He scrubbed his face with his spare hand and forced himself to look at me.
“Pope killed Michael after Michael killed Hunter.”
He’s dead? What? No, this couldn’t be true, Pope wouldn’t do that!
“Why?” I asked, I wasn’t going to break down yet, I had to remain as calm as I could until I knew all the facts.
“Your uncle, my brother deserved to die, you remember bein’ adamant Micky wasn’t a rat?”
As soon as he said it, I remembered Hunter telling me the truth about Micky, but before I could speak Cas carried on.
“Well, you were right, Michael led him into a trap.”
“I know, Hunter told me about that, I knew Micky wouldn’t do that, I just don’t understand why he would do that to him.” I cried.
“That’s not all babe, you wondered why he made you leave the club, it was because he had it all planned, keepin’ me away from you, you out in the middle of nowhere…he used you as bait.” he said, whispering the last five words.
“But...he made Billy stay with me, why would he do that if he wasn’t looking out for me?”
As soon as I said his name, everything at the cabin all came back to me.
“Oh god, Where’s Billy? Is he okay? Is he here?” I cried all at once.
“Lana, Billy died just after we turned up at the cabin.”
No words, just pain.
It was too much to comprehend, my uncle using me, using Micky, and as good as killing Billy himself. If Michael hoped I would be taken, he would’ve known a prospect would’ve fought to the end to protect me, knowing all the while he never would’ve stood a chance against the Ghost Riders on his own.
My fury overtook the pain and grief that was taking root inside of me.
All Billy wanted was to be a part of the club and he died a fucking puppet.
Images of him still trying to protect from biker two sprung to mind, being thrown against the wall and landing in a puddle of blood on the floor where he lay.
I felt sick, no, closing my eyes to the extreme guilt that was sweeping over me.
“Did you see what they did to him?” he asked.
I opened my eyes, I didn’t particularly want to go over it again but I wanted Cas and everyone to know how hard Billy fought to try and save me, he deserved that.
I recounted everything from the start when I heard the van doors slamming shut,
“I tried to save him, he told me to shoot them but Hunter wouldn’t stop kicking him, you should have seen the blood Cas, he was in so much pain, I threw down the gun hoping he would leave Billy alone…one of the guys came to get me and Billy still tried to defend me, he got another beating…I was taken into a van and all I could see was Hunter stomping on him. He told me to hide at first, maybe if I had he would still be alive?” I cried, becoming more hysterical as I explained.
Cas pulled me into arms, I was crying so hard I didn’t register the pain. Pain would be better than to feel than this.
“Even if you hid, they would’ve pulled apart the cabin to find you and I’m sorry to say but Billy was always gonna die.”
I pulled back sobbing, I stared at him, waiting for the words to come.
“Using you as bait, Michael signed his death warrant the day he put Billy at the cabin with you. When we arrived, he was still tryin’ to save you, he was pullin’ himself across to his truck. He wasn’t just your friend Lana, you were his and he wasn’t alone when he went, his brothers were with him. After everythin’ he went through, he died smilin’ because I made him a full member.”
“You did?” I couldn’t help a small smile, Billy’s smile would have been bright knowing he made it into the club.
“I did, poor fucker deserved it, I knew if he didn’t fight back hard they would’ve simply shot him to get to you, he tried to take them all on to save you knowin’ he couldn’t win but he still tried, that’s loyalty and that’s why I made him a brother.”
I wanted to thank him, I wanted to make everything right but the grief took over and the sobs never stopped until Cas laid me back on the pillow and lay behind me, holding me just letting me get it all out.
Over the past two days I slept on and off, only leaving the bed to go to the bathroom. I welcomed sleep, it took the pain away and everything that caused it in the first place. I cried for Micky and everything he went through. I cried for Billy and the life he will never know as a Lost Soul. I didn’t cry for my uncle, I cried because of what my uncle had done. Cas told me three brothers had died the night they rescued me and I cried for them and for their families. Cas never left my side, each time I woke screaming from nightmares, he would be right there, holding me, promising me I was safe. And then I cried because it hurt feeling how much he loved me.
Waking up today, I felt a lot better, not as tired and achy. Cas was asleep beside me and I didn’t want to wake him. After five minutes I managed to get out of bed on my own, I gingerly made my way to his bathroom and then that’s when I saw my reflection in his mirror.
I was ghastly, on closer inspection I couldn’t make out one single bruise, they blended together in a mix of black, purple and green shades. Parts of my hair was matted to my scalp from the dried blood and I stunk. How the hell has Cas not thrown me into a bath yet? I set about turning the shower on and brushing my teeth until the water warmed up.
Just having clean teeth made me feel a lot better, when Cas first undressed me out of my blood stained clothes, it hurt to put a tee over my head, so I stayed in my bra and his sweats.
I slipped out of both and stepped into the shower, working as quickly as I could, I washed my hair and body, once, twice and then on the third time I lathered my body in soap I felt I had washed away that awful night. This being the longest I stood up in the last few days, rounds of dizziness caught me off guard a couple of times. I grabbed onto the rail and saw the bruises on my wrists, instantly remembering being tied up, the warehouse, Hunter and the other dirty animals who took me. My legs gave out and I slid to the basin floor, gasping for breath, letting the water wash over me. I know I’m safe, I’m home and there is a bunch of men out in the bar area who would throw down their life for me if anyone dared to come in here, yet I couldn’t shake the fear that racked my body into submission.
“Lana?”
I heard the bathroom door open and Cas pulled the shower curtain away, he looked like an angel baring down on me. He stepped into the shower, turning it off and lifted me out. Wrapping me in towels he carried me back to bed.
“What was you thinkin’? Why didn’t you wake me up?” he demanded, drying me with one of the towels.
“I didn’t want to wake you, you’re so tired already and I thought I was okay then I saw these and freaked out.” I told him, holding my bruised wrists out.
“I don’t care how tired I am, it’s still nothin’ compared to what you’re fuckin’ goin’ through, next time wake me up.” he said, seriously.
I nodded, and wiped away my tears.
“Listen, I can’t prolong it anymore I have to go to Church today.” he said.
My eyes shot to his, he hadn’t left my side, I’d forgotten there would be a lot to sort out, for one they would need to elect a new president to take my uncles place.
I was about to ask a million questions when there was a soft knock on the door.
“It’s open.” Cas called as he buttoned his jeans and slid into his cut.
The door opened and Sparky came in, when he saw me sitting up his face broke out into a gorgeous grin. I pulled up the sheet around me and smiled back.
“Barbie, you’re finally awake…and clean.” he laughed warily looking at me.
“Yeah, I’m okay, so you can stop looking at me like that.” I told him.
He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around me, hard enough to show me how much he cared but soft enough he didn’t hurt me.
“So fuckin’ happy you’re alright Barbs.” he whispered into my neck.
“Me too.”
&
nbsp; He released me when Cas purposely cleared his throat and stood back.
“Don’t be gettin’ jealous Prez, my love for your girl is one hundred per cent platonic.” he teased.
Prez? Cas never told me. I scanned his cut and saw the freshly sawn patch on the left side of his chest.
My mouth fell to the floor, both chuckling, Cas leant on the bed and kissed into my mouth because I had yet to close it.
“Told you, you had become the MC Queen.” he chuckled again.
“Congratulations.” I grinned, “In that case, your queen would like to go see the minions while you do business.” I laughed, then on a more serious note, “I don’t want to stay here on my own.”
He frowned and set about finding me some clothes. He turned to Sparky and he got the message, he left the room and my man helped me into his hoodie and clean sweats.
“You remember when I told you, you weren’t my vice president, just my Cas?” I asked.
He nodded, staring at me intently as he pulled the hoodie over my head carefully.
“Well, now you’re a president, but to me you’re still just my Cas.”
“I’m anythin’ you want me to be babe.” he promised, “Let’s go.”
He went to help me walk, but as an old lady of the president I would now have to be seen to be strong and as much as I wanted to be close to him all the time, I had to do this myself. I took his hand, excited to be able to be seen together by anyone and I left his room for the first time in days.
“Oh, and by the way, if you expect me to stay in your room, you are so buying a new bed, god knows who’s been in it before.” I told him, before we got to the top of the stairs.
“Yeah, so this is what it feels like to have an old lady huh, bossin’ me around already.” he smirked, looking down at me.
I winked and grinned back, “Someone’s got to, now you’re the boss I wouldn’t want your ego getting too big.”
He carried on laughing until we got to the bottom of the stairs and I was welcomed with hoots and hollers. Oak came over first and I sunk into his embrace.
“It’s fuckin’ good to see you up and about darlin’.”
“It feels good.”
“C’mon, let’s get you sat down, you should still be restin’.” he said, tugging me to one of the sofas.
He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before moving away, it seemed a line was forming of brothers and if I was seeing correctly some of the club whores too.
As they asked how I was and if there was anything they could do for me, I thanked them for everything they did, Cas and Sparky may have set me free but they wouldn’t have been able to do that without these men here.
Slade was the last brother to hug me before Cas called church and the bar emptied
He jogged over and made sure I was okay.
“Never seen anythin’ like it babe, I should get you a crown.” he chuckled.
“Ha, don’t you dare, although some pretty jewels wouldn’t be rejected.” I laughed, “Go on, go do president things.”
He kissed me softly and left, throwing his phone in the box before closing the door behind him.
I was feeling tired now I was on my own, Ricky and Jack, the two prospects were behind the bar and a few girls waiting for the men to finish. If you took away the layers and layers of makeup and the bags under their eyes, they were actually quite pretty, even Danni. Watching her clip clop towards me in her ridiculously high heels, I wished I pretended to be asleep.
“Hey honey.” she said in her stupid high voice.
Honey? Oh god, shoot me now!
I kept silent waiting for her to say what she came to say.
“Is there anything I can get you?”
Wow, I wasn’t expecting that.
“A bottle of water would be good, thanks.”
She half turned then stopped and faced me.
“I also wanted to tell you I’m sorry, I didn’t know what was happening with you and Cas last year, and at the cabin your uncle told me Cas had asked for me. I want you to know you don’t have to worry about me making a play for your man. And for what it’s worth he wouldn’t come near me anyway. If you saw what he was like when you were taken…well, he loves you girl and no one’s coming between you.”
She took my breath away, did she expect me to believe her. I didn’t need her to tell me Cas loves me, I know it, but I also know these girls don’t care who their fuck has at home, just as long as they get their night of attention and a few dollars thrown at them every now and then.
“You don’t believe me, I can see it in your eyes. It’s true, I may do a lot of things to make people think I’m a slut but I don’t play for taken men.”
She sounded genuine enough, I suppose time will tell if she’s telling the truth.
“Thanks, I appreciate you telling me that. But I’m not worried, you see I’m not like some of the other old ladies, I’m not stopping Cas from touching any of you girls, but he sure fucking knows the consequences if he does and he knows it won’t be fucking pretty, the same goes for whoever he goes with.”
She swallowed hard and nodded.
“I’ll take that bottle of water now.”
She flittered back to the bar and I took in every inch of the room, nothing had changed since I left, and I was happy to be back.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cas
I felt the power surge through me as I brought down the gavel on the old wooden table for the first time being president.
“Sorry I haven’t called this meetin’ sooner boys, but I wanted to make sure Lana was okay and we all needed the down time after all the shit that we’ve been through lately.” I told them all.
“I swore the club will change, but first we all need to be clear on what happened in order for us to move on, so if anyone has anythin’ on their mind bring it to the table now.”
“I’ve been out my nut on whiskey since we got back and only just puttin’ everythin’ together again, what happened to Michael’s body?” Oak asked, everyone looking at each other.
They knew he was dead but nothing else, from what I understood myself, Pope had told me that night and disappeared until today.
“To show him the disrespect he gave us, I burnt his body on top of Hunter’s and the rest of his enemies.” Pope huffed, lying from the other end of the table.
I didn’t want to lie to my brothers and nor did he or Sparky but we knew it was for the best and once this is finished with, we will bury it along with all trace of Michael.
“It’s what he fuckin’ deserved.” Oak mumbled.
“What about Hunter’s daughter, she weren’t there which means she’s still out there somewhere. Have you spoke to Alannah about her yet? Does she know who she really is?” Slade asked from my right side of the table.
“No, it’s been hard enough tellin’ her about Michael and Billy, do we really need to worry about one woman, she hasn’t got the club behind her now?” I said.
“Alannah might know somethin’ about her, we shouldn’t dismiss her this fast Cas, she might go one woman crazy on us for vengeance for killin’ her father.” Slade argued.
He had a point. I was expecting us to put the club to rights and move on, I don’t want anything hanging over us.
“Okay, check her out, see whereabouts she’s hidin’ and we’ll go from there. I don’t want Alannah to know nothin’ about it though, she doesn’t need this shit on top of everythin’ else right now.” I told him.
He nodded and sat back in his chair.
“With me becomin’ president, my old patch needs to be put on a cut.”
I pulled my old VP patch out of my pocket and slammed it on the table in front of Sparky.
“You’re makin’ me vice president?” he stuttered in disbelief.
“Yes and Lizard will become our new Road Chief.”
Lizard’s eyes shot to mine and nodded. It’s about time he wore the patch, he has been here for years and would do just a good job as Sparky has
.
“Okay, moving on. We need to arrange four fuckin’ funerals, I want every brother from all chapters here payin’ their respects. As you all know, I made Billy a full member and we will show him the same respect he deserves.”
‘Ayes’ whipped round the table and fists banged on the table top to show they agreed.
“Between you all, get in contact with everyone you can and let them know next Monday they are to be here to say goodbye. Until then we need to prepare ourselves, we’re gonna need to make a lot of room to house everyone, it will be tight but it can and will be done.”
“I’ll get the girls on it.” Sparky spoke.
“Good, make sure they have anythin’ they need. Next, I want to bring the prospects to the table, how do you feel about them makin’ the cut? Ricky has been here just over a year and Jack eight months, they proved they have what it takes to deal with shit and from what I’ve heard they fought as hard as we did.”
“Sparky?”
“Yeah.” one vote.
“Slade?”
“Hell yeah.” two votes.
“Oak?”
“They will make fine brothers, yeah.” three votes.
“Pope?”
“From what I saw, I’d trust them with my life as much as I do you, I vote yes.” he said.
Four votes.
I continued around the table and no one was against it.
“Call them both in Pope.”
I stood and pulled the cuts with their new patches out from under the table. I have had a lot of time to think while I was with Alannah, I had my suspicions the table wouldn’t vote against them so I had their cuts that they would wear till the day they died made.
They both came in wondering what the hell was going on, Pope took his seat and they remained standing by the door.
“Jack, Ricky, you’ve been here a while now and we all agree you’ve both proved yourselves to us and to our club. No longer will you be referred to as prospects but as brothers.”
As the president of their MC, I rounded the table with their cuts and held them up for them to wear, one by one they put their arms through and was welcomed to the brotherhood by all.