Page 24 of Rage & Paradise
“What? Just like who? What are you talking about?” I pull her away slightly. She whines and I have to readjust my arms around her waist to help her over to the chairs so we can sit.
“I killed that man. I pulled the trigger and killed him.”
I turn and look at the bloody stain on the floor. Thankfully, someone thought far enough ahead to grab the man who Estrella had to shoot to get away from Coca.
“And? First off, you didn’t kill him. He’s still alive. Second, even if you had, you don’t need to feel bad because of that. He was trying to hurt Coca. You protected her. No one can fault you for that. You didn’t know what he was here for. There’s no telling what he was trying to do.”
“He’s here for me.” Estrella closes her eyes as the words slip through her lips.
“What the hell do you mean he’s here for you? You know him?” I narrow my eyes on her.
“No, I’ve never seen him before, but I’m sure Sina sent him in here. That’s just the way she rolls. It has to be Sina.”
Once again, Estrella is telling me about this woman that she’s trying to stay away from.
“I don’t fucking understand. If you two weren’t in some kind of relationship, why the hell is she so hard up to keep you in her grasp? What the hell do you owe her? Did you steal from her or something?”
“No, I didn’t do anything like that. She just wants me to be someone I’m not. Or at least, someone I’m trying so very hard not to be.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I shake my head and gently push a strand of hair out of her face so I can see her eyes better.
She smiles softly at me. “There’s the sweet Santiago I remember.”
It’s like a shock of electricity going through me and I back off. “I’m nothing like the little kid you remember, Estrella. I justneed to get some information from you.” I drop my hands away from her. I don’t need to be getting close to her. I’m not going to give her the chance to hurt me anymore. Not this time. My guard is going to stay up.
“I’ll see what these guys know about this Sina woman. If she is the one who sent them here, we’re going to need to talk about you setting up somewhere else. I can’t have you bringing your problems here.”
“You’d send me away? Isn’t that what you guys do? The big bad bikers who protect those that need protecting?”
Usually, that would make me feel good to hear someone describe us like that, but not right now. I don’t want her to know that about us, mostly because I don’t want to be forced to prove her wrong. If she’s here for protection, we really couldn’t get rid of her.
“You don’t need protection. You just need to learn how to pick better friends.” I scoff and stand on my feet.“I’m going back to the clubhouse to figure out what’s going on. I think your shift is over for the night. You need to get home and get some rest.”
“Coca is going to let me stay here with her.”
“What? When the hell did that become the plan? No one ran that by me,” I bark at her and she jerks back, startled. I almost forgot that she just went through a traumatic event. I breathe out of my nose hard. “That’s not how shit works. We don’t have people staying on the premises without everyone in the club knowing. It’s not safe for us.”
She looks down at the ground and nods her head. “You’re right. I didn’t go through the proper protocol. I’ll leave. I just need to get my stuff.”
“Good. Ask Coca if she needs you for tomorrow. She handles the schedule. If it’s not absolutely necessary, maybe you can take tomorrow off. Tell her I said it was okay,” I offer.
After what she just went through, I’m sure she can use a day to get her head on straight. As for me, I quickly walk out of Seda and make my way to the clubhouse. I don’t hear anything and it’s dark enough outside that I can’t see much around the clubhouse. If there are more of these fuckers out there, they could be watching me right now and I’d never know. I’m just praying that the rest of the club is on edge, that they are just as vigilant as I am.
I push the doors open to the clubhouse and the first thing I see in the middle of the ground is a body with a cloth over their face.
It’s the bastard that Estrella shot. He really did die. I’m not sad about it in the least. That’s what he gets for trying to fuck with us.
I make my way through the main area and walk to the very back of the clubhouse, past church and all the storage rooms. There’s a narrow stairwell that leads underground. The stairs are stone and the walls are uneven wood planks. Grooves line the walls. Men clawing with all they had to keep from going down there.
The ones that go down here don’t ever come back up. These steps lead to nothing but pain and death.
I can’t hear anything, but I know that’s thanks to the soundproofing we made sure to do. I push open the door and a scream so loud pierces the air.
“What!” AZ yells at me as I poke my head into the room.
“Sorry. Ask about Sina. If he flinches, dig.”
“Sina? Who the fuck is that?” AZ questions.
