Chapter 7
King
After Valentina had eaten, I took her to Church. In the bar, the others had already gathered around Elwood. Heads turned when they saw me walking in with Valentina. I didn’t have much of a track record of being seen with women, and I also suspected it had something to do with how gorgeous she was.
A path cleared out for us, straight to where Elwood was sitting on his bar stool, and I caught Commando’s eye as I walked up to the front. Valentina was right behind me, and I could sense that she was nervous. I had filled her in already with the details of what Church was usually like so that Valentina had an idea of what to expect. However, I knew she didn’t belong in this world, and it was all new and scary for her. Especially now that she had the attention of a room full of tattooed up men in leather jackets.
“King. Congratulations!” Elwood spoke, but his eyes were on Valentina the whole time. He had to have heard that I had left the warehouse sooner than everyone else, and now he was sizing up the cause for it.
“We got all the kids out,” I replied, and a low cheer rang out in the bar. I could sense Girth, Slade, and Commando exchanging smiles as well. Our mission had been successful, and as far as I knew, none of my brothers had been lost to the cause.
“Where are the kids now?” Elwood asked, and Commando stepped up to chip in.
“They’re upstairs in the rooms, eight of them in total, Jewel and Ava are taking care of them,” he said, and I looked at him. He hadn’t gotten out of the habit of referring to his mother by her name, Jewel, and Ava, of course, was his wife. They were the only two permanent female fixtures in our Club at the moment.
“They can’t live here!” Elwood barked in surprise and Girth spoke up next.
“Jewel said that she would house them till we can figure out a more permanent accommodation for them. Ava wants to work towards figuring out school and reuniting them with their families,” Girth said, and Elwood’s eyes narrowed even more.
“When you say that Jewel has offered to house them, you mean, house them in our home?” he growled, and Girth nor anyone else replied. Jewel and Elwood were a power couple, forces to reckon with. While Jewel openly disapproved of her husband and son’s lifestyle, she had learned to live with it, and she made sure that the MC was looked after with a feminine touch. Elwood might have been our leader, and as tough as they came, but he was putty in the hands of his woman.
He turned to me now, blaming me for eight kids living in his house. For putting him in this position.
“I can take them,” I suggested because ultimately, this mission was mine and I should have been responsible for their upkeep. Elwood waved his hand in the air and grunted.
“Jewel won’t let me live this down if I take those kids away from her care. Besides, where are you going to fit eight kids in that tiny place of yours?” he asked and a few of my brothers laughed around me. I wasn’t joking. I would have found a way if it came to that. I wasn’t a man to shirk responsibility when it arose.
Elwood’s gaze landed on Valentina again, who was standing beside me, half shielded by my body now.
“And who is this?” he asked, and I could sense the deathly silence around us. It was the question that was on everyone’s mind. Including Commando’s, even though he hadn’t asked me directly.
“This is Valentina Luis, her father is Romero, the former leader of the Muerte Viviente,” I replied and watched as Elwood’s brows furrowed in confusion.
“You mean the same fuckers who got the Black Skulls involved in the fighting ring business?” he growled, turning his rage to Valentina now. I said nothing but only tipped my head once in response.
“The same fuckers who I had to rescue you from ten years ago?” Elwood continued in the same barking voice, and now he stood up from the stool. I could see him taking slow, dangerous steps towards Valentina. His mouth was scrunched angrily; he was breathing fire from his nose. The Muerte Viviente had been a pain in the ass for him for a long time, and now he had the daughter of their leader in front of him.
I didn’t want to fight Elwood, but if he laid a finger on Valentina…
“Daughter of their former leader. My dad is old and sick now, he wasn’t involved with the Black Skulls and their fighting ring,” Valentina spoke up, and I jerked my head down to look at her. I could see the fear mixed with defiance in her eyes. She was staring Elwood down, holding her chin high up in the air.
Elwood stopped in his tracks; the room was still silent. He hadn’t expected Valentina to speak up like that. He grunted, as his eyes roamed over her, he was still sizing her up.
“And what are you doing here? Daughter of the former leader of Muerte Viviente,” he said, in a low hissing voice.
“They were holding her captive. Romero owes the Muerte Viviente money, which he hasn’t been able to pay back. They kidnapped Valentina as revenge,” I cut in, and Elwood turned his emblazoned eyes at me again. I could nearly feel the heat coming out of his nostrils now.
“And what is it to you?” he asked, and I clenched my jaw. He was going to make me confess my feelings and my past, in front of all my brothers here.
“She’s my friend. I knew her from when I used to work the fighting rings for her father,” I said, and Elwood and I locked gazes. He was searching my eyes, trying to figure out the truth behind my words. Then he snapped his head away to look at Valentina again.
“Friends huh?” he said, and he looked into her face, and she looked back. I was proudly surprised that she had the courage to stand up to Elwood, to look him in the eye. She knew exactly how he felt about her father and the rest of the gang that he used to belong to.
“And you’ve brought her here?” he asked me, and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I rescued her from her captors, and she needs to be kept safe,” I replied, and Elwood narrowed his eyes at me.
“And you want to take on the responsibility of keeping a Muerte Viviente girl safe?” he countered.
“Yes,” I replied, as authoritatively as I could. It would be within the MC code and within Elwood’s power to refuse Valentina’s presence here, on Rogue Rebels territory.
Elwood grunted, then turned from us and walked back to his stool.
“You’re taking too many risks that are unlike you, King,” he said and reached for his can of beer that was resting on the bar counter all this while. He took a swig of it, and when he was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “It’s how we turn into men,” he added, and I stared back at him.
Had he permitted me to give Valentina the MC’s protection?
“She can’t stay with you. They’ve seen you rescuing her, they’re going to come after you,” Elwood continued, and I looked at Valentina, whose eyes seemed diffused. I could see that she didn’t want to stay anywhere else, but with me. Elwood was right though.
“I’ll find somewhere for her to stay,” I said, and he tipped his head to me.
“And let’s make sure that those motherfucking Black Skulls know exactly what they’re in for. Using kids for fight clubs is not going to go unpunished,” he cried out loud, and a huge cheer flew around the room. The MC was still bloodthirsty. Our business wasn’t finished yet.
I met Valentina’s eyes and a weak smile formed on her face. She knew I had meant it when I told her that I was going to keep her safe. Before we walked away from Elwood, he stopped us in our tracks.
“I’ve always been curious. What the fuck does Muerte Viviente mean? Something Spanish?” Elwood was speaking to Valentina directly. She smiled, as she answered him.
“Living Death,” she said.