Page 68 of Mischief Mayhem
“Ugh, I know,” I groaned. “I got scared. I didn’t want people to know just in case this ends badly. This could hurt . . . he could hurt me.”
“That’s the risk you take by letting someone in,” Alba said, her voice gentle like she was trying to coax a wild animal. “In order to love him, really love him, you have to trust that he won’t do that.”
“How did you know that about KC?” I glanced at her, hoping for some resounding life changing advice.
“I pushed him away, at first,” she said, her eyes clouding with a wistful gaze. “When I thought Benito would come after me, I pushed him away to keep him safe.” Alba let out a small giggle. “Fat lot of good that did. He just held on tighter.”
“That’s the thing about these alpha assholes,” Selene said. “You run, they chase. You give an inch, they take a mile.”
I sighed, letting that wash over me. I had to make up with Hollywood as soon as he got back. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings, and if there were anyone in the world I could trust, who I could bring into my life, it would be him. He’d already gotten a lot closer than anyone ever had before.
“Hey, V,” Castor called. “I’ve got something to show you. Come here.”
He’d been trying to find whoever sent me those strange messages for the last few weeks. When he’d gotten here earlier, he’d said he was close. I walked to the spot behind him so I could peer over his shoulder, watching as he pulled up a video feed of a bar with a group of bikers milling around. It reminded me of the clubhouse, but dirtier and smaller with different ole-timers and uglier hang-arounds.
“What is this?” I narrowed my gaze to see if I recognized any of the people. “I’ve never been there. I thought you said they were in Madison County?”
“I thought so, too,” Castor said, leaning back in his seat as Selene, Alba, and Ru came to stand next to me. “Whoever it is bounced their VPN off a thousand different servers. They’re good.”
“Holy shit,” Selene said. “How are you doing this? Are you spying on them?”
“Someone’s fucking with V,” Wheels explained, joining the group to watch the other club mill around. “Is it the Kings of Carnage?”
Selene straightened from her spot next to me. She’d had a run-in with the New York MC chapter late last year, but they’d sworn they didn’t want any trouble with us.
“I don’t know.” Castor shook his head. “This is where they are right now, not necessarily where they were when they sent those messages to you.”
“Wait . . .” Alba pointed to a person wearing a cut in the top right of the screen. “That doesn’t say Kings of Carnage. What is that?”
I squinted and leaned in, just barely making out the same design as the one I’d seen on the guy who’d put his hands on me at the Viper.
“Is that the Hell’s Knights?” I asked.
“That guy whose ass you kicked at the Viper,” Wheels said. “Wasn’t he from the same club?”
“It sure was,” I said. “Do you see him there? Was he after me this whole time?”
Fuck, to have one stalker in my life was bad enough. To have two? I had the worst luck.
“I don’t see him,” Castor said, pressing something on his keyboard to shift the camera view to another angle. “Plus, he didn’t seem like he was interested in you. He had his sights on that other girl.”
The one he’d drugged. The one he’d tried to lure away and harass in the hallway.
“I don’t understand.” I shook my head, trying to rationalize what had happened that night. “Is the person who sent me those creepy messages someone else from his club?”
Before anyone could make sense of what we were seeing, the sound of car doors shutting out front got our attention. Hope surged in my chest that it might be Hollywood, so I started to walk toward the front of the house. Wheels grabbed my shoulder to stop me, hauling me back before taking the lead spot with Castor and Selene. All three of them had their weapons out, and Ru grabbed a pistol off the table, kneeling on the couch so she could peer out the window. I also grabbed a gun, just to be safe.
I’d never killed anyone before, but my brothers had taught me how to shoot when I was still in diapers. If this wasn’t our family, I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“Shit,” Castor said, turning back around to face us, his eyes wide with panic. “Hide, V. Hide. Go!”
It wasn’t the SRMC, nor was it my mysterious stalker or the Kings of Carnage. When I looked out the window, six guys were getting out of a Range Rover in tactical gear, heading straight for my front door. Just as I backed away from the window, another SUV pulled up and I caught sight of men in black suits before Ru yanked me back toward the kitchen.
“Is that the Caputis?” Alba whispered.
“Go,” Selene whispered, corralling the three of us toward the basement door. A loud boom preceded gunfire, but I couldn’t stop. Wheels and Castor were still up there, and I left them because Selene, Ru, and Alba pushed me down the stairs. My legs shook and my knees threatened to give out on me; I kept going because I had to. Once there, Selene raced toward the back of the house where a set of cement stairs led to a slanted rusty metal storm door. Ru held her gun up as Selene forged ahead, unlocking the barrier before lifting it up an inch to peek out.
Hands trembling and heart racing, I reached into my pocket for my cell phone, managing to get a text out to the SRMC group chat that read “911! My house.” Another set of gunshots rang out above us, and I clenched my eyes shut as memories from the night I’d been shot came rushing back to me. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see straight, and suddenly, I wasn’t in that basement with my sisters anymore. I was back in Saint’s truck, staring up at Hollywood’s lifeless face.