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Chapter Twenty-Nine

Griffin's Beach Snake

S nake walks with Everlee into the Griffin's Beach clubhouse. He's been here less than a handful of times, but Everlee finds herself at home as she runs and hugs her cousin.

“Goldie!”

“Everlee!”

With Everlee distracted, Snake can let his facade slip a little. He can't help but think about how this feels like a giant Griffin's Beach mess, and they've only adopted it because they were patched over. For a while now, he's felt the patch over was a giant mistake. There are so many things about the club he doesn't really like much anymore, and he wishes he'd pushed back when they suggested asking the Drifters to help them with curbing Dax's reckless streak.

“Hey,” Kip Meyers says.

The Treasurer for Summerville really does look like he should be on television partaking in professional wrestling. Lex had that one right when Everlee pointed out how Lex saw him as a younger Shawn Michaels. Especially since mullets came back in style for a short while.

“What's up?” Snake asks.

“You good? You look a little off.”

There are only a few people in the club he trusts enough to tell how he really feels about the Drifters, and Kip is not one of them. “I'm okay.”

“Is it because Marnie and Venom seem to be getting pretty close?”

He snaps and locks eyes with the man. “What did you just say?”

“Uh... I said nothing.”

Snake grabs Kip's arm as he tries to walk away, and he forces him to look in his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“I figured you'd have known if they were friends or... more. Marnie climbed on the back of Venom's bike on Broadway. Could just be a fluke or something.”

“No, she said she was going to get a ride with Lex. There has to be a mistake.”

Nodding, Kip pulls his arm away. “Sure. I probably saw wrong.”

Lex walks into the clubhouse alone, and he thinks back to what he's noticed recently. Marnie was with Venom outside the clubhouse one night, but they didn't seem like they were friendly. In fact, she accused him of sleeping with another woman along the building. But he'd heard Venom was at Marnie's best friend's wedding, and the two had even danced together.

“The kids are with Karmen and your mom at one of the safe houses. They're good, sweetheart,” her father-in-law says.

“Thanks, TK,” Lex says. “I need some air. If Colt's looking for me... well, let's be real. We all know where I'll be.”

TK smirks as she walks out the back exit. Lex and Venom seem to be getting pretty cozy, so if anyone knows anything about Marnie and him, it'll be her. He follows her outside.

“Hey, Lex,” Snake calls as the door shuts behind him.

Just reaching the swings, she turns around and looks at him. “Hey, Snake. What's up?”

“Where's Marnie?”

Her nose crinkles. “I don't know.”

“She said she was getting a ride from you.”

Her eyes narrow, and she shakes her head. “Not that I'm aware of.”

“You have any idea why I was told she was on the back of Venom's bike?”

Chuckling, she shrugs. “Maybe because she got a ride with him? I don't really know.”

“You've gotten pretty chummy with Venom lately. Tell me... is he fucking my daughter?”

“That's not something I generally talk to people about. Unless they're people I'm close with. Your wife gives a lot of detail about your sex life, but that wasn't something I asked about.”

He steps closer to her, but to her credit, she doesn't back down. He saw her stand up to Chance and Dax, but knowing her family, she doesn’t understand the protective father side of him. “I know you know something.”

“What I do or don't know doesn't matter. What or who she does is her business, don't you think? She's twenty-five, not fifteen.”

“If I find out he's been with Marnie... he's fucking done.”

“And how the hell are you going to do that?”

Just like with Chance and Dax, Lex glares at him, challenging him. For a woman who grew up in the club, she clearly doesn't have respect for the men wearing the leather.

“It's the rules of the club, sweetheart. No fucking with daughters unless they've been granted permission. You should look it up sometime.”

“I think you should, Snake,” she says. “If he was sleeping with her, which I'm not saying he was, you couldn't do shit about it. There are no laws saying anything about daughters. Only wives.”

“Yeah, there is! I fucking wrote the laws!” he shouts at her.

She laughs, and he feels an anger he's never felt before. “Maybe the Hellraisers’ laws, but you're not a Hellraiser anymore. Jennings and Dax both confirmed there were no amendments made to Summerville. You're operating under old laws, my friend. You have no leg to stand on.”

“What the fuck did you just say to me?”

“I'm saying that you're wrong.”

“Fuck you, bitch!”

Her eyebrows lift, but she doesn't back away. The fact she seems completely unfazed by his presence annoys the hell out of him. “Yeah, okay.”

“You think you're a badass and shit, but you're nothing. You ran away from Griffin's Beach because you couldn't handle your problems. It must suck thinking you're the princess of the club but still know you'll never be good enough for Daddy.”

“Oh, you want to get personal? How about how you couldn't get your wife off for a decade. And the only reason she has the big O now is because of the metal she put down there to help her out.”

Before he realizes what he’s done, the back of his hand hits her cheek in a backhanded slap, knocking her to the ground as she holds her face. “Don’t ever talk about how I give it to my wife.”

“You just made a big mistake,” she says, climbing to her feet.

“Stay down, bitch! For once in your life, maybe you should learn how to take orders!” A motorcycle exhaust fills the air, and he sneers. “If that's your buddy, Venom, with my daughter, he's fucking dead.”

He hurries around the building, and he's surprised to hear footsteps behind him. He'd been certain the slap had surprised her as much as it did him, but clearly not.

Marnie hops off the bike, and Venom stays on as Snake rounds the corner. Neither hear nor see him.

“Go inside. I'll walk around back and have a smoke,” Venom says. “The last thing we need is anyone thinking we're together.”

Marnie looks defeated, and Snake can’t figure out why. “Venom, wait.”

“What, Marnie?”

“I... I thought you quit smoking.”

“I did. The reason I quit told me I was dirt, so what the hell? Might as well start up again.”

Snake feels himself propelled forward with small hands on his back. “Spying on your daughter now?” Lex shouts as she hurries after him as he gets his balance.

“Lex?” Venom asks, his eyes wide. “What happened?”

“This motherfucker thinks he's big and bad. Smacks around women and shouts orders when he doesn't actually know the rules of the club he belongs to,” she says, swinging and hitting him square in the face, knocking him on his ass. “Next time you think of hitting me, you better knock my ass out because I will slit your fucking throat.”

He stares in more shock than when he'd struck her. Not only did her hit sting, it surprised him that he landed on the ground harder than she did.

“You hit her?” Venom growls. “You fucking hit a woman?”

Marnie stands with her eyes wide. “Dad, no. You didn't... What the fuck, Dad?”

“Are you fucking Venom?” Snake growls as he stands.

“That's why you hit Lex?” she gasps. “Are you deranged?”

“Not the best choice of words,” Lex says, her hand gingerly touching her reddened cheek. “I need ice for my hand.”

She takes Venom's arm and pulls him to the door. “No, I want to repay this asshole for what he did to you.”

“Nah, let everyone find out together. It'll be more fun,” she says.

Snake hurries in after them, and he stops short when everyone stops and stares at Lex. Running up to them, Colt cups his wife's face. “What happened? Did you run into a Kingsmen outside?”

“No, she ran into Snake,” Venom spits out.

Everyone turns to look at him, and Everlee narrows her eyes. “What?”

“She knows something, and she's not telling me,” Snake starts.

“Yeah, like the laws of the club you belong to,” Lex says with a chuckle. “I need two sets of ice, please.”

Someone Snake doesn't recognize hurries around the bar to get the ice, and he just shakes his head. “Just tell me the truth. Are you fucking my daughter?”

“No,” Venom growls. “I'm not fucking your daughter.”

“Then why the fuck did she ride on your bike here when she was supposed to be with Lex?”

“Because Lex didn't answer when I called, and everyone else was gone. I didn't know where the clubhouse was, and Venom saw me on Broadway,” Marnie says. “Would you rather he left me in Summerville as the only woman of the club with all the Kingsmen?”

He stares in shock. No, something's going on. He can feel it.

“You hit my wife because of this?” Colt asks.

“I didn't... I just happened,” Snake stammers. “She didn't have respect, and then she said... It was an accident.”

“I'm gonna kill him,” Venom mutters under his breath.

Everlee shakes her head. “How could you?”

“It was an accident,” he stammers.

“And what if someone said that about hitting Marnie? Would that be okay? I can't even look at you right now.”

Lex and Venom share a look, and Snake hates how everyone seems to cater to the princess and her jester. “What the fuck are you two looking at each other like that for?”

“You don't need to worry about who Lex looks at,” Venom says.

“Are you fucking her, too?”

His arms wrap around Lex's waist as she lunges in the air at Snake. The reaction surprises everyone, especially Venom, who holds back the woman, and Snake staggers backwards.

“My wife is fucking only me, I can guarantee you that,” Colt says. “But from what your wife shares, it wouldn't be surprising if she was the one who had to seek pleasure elsewhere.”

Anger flares in him as Lex settles down, and before he can speak, she turns to Jennings. “I need a favor.”

“Killing this asshole and burying the body? Already about two steps ahead of you, darlin,’” Jennings says.

Even Dax glares at Snake with disgust, and Snake can't figure out how he's the bad guy in this situation. “Fuck you!”

“I need a transfer for Venom. Kind of effective immediately,” she says. “Pretty please with sugar on top. You know, since I think I'm the princess of the club but still not good enough for my daddy.”

VP steps up. “What?”

“Oh, that's how Snake views me because I don't take orders. I think I'm a princess, but everyone knows I'm not good enough for my dad to love me.”

The fist doesn't surprise him but does knock him off balance. Strong right hooks seem to be a Dalton family trait. “I want you gone.”

“Stay down, bitch,” Brock says. “That's what you told Lex when you slapped her out there. Maybe you should take your own advice. The comment about getting your wife off was your own fucking fault, and you deserved it.”

Cameras. Shit. Of course, there are cameras outside. “Look, I think-”

“Yeah, you don't get to think anything right now,” Dax says. “Jennings, you good with the transfer?”

“Yep.”

“Done.”

Marnie steps up. “For the record, Dad, Venom saved me. You, too. I don't know why you think he's such a terrible person, but you may need to take a look in the mirror. There's nothing respectable about a man who hits a woman.”

“But there is something respectable about a man who saves a woman and puts the threat through a meat grinder before feeding him to pigs,” Colt says.

The curiosity of what Colt's talking about infuriates Snake. The last thing he wants is to ask what the hell Venom could possibly do that would help him.

Lex whips around to face the man Snake hates. “You did what now?”

“Yeah, about that... I kind of, you know, did that,” Venom says, but his eyes won't meet hers.

“And you didn't tell me!” she exclaims, pulling the ice away from her face. The swelling makes Snake realize how badly he screwed up, and he knows he deserves to stay on the ground right now. “I'm so mad at you. And you, too, Colt! You knew and didn't tell me?”

“He didn't want you to think he was a monster, and then I kind of forgot with everything that happened recently,” Colt says with a shrug.

“With a friend like me, there's no way she could think you're a monster. She still loves me,” says the Black Valley President, Psycho, as he walks into the clubhouse. His eyes widen when he looks at Lex. “What the fuck happened to your face?”

Dani stands, making her presence known for the first time, her eyes wide. “Carson?”

Lex whips back around to stare at Dani as Psycho's own sunken eyes mirror hers. “Dani?”