Page 59 of Tandem

I tried to make a break for my car, only I couldn’t even reach the handle before the third guy grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back with a brutal force.

“What a stupid little bitch you are. Think we're done with you? Not even close.” He raised his other hand and slapped me so hard I tasted blood as my head snapped to the side. He had busted my lip open on the side, and I could feel the metallic taste seeping into my throat for a moment before the pain kicked in.

Then the man who just slapped me started to feel me up. The second man gripped my chin and licked up the side of my neck and face. I tried to pull away with a whimper, but they were too strong.

As I tried to think about how to get away, the group leader stepped forward again, his knuckles cracking ominously. I tensed only slightly before he delivered a swift blow to my side, sending a jolt of pain through my body. I hit my car and slid down the side, crumpling to the ground, whimpering and gasping for air and twitching in pain.

Tears started to stream down my face, and the other thug grabbed my hair and yanked it back, showing my face to all three of them as I kneeled in the dirty alley. “Fuck, you look so pretty even when you’re crying, but we’re not done yet. Gotta really make a point. You understand me, baby?”

I started to sob, begging them to stop, but it didn't stop there.

Their merciless onslaught continued as they dragged me from my car into the alleyway, before they started to kick and punch my body repeatedly. Every blow began to feel like a sledgehammer as I attempted to protect my face and head from the more brutal blows. I could feel the bruises forming on my body. Deep, painful bruises. It was almost too much to bear.

Then one of them rolled me onto my back and straddled me. I started to weakly try and push him away, but the other guy pinned my hands above my head as the leader loomed over my face. “Fuck, if I didn’t have my orders, I’d have my boys rip your clothes off, and we’d fuck you right here. All of us, back to back to back. But instead, we gotta get some photos that show your face, too. Lucky you, look at the camera.”

I tried to turn my face, but one of them slapped me across it hard again, and my vision started to go fuzzy. It hurt so bad, so I just whimpered and lay there as I heard a phone camera flash go off again and again. The other two let me go, and I rolled onto my side into a ball, knowing they weren't done as they kicked and punched me more. As more photos were snapped, I cried out. “That’s it, cry for him to come save you, BITCH!” one of them shouted.

I opened my mouth, “A-AJ… D-don’t let them win…” I weakly got out as one of them yanked my head up to look straight into the camera.

“Wrong thing to say, bitch. AJ, you don’t throw the fight? Well, let’s just say there’s something else me and my boys are dying to do to your girl. Don’t make us come back for her. Throwthe fight, you can find her by her fucking car in the alleyway by the customs.” Then, the phone recording was stopped, and I heard him laugh. He pushed me onto my back and ran his hands over my body, groping me here and there. “See you later, baby. Don’t go anywhere now.”

They let me go and stood back, chuckling to themselves as I lay on the cold, dirty concrete, barely conscious. I was battered and broken, numb from the pain as my vision started to go blurry, and I knew they were sending all of that to AJ somehow. I whimpered his name as I laid there, watching as they laughed and walked down the alleyway, their sneakers the last thing I saw as everything went black.

CHAPTER 34

JAYDEN

I gotthe call at the clubhouse from T, a guy I knew was mixed in just about every illegal underground hustle you can imagine, just as I was about to get down with my girl. The last thing I expected was to hear him tell me some thugs had beaten my sister and left her in an alleyway as a threat to AJ to throw his match tonight. I didn't even want to believe him. But, when I told Bonnie about the call, she said we should go just in case. Prez wouldn’t mind if he was passed out drunk anyway.

But as I pulled around the corner with Bonnie and our Road Captain from the Cavaliers MC, seeing her lifeless body crumpled on the ground as my headlights hit her sent a panic into my mind.

I quickly leaned my bike on its kickstand and ran over to her. “ROSALIE!” I yelled as I slid to a stop and dropped to my knees. Bonnie and our Road Captain pulled out their guns and started looking around the alleyways to check to see if the people who had done this were still around.

I gently lifted my sister’s head onto my lap, brushing her hair from her face. “Rosalie?! Fuck! What did they do to you?” I looked her over. Fuck, at least it looked like she hadn’t been raped. But she needed to get to a hospital, like fucking now. Herbreathing was shallow, and she was bleeding from her mouth. I wasn’t sure if it was from her busted lip or something internal. I was freaking out. Bonnie came over and leaned down.

“She’s in rough shape, VP. I’ll call an ambulance.” Her voice reassured me. I nodded as I kneeled next to my sister, trying not to move her. I pulled off my MC cut and draped it over her body. She was shaking, probably in shock, too.

Suddenly, she mumbled something, and I glanced down, seeing her eyes flutter. “Hey… hey, sis. It’s okay, I’m here and I’ve got you, Rosalie.” She tried to move but whimpered, and I saw a tear fall. “Don’t try to move or speak. I’ve got an ambulance on the way. I’ve got you, okay?”

She blinked at me before losing consciousness again, and Bonnie came back over, tugging her jacket off. “Place this under her head. Let’s keep it at a higher level, okay? Ambulance is six minutes away.” I nodded. When I found out who did this, I’d fucking beat them so badly that what they did to her would look like a small paper cut.

“Hey, VP, Enforcer! We got company at 5 o'clock!” my Road Captain yelled out, and I stood, grabbing my handgun and pulling it out of my holster.

Bonnie, standing with me, turned and looked at a green car that had just pulled up down the alley toward the street side. I tensed as three guys stepped out, all wearing green. The Progeny gang. Fuck. How did Rosalie get mixed up with a fucking gang?

They squared up as my Road Captain took the other side of me, hand on his strap under his jacket. I glanced at Bonnie, who was leaning slightly toward her bike, which housed her sawed off shotgun.

Stepping down the alley, the one in the middle started to speak. “Yo, what do we have here? You folks might wanna clear out, we’ve got business to finish with the bitch behind you, and it doesn’t involve you. So if you know what’s good, you’ll dip.NOW.” I gripped my pistol tighter, raising my head to look the man in the eyes.

“So you’re the one who hurt her? Or was it all three of you?” I asked, keeping my voice as steady as I could. I needed to hear them ADMIT it was them. They all looked around and laughed.

“Yeah, it was all of us. Now we figure to have some real fun, take her into my car, fuck her reaaaaal good. So unless you two wanna die and this other bitch wants to join her, you’ll take this chance to dip,” he said as he kept approaching.

As they kept walking toward us, we moved as a fluid team. I raised my gun, Bonnie grabbed and aimed her shotgun, and our Road Captain pulled his Tech-9 and aimed it. At the same time, all three of the gang members pulled their straps and aimed back at us. Fuck, the last thing we needed was a shoot-out with my sister in the background, barely conscious. But I wasn’t going to let them touch her again.

I pushed forward. “Or you can all beg me not to kill you where you stand for hurting the sister of the Vice President of the Cavaliers MC,” I spat out, my anger boiling into my voice as I gripped my gun. I wanted to pull the trigger so damn bad, to get these bastards off the streets for hurting my sister. Fuck, just to do it to do it at this point. Shit, I might even be able to get two of them before the third could fire back.

But Bonnie stepped in closer. “Why don’t you boys go where you came from and hope we don’t shoot you all in the backs as you walk away? Cops are on their way. Hear the sirens?” And sure enough, there were sirens in the background now.

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