Page 65

Dante

Hacksaw and Shark rode ahead of us, clearing the way to the garage that Crash and Tools owned.

We had to make sure no one saw us bring Ben in.

Not that I had ever cared about other members seeing before, but I didn’t want word getting back to Rachel until I was ready.

I wanted to extract every piece of information from Ben by any means necessary, and then I would allow her to watch as I delivered the killing blow.

Crash would understand, and he would know to keep his mouth shut.

Tools would complain, and Sunshine would live up to his namesake more than ever.

No doubt we’d never hear the end to all the grumbling and moaning, but he would still know better than to spill club secrets.

We’d bring it to church when the time was right.

Ben was hogtied to the back of my bike, and the fucker had not stopped trying to scream through his gag the entire ride back.

Every so often, I would reach behind me and deliver a slap around his head. Or I would take the corner too fast and listened to his terrified screams as his face came dangerously close to scraping across the tarmac road.

It was quite cathartic in its own way, and I was already in a much better mood than I was when the night began.

When arriving at the village, the roads were quiet and clear, so we went straight to the garage, and Shark closed the doors behind us.

“Chair,” I instructed Hacksaw before I’d even shut off the engine. He had Ben removed from my bike and swung him into the chair by the time I removed my helmet.

These three men were with me every step of the way, and our operations worked like clockwork.

It made me feel more positive about taking over when Crash stepped down.

I knew Zach was looking to step away from his role as Sergeant at Arms, and I knew these men would be my new team.

They had never let me down before and would fulfil their roles perfectly.

As I removed my jacket and rolled up my sleeves, Hacksaw had Ben tied down, and Vienna was already attaching the chains to the hooks.

“W-wait,” Ben spluttered as he saw me pick up the hammer. “We can talk this through. Let me see her. I’ll apologise!”

“If I were to take these pliers and remove every one of your fingernails and shove each one up your ass, would an apology suffice? If I carved my name into your stomach until you were close to bleeding out, would an apology be enough? Would you forgive me?”

Ben blanched, his mouth opening and closing like a demented fish as he struggled to find the words.

“It doesn’t matter,” I grinned at him. “I’m going to enjoy this too much to want an apology, anyway.”

The sounds of Ben’s screaming had given me a headache like no other.

The three men had stood and watched as I used the hammer to smash Ben’s kneecaps.

Once I was done there, I threw the hammer to the side and rained blow and after blow down on his face, releasing all the pent-up aggression that had been building since Rachel walked into my life.

The screams that had started loud and piercing, had soon turned into gargled wet pleas as the blood filled his mouth. And still I hadn’t stopped.

My fists ached by the time I was done, and my fists were stained with blood belonging to both of us – my knuckles had split long before I was finished. His face was unrecognisable beneath the crimson that covered it, but since he was going to be here a while, he’d soon recover.

As I cleaned my hands up, Hacksaw pierced the hooks into his chest and back, and both he and Shark had carried Ben to the wall, whilst Vienna tightened the chains, suspending him from the ceiling against the wall.

I could see the skin on his chest straining from the hook beneath it, but he would hold for the night.

For good measure, Vienna had silently grabbed a pair of scissors that we used for cutting down tyres and sliced at his Achilles Heel. If by some miracle he did get down from the chains, he wasn’t going anywhere with his bust knees and snipped heels.

When I arrived back home, I went straight to Rachel’s room, hoping and praying she was still awake.

But as I pushed the door open, I found both her and Bee fast asleep.

Bee was curled up in the foetal position, with Rachel spooned up behind her.

Rachel had her arms around Bee, holding her close to her chest and their fingers were linked against Bee’s torso.

Her head was tucked into Rachel’s neck, and her chin was resting atop Bee’s head.

They looked so peaceful and serene; I didn’t dare wake them.

Crossing the room, I grabbed a blanket from the closet since they were laid on top of theirs and laid it over them. Rachel stirred slightly, and before I knew what I was doing, I leaned forward and kissed her forehead and smoothed the hair back from her face.

I laid the back of my hand against her skin and noticed that she was feeling a bit warm, so I went to the bathroom and filled up a glass of water for her and placed it on the bedside table alongside some painkillers for the morning.

I walked to the other side of the bed and crouched down in front of Bee.

I placed a kiss on her cheek and whispered that I loved her – something I had done every night since she was born and then decided I had pushed my luck enough for one night.

If Rachel woke up, it would only mean an argument.

I was aware enough to know it was my presence that would disturb their peace.

Going back to the door, I shot one last look at the two ladies in my life and quietly shut it behind me.