Chapter 37

37

GENESIS

I brought my laptop down with me and have been tapping away as the others talk. I hack into Stefan's personal files—the guy's paranoid as fuck about anyone stealing his vision, so it makes sense that those cameras are being fed directly to him.

As I hit Enter, the screen splits into six different camera views. "Bingo. I'm in. Inigo, can you turn the big screen on?" I tap into the settings and cast the feed onto the large screen behind Havoc once Inigo gives me the thumbs up.

I pick the camera with the best angle and fast-forward until the truck carrying Amity, Stefan, Jack, and Henry pulls up. I hit play, and the brothers silently sit and watch the nightmare unfold.

When Amity goes flying over the side of the cliff, Toot jumps up. "Fuck me!"

I wince as she grabs the rope, and Jack's weight fucks up her arm.

"Jesus, how the fuck did she manage to hold on?" Blade croaks out.

I watch with pride as she yanks the blade from her rosary and attacks him.

"Good fucking girl," Mac praises.

I keep my mouth shut, my eyes never leaving Amity as the rest of the film plays on, each moment more terrifying than the last. By the time it's over, and I finally shut the thing down, everyone looks like they've been put through the wringer. It's one thing to hear about it, but seeing it unfold in all its fucked-up glory is a whole other story.

"I feel sick just watching it," Inigo admits, shaking his head. "Kudos to you, G. You didn't even blink. You scaled that fucking cliff like you were Spider-Man."

"Honestly, I don't know if I could've done it if it were anyone other than Amity," I confess. "But she's already proven that she'd do the impossible to survive. How could I give her anything less?"

"I'm proud to have you as my VP, G. Now get the fuck out of here and go be with your girl. We have everything else covered."

I shut the laptop and stand up. "Need to order her a cut."

"Are you making it official?" Blade raises an eyebrow.

"In every way possible."

The room erupts as everyone starts yelling and congratulating me, slapping me on the back as I open the door and walk out. A handful of them follow me as we spill into the bar. I'm about to head upstairs when I hear a panicked female voice call my name.

I spin around, Havoc by my side as Nevaeh hits me full force.

"Tell me she's okay! Please, God! Tell me she's okay! I got home early and went to the set to see her, but they told me she got hurt, and nobody would tell me what happened or anything else!"

"Hey, hey, calm down, Tinkerbell. She's okay, I promise. She's asleep upstairs."

"Really?" she gasps, tears streaming down her face. "You promise?"

"I swear it." And as much as I want to be alone with my girl, I know Tink needs to see for herself that she's okay.

"Come on, I'll take you up to see her."

"Vanilla," Havoc groans from beside me as he lifts a strand of Nevaeh's hair and sniffs it, making me frown at him.

Tinkerbell freezes in my arms, her eyes darting between us.

"You two know each other?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"No!" Tink shouts as Havoc moves closer, tucking the strand of hair behind her ear with a smirk.

"Yeah, I know her, G. This is my future wife."

"What the fuck?" Tink stares at him, mouth gaping like a fish.

"Go be with your friend, Cupcake. I'll catch you later."

Before she can protest, Havoc's gone, leaving her standing there stunned.

"Young lady, I think you've got some splaining to do."

Her shoulders sag. "Later. For now, I just need to see Amity."

I take her hand and lead her up to my room. Amity is fast asleep in the middle of the bed. I slip off my boots and slide my cut off, hanging it on the chair.

Tink hovers in the doorway, staring at her girl like she's afraid she'll disappear.

"Well, don't just stand there. Get your shoes off and get in."

I climb up behind Amity and wrap my arms around her, pulling her into my body.

"Mmm… G?" she murmurs as Nevaeh climbs onto the bed in front of her.

"And I brought a guest."

"Don't think I'm up for a threesome, babe," she huffs before she opens her eyes and gasps. "Pippin!" She flings her arm around her, yelping as her tender shoulder pulls and accidentally whacking Tink with her cast. But both of them hold on to each other for dear life.

I hold onto Amity as they talk, and she spills everything that happened to her. They cry a bit, and Tink even busts out a swear word or two before they both settle down.

"I'm glad you're home, Pippin. I missed you."

"I missed you too. Thanks for not dying. And G, you've just jumped all the way to the top of my Christmas list."

I chuckle. "Thank you; I'm honored."

"Oh, you should be. Pippin gives the best gifts."

"You're the only gift I need, Amity."

"Ahh," Tink coos, making Amity laugh.

"So this is a threesome, huh? I'll admit I expected something more."

"You keep your grubby hands off my old man."

"Like that, is it?"

"Yeah, Pippin. Just like that." Amity blows out a deep breath before continuing. "I want to stay. I want to see where this goes."

"In the clubhouse or in the area?"

"Either. Both? I don't care. I just want to be with G. I know I promised you an adventure, but?—"

"Are you kidding me, Amity? What could be a bigger adventure than falling in love?"

Amity turns her head to look at me, her heart in her eyes. "You're right."

"Of course I am," Tink mutters as she gets comfortable.

"The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward." She smiles at me, and I lean forward to kiss her lightly.

She doesn't realize she is my reward. After a lifetime of just going through the motions, she crashed into my life and gave me something nobody else has:

A reason to risk it all.

I should've known he'd figure it out. Havoc smirks at me from where he stands, leaning against the shack with his arms crossed.

"Am I that predictable?"

"No. I just know this is exactly where I'd be if Amity were mine."

"You gonna stop me?"

"I'm gonna help you. The way I look at it, both of us have a hell of a lot to gain from watching these fuckers die."

"I think I'm going to like having you as my president," I say as I walk inside, the smell of shit and piss almost making me gag.

"I'll remind you, you said that," he chuckles as he follows me in.

We stand beside each other, taking in the two men chained to opposite walls. Neither of them looks like they are going to last much longer.

"Acid and Knuckles. Good to see you, brothers. Khan told me you came to welcome me back into the Raven Souls fold."

Acid lifts his head, though it looks as if it's far too heavy for him to hold up for long. Knuckles' eyes dart from us to the door.

"Listen, man, it wasn't personal… We were just following orders," Acid says, his voice strained as I step forward.

"Oh, I don't know about that. It was very fucking personal to me. That was my old lady you almost fucking killed. It was my brain that could've been splattered all over the road."

"We thought you were Havoc," he yells when I lift my foot and press it against his stomach wound. He makes a high-pitched noise before passing out.

Me and Havoc look at each other.

"He thought you were me?" he frowns.

"Maybe he was drunk."

"I haven't seen either of them since I was sent to prison. I'm a hell of a lot bigger than the man they remember. I used to be around your size."

"The tattoos," Knuckles murmurs. "We heard he had tattoos."

I shake my head. Sure, Havoc has some ink now that he didn't have before, but it's like comparing Travis Barker with Selena Gomez.

"So they heard through the grapevine I'd gotten some new ink. And they put two and two together and got forty-six."

"That's flimsy as fuck. You're not buying this, right?"

"He always was as dumb as a rock so I won't rule it out. It's more likely though that they spotted you and Amity riding past and couldn't miss out on an opportunity to fuck shit up. I don't think they cared who they hit. Maybe they thought you'd kick me to the curb if I brought nothing but trouble. Either way, Acid admitted that they were sent here to take me out. I'll be damned if I know why, though. I'm the one who was fucked over, not the other way around."

"I doubt we'll get the answers we need from these two. They're too far down the food chain to know anything."

"Agreed. So, on that note, there really isn't much need to keep them around. Which one do you want?"

I look between them before I walk over to Knuckles. "He shot Amity. I want him."

"He's all yours. Might want to take your cut off for this. I have a feeling it's going to get messy."

I take his advice and hang my cut on one of the hooks near the door before slipping on my brass knuckles.

Acid starts whimpering. I don't know what Havoc's doing to him, and I don't care. My focus is all on Knuckles.

"You almost killed the woman I love." I slam my fist into his face, feeling his cheekbone shatter under the force. "That act alone bought you a one-way ticket to hell."

I punch him again, this time in the mouth. His teeth scrape against my skin, but I relish it, especially when he cries out in pain and I hear the unmistakable sound of teeth hitting the ground. I work him over until I'm dripping with sweat and covered in blood. And still, it's not enough. It'll never be enough.

I walk over to the trunk in the corner of the room and pull out a machete. I take in the sharpened blade and walk back over to him, taking in the sight.

"Please," he begs through split lips.

I flash a grin and swing, the blade hitting his arm, severing it, and sending a spray of blood across the floor. Something dark and primal takes over. I keep swinging, hacking, and cutting my way through Knuckles' body like it was nothing more than a block of cheese.

By the time I'm done, the shack resembles a slaughterhouse, and Knuckles is in bite-sized pieces. I step back and admire my handiwork, feeling a certain amount of pride and a whole lot of detachment as Havoc walks over to me.

"Remind me not to piss you off."

I look over at Acid and find holes in his face where his eyes used to be and bulging cheeks where I suspect they are now.

"He's dead."

"Fucker's heart gave out. Pussy. I think it's safe to say Knuckles is gone too."

"Not sure I could find his pulse to check it now if I wanted to," I joke as we both look down at the man who resembles a twisted hundred-piece puzzle.

"I've heard of rest in peace , but never rest in pieces ," he says.

"I don't envy the prospects cleaning this up."

"If this doesn't break them, they'll stand a good chance of getting patched in."

"Agreed. But I might just sweep up what's left of Knuckles and put him in a sandwich bag or something. Because I'm nice like that."

He laughs, shoving me toward the back of the room, where the hose is. "I'll tell you what. I'll sweep him up and get the prospects on the rest of the mess, and you head back to Amity. It's been a long fucking day, and she might wake up needing you."

I strip out of my clothes, leaving on my boxers, and grit my teeth as he hoses me down with the freezing fucking water.

"Nevaeh's with her right now, but you're right. I need to be there. I feel like I'm going to crawl out of my skin the longer I'm away from her."

"It's probably gonna feel like that for a while," he tells me as I walk over to my cut and slip it on.

"So, Nevaeh? That's her name?"

"Shouldn't you know the name of the woman you're going to marry?" I drawl.

He glares at me.

"Fine, yes, it's Nevaeh. I gotta ask, Havoc. And I'm not trying to be a dick here, but what exactly do you want from her? She's not like Lola. She's a good girl. Hell, her father is a pastor, for God's sake. If you just want someone to fuck, grab a bunny. Nevaeh isn't that girl, and she never will be." I open the door and walk through before I turn to look at him as he stands in the doorway. "She's Amity's best friend. I know, ultimately, you're going to do what you want, but I'm asking you not to go there. If she gets hurt, it'll hurt Amity. And she's been through enough."

"And what about what Nevaeh wants?"

"She's a virgin who has next to no life experience. She doesn't know what she wants."

"No, she's not."

"Not what?"

"A virgin."

"She is, Havoc. She wouldn't lie about it. It's not her style."

"I'm not saying she's lying. I'm saying she's not a virgin. Not anymore."

"What's that supposed to— Ah, fuck."