Rycks, page 6
“But I didn’t --”
“Stop lying!” Rycks growled. “I gave you a chance to come clean with me, Lyric. You told me about Kiss of Death expecting you to infiltrate Bane and set yourself up with a patched member to feed them information. You neglected to tell me you’d already bugged the whole compound. How many times have you been here with Wrangler?”
“Only once. It was when I planted the bugs I was given. I didn’t lie to you, other than not telling you about them. I intended to, but our conversation was pretty intense and emotionally draining. Other than this, I’ve been completely honest with you. It was an honest omission.”
“Bullshit,” he spat. I felt like he’d slapped me. I even flinched a little before I could stop myself. If I’d lost Rycks’s protection, I was fucked. Whatever happened down here, I had no hope of preventing. At that moment, I wasn’t sure I cared. Because, no matter what Salvation’s Bane did to me, it was going to be so much worse for Bella. And she’d never understand what was happening. Rycks had just ripped out my heart for more than one reason. I loved Bella with everything inside me, but I hadn’t realized how much I was beginning to care for Rycks. I hadn’t realized how tightly he had a hold of my heart until he ripped it from my chest. If they killed me, at least the pain would go away. But what would happen to Bella?
“Back off, Rycks,” Thorn said. “Rein it in or go upstairs.”
“Like hell! She played me!”
“It looks like it, but Data said to give him some time with the footage. See what he could find with his computer shit.” Havoc didn’t sound hopeful the man he mentioned would find anything, but he made it clear they would wait for the final verdict before passing sentence.
“So what now?” The one they called Vicious asked the question softly. From what I knew about Salvation’s Bane, Vicious was the equivalent of a chaplain or therapist. Or something.
“Now we question her.” The woman who spoke was dressed from head to toe in hot pink. Her hair was the same vibrant shade, as were her long, pointed nails. She spoke with a thick Russian accent. “Start with how to find bugs we missed.”
“I told you, I didn’t plant the ones you saw there. I planted three. All in the common room. I’ll be happy to show you where they are. But I didn’t plant them anywhere else. Only the main room. The reason I was sent here tonight was to gain the trust of a patched member. Highest ranking I could so I could get the most information.”
The woman nodded to Rycks. “Looks like you fulfilled at least part of mission. Rycks is third in command of Black Reign. Can’t help you with stuff going on at Salvation’s Bane, though.” She shrugged. “I hate to see wasted effort.”
“I explained all that to him,” I said, beginning to feel desperate. There was obviously a reason they let this woman take over. I’d seen her before and thought they called her Venus. Though all the pink should have made thinking she was dangerous silly, I knew better. One only had to look into her eyes (also a hot pink from what had to be specially made contacts) to know she was just as dangerous as any of the men.
“One last time, precious. Bugs. How do we find them?”
“I don’t know --”
Venus backhanded me. Hard. So hard, I actually saw stars. I didn’t cry out though. In that moment, I resolved myself to take this silently. I glanced at Rycks. His gaze darted away, above my head. His jaw was set in anger. His fists clenched.
“So be it,” I said. The absolute only chance Bella had to survive this was if no one found out about her and who she was. The only place I knew for sure wasn’t bugged were any bathrooms with tiled walls, and their church. But telling them about Bella now meant them checking out my story. If they did that and raised the wrong flags, Bella would be dead within the hour. If Bane killed me, there was a possibility Bella would be handed off to an orphanage or something. Slim, but Rat Man had dangled it in front of me low enough that I’d bitten. I was holding out hope. Maybe if I hadn’t been so despondent and disappointed with my decision to trust Rycks, I’d have told them. But I had no guarantee they’d go looking delicately. And they were getting ready to inflict more pain on me than I’d ever felt in my life. No. Telling them about Bella wasn’t happening. I took a deep breath and sat back in the chair. I looked at Venus, meeting her gaze. “Might as well get it over with.”
Chapter Six
Rycks
When Venus backhanded Lyric the first time, I hadn’t felt the satisfaction I thought I would. In fact, I’d had an almost visceral negative response. Before I could stop myself, I’d taken a step toward. Vicious, the bastard, laid a restraining hand on my shoulder. I was both thankful and irritated. If Vicious had noticed my discomfort, had anyone else?
Then Venus hit Lyric again. Lyric said nothing, just rocked back in her seat before looking back up at the other woman. She didn’t give Venus a defiant look or in any way challenge her. Lyric just met her gaze steadily. Resigned. She didn’t look defeated, exactly, but she looked like she knew the situation was only going to get worse from here, and there was nothing she could do about it.
“Trying to be brave, my little precious?” Venus grinned at her, as if she were getting ready to deliver the punchline of a great joke. She lifted her hand where those long, pointed, razor-sharp nails of hers hung like a guillotine in front of Lyric. “I have something that might make you think twice about holding back.”
Venus was going to cut Lyric. Maybe her face. Maybe her arm, or something else. All I knew was that I absolutely could not watch it happen.
“Stop,” I said softly.
Venus glanced my direction and shrugged dismissively. She raised her hand for the blow.
“I said stop!” Shrugging off Vicious, I moved to Lyric’s chair, stepping in between her and Venus. “She’s my responsibility. I’ll take care of things from here. I’ll get this out of her.”
“This is Salvation’s Bane territory, Rycks,” Thorn said. The man had a hard mien about him. Harder than I’d ever seen him. To say he was furious over this was an understatement, and I couldn’t blame him. If someone came into Black Reign and bugged the place, we’d likely not take the time to get the location of all the bugs. We’d kill the fucker and drop the carcass on the offending organization’s doorstep. “She did this in our fucking home. Her punishment is our right.”
“She’s Black Reign. Punishing her is my responsibility.”
“And you’ll be responsible for letting us take over,” Thorn growled at me. “Our house. Our rules.”
“Would you do the same if she were my woman? Because she might as well be. There’s every possibility she’s carrying my child even now.”
Thorn didn’t back down an inch. “Then it’s your fucking bad luck to have been stupid enough to fuck the bitch in the raw.”
“Everyone just take a step back,” Vicious said, coming to stand in the center of the room, between Lyric and me and the table where Thorn had risen and stood with his palms flat on the surface. Vicious was a voice of reason no one wanted to listen to.
The door on the other side of the room shut, and I watched Justice hurry in. “Stop, Thorn,” he said, his voice firm.
“Justice, you’re my brother and a very important part of this club, but you’ve tested my patience enough the last month.” He stood straight, his shoulders back, every inch the MC president. “This is my club, and I’ll take care of the problem how I see fit.”
Justice raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture. Rycks had grudgingly come to respect the man. Even if he had taken Rycks’s ward as his woman. He was doing right by her, and the girl loved the cantankerous ex-con. Well, not an ex-con exactly, though he had spent the last seven years in prison. Mae had managed to not only get him released, but got his conviction overturned and his record expunged, making him no longer a felon. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do, Thorn. Not even saying you’re wrong. I’m just saying, from first-hand experience, maybe we should wait until Data and whoever else he brought in to help is done analyzing the video footage.”
For long, long moments Thorn and Justice stared at each other. I only wished I knew what was passing between them. I should be grateful Thorn was good to take on the punishment of Lyric. Women were always my weak spot, especially women in need of help. Was she in need of help? I’d thought she was. In fact, I was beginning to suspect there was something else she was holding back. Because, why, for the love of all that was holy, did the woman want to go back to Kiss of Death only to have us rescue her? It didn’t make sense.
Finally, Thorn spoke. “You make a valid point. As someone wrongfully convicted, you’d know better than any of us how big a mistake that could be.” He looked at Lyric, his face still a hard mask. “You better hope and pray to whatever deity you hold dear our tech team proves those videos were altered. If you’ve betrayed us, I’ll do this myself. Before I’m done with you, you’ll beg me to let you die.”
“We done now?” I’d had enough. I’d been angry before. More because she’d also cut me to the fucking bone than because she’d withheld information from me. Never had I been so thoroughly played in my fucking life.
“No.” Thorn sat. “You’ve been given free rein in our house, Rycks, but it stops now.”
I raised my chin, knowing this was the logical step, especially since I’d taken responsibility for Lyric. And because I’d announced to the whole room what a fucking idiot I was. Coming inside her, for Christ’s sake! What the fuck had I been thinking? “Lay it out,” I said, not flinching. I could leave at any time, I knew this. I just wouldn’t be able to take Lyric with me until this was finished.
“You will have a Salvation’s Bane member with you at all times, unless you’re in your assigned room. I’m moving you to the second floor where there is a layer of security between you and the exit.”
“You’re not worried I’ll be one step closer to you?” Why I said that, I had no idea. Likely the lingering effects of the adrenaline I hadn’t expected would hit me so hard when I thought they were going to torture Lyric.
“If I were, you’d be dead, Rycks,” Thorn said simply. “No. I want to make sure she doesn’t ‘accidentally’ slip past you and escape the compound. Also, when you’re not with her, I want a Bane member on her.” He focused on Lyric then. “You don’t get even the privacy to take a fucking shit. Someone will be with you all the fucking time, and if you protest, they’ll bring you to me and I’ll be the one watching you. Trust me when you say you won’t enjoy that.” Lyric nodded once, but otherwise stared straight ahead, not focusing on anyone in the room. The side of her face where Venus had hit her was red and starting to swell slightly.
“Wanna shove a leash up my ass as well?” I was intentionally antagonizing Thorn. I wanted his anger directed at me. Not Lyric. No matter how angry I was at her, I couldn’t let her be the target of his anger. My internal make-up wouldn’t let me.
“I might,” Thorn said. “Now, I think both of you should get the fuck outta here before I change my mind.”
“I’ll be their escort,” Justice said immediately. “I’ll also take responsibility for them.”
Thorn cocked his head, looking for all the world like he wanted to throttle Justice. “You do that and they do something stupid, you’ll take their punishment.”
“I’m aware,” Justice said.
I was having none of this. “That’s horseshit. I don’t need anyone taking responsibility for me. I fuck up, I’ll take my own beating. I appreciate you volunteering to escort us, Justice. I’d be grateful if you’d be the one to look after Lyric if I can’t.”
“Why are you treating her with fuckin’ kid gloves?” Thorn demanded. “She betrayed you more than Bane if she got you to fuck her without a rubber. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“None of your fucking business. And I’m not treating her with kid gloves, I just don’t relish the idea of beating a woman senseless. Pardon the fuck outta me if I’m a little old-fashioned!”
“If she were a man she’d already be dead.”
“And you might have killed an innocent person,” Justice reminded. “I think we all need to take a step back and really think about what we’re doing.”
“Justice is right.” It didn’t surprise me Vicious took up the fight. It was what he did. “No judgments until we’re sure the video hasn’t been tampered with. That could be several hours or a few days.”
Thorn sighed, sitting back in his chair. He scrubbed a hand over his face wearily. “Fuck it all,” he muttered. “Get her out of my sight before I do something I regret. Only because it would upset my wife, and she doesn’t need the drama.”
I snagged Lyric’s upper arm and moved her toward the door. I wasn’t giving Thorn a chance to change his mind. Besides, if she knew anything about the bugs placed in the Salvation’s Bane compound, I’d get it out of her. I’d also know if she was telling me the truth. There was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that she might be telling the truth and that I’d lost my head. I hadn’t done that since I was a teenager. The results this time had the potential to be as devastating to me as the last. On the heels of that was the reminder I was sure she was holding something back.
Lyric didn’t say a word as we marched up the stairs. Justice led me to our new accommodations on the second floor. It was actually a larger room than the one I had, but it was right smack in the middle of the club girls’ rooms. They’d be coming and going at all hours of the night. And be annoying as fuck if I didn’t discourage everything from the beginning.
Just as I was getting ready to usher Lyric inside, a club girl lunged for her, pulling her free of my grip and taking her to the ground.
“You fucking bitch! I don’t know why Thorn let you live, but I’ll finish the job myself!”
The fight that ensued was one for the ages. Lyric might have sat there passively when Venus struck her, but she wasn’t backing down from a club girl. No sooner had she landed on top of Lyric, straddling her waist, than Lyric shoved her up, getting her feet underneath the girl and heaving. The club girl went flying a few feet down the hall, giving Lyric time to get up. She didn’t make a sound, but threw her body at the club girl, grabbing her hair in her fists and banging her head on the floor twice in rapid succession.
With a sigh, I snagged Lyric by the waist and dragged her up. Immediately, she went still. Justice wasn’t quite as quick with the other woman, and she ran the three steps separating them, ramming her shoulder into Lyric’s middle. Lyric grunted, but wrapped her arm around the other woman’s neck so her head was under Lyric’s arm, and hiked her knee into the woman’s middle. Lyric kept leverage on the woman’s neck, letting the club girl know Lyric could break her neck if she chose.
“All right, that’s enough!” Justice pulled the club girl free and swung her around bodily, putting himself between the two women. “All of you get in your rooms or leave the fuckin’ floor! Now!”
There was a flurry of activity as about half the women darted into rooms and the other half for the stars. “Fuckin’ nosy-ass bitches,” Justice muttered. “You OK?” He actually looked at Lyric with gentleness.
“Fine,” Lyric said softly.
Justice looked at me and shook his head. “Fuckin’ women. When they say ‘fine,’ it means they’re anything but.”
“Well aware of that,” I said, taking Lyric’s arm once again. “Let’s get inside before anything else happens.” Lyric nodded and went passively where I led.
“You good?” Justice asked.
“No,” I answered truthfully. He and I had been through enough that I owed him that much. Like him or not, Justice was actually a good man. He had his own code and followed it religiously, but he wasn’t above doing the dirty work when needed. “I imagine that whole thing reminded you of your time in prison.”
“Not sure how she fit in with Kiss of Death, but she knows the score with club girls. Just like with inmates in prison. You can’t show weakness, or they’ll eat you alive.”
“She’s got spunk,” I said. “I like her sass, but…”
“You know you jumped to conclusions,” Justice said quietly. “Just admit you’re feeling guilty and fuckin’ talk it out with her. Before you can fix this between the two of you, you’ve got to figure out if she’s guilty or not. If she is, you’ve not lost her so much as you never had her to begin with.”
“And if she’s not?”
Justice shook his head. “I’m not sure what you should hope for.”
“Me neither.”
Once inside, I locked the door and stood with my back to it for a long time. Lyric sat at the small table, her hands folded in her lap, looking out the window a few feet away. The morning sunlight hit her face, making her look starkly beautiful. Then I moved toward her, and she turned to face me and I saw the reddening bruise on her face where Venus had struck her.
“Christ,” I muttered, immediately diverting to the small kitchenette and the fridge. I snagged the clean dish towel and loaded it with ice from the freezer. Kneeling in front of her, I laid the towel against her cheek. She immediately took it to hold it herself, looking away from me. “Look at me, Lyric.”
“No.” Her soft voice wrapped around my heart and fucking squeezed. She sounded like she felt as betrayed as I did. One thing I’d learned to do in the years since El Diablo had taken me in was to read people. I could tell you an accurate life story about someone I’d known for only half an hour just by watching their body language and paying attention to what they said and the way they said it. My instincts were screaming at me this girl was as innocent as the first snow of winter, yet my mind kept going back to that fucking video of her planting bugs all over the Salvation’s Bane clubhouse.
I sighed. “We’re going to talk about this, Lyric. You’re going to tell me where all the bugs are, and we’re going to work this out before Thorn takes matters into his own hands.”
