it bounced off the wall and back towards us, almost hitting us on the way out.

He dragged me down the steps of the house and pushed me onto the grass.

“No choice?” He roared. “No fucking choice? Did you, or did you not, stand in this very spot and agree to be my old lady?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off, grabbing my jaw between his hands.

“Did I, or did I not, tell you that I was not a good fucking man? Did I not give you ample fucking warning of what life was like with me? Don’t play the kidnapping card, Rachel, because I have been nothing but open and honest with you since then! ”

His fingers squeezed so hard I felt blood seep on my tongue as my teeth cut into my inner cheeks. He glared down at me, his breathing heavy and his eyes wild. “Well?”

Don’t react, Rachel. Don’t make this worse.

Unfortunately, I was not the type of woman to listen to reason. I could feel the rage simmering inside me. Violence didn’t intimidate me. It ignited me. Enraged me. I could almost taste the venomous rage on my tongue, my blood burning so hot my skin flushed .

“This will be your last warning, Dante,” I said the best I could with the fierce grip he had on me. “Get. Your. Fucking. Hands. Off. Me.”

He squeezed tighter. And that’s when I lost it.

I stomped on his foot with every bit of strength I possessed.

It wasn’t enough to hurt him, but it was enough to distract him so I could bring my knee up between his legs, delivering a powerful blow.

He doubled over, loosening his grip on my jaw, and I twisted my head, clamping my teeth down on the fleshy skin between his thumb and index finger.

Shock more than pain had him letting go of me, and I brought both my hands together, swinging them over my shoulder and then brought them both down on his back, right where his kidneys were.

I knew I couldn’t win this fight, but it was enough to have him releasing me entirely. I stumbled back, glaring at him.

“Your stupid loyalty to this club is going to cost you everything, Dante. You’re going to be left with nothing, cursed to live your life a pathetic, lonely old man, with no one left to care for you except some elderly fucking brothers who are just as fit for the scrap heap as you will be.

This,” I said, gesturing around us. “Is already crumbling before your very eyes, and you’re blind to it.

Your daughter is injured, your clubhouse is burnt to the ground, your dad’s best friend has just been murdered…

and that’s only the fucking beginning, and we both know it!

If you can’t see how damaging that is, then you’re a fucking fool and you deserve to lose all of this.

” I spat at his feet, adding yet more bodily fluids to his boots, and then stormed down the garden path, ripping the gate open.

“Oh,” I said over my shoulder. “You know what you said about two negatives making a positive? You know what else makes a fucking positive? Two people who didn’t think about the fucking consequences.

But only one of us will be around to deal with that particular disaster. The other one doesn’t deserve it.”

I raked my eyes up and down him with a sneer and then slammed the gate. I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was that it was far away from wherever he was.

I found myself back at the clubhouse.

The builders had been by whilst I was at the hospital this morning, and had begun delivering the materials needed for the rebuild.

I entered the building, memories assaulting me as I ran my finger along the soot covering all the furniture.

I could see Dante dragging me through the bar on my first evening here.

I could see myself arguing with him in the booth at the back as I told him all about Alex and what he had done to me.

I could see Mama ringing the bell, telling everyone it was last orders.

I could even see Macbeth, skulking in the corners, always watching, always plotting.

It was clear as day in hindsight, but at the time, he was just Macbeth. The heir who became the spare.

“Penny for them?” I spun around at the sound, my hand coming up to my chest to steady my heart. I saw Vienna, bending low to enter through the fallen door frame, his face just as weary and drawn as Dante’s had been.

“The last man who said that to me ended up kidnapping Dante and setting this entire shit storm in motion. Forgive me for not wanting to play a second time. You can keep your penny.”

He gave me a tight smile. “I saw what happened.”

I nodded, not surprised. “Of course you did. You’re always one step behind him, aren’t you?”

“I should hope not. It would make sex a bit awkward, don’t you think?”

I laughed, though I didn’t really feel like it.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He said, all trace of humour gone. He just looked… sad. The entire grounds had a deflated air about it.

“Not really.” I said, sitting on one of the barstools, the cushion was burnt, making the material dig into the back of my thighs.

Vienna sighed heavily, but pulled up another stool and sat next to me.

“Can I ask you a question, Rachel? ”

“Sure,” I mumbled, pulling at a loose thread on my sleeve.

“What is it you want?”

My head snapped up with shock. “From what?”