Revenge (33 page)

“I love you, too, angel.”

“I don’t like that bad man. He was going to hurt you.”
Simon always surprised her with his observation. “Daddy wouldn’t let him hurt
you.”

She got a kiss on the cheek and he tightened his arms
around her. Her body was shaking from what happened.

“I’m okay, honey.” She placed him down on the ground.

“I want to see Tabitha,” he said.

Staring down at him, Lexie smiled. “We’ll see Tabitha
soon.” Out of all the children, Tabitha had been the one kid that Simon
gravitated toward.

Stepping back, she quickly put the kettle on for
something to do with her hands. She hated what just happened, and she struggled
to stop her hands from shaking.

“We need to get to the hospital,” Devil said.

“What?”

“Judi’s been badly beaten. We need to go and help
Ripper. He’s beside himself as he left her alone this morning.”

There was no need to argue. She turned the kettle off
and started to grab the kids.

Chapter Fifteen

Devil and several of the crew stood outside of Judi’s
door. Ripper was beside her bed, holding her hand with Lexie in the room.
Phoebe was taking care of the kids in the sitting room.

“What the fuck happened?” Death asked.

“We’re waiting for her to wake up. Ripper was at the
club this morning, and when he went home, he called us after the ambulance. The
doctors had to take her into surgery to drain the excess fluid from her brain.
She got hit in the head,” Devil said. Judi was his daughter, and he was able to
get all the information he needed from the doctors.

She was in a medically induced coma until it was safe
to wake her up. Devil hadn’t gone into the room yet. He couldn’t. After the
visit this morning and the threat against Lexie, he wouldn’t be able to handle
seeing the damage to Judi. Today he’d had the perfect opportunity to take
Gonzalez out, and he couldn’t do it because of Lexie. The bastard would have
killed her, and the thought of having Lexie’s blood on his hands filled him
with dread. She was the one good thing in his world.

“Who would touch Judi?” Pussy asked.

“I don’t know. When she wakes up we’ll find out.”

“Boss, you’re shaking,” Snake said.

Devil looked down at his hands to see that he was
actually shaking.

“Gonzalez paid a visit to the house today. He wasn’t
expecting me at home, and he brought with him one of the bastards that works
for him, Ronald.” He kept his gaze on the glass.

Ripper’s head was pressed against Judi’s hand. Lexie was
holding onto his shoulder, trying with all of her might to comfort him.

In his mind, Devil saw Ronald pressing her against the
counter, about to rape her. He didn’t know how far Ronald or Gonzalez would
have taken it, but that was already too much for him.

“Fuck, boss,” Pussy said. “Why didn’t you call us?”

“There wasn’t enough time. By the time I realized he
was in my house, there was no time to warn anyone.” Devil pressed a hand to the
glass. His gaze was on Lexie. He loved Judi like a daughter, but Lexie was his
very reason for breathing. She’d been pretty shaken up by what was happening,
and he’d seen the way Simon held onto her.

His son was as protective of Lexie as he was.

“What did they want?” Death asked.

“I don’t know what he wanted. I could have shot him
and ended all of this.” He spoke the words through gritted teeth. Years ago,
before he met Lexie, he’d have killed Gonzalez without any worry of anything
happening to the woman. He’d met Lexie, and now he couldn’t take any risks.

“Then why fucking didn’t you?” Snake asked. “We’re all
waiting for a reason and an opportunity to take this man out and you pass it
up?”

Staring at his woman and then at the bed, he could
only see part of Judi’s face. She didn’t deserve this, and neither did his
woman.

“Ronald had a gun at Lexie’s head. I could take out
Gonzalez, but Ronald was going to kill Lexie. He could have also taken out one
of my kids before I shot him. There was too much to lose.” He kept his gaze on
his woman, needing to know in his heart that she was safe.

His men were silent for several moments.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I know what I lost today. Judi’s attack had
to have been happening while he was with us. We know Everett is dead, and Pussy
killed Homer. Who else does he have to work for him?” Devil wasn’t going to
allow this to simply pass him. He was going to get retribution for Kayla and
for Judi.

“I don’t know. He’s got favors. We know that much from
Whizz and the Fort Wills police force.”

Turning away from the window, Devil wiped at his eyes
in an attempt to clear his thoughts. He had to think.

“There could be someone on the police force, but they
wouldn’t risk it. Gonzalez would know that’s where we go for first.”

Staring at his men, he waited for them to come up with
an idea. They all looked as confused as he was.

“It has to be one of the pimps over at the apartment
blocks,” Ripper said.

Devil turned to see Ripper standing in the doorway.
His eyes were red-rimmed, and he looked like shit.

“You don’t need to be part of this. We’re trying to
figure shit out. Your woman needs you.”

“Judi’s not waking up anytime soon. She put up a
fight. Whoever it was broke into our house. They did a rape kit.” Ripper paused
as he stared at the ground.

Devil felt his gut tighten.

“Whoever it was they didn’t get a chance to do
anything more than beat her up. I didn’t hear or see anything when I walked in.
It had to
be
 
me
arriving that was the reason he stopped before he violated her further. I
didn’t give myself a chance to fucking listen for someone escaping. Fuck, I
could have taken this fucker out.” Ripper cupped the back of his head, cursing.

“You can’t blame yourself, and you did stop him from
hurting her further,” Devil said. He had no doubt of Ripper’s love for Judi.
Everyone in the club knew Ripper would die trying to save Judi.

“Shit, boss, what do you think this is all about?”
Pussy asked.

Twisting away from the group, he watched as his woman
sat in the chair that Ripper had vacated. She was stroking Judi’s brow,
probably talking to her.

“Gonzalez is playing a game. I don’t think this is
personal. I actually don’t think he gives a shit about an alliance with us or
with The Skulls. All these attacks, the deaths, this is a warning for others.
When Gonzalez takes over, either join him or die, it’s as simple as that.
There’s no getting away from this.”

“I want to find the fucker who did this. The only
people Gonzalez can send to Judi are pimps. Whizz didn’t reach out to them.
They’re the only ones left close enough to Piston County to be left alone. None
of us have gone searching for the pimps. We’ve been too fucking busy with all
this shit. He’s got a couple of them over at the apartment blocks where Judi
used to work.” Ripper wiped a hand down his face. “I need to be part of this. I
can’t sit around and watch her like this. I shouldn’t have abandoned her this
morning. Fuck!”

Ripper glanced behind him.

“This is not something you should do today,” Devil
said.

“Yes, it is. When Judi wakes up, I’m not leaving her
side. Whoever did
this needs
to be caught today. I’m
not handing him over to the law. I’m going to kill him.”

“Get the boys,” Devil said, agreeing with him. “We’ll
meet at the apartment block where we first met Judi.”

They all left him stood outside of Judi’s room.

Letting out a breath, he closed his eyes as he tried
to think past the pain of what had happened to Judi. She was under the Chaos
Bleeds’ protection. Not only was she the princess of the club, his adopted
daughter, but she was also an old lady and the men loved her.

When he could stand it no more he walked inside the
room.

Judi’s face was badly bruised, and she had a white
bandage all over her head. Lexie held her hand, and he saw Judi’s hand had
another bandage. Her leg was covered in a cast. He recalled the doctor say her
leg had been broken. When he asked how that was possible, the doctor explained
that with enough force on the body the bone could break easily.

“Devil, she’s hurting,” Lexie said.

“She can’t feel it.” He moved behind his woman,
placing a hand on her shoulder. “I promise the doctor promised that.”

“I’m not talking about now. I’m talking about during
the attack. She fought back, Devil. She fought back harder than ever before. No
one should have had to go through this.” Lexie glanced over her should at him.
“What are you going to do?”

“The boys are rounding up some men. We’re going to
take care of this, and I promise you, nothing else will happen.”

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Get in touch with Phoebe. Tell her to get our kids
and herself to the clubhouse. I’ll put a guard on Judi’s door. I doubt Ripper’s
going to leave her side without a fight.”

“He’s left her side now.”

“Only to get a
little payback.
Before the end of this day, he’ll be back and waiting
for her to wake up.”

Lexie covered his hand
with her own
.
“This is a nightmare. Do you have a clue
who
did
this?” she asked.

“I don’t know who did it, but I’m not going to stop
until I find out the truth. You’ve got my word on that, Lexie.” He leaned down
to brush a kiss against her cheek. “I’m going to retaliate for your sister, and
I’m going to make sure whoever did this will not be walking around by the end
of the day.”

He saw she closed her eyes as he kissed her cheek.

“What about Gonzalez?” she asked.

“I’ll talk to Tiny. I think we’re going to be heading
back to Fort Wills before long. It’s time to put an end to this.”

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you, too, baby. You don’t need to tell me what
you’re thinking or feeling just to get me moving.” He tried to tease her.

“I’m not. I know this time it’s worse than ever
before.”

“I’m going to send one of the boys to you here.” Devil
kissed her cheek and reluctantly walked out of the room. He looked back at her,
to see Lexie grasping Judi’s hand and praying.

She shouldn’t be praying.

Without giving it anymore thought, he left the
hospital and grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. Dialing
Tiny’s
number, he waited for the other man to answer.

“What the fuck do you want now?” Tiny asked.

“Gonzalez paid me a visit today.”

“Is he dead?”

“No. I couldn’t kill him. He brought a friend who
would have killed Lexie. I love my woman a lot more alive than with a bullet
through her head.”

Tiny cursed. “I don’t know about you, Devil, but I’m
getting tired of men trying to use our women against us.”

“I hear you. Kayla, Lexie’s sister, was used as a test
for Everett. Gonzalez wanted to know if the guy would do whatever he asked. He
got his answer.”

“Eva wants to know how Lexie is holding up.”

Devil sighed. “That’s what I’ve got to tell you.
Someone went after Judi. She’s been beaten up pretty bad and is surviving in a
medically induced coma. We’re waiting to see how she is when she wakes up.”

It was taking every ounce of strength to keep in his
anger. No one went after his family, and the more he thought about it, the
angrier he was becoming.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“I want to organize the wedding. I want Gonzalez
vulnerable, and I want to kill whoever is working for him.” Devil stopped,
moving the cell phone to his other ear. “The faster we put this fucker in the
ground, the happier I’ll be.”

“He’s coming after all of our family. That leaves a
couple of thoughts, he lied, which we know he did, or he’s getting desperate.
We know he’s lost what his father created back in Europe.”

Devil listened as Tiny started to list everything
Gonzalez had left behind. “He wants Piston County, Fort Wills, and Vegas, and I
bet he plans to expand his business there. Who needs a base in Europe if he controls
most of the states here?”

“I got a call from Ned last night,” Tiny said. “He
didn’t know about the hit on Eva, but he caught one of Gonzalez’s men.
A pimp and drug dealer who Whizz couldn’t get in touch with.
He was paid to start looking at the competition in Vegas. Slowly, he was going
to build up a portfolio for Gonzalez to come and use people against them. Ned
hasn’t been attacked in some time, and he’s found a way past the system to get
us some men. Whizz has taken all the men Gonzalez pitted against us. The cops
and men in Fort Wills are no longer answering Gonzalez’s calls. We’re ahead at
the moment, but we don’t know if he’s got more people up his sleeves.”