Wrath (Seven Deadlies MC) Read online

  Ox looked towards the garage.

  “What did you cut off in an effort to find out if he was?”

  “His pinky finger.”

  “Fuckkk, Fury!”

  “Hey, that little bastard tried to kill all of us last night. He was gonna let those ass holes in here at some point, no matter what he says. I don’t think for a second that he didn’t give them some intel on how to slip in here unnoticed,” Fury argued.

  Ox held up his hands, his gaze straying towards a figure moving in their direction.

  “Hey, brother.”

  Prettyboy joined them, his scarred face on full display.

  “How are you?,” His raspy voice asked.

  “Good. Better. I’ll be fan-fucking-tastic when we have the Blazin’ Eagles in our garage along with their accomplice,” Fury said.

  Ox nodded.

  “Me too.”

  “Rider told me they’re on the move, and it looks like they’re headed this way. Did Arrow tell you if they were waiting to hear from him?”

  “He told me that they told him his time to make something happen was running out. Arrow said he got desperate and drugged all of us in an effort to give himself some more time.”

  “Time to what?,” Prettyboy asked.

  “That’s where his details get a little blurry. He claims that his plan was to steal Jonathan Claire’s black book so he could get his big pay day from the Blazin’ Eagles. Their ambush in Myrtle was an act of desperation, apparently. Seems they promised Jonathan Claire’s contact info to the cartel,” Fury explained.

  Ox whistled as he rocked back on his heels.

  “What about Rayna?”

  “I guess she’s just a little something to sweeten the deal. He said that Tide and Haze told him they only kept her for so long because she wouldn’t give them what they wanted.”

  Fury was confused about that, too- why would she have kept this holy grail of hers a secret?

  Why wouldn’t she tell him about it?

  Did she even know the book existed?

  “Does she even have this elusive book?,” Prettyboy asked.

  Fury shrugged.

  “Arrow is adamant that she does, says they ransacked her house not long after she got here, but that they didn't find it.”

  “Maybe it doesn't exist?,” Prettyboy offered.

  “Oh, it exists,” Ox offered.

  Both Fury and Prettyboy’s heads turned at the same time.

  “You couldn’t have led with that?,” Fury demanded.

  Ox looked worried as he lit a cigarette of his own.

  “I’ve only heard about it once, from Jonathan. This was years ago. He said he kept track of everything in a place no one would ever bother to look, including the Feds. Claimed they always looked for electronic logs first. He mentioned an old fashioned black pocket book, but that was it. I never questioned it.”

  Fury’s head fell back as his fingers weaved through his hair.

  “I’m gonna guess we have to tread lightly with this now because of the cartel.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. Cartel doesn't have proof this book exists. No one does. The only one who would know is Rayna.”

  Prettyboy had a valid point.

  “At this point, we’d probably be doing the cartel a favor by wiping these fuckers off the face of the planet, boss. If they come knockin’ on our door, they don't have to know Rayna is here," Fury said.

  “It’s a long shot for things to even get that far. The Blazin’ Eagles were selling their coke, not their guns. I doubt they'll even miss them. There’s no reason they'd even want Rayna.”

  “Probably not.”

  “So, what’s the plan here?”

  Slayer joined them, his face downturned in a frown.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing. Just ready for this Blazin’ Eagles bullshit to be over so we can get some peace and quiet around here. Speakin’ of, what are we doin’ about Torch?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We still gonna allow prospects, or did Arrow ruin that? Torch seems pretty on edge about that,” Slayer admitted.

  Fury could see Torch standing near the rear entrance to the clubhouse, watching them.

  “Why should he suffer because of Arrow? He’ll stay, earn his patch. I won't hold Arrow’s actions against him,” Ox said.

  Slayer nodded.

  “Fair enough. Now, do we have any idea what the hell we’re doing, or are we waiting for these jack asses to come to us?”

  Just as Slayer asked that, Rider came into group, his tablet in hand.

  “They’re not headed this way anymore. They're holed up in a local motel. Been parked there for twenty minutes.”

  “My guess is, they’re waiting to hear back from Arrow. Won’t be much longer now until they realize he failed his mission. They can only circle our territory so many times,” Prettyboy said.

  Fury agreed, but at the moment, he was bloody and tired and he just wanted to see Rayna.

  “Limits about to head out here anyways. Arrow has to know more, like what their back up plan really is. If he knows, Limit will find out, and we can move on from there. Until then, Rider can track them and let us know if anything changes,” Ox said.

  Fury didn't miss how tired Ox himself sounded.

  “Why don't you head inside and join Laura, Ox? I’m sure there’s enough room in your bed for both of you,” Fury said with a grin.

  Ox punched his shoulder and laughed, his pierced tongue making an appearance.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever smart-ass. Go check on your woman, get some rest. I’ll call Church later, once we've all had a chance to settle down after last nights shit-show.”

  Fury nodded and motioned towards Limit as he strode towards them.

  “He’s all yours.”

  Limit looked Fury up and down before he smiled a smile that made even Fury uncomfortable.

  “I can hardly wait,” Limit said with a dark laugh.

  “Damn, that’s one blood thirsty fucker,” Slayer said.

  Prettyboy snickered.

  “Alright, I'm heading inside. Ox, come find me when we know more about whats going on,” Fury said.

  “Will do.”

  Fury headed inside, excited to finally, finally be able to spend time with Rayna.

  Chapter Twenty

  Fury knew they had a lot to talk about, and most of it had his heart pounding in chest.

  I just got done ripping into a man who tried to kill me, and here I am worried about talking to a little girl?

  But, Rayna wasn’t just a little girl-fuck, but she was all woman and she was dangerous.

  He’d seen her slaughter men twice her size, fall apart in his arms only to poorly reassemble her herself; he’d watched her bleed out on the pavement and come back to him ready to fight all over again.

  What would breaking his heart, the only organ apart from his liver that had ever really taken any damage, be to someone like her?

  Fury’s footsteps were loud in the empty hallway that led to her bedroom, and when he pushed the door open, Green was sitting beside her much like he had been the day before, his phone in hand.

  Rayna turned to look at him, and he was almost bowled over by how beautiful she was.

  “Hi,” She breathed.

  Fuck, I’m such a goner for her.

  “Hey, baby.”

  Green stood, his muscular arms stretching over his head.

  “That would be me cue to lickety-split. See ya later,” Green said with a salute.

  Rayna waved back, her smile soft and easy.

  Fury shut the door behind him as he slipped his dirty boots off and headed right for her bathroom.

  Her eyes tracked his every movement.

  She was biting her lip as he scrubbed the blood from his fingers.

  “Are you alright?”

  Fury felt his gut clench at her question?

  Am I?

  Fury felt his frustration with the entire Blazin’ Eagles s
ituation crest, explode, boil over, as he wiped his hands down with a black hand towel.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about the book?”

  Rayna sighed and ran her hands through her messy hair.

  “I honestly didn't even think about. The fucking thing is written in code, Fury. I didn't know that anyone else knew about it,” Rayna said.

  “Where is it?”

  She lifted her blankets and slowly threw her legs over the side of the bed, her thin frame moving jerkily.

  “Here, let me help-,” Fury was cut short when she shook her head.

  She stepped towards the end of her bed and pulled her duffel from beneath the front of it.

  She opened the bag and pulled a small leather bound book from inside of it, the pages obviously worn and old.

  “Here. Give it to Ox, burn it, I don’t care.”

  Fury’s eyes fell onto the obscure book she held out in his direction.

  Hesitantly, he took it, and Rayna’s entire body seemed to cave in on itself.

  “Just like that?”

  Rayna chuckled mirthlessly.

  “That book cost me my father, my sanity, my entire life as I knew it. I only took it so that it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. Do you honestly think I have any use for it now?,” She asked as she fell back into her bed.

  Fury moved towards her, but she wouldn't meet his eyes.

  When she said it like that, Fury felt like a bastard for being frustrated with her to begin with. When she’d first arrived, she was going through things even he didn’t fully comprehend, so why would he even think that little book would be on her mind?

  Hell, if it were him, he’d have probably burned it long before now.

  Rayna’s hands were rolled into tight fists in her lap when he finally sat down beside her bed.

  Still, she didn't turn to face him.

  “We were just surprised, Rayna. Why didn't you at least mention this to me?”

  “Like I said, Ryder, I didn’t think it was important. They were supposed to think I was dead, remember?”

  “I understand, Rayna. Apparently they found the burner phone you used to call Ox. They've known about you for a while, and Arrow was hired by them to steal the book from you.”

  She swore and covered her face with her hands.

  “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I really didn’t.”

  “Baby, no one blames you. I guess I just thought you trusted me enough to tell me about something like this,” Fury admitted.

  Yeah, it fucking sucked that she hadn’t told him about it herself- something like this had the potential to make or break a club, as they’d all just learned.

  It wasn’t Rayna’s fault that the Blazin’ Eagles took matters into their own hands, murdered her father, tortured her for three months, and then got in bed with the cartel.

  They couldn't hold that against her.

  Everything had happened so fast for them, and he understood…but it still chapped his ass raw that he was only finding out about this now.

  “It wasn’t a secret really, I just- didn’t think it was important? Daddy’s dead and he can't use it, and it’s written in code. I was too busy trying to forget about everything that had happened to me because of that stupid fucking book!,” She cried.

  Visibly shaking, Rayna ripped herself away from him when he reached for her.

  “Don’t touch me,” She snapped.

  Fury shook his head as he reached for her again.

  When she clambered over the opposite side of the bed, he followed.

  He dropped the book onto the floor and rounded her bed, trapping her against the wall.

  “Stop. Stop! I’m not mad, Rayna, I’m hurt.”

  She paused, her blue eyes meeting his.

  “Why?”

  “Why? Because I fuckin’ love you! I care about you more than I care about myself, and yesterday, last night, I almost lost you,” He shouted.

  She flinched at the volume of his voice, but she didn’t cower.

  Instead, she rose to her feet, and pressed her palms against his heaving chest.

  Fury was pretty sure she was a siren song, a melody only he could hear, a song he could listen to on repeat forever.

  Men like him didn’t even entertain the word forever, but he’d be damned if Rayna didn’t have it scrolling through his mind all day and night.

  Her small hands were cold against his warm skin, but he knew her blood ran scalding hot- and they way she was looking at him had his dick hard in one second flat.

  “You think you love me?”

  “Rayna, a man like me doesn’t think about things like that. I said it, I meant it.”

  Slowly, as if she was afraid moving too quickly would change his mind, Rayna pressed her forehead against his chest and closed her eyes.

  “Look, I’ve got a few things to say, and I think you need to hear them, okay?”

  Rayna nodded.

  “I didn’t think I’d ever care for anyone again after Lizzie died. She never wanted anything to do with this life, and I didn’t blame her. How could I? You know better than most how sour things can go in a split second around here. I couldn’t hold it against her when she left, but when she died, nothing mattered anymore.”

  Rayna lifted her head to look at him, and he smoothed the wispy hairs stuck to her wet cheeks away from her face.

  “And then I saw you, watching that fucking clubhouse burn to the ground, and you had the same lost expression on your face I’ve been seeing in the mirror for months. Your pain matched my pain, Rayna. From that moment on I couldn’t get you out of my head, and I tried. I tried everything, because I didn’t want to bring you down with me.”

  “I know our story had been messed up from the get, and if you wanna leave me and this place behind for a better life, I won’t stop you. I want you safe, I want you here with me, but above all else…I just want you happy,” He admitted.

  Rayna didn’t say anything for a long moment, but her eyes were misting with fresh tears when she gently cupped his cheeks.

  Fury waited, his heart in his throat, for her to turn him down.

  He fully expected her to turn him away, to tell him goodbye, to say yes, I do deserve better-

  But, she didn’t.

  In fact, he was shocked when she leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him soundly on the mouth before she whispered, “I love you too, Ryder.”

  Fuck.

  Hearing those words come from her mouth had his entire body relaxing in an instant.

  “You do?”

  She smiled tremulously and nodded.

  “Yeah, and I get it. From the moment you came through the clouds of smoke, I felt a connection to you. You make me feel safe, and normal, and for fuck’s sake baby, you get me. Do you think any normal man would accept a woman who’s done the things I’ve done? I’ve got so much blood on my hands at this point, it ain’t ever washin' off. I have to live with that every fucking day. I can’t escape the truth when I close my eyes at night, Fury. The only thing that’s good and right with me, is the life I have here with you,” She said.

  Fury felt all the empty places in his chest fill with something akin to hope or happiness, he wasn’t sure.

  “Really?”

  Rayna wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and nodded against his shoulder.

  “Yeah. After everything thats happened, from the death of my father to me bleeding out on the pavement, the only thing keepin’ me sane is you. Call me co-dependent, I don't care,” She whispered.

  Fury wouldn’t call her anything other than his.

  “You’ll take my brand?”

  She looked up at him with wide eyes, her bottom lip trembling.

  Her brows furrowed, her forehead wrinkling with confusion.

  “Baby, I’ll take anything you’re willing to give me.”

  Everything.

  She can have everything.

  “I don’t have much. My place here, the money I earn with the club. My bike. I
don’t even know what the fuck I have to offer you-”

  “Stop worrying, Ryder. I don’t need a big house on a hill or a white picket fence. I didn’t grow up with all of that, and if you want, we can move into my house in the city. We can stay in this clubhouse until the day we die, as long as we have each other.”

  And Fury could appreciate that thought- they’d come together in a time of sadness and grief, with nothing to offer one another.

  Now, they were offering each other everything- love, happiness, loyalty, family.

  Neither one of them had anything left, had no one left…

  “I can offer you one more thing, though.”

  Rayna blinked.

  “What’s that?”

  Fury sucked in a harsh breath as he took a step back, his dark eyes trained on her left hand.

  He lifted the small limb into his own hand, his mouth peppering kisses along the back of it.

  “My last name,” He said huskily.

  Consistency.

  Fury was offering her the only thing left he had to give someone like Rayna; someone who’d been used and broken over and over again by men before him.

  He was offering her his promise, a vow, to never hurt her or abandon her the way she’d been hurt and abandoned before.

  “Your last name?,” She whispered, her other hand resting against her heart.

  “Yeah, Rayna. It’s not much, but it’s what taking my last name represents. I don’t have millions, but when you’re ready, I can take you into town and buy you a ring you deserve. I know this proposal isn’t romantic or lavish, but I would be fucking honored if you agreed to be the only Mrs. Ryder Dixon I’ll ever have,” Fury said earnestly.

  Rayna was full on crying by the time he finished, and Fury swore there was never a more beautiful sight then when she smiled at him and nodded her head yes.

  “Yes?”

  “Yes! Fuck, after a proposal like that, how could I say no? Now, kiss me.”

  Fury jumped to his feet and eased his arms around her, his mouth landing on hers.

  She whimpered a sexy little sound in the back of her throat and Fury’s dick reminded him of the fact that he hadn't seen an inch of Rayna’s body in days.