Eagle

Angel has hardly had time to finish cleaning herself up in the half bath located inside the meeting room when the doors open and Tonsils and five other brothers join us. I’m seated in my regular spot, waiting for her to come out, wanting to see her face a last time before I go. No matter what happens, the girl knows how I feel deep inside. I never stopped loving Angel Orani, but I would have patched Serafina in as my old lady. I was falling for her.

Tonsils makes a strange face and sniffs the air, then throws me a what-the-fuck look. He knows we had sex. I shrug. What can I say?

“Did she tell you anything new?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I say, stretching my arms above my head. “I believe she’s prepared to tell the truth. Angel was never a liar.”

She emerges from the bathroom, looking as fresh as she did when she first arrived. Her gaze darts from me to her old friend, Tonsils. “Hi,” she says, sounding nervous.

Tonsils gives her a sideways look. “Is it really you, Angel?”

“Yes,” she says, claiming the chair Garrett left her in.

I untied her hands after we made love. There’s no reason to disrespect her like that, she doesn’t pose a threat to anyone but me. And rope can’t protect the part of my body she’s capable of destroying. My heart is already wide open. What she chooses to do with it will likely determine my future.

I walk to the doors. “I’ll be in the dining room, no matter how long it takes.” I don’t direct my words at anyone specific because I want Angel and Tonsils to both understand I’m here for them. I close the doors, intent on having a double shot of Jack Daniels.

Serafina

Tonsils introduces the brothers before he sits down. At least I know him. Whether I can depend on him to be fair remains to be seen. They’re under the impression I conspired with someone to hurt Eagle and the club. That’s the only reason I’m here. My faked death obviously caused some nasty fallout, but I’d do it all over again if I knew Eagle would live.

“Angel, before we get started, I want you to know, I’m glad you’re alive.”

“Thanks, Tonsils.”

“However,” he says, “it doesn’t change what you did. This club bled for you, girl.” He points to the memorial wall. “Remember Panther? Davy Crockett?”

How could I forget them? Panther always used to tease me about how young I was. As for Crockett, he wore a raccoon cap like his historical namesake. “I do.”

“Crockett took a bullet for you. Panther got caught in the crossfire in the same fight. We attacked the Dead Dog stronghold because we thought they murdered you, Angel.”

My shoulders droop and tears fill my eyes. There’s no words worthy enough to express the totality of my sadness. “I’m deeply sorry,” I say. “But I had to protect Eagle. And myself.”

“What are you saying?”

“Bear told me he put a hit out on Eagle for twenty-five thousand dollars, the base value of the first bid on me for the auction. My brothers were intent on brokering a profitable match and expanding their powerbase. Sixteen-year-old virgins are a rare commodity these days.”

A brother snorts.

“I understand that part,” Tonsils says. “But you were here with us. Protected and safe.”

“For how long?” I ask. “Until the Dead Dogs picked you off one by one? I knew my brothers. Reggie was the worst. I know that’s why Eagle killed him.”

“Eagle killed him because he thought he was responsible for your death. Do you know how it affected Eagle? He changed overnight. Became half the man he used to be. Drowned his sorrow in whiskey and pussy like a fucking maniac with no reason left to live. You did that, girl. Left him exposed and careless. That’s how Reggie got his hands on him. Plucked him out of a whore’s bed in the middle of the night and dragged him to a warehouse.”

“Bear kept in close contact with me after I started living here. Every day he bombarded me with threatening emails and texts on what he was going to do to both of us if he ever got his hands on me or Eagle. I was sixteen, Tonsils—a stupid kid afraid to even take a breath. What did you want me to do? Eagle wouldn’t let me go anywhere alone. I couldn’t leave the clubhouse unescorted.”

I bang my hand on the table, frustrated. “How many times do you think I could handle being told my nipples were going to be cut off and shoved down my throat? Or that the Dead Dogs knew a woman from Yemen who specialized in female circumcision, and for a nominal fee she’d be happy to perform the surgery on me. She even guaranteed her work, convinced my brothers that women without clitorises were more obedient and faithful to their husbands.”

“Why didn’t you come to me or tell Eagle what was going on?”

I shake my head. “You’d already done so much. How could I ask you to face more danger? To risk your lives for the sister of the president of your arch rival?”

“You were raised in an MC, Angel,” Blue says. “Surely you understood what it meant. We take care of our own.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Your own. Not me. Not a Dead Dog.”

“Women aren’t patched members,” Tonsils points out. “There was no reason . . .”

“You’re wrong!” I jump up. “Two things happened you know nothing about. The first one I can prove. I need my cell phone.”

Tonsils gestures at one of the brothers on the far side of the table. He immediately leaves the room.

“And the second issue?” Blue presses.

“You’ll have to take my word on.”

“Tell us,” Tonsils says.

“Do you remember a girl named Allison Giles? She lived on First Street with her alcoholic mother.”

“Yeah,” Tonsils says. “A mousy thing.”

“Shy,” I correct him, still protective of my former best friend. “Bear called me one night and told me he’d kidnapped Allison after school. I begged him to let her go, to send her home. He told me there was no reason to, that he’d left her at the park. It was two o’clock in the morning when I slipped out of here, hoping to find Allison.”

“Did you?” Blue asks.

“Yeah, I found her.” Hot tears make it hard to see clearly, but I swipe them away. “I found her in a ditch without any pants on, bleeding profusely from her rectum.”

“Jesus Christ,” Tonsils says.

“I got her home and cleaned her up as best I could. I stayed the rest of the night with her. She was in bad shape. The next day an ambulance took her away. I never saw her again. Never heard from her again. And her mother died a year later. I questioned Bear. He said five of the Dead Dogs raped her repeatedly, and if I didn’t come home, they’d do the same to Belle.”

“My wife?” Tonsils shoots up from his chair.

“Yes.” It pains me to share these details after all this time, but they need to understand my reasoning from back then. I never meant to hurt anyone, only to protect the only real family I’d ever had.

There’s a long pause in the conversation then. I know my words have hit them hard. Allison’s story is enough to silence most men. The door opens and we all turn. I spot my cell phone in Charlie’s hand. That thing is more than just a means of communication to me, it’s a lifeline. I hold my hand out but Tonsils takes it from Charlie first.

“No games, Angel.”

“No games,” I repeat.

I quickly scroll through my files. “Eagle always blamed my mother for what happened to me. But he’s wrong. After my father was murdered, Reggie and Bear lost it. Started hanging out with the wrong people, drug dealers and gang members. That’s how they met the Dead Dogs. Reggie became a hangaround, invited by some asshole twice his age. My mother tried to put an end to it. He was only fifteen.”

“Hobbit,” Blue and Tonsils say at the same time.

“My mother didn’t know anything about MCs. As soon as Reggie’s grades started to slip and he refused to keep curfew, Mom drove down to the Dead Dog compound and marched right in like she owned the place. It didn’t go well. She threatened to call the police.”

I show them a series of photos featuring Reggie shooting my mother up with meth and heroin. “Proof for the Dead Dogs. Instead of having her killed, the president thought it would be profitable to make her a long-term customer. Reggie used to slip powder in her coffee and water. She got addicted pretty quick. Soon the powder form wasn’t enough, she needed a more potent delivery. Reggie would get her drunk and then shoot her up. That’s how he earned his patch so quickly. The youngest member in the history of their club.”

My phone is passed around. The evidence is damning.

“I-I couldn’t take it anymore. The fear and pain overwhelmed me. I thought if I left my mom and Eagle would be safe. I staged my own death and relocated under a new name—Serafina Scala.”

“Who helped you, Angel?” Tonsils asks.

“I can’t betray that trust.”

“Even if it could save your ass?” Blue says.

“Not even if it could save my ass.”

“Wait outside, Angel.” Tonsils waves me off.

I make eye contact with every brother, hoping they’ll understand why I left Holly Beach. Eagle represented everything good in my life. I would have gladly gone to the grave to save him. Still would. I turn around and walk slowly to the door.

“No matter what you think of me,” I say as I touch the doorknob, “I always considered the Iron Norsemen my real family.”

I walk out.