Friction (Oath Keepers MC Book 5) (25 page)

Only it doesn’t matter, because someone was waiting for us. An excruciatingly painful hit to the back of my head has my legs buckling and me falling to the floor. I swear my vision goes black, and when I finally come to, I watch as Ares straddles a man, raining his fists into him ruthlessly for a few moments until he finally wraps his monstrous hands around the man’s throat, gripping and squeezing until Ares’ face turns bright red with the force he’s inflicting, finally choking the life out of our attacker.

I feel like it takes hours for the guy to finally stop breathing, when, in reality, it’s mere minutes. Ares hops up, coming to me, when another man comes from the side of the house, jumping on Ares’ back. The men stumble, falling to the floor. Ares is on his stomach as the guy braces him from the back, repeatedly punching him in the kidneys and soft spots.

I’m still dazed; my body shook up so that I can’t run to him and help. I watch—my adrenaline spiking and my stomach flipping—as Ares struggles to get the guy off of him. They eventually roll and the man has Ares in a clutch, attempting to choke him.

Ares reminds me of a turtle, stuck on his back, scrambling to get ahold of his attacker. Luckily, they’re close to me, so I crawl closer and pull my blade free. Once I have the right grip, I raise my knife high, driving it down with as much force as I can muster in this position, straight into the man’s eye socket. It does enough damage that Ares is able to slip free. Once free, he yanks the knife out and drives it into the man’s chest cavity again and again until he no longer moves, and we’re covered in blood.

“He’s dead brother,” I state, and Ares’ gaze meets mine.

“This is fucked,” he pants. “Can you walk?”

“I think so, but not yet. I feel like I have to puke.”

“Fuck, sounds like a goddamn concussion. We need to make you walk around with a helmet or something,” he mumbles, and I shake my head, causing the pain and spinning to return a little more. “Your knife, brother,” he declares, and thrusts it toward me.

Wiping the blood on the grass, I strap it back in my holster.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“You probably just saved my life.”

“No worries,” I grumble, not liking when people thank me for shit. I was just doing my job, helping my brother out. It was nothing special. “Who the fuck are these fools?” I gesture to the dead guy lying in front of me.

“No clue. Let’s get you back inside.”

“Just help me stand up. I think I’ll be all right once I’m on my feet and we can keep checking. If there’s any more fuckers back here, I don’t want them sneaking in somehow.”

“All right.” He leans over, quickly pulling me up to my feet with his hulk-like strength. That guy on the ground must have had a lot of strength to be able to overwhelm Ares. It’s pretty unusual for some shit like that to happen to him.

Getting to my feet was easy, minus the slight spinning on the way up. Now I have to concentrate on walking for a second, to shake off the splitting pain on the back of my head. I wouldn’t be surprised if my damn skull back there was bruised or cracked or whatever. Doesn’t matter anyhow, I’ll never see a doctor about it.

“You good, brother?” Ares asks.

“I’m straight, let’s go.” Only I’m not really. At least not one hundred percent, but I ain’t mentioning it to him.

We begin walking, coming around the side of the building and there’s nothing. I let loose a pent up breath I had no clue I was harboring and continue on.

We get around to the front of the clubhouse just as a bomb goes off at the opposite side of the compound, and Ghost runs across the parking lot to untie Blaze. Ares takes off in a sprint toward the men, his feet thundering against the ground in his powerful strides.

I pick up my pace a little, concentrating on walking quickly and not falling over as a shot rings out, and there’s a loud growl in pain. I have no clue who it came from, but it spurs me on to go faster, just in case it could be Ares and he needs my help again.

Ares and Ghost are fighting. When I get close, I can’t help but to wig out when I see him. Rearing back, I kick Ghost harshly in the backside of his head while Blaze sputters and moans, his blood gurgling out of his body, bringing me a minute drop of happiness to know it was indeed him who got shot and not Ares.

Ghost roars after my kick connects and Ares backs away a little, giving me some space. I told him I wanted to gut ghost, to be the one to slaughter the man, making him pay in torture and pain. With as much fucked up shit as I’ve done though, in this moment, I just want him gone.

Scratch comes hightailing it to me with my electric drill, like a proud puppy for bringing me my favorite weapon and the adrenaline spiking through my body causes my head to clear, the fuzziness and my daughter’s little voice disappearing.

“No!” Ghost screams in protest as Ares grabs his arms, and Scratch helps to hold him down.

“I heard you like to hurt people motherfucker,” I begin. “I also heard you hit my ol’ lady. Just how much of a bad fucker are you?” I ask, and take another step closer, the man’s eyes widening in panic. “Let me show you how twisted I am,” I declare, and come at him with my drill.

He squirms and screams, attempting to get away. I’m eventually able to shove the drill bit into his cheek, amid the loud whirring of the drill and Ghost’s screams, he rips his head back in horror as it tears a large, open gash into the side of his face.

I let loose a maniacal laugh and drive the drill into the middle of his throat, his yelps of pain getting cut off as I drill holes into him over and over, causing him to bleed out in horror.

The brothers rush out, Cain and Snake taking off to do perimeter checks as Spin unloads his shotgun into both men lying on the asphalt, confirming they’re truly dead.

“Holy fuck, Twist.” 2 Piece stares at me in shock. “You gonna be okay with my sister and the baby? I’ve seen you fuck some shit up before, but I’ve never seen you do
that.”

“That’s because you’re never around when I take care of business like this. And let’s get something clear; I fuckin’ love your sister, man. I just killed for her and I’d do it a million times over if needed. I know you’re doin’ your duty an’ all, but it’s time you back the fuck off. She and Cyle belong to me now.”

He steps back quietly, clearly thinking over everything I’ve just said. After a few beats, he holds his hand out to me, offering his blessing. I shake it, welcoming his understanding on just how much Sadie means to me.

I love her. She’s mine and everyone finally fuckin’ gets that.

It’s never too late to live happily ever after.

-Unknown

Two months later…

The house actually sold.
I’m still freaking out a little inside that my parents’ house, where I grew up, is gone and I won’t ever have to worry about it again. I’ll probably never go back to California, and as much as I believed it would bother me, now that it’s happened, I’m thrilled that it doesn’t. If anything, it’s a relief, and now Silas will get the money from the sale, which he completely deserves for always keeping the house up and for taking care of me. My poor brother deserves something.

I hope he’s happy about it. Knowing him, he’ll say he doesn’t want the money since it came from our parents’ place, but he better keep it. He, Ares, and Avery need their own house anyhow. I know they don’t plan on having kids for like ever, but someday one of them is going to knock her up as well, and they’ll need the space.

Never in a million years did I think my brother would admit to me that he’s in love with both a woman and a man. But after getting to know them both, I can understand why. Their love is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

Avery’s ol’ lady cut looks intimidating as all hell, belonging to the VP and the Sgt. At Arms both. I finally got to show off mine, advertising property of Twist—The Unholy One. If people only knew just how crazy our men were, they wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Like
I
should talk about strange love. The biker I fell in love with has a truckload of issues himself. They’re nothing we can’t handle, and we get through them together. He’ll get a little down occasionally, I notice, when he sees something specific. On days when the sky is an amazing shade of blue, he won’t even look at it.

Twist treats my sweet Cyle like he’s his own. You’d never know he wasn’t either. Cyle has my light blonde hair and Twist has dirty blond hair, so it’s like we all sort of match.

“Gimme the kid, babe.” Twist holds his hands out toward me and I pass Cyle over with his bottle. As fast as Twist approached, he and Cyle are gone into the kitchen, doing their own thing.

That man has been my saving grace when it comes to being a new mom. He doesn’t know everything, but he knows a lot about stuff that I have no clue about. I had no idea I’d meet someone who would parent with me as if we’re a team.

It’s never just me unless he has a run, and even then, Avery comes and stays with me. She brings her puppy which I absolutely love. London even stops over when the guys are gone to hang out. Her little boy Jameson is so freaking adorable and is quite funny. I love it when they’re all here.

When the guys aren’t out playing biker, we have dinners and barbecues at the club, but we also have plenty of time on our own. Avery, Silas, and Ares just had Cyle for the first time a week ago for an entire evening so Twist and I could have a real date night. We rode his bike into Austin and he took me out to a nice restaurant and then to see a movie. It was too chilly to ride around when we finished but it was amazing just to be up close to him that much. I had a wonderful time and Avery offered to watch Cyle once a month like that so Twist and I can have a day to just worry about being a couple in love.

Glancing at the clock, I notice it’s almost time, so I call for Twist. “Hey, babe, you have your doctor’s appointment soon. Did you want me to come to this one with you?”

He saunters into the bedroom with Cyle attached to his hip. “Nah, Sunshine, you don’t have to come to this one. I don’t know if I’ll be going as much anymore anyway.”

“I thought the doctor said you needed therapy at least once a week to keep your mind clear and not dream so strongly.”

I’ve learned that it’s not only his deceased wife and child that plagues him at night, but also remembering his first kill when he hunted the men down responsible for harming them. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be constantly tormented by their faces as well.

“She did, but it’s been almost two months now; that’s eight sessions. I haven’t heard my daughter’s voice in a month. I haven’t been dreaming as much, so the doc said after today we’d cut down to three sessions a month.”

“That’s awesome. I’m so proud of you for getting help, Twist. I hated seeing you hurting so badly.”

“Yeah, well I had no idea that Traumatic Brain Injury could mimic Bipolar disorder and cause me to hear voices. I’m a fuckin’ idiot, Sunshine. I should’ve paid attention to all them doctors years ago.”

“It’s okay. All that matters is that you’re doing everything you need to be doing now. Cyle and I will always be grateful to you for taking these steps to be with us. We love you.”

“I love you and the little squirt. All right, I guess I’mma take off. I’ll keep my cell on though, so if you need me, just call.”

“I will. Be safe.” I hug him and kiss him sweetly, and then he’s out the door, on the way for his counseling session.

I will admit, being an ol’ lady isn’t so bad. Yes, I have to deal with the club’s stuff being private. I hate that part of Twist’s life, but I know he loves the club, so we get through it. I never feel as if he’s keeping anything from me if he doesn’t absolutely have to. I’ve not only gained Twist into my life, but the club has become my family too.

I feel happier and more fulfilled now than I ever have. Twist keeps teasing me that one day he’s going to come home with a diamond, and while that sounds amazing, I’m perfectly content being his ol’ lady for now. I know that sometime down the road I’ll be his wife and give him children, and that’s an amazing thing to look forward to.

He eventually opened up to me about the death of his poor wife and little girl. I can only imagine the horrific feelings that had to come with that tragedy. Since then, he’s gotten into therapy. I went with him at first so we could get to the root of his problems and dreams; now he can speak to them without me. He’s come so far, and now he doesn’t have the nightmares every night like he used to.