Savage Sacrifice: Savage Angels MC #5 (10 page)

Fuck
. So, he knows about Cortez. I wonder what else the fucker told him.

“Look–“

“Shut the fuck up. I don’t care. I
do
care that it’s around my woman and The Grinders. You need to stop that shit around them. Do you get me?” I lean against a wall and look at him. He takes a step toward me. “I said, do you get me?”

“Oh, so I can talk now?” I push off the wall and step toward him. “Fuck you, Reynolds.”

A muscle in his jaw starts to tick, and I know I’ve gone too far, thankfully there’s a knock at the door. I head toward it and open it. It’s Hector one of Cortez’s men, looking for payment no doubt.

Hector looks past me to Dane. “We meet again.”

I smirk at Hector then turn back to Reynolds. “You don’t want your wife around this shit? Yet you and Hector are friends, I see.”

Dane stalks toward me grabbing me by the neck, the feel of his fingers as they dig into my airway terrify me.

He looks to Hector. “Come in and shut the door.”

Hector smiles as I try and draw in a breath, he closes the door, and Dane lets go of me, I fall to my knees, dragging in a ragged breath as I do.

Dane begins to pace and then he starts to talk with rage lacing his voice. “It’s because of
you
that I know Hector. I’m only going to tell you this once, you keep this shit
away
from Kat.” He stops pacing and looks at Hector. “And
you
tell your boss I’m trying to negotiate a peace, but it’s going to take time.”

I clutch at the wall and get to my feet, drugs and alcohol fuelling me on, I begin to laugh. “
You
, telling me what to do when you’ve just admitted you’re in bed with the cartel? That’s priceless.”

Dane twirls on me and raises his fist, with a loud growl he punches me in the face. My head bounces off the wall and for a moment I see stars. My knees give out, and I fall flat on my face. The pain I feel explodes behind my eyes like a thousand tiny pins being driven into me. I feel Dane kick me over with his boot, and I’m laying on my back staring up at him. I hold a hand over my face and the other one up, hoping to block his next blow. Dane looks down at me, and I’m sure he’s about to hit me again, but I let out a whimper, and his face turns to one of disgust.

“You’re not worth it,” Dane says leaning over me as his spittle covers my face. He straightens, heads for the door. “Both of you remember what I’ve said and Will, you touch my woman again and I’ll break your fucking legs.”

The door slams as Dane leaves and Hector chuckles. “Not a man to fuck with, hey Will?” He holds out a hand to me. “Let's get you up so you can pay me and I can be out of here. After all, I have a message to deliver.”

A
s a sign of solidarity, both bands are going to have breakfast together today, without management or record company executives to tell us what to say, think, or do. Convincing my band to come was not easy. They believe that Rockplay are a bunch of rockstar wannabes, but they’ve been around nearly as long as we have, they can’t be all flash and no substance...
can they
?

I go down a floor to Truth’s room, I knock on it, and a glowing Rosie answers the door.

“Hey, Kat!” Her exuberance and cheerful disposition is always a delight.

“Hey Rosie, you guys ready?”

“His royal pain in the butt is just fixing his hair, shouldn’t be long. Come in,” Rosie explains and moves out of the way.

“Thanks, honey. I haven’t seen a lot of you, how are you?”

Rosie starts bobbing from foot to foot, clearly excited by something. She has her hands behind her back and is grinning at me.

“Truth! Can I tell Kat?” yells Rosie.

He comes out of the bathroom and leans on the doorway, grinning at her. “If you must.”

Rosie runs toward me and holds out her left hand. There on her finger is a ruby, surrounded by diamonds in a gorgeous vintage setting. It looks big on her finger, but it’s definitely her.

“Oh, Rosie, it’s beautiful,” I gasp.

“I know, I know!” she agrees.

“Congratulations, you two!” I draw her in for a hug. Then I look at Truth. “Have you told Dave?” Dave’s favorite motto is
‘Public perception is everything and Dave can spin anything’
.

“Not yet, Rosie wanted to tell her family first,” says Truth.

“You haven’t done that yet?” I ask.

“I want to tell them in person, not over the phone,” explains Rosie.

I sigh and shake my head at Truth. “You know better. The press will find out, and there will be a frenzy of reporters trying to get a picture of you two together with
the
ring.” I turn to Rosie. “Honey, you’ve been around us long enough to know this.”

“I’ll take it off.”

“No, you fucking won’t,” Truth says calmly.

“Truth, be reasonable, it’s only until I can tell my parents,” pleads Rosie.

“No way love, now that ring is on your finger, it’s going to stay there.”

Rosie looks upset, and Truth looks determined. “I have an idea,” I announce staring from one to the other. “Let’s start a new trend. Rosie have you got a scarf or something we can tie around our hands so that it covers our rings?”

Rosie nods and goes to a draw, pulling out a black scarf and she hands it to me.

“Okay, do we have any scissors?” I ask.

Truth goes into the bathroom and comes back with a small pair of scissors. “Will these do?”

I nod at him, take them off him and cut up the scarf. “Come here Rosie.” I wrap her hand and tie off the scarf at the front of her wrist with a bow. “Can you do this to me now?”

Rosie nods and copies what I have done. When she’s finished, we both have the material wrapped around our fingers, covering our rings.

I grin at her. “You realize by tonight, every female around us will have one of these on her wrist?”

“No,” says Rosie with laughter in her tone.

“Kat’s right, you just started a new trend. Okay, are we ready? Let’s have breakfast with,” Truth does inverted commas with his fingers, “
Rockplay!
”

The hotel has taped off an area of the restaurant for our get together. Hopefully, no one will stare too closely at our hands, and just think we’re trying to be cool. Years ago, to cover a love bite on my neck, I used ribbon and a flower to conceal it. The following week every celebrity I knew was wearing one to all the parties. I thought it was comical, but this is how easily some are led.

We enter the restaurant as a group; photographers take photos as we do. I wink at Rosie and hold my hand in the air in a rock salute and she copies me laughing. Rockplay are already seated at a large round table and I sit beside Will. He’s wearing dark glasses and doesn’t even smile at me.

“Good morning, beautiful people!” I exclaim.

“Hey Kat,” is muttered by a few of the boys from Rockplay. Will stares straight ahead and signals to the waitress.

“I need more coffee,” says Will.

“Someone’s in a grumpy mood,” I tease. “Not a morning person Will?”

His head snaps in my direction, and he takes off his sunglasses. His left eye is black and swollen, and his expression is one of contempt.

“Maybe you should ask your husband about it?” replies Will, sounding like a spoiled child.

“Jesus! Dane did that? Why?”

“Why do you think? Because he’s a Neanderthal and only knows one way to deal with his problems. He’s lucky I didn’t press charges,” snarls Will.

The venom in Will’s voice takes me by surprise. I look at the people sitting at the table.

“I’m truly sorry, and I’ll fix this. This morning was supposed to be about building a bridge between us to repair this rift,” I say.

“Really? Kat, I have no doubt you’re sincere in your words, but until you put a leash on your husband, none of us are safe, well...none of us in Rockplay,” says Will bitterly.

I nod and smile. Truth makes a dismissive noise and looks at Will. “How about you keep your hands to yourself and not touch his woman, then maybe that wouldn’t have happened?”

Before anyone can say anything I stand. “Enough! There’s no excuse for this.” I sigh and head for the door.

“Kat, where are you going?” asks Will.

“To make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

***

M
y driver takes me to the Savage Angels Compound in Houston. It’s vastly different to the one in Tourmaline. It’s dirty and they don’t have a mechanical workshop attached. It’s in an industrial area which is surrounded by warehouses. Everything looks the same.

“Ma’am, you sure you want to get out here?” asks my driver.

“I’ll be okay. No one here will hurt me,” I say as I open the door. “Wait here, this shouldn’t take long.”

I walk into the compound, and there are a few members in the front yard, many whistle and call out a few names. It’s nothing I haven’t heard before, but in Tourmaline, no one would dare. Dane would never allow it.

I give them a scathing look as I open the door to the Clubhouse and walk inside. Dane is standing at the bar, beer in hand, talking to Dirt. Someone whistles and he turns around with a grin on his face. My heart flutters at the sight of him, but I’m angry. You can’t solve all your problems with your fists, and it’s time he learned that.

“Kat? What are you doing here?” he asks as he closes the gap between us, cupping my face with his hands.

“I’m here because
you
assaulted Will. What were you thinking?” I accuse him.

Dane’s hands fall away, and he takes a step back. “I don’t know what that fucker told you, but he had it coming.”

I place my hands on my hips. “Really? Do you know what you’ve done? I’m trying to keep this fucking tour together, and
you
hit him? Why?”

“He’s not what he pretends to be, Kat, I need you to believe me when I tell you to keep away from him,” states Dane.

“You know, your jealousy is getting old. I know Will has a reputation, drinking, partying, women, but it’s all an act. Yes, he’s a spoiled man-child, but he’s no threat to you!” I hiss.

“You forgot drugs, darlin’, and
that’s
the reason I want you to stay away from him,” he thunders back as he towers over me.

I shake my head and step back. “I’ve spent time with him. I know a drug addict when I see one. Do me a favor Dane, keep away from him, my band, and for the moment,
me
,” I say with conviction.

Hurt goes across his face, and he looks gutted, but it is soon replaced with an icy resolve. “You’re
my
wife. I’ve given you time to sort yourself out, I’ve told you what I’m prepared to sacrifice for
you,
and if that’s not enough, maybe you’re right, maybe I should stay away from
you
.”

All the air leaves my lungs, and I feel like I’ve been winded. Dane turns his back on me and goes back to the bar, picks up a beer, and doesn’t turn back around. I’m stunned.
What have I done?
All over Will fucking Van Ryken? I look to Dirt who shakes his head and stares at the floor, disappointment is etched onto his face. In a daze, I turn around and walk back out the doors toward the car waiting for me.

The driver jumps out and quickly comes around to open my door. I stumble into the car and fall onto the back seat. Hot tears flow down my face, and I clutch at my sides trying to breathe. I just fucked up. I just walked away from Dane, and for
what? Pride?

I
’m sitting in my car watching the Savage Angels Compound as Kat Saunders strides in there. Damn, even from here, that woman looks feisty, but it’s a very different image that comes out. She looks like someone has stolen her spirit as she gets into the car. This warrants further investigation. On a whim, I decide to follow her.

She goes back to the same hotel Rockplay are staying in, it shouldn’t surprise me that they are all staying at the same place. I drive my car to the valet and hand over my keys. I jog into the lobby and catch up with her as she’s getting into an elevator. Her face is blotchy as though she’s been crying, and she avoids eye contact.

“Bad day?”

She glances at me. “Excuse me?”

“Permit me to introduce myself, Juan Cortez.”

“I’m not in the mood to meet anyone right now Mr. Cortez.”

“Ah but of course, I already know who you are, Kat Saunders, or should I say, Reynolds?”

“Mr. Cortez, I’m having a bad day. I just want to be left alone.”

I hold up a small bag of coke and wave it at her. “Perhaps I can offer you a little pick-me-up? You can have the same deal that I offer Rockplay?”

“I don’t do drugs,” she says with distaste.

I chuckle at her, unperturbed by her reaction. “Dane told me you wouldn’t be interested, unlike Rockplay, but you can’t blame a man for trying.”

“
You
know my husband?” she asks incredulously.

“It’s a small world,” I say cockily

“You have business with him? Drugs?”

Real laughter erupts from my chest. “No, your husband made it clear he’s not involved with any of that. At all, ever. Pity, he appears to be a man of honor and would be a pleasure to be in business with.” I smile at her.

The elevator opens, and I motion for her to get out. “No, I need to go back down to the lobby, I need to talk to Dane.”

I give her a quizzical look, but hit the button for the lobby. As soon as the doors open she runs toward the front of the building, I follow her at a more leisurely pace. When I get outside, she’s desperately trying to talk a couple out of taking the only cab that is in the vicinity of the hotel.

“Mrs. Reynolds, could I offer you a lift?” I ask.

She stops talking mid-sentence and eyes me suspiciously. “What was your name again?”

“Juan Cortez.”

Kat looks around, and I give the valet my ticket. The cab drives off with the couple, and she’s staring at me like a lamb would a predator. My car pulls up, and she goes to the passenger door.

“Hey you, Mr. Valet!” The valet looks at her. “My name is Kat Reynolds, and this is Juan Cortez if I’m not back, make sure you tell the police he was the last person I was with.”