Page 30 of Sins & Paradise

A chill runs down my spine at the venom in his voice. He's not going to stop, I realize with growing dread. He's going to hunt Lobo down...and kill him. Because of me. Because I was foolish enough to think I could escape this hell.

I can't let that happen. I won't have Lobo's blood on my hands. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I drag myself upright, my eyes landing on the small table across the room. Miguel's laptop sits on the surface, the screen glowing faintly.

A desperate idea takes root. If I can just get a message to Lobo, warn him somehow... Unsteadily, I stagger to the table, collapsing heavily into the chair. My fingers tremble as I flip open the laptop and begin to type, the keys slick with my own blood.

I don't know if this will even work, I don’t even know if the message will even go through. Miguel still had the page open to the dark web forum he was on looking for me. Maybe it’ll work the opposite way. Maybe if I put out a call for help for the Royal Bastards, all those who have any loyalty to them will try and help. I don’t know if anyone will see it in time, but I have to try.

Lobo risked everything to help me, to show me a glimpse of freedom and happiness. The least I can do is attempt to return the favor.

With shaking hands, I hit send, the message disappearing into the digital void. A prayer on electronic wings. Please, please let the people of this small town care for the Royal Bastards as much as I think they do.

Thirteen

Lobo

I slamthe door of my room, my blood boiling with rage and heartbreak. That bitch! She left me. After everything we shared, everything I opened up to her. I trusted her, let myself fall for her, and she abandons me with just a fucking note.

My fists clench and unclench as I pace like a caged wolf, ready to tear into something, anything. I want to destroy it all, burn it to ashes - the clubhouse, the whole damn world. What's the point anymore? Everyone I care about betrays me in the end. I'm a fool for ever believing otherwise.

A tentative knock on the door. It's Coca. "Lobo, talk to me," she pleads in that soft voice of hers. "Tell me what happened."

"Vete a la mierda!" I roar, slamming my fist against the wall. The plaster cracks under the impact. "Get the hell away from me, puta! I don't need you or anyone!"

I'm shaking, fighting back the scream building in my throat, the hot sting of tears. I will not break. I will bury it deep, brick it up behind a wall of fury and indifference. Never again will I be so weak, so pathetic, as to let someone worm their way into my heart. I’m through trying to find what everyone else seems to be given so freely. I’m just fucking done.

As much as I try to summon my usual hardened exterior, I can still feel her touch on my skin, see her smile when I close my eyes. I want to hate her but I can't stop loving her. Dios mío, what has she done to me.

I throw myself on the bed and pull the pillow over the back of my head desperate to drown out the world. I know sooner or later I’m going to have to get up and talk to Vado and tell him that I was wrong. It’s a conversation I’m not looking forward to.

An incessant pounding on my door grows louder and more insistent, dragging me out of my brooding thoughts. I recognize that knock - it's Pooh, no doubt here to annoy the ever-living piss out of me as usual.

"Go the fuck away, Pooh!" I bellow, hurling a boot at the door. It hits with a thud and clatters to the floor. "I ain't in the mood for your bullshit right now."

But Pooh, persistent little bastard that he is, just keeps right on banging away. "Lobo, open up! It's important. It's about Angela!"

At the mention of her name, a fresh surge of rage and pain rips through my chest. I launch myself off the bed and wrench open the door, ready to beat Pooh into next week for daring to say that puta's name to me.

"What the fuck did you just say?" I snarl, grabbing him by the front of his jersey and slamming him against the wall. "You better choose your next words real carefully, pendejo."

Pooh's eyes are wide but he doesn't back down. "She's trying to reach you or us. Either or. Somehow she got a message out on the dark web. Look outside!”

I let him go with a disgusted shove, my head spinning. Part of me wants to tell him he's full of shit, that whatever game Angela's playing, I'm not interested.

But even as I open my mouth to say it, I feel a treacherous flicker of hope deep in my battered heart. Goddamn this woman. Even now, even after everything, all it takes is a word and I'm ready to let her twist me up in knots again.

I take a deep, shuddering breath, warring with myself but I do as he asks. I walk to the window and look out. Sure enough, there is a ring of the townsfolk around the clubhouse. Most of them empty-handed but some of them with machete’s and guns.

“What the hell is this? Why are they all out there?” I turn back to look at Pooh. This time he’s smiling.

“Angela put out a message to anyone who had any loyalty to us or RBMC. She says Miguel is on a revenge kick, and he’s coming to get rid of us. She wanted to make sure we were warned and that someone would protect us.”

The door pushes open and I see Vado standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. “I don’t know much about women but that surely doesn’t seem like someone who doesn’t want anything to do with you. Maybe this fight isn’t as over as you think it is.”

I nod and feel a bit of hope pulsing through my veins followed by unimaginable fear. If Angela still wants to be with me, that means Miguel is holding her against her will. He’s hurting her.

I push past Vado and storm into the main room of the clubhouse where the rest of my brothers are gathered, looking tense and on edge. They glance up at me expectantly, waiting for my lead.

"Alright, listen up," I bark out, my voice rough with barely contained fury and fear. "Angela's in trouble. That piece of shit Miguel has her and he's coming for us next. But we ain't going down without a fight. You hear me? We protect what's ours!"