Chapter One

Valor

MOVING FILLS ME with regret every fucking day. On one hand I'm happy as fuck that I finally closed the door to one situation in my life that I needed closure for. I've been pining for Kasey for longer than I can remember. From the day she turned eighteen, it was like something hit me and I saw her in a different light. Yeah, I knew she was with Anthony and they had been together most of their lives in one way or another. However, you can't stop the heart from wanting what it wants. I got to spend time with her when they were having problems and she moved away from him while remaining in Cedar Bay because of their kids. Kasey would never take the kids from Anthony no matter what was going on between the two of them.

During the times I spent with the kids and Kasey, I realized I mainly wanted her because she knows the life and is way too fucking loving for the shit she's dealt with in her life. I didn't want a stupid fuck like Anthony to have her because I knew he'd destroy her and it almost happened. At the end of the day, those two are truly meant to be together and I'm not going to fight for a woman I don't really want for any other reason than I see how amazing she is. She's not amazing for me and not the right woman I need in my life.

Regret and pain fill me because I did have my own amazing woman and I pushed her to the side and didn't fight for her. Savannah is the strongest woman I've ever met in my life and she made me feel things I didn't ever experience before meeting her. Including Kasey. What I thought I felt with Kasey wasn't like the feelings Savannah stirred up in me. Savannah doesn't let me get away with shit. She calls me out on my bullshit, supports me when I need it the most, and pushes me to be the best man I can be without saying a word. There's a light surrounding Savannah despite the shit she's been through in her life.

Most other females I know would've curled up and died just to get away from the hell surrounding them on a daily basis. Savannah took the pain, anger, and hurt filling her and thrived amidst the storm raging inside. She chose to put a foot forward and face each day head on, using the need to be there for her sisters as the reason why. Yeah, that might have been a good portion of the reason why she got out of bed each day, but moving through each obstacle in her way is all Savannah and no one will ever take that away from her. Savannah is truly the love I need in my life and I've managed to fuck it all up with her and I don't even really know everything I've done to hurt her.

"Valor, get your fuckin' head in the game," Court says, smacking me on the back of my head as I shake it to clear my thoughts.

We're all currently in the basement with the Prospect Annabell got a horrible feeling about the second she saw him. The guys have said his name numerous times, but I can't be bothered to remember it. It's not like he'll be alive much longer as it is. Not when my twin is currently trying to get any information from him that he can. Vault is on a fucking rampage because this fucker was deliberately sent here to keep tabs on Annabell and no one will ever fuck with his ol' lady ever again. My brother finally has his head on straight and he will burn the world down to keep his woman and kids safe.

"So, we know you're workin' with Dominic," Vault states, rage filling his face as he stands in front of this asshole wearing nothing more than his jeans and boots. "Well, you were workin' for him. Kind of hard to do that shit when my ol' lady killed him. What were you supposed to fuckin' do while you were here?"

We all decided when we first moved to Pine View that we would never wear our cuts in the cells where we hold anyone we capture that's hurting us, our family, or Pine View. The less clothes we wear means the less shit we'll have to burn and deal with after we're done with the assholes down here. There are lockers placed outside the cells where we keep everything in our pockets, cuts, and anything else we don't want in the cell with us. It's the easiest solution to ensuring we're not betrayed by someone deciding they want to record something that we've done. Red and Crab search each of us as we enter the cell to ensure nothing goes in the room that's not allowed. This was Vault's idea and I love it.

"I ain't tellin' you shit," the guy sputters, blood dripping down his chin already from my brother smashing his nose.

"I mean, it doesn't really matter what you do or don't say at this point. Dominic is dead and we've been takin' out the rest of the fuckers workin' for him. You're pretty much the last one left and no one's gonna fuckin' miss you," Vault says, picking up the sledgehammer from where it leans against the wall of the cell we're in.

This fucker has been down here for weeks and no one has done anything to keep him alive. Well, other than giving him one bottle of water each day. The room reeks of piss and shit and we're all wearing nose plugs so we don't have to keep gagging from the stench. I keep my eyes trained on my brother as he brings the sledgehammer back and slams it against his knee. The Prospect screams in pain as tears instantly start rolling down his face and snot drips from his nose. He's a fucking mess and I want to laugh because this kid is a damn pussy and we can all see it.

"S-S-Stop," he stammers out, clenching his teeth from the pain coursing through him as he continues to sob and his face grows redder with every passing second.

"Then give me somethin'!" Vault yells so loud his voice echoes off the walls and the kid in front of him shrinks back as far as he can.

"Dominic isn't the only guy you gotta worry about here in Pine View. There's a second one. He doesn't wanna push the drugs like Dom did though. This guy is all sorts of involved in trafficking and druggin' women to get what he wants. No one even suspects him because he's hardly ever here. When he is in town, no one ever sees him," the guy says, his voice wavering with every word out of his mouth.

"Who the fuck is he?" Vault questions him, stepping up in his personal space and not giving him more than an inch to breathe.

"No one even knows his name. Dominic might have known it, but that information died with him," the guy says, a smirk on his face as he realizes that he's got information we didn't know about.

"You sure you don't got a name for me?" Vault asks him, swinging the sledgehammer back once again as the fucker in front of him cowers in response.

"No!" he yells, his voice trembling with fear and pain as he looks to the rest of us like we'll help him out of this situation. "No one knows his name and very few know what he looks like."

"Vault, can we move this shit along? It fuckin' reeks down here and I'm over it," I ask him, knowing my brother is just playing with him because he can at this point.

"Yeah. I doubt there's anythin' else this bitch can give us that we can't find out on our own," Vault states as he looks back over his shoulder at me with a smirk on his face. "Besides, I wanna get to my girl and make sure she's okay."

Vault turns his attention back to the asshole in front of him and takes out all the rage and everything else he's been feeling since all of this shit started. My brother had to fucking heal and spend weeks in bed during his recovery. That's after all the bullshit of us having to go to Benton Falls to get Annabell and bring her back to Pine View. I'm standing next to Court as we watch Vault unleash everything on the fucker in front of him. None of us step in and try to save him because he brought this shit on himself.

"Vault, wait. There's one question I wanna have answered," I state as soon as the idea comes to me.

"What's goin' on?" Vault asks, dropping the sledgehammer at his feet and turning to face me.

"Why were you workin' for Dominic? I mean, what did he promise you to get you to go along with this shit?" I question the asshole, stepping up next to my brother and looking down at the guy.

"Dominic is my brother. We have the same dad and he called in a favor once he realized Annabell was in Pine View now. He had plans to go back to Benton Falls to get her, but she came to him without even realizin' it. Now, that's all I'm gonna fuckin' say. I'm not walkin' out of here alive and we all know that," he says, trying to smirk despite his face already being bruised, swollen, and cut open.

"I'm takin' the killin' blow on this fucker. The rest of you do your worst as long as you leave him alive," Vault says, stepping back and leaning against the wall next to Chrome.

Since I'm already in front of the asshole, I grab a pair of pliers and work on removing every one of his nails before moving on to his teeth. When those are all gone, I use the pliers to pull his tongue out before grabbing a knife from the tray we have down here filled with all sorts of things we can use to torture the douche canoes we come across that need to be taken out for their various crimes. After removing his tongue, I step back next to Court and lean against the wall.

One by one, the men of the club take their turns doing their worst to the fucker. There isn't a single inch of his body that's been left alone. I can tell you right now, I don't ever want to get on the bad side of some of these men. They're not only vicious, but fucking depraved. The things I just watched them do to this guy are the things nightmares are made of. I'm fucking glad they're in the club and I won't ever have to go against them for any reason. These men have seen and heard things Vault and I can't even begin to imagine after riding around the country and hanging out with various clubs along their travels. All the clubs they hang out with are our allies but we all handle business differently and I'm sure that's where these guys got some of the ideas they used in the cell today.

"I'm done," Vault says as he steps back in front of the fucker and accepts a gun from Chrome.

It's not the gun my brother typically uses because that one is actually registered in his name and we're not going to have anything linking this asshole to us. So, with Vault's final words to him about rotting in hell, he pulls the trigger and we're done. Chrome takes the gun back to be disposed of as we all start leaving the cell to let Martin and George take care of what's left of the guy.

The second I'm out of the cell, I strip out of my clothes and toss them in the garbage can just outside the door of the cell we were in. Red will personally see that they're all burned out behind the clubhouse so there's no evidence of what was done today. Grabbing my phone, I check to see if I have any missed calls or messages. There's a ton of calls from Savannah's cell phone as fear fills me. I don't give a fuck that I'm standing naked down here and that I'm surrounded by the men in the club. If Savannah is calling me after almost six years of silence from her, something is wrong.

"Valor!" Ava cries out the second she answers her sister's phone.

"What's wrong, sweetheart? Why are you answerin' your sister's phone?" I question her, dread and fear filling my gut as I wait for her response.

Ava is the oldest of Savannah's sisters and the quietest one of them. She prefers to stay in the background and rarely speaks if she's around people she doesn't know. Ava watches everything around her and gets lost in books more often than not. When she got used to me and started to open up, I realized the reason why she is that way. Her mother would bring men into their home on a daily basis. Sometimes more than one man throughout the day. These men would always stare at the girls and make them feel uncomfortable. Ava learned to hide and make the world she was born into disappear with a book in her hands.

Right now, Ava is sobbing uncontrollably and she's trying to talk to me, but I can't make out anything she's saying. Vault, Chrome, and Court surround me and are trying to figure out what's going on the same time I do.

"Ava, sweetheart, I need you to calm down. I can't understand anythin' you're tryin' to tell me right now," I say, keeping my voice gentle despite wanting to yell to get Ava snapped out of the tears so she can talk to me.

I hear her suck in a deep breath as I put the phone on speaker.

"Valor, we just got home from school and found Vanna passed out in the living room of the house. She's been beaten up and it's really bad. None of us can get her to wake up. We don't want to touch her because she's bleeding and her entire body is covered in bruises and cuts," Ava says in a weak voice that's wavering from the emotion filling her.

Rage fills me like I've never felt before in my life. Someone put their fucking hands on Savannah and beat her to the point she's not waking up. I'm shaking from the anger and fear coursing through me. I can't think straight and I know this is my fault. If I had gotten my head out of my ass sooner, she wouldn't still be in Benton Falls. Savannah and the girls would've moved to Pine View with me so I could continue taking care of them. But, Savannah started pulling away long before I even left Benton Falls.

"Sweetheart, I'm on my way. It's gonna take me some time to get back to Benton Falls. I need one of you to run over to get Slim and the guys. They'll take care of Savannah until I get there. Can you do that for me?" I ask her, finally finding my voice as Court and Vault place their hands on my shoulders in comfort.

Court knows all about Savannah and the girl. He knows that I fucked up when it comes to Savannah and I'm not sure how to make it up to her. I might not have done all the shit Vault did when it comes to Annabell, but I have hurt Savannah in my own way and I'm not proud of that.

"Miracle already went over to get someone. I'm scared, Valor. I don't think she's breathing right," Ava informs me, her voice almost a whisper as my heart stutters in my chest.

"Everythin' is gonna be okay, sweetheart," I tell her, hoping I'm not lying to the both of us by saying that. "I'm gonna stay on the phone with you until the guys show up. When we get off the phone, I'll call Slim to find out what's goin' on. In the meantime, I need you to look after Miracle and Chloe. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah. I'll make them dinner and help them with their homework. We can have sandwiches for dinner, right?" she asks, not sure what she can do but knowing she'll step up to take care of her younger sisters just like Savannah did.

"Sandwiches are perfect for dinner tonight, Ava. Don't forget about your own homework," I tell her, pulling on new clothes and quickly dressing as Court and Vault do the same.

"I'm goin' with you, Valor," my brother states, his voice harsh as he rushes from the basement to let Annabell know what's going on. At least that's what I'm thinking he's doing right now.

"You're not leavin' without me, either," Court states, remaining at my side as I slide my boots on my feet and don't bother tying them this second.

I race up the stairs after getting dressed, shoving everything in my pockets, and sliding my cut on my back. Court is right at my side the entire time as I run through the common room and head straight for my bike in the line against the clubhouse. We both straddle our bikes and I keep my phone close as I shove on my helmet and finally tie my boots while I wait for the guys to get to Savannah's house.

"Ava, where's Savannah?" I hear Slim's voice yell through the house and relief fills me that someone else is there with the girls.

"Right here, Slim," she says, tears filling her voice as the phone lets me know she's moving around. "They're here, Valor. I'm gonna get the girls out of the way. Shy's here too."

"Okay, sweetheart. Listen to Shy and stay out of the way so the guys can help your sister. Tell Slim I'll call him in a few minutes to find out what's goin' on," I tell her, listening to her promise me she will before hanging up the phone.

"Someone beat up Savannah?" Vault asks me as he bursts out of the clubhouse with the rest of the guys.

"Yeah. She's not wakin' up. Slim and the guys just got there. Shy showed up too. I gotta go, Vault. I can't stay here and do nothin' knowin' my girls are hurtin'," I tell him, turning my pleading eyes to my twin as he stands next to me.

"I know you do. Not gonna ask you to stay here and do nothin', Zach. I'm gonna stay with Annabell. She pointed out that Savannah won't want a ton of guys around her so there's no reason for me to go until we know what's goin' on. Chrome is goin' with you and Court. If you need anyone else, call and let me know. Bell can't travel again right now and needs to rest."

"I know. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You bringin' her with you?" he asks, a knowing look on his face as Annabell stares at me with tears filling her eyes.

"I'm bringin' all my girls back with me. I know Savannah's gonna fuckin' fight me, but they're comin' home," I state with all the confidence I can pull forward. There's no other option for me at this point.

"I'll have the construction crews finish up your house while you're gone. I think they're almost done on it. Annabell and I will go get everythin' you need to furnish it so you don't gotta worry about anythin' but focusin' on Savannah and the girls. I'll see ya when you get back, Zach. If you need me, fuckin' call and I'll be on the road in a second," my brother says, walking over and giving me a hug before letting me leave with the other guys.

Chrome, Court, and I roar from the compound and I lead them out of Pine View and straight for Benton Falls. I don't plan on stopping for any reason if I can help it on the way there. We'll have to stop for gas, but I'm hoping that's all we'll have to stop for. Putting some distance between the clubhouse and myself, I try to force the thoughts of what I'm gonna find when I get to Savannah away. I'm driving myself crazy thinking of everything that's wrong with her and who could've done this shit. Savannah is the most loving woman and doesn't deserve this shit to happen to her at all. I will find who put his hands on her and make them suffer for everything thinking they would get away with hurting her for any reason.