Wrath (Dirty Soul MC: Long Beach #2)

Chapter 30

“ Y ou look very pale dear, you should get yourself some sun.” Anita tucks the bottom sheet around Jenika’s bed, taking her time and precision to ensure there are no creases.

“I’m fine.” Jenika attempts a smile as she tugs at her sleeves. She’s been here over a week now and, although she seems much better than she did when she first arrived, she still refuses to leave her room.

“Perhaps we could put a chair out on the balcony? It’s a lovely day,” Anita suggests. Jenika shakes her head and looks down at the floor.

“Well, I heard that those boys from Colorado have left, I should move to their rooms and make a start on getting them stripped, Polly works far too hard around here,” Anita excuses herself, leaving me and Jenika alone.

“She means well,” I explain, knowing that Anita can be a little overbearing. There are days when she still believes she’s married and tries to convince herself, and everyone around her, that she’s happy. Then we get the days where she must remember Cliff, and what happened to her husband, because she insists on keeping busy and is far less cheerful.

“She’s nice.” Jenika smiles as she curls up on the couch and wraps her arms around her knees. “She talks about her kid a lot, she really loves him. Why is he not here with her?” It’s the first time Jenika has encouraged any form of conversation and it excites me that we’re making more progress.

“For a start, Richie’s not a kid. He’s a member of the club, who they call Grimm. He doesn’t want her to know that he’s one of them, and ironically she doesn’t want him to know about the history she has with one of the ex-presidents,” I explain, trying to keep up with the whole situation myself.

“That makes no sense.” The girl shakes her head.

“I know, right? I guess they just want the other person to be proud of them, and I get that.”

“Were your parents proud of you?” Jenika sounds intrigued.

“My adoptive parents were. They were great people and very proud. They were there at every recital I did, and they kept all my school reports.” I smile to myself when I remember them both.

“Sorry, I had no idea you were adopted, I thought Raze was your real brother.”

“Raze is my real brother. We share the same biological father and different mothers. Our dad was a member of this club, still is, I think.” I don’t have any memories of my mother before she died, all I ever knew were my adoptive parents. Somedays, I feel guilty for being curious. Had I not been, they might still be alive.

“So, your real father…I take it you found him and that's why you're here?” Jenika drops her arms and seems to open herself up a little.

“Searching for him brought me here and that's how I met Raze, but as for my father…still not met him. That was a long time ago, he didn't want to see me then and he doesn’t want to see me now. He’s had plenty of opportunities but–” I shrug my shoulders and pretend that it doesn’t hurt.

“Well, he’s missing out, you're kinda cool,” the girl tells me, as she plays with a loose thread on her jumper.

“How about you, have you got family somewhere?” Up till now, I haven’t wanted to press her too hard on where she came from, but it feels as if she’s dropping her guard.

“Nowhere near here.” She shakes her head and I can feel her starting to go into herself again.

“So, what brought you to Long Beach?” I try to keep things casual, knowing that Raze pushed her too hard during the first few days she was here. He and Aaron are so desperate to find out more information about who captured her, that they forgot to be mindful of the fact she’s a victim. It made her clam up. Luckily, with some persuasion, I managed to convince them to let me take over. It may be a slower process than what they are used to but it seems to be working.

“I met some guys in a bar, they were a band and looking for a female vocalist. This is where we ended up.”

“I take it things with the band didn’t work out?” I grit my teeth.

“The drummer tried to put his fingers in me while I was sleeping.” She rolls her eyes. “That’s when I parted ways with them and decided to freelance. I got a few gigs in some bars, nothing that anyone paid much attention to. But all it takes is that one person, in the right place, at the right time to make it big.” She sounds optimistic, despite all that’s happened to her.

“I’d love to hear you sing.” I look at her hopefully, but she quickly shakes her head.

“Come on, I bet you're great.” I nudge her with my shoulder.

“I’m not doing it. Okay?” she snaps, and when she gets up from her chair and storms into the bathroom, I hear the door lock after she’s slammed it.

“Jenika,” I call after her. “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to push you. I just… I really wanted to hear you sing, and if it’s something that makes you feel good, you should do it.”

I hear the door unlock and when she steps back out, her hands are shaking.

“It’ll never make me feel good, ever again,” she admits. Closing her eyes and making more tears stream down her face. “He used to make me sing when I was in that container,” she sobs, and I feel my heart sink. “Over and over until my voice went croaky and my throat felt like it had been scratched.”

“How long were you there?” I ask, remembering to stay calm and not push too hard. I won’t make the same mistake as my brother, this can’t turn into an interrogation.

“I don’t know, I lost all track of time. I was in the dark for so long, the light outside still hurts my eyes.

“And was he with you the whole time?” I need to keep her focused.

“No, he came and went, sometimes he’d be gone so long I thought he was never coming back.” She clenches her fists. “I hated myself for feeling that relief when he did, but I was just so scared of dying.”

“Jenika.” I go to put my arm around her but she steps back.

“He used to pull the sack I was wearing up to my nose, sometimes it would be to feed me, and sometimes…” She places her hand over her mouth like she’s gonna be sick. “He’d put himself in my mouth, force me to choke. Sometimes I’d be sick, one time I thought I was going to suffocate, but he just laughed.”

“Do you remember hearing anyone else there, any other girls?” There have been two dead girls dumped in the time I’ve been here, I’m certain she was planned to be the third. I’m wondering now if they were kept at the same time.

“I heard screams that weren’t my own, but I started to wonder if they were just in my head. Like my body was tricking me into believing I wasn’t alone.” I can feel tears stinging my eyes, but I have to be brave for her.

“Jenika, did the man who kept you… did he–”

“Yes, he raped me.” She saves me from having to say it. “Almost every day.”

“I’m so sorry.” I try not to choke on the lump in my throat after hearing that. Seeing her look so fragile takes me back to the days when Cliff and his friends were raping me. I’d started to accept that that was how my life was going to be, forever. I forgot what hope felt like. Now I’m more certain than ever, that the person behind all this is Cliff.

“If you heard his voice again, would you remember it?” An idea comes to me. Jenika may have been kept in the dark with the sack he made her wear over her head, but he must have spoken to her to give her orders.

“I’ll never forget it,” she whispers.

“Jenika, stay right there.” I rush out the door, speeding past Saint and Dev who are sitting playing cards at the bistro table that’s been set up between her and Anita’s door.

“You okay?” Saint calls after me, sounding concerned and I hold my thumb in the air to answer his question as I rush toward the clubhouse, to find Aaron or my brother.

I find Aaron first, sitting at a table and focusing on the screen of the laptop that's open in front of him.

“What are you watching?” I take a seat beside him and look at the screen.

“Just some footage Troj gave me of Freddie and Storm in the last fight they had. I’m tryin’ to pick up on any weaknesses.”

“And…?”

“He’s good.” Aaron pauses the video and sits back. “But that don’t mean I can’t beat him.”

“You know I don–”

“You looked flustered when you came in, what's up?” He quickly cuts me off before I make another attempt to convince him not to fight.

“Okay.” I get onto the reason I’m here, rather than trying to fight a losing battle. “I’ve been speaking to Jenika, turns out she was kept in some kind of container, her face was covered.”

“We know that much.” He stares at me blankly.

“Well, do you know what happens when one of your senses gets taken away from you?”

“Your other ones get stronger.” He shrugs.

“So, whoever was keeping her there would have had to speak when he gave her orders. She’ll remember that voice. We need to find a video or something with your father speaking. That way we can confirm he’s the one behind all this.”

“You know, that ain’t a bad idea.” Raze steps out of his office.

“We don’t need it confirmed. We know it’s him.” Aaron places his hand on my thigh and squeezes. Just having him touch me makes my pussy start to pulse, and although I got what I needed earlier, this whole no-sex-before-the-fight thing is getting really old.

“Which means he’s not far away.” Raze moves to sit opposite us and when he rests his elbows on the table and drops his head into them I can tell he’s overworking himself. If he isn’t at the gym training Aaron, he’s trying to come up with ways of finding Cliff.

“You need a break from all this, you both do.” I look between them.

“We’ll get a break when all this is over. You managed to get anythin’ else out of Anita?” Raze lifts his head back up.

“She’s gone into denial mode, again. Right now, she believes her husband is still alive and on another one of his business trips,” I explain. I’m not a qualified therapist so I’ve decided not to interfere with Anita’s thoughts, what she does is clearly a coping mechanism, and after all she’s had to deal with, I won’t take that away from her.

“She hasn’t mentioned Cliff in days, and I don’t want to bring him up. She seems so happy, she’s even started helping out around here. She’s cleaning out rooms right now, and that’s got to be taking some pressure off Polly.”

Raze nods his head back at me to show he agrees, but we both know it’s not gonna help get us what we need.

“The important thing is she’s safe.” Aaron tries to be positive, “Now that Grimm knows he can’t trust that place where he’s been keepin’ her, she needs some kinda security. I guess it’s just gonna have to be here for a while. She’s lucky to have you.” Aaron smiles at me, but his attitude quickly changes and his fingers tense. “I just wish that asshole would be a man and step outta the fuckin’ shadows.”

“That’s not gonna happen, not while he’s weak. He seems to have lost all friends since he lost his power.” Raze sounds deflated.

“This place is turnin’ into the Cliff fuckin’ Adams crisis center.” Trinity passes judgment as she struts past us and when I go to stand up and put her in her place, Aaron grips my thigh harder.

“Leave it,” he tells me, narrowing his eyes at her as she walks out onto the balcony. I’m pissed the hell off that he won’t let me give the bitch what she deserves, and I’m starting to wonder what kind of power the woman has over everyone. No one seems to like her and yet, like Sinner, they let her stick around.

“I’ll speak to her,” Raze assures me.

“Yeah, well make it fast because I swear to God, the next time I get a nasty comment from her, I will rip the synthetic hair from her head and make her choke on it.” I notice the way Aaron smirks.

“Don’t think I don’t mean it.” I side-eye him, and he wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in.

“You’re hot-as-fuck when you’re angry,” he whispers into my ear, and Raze must hear because he clears his throat and gets back to business.

“I just don’t know if Cliff would have risked coming here to dump that body on the beach?” Raze states his thoughts out loud.

“I think you're underestimating him. Cliff thrives on power. He thinks he’s indestructible,” I point out, during the months he had me, I saw him do some awful things.

“That was while he was president, he had the club, he had power. Now he’s got nothin’.” Aaron loses that playful look and gets back to being angry.

“He’s got her.” The voice that comes from the corner of the room belongs to Tawk. I never even noticed he was here when I came in. I’m told by the girls that he’s always been a quiet member, he patched in here after he made his cut in Colorado. Some say he came here to be Jimmer Carson's eyes after he’d got suspicious of Cliff, but they’re sure the real reason he came was to look out for Willow. They’d met after Cliff sent her to Colorado as a punishment for acting like a brat and partying too hard.

“D’ya think I’m not thinkin’ about that every fucking’day?” Aaron stands up. “You think I don’t wanna find this fucker and use every fuckin’ sick tactic I’ve been taught to get the truth outta him?” He moves across the barroom and grips Tawk by the front of his cut. Tawk says nothing, just remains seated, and looks up at him with dead, cold eyes.

“What I see is you puttin’ all your attention into a fuckin’ fightin’ competition,” he speaks through his teeth. “This club should only have one focus right now, and it should be bringin’ her home.”

“I want my sister home just as much as you do.” Aaron looks wild and I nudge my brother under the table hoping that he’ll intervene.

“But you wanna win the fight more.” Tawk shakes his head like he’s disgusted.

“Tawk, we’re gonna find Cliff, and we’re gonna find Willow.” Aaron sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself than anyone else.

“Yeah, well, I don’t see that happenin’ anytime soon.” Tawk stands up so they’re foreheads are touching and Raze acts fast and puts himself between them.

“Come on, this ain’t helpin’ shit.” He forces Aaron back and when I move to go to him he shakes his head at me as he backs up toward the door.

“Where are you going?” I ask, feeling the heat expelling from him.

“Somewhere he fuckin’ ain’t!” he shouts pointing at Tawk before storming out.

“That was uncalled for.” Raze warns Tawk, “You don’t get to sit in the fuckin’ corner and judge. I don’t see you doin’ anythin’ productive since you’ve been back.”

Tawk looks down at his feet, clearly disappointed in himself.

“Now, I suggest ya give him a little more time to cool off, then apologize. Everyone in this club is doin’ what they can.” Raze glances his eyes toward the side door that leads out to the balcony, signaling for Tawk to leave through it, and when he does as he’s commanded, my brother heads back over to join me.

“Glad to see you’ve got things in order.” I breathe out a sigh as he takes a seat and when I see that he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, I get serious. “This is all my fault, if Aaron wasn't so transfixed on this fight, maybe he–”

“Stop right there, none of this is your fault. First off, Wrath has always wanted in on this tournament, you just upped the importance of it. The whole reason he wanted to fight in the first place was for the distraction.”

“Distraction?” I stare back at him blankly.

“Take it from someone who thought they’d lost a sister. A man will take anythin’ to try and take his mind off his failures.”

“I would have let you know I was safe if I wasn’t so scared you’d find out what happened, and hurt Aaron. Cliff had really fucked with my head.”

Raze shakes his head as if it’s no big deal when I know that it is.

“Aaron was never the same after he left here. All he’s focused on is his hatred for his father. Jimmer promised that he’d be the one who got to kill his dad, and it doesn’t matter that the two of you have found your way back to each other, he needs that. He needs it to move on from what happened. Eden, there ain’t a pain in this world that hurts more than guilt. And this fight is exactly what Wrath needs. He needs to do somethin’ good for ya, he needs to save you to make up for the time when he couldn’t. So, just go easy on him.”

“He’s lucky to have you.” I reach my arm across the table and take his hand. “We’re both lucky to have you.” I can see that my words mean a lot to him by the way his tired eyes lift up with his smile.

“I’m worried about Jenika though, she won’t leave her room. Just coming down here to hang out is too much for her. Polly was right both she and Anita need some professional help.” I know that he’s keeping them here with all the right intentions, but it’s not going to help either of them get over their trauma.

“Right now, here is the only place where either of them is safe. I promise you, we’re gonna find Cliff. Wrath will kill him, then we can get them the help they need to move on and be happy,” he assures me.

“And what about the Reapers?” I’m not gonna hide the fact I know about them.

“Wrath told ya?” He sounds surprised.

“I never want to be kept in the dark.”

“I’m not gonna pretend the Reapers ain’t a problem, but it ain’t nothin’ we can’t deal with. We stopped ‘em before, we’ll stop ‘em again. What I need you to do is listen to what we tell ya. If we know you’re safe we can focus on gettin’ shit dealt with.”

“I’m sure I can manage that.” I get up and kiss his cheek. “I should get back to entertaining our visitors.”

“Just keep doin’ what you're doin’, it’s appreciated. You may not be a therapist, but you're sure as hell good for them both.” He smiles up at me gratefully. “You're good for Wrath too,” he admits.

“Happy to help wherever I can.” I squeeze his shoulder before I head out the door.