Page 49 of Vengeance (Ruthless MC 4)
Another shrug. “But anyway, one day we see this girl at this roadhouse we like to go to when we’re in Tennessee. I don’t know shit about her when I first lay eyes on her. But I know two things. She doesn’t belong there. And that’s the girl we’re going to marry. But when Hyena shoots his shot, she shoots him down. Like, every single time. Still, that feeling that she belongs with us never fades.”
This time Des-E doesn’t shrug. If anything, he looks truly sad. “Four years later, I’m borderline obsessed. I think all of us are. Like, we try to move on to other girls at the roadhouse. But no matter what, I come downstairs early just to have some time to stare like a straight psycho at the girl we really want. And sometimes, I catch her glancing back at me. Vampire says we should leave her alone. He’s right. I know he’s right. But I can’t stop staring at her, studying her, finding excuses to be near her. Then, one day, there’s something wrong with her.”
A frustrated look replaces Des-E’s sad one. “I can feel it, just like I feel the beard on my face. But she won’t tell me what it is. Not until it’s too late. And we come real close to losing her. Too close. And I guess that makes us crazy. We bring her back to a safe house. Because that’s what we wanna do. Keep her safe. Love her hard. Treat her like a queen after what happened—especially when she gives herself to us. And it’s going pretty well. I hate talking. Never saw the point of it. But she’s easy for me to talk to, and she fits into a life with us like some kind of fated mate. I would’ve done anything to keep her. All she had to do was ask. But then, instead of asking, she ran away. That’s what I think happened. Your turn, V.”
My heart’s vibrating in my chest now. I feel so terrible hearing it from his perspective. But the last member of Vengeance starts talking before I can come up with any response.
Vampire doesn’t stretch out. He sits down, upright and straight at the end of the bed.
And he eyes me warily, like I’m a venomous snake that could bite him before he begins.
“I grew up in Boston. South Boston, back before it became the gentrified shithole it is today. I guess you could say the local Irish mob orphaned me.
“My dad was a collector who got caught up in an undercover sting. And my mom was the kind of woman who fell apart without him there to tell her what to do—and to leave meth alone. Me and my sister Elissa ended up in the foster system. I was only in there for a year, but Elissa was sixteen when she went in.”
His voice is steady and calm, but I notice he’s bunched his hand into a fist as he tells me this story. “My big idea was that I’d join the Army. That way, I could send her money, and she’d have enough to get an apartment as soon as she got out of school. My idea worked—for the first tour and most of the second. But one day she told me I didn’t have to keep on doing that. She said she'd met this guy. From the same Irish mob as our dad. Bad news, I knew. But I was away in a desert halfway around the world. I tried to warn her. She didn’t want to listen. And there was nothing I could do to get back to her without getting put in jail myself. But she sounded more and more out of it every time we talked. Fucked up, like our mom. And eventually, she stopped answering my calls.”
My chest cracks as I listen to his story. His voice still hasn’t taken on emotion, but I can sense his frustration, sorrow, and regret in its rigid cadence. Like he doesn’t dare allow feelings into this or he might not be able to finish.
“I didn’t re-up. But by the time I got back to Boston, it was too late for Elissa. She was found dead in the car I cosigned for her on my last leave. No sign of that Irish mob fuck who was supposed to be taking care of her. But I tracked him down.”
He unclenches his fist. “That was the first time I killed for revenge. But it wasn’t the last. After that, it was a pretty easy transition to joining the Reapers.”
Now Vampire shrugs like Des-E. “And the set-up with Des-E and Hyena worked for me. I knew there was something wrong with my head after what went down with Elissa. I figured I’d never be able to love normal, like with a house and kids. But then we saw you.”
