Page 22 of Bane's Beginning

My phone began to ring and I saw Chase’s name. “Hey,” I said casually, trying not to show how much I missed him in my voice. “We got a problem, kid,” he said, more stern than usual. My heart began to race, waiting for his next words. “Bridgette keeps getting these weird unknown calls. Have you gotten any?”

“No,” I replied. “Have they said anything?”

“No, there’s no one on the other side but Marcus looked up the number and it’s from Italy. Some place called Oceanside. Bridgette said that’s where you-“

“Yes, that’s where we met,” I interrupted him before he could get his name out. Terror rang through me, but I knew not to show it. “Look, I’ve got to go,” I said. He started to stop me, so I quickly disconnected the call. I knew it was mean, but I wasn’t at the appropriate place to deal with this. It had been two years since I left Italy so why would he reach out now? Had he been looking for me this whole time and if so, were these calls a sign that he knew where Bridgette and I were?

For the rest of the day, I was stuck in my thoughts. I was sitting downstairs eating what Anna made for lunch when Serena walked in smiling from ear to ear. She was wearing a beautiful blue and white sundress that made her pregnant belly stick out. She sat down by me and wouldn’t stop staring at me and Anna.

“Uh?” I said as I looked at her. “Ares said we can go shopping for the baby room!” she said as she let out a soft squeal. Anna quickly joined in her loud squealing. “We have to go right now, I’ve been waiting to decorate my future minion’s room,” Anna said.

“Let’s go right now,” Serena said. Anna got up from her chair and they both looked at me as if they were wondering why I wasn’t moving. As-fucking-if I would be caught dead shopping for baby clothes all day. I’d rather spend the day with Pearls than do that, and that was saying something. Not to mention, I was still in shock from my call with Chase. Was he looking for me?

“Go ahead and go without me. That’s not really my thing,” I said as I tried to shrug them off by returning my gaze to my food and taking another bite. “You don’t want to help us pick out stuff for your niece’s or nephew's room?” Serena looked at me with a hint of shock and hurt in her eyes. Again, it’s not that I didn’t like her. It’s just I didn’t like being around pregnant her and the constant reminder how bad I fucked my life up. “That’s not really how I want to spend my day, no. Pretty soon I won’t even be here anymore, so my opinion doesn’t really matter. We can be nice to each other until then, but let’s not pretend like it’s anything more than that.” I saw the hurt in her eyes deepen.

Before she could answer, I saw Bane, Ares and Crash walk into the room and I instantly felt guilty when I saw the look of concern on my brother's face as he walked over and hugged Serena.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

“I thought you were going to fix things,” she said to my brother, pushing away from him. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and walked out of the door with Anna scurrying behind her.

“What did you say to her?” My brother said with a look in his eye like I just kicked a cat. Hell, everyone was looking at me that way. “That,” I said, gesturing towards the door. “Was not myfault. I just said that I didn’t want to go shopping for baby shit all day.”

He scowled at me. Before he could say anything, I shrugged and said, “I’m not even staying here for long so I don’t see why it matters anyway.”

Once again, it looked like he wanted to say something but he left the room, presumably to go find Serena. I looked up and the boys were still looking at me disapprovingly. “What?” I questioned them.

“One day, you’re going to regret the way you’ve been treating her,” Bane said, walking closer to me. “Serena is the sweetest girl I’ve ever met, and all she wants is for you and your brother to make up,” he said and grabbed a fry off of my plate.

I sighed and returned to my food. If that was true and she was different from the girls that my brother typically goes for, then that’s more the reason for me to push her away. She didn’t deserve to get wrapped up in my mess.

Chapter 11: Maverick

God, she was beautiful, even when she had no makeup on, her hair in a mess and eating lunch. She had this effortless glow about her and I couldn’t keep away from her even if I tried. Not that I ever actually did try. I gave Thea one last look as Crash and I grabbed some pre-workout drinks from the refrigerator and made our way towards the downstairs gym. The clubhouse gym was a sanctuary. It had the same typical equipment you would find at any other gym in town, but ours also had a big ass boxing ring in the middle and a ducked off door that led to our indoor shooting range. Like I said, it was a sanctuary.

I tugged at my shirt, took it off and began winding my arms a bit to loosen my muscles. Not that I wasn’t used to having lots of crazy sex, but here lately, Thea and I had really been putting the work in right before the sun came up. It was almost like we had an unspoken agreement to meet each other on the patio to fuck each other’s brains out, and the wild ass positions we were trying outside was making my muscles tight. I needed her in my bed, I wanted to see what she looked like waking up after taking my dick all night. Fuck. I was getting attached to her pussy, and that was dangerous territory. Not to mention, I hadn’t brought it up to Ares that I was still banging his sister. He did tell me not to treat her like club pussy, and I wasn’t doing that.

Though I was fucking the shit out of her on a regular basis now, we also talked to each other and were getting to know one another. I wasn’t just getting attached to her body, I was also getting attached to her mind, the way she laughed and the darkness that cascaded in her eyes when she thought no onewas looking, but fuck, anytime she was in the room, I had to be looking at her.

Looking around the gym, I saw Hollywood and a few of the prospects down here, Nuke and Blake. Of course Hollywood was down here already. That’s how he got his road name for being self-absorbed. That, and looking closer to Zac-fucking-Efron rather than a biker. Somebody grabbed my shoulder, and I looked over to see Crash.

“What the fuck are you doing, Bane?”

I gave him a curious look and continued to get ready to do a set on the bench press. “What are you talking about?” I asked, “and spot me, Jackass.” He laughed at me and said, “I meant with Jailbait?”

“Jailbait,” I questioned. “You mean Thea? Who the fuck started calling her Jailbait. I will kick somebody’s ass.” I said, getting pissed off at the lewd name they were calling her. She wasn’t some club snatch and she didn’t deserve a disrespectful-ass nickname.

“Hey! No ratting,” Hollywood shouted from across the room as he started making his way over. Fucking prick. “Don’t think most of the club doesn’t know that you two have been banging outside on the porch,” he laughed. “We’ve banged all the bitches that hang around and the new moans are something fierce.”

“It fucking better be her and not Anna,” Crash grumbled from behind the press. I saw a weird look come across Hollywood’s face, but as quickly as it came, it left. “Gross,” I said. “She’s like my fucking sister.”

We all laughed. “But seriously, brother,” Crash said, letting his words trail off. “Does-,” Crash interrupted me swiftly. “Nah. Idon’t think he knows. If he did, he’d probably be beating your ass right now.” I nodded as I listened to him. “She’s different. You know I wouldn’t be doing this shit if I thought I was going to get tired of her and toss her to the side like club snatch.”

“You don’t exactly have the best track record with respecting women, bro.” Crash’s words pissed me off, but I knew he was right. Hell, we all were that way. We worked hard and fucked harder, it was the Martyr way. “Look, all I’m saying is to be careful. We don’t want to see brother go against brother, especially over some pussy.”

I nodded at my brother. His words rang in my ears. I knew that I was treading on a dangerous line, but I couldn’t help it. Thea was like a drug. I couldn’t get enough of her, and every time I laid my eyes on her, I would do anything to get my next fix. We all went back to working out and left the conversation alone.

Later that day, we called church. It has been a little over a month since the overdoses started and we weren’t any closer to finding out who the source was. With it still continuing, it almost seemed intentional. Most dealers would have tried a less lethal recipe by now, but it almost seemed like the number of cases were picking up.