Haven: Renegade Saints MC (12 page)

Max

Tori was just incredible. She was amazing, she was beautiful. She was one of the most incredible women that I’d ever known, and now she was mine. I still couldn’t believe it. I kept going off in a daze as we were standing in the kitchen, eating the leftover chicken. I couldn’t believe what I’d done to deserve this goddess of a wife.

“Tori, are you okay?” I glanced up at her. We’d been sitting at the table for over twenty minutes and she’d gotten quiet. “What’s wrong?”

Tori yawned. “I think I’m just tired,” she said in a dull, wooden voice. “I don’t feel well. I’m gonna go lay down.” She stood up before I could reach out for her. “Do you want me to sleep in the other room?”

I shook my head. “Definitely not. You’re staying with me.”

A ghost of a smile flitted across Tori’s lips. She glanced down at the floor, her cheeks reddening. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry about everything.”

I rolled my eyes. “Forget it, Tori,” I told her. “That asshole didn’t even hurt me. I can barely feel these,” I added, rubbing the scratches with my fingers. “He’s about as strong as a newborn kitten.”

Tori bit her lip. She looked like she was going to say something else, but instead she stood up and walked away. I stared at her, the way her ass swung from side to side as she walked. My mouth went dry and I felt my hand forming a fist at my side. Lust raged in my body, even though I’d just come harder than ever. I wanted to run after Tori, grab her and throw her over my shoulder for another round of intense lovemaking.

Shaking my head, I put the rest of the chicken away and went into the living room. Danny had left a few bottles of beer on the table, and I rolled my eyes and grabbed the empties to throw them away. I felt safe with him looking after Tori, but I was looking forward to the day when my house became just mine again. Having to chase someone out all the time felt pretty fucking old.

I flipped through the channels, looking for something, anything that held my interest. Even though it was late and I still had the effects of the earlier alcohol swimming through my bloodstream, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I lay down. My mind was heavy with thoughts of everything that was happening: Kristoff’s death, that note, Silas, Tori….it was all a huge mess, waiting to be unpacked. I felt powerless not being able to do anything, I felt almost impotent.

I wound up spacing out and leaving the TV on a news channel. The local reporter was covering some break-ins, and I narrowed my eyes, wondering if anyone I knew was behind the attacks. When the reporter announced that it was just a local gang of thugs, I rolled my eyes and kicked my feet up on the couch. Everything nowadays, even the news, was tough to watch. Too many guys I knew getting busted for drugs or petty theft. The MC had seen its fair share of hard times, but this had to be the worst yet. And if I didn’t get Kristoff’s death figured out ASAP, that was going to reflect pretty poorly on the club. I closed my eyes, suddenly wishing that Maria would call me with news.

Something buzzed in my pocket and I frowned, slipping my hand inside and grabbing my phone. A number that I didn’t recognize was flashing across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Max, it’s Maria,” the familiar voice said. Even though five seconds ago I’d been hoping to hear from her, the tone of her voice sent shivers down my spine. She sounded reticent, cautious, like something was really the matter.

“What is it?”

“I found something that you may be interested in,” Maria replied. “Would you come out to my place tomorrow?”

“Why can’t I come now?”

Maria chuckled softly into the receiver. “Because it’s late, dummy,” she said. “I’m going to sleep. I’ve had one hell of a day. I’m guessing that you have, too.”

“Kind of,” I said, shaking my head. “Seriously, though, I can just hop in the car now. I’ll be over there in ten.”

“No,” Maria said firmly. She responded so quickly that I felt cut off. “Tomorrow is better,” she said, this time in a kinder tone. “Good night, Max.”

Maria hung up before I could reply. Frowning, I stood up and walked down the hall, into my room. Tori was laying on her back, snoring gently. I said her name and touched her shoulder but she didn’t stir, only wrinkled her face for a moment and then rolled onto her side.

I stripped out of my clothes and pulled the sheet over my hip. The room felt cool and relaxing, but something in my heart was clanging.
Chill out, Max,
I told myself.
This isn’t a huge deal. Everything is fine, everything is going to continue to be fine
.

Finally, I realized what was bothering me: Maria’s voice. The tone of her voice had been so different. Maria had always been gracious, sweet, even joking. She was a nice girl, much too nice for the likes of me. She hadn’t even loved the MC, but she did a lot of favors for us now—part of me suspected she was only complicit because of how kind she was. But on the phone, she’d sounded distracted, like something was really wrong. And for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why she’d insisted on tomorrow. Maria was a night owl, just like me. When we’d been sleeping together, it hadn’t ever been during daylight hours. She was the kind of woman who haunted coffeehouses and late night bars, looking for others like her.

So why was it so important for her to wait until the morning to talk to me? Frowning, I rolled over on my side and stared at Tori’s profile. There was just enough moonlight in the room to see the delicate curve of her hip, her thin waist, her curvy breasts. I felt my mouth water as I remembered how her delicious, musky scent had coated my fingers, and the hungry way she’d pulled me down on top of her, like all she wanted to do was fuck.

My cock started twitching and I flopped back on my back, staring up at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and tried to count sheep, but nothing was working to make me drowsy. Even breathing exercises didn’t help, although I would have rather cut off a finger than admitted to someone like Tori that I sometimes tried to meditate when I couldn’t sleep.

Finally, I got up out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom. There was a little white bottle of pills on the counter. Frowning, I picked them up and stared at the label:
E-Z Doze
, it said, in big blue letters.

“Oh, so that’s how you got to sleep,” I muttered, glancing back in the bedroom at Tori. She still hadn’t moved since I’d come to bed. “Well, two can play at that game.” Taking the cap off the bottle, I tossed a couple of pills into the palm of my hand and knocked them back with a big glass of water.

Walking back to bed, I crashed down and pulled the sheet over my hips. Tori snored on, oblivious to me. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Already I was starting to feel woozy and kind of distant, like I was slipping away from the rest of my body.
These pills are nice
, I thought to myself.

I was standing in the Renegade Saints clubhouse, near the bar, with a beer in one hand and Tori standing close by. We were having a party and the guys were going wild, splashing beer everywhere and pouring it down their throats. Tori looked at me with a flirtatious grin on her face. She winked and turned to the side, showing off her amazing figure. Her red hair was gleaming in the low light; she looked absolutely stunning.

“You look great,” I told her as I pulled her close and nuzzled her neck. “You’re so sexy, Tori.”

Tori grinned at me. “I knew you’d say that,” she said. “I love being with you so much.” She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Before I could move, she walked away, swishing her hips. I felt my cock twitch in my pants and reached down to grab it.

Some of the guys started walking towards me with weird expressions on their faces.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” I threw my arms up in the air. “Long time, no hang.”

Danny looked at me sternly. “What are you doing here?”

I frowned. “Yo, what the fuck are you talking about? This is my club,” I said defensively, reaching down in my pocket for the knife I knew was there. Something felt wrong—this was Danny, not a stranger, and I didn’t know why I suddenly felt like attacking him. But before I knew what was happening, I started hearing chants of “Fight!” coming from the other guys.

“Danny, I don’t wanna do this, man,” I said, backing away and holding up my hands. “I told you, I wasn’t responsible for Kristoff’s death. I had nothing to do with it!”

Danny didn’t reply. His eyes flashed dark fire and he looked as menacing as ever as he crawled slowly towards me, hand reaching for the back of his waistband. I closed my eyes and shuddered as Danny pulled out a gun.

“You wanna talk now, asshole?” Danny said. He stepped so close that I could smell his musk and odor of cigarettes. “You wanna talk now?”

I glanced around, looking for Tori. I didn’t want her to see this, but the clubhouse wasn’t that big. When I spotted her, she was still smiling. She waved to me with one hand bent in a sexy little curve.

“Yo,” I said to Danny, in a warning tone. Panic was boiling in my stomach and a cold trickle of fear was making its way down my back. “Yo, don’t do this. Not here, not in front of the girl.”

Danny’s lips curved into an evil smile. I felt my heart pounding against my chest as we squared off, staring at each other.

“Come on,” I pleaded. “Let’s go outside, at least.”

“How did you even get in here?” Danny’s tone was cruel and mocking. “How did you get inside, huh, you punk?”

“This is my clubhouse,” I said. “We’re the Renegade Saints, and this is where I belong.”

Danny shook his head. “You got a fuckin’ mistake there, boy,” he said in a low voice, pulling a knife out of nowhere and waving it front of my body. “Now you wanna go home before we carve you up?”

Paul jumped down from where he’d been sitting on the bar and strode cockily over to me. I thought he was going to grab Danny and tell him that there had been some kind of mistake, but instead he glanced up at me.

“What’s this asshole doing here?” Paul asked Danny. “I haven’t seen this dickwad in ages.”

“Guys, enough,” I snapped. “Stop fucking with me! It’s me, Max! Max Adams!”

“What?” Paul squinted at me. “What the fuck are you talking about, you fucking weasel?” He grabbed me by the collar and yanked me over to the mirror. When I saw my reflection, I gasped. I didn’t look like me at all, I looked like Silas. My face was skinny and pale and blond hair tumbled over my brow. My expression, even though I was horrified, was a combination of a sneer and a scowl. My blood ran cold as I moved in the same way that mirror-Silas moved.

“Guys, it’s not who you think,” I said loudly. Danny grabbed me and yanked me back towards the middle of the room. “I’m not Silas! It’s not me! It’s Max!”

Danny and Paul threw their heads back and laughed uproariously. “That’s a fucking good one, man,” Danny said. “Come on, outside, like a dog.”

I shook my head and backed away in panic, waving my hands in front of me. Paul and Danny advanced, looking more evil by the second. When I looked for Tori back over in the corner of the room, I didn’t see her.

“Where’s Tori?” Anger and fear flashed through my body. “You guys better not have her! You’d better not have hurt Tori!”

Danny scowled. “You cunt,” he said solemnly. “You killed her, you asshole. Don’t fuck with me,” he added. “She’s dead.”

My eyes opened wide and I felt my jaw drop to the floor. I gasped. “No, I couldn’t have…I wouldn’t have hurt her. She was right there!” Spinning around, I pointed towards where Tori had been standing not five minutes prior. “I saw her! She came over and kissed me!”

Danny and Paul obediently looked in the direction I was pointing. When I followed them with my eyes, I gasped. Tori was lying on the floor, motionless. Her slim torso was covered in blood and stab wounds.

“What the hell?” I gasped as I ran over to Tori’s prone body. She wasn’t breathing, but blood was still gurgling and gushing out of her wounds. When I held my hands up to cradle her head, I was shocked to realize that they were covered in blood. It was me; I’d done it. I’d killed her.

“Silas, you deserve to die,” Danny said. I heard his footsteps close in behind me. “You deserve to die, and we’re going to kill you”