I bite my lip to stop my own ramblings. Silence overtakes the room and I close my eyes. My heart hurts with the loss of Dara. It’s my fault. I promised her she could trust me and now she’s gone. Warm hands cup my face and I blink through the silent tears as a blurry version of Ramsey enters my vision.
“Hey,” he rumbles. “Come on, let’s get you down from here and we’ll talk, okay?”
I don’t give him a reply but feel someone pulling on my wrist and notice Brodie who is releasing my wrist. They must have ended the call because Ramsey’s phone is nowhere in sight. My shoulders, arms, wrists, hell…everything is hurting as my knees buckle. Ramsey takes me in his arms and for the first time I don’t have it in me to fight.
I should. He’s the enemy now too. The one my father went to war with blind; without so much as knowing all the facts and just massacred their friends. But instead of having my family’s arms embrace me, it’s a complete stranger who guides my head against his chest while tears fall down my cheeks as I mourn my friend.
I have to pull myself together in just a few breaths when Ramsey puts me on my feet as soon as we arrive at the top of the stairs. The long hallway is filled with noise, music mixed with loud voices.
I can’t afford myself to be overflowing with emotions clouding my senses. I’m a prisoner stuck in this clubhouse; the daughter of the one responsible for killing their friends. Shit. Why is he being nice to me? I have to pay attention. This can all be a trap. He’s guiding me into a large room with everyone’s eyes on me.
“Fraser, get her a bottle of water,” Ramsey rumbles as he pulls a chair back for me.
I let my gaze trail over the black painted, littered with headshots in silver frames, walls. The name of this MC is spray-painted onto another wall and there are large cabinets on my left. The solid wood table I’m sitting at is oval and a large number of chairs are surrounding it.
A bottle of water is put in front of me and I mutter, “Thanks,” and open it to down at least half in one go.
Brodie closes the door behind Fraser and then it’s just the three of us in a room once more. Except where we were in a hostile situation with me tied up and the threat of being tortured, I’m now watched through different eyes while sitting in a normal chair.
My rambling thoughts are brought to a halt when Ramsey says, “When you’re able, start from the top, please. I got the gist of things with the shit you mentioned and also some highlights during the phone call but I want to hear everything you know.”
I release a deep sigh. “Dara is three years younger than I am. Our mothers are friends, so we grew up together. She’s the daughter of a capo and she knew the day would come when her father would pick a husband for her.”
“Those mafia guys and their arranged marriages. All about keeping their daughters virginal, honorable women until their husband claims what’s theirs on the wedding night. Oh, and show off the bloody sheets in the morning,” Brodie mutters.
I nod and continue. “The last few weeks there was an older guy giving her attention and romancing her. She told me about it recently and when she showed me a picture she secretly took of the guy I instantly recognized Rory. I was shocked to discover Rory Mickle approached Dara. They’re from different mafia families, I couldn’t imagine my father would agree to an alliance with the Bane’s. And when Dara brought it to a stop, Rory went to her father to arrange their marriage. I confronted my father with what Dara told me…I saw the surprise in his eyes. I’m guessing he didn’t know Rory wanted an arranged marriage with Dara.” My hands turn to fists. “That asshole is vicious. He’s forty-one years old for Christ’s sake. Dara was sixteen when he approached her father. And Rory killed his first wife. Seriously, I don’t know why my father is believing his lies.”
I release a string of curses. My breath catches when a large hand engulfs mine. “You’re skipping over the details, babe.”
Glancing to my left, I slightly nod and pick up where I left off. “My father told me he’d handle it when I told him Rory was romancing Dara behind everyone’s back. Later that night Dara texted me about loud voices arguing in her father’s office. I told her my father would fix it. I mean, you guys handle the weapon transport. My father has been working with yours for as long as I know. He doesn’t need the Bane’s family connection for anything business wise. Why would he agree for a capo’s daughter to marry without any benefit? And I know Bane wants the connection, my father mentioned it several times but those fuckers want to get close to us because they want the connections my father has.” I shake my head. “And that’s why I don’t get any of this bullshit. My father clearly told me he would be signing his own death certificate if he hands over transport to Bane. They would bide their time and then take out my father to rule the Mountain West. So fucking stupid.” I take a few sips of water in an effort to calm down before I continue. “I texted her that night but she didn’t answer. When I heard my father get home, I asked him but he told me to leave it alone. The next morning my father told me Dara went to a friend’s last night and was found wandering the streets at four in the morning. When her father asked her what happened she mentioned it was Lynch who raped her.”
“My father wouldn’t rape a woman,” Ramsey growls. “There’s always available and willing pussy hanging around the clubhouse at any time of day. But most of all…he wouldn’t touch an underage girl.”
“I’m sure you’re right but my main reasoning here was the fact Lynch wouldn’t risk a solid partnership with my father that’s been ongoing for years. And the whole Rory arranged marriage right before it happened? Not to mention, Dara refused to see me. Nothing made sense. It’s why I got on my bike and went to check on her. I climbed the tree near her bedroom and went through the window. She threw herself in my arms and we held on for a long time. I knew she wasn’t lying about being raped. And the bruises around her throat and the black eye she had didn’t lie either. But when I asked her to tell me what happened she wouldn’t.”
“She couldn’t lie to her friend,” Ramsey states and I nod.
“Eventually she broke and spilled every detail that scumbag did to her. It was Rory. He was the one who got her out of the house, who raped her, who forced her to spread the lies, and to shut her mouth about everything else or he would make her life a living hell and kill everyone she cared about before her eyes. She was after all promised to him. And he also told her there was no way out for her, other than death. He fucking promised her he would make sure it was a slow death if she ever told something different than what he ordered her to.”
I shut my eyes for a breath or two and whisper, “I took the choice away from her and unleashed peril, resulting in her death anyway. Then I defied my father, had an argument with my mother and look where it all got me?”
“In the hands of the enemy,” Brodie mutters and Ramsey shoots him a glare.
“There have always been rumors about Bane and his desire to own the full weapon pipelines. It’s a setup with only losers, all except for Bane. But those fuckers will be dead in the ground soon enough,” Ramsey growls.
“What about my father?” I question.