Wrath (Dirty Soul MC: Long Beach #2)

Chapter 35

“ G lad you could join us again.” Cliff's eyes flicker open and I make sure I’m the first person he sees. I try to focus on what's in front of me, but ever since Raze got that call from Rocco to say Eden had broken outta the club, my mind’s been racing with scenarios. I know she’s safe because I got the cunt who hurt her, right in front of me. She knows that too, which is what's making me question her being so desperate to leave.

“Where is Willow?” I ask him the same question I did before his lights went out because I refuse to believe that my sister is dead.

“I told ya where she is.” He closes his eyes back up and I tap my hand against the cheek that isn’t blistered and burned. “Look at me! Look me in the eye and say it,” I order, feeling anger burn away at my insides.

“Trust me, she’s dead.” I catch a glimpse of hurt in his eyes when he reopens them and I realize he ain’t fuckin’ lying. “It’s true, and it’s my fault.” He tears his eyes away from mine as if he actually feels some remorse.

“What happened?” I don’t even know if I got the strength to hear this but I owe it to my sister to find out.

“I was on the run, and she was a dead weight to fuckin’ carry with me. I trusted the wrong fuckin’ people to take care of her,” he admits groggily.

“Who? Who d’ya leave her with?” My voice gets weaker.

“You know how Willow could be. She liked to be heard, she was stubborn, her mouth was always runnin’ away with her and gettin’ her in trouble.”

“ Who? ” I grip my hand around his throat because I need to fuckin’ know the name of the fucker I’m killing next.

“They used me, son,” He shakes his head in shame. “I loved your sister. I love you all. All I've ever tried to do is?—”

“Save your breath with the bull shit. Who killed my fuckin’ sister?” I squeeze my fingers tighter, feeling his pulse quicken.

“Reapers,” he manages. I immediately look up at Raze, who narrows his eyes. “I trusted Ronnie to keep her safe, and they…they treated her like a whore. Your new president is just as much to blame.” Cliff diverts his attention to Raze.

“My fault? How the fuck is it my fault?” He reaches down and takes my father’s foot, twisting it sideways until his ankle snaps and he cries out in agony then, crouching down to the same level as me, he waits for Cliff to give him an answer.

“For years while I was president, I kept the Reapers off our backs,” he seethes through the pain he’s in.

“Yeah, because you’re a deceitful fuckin’ rat—who betrayed the club,” Raze reminds him.

“Willow was still alive the day before ya ordered the take-down on that new compound they were buildin’.” Cliff’s lips shake almost as much as his body. “I guess the fact they had your VP’s sister was too good an opportunity for them. They killed Willow in retaliation.” Cliff looks at Raze as if he’s enjoying his suffering. He always hated the bond I had with my mentor, and I’m sure the fact he has something to put between us is making all his suffering tolerable. “They rang me that night, said that our agreement had come to an end. I guess it made sense, I was only a useful source to them while I could control the Souls. They made me listen on the phone while they did it.” His eyes turn back to me again. “So, you can use all the methods this asshole taught ya to try and make me hurt, but nothin’ is gonna torture me more than hearin’ your sister beg me to save her.” I release him from my grip and get up, turning away from him so he doesn't see the tears in my eyes. The thought of Willow having to suffer, of never seeing her again, is crippling.

“I needed consolin’.” The fucker keeps on talking as if he’s a victim in this. “ I needed familiarity, and when I found out Anita was at that whorehouse, nothin’ was gonna stop me gettin’ to her, not even you fuckers wantin’ me dead.” His admission has my head spinning back to Raze and when I see that he looks just as confused as I am, I get the impression we’re missin’ somethin’.

“Anita, at the whorehouse?” I try to make sense of what he’s saying.

“You think that just ‘cause I ain’t around I haven’t got eyes and ears?” He attempts to laugh. “I told her I’d always be watchin’.” He manages a laugh before Raze kicks him in the guts to silence him.

“Anita was never at the whorehouse,” Raze tells him, still looking confused.

“I figured that out when I got there.” The good side of Cliff’s mouth lifts into a snarl.

“All ya need to know about Anita is that she’s safe, safe from you and your eyes .” Raze takes out his switchblade and holds it dangerously close to Cliff’s eyeball.

“I need to talk with her.” Cliff looks down at the blade and tries to stay calm.

“That’s not gonna happen,” Raze laughs at him.

“She needs to know the truth.” His expression turns even more desperate and this time it’s Raze who laughs, as he lowers his weapon.

“You will never see Anita again.” I take great pleasure in telling him. “You're gonna die here, tonight. But not before I drain every last ounce of pain from your soul. You're the reason Willow's dead, you should never have taken her away from her home.” I twist the screwdriver that's still wedged in his side and watch him squirm.

“You put me in an impossible situation and humiliated the girl I love for your entertainment. Then you made her your prisoner and raped her over and over again.” Taking my knife, I press it against his throat. “You’ve been killin’ those innocent girls and tryin’ to frame the club.”

Cliff must be petrified to death because he shakes his head trying to deny it. “You’re a sick fuck! You kept them, just like ya did Eden. You raped them, you tortured them, and then you?—”

“Aaron.” I hear a voice that sounds a lot like Eden’s and when I look over my shoulder to check it out, I drop the knife in shock from what I see.

“ Dad? ” Raze sounds just as surprised, as he takes in what’s in front of us. Eden is here, and she’s standing right next to her father.

“She shouldn’t fuckin’ be here.” I rush toward the old man, I don’t know what he’s doing here or what he’s thinking, bringing her with him but I’m so fuckin’ furious that I could throttle him. Eden quickly places herself in front of him and her eyes tell me to calm the hell down.

“Aaron, I’m here because I want to be here,” she tells me firmly. “I’ve earned the right to watch that asshole take his last breath.” Her hand rests on my chest, and knowing how brave she’s being has me tugging her closer, and holding her tight to me. I place a kiss on the top of her head while giving her old man a look of warning. I know he disapproves of me, he ordered Raze to kill me after he found out what happened in this room, but he needs to know that nothing, and I mean nothing , is gonna come between me and my girl.

“You didn’t tell me what he did to her.” Vex turns his anger on Raze.

“I didn’t know myself till recently. D’ya think that if I’d known, this cunt would have got to live all those years?” Raze responds and all eyes turn to Cliff.

“Our secret, weren’t it darlin’?” He manages to smile through his blood-drenched teeth at Eden and I make sure I get to him before Raze does. Slamming my boot between his legs I twist my heel so it crushes his balls.

“Don’t you dare fuckin’ talk to her. Don’t you even look at her!” I spit at him, really wishing that Eden wasn’t here. I don’t want her to see the things I’m gonna do to this man. She’ll never look at me in the same way again.

“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you.” Vex steps up behind me, his breathing heavy and faltering, anyone can see the old man’s on his last legs.

“Sorry, Dad, but this one’s Wrath’s. He shook hands with Jimmer on it, Cliff's soul is his to take,” Raze explains, while I glare hard into my father’s eyes and wonder how it feels to hear that his son is desperate to take his life.

“I don’t care what deal he had with Jimmer, this cunt raped my little girl.” I see the angry tears that cloud the hopelessness in Vex’s eyes then looking back at my girl, and seeing how she smiles at me so bravely, has me crouching down to pick up my knife from the floor. I know what the right thing to do is, it’s an easy choice.

“Make him suffer.” I hand the knife over to Vex, before stepping back and taking Eden in my arms again.

“Wrath?” Raze is looking at me as if I’m crazy. “You been waitin’ ten years for this.”

“Yeah, I know.” I look down at the woman who I never thought I’d see again. A woman who lived through Hell and yet never stopped fightin’. “I get to protect her for the rest of my life. Suddenly, bein’ the one to end him don’t seem so important.”

Vex nods at me gratefully, before he looks at his daughter.

“You might wanna close your eyes for this, sweetheart,” he tells her softly, before he struggles down to his knees and shunts the blade into Cliff’s lower stomach.

“I’m gonna take this real slow,” he promises him and the room fills with cries as he carefully uses the blade to tear open Cliff's skin. Eden remains strong, watching her abuser as he screams.

Reaching inside the gash he just made, Vex shows his expertise as he slowly pulls out my father’s intestines, smiling like a psychopath as Cliff screws his eyes up tight and screams.

“Open ‘em and watch, ya pussy!” Vex demands and when Cliff fails to do as he’s told, Vex nods his head at Raze who knows exactly what to do.

Grabbing Cliff’s head in an armlock, he splays his free hand over his forehead and uses his fingers to prise back Cliff’s eyelids.

“Would ya look at that, he’s turnin’ ya inside out. This is how you're gonna rot.” Raze laughs darkly as Vex continues to disembowel my father. The sound of his agony echoes off the walls as his blood gushes over Vex’s hands and onto the floor. Eden wraps her arms around my waist tight, but she doesn’t look away, and I stroke her hair as we both watch my father’s demise. He’s barely recognizable, nothing about him is remotely scary, or powerful. This man who caused so much destruction is literally in pieces.

“You were the worst of ‘em, Cliff,” Vex tells him once his insides are hanging out, and when the fucker starts looking like he’ll pass out again, he reaches for Raze’s smelling salts and brings him back around. “No, ya don’t. Stay with me, fucker. I ain’t done.” Vex drags Raze’s holdall closer, searching through it, and I know he’s found what he wants when I hear the evil in his laugh.

“Let’s even that face up a little, shall we?” He pulls out the bottle of acid, unscrews the lid, and then as he pours some over the uninjured side of my dad’s face, his screams ring in my ears. I know I’m a sick bastard because I like the way it sounds, and when Vex pours more of the corrosive liquid into the huge, open wound on his stomach, Cliff’s pain sounds immeasurable.

“I’ll see you in Hell, and believe me when I tell ya, you’ll suffer this all over again.” Vex smiles at him as he struggles back up on his feet and waits for all the damage he’s done, to take effect. I’ll give it to my father, he holds on for some time. Each time his head flops or he goes to pass out, Vex brings him back around, and when he loses his voice, a few feeble attempts at moans are all that's left of him. Far as I’m concerned the show’s over and so is he.

“Come on, let’s go back to the club.” I turn Eden around but before we start heading for the door she stops me.

“Just give me a minute.” She slips out from under my arm and runs to her father. He’s covered in blood and has that psychotic look in his eyes that I’ve heard so many people talk about.

“What happens now?” she asks, sounding sad. I still don’t have any idea what he’s doing here, but I can tell from the way she’s looking at him that she doesn’t want him to leave.

“It looks to me as if you're taken care of.” He glances over at me and, although he doesn’t offer his approval, I get the sense he’s giving it.

“Stay.” She takes his blood-soaked hand in hers. “Please.” Tears spill over her cheeks as she pleads with him. “I want the chance to get to know you.”

Vex moves his stare from her to look at his son, the pair of them don’t get on but I’m hoping they can find a truce, for the sake of Eden.

“We always got room at the club for a member,” Raze assures him and the old man still hesitates until he looks back to his daughter.

“Fine, but just for a little while.” Vex smiles at Eden and she squeals with excitement as she throws her arms around his neck, almost knocking him off his feet.

Then taking one last look at Cliff, dying on the floor, she crouches down in front of him.

“You hurt me, you humiliated me, but you never broke me,” she whispers. Standing back up, she takes the knife from the floor and hands it to her father. “Put that sorry son of a bitch out of his misery,” she tells him before marching her way back to me and taking my hand. “Let's go home.” She kisses my cheek and leads me out the door, and just as I’m about to walk out with her Raze calls out to me.

“You got anythin’ you wanna say to him?” he checks, lifting his hand to ensure Vex don’t slit his throat too soon.

“Not a damn thing.” I shake my head and leave with my girl.