Madness Ends (8 page)

“Why’d you go after the bitch?” Vicious asked again.

Maybe it was the need to expunge the fury that ate at him like cancer. Maybe it was the fact that Vicious’ deadly eyes offered retribution. Suddenly, he wanted to do everything possible to hurt the men who had hurt him. He turned toward Vicious. “There are three lockers with money in them and
she
has the keys. I
really
need my property back.”

Vicious turned eerily still, as if his skin had turned to marble. His face held a blank expression and Cipher had the uneasy feeling that the man was staring into his soul, devouring it slowly.

“I think we can help each other,” Vicious said calmly.

“All I want is my goddamn money,” Cipher muttered.

“Really? That’s all you want?”

And before Cipher knew what was happening, Vicious slapped him on the back, directly on his right shoulder blade. It had been almost two months since Romeo had sliced his tattoo off and he was still healing from the fucking skinning. Regrowing skin took a long fucking time. Agony ripped through him and he couldn’t stop the cry that escaped his mouth.

Vicious frowned and stood to pull back the leather jacket Cipher wore. If he weren’t in such fucking pain, he’d push the asshole away, but as it was, he was trying his damnedest not to pass out.

“What the fuck?” Vicious asked. “You’re bleeding.”

“They took my tat.”

Vicious let him go and sat back down. Cipher downed the rest of his beer, not caring in the least that it was room temperature. He desperately needed alcohol now to dull the fire licking through his wound.

“They fucking made you bleed?” Vicious asked. “Don’t you want to hurt them the same way? Slice off a piece of them where it hurts most?”

All his simmering resentment suddenly burst forward, and Cipher pounded his fist on the scarred bar top. “I want to fucking rip them apart.”

Vicious’ mouth curled into a satisfied smirk, the thin veneer of civility ripped away. Malice glinted in his dark eyes, and Cipher was surprised acid didn’t drip from the canines peeking from beneath his lips.

“So we’ll start with Boone. And get your fucking money.”

* * * *

As Kaiya suspected, Chloe was all over the place, signing with angry points and jabs. When the words rambled together, Kaiya simply read her lips. Chloe could rival a soldier’s vocabulary when having a very bad day.

“This is fucking stupid!” she ranted. “Most fucking insane thing I’ve ever heard of. Of course you can’t go on a fucking bike ride to Canada. That’s like…millions of miles away. You’ll get hurt. You’ll fall off. You’ll break your ass!”

“I’m not going to break my ass,” Kaiya signed back. “And it’s only six hundred miles. The circumference of the Earth is less than twenty-five thousand miles. To go millions of miles I’d have to get a rocket ship—”

Chloe waved her hands in agitation. “So
not
the fucking point!”

Kaiya turned her head to hide her smile. Chloe continued her curse-word-laden tirade while Boone and Gabby watched her impassively with their arms folded across their chests. Kaiya gave them apologetic glances, but they just shrugged. Obviously, they were aware of how Chloe could work herself up. Finally, out of desperation, she grabbed hold of her cousin’s head and brought their foreheads together. Chloe covered her hands and they stood like that for a long time, until their breathing synchronized and her cousin had calmed. It was an old trick she used to do whenever her outbursts got a little too wild. Chloe wasn’t a bad person, but her past had definitely messed her up.

“I’m going to be fine,” she whispered in Chloe’s ear. At least, she hoped it was a whisper. It was difficult to remember what the volume was for a whisper. When Chloe didn’t pull away or cringe at the sharp pitch, Kaiya relaxed.

Chloe nodded, not answering. She didn’t need to. Kaiya knew her cousin well. She might have a temper and might act before thinking, but she loved with her whole heart, and when something moved out of her control, she lashed out. Throughout her stay in the psychiatric hospitals, only Kaiya had been able to calm her.

They stayed like that for some time, until Chloe pulled back to stare her into her eyes. A small, sad smile lingered on her lips.

“When did you grow up?” Chloe asked.

Kaiya snorted and dropped her hands to step back. “I’m only four years younger than you.”

“So?” Chloe signed. “You’re still a baby.”

“I’m a woman. And these two big men are mine. Okay?”

Chloe rolled her eyes but nodded. Blowing her a kiss, Kaiya headed over to her men. She wore jeans and a button-down. A far cry from the silk she’d worn the first time she rode a bike, but even slipping on the leather jacket and helmet Boone and Gabby had provided her, she had a funny feeling she still looked out of place. She gave herself a mental shrug. Didn’t really matter. Going on this run with her two men meant a lot because it represented a step toward being truly free.

Chloe walked up to them, put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. “You hurt her in any way, shape or form, and I will personally dissect your balls. You know I can do it. Without anesthesia. Maybe just a paralytic so you can feel your scrotum being cut in half.”

Kaiya didn’t hear what they said, but after that vivid description, she was sure it was promise after promise of them being on their best behavior. Chloe pursed her lips and folded her arms, but her cousin didn’t protest anymore.

She would be taking turns sitting behind each man, but the first part of the journey to Lincoln she mounted the bike behind Boone. Wrapping her arms around him, excitement gripped her. As she gave a wave to Chloe, she couldn’t help the silly grin plastered on her face.

Chapter Eight

They arrived in Lincoln almost three hours later, and by then Kaiya couldn’t feel her ass or her legs, and her hands were a little shaky. As she dismounted, Boone held onto her while Gabby registered them at the small motel they’d stopped at. It was the kind of place where all the units were ground level, extending on either side from the office, and the cleanliness factor was definitely suspect.

“It won’t have bugs, will it?” she signed tentatively.

Boone shook his head. “Nah. The Men of Hell own this place. It may not look like much on the outside, but it’s clean and comfortable.”

That startled her. “I don’t remember seeing revenue from a motel on the books.”

“It’s owned by the mother chapter, not the Bair one. There are a whole slew of places like this throughout Nebraska.”

Gabby strode back to them and held out a key to her. Kaiya accepted it, confused when he kept another one for himself. She still didn’t understand why he wouldn’t stay the night with her. Did it mean Boone wouldn’t sleep with her either? Their rooms were located on the end, right next to each other with a connecting door between them, which gave her a small dose of consolation. Perhaps each man just wanted his space. Perhaps…she was just a convenient fuck.

That hurt—a lot. Even though she was pragmatic and knew they were simply having some fun, she was afraid her heart had already begun a decent into something deeper. She went to her room, and the men went to theirs. She sighed, wondering if this was how it was always going to be—with a door dividing them. Being on a bike didn’t allow for a suitcase so she could only bring necessities in a backpack, which meant there wasn’t much to unpack. Moments later, a knock came from the divider, and she opened the door to reveal Boone holding up his phone. He had taken off his Men of Hell jacket and stood in a plain black T-shirt and black jeans. Thinking about what those jeans contained made her salivate for a lick.

“I just ordered a pizza,” he said.

She read his lips and nodded, forcing her mind out of the gutter.

He gestured for her to follow him into a room identical to hers, down to the same ugly comforter on each of the beds. Gabby lay on the one farthest from their connecting door, looking utterly relaxed with his ankles crossed and an arm was thrown over his eyes.

“Is he okay?” she signed to Boone.

Boone nodded. “Tired,” he signed back.

He turned on the television, and a news channel came up. She was able to follow along while the anchor presented the facts, but once it cut away to a featured story, she was lost. Boone, however, threw the remote on the bed and pulled her into his arms. She rested her head on his chest, wishing she could hear his heart thumping, but settling for feeling the vibration pound through his torso. They stayed like that for a while, until he pulled back to answer the knock she hadn’t heard. She watched him pay for the large pizza and a two-liter soda before shutting and locking the door. He set the food on the circular table, called out to Gabby and gestured for her to sit. Gabby joined them and they dug into the big, gooey pizza.

She ate, not bothering to pay attention to the two men. Her life had consisted of solitary meals, starting back when her parents had been too scared to do anything else in case they hurt her. They would’ve wrapped her up in a bubble room if they’d had their way. When they died in a car accident, she had thought she’d live with her aunt and uncle, Chloe’s parents, until she learned how volatile that situation had been. Her grandfather had taken over raising her, and she’d had a bevy of servants to meet her every need, including her schooling. Numbers had always been easy to her, so she’d gravitated toward being an accountant with the thought of working in her grandfather’s business someday.

That dream had been nixed the day she’d been kidnapped. When she’d returned to her grandfather’s side, he had sent her to Japan where she’d had to learn sign language all over again. Japanese sign language was different from its American counterpart, derived from the complex
kanji
writing system as well as finger spelling. Life hadn’t been exactly fair to her, but she’d never moaned or complained because her grandfather had been confused about what to do with her. He’d done his best to raise her within the confines of what he knew. But now, having tasted the freedom of doing what she wanted, of potentially having a permanent home without safety walls, was a high she never wanted to end. Now she knew exactly how addicts felt.

Gabby tapped her hand. Startled, she dragged her mind away from the past and glanced at him. While she’d eaten only a slice, they’d managed to demolish the rest of the pizza.

“We’re going to the locker,” Gabby signed. “You stay here.”

It took her a moment to process the fact that she wasn’t included. “No. I want to come with you to the bus terminal.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Boone said.

Once again, someone was deciding what was best for her. Anger lanced through her, and she rose so abruptly that her chair tilted a little. “You do
not
get to decide what’s too dangerous for me!”

“Sit,” Gabby ordered.

She shook her head mutinously. “Do not tell me what to do.”

“Then don’t act like a child!” Gabby signed.

By the set slash of his mouth and the darkening of his eyes, it was obvious that he was pissed. Why, she hadn’t a clue, but Kaiya also didn’t care that he didn’t like her attitude. She wasn’t their prisoner. She could make her own decisions.

“I discovered those keys. I should be the one to find out what’s in the locker,” she signed.

Boone and Gabby shared a quick look. She braced for what they were going to say next.

“Cipher’s attack on you was desperate,” Boone said.

She nodded, agreeing with that statement. “If he was willing to go after you, knowing Gabby and I were only steps away, he’ll have no compunction about doing something worse in order to save whatever is in that locker.”

She
knew
he made sense. She was a liability because she wouldn’t be able to hear if there was an attack of some kind, but to be causally dismissed, like every other time in her life, irked her fiercely. Especially from these two men who knew her intimately. She wanted to be their woman, not someone they only tolerated in the bedroom.

“I won’t get in the way,” she signed, pressing her argument.

Boone ran a hand over his face. He was vice president of the club, and though Gabby had a mind of his own, he wouldn’t act against Boone’s decision. Kaiya understood the hierarchy between them. They were friends, but they were Brothers in the club first, and just like her grandfather’s organization, friendship took a backseat to commands.

“How about this,” Boone said. He did a mixture of talking and signing with what he understood. “If nothing happens this time around, you can go with us when we hit the locker in Omaha.”

She lifted up her hands to reply then lowered them again to think. They were willing to compromise. He wasn’t forcing her to back down. She appreciated the fact that he wasn’t dismissing her once more. Slowly, she nodded.

Boone smiled and stood. He leaned over the table and kissed her quickly on the mouth. Then he turned to head over to his bed where his saddlebag rested. He opened it and pulled out two guns then ejected the clips to inspect them before reloading and chambering a round in each one. He flipped on the safety. Although he wore a gun holster at his waist, he pulled out a double shoulder harness and proceeded to gear up.

Gabby stood, capturing her attention. They expected trouble. The grim countenance on his face reflected all his wayward emotions a split second before shutting down and wiping them away. But in that moment, she’d seen enough to be very worried for her men. It almost made her glad she hadn’t insisted on going with them, just to give him some peace of mind.

He held out his hand to her and she placed her much smaller one in it, admiring the contrast between his skin and hers. She liked both guys, and loved how they excited her. Gabby seemed to be the strength while Boone was the sturdy rock anchoring him. She may not know all their dynamics, but she appreciated that they didn’t have jealousy between them.

“We’ll be back soon,” Gabby said.

She nodded.

He bent his head, kissing her, and slid his tongue across the seam of her lips. She opened for him. Gabby plunged inside, stealing her breath as her body came alive for his touch. He tasted of garlic and cheese and she wished they would lay her on the bed so he could fuck her. He pulled away all too soon and walked over to get ready as well. When they were done, they looked like they were ready for war.