“Your mother helped us out a lot back then, patching up these bastards whenever shit went down,” Prez responded, looking surprisingly comfortable in revealing all sorts of details now. “She was a godsend for sure.” I leaned forward in my seat, eager for more information, every question I ever had about what our club dealt with before I came along on the precipice of being sated. “When we finally decided to hit back, and hard, we raided their club, killing whoever we could before kidnapping Psych’s daughter.” Marek looked at Kaden. “Your mother. Then I married her the next day, essentially sending the biggest ‘fuck you’ I could to the Reapers. Integrating one of their own was one of the worst kinds of insults between clubs, so to wed the rival president’s daughter was highly offensive.”
I couldn’t help but think about the similarities between what happened with Sully and what I’d done by taking Maddie from the same club, albeit different members. It was only then that Tripp’s comment of “just don’t marry her,” made a lick of sense.
“I can imagine that didn’t go over well,” Brick said, eager to hear more, just like me, Kaden, and Ace.
“Not at all,” Cutter responded, something that took me off guard because the man didn’t say much. But the look on his face told me whatever happened next, he wasn’t opposed to. Maybe even enjoyed? I remembered the coldness in his eyes when he stood over Tag.
“While Sully adjusted quickly to our club, and to me, her father wanted her back. Most likely so he could kill her. I wasn’t gonna let that happen, especially after I’d fallen in love with her, and she with me.” Marek lowered his eyes to the table, gripping the edge so tightly he lost most of the color in his hands. “The things they did to her while she lived with them….”
“You don’t have to rehash that, brother,” our VP said, placing his hand on Marek’s shoulder as a show of support.
“No, I have to. To make these guys understand why we did what we had to. Exacting justice for someone changes you, gives you purpose. To right the wrongs is the only outcome that’s acceptable.” I didn’t need to ask him what he meant because his words resonated deep in my soul, the image of Maddie infiltrating my brain. “That piece of shit Psych raped and abused his daughter before passing her off to Vex when she was fourteen. He took over making her life as miserable as possible. Sully bears the reminders of what they did to her, physically and emotionally. They burned her with cigarettes, stabbed her, raped her, passed her off to Carrillo’s righthand man, Yanez, as an offering. Everything horrible you can imagine… they did to her.” Marek looked at his son again. “Vex is the reason your mother could never have children of her own.” For a moment, Marek’s breathing became shallow, a pained look crashing over his face. The rest of the resident members hung their heads. “During one of his tirades, he violently raped her with a bat after he could no longer do it himself, leaving her tied up for a day to bleed out. There was too much damage afterward for her to ever bear a child of her own.”
My eyes flew to Kaden, wanting to say something, anything that might lessen the impact of what his dad just told him. The two of us knew Vex abused her, but we didn’t know the severity until now. Hearing what his mother went through made me want to hurt someone. I could only imagine how Kaden felt. His shoulders tensed right before he gripped his hair, leaned back in his chair, and briefly raised his head to the ceiling.
Oddly, Cutter was the one who placed his hand on Kaden’s shoulder, much like my ol’ man had done with Marek moments ago.
“She’s okay now,” the old guy said. “Sully is one tough broad.”
“That she is,” Jagger added. His lips thinned into a tight smile. There was a brief moment of silence, and I wasn’t sure if it was because the conversation was uncomfortable for everyone present, or if Marek tried to gather his next words. Maybe it was a combination of both. Either way, he soon continued with specifics from the past.
“We tortured and killed Yanez, Vex, and Psych, sending them to hell where they belonged, and each one of them knew exactly why. The one connection they had between them was what ended their lives in the end.” As if feeling his confession wasn’t enough, he rose from his seat and walked up behind Kaden. “I made them all pay, son.” He rested his hands on Kaden’s shoulders. “I made sure they suffered till they took their last breath.” Kaden’s eyes glassed over as did Marek’s.
His ol’ man cleared his throat before retaking his seat.
“After hiding this from us all these years, why now? Why is it okay we know everything that happened?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“Because we didn’t want you guys,” he said, referring to me, Kaden, Ace, and Brick, “to be tainted with what we had to do back then. We did it because we wanted to end the war between us and the Reapers, to stop looking over our shoulders every time we left this compound, to stop losing members of our club at their hands. We wanted a better life for our kids, and whoever else came into the club well after that shit was done and over. The only things you had to worry about were school and girls. You didn’t have to wonder if at any point during the day your life would either be snatched from you or you’d be the one to end someone else’s. I now see we did a disservice by not telling you. If you’d been armed with the details, you would’ve known the detriment of what could happen if that war started back up.”
“Which we think it has,” Ryder grumbled.
“Because I took Maddie,” I said, a declaration and not a question.
“Yeah,” Marek answered. “After looking at her, I understand why you did it, but I have no doubt they will retaliate. They’ll either want her back or—”
“I can’t hand her back over to them,” I spit, my anger doing a shit job at staying hidden, erupting before I could control myself.
“No one is sayin’ that,” my ol’ man interrupted just as hurriedly. I relaxed, but only a fraction.
“If they were the ones who set the fire at Indulge because of a scuffle, what the fuck do you think they’re gonna do knowing we took their plaything from them?” Hawke asked, his reference to Maddie as a plaything fueling my anger even more.
“Exactly. And when I spoke with her, she mentioned Dutch,” Marek said. Jagger, Trigger, and Ryder groaned while Cutter and Hawke sported an odd grin I didn’t understand.
“That fucker’s nuts,” Tripp mumbled, but we all heard him loud and clear.
“Who’s Dutch?” Brick asked.
“He’s one of ’em, but from a different charter,” Marek replied. “Although he’s been spending more time here than back in Tucson. He rivals Psych in delusion and amusement with torturing women. If he hadn’t been mentioned, I wouldn’t be as worried but now… now we gotta prepare ourselves, which means making sure you four are carrying from now on.”
We all knew how to shoot, had been visiting our makeshift range behind the clubhouse for a couple years, but we never had a reason to carry before today. In fact, we were forbidden to have our guns on us whenever we left the clubhouse lot. To be honest, I didn’t mind because while I was a damn good shot, I didn’t care much for the weapon. I could give or take it, preferring to use my fists. But now I’d be sure to follow the change in instruction and be strapped from here on out.