Reckoning Read online

  “Your plan sounds solid.”

  “As solid as it can for now. That only solves one of the many issues. We still have to figure out a way to keep Mar protected. Rafael keeps leaving hints, and frankly, it’s pissing me the fuck off. She doesn’t belong to him and never has. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s still trying to get her after achieving nothing the last year. Maria is as much a Skull as we are, and I’ll be damned if we let anything happen to her.”

  “You should line up with Pain and Chaos, if you think they’re gonna let anything happen to their girl you’ve got another think coming.”

  “Their girl?” Reed repeats, eyebrows raised.

  “You can’t tell me that you don’t see the way those two watch her. Reed, you’re right about one thing. Maria does not belong to Rafael. She has always belonged to Pain and Chaos. I’m just wonderin’ when the hell the three of them are going to make shit official.”

  “Those two wouldn’t share her like others would. They aren’t just brothers, they are blood.”

  “You’re not giving them enough credit. It’s obvious that they both want her. We’re just sitting back waiting for one of them to make a move, and the other will follow shortly after. Just watch.”

  “You were always the crazy one.” Reed smirks and shakes his head.

  “Glad we’ve got that straight.”

  “Are you staying this time, or you gonna be back out on the road? I know it’s none of my damn business, and you know I’m not gonna hold you back from being your free-fuckin’-spirit self, but the thing is… we know my club is more than a place where you rest your head. If you’re gonna walk straight out that damn door, then go before you break Bellamy’s heart. Elena is her sister, but she’s adopted you as her brother, Slasher. I’m not gonna let you hurt her again. She does a damn good job at hiding the pain she felt from you being away. You two bonded over that hell filled day. I can’t understand it. Elena can’t, and neither can Butch. Bellamy doesn’t talk about it with anyone besides you, so if you’re going to up and leave again, then do it now. If you’re going to stay, well, then we need to talk about some changes.”

  I only think for a few moments. Instantly, I know that I won’t be leaving again. I hurt Bellamy enough the first time I left. For three months I was in the hospital getting surgery after surgery, and then I came back to the club. I was here for two weeks before I left, vanishing into thin air for seven fucking months. The Skulls clubhouse has felt more like home to me the last couple years than anywhere else, and I know the changes Reed wants to implement without him having to say them.

  “Nah. I’m home, brother. I don’t plan on leaving again.”

  “Good. I’m glad to hear it.” Reed smiles, getting up from the couch and smacks me on the back. “We’d better get going. Ryder’s birthday party starts in a few minutes.”

  Chapter 9

  Family. Where life begins, and love never ends. - Anonymous

  Slasher

  I hadn’t seen the club this packed since we had a spur of the moment wet t-shirt contest a few years back, when me and some of the other Nomads were in town. It was packed, body-to-body just like it is right now. Only, the circumstances couldn’t be more different.

  Today, we’re not celebrating hot babes and tits. We’re all surrounded for one little man named Ryder, the first born. One day, this little man will be the future of the club. He just doesn’t realize how special he is to all of us.

  The little guy waddles over to his mom, Daisy, wrapping his hands around her leg and hiding his face behind her. I know he has to be used to some sort of attention, but certainly not this much. He looks just like his father: red hair and a big tyke at that. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Daisy wasn’t his mom.

  “C’mon buckaroo, we’ve got presents to open and cake to get all smushie and eat. It’s going to be so much fun!” she tells him, leaning down. I can tell she’s trying to coax him away from being so shy. He turns his head over in my direction and stares at me, then looks back to his mom, hiding further.

  It doesn’t take me more than a second to realize he’s not being shy from all the attention he’s getting today. He’s afraid of me.

  I get up from the barstool and start to head outside. “Slash, wait!” Daisy says to me. I don’t listen. Instead, I keep heading in the direction I’m going, out towards the doors. Only, when I open them I run straight into the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my fucking life.

  “O moy Bog!” I hear her spit out, a language that I am unfamiliar with. I don’t know what the fuck she’s saying. She could be calling me a fucking asshole right now, and I’d still be looking at her the way I am, wondering where the hell this mystical creature came from.

  “Katya!” Dmitri snaps out her name like she is his sworn enemy. He charges over from the side, looking like he was going to rip through her. I’d be damned if I was going to let that happen, so I step in front of her when he gets a little too close for my own comfort.

  She chuckles. “Oh, look at my knight in shining armor. Hmm, Brat.”

  “Get the fuck out of here before I skin you alive.” I’ve never heard Dmitri speak to a woman in such a way, which begs me to wonder what the fuck is really going on here. These two obviously know each other.

  “Your threats are empty. We both know of this. You would never actually harm a hair on my head, not after everything.”

  “You cannot fathom the things that I will do to you, for everything you did to our sister. I will make you wish you were dead.”

  I keep my eyes on them both, darting from right to left; mainly staying on Katya, but still continuing to assess Dmitri and his rage.

  “I have already wished for my death, for many, many nights.” She takes in a deep breath, not looking away from Dmitri. Through every word she speaks I can see the pain behind it. It almost feels so familiar and makes me wonder what it is exactly that she’s been through.

  Silence surrounds us for minutes until Dmitri is the first to speak.

  “What are you doing here? Did your husband send you to as his little errand girl?”

  “No, Dmitri. Sergei did not send me here today, for that was a choice of my own free will. We must speak, as a family. In private.” She looks up to me as she says the last bit, showing me that she wants me to scram.

  “What makes you think that I will speak with you? Or Ksenia?” Dmitri grumbles.

  “If you want to know about the war that is headed our way, you will speak to me. We are being hunted, and I am afraid you and Ksenia are first on our dear uncle’s list, brother. There are things you do not know. Things about our family that we must discuss.”

  I don’t know jack shit about the showdown that is unfolding before me. One second Dmitri looks like he’s going to slit this girls throat, and the next he is calm as all hell. “Fine. Follow me, closely. I will fetch Ksenia. You do as I say, da?”

  “Da,” she replies, grabbing my arm as she presses a kiss to the marred part of my face. “Thank you for your kindness, my rystar’. I will not forget this.” I don’t know what the fuck she just said to me. All I’m thinking is how she can call me whatever she wants.

  ***

  Katya

  Dmitri leads me into a room not far from where we were, it has a couple manly leather couches in it. I think it is an office, but it is rather casual, if that’s the case. When Dmitri leaves me alone to go fetch our sister all I can seem to think of is the man who ran into me.

  There is something about him. I can’t quite seem to put my finger on it. Over the course of many years I have seen all kinds of men. Rich, old, prodigal, scum, and they are all one thing – the same.

  Each type of man hides behind their mask, even Sergei. In a way, us women are the same, hiding what we truly are, only giving others the ability to peek past the surface, and that’s if we even allow them to look in the first place.

  I think for far too long about the man in the other room, and slowly my thoughts float to my broth
er and sister. In a way, we were robbed of our relationship. Ksenia and I are rather close, she knew of what I had to do to keep us both safe. What she doesn’t realize and may never is that I hardly cared about my own well-being while she was with Sergei, and it was my sole purpose to make sure she was safe. If I had been alone with him… well, things may have turned out differently for me a long time ago.

  Dmitri is another story. I don’t remember too much and finding out my brother was within a motorcycle club was nothing but shocking. He and I, well, I won’t know how our relationship will be. Part of me believes that there is no one in this world we can trust. No one besides ourselves.

  Can you blame me, though? After the one person who was supposed to protect me decided it would be better to sell me like an inordinate object? My mother is the worst of us. The only satisfaction that I get, is knowing she died a painful and miserable death with her latest husband. She thought she could run, that she would be safe. Well, mother dearest, the world works in mysterious ways.

  My mind goes wild, remembering memories as a small child. When the door to the room I’m in opens suddenly, my attention is directed towards the door. I catch Dmitri behind her, Ksenia’s snow white hair is beautiful. She has always been a vision. There were times I would joke that I am the dark and she is the light. It seems that is true, and always will be.

  “Ksenia.” I utter her name softly, making sure my tears of happiness are hidden behind my mask.

  She looks at me, stoic, face as unreadable as my own.

  “What does she want?” she asks Dmitri. Her accent isn’t as thick as I remember. They must be making her speak more English here.

  “I don’t know, but we will find out. She said there was news.” He says it as if he doesn’t believe a word I said. I can’t blame him for thinking this of me. There is an old saying, ‘you are the people you surround yourself with’. If that is the case, I do not blame him one bit for not placing an ounce of trust within me.

  “I will cut to the chase, then. I am sure you would both appreciate that, da?” I ask them, not giving them a moment to respond. If they refuse to believe me, then I will say what I came to and leave. At the end of the day, this is all up to them. “Our Uncle Valentin knows of you being here, he knows of Ksenia, and soon he will know about me and our youngest sister. If you think that he doesn’t have something planned for each of us, you are wrong. He will be sending men here first to kill you both. I only know of this information because he has not pieced together who I am yet. The world does not know of me as a Petrov, I am a Kolosov to them. I will not say that we need to do anything, because you may decide to handle this on your own. I respect that. I would not choose to handle this with me either if the roles were reversed. The only thing that I care about is our family’s survival. We may not be close, brother, but we are blood. You, Ksenia, and our younger sister are the only people I have left in this world, and I will not let anyone fuck with my family.”

  “Younger sister?” Dmitri questions.

  “Da,” I nod.

  He looks to Ksenia.

  “No, our mother remarried, and we have a younger sister. I plan on going to see her soon. I don’t believe she knows about our existence nor do you two hers.”

  “It’s bullshit,” Dmitri snarls, anger radiating across his face like a charging bull. In this moment, he looks as our father did when he was upset.

  I wish I could say that I am shocked, but that would not be the truth. I am anything but.

  “Fine. Believe what you wish. I came here to warn you of the war that is headed our way, keeping it light at that. You do not know what to anticipate, brother. Only I hold that information. So, I leave you here. I will be around.” I pull at the small purse I have hanging over my right shoulder and open it, digging in and finding a business card with my phone number typed on the back. “When you are ready to hear all I have to say, call.”

  All I can do is wait.

  Dmitri needs time.

  I just hope that we have enough of it.

  Chapter 10

  “And here you are living despite it all.”

  - Rupi Kaur

  Katya

  It has been over a week since I came face-to-face with my brother and sister. Honestly, I had expected a call maybe a couple of days after my unexpected visit. Much to my surprise, neither of them has reached out to me. I know that our relationship is rocky at best, however, we are dealing with the same situation regardless of that.

  Unlike many women, I do not have to muster up courage before I go parading back to that clubhouse. It is early fall, so I pull my cardigan closer to me as I approach the club. When I turn into the parking lot I am surprised to see that there aren’t many bikes out front. I see three. The last time I came there were tons of them parked out front. People were everywhere.

  In only a week’s time, I come to wonder what must have changed.

  I step out of my car, walking towards the doors. I don’t bother to knock, simply opening the door before me. I’d hope that everyone knows the type of woman I am at this point – the kind that does what she wants and doesn’t take no as an answer.

  When I was here previously, I knew that Dmitri and Ksenia would both need time. However, I am not prepared to allow them both to die. Here I am, standing loud in a pair of five-inch boots, waiting to fight them both, tooth and nail. One thing is for sure, we are blood, which means that we all have the same stubborn nature.

  I glance around the area before me, the same ugly leather couches fill the room, pool tables on both sides, there is even a little rinky bar in the back. I look around and see a stairwell, then the corridor that I followed Dmitri down the other day.

  “Didn’t expect to see you back so soon.” I recognize the voice instantly, as it sends chills down my bones.

  Rystar, it means knight. A name suited for the man who tried to swoop in and save me from my own brother. It was a sweet action, one that I will always remember.

  I stand here, unsure of why I even feel the way that I do. I scan over his features, his incredible height and how he towers over me, even with my boots. His dark eyes that show me a reflection of what his soul looks like, and lastly, the left side of his face. Sure, he has tattoos, but those are not what draws me to him so strongly. Maybe I can tell that this man has experienced darkness, and not just a splash.

  He has lived it.

  I can smell it radiating off him.

  “You can never expect anything from me,” I reply, smirking, not taking my eyes off his.

  “I’m learnin’ that bit by bit, sweetheart.”

  “There is nothing sweet about me. I am sure that my brother has told you that much already,” I chuckle.

  “Personally, I don’t read into what your brother says too much. I’ll let you in on a secret, babycakes. I’m not his biggest fan.” He whispers the last bit to me, and when given an inch, I will take a mile.

  “Care to share that story with me?”

  He laughs. “Oh, now I understand why he warned us all to not trust you. There was some talk about telling him if you showed up here when he wasn’t around.”

  “And you tell me, the one who shall not be trusted, this information?” I question, wondering what he is playing at.

  “There’s something telling me that you’ve got a lot more to your story then your brother wants to admit. I’m interested in that. Have a feeling that if he’s around I won’t get what I want, and that doesn’t really work for me.”

  I nod, agreeing with him.

  “We all have much to our own stories. I would say that you do as well,” I comment, focusing on the disfigured part of his face.

  “You’re a sharp tool in the shed, aren’t ya?” He asks me if I was a tool, but I don’t entirely understand his reference. This happens sometimes, where American’s say things that don’t quite make sense. I know it is a joke, the only bad thing is that I don’t actually understand it.

  I am taken out of my thoughts as I hear the rumb
ling of motors quickly approaching the building, the noise builds up until you can hear them right out of the door, coming in like a raging stampede.

  “Have fun at Bubba’s?” he says to the first man who walks in the door, he looks at me, and then to disfigured man and nods, lifting his chin.

  “I did, but it sure as hell looks like you’ve been having more fuckin’ fun than I have. Oh, D’s right behind me.”

  I think it is sweet how the man warns me in a sense. Sure enough, in stomps my brother, charging up to me. “Get the fuck out of here, away from Ksenia and I.” He snarls it out in a tone I have never heard from a man.

  “I came here to speak with you,” I tell him, hoping that he will get over his little hissy fit and allow me to explain to him what exactly is going on and what we can do to prepare. We have wasted enough time. Now is the time to act.

  “I don’t give a fuck what you came here to do. Get your Gucci-ridden ass out of this fucking club, into that fucking car, and back to that evil fucking husband of yours.”

  I blink at my brother, now knowing that he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know about Sergei and me.

  “I can’t,” I tell him.

  He grabs me by the back of my neck, squeezing firmly as he pushes me towards the door. I yelp out from the sudden grab, it isn’t painful, but it is uncomfortable.

  Suddenly, my brother’s hand isn’t around my neck, and I see my knight standing next to me. There is a loud snap, and when I look behind me I see my brother with blood gushing out of his nose. “I don’t give a flying fuck what she’s done to you. You don’t touch her like that.”