Chapter 21

21

Acid

“I’m surprised that she hasn’t killed you yet with her hormones the way they are, brother,” Pitbull says to Piston, who winces while I tap my leg, my mind on Perrie.

I didn’t want to fucking leave her in the diner but when church is called, we drop everything.

I should have just thrown her over my shoulder!

“I’ve never known a woman to go from happy as anything to fucked off mad over the littlest things,” Piston admits, and everyone laughs except me.

I’ve spent most of church in my head, only speaking when I had to about the diner’s finances and the club run in two weeks, a run I can’t do.

I need to leave….

My dreams are getting worse, the memories haunting me, but the thought of not being able to have Perrie in my life, to watch her fall in love with someone else, start a family, it will fucking kill me.

This past week, being around her as much as I could, I knew I couldn’t let her go, but I also know I’m not fucking good enough, that I’m filth.

I need help, and I won’t get it here, so I need to leave.

I just have to tell the brothers everything first so they can understand why. And Perrie….

“Alright, if that’s everything,” Steal says as he lifts the gavel, but I clear my throat before he can bang it, getting everyone’s attention.

He tilts his head, and I say, “I can’t go on the run in two weeks." He frowns as the brothers all lean forward, and I add, “I need to leave for a little while.”

“What the fuck!” Piston snaps, but I ignore him and admit, “For about two months or so….”

Steal slowly places the gavel on the table, his eyes firmly on me as he opens his mouth but before words can escape, Piston’s laptop makes a siren noise and I stand with a choked, “Perrie!” before I move.

The brothers all move as we rush out of church, grabbing our phones.

“Killian, Cam, Harry, grab the vans and follow us!” Steal shouts as we run outside.

“I’ve got her location at the docks!” Piston shouts, and I climb on my bike before turning the ignition and spinning out of the clubhouse, following my brother with my heart in my throat.

Fifteen minutes, fifteen long fucking minutes, is how long it took us to get to the docks where a van is parked in front of the gray building.

I skid to a stop near the door and quickly run inside, not giving a shit if someone on the other side of the door has a gun, my only thought is my Tinker.

The brothers all shout for me, but I ignore them as I open the door to see the fucking lawyer grab hold of Perrie’s hair while she rams her fists on someone beneath her.

“My fucking little fighter,” I growl with pride as she yanks her head forward and smashes it against the guy she’s sitting on, and I run over to her.

I grip the fucking lawyer by his hair and yank him back, making him gasp in shock before I ram my fist into his face and then grab my gun.

His eyes widen, and he pleads, “No, no! Look, I’m sorry, alright, I swear, please…” but I smirk and lift the gun, and fire a bullet into his head, blood splattering as his body drops.

“Should we, uh, stop her, Prez?” Anchor questions, and I turn, seeing the mess.

Fuck me….

“I’m going to fucking kill you, you son of bitch!” Perrie shouts. “I’m going to kill you for what you did to Ollie and Eli!”

“Is that…?” Piston starts to say in shock as I notice our unconscious father beneath Tinker.

Fuck!

Perrie doesn’t stop her assault, and I quickly run over to her before she can hurt herself more, wrapping my arms around her waist before pulling her back.

She fights against me, screaming, “No, no, I’m not done, he hurt Ollie, I’m going to kill him!”

I hold her tight as my heart soars at her words before I press my lips against her neck, making her tense until I rasp, “It’s me, Tinker, I’ve got you, love….”

Her body relaxes as she melts into me, and Steal snaps, “Prospects, get that fucker back to the outhouse now!”

I tighten my hold on Perrie as she tries to go for him again, gently kissing her neck to keep her calm.

Her chest heaves, her body shaking, and carefully, knowing she’s probably hurt, I move backward, bringing her with me before turning us so she can’t see the dead lawyer, and it’s not until we get near my bike that I loosen my hold, and turn her.

Blood stains the side of her face, and my jaw ticks at the gash just above her ear, before we lock eyes.

Anger and pain shine in her light blue eyes, and gently, I cup her cheek. She leans into my palm before her tears flow, and I press my lips to her forehead as the first sob escapes her, her hand's fisting my shirt, the adrenaline wearing off.

“Acid?” I hear Piston, and I look up as Perrie rests the non-injured side of her head against my chest, and I wrap my arm around her waist before locking eyes with my brother.

His jaw ticks, and he states, “One van is gone; the other is waiting for Pez. Do you want me to walk her over?”

I feel Perrie grip my t-shirt tighter, so I tighten my arm around her and reply, “No, she’s not going in the van.”

I see his eyes tear up as he nods, and slowly, I maneuver us toward my bike where I help her on.

I cup her cheek again and whisper, “Keep hold of me tightly, Tinker, alright? And don’t touch the pipes, keep your feet on the pegs.”

She nods, and I kiss her forehead again before climbing on in front of her. She wraps her arms around my waist, laying her head on my back as I grab the handlebars. Everything inside me settles.

You don’t allow someone to ride bitch unless you are making them your old lady, and honestly, if I have my way, that is what she’s going to be, if I can sort my shit out, that is.

Steal rolls up beside me, his eyes going to Perrie before he nods my way. I start my bike, gently pulling away, Perrie’s arms tightening around me. I place my hand over hers, linking my fingers through hers, and head back to the clubhouse. Steal stays beside me, keeping an eye on my Tinker while Piston rides on my other side, Anchor riding in front, Pitbull behind, all while my anger festers. The guilt rises inside me because I didn’t work hard enough to convince her to come back to the club with me, and that I didn’t kill that fucker when I had a chance at sixteen.

Two hours later, I chew my bottom lip as I storm into the outhouse, every eye coming my way.

“How’s Perrie?” Canine asks.

I reply, “All right. She’s asleep in my bed at home; Cass checked her over,” while keeping my eyes on Aiden, who is tied-down over the drain.

His face is fucked, but the evil in his eyes shines through.

I sat with Perrie on my chest after Cass helped shower. Even after she fell asleep, I still didn’t move, needing her near me, and the only fucking reason I left her was because I knew this fucker needed killing.

He can’t hide any longer….

Aiden tilts his head and asks with a grin, “What are you going to do, son? You can’t kill me, and you know it.”

I smirk, knocking his grin off when I say, “Why, because Pamela will report you missing?”

Piston asks, “What’s our old social worker got to do with him going missing?”

Aiden’s nostrils flare, his breathing accelerating. He’s scared, and he should be.

I raise a brow at Aiden and say, “What? Thought I wouldn’t bring her up or what you did to me, that you’d be home in an hour, ‘Dad’?’”

“Now you listen to me—” he starts, but I speak over him loudly, “How about we share with the class what you forced your eleven-year-old son to do with the local social worker for money.”

His face pales, which is amazing to see, considering it’s covered in blood.

“No, don’t want to share with the class ‘Dad’?” I goad before looking at Piston, whose brows are furrowed.

Guilt fills me, knowing this is going to tear him apart, and I admit, “He pimped me out.” Piston stumbles back in shock, the room so quiet you can hear the panic in Aiden’s breathing. I continue, “Our lovely social worker took my virginity, and not with my consent.”

Steal steps forward and demands, “You were raped?”

I nod once and confirm, “Several times,” before I remove my cut, hand it to a shocked Medic, then remove my shirt and turn around. The brothers all suck in breaths as I state, “If I refused, I got cut.” I turn and sneer at Aiden, “Men would hold me down when I fought, the women loving it, and when they wanted to get fucked doggy, the men would force my hips to move by gripping my hips, including my own father.”

“How long?” Piston snaps, but I don’t look at him. Instead, I keep my eyes on Aiden and reluctantly admit, “It stopped after my fifteenth birthday.”

Everyone tenses as Piston growls, “After you started boxing?”

I nod and confirm, “Yeah.” I look his way. “Then, a year later, he tried to pimp you out, and I kicked the shit outta him for it. I became his drug mule to ensure you didn’t receive the same fate as me. I only stopped when you finally got out of his house.”

He stumbles into the wall, and I look back at Aiden, who sneers, “I should have just fucking killed you!”

I smirk. “Maybe you should have, but then all those people you allowed to rape me would have killed you because of the money you owed.”

I hear gagging and turn to see Piston vomiting, and I flinch before Canine runs past me shouting, “You mother fucking asshole!”

He lands a right hook in Aiden’s face before he grabs his knife and cuts off Aiden’s pinkie. Aiden screams as the knife pierces his cock, just as Canine is pulled away. Aiden is gasping for breath as his eyes stay on the knife between his legs. I look at my prez, who’s trying to look stoic, but the watery eyes looking back at me give him away.

“Two months, huh?” he croaks, and everyone looks my way again, finally understanding what I meant in church, while the brothers who aren’t officers look confused.

“What does he mean by two months, Ollie?” Canine demands, breathing heavily.

“There’s a facility in Mexico that helps people like me overcome trauma. I signed up last week, and I, fuck, I have to leave early tomorrow morning,” I admit, and Piston roars out before attacking our father, and no one stops him, just like no one stopped Canine until they thought he was going to kill him.

Only Piston won’t be pulled back.

We hear a snap, and Aiden screams in horror, his hand at an unnatural angle, before Piston stabs Canine’s knife into Aiden's right eye, twisting it, and causing blood to squirt.

“You hurt my brother, huh,” he growls as he pulls the knife out, and Aiden begs, “Kill me, please, just kill me,” but Piston doesn’t listen. We spend the next ten minutes watching as he tears Aiden’s body apart. Even after he takes his last breath, Piston continues, and no one stops him; we wait him out.

He finally drops the knife.

“All this time I resented you,” he rasps, and I flinch, “you never got less than me, you suffered so that I didn’t…. How many, Ollie?”

I swallow hard and look at Steal, who fists his hands, as I whisper, “Fifty-four.” Piston spins towards me in shock. “I remember every single one, because I killed them. One by one, over the years, I killed them all off…except for that fucker.” I point at a dismembered Aiden, “And Pamela.”

His nostrils flare. “You should have fucking told me, told the club!”

I sigh and ask, “Why? For you to feel guilty, for everyone to look at me with fucking pity?”

“No!” he shouts, “for you to fucking lean on us, your family!” He breathes hard before he furrows his brows, and something clicks. His eyes snap back to me. “Is this why you haven’t claimed Perrie?”

I flinch, hating that he’s bringing her up when I’m trying to figure a way to make her mine without letting my filth touch her. I whisper, “Don’t, Eli?—”

Anchor cuts in and demands, like there isn’t a dismembered body right there, “Answer the fucking question, Ollie!”

The brothers all glare at me, wanting an answer and, suddenly, I feel like the walls are closing in. My breathing picks up, and I shout, “I’m filthy!” and the brothers flinch. I shake my head, running a hand through my hair, before I croak, “When I slept with her, it was like I came home, like I was fucking complete…until the memories hit, and they fucking hit hard, just like they do when I sleep.”

“You panicked,” Pitbull whispers.

I rephrase, “I dirtied her with my filth.”

“You’re not dirty, Ollie,” Steal whispers.

I chuckle and demand, “Aren’t I?” I show him my back again. “This says otherwise. She deserves so fucking much more than me.”

“But you love her,” Canine confirms.

I look at him and admit, “I do, which is why I’m leaving for a while. I want to see if I can cope with everything, to see if I can be with her without the past making me believe I’m tainting her, and if I can, I’m making her mine.”

“And if you can’t?” Anchor asks coldly, and I look at him.

“Then I won’t be returning to New York, to the club,” I reluctantly admit, and I see his jaw lock.

I look at Piston, who shakes his head and snaps, “You’re not fucking leaving, Ol. Aurora is still missing, and Nat’s having a fucking baby—I need my big brother!”

I flinch before grabbing my shirt, putting it on, then my cut, then look back at my little brother. “And I can’t stand by and watch the woman I love fall for someone else, Eli, because that is what will happen. And with the past as well…I’ll kill myself.”

He flinches, and Steal steps forward and asks, “You’ll leave for two months, and what will happen with Perrie? Are you going to go radio silent with her?”

I swallow hard before admitting, “I’m going to write to her to see if I can explain what I went through growing up so she can understand why I fled the way I did, why I never told her how I felt after she kissed me after John’s funeral.”

He works his jaw before he nods, and agrees, “Okay, two months. I’ll watch over Pez, and you will return. Do you hear me? We won’t allow you to hand in your patch, and neither will Perrie, because that girl loves you.”

My eyes sting, but I ignore the sensation and look at Aiden, one eye gone, the other open and dead, and I mutter, “That’s only if she doesn’t feel disgusted to be near me.”

I turn and walk out of the outhouse without another word, heading for my bike.

“Ol!” Piston shouts as I climb on my bike, and I sigh, looking his way. Tears run down his face that’s smattered with blood as he rasps, “She won’t be disgusted; if anything, she’ll wish she’d killed him herself. Don’t underestimate her.” I nod before starting my bike. “Hey, Ol?” I look at him again. “Thanks for always having my back, big brother, for not letting him do to me what he did to you, for being my fucking protector.”

Tears burn my eyes, and I nod, choking out, “Always,” before spinning away from the outhouse, heading for the third dirt track road to the properties built on club land, to my Tinker.

Eli doesn’t have to thank me for anything; he’s my blood, my little brother. I’d protect him with my life, just like I would for my Tinker.

I just hope she doesn’t hate me after I confess my sins.