Chapter Seventeen
Van
After bringing my bike to a stop in front of the clubhouse, I climb off and walk straight into the hole, not bothering to stop and say hello to my brothers. I’ve spent the whole fucking day on the road, riding back from our visit with the Grim Bastards. I had planned to spend the night at home in bed with Ronni until Walker called and let me know he has Miles. Now, I have to deal with this shit.
Being at the Bastards’ clubhouse helped me see the light. It’s going to be hard making Tito see the light, but Ronni is mine. I want her in a way that I’ve never wanted any other woman. I want her in and out of bed, in my life, day in and day out. Not even the threat of Tito’s anger is gonna change that.
As I walk through the crowd of people filling the compound, I try to force thoughts of Ronni out of my mind. A few of my brothers give me a look that lets me know they understand what is going down. I ignore them, my mind focused on the fucker that I am about to interrogate. Once I get to the hidden door, I jerk it open and climb down the stairs.
I don’t even make it to the bottom of the steps before the bastard’s muffled screams reach my ears. As soon as I step into the light, I see that Walker has his prey chained to the floor. He is bleeding from his mouth and nose but still looks a lot better than most of my brother’s victims. He still has all of his body parts. That is always a plus where Walker is concerned. My brother has a habit of taking men apart, piece by piece.
“The asshole thinks he’s going to be able to take his secrets to the grave with him. I’ve worked him over, but he’s keeping his lips sealed,” Walker says as soon as I step into the room. “He won’t admit to anything, says he knows nothing about putting a hit on Tito’s daughter. He seems to think keeping quiet will save his life.”
Walker is cold, all the way to the bone. No one, not even me, knows his story. We all know he comes from Texas but nothing more. He joined Riot MC a few years ago, quickly rising through the ranks. A little less than a year ago, he earned the club Enforcers patch. He is good at getting answers, even when the person supplying those answers is unwilling to hand them over easily. Nothing, not a damn thing, is too dirty for him.
“I know he knows more than he’s giving up,” he states, shaking his head. “What do you think we should do, VP?”
“Guess we’re gonna have to teach the fucker differently.” Not missing a beat, I smirk at the asshole on the floor and say, “He’s gonna die either way. We need to make sure he understands that, if he tells us the truth, that death is gonna be less painful. If not, the dick is gonna die screaming.”
Tito planned on Brass and I teaching this bastard a lesson, but I made other plans. Not trusting anyone but Brass to watch Ronni, I left him at the house to make sure my woman was secure and decided Walker could work as back-up. I don’t even need him for this shit. I can break this dickhead on my own.
Walking over to his head, I glare down at him. “You think you’re better than us. Always tried your best to make Ronni feel less than you for no other reason than her dad was a biker, but you’re gonna die by the hands of a dirty biker.”
Ronni has talked about him a lot over the last few weeks, telling me how he trash-talked Tito all the time. She told me how he got off talking about her dad, putting him down, and making her feel like shit. He called Tito everything from a criminal to a piece of trash, saying the same shit over and over until he made her cry. Every time she tried to take up for her father, tried to say he was a good man, she got in trouble with her mother and stepdad. She explained how he seemed to get off on her punishment like he enjoyed watching her get in trouble. I want to make him pay for every tear she shed.
Miles tries to talk, but the gag in his mouth muffles his words, a gag made from a kind of bandana every biker uses to keep from inhaling dust. I smile, loving the fact that he has been rendered mute with nothing more than a piece of cloth. I want him to choke on every speck of dust that cloth has seen.
I place my boot on his neck and press down, making sure he feels the pressure. “How does it feel, knowing a person you consider trash is going to take you out?”
When he starts turning blue, Walker lays his hand on my shoulder. “Tito really wants the pleasure of ending his life. That’s not gonna happen if you don’t move your foot.”
I slowly let off the pressure, not moving my boot off his neck. “Why should the Pres get to have all the fun?”
Walker chuckles, turning away. I watch as he walks away and grabs a blowtorch from the wall. I keep my eyes trained on him as he looks around, finally finding the Riot MC brand. A smile spreads across my lips when he grabs it. When he turns around, and his eyes meet mine, I realize I made the right choice. Brass is ruthless, but Walker is the perfect man for this job. He’s just cold enough to get this job done.
He walks back to my side and asks, “Where should we start?”
I think about his question, remembering all the stories Ronni told me. “I think we should start with his balls. Ronni told me he used to walk in on her all the fucking time when she was in the shower.”
When she was telling me about her childhood, I’m not sure she even picked up on the fascination her stepbrother had with her. If she had been able to see things a little clearer, I’m sure she would have realized that this fucker wanted more than to aggravate her. I have a clear picture, though. No doubt in my mind, the pervert wanted to fuck her, even when she was too young to know what the word sex meant.
“Sounds good to me,” Walker says, firing up the blowtorch. “I’ve never branded anyone’s balls before. Should be fun.”
Miles starts thrashing around, trying to talk through his gag. I watch him for a minute, enjoying his struggle. I can imagine how scared Ronni was each and every time this asshole tormented her, and I love that he’s getting a little payback. I let it go on for a minute or two before bending down and pulling the gag from his mouth.
“You got something to say, little man?” I ask, hoping he will wait a little longer before breaking. “Are you gonna be a little bitch and crack before we even cause you any real pain? Are you not even a real man?”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” He looks up at me, his pupils so large I can’t even determine the color of his eyes.
Squatting, I lower my head to only a few inches above his. “My woman dealt with your shit for years, and she was just a kid. Here you are, a grown man, and you’re gonna break after just a few hours of dealing with the same shit.”
As much as I want the information he has to give, I want this to last a little longer. I need to cause him a little pain. Fuck, he deserves a hell of a lot of pain. I want to give him a taste of what he and the rest of those fuckers put Ronni through. If he breaks now, I’ll never even get to give him a taste of what she dealt with.
“I’ll tell you whatever you want. I’ll tell you everything, just don’t hurt me anymore,” he pleads, tears pouring down his cheeks.
Disgusted, I stand and shake my head. “Are you really such a pussy that you’d spill everything? Most fuckers at least hold firm until after the blow torch. Walker hasn’t even touched you with the torch, and you’re already ready to spill.”
“What the fuck are you doing, brother?” Walker asks in a hushed voice, looking back and forth between Miles and me. “I thought we wanted to know what he had planned. If he’s willing to give the answers, I think we should listen.”
Fuck, he’s right. I need to get a handle on my temper. The only way to keep Ronni safe is to know what this fucker has set in place. Without that information, we’re going into this fight blind. Knowing that doesn’t help me control my anger, though. Right now, all I can feel is the urge to kill this motherfucker. My brain just can’t focus on the end game.
“I’m gonna head home,” I say, knowing I’m not going to be any help to Walker. “I’ll send Brass to help you out.”
Not giving him time to respond, I hit the stairs and head out. My mind is not in the right place for this shit. My heart is set on getting revenge for the years of shit Ronni lived through instead of getting the answers we need.
Walker follows me, stopping me just before I reach the top of the stairs. “Are you okay, brother?”
“No.” I look back at him and shake my head. “That bastard helped his father and Ronni’s mom make her feel like shit every day of her life. All I want to do is take his ass out. If I stay in there, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.”
He is silent for a second before saying, “Give me a few minutes to get the information I need. Then, I can give you a few minutes alone with him. If he’s gone when I get back, we can always say his heart gave out.”
I smile, knowing my brother is trying to give me what he can. “You do what you’ve gotta do. I’ll get my revenge later.”
“You sure?” he asks, more than willing to let me take the fucker out.
I think for a second, fighting the urge to walk back in there and put a bullet in the asshole’s head. “Yeah, I’ll wait for Tito. As much as I want to take him out, Tito deserves the opportunity to do it himself.”
With that, I walk away, heading for my bike. One thing is on my mind: getting back to my woman so I can hold her in my arms.