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Chapter Twenty-Eight

Crushed Like a Grape

S omething didn’t feel right to Darrow. It could have been the headless prospect. It could have been… a number of things. Virus and Dolph were tasked with finding Bram’s body.

Cyrus, Linc, Slade, and Darrow went for a ride together to the hospital to check on Priest. From what Darrow gathered there had been some sort of an episode the previous night. Priest had given the doctors and nurses a scare for a few minutes but then returned to his normal coma state. Things weren’t looking good. They all knew a time would come when a decision would have to be made. Or maybe Priest would be one of those people who ended up in a coma for a decade or longer and they just woke up.

Darrow hung back close to the hospital room door. He hated it. The whole vibe and view and what it reminded him of. How deep and twisted everything had gotten. Yeah, he’d been in love with Mara for a long time. A really long time. Watching her with Fitz, wearing his ink, then wearing that goddamn wedding band… it was heartbreak over and over. Darrow kept himself busy with the club. And the one thing he never did…? He never hacked into anything that belonged to Mara. Never her phone. Never her laptop. Nothing. Never. Not once. He lived in a world of perpetual hope where he would have a chance to claim her as his own. That moment did come and the price…?

Priest is in a coma.

Bram got his head cut off.

Cyrus is losing his fucking mind.

Yet in some fucked up sick way Darrow would not change a thing at all. In his mind and his heart—and even in his awful, black soul—he would let the world burn just to have a moment with Mara. Just to touch her face. Kiss her lips. And then, yeah, taste her warm tits, play with her knotted nipples, and then slam his face between her legs and indulge in her cunt.

Except it was deeper now…

The baby. Our baby.

Darrow’s phone vibrated. Mara’s name on the screen.

Went to see Macy.

“What the fuck?” Darrow whispered.

“You okay, brother?” Slade asked.

“No,” Darrow said. “Mara just text me she went to see Macy.”

“Alone?” Linc asked.

Are you alone?

Mara replied.

Yes. It’s okay. I’m with Macy. It’s really okay. I promise it’s okay.

Darrow curled his lip.

“I’ve got to go,” Darrow said.

“You can’t ride alone,” Slade said.

“Then come with me,” Darrow said. “These texts… I don’t know, brother.”

Darrow had a strange feeling in his stomach.

He couldn’t imagine for a second that Mara would just take off from the clubhouse to go see Macy. Not without protection. Something was wrong.

Something felt very wrong.

Darrow walked through the strip club and the thudding music toward the stage area. Cyrus and Linc hung back to deal with security. Normally when the outlaws showed up to the strip club it meant all hell would eventually break loose. Whiskey would flow. Fights would be started. Strippers would be collected like baseball cards and taken into private rooms where unspeakable things would happen in exchange for cash. Every rule, law, regulation would be broken, threatening the entire business.

But the money was too good to say no…

Right now it was about business. Personal business. Darrow pushed his way to the stage when he spotted Macy up there. Honeysuckle , if he wanted to be correct since she was working. She stood there, topless, wearing a black thong. Her eyes looked dead and sad. Her hips gently swayed. She looked down at the men at her feet, money in hands, waiting for her to do something special for each one.

“Out of the fucking way,” Darrow growled as he pulled someone away from the stage.

“Fuck you, asshole,” the guy said.

Darrow threw an elbow, smashing the guy’s nose like a grape. Darrow then pointed at Macy and made a come here motion with his pointer finger.

“Miss me, outlaw?” Macy purred as she fell to her knees.

Darrow noticed the tattoo was no longer visible.

She covered it up with makeup. A shit ton of makeup.

Macy leaned close toward Darrow.

“Private dance,” he yelled at Macy. “You’re mine for a minute. Let’s go.”

Darrow grabbed Macy and pulled her off the stage. That was a big no-no in the strip club world. Cyrus, Linc, and Slade had everything handled though. Security knew not to fuck with SOFRAW . No matter what.

Macy thrashed and clawed at Darrow until he put her down. She then grabbed for his chest, nails poised to cut flesh. The look in her eyes…

She’s fucked , Darrow thought to himself. There was no other way to say it.

“Hey!” Darrow bellowed as he grabbed Macy’s shoulders.

She gasped for deep breaths, her tits bouncing as she did so.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said. “I’m here for Mara. She’s here, right?”

“Stay the fuck away from me,” Macy said. “Who else is here? What’s going on?”

She started to blink fast, panicking even worse.

“Fuck,” Darrow said. “Macy… Honeysuckle … let’s go into a room and talk. I’m not going to hurt you. I saved you. Remember?”

Macy’s eyes met Darrow’s again and it was like a switch suddenly went off. Like the dark lifted. She jumped at Darrow, throwing her arms around him. She was off her feet and began to wrap her legs around Darrow’s body.

“Fuck, Macy, no,” Darrow growled.

He turned and carried her into one of the private rooms. Her entire body shook. The woman needed help. Serious help from what Fitz did to her.

Darrow gently tossed Macy down into the chair meant for the paying customer. She sat there, topless, in her thong, her massive tits still firm. The makeup on her left tit had smudged enough that part of Fitz’s violent tattoo showed.

“Where is Mara?” Darrow asked. “She texted me that she was here. To check up on you.”

Macy shook her head. “She’s not here. I haven’t seen her.”

Darrow’s lip curled. His eyes went wide. Macy climbed to her feet and threw her right arm across her body, attempting to cover up her tits. Not that it mattered. Darrow had seen Macy’s tits dozens of times. Plus, his eyes were dead focused on her eyes, trying to figure out if she was lying or not.

“I swear on my life, Darrow,” Macy said. “She’s not here. She didn’t text me. Or call me. Or anything. You want to see my phone for proof? You want to go through my stuff?”

“Fuck,” Darrow growled.

He turned and took a couple steps.

“ He has her ,” Macy said, which sent cold chills up Darrow’s spine.

Darrow looked back.

“He has her,” Macy said. “I know it. I sense it. He tricked her like he tricked me. And he text you from her phone.”

Macy’s eyes filled with tears. Panic started to hit her again. Darrow didn’t have time to play psychologist with Macy. He ran out of the private room and right toward Cyrus, Linc, and Slade. He grabbed Slade as he ran, almost knocking him over.

“Fitz has her!” Darrow barked. “He fucking tricked us! He has Mara! He has my baby!”

Darrow took off running.

“Stay with him!” Cyrus yelled to Slade.

Darrow ran out of the strip club and got onto his motorcycle and was on the move in seconds. There was just one issue…

Where the fuck did Fitz have Mara?