Defining Darkness (Royal Bastards MC Tampa Chapter Book 1) Read online

  His nostrils flare, but he grips my shoulder. “I sure fucking hope so.”

  I glance at Deep. “He was a good man.”

  “The fucking best.”

  Silence falls over us as we all bow our heads for our fallen brother. Deep is dead because of me. He gave his life for Eva, hopefully, my soon-to-be Ol’ Lady, and for that, I will be eternally grateful. Just like Crow gave his life. He’s been a member of Tampa RBMC for longer than all of us. We’ll give him a proper send-off. An honorable death. Just like Hatch will for Deep.

  My eyes shift to Hatch. “I owe you. How did you know?”

  “Jameson… he gave me a kick up the ass. Reminded me of our friendship. He sent me up here to keep an eye on the club after your call to him. When we saw the swarm of men, we knew to move our asses. Though, right now, I’d like to punch the fuckin’ shit outta you.”

  “Yeah, and I deserve it.”

  “How ‘bout a fuckin’ beer instead?”

  Dipping my chin, we turn toward the bar. Stacey’s wiping it down. “Stace, beer for Miami, and keep them coming!”

  “Sure thing, Prez.”

  “Gotta admit…” Hatch stands next to me, throwing his arm around my shoulders, “… that was one hell of a fight, brother.”

  “Yeah, but next time I’ll come in and save your ass.”

  He lifts his beer to clink with mine. “Deal. Hope your woman pulls through.”

  “Me, too. I hope you understand, I need to roll out of here.”

  Hatch dips his chin. “You care about her.”

  “More than I ever thought possible.”

  “She’ll pull through. Go. Be by her side. We’ll help with the cleanup. By the time you get back, struts will be in place for the front of the building, and it will be back in working order.”

  I draw in a quick breath. “Fuck, brother…”

  “Shut the fuck up. Just go.”

  I exhale, dipping my chin in a gesture of thanks, then hightail it the fuck out of here.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  EVA

  Three Days Later

  Everything hurts. Every single inch of me aches in some way, but a gentle caress on my hand sends a soothing sensation through me. My eyes flutter open to take in Nycto. He’s tired like he hasn’t slept in days. The red rings under his eyes makes it appear like his eyes are hurting. I tighten my hand in his, making his eyes shoot up to mine.

  “You’re awake?”

  Sunlight streams through the giant window of Nerve’s clinic, shrouding Nycto in the brightest of light. He might seem tired, but to me, he’s glorious. I’ve never seen him so vibrant before. For some reason, he doesn’t have his sunglasses on. The light must be killing him.

  “You don’t have your sunglasses on.”

  His eyes shift to the window, and he lets out a huff. “Didn’t even realize it was daylight. Was too worried about you, woman.”

  Holy shit.

  “We can close the blinds. Will that make you more comfortable?”

  He brings his hand up to caress my face. “No. I see you better like this.”

  I try to take in a deep breath, but it hurts, and the movement causes me to wince.

  Nycto stands and is by my side in an instant. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  I shift on the bed slightly. “I’m fine, just hurts when I breathe in deeply.”

  “The bullet grazed your lung. Nerve was able to halt the air from escaping which stopped your lung from collapsing. If he wasn’t there, things could have turned out far, far worse.”

  “And Andrés?”

  “He’s waiting at the clubhouse for when you’re back and fighting fit. I need to you see how we punish assholes who do us wrong at The Royal Bastards. I need you to see me, for me.”

  I tighten my hand in his. “I see you, Nycto. Nothing you do will scare me away.”

  “Yeah, maybe. Once you have seen me in action with Andrés, I will understand if you want to walk away.”

  “I want to be there for it.”

  He cracks his neck to the side. “Ivy needs to be there, too.”

  I inhale slowly. “It’s settled then. As soon as I’m healed, we will deal with Andrés… together.”

  “You don’t know how sexy that sounds coming from your mouth.”

  I giggle as he leans down, planting a tender kiss on my lips. That spark, the adrenaline rush flows through me like it always does. Nycto might not have been my first choice, but he’s the one and only choice I would ever make now.

  “I want to clarify… I was never going to let Andrés take Ivy.”

  “I have to admit, I thought you were going to let him take her. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

  “You’re a package deal. I knew that from day one. I won’t let anything happen to Ivy.”

  Warmth floods through me. I’ve known for a long time Nycto cares for me, but now I finally feel like he cares about my sister too, and that makes him all the more special in my eyes.

  He sits in the seat beside my bed, leaning back. His hand still holding mine. “We need to talk about something serious.”

  “Okay?”

  “Do you want Cuban sandwiches for your first meal back at the clubhouse or something more extravagant?” I let out a small laugh, then wince from the pain.

  He grimaces. “Oh, fuck! Sorry.”

  “No, this is good. You’re cracking jokes must mean we’re going to be okay.”

  His eyes darken, something flicks through his mind, but he doesn’t elaborate. “Yeah, you’re gonna be just fine, Chiquita.”

  I don’t miss that he said ‘you’re’ as in me is going to be fine.

  Does this mean he’s not in the clear?

  Is someone still out to get him?

  I guess he will tell me if there’s something to tell.

  For now, I’m going to enjoy his company because, to be honest, even though normally he loves to live in the shadows, hiding away from everyone, he’s the best kind of company to keep.

  Nycto

  Six Weeks Later

  Eva’s been home for a few weeks, and she’s healing perfectly. She fits in so fucking well. Getting shot in the chest takes its toll, so her healing time has been longer than I hoped it would. When Void finally convinced me to come home and take a shower, I was shocked at what Hatch and the boys had accomplished. The framework for the front of the bunker was almost complete. By the sixth week, the bunker was completely finished and back to its normal functioning self again, with a few technological improvements—reinforced steel, twice the thickness of concrete, and we put in a skylight above the bar. This place will never come down like that again so easily.

  I thought with times changing around here, maybe I could change a little too. The clubhouse feels bigger, happier, and most definitely, brighter. It’s hard to explain. It’s like there was a dark cloud hanging over us, and Eva and Ivy’s arrival has changed us all.

  Eva is strong enough to walk around without straining, so I’m taking her and Ivy downstairs for us to deal with Andrés. He’s been holed up in Ivy’s room for six weeks. Ivy’s been staying in a room upstairs, but she’s desperate to get back to her old room. For some reason, she feels more at home down there.

  She likes the dark.

  I see a lot of myself in her.

  I dip my head to Void. I want him with me in case Andrés tries to make a run for it. We’ve purposely been giving him basic rations, enough to keep him alive, but not enough to keep his strength up.

  Void and I make our way over to Ivy and Eva. “You ready, ladies?” I ask.

  “As we’ll ever be,” Eva replies.

  I take Eva’s hand, and Void and Ivy follow as we walk down to the lower bunker. Eva’s stern-faced like she’s ready to take this on.

  Ivy and Void keep eyeing each other like they’re trying to avoid the obvious chemistry between them.

  As we reach the Brick Cell, I pull open the door. Andrés is sitting on the floor by the toilet, pale as fuck.
I walk in, yanking Andrés up by his collar.

  “It’s been a while since you came to see me. Does this mean my time’s up? You’re finally going to kill me?”

  I don’t reply. He doesn’t deserve my words. Grabbing the key to the cuffs, I uncuff him. His eyes widen, a flicker of hope crosses his features as his eyes dart to the stairs, but as quickly as it came, it’s gone. He knows he won’t make it. I drag him out and over to a spare gap in the wall.

  “Void, the supplies,” I call out.

  Void steps over to the mortar bucket, grabbing it and the trowel.

  “I knew it,” Ivy calls out.

  Eva tilts her head in curiosity.

  “I’m showing you the way we handle assholes who have wronged us. If, at any time, you want to leave, tell us, and Void will take you out. But you must understand the club you’re getting involved with, and you have to know how we work.”

  “I need to see who you really are,” Eva clarifies.

  Andrés clears his throat. “While this is lovely and all watching you two bonding and whatnot, are you going to fill me in on what the hell you’re going to do to me?”

  I pull out the cable ties from my back pocket while Void grabs Andrés’ hands, yanking them behind him. His eyes bug out of his head as I tie them together so tightly, they cut into his flesh. By no means is this meant to be a comfortable experience.

  “Fuck, that hurts.”

  I snort out a laugh. “It’s meant to.”

  I grab Andrés, pushing him back against the bricks as Eva and Ivy stand back watching and not saying a word. I need to do this. I can’t claim Eva as my Ol’ Lady if she can’t accept this part of me.

  Void mixes the mortar as Andrés widens his eyes. “What the fuck are you gonna do, Nycto? I give you your income. You can’t survive without me.”

  “We’ll survive without you, Andrés. We’re making more money since we stopped doing business with you bastards. Running girls is risky, we don’t need the fucking risk. We have moved on to better things. You believed we needed you? I think it was you who needed us!”

  Void steps up with the mortar, and that wave of adrenaline pumps through my veins. Knowing Eva’s here is only heightening the sensations. I turn to her, and she nods, giving me the go-ahead. Void holds Andrés in place while I bend down and thread a set of cable ties around his ankles yanking them together. He tries to kick his feet apart, but he’s no match for me.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Shut your fucking mouth,” I spit at him as I grab a hook.

  Void pulls him away from the wall slightly as I hammer the hook into the base of the wall. I feel Eva’s eyes on me, but I don’t let it stop me. Standing, I signal to Void, and he slams Andrés into place. He yelps as the hook digs into his Achilles on each side. I grin loving that I’m causing him pain. He deserves it. He deserves everything coming his way. Asshole. I make sure to loop the cable tie over the hooks so his feet can’t go anywhere.

  “I don’t know what sick fucking game you’re playing at right now, Nycto—”

  My fist lands into his stomach. He lets out an almighty gasp, then he shuts his stupid fucking mouth. I pick up a brick and start the process of building the enclosure around him.

  “Jesus Christ, are you kidding me right now?” Andrés blurts out as I lay the first layer all the way around, up to the wall behind him. I’m real fucking serious. He begins to pant and starts thrashing about. That’s why when we normally do this, the victims are out cold when we trap them inside, but for this, we wanted Andrés to know he was being bricked in.

  “You know what we’re doing, Andrés. You’re a smart man.”

  Void grips onto him tighter as a pair of shoes comes into my field of vision. I pause, glancing up as Eva falls into my line of sight. I halt taking her in. Her face is unreadable. I’m unsure whether to stop or to keep going. I have no clue how she feels about this. “Eva, I—”

  She bends down grabbing a brick and hands it to me.

  My heart leaps into my throat. She’s helping me. A slow smile crosses my lips as I nod my head to her. I lather on the mortar, then place her brick on the row. She couldn’t make me surer in this moment she belongs here with me than right now.

  She hands me another brick.

  Taking a deep breath, I focus on the task at hand while Andrés cusses, fucking about, trying like all hell to break out of Void’s hold. I reach the other side, and another brick appears in my vision. I glance up, this one’s being passed to me by Ivy.

  These women sure raised each other tough.

  I grin at Ivy, a fire in her eyes as she leans over placing the brick on the line of wet mortar herself.

  Okay, then.

  I turn back to Void, his eyes focused hard on Ivy as I layer on another line of mortar. Ivy and Eva both step in placing bricks on the wet mortar.

  I swear my dick just got hard.

  I’m a sick fuck.

  I hand the trowel to Eva, and she nods as I step back. She takes a deep breath as Ivy and her take over bricking Andrés into the wall. I fold my arms over my chest watching this beautiful work of art coming to life before me.

  “You can’t do this. Eva, Ivy, you’ll never forgive yourselves. You don’t want to do this.”

  “Shut up, asshole!” Eva goads as Ivy grabs a brick smashing it straight into Andrés’ face.

  I let out a small laugh as Andrés blacks out, blood running down the center of his face out his nose.

  Void widens his eyes like he has no idea who the hell these two women are right now.

  But I know.

  They’re fighters.

  They’re survivors.

  And right now, they’ve just convinced me they’re Royal fucking Bastards.

  I walk over, grabbing the wall hook, moving to the side while the girls continue their bricking. Void keeps his grip on the now-limp Andrés as I grab the hammer and start hammering in the hook to the wall behind Andrés. This is a real team effort. The girls continue building the wall as I secure the hook in place, testing it to make sure it’s stable enough. Once I’m sure it will hold, I give the signal to Void. He groans launching Andrés back onto it, his heavy jacket threading over the hook as he dangles there. His feet still on the ground for support. It’s there to keep him upright. Void lets go, merely placing a single hand on his chest so the girls can continue the brickwork. The wall is getting higher. In no time, it will be up around his face.

  Normally, I leave the face open for a while, but Andrés has already suffered the starvation portion in the Brick Cell. No need to drag it on longer, I want him to die for what he did to Eva.

  Void lets go of Andrés, then moves over with me as the girls take over completely.

  It’s like they were made to do this, and they are probably getting some satisfaction out of it as well. Let’s face it, the bastard was going to sell them to the highest bidder. Andrés didn’t give a fuck about either of them.

  Folding my arms over my chest, I stand back watching. “You doing okay, Eva?”

  “Couldn’t be better.”

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  “How ‘bout you, Ivy?” Void asks.

  She turns back to us, excitement written all over her face. “I knew this is what happened down here. There was a guy moaning in the wall, so I walked over and talked to him. After a few days, he stopped talking. There was something calming about that. Does it make me a bad person?” she asks, laying another brick.

  Eva raises her brow as Void cracks his neck to the side.

  I clear my throat. “No. It means you understand these assholes are down here for a reason. If they’re behind these walls, it’s because they’ve done something to the club.”

  She purses her lips, turning back to the job at hand. “I could help you. Seeing as this is basically my outdoor living area.”

  “Fuck me,” Void murmurs as he rubs the back of his neck.

  “You are a wild card, aren’t you, Ivy? I guess if your sister’
s okay with it…”

  Eva shrugs. “Whatever makes Ivy happy. If her job in this club is to brick people behind walls, then that’s her job. If she ever needs a hand, I’ll be here to help her.”

  Yeah. My cock’s hard as a fucking rock.

  They both turn back, laying bricks up to his chin. I walk over because I want to witness the moment this asshole is entombed. A tingling sensation floods my body, adrenaline pumps wildly as I watch them closing the gap. Andrés’ eyes slowly start to flutter. He’s coming to, but there are only three bricks left. Ivy places one down, Eva the next, as Andrés wakes completely.

  “Jesus Christ, Nycto… get me the fuck out of here. You can’t do this, you crazy fucker.”

  Eva hands me the last brick. Her lips turning up so wide it’s like the dawn of a new day, but instead of it blinding me, it’s like everything becomes crystal clear. She’s my light, my beacon of hope. I let the darkness define me for so long. My past rules over everything I ever did always making its mark in my mind, causing me to think the light was the ruler of chaos and a symbol of torture. Now, I know with Eva shining so brightly that light can be good. It can be devilishly pure. Eva is a symbol of hope. She was sent to me to show me a new way of life. To show me a new way of living. To force me out of the shadows. And with this last brick, I step into the light with her.

  Eva scrapes on the mortar. She’s so fucking sexy in her movements, I have trouble focusing with Andrés screaming behind the wall, but all I see is Eva. All I concentrate on is her. In this moment, she’s all I need as I place the last brick in the wall locking Andrés in, and my trafficking past behind me with it. I know now the error of my ways. Even though I wasn’t technically selling the women Andrés was trafficking, I was playing a role in their story.

  I won’t be a party to it anymore.

  No fucking way.

  I now get why my brothers and other chapters were against it.

  I reach out, grabbing Eva, pulling her to me. My fingers wrap into her hair in a tight fist, and I kiss the shit out of her. My tongue collides with hers as she whimpers in delight into my mouth. Her body presses flush up against mine, my erection pressing into her.