Page 30 of Rage & Paradise
I smirk and wrap my arms around myself, “Well if it makes you feel better, I promise you all the worst things you can think about did happen to me. My father broke me in way I’ll never be able to repair.”
“Starlight, dios mio…” His hand flash out and before I realize it I’m wrapped in Oro’s arms and he’s squeezing me tightly against his chest. “I’m fucking sorry. I didn’t know. I had no idea all this shit was going on. I would’ve stayed. I’d have helped.”
“I know you didn’t know. I never wanted you to know. It wasn’t your nightmare to live.”
He leans back and swipes his thumb against my cheeks gently, “It wasn’t your nightmare to live either. No one should have to go through something like that.”
I look away from him not knowing what to say to that. I can’t change what happened in the past.
He grabs my chin and forces me to look back at him. “Is that why shooting that man bothered you so much. Why you said you were going to be like him. You think you’re like your father?”
“Santi, people like my father don’t just wake up one day and decide to be evil. That’s genetic. It’s part of his DNA.”
“Bullshit. Just because he was like that doesn’t mean you will be like that.”
“I don’t want to be. I’m trying. It’s why I’m trying to stay away from Sina.”
Oro backs up a little more, “Sina, what does she have to do with all this?”
“She’s the only other person I’ve ever told about what happened. She was comforting. She encouraged me to get it all off my chest. Told me that I had no choice but to comply. She gave me confidence. Even found some good about how I was trained. She made it seem like I was some sort of super hero or something like that. It felt good for someone to know all theworst parts of me and not see it as a disability but as a strength. I didn’t know she wanted to use that strength for her gain.”
“What? What are you talking about?” Oro’s voice goes quiet and he stiffens.
“Sina has her hands in everything. I thought it was just drug trafficking and creation. She makes something like excstasy. People come from all over to get a taste of it. Some people have extra special requests. There were some times that Sina truly couldn’t find anyone who would comply with those request, I told her how my father would get me to comply. How to sell the dream to the women who were having reservations. I thought I was just helping. I didn’t want to go against the only person who seemed to have my back. I was trying to be loyal.
The very second Sina brought a fourteen year old girl to me I told her I wasn’t going to do it. She wanted me to do the same things my father was doing. She wanted to continue the abuse. Continue the depravity. I don’t want anything to do with it, Santi. I tried to seperate myself from Sina but she says I’ve got a skill set she can’t be without and that I owe her.” I tilt my head and try to shake the tension out of my hands, “I’ve watched her set people up for less. Send people to jail for things they haven’t done simply because they don’t want to be on her team. Sina doesn’t have a conscious. I thought she was different but she’s just like my father. Just like him and I fell right back into the trap.”
“This shit isn’t going down.”
“I can’t stop it. I tried to talk her out of it. There’s no one I can go to. Sina is going to do what she wants. She’s too powerful now. Got her hooks too deep into too many people.”
Oro moves closer to me a devilish smile on his face, “Did you forget who you work for? The Royal Bastards are bigger than all this shit. One way or another, Sina and this fucked up ring she’s got going on is going down. I promise you that.”
I stare into his eyes. There’s no doubt, no hesitation. I don’t want to get my hope up but maybe, just maybe with the club’s help, I can put an end to this once and for all.
FIFTEEN
Oro
This changes everything.
Part of me doesn’t want to believe the shit Estrella just told me, but I could see in her eyes that every word of what she said was true.
For so long I was pissed that she made it so I was kicked out of the life I thought I deserved, when it turns out she saved me from being used and abused by some of the worst people to walk this earth.
I owe her.
There’s no way I can make it up to her, so I’m not even going to try, but I can make sure from now on she doesn’t have anything to worry about. That starts with getting her out of this fucked-up housing situation.
She’s surprised when I tell her to pack her shit. She argued when I told her that she was coming back to stay at the clubhouse.
I wasn’t hearing any of it. It might be a problem when I get back, but I’m sure Vado will change his tune when I tell him that Sina is having people sent to the clink for shit they didn’tdo. He’s got a problem with jail. Hates it. After spending so long behind bars for something he didn’t do, it’s a raw nerve for him.
She holds on to me tight as we zip through the roads that take us back to the clubhouse. Her small amount of belongings stuffed into a backpack. By the time we get to Seda I’m already used to feeling her arms wrapped around me. Part of me doesn’t want her to let go.
Even after all she’s said to me I can’t get myself to look at her like a sister. She’s not, she’s a woman. A woman I’m determined to protect. A woman that stokes fires in me I didn’t even know I had.
“You’re going to be good here for a little while?” I ask, looking over to Seda, which is still closed down for the morning. I’m sure tonight it will be bumping again, but for right now nothing is going on. I’m more concerned with Estrella having flashbacks about the men who tried to rip us off last night. I don’t want to send her someplace that is going to further traumatize her.
