Rust: A Bad Boy Romance (Courage MC) (32 page)

“
N
O
!!!” I screamed, falling to the floor. “Bruce! Do something!” I was spinning. I couldn’t breathe. I felt nauseous. Was Avery dead? If he wasn't, he had to be in critical condition. I scrambled toward him but Bobby just hit me away. As Luke was chained up and handcuffed, Bruce came running to the rescue.

“Try your best!” Bobby cried, grabbing an old piece of wood as a weapon. He swung and hit Bruce straight across the head. He instantly fell to the floor. Bobby turned in my direction and let out an eerie laugh. “You.” He said, slowly walking in my direction.

“No. Please. No more. Let me go!” I cried. He grabbed my hair and started dragging me. “Bruce, wake up! Oh, God…” It was all over. I couldn’t escape him now. My two allies in this world were now gone. There were no more chances for a girl like me.

And then a voice whispered, “Freeze, motherfucker.” Bobby turned around, ready to shoot whoever was there.

“Angelo?” I exclaimed. My eyes weren’t deceiving me. It was Angelo, alright! He was in bad shape, but as he was losing whatever life he had left inside, he was intent on bringing Bobby Farole with him.

“Drop your weapon.” He moaned, blood coming from his mouth. It wasn’t a pretty picture, but it gave me some hope that I might be able to live a life without being held prisoner by the Darkhorse gang.

Bobby acquiesced, sliding his only gun over to him. “FBI…” Angelo moaned. “You’re … under arrest.”

“What did you just say?” Bobby asked, fuming with rage.

“I said, I’m fuckin’ FBI. I’m a cop. And if I can’t bring you in, I’m gonna take you down.”

“You took an oath, partner.” Bobby carefully said. “Now put down your gun and accept what life has in store for you. We all gotta die sometime.”

“I accept death with open fuckin’ arms. I ain’t afraid to leave this wretched place. It’s you, I’m afraid, that needs … to make a choice. Decide. Are you a God-fearing man? Or are do you think you’ll do just fine on the other side?” Angelo could barely speak and he was losing a lot of blood. If he was going to make a decision, he better do it fast. I was counting on him.

“I ain’t afraid of your God or your bullets. No one can bring down Bobby Farole. I’m the king of this…”
BANG!
His words stopped short. Angelo held his gun, shaking, as smoke came from the barrel. His bullet had flown into the center of Bobby’s gut, causing him to fall to his knees with a look of shock across his face.

“How?” Bobby whispered, before passing out on the ground. The idea that someone could take him down never occurred to him. But tyrants always have an endnote and this was Bobby’s.

I ran to Avery and picked up his limp body. “Oh, Avery! What will I do without you?!” I cried.

I felt where the bullet had hit his chest, but noticed there was no blood. “What? How can that be?” I asked myself.

Avery suddenly opened his eyes and started coughing, holding his chest in pain. “AW, SHIT!” He yelled.

“AVERY?” I exclaimed, holding him in my arms. “You’re alive?!” This night was getting weirder and weirder by the second.

He gave me a weak smiled and ripped his shirt in half. “Bullet proof vest.” he muttered. I screamed with joy, kissing his face all over, while feeling his warm body.

“Settle down. I think my ribcage is broken!” He cried out in pain.

“Oh, Avery! I love you so much. I would die without you near me.”

“You know I love you too.” he hoarsely said. Then he turned his head and looked at Angelo. He simply nodded, as if to say, ‘Thanks.’

“Go.” Angelo whispered. “Get out of town. The feds are comin’. You’ve always been good to me. Now’s my time to return the favor…” The gun fell from his limp hand and he closed his eyes for the final time. He was gone.

“Rest in peace, dear friend.” Avery said. “Even if he was a fed, I’ll still miss the bastard.” Avery limped over to Bruce in an attempt to wake him from the blow to his head.

Bruce eventually lifted his head slowly, rubbing around where he was hit, and said, “What happened? Where am I? Adam, is that you?”

“Nah. It’s just me and Hope, you old bag.” he laughed.

“Did we get ‘em?” he asked me, looking around. Luke was chained up in the corner, with a piece of duct tape stuck to his mouth. Bobby’s lifeless body lay heavy and limp in a pool of his own blood.

“You got ‘em, boss.” I said, smiling. Avery helped him onto his feet.

“We gotta get out of here. I’ll explain everything later, but it’s not safe yet. We need to find a good safe house to lay low in for a while.” Avery warned him.

“Police?” he simply asked, shaking his head.

“Something like that.” Avery muttered.

“How could I be so blind? My whole crew was falling apart, right before my very eyes.”

I rubbed his shoulders, trying to console him. As ruthless and bad as he could get, Bruce
did
love his “family.” They were all he had. “It’s not your fault.” I said, reassuring him. “You couldn’t have known.”

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s a good thing. It’s time to start over. It’s time to make Courage powerful again.” he said.

“You’re damn right it is.” Avery said. “You’re god damn right. Now help me with Luke and Bobby. I have a feeling the boys are going to have a field day with these two.”

I
t was over
. It was finally over. And it was time to rally the troops. When we got back to the strip club, there was an odd amount of restlessness with the crew. From the looks of things, they were organizing a rescue party to try and find us. But when they saw our bloody faces, there was a sudden round of applause. In our arms was Bobby’s lifeless body, while Luke was dragged in by some of the boys out front.

They roared when they saw Bobby. “We got ‘em!” Bruce shouted. Everyone in the room started screaming, “Toast! Toast! Toast!” They wanted to hear their boss give them the speech of a lifetime. I didn’t blame ‘em. I did too. It was a triumphant day.

“Alright, alright. Settle down. Look, uh … it’s been a tough fight. But we came out victorious. There were some inner struggles within Courage, but those of us who kept wishin’ for better things, stayed strong. Now, some may say that we can’t stay a tight knit crew for long. You know what I say to that? Go to hell!” Cheers erupted throughout the club. “Because anyone who says we won’t last, doesn’t know the Courage faction! They don’t know what we do to people who talk back to us. I present to you, Bobby Farole!” We grabbed his huge body and lifted him up onto the stage.

“And this here’s our brother Luke!” I shouted. “Some of you may know, he sold us out. He was consumed with pride and jealousy. And he was swallowed up by it. Well, tonight he lost his kneecaps. And tomorrow? Well, I’m sure he’ll lose more than that. He’s all yours.” I laughed. “Drinks for everyone! They’re on me tonight!” Bruce slapped my back in solidarity, lifting his beer up high in the air. More cheers across the club.

The rest of the night was a celebration. Luke’s celebration. Only this time, it was for a different reason. Funny enough, I felt the same as I did before. Stuck. I could figure out why I couldn’t be happy when everyone else was.

“What’s wrong?” Hope asked me.

“I don’t know, darlin’. I just keep thinking how much I want you, I guess.” I muttered, taking in a big sip of whisky. I felt it hit the bottom of my stomach in a fast burn.

“But you have me, baby. You always will.” She told me, massaging my shoulders.

“You don’t hate me?” I asked.

“Hate you? Are you kidding me, Avery? You’re the love of my life! You saved me from Bobby. Twice now. How could I hate you for that?” She kissed my cheek and ran her tantalizing tongue across my ear.

“You wouldn’t have gotten into any of this mess if it wasn’t for me. And I never got your career back. Shit, I didn’t even get your house back. I’m a failure, Hope. A fuckin’ failure.” I shook my head and stared at the back corner of the room. The same people were singing the same songs, drinking the same drinks, while they sat next to the same people. What was all this for? Wasn’t there something more to all this? Maybe I was just overthinking things.

“Avery, you have to listen to me. You’re not a failure. You’re everything to me. Oh, God, you idiot! Don’t you see? I don’t need a career or my own place. I don’t need to focus on trivial things when I have you. You’re what I wanted. I think I’ve been searching for you all my life. I just got mixed up is all. I took a lot for granted. Never again.” She looked down at the ground, seemingly embarrassed by what she said.

I grabbed her head and pulled her in, kissing her passionately. “You’re right.” I said. “I’m just in a weird place. I don’t think I can do this “front lines” shit anymore. Courage is my family, Hope. But you’re more than that to me. I’m gonna tell Bruce I ain’t going to be no boss. That’s Adam’s job if he wants it. Nah, I want to take a more undercover approach to all this. I want a new house. A life. A family with you. I can’t be shootin’ guns at people for the rest of my life.” I gulped down some more alcohol.

“What did you just say, boy?” Bruce had snuck up behind us, listening to every word I had uttered. Hope blushed and looked away. It was time to face the music.

“You heard it, Bruce. I can’t do it. I just can’t. Remember when you told me I needed a wife to keep me centered? Well, I didn’t understand it back then, but I sure as hell do now. You were right. And now I need to honor that feeling. I’d like to present you with a deal.” I said.

“What kind of a deal?” Bruce frowned.

“You give me a brand new title. Call it whatever you want. I’m not big on names. You bring me in, undercover, on the big jobs. I’ll get shit done. And when things get really bad, because they might you can always trust me to go in and take down the enemy, by your side. What do you think?” It was a big proposal, but one that made sense. I wouldn’t be leaving Courage, but this would allow me time to spend with the woman I loved.

Bruce creased his eyebrows and took in a long, hard drag of his cigarette. “You would have made a fine leader, son. And I still would like to see you lead this group someday. But as of right now, I’m gonna approve of your new job title. As for now, go have fun.” He patted me on the back.

“I love you, Bruce. You’ve always been a father to me.” I said.

“I know that. I do. Now kiss your damn fiancé! It’s time to celebrate!” He walked over to the jukebox and put on the hardest rock and roll song he could think of. The whole club erupted with energy. I was going to miss these hooligans. I really was.

“This one’s for Angelo.” Hope said, holding up a shot of whisky.

Bruce and I held up our own, shooting them back. “To Angelo.”

“Shit!” Bruce suddenly yelled. “That reminds me. We better leave before morning. We’ll get The Sapo Boys to help out and house us for a while. The feds are gonna be crawlin’ the place.”

“So much for that honeymoon.” I laughed, turning to Hope.

Hope shook her pretty little head and said, “I don’t care what Bruce says. You’re taking me to bed when we get safe. I need you now. Like, right now.” She whispered.

“I can’t wait till later.” I said, picking her up and running to the backroom. I locked the door.

“You’re mine. Forever.” I muttered, grabbing her body and pulling it close to mine.

“Yes I am, Avery. Always.” she smiled.

I was the luckiest damn guy on the planet. And I wasn’t lookin’ back.

L
ooking back on everything
, it’s hard to understand how I got so lucky. After we hid out for a solid month, Avery received a huge bonus for all the hard work he put in with Courage. It was bittersweet, of course, but in the end we had each other now and we needed to explore that.

A
very may look
and act tough, but deep down I think he’s a real softy. After some time, he finally sat down on one knee and proposed to me. He said, “I told you once I’d give you the world. I’m going to work hard everyday to do that. I’m going to give you more than that.” It was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

W
ell
, Avery did just what he promised me. He threw the best wedding a girl could have asked for. All the family was there. The Sapo Boys, Bruce, pretty much all of Courage, and he even convinced my mother to come. The reception was on a mountain top, not too far away from Avery’s old house. He worked day and night to install lights that formed a giant red heart across the rocks. When all was said and done, my wedding was something I would remember forever.

L
uckily
, my music never went away. Once things were finally settled, I made sure to write as many songs as I could. I wasn’t aiming for the life I used to have. I knew that kind of living was toxic to a person. I just wanted to sing and to be able to tell the story of Avery and I.

A
s for what
happened after our wedding– well, he truly went above and beyond for me. He went and took every last penny he had been saving and bought me a beautiful white house, complete with a luscious green yard and a clear-blue pool. It nearly killed me when he surprised me! And yes, if you were wondering, I am pregnant with a beautiful baby girl. We’re naming her Joy, and she’s going to be the strongest, prettiest, and most badass biker baby this world has yet to see! Don’t believe me? Just wait and see!

I
moaned
, feeling the tight rope around my body. I spit out chunks of blood and dirt onto the pavement.
Where am I?
I thought. I pushed my head back, opening my eyes as much as I could. “Adam?!” I cried out. Searing pain flooded my senses. Candles were lit in a circle around me and the flickering of the small flames sparked something fierce within me. I looked around the dimly lit room and coughed as I tried breathing in. My ribs were bruised. Last night…did that really happen?

I
felt
the windy breeze run through my back and the smell of engine fluids permeated the warehouse around us. I shook with chills from the cold air and forced myself to stop chattering. I clawed at the tightly knotted rope. I gasped for air. “ADAM!” There was no one.

T
hen
, suddenly, there was the sound of sharp moaning. Then footsteps. I began clawing at the rope faster.
Shit, shit, shit! Come on, Rose, think. How did you get here?
I managed to see a blade a few feet ahead of me. I tried hopping in my chair, but I instantly fell over onto the concrete. I was almost instantly knocked unconscious, yet somehow I managed to keep going.
Hurry!
I kept telling myself.
If you don’t, they’ll kill you…

I
looked
around the musty warehouse. Paddles, shackles, rope, and all kinds of tools were scattered around a group of motorcycles. Oil was spilled on the concrete next to my chair. There was a body in the corner of the room.
Adam…
He was clearly knocked unconscious. I only had moments to break free. I looked to my left and saw my backpack and some bags. They were filled with all my precious belongings. The footsteps grew closer.

C
loser
.

C
loser
…

T
he mysterious presence
loomed over me.
No!
This was it. Everything was over. I didn’t stand a chance. His body cast a dark shadow in the candlelight. His laughter echoed throughout the garage.

“
I
told
you not to play with fire, Rose…”