Wrath (Dirty Soul MC: Long Beach #2)

Chapter 3

“ S he hot-wired a fuckin’ car? When did she learn to do that?” Raze stands beside the open car door while I sit in the driver's seat, trying to fix the mess his sister made.

“It’s something I taught her.” I look up at him and shrug.

“And why the fuck would you have been teachin’ my little sister how to hot-wire a car?” The wrinkles in his forehead deepen.

“I don’t know, for situations like this one, I guess.” I put the casing back around the steering wheel and get outta the car.

“Hank’s comin’ to pick this up with his tow truck. I told him to drop it a few blocks away from the chapel.” I slam the door shut and start heading toward my bike.

“So, that's it?”

I turn around when I realize Raze is following me, and he doesn’t look impressed while he waits for me to respond.

“What do ya wanna know?” We can’t avoid talking this out any longer.

“I wanna know what you and my sister spoke about in my office.” The man who I’ve always looked up to stares me down like he wants to hurt me.

“She doesn’t know what she wants. She’s confused, so I agreed to give her some space.” I cock my leg over my saddle and take the bars.

“Just like that?” Raze proves that he ain’t buying what I’m selling when he laughs.

“Just like that,” I confirm.

“Nah, you're crazy about her.” He points his finger and shakes his head.

“I am, and the way I see it, right now she’s here where she belongs and she ain’t married to him. ”

“Wrath, we need to talk about this. She can’t stay here, not after everythin’ that happ—” I cut him off by starting my engine, then revving my throttle I pull out the yard before he can try convincing me that I’m wrong.

“Wrath.” Sasquatch looks pleased to see me when I step into the warehouse, he’s real pale and the mask he’s got covering the bottom half of his face ain’t hiding how disturbed he is.

“How ya gettin’ on?” I ask the doc, as I move closer.

“Well, he’s a bit quiet, but I’m sure he’ll come out of himself as we get to know each other better.” She winks at Sasquatch across the table where she’s got the girl’s body cut open. He heaves when she lands a handful of sludge into the clear plastic bag he’s holding open for her.

“What’s that?” Sasquatch chokes.

“That’s our Jane Doe’s stomach contents, I can take these samples back to the lab and run some tests. It’ll determine if she was drugged.”

“Appreciated.” I nod my head as I pull my tee up over my mouth and nostrils to avoid the stench. Sasquatch carefully zip locks the bag and places it on the table beside him, then throws me a look that tells me he ain’t impressed with how this is goin’ down.

“I’ll stitch her up, and then you can dispose of her.” I watch the way Quinn’s head tilts as she looks down at the young girl's face. “Do it somewhere pretty, she deserves that at least.” Her voice softens to a whisper, showing that I read her wrong earlier, she does have empathy, she just doesn’t like to show it.

“I can fix that,” I promise.

“Any of your people figure out who she is?” She glances over her shoulder at me.

“Not yet, Raze is gonna have the President from our Colorado charter’s old lady search through the recent local missing person reports.” I try to focus on Quinn and this situation, rather than the walls that feel like they’re moving in and crushing me.

“You good here, Sas?” I check when it starts getting too much. He still doesn't look happy but he nods back, so I waste no time and march the hell outta there. Once I’m outside I lean forward and rest my hands on my knees, taking in a huge gasp of fresh air.

“Fuck!” I punch the wall in frustration, and when I hit it again, the pain travels up my arm and distracts me from the one in my chest. It’s the kinda pain I can handle, so I hit that wall until my knuckles split open and blood drips onto the asphalt.

When I’m done, I turn around and let my back slip down the brickwork, hitting the ground with my ass and lighting myself a smoke.

Raze is right, I am crazy about her. How the fuck am I supposed to stick to that promise I made her, and stay away? I was so sure that after everything that happened she would hate me, but it wasn’t hate I saw in her pretty, blue eyes when we were in that office together. What I saw, was every hope I’ve held onto these past ten years staring me in the face.

I don’t know what her trigger was, but the fact she came back to me makes it hard not to cling to that hope tighter than ever.

I close my eyes and let the fact that she’s back at the club sink in, then feeling a little calmer, I pick myself up off the ground and head toward my bike.

I avoid going back to the club and ride straight back to my place. All the way there I have to try to think about who might have planted that girl's body on our beach, to distract myself from imagining how good it would have been to taste Eden’s lips again when we were in Raze's office.

But it doesn’t work. All my thoughts end up going straight back to her.

I check my cell once I get back to the houseboat and a message from Ruckus informs me that him, Vike, and Saul have gone to help Sasquatch dispose of the girl. I send him a thumbs up in reply, then another one goes to Hank after I read his message to say his assignment is complete. I run my split knuckles under the faucet and get the first aid kit out from the basin unit, smiling to myself when I think about Eden, hot-wiring a car in that pretty dress she was wearing yesterday so she could escape. That smile stays in place when I let myself remember how things used to be.

“Come on, don’t be scared, give me ya best shot.” I stand in front of her with my guard up and wait for her to strike.

“Aaron, I’m not gonna hit you in the face.” She giggles, dropping her fists and looking at me as if I’m crazy.

“Come on, I need to know that you're gonna be able to handle all those drunk college boys.” I feel that familiar sting in my chest when I think about her being so far away from here. Eden’s far too kind and far too pretty to stay single once she starts college.

“Well, you could always come with me, be my official protection.” She gives me those sultry eyes that drive me wild and make me wanna forget all the club rules.“You did make a promise to Raze that you’d take care of me.” She steps into my space and my body overrides my head when I open up my fists and slide my palms behind her ears. Dragging her onto my mouth, I finally let myself discover if she tastes as good as she looks. Eden holds her breath as I kiss those lips I’ve been obsessing over for months and although I try to be gentle, it ain’t easy. I’ve held off on this girl for far too long, and although everything about me kissing her is wrong, I can’t help making it last a real long time.

“I’m sorry.” I eventually pull away, feeling ashamed of myself. Raze ain’t just my friend, he’s like a brother to me, and I would not be kissing his little sister if he wasn’t locked up in prison.

“Don’t be sorry. Aaron, I’ve been waiting for you to do that ever since I first saw you .” She grabs at my shirt and pulls me back onto her lips and I decide that getting the shit kicked outta me when Raze gets outta jail will be worth it and let her.

Lifting her off her feet, I carry her beneath the clubhouse balcony to ensure we don’t get seen, then with her back against one of the steels, I continue to kiss all the cuteness outta her lips.

“Fuck,” I hiss, as my cock grows harder and presses into her stomach. Her eyes open and she quickly forces my shoulder back so she can look down at the bulge in my jeans that’s wedged between us.

“I’m sorry, It’s just…I’ve waited a real long time to kiss ya.” I offer her an attempt at an explanation all while wanting the sand to swallow me up.

“It’s fine. I…emmm.” She keeps looking down at it, and her giving it all her attention doesn’t help the problem, at all. “I’m just... I’ve never…you know.”

“Oh God! Eden, that ain’t what this is. I would never expect ya to do tha–”

“I want to,” she blurts out, batting her lashes as her cheeks turn a deeper shade of pink. “I’ve wanted to for so long. I just thought that because I’m Raze’s sister and you’re…”

“Yeah.” I smile at her sadly before placing her back on her feet and taking a seat on one of the empty crates.

How did I let it get this far? It seemed so much easier before I knew how good it felt to be that close.

“Aaron, I don’t know how many more ways I can try and make you realize how much I like you, and I don’t get the whole stupid club rule. Surely Raze would want me to be with someone he knows and trusts, rather than some college guy.” I have to grit my teeth just thinking about whoever, some college guy might be.

“It’s a respect thing, Eden, and I’ve already stepped way over the line.” I’m an enemy to myself, I keep putting myself into these situations, always coming up with excuses and reasons to see her. Last week, I saw some shit on TV about a girl who got kidnapped. It turned out she’d escaped her captor’s house a week before he killed her. He kept her on a farm in the middle of nowhere and the fact he hadn’t left his keys in the ignition of his car was the only reason she didn’t get away from him when she made her escape.

That very next morning, I picked Eden up and taught her how to hot-wire a car just to be sure.

I go to stand up and put some space between us, but she comes after me.

“Aaron, please don’t regret kissing me. I have waited so long for it, and I get that you have all this respect for Raze, but is it really gonna stop this happening between us?”

“We only got another six weeks before you leave,” I remind her, kicking at the sand beneath my feet. “Us getting into something wouldn't just be more than my life’s worth, it would be stupid.

“I’m not going.” Eden looks away from me because she knows I won’t like what I’m hearing.

“What?” I let her see how angry I am.

“I’m gonna go to college here, there's an art program ? —”

“No. You got into that fancy New York college on a scholarship, it’s one of the best, you told me that.” I point my finger at her.

“The scholarship only pays for my education fees, my folks would have to fork out for all my boarding, and I won’t put that kind of financial pressure on them.”

“Then let me speak to Raze…or Vex. This is your dream, Eden.”

“Oh, you mean my birth father who still doesn’t know I exist?” She tips her head and stares back at me sarcastically.

“Eden, I’ve told you before, Vex ain’t in the right place. Soon as he–”

“I don’t wanna leave you,” she interrupts, looking down at her shoes and squeezing her eyes closed like she’s embarrassed.

“Eden.” I shake my head helplessly.

“Don’t make me feel stupid, I know we’ve only been friends for six, maybe seven, months, but I really like you, Aaron.” She closes the gap between us again, taking my hand and staring into my eyes in that way that makes me feel completely owned.

“You're not making this easy.” I shake my head back at her.

“So, don’t fight it. I never feel as happy or excited as I do when I’m with you. I love y–”

“Don’t say that.” I slam my hand over her mouth and she looks up at me like a temptress as she takes my hand and slides it away,

“I love you, and I’m not going to The Fashion Institute of Technology. I’m staying right here so I can be close to you. Then, when you earn your full cut...” She slips her hand over the lapels of my prospect cut, “I’m gonna be your old lady.” She smiles up at me.

“Is that so?” I stare back at her, wondering how the fuck a girl so damn perfect could feel this way about a guy like me.

“We’ll deal with Raze when we have to, but for now…” Her hand slides around the back of my head and pulls me closer to her lips. “...I’d very much like for you to kiss me again.” The way they brush against me as she speaks forces me to give in and I slide my tongue between them and own her mouth, because this may be wrong, but she just sealed her fate.

The smile on my face quickly fades when I think about the price that love she had for me cost her and, once I bandage up my hand, I head for the cupboard to pick up a bottle of Jack so I can sit out on the back deck.

I guess I’m gonna wake up with another hangover tomorrow because this bottle is gonna help me stick to that damn promise I made her.