Healing Gabe (The Last Hangman MC #3)(8)
I needed some time away from everything. I couldn’t cope with what happened to Aleck and Line, I’m still struggling with it but I’m getting better. Having to deal with one of the Kings again took its toll on me.
I’ve suffered from nightmares almost every night for the past eleven years and they aren’t getting any better. If anything, they are getting worse. They are so vivid, I can almost feel her soft skin under my fingertips, her breath on my skin as we made love, my heart being ripped into shreds as she was taken from me. Her eyes will haunt me forever. There’s always something off with my recollection of those eyes. They aren’t the right color, they are deep blue, almost purple and yet they harbour the same distress, pain and fear.
One day I’ll find out the truth about my parents death, why they came after me when I did nothing wrong besides rough Jared up and why Annie had to pay for my stupidity.
One day.
One day, I’ll avenge Annie and my parents. It won’t end well for them, maybe not for me either. But if I die doing it, I’ll see those I’ve lost again, it won’t be in vain.
CHAPTER 3
Vivian
February 13th 2015
It’s been twelve years since I last set foot in New Orleans and I still can’t believe I’ve returned to where it all started.
After Annie’s death I couldn’t cope staying around, so I left. It’s not like I had anything worth sticking around for, I was on my own. My entire family had gone. More importantly, the only family I loved was gone.
Unfortunately for me, things haven’t been easy. I’ve been constantly moving from state to state, even sometimes traveling out of the country. I did anything and everything I could do to escape them. I took off and they didn’t like it and so, for the past twelve years, they’ve been making sure I live in fear. It worked, I was absolutely terrified. Scared to live, scared to die, scared to get close to anyone, terrified they would be ripped away from me, like Annie was.
I’ve been living in fear for too long and I’m done. I’m done with their bullshit and living on their terms. I’m done being the scared little girl who can’t do anything because she’s too afraid that they are going to show up out of nowhere and kill me.
Why have I come back to where it all started? This is the only place that feels remotely like home and those bastards aren’t taking it away from me. I haven’t had a home for so long that I forgot what it feels like. I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for here but when I see it, I’ll know.
It’s been a couple of months since I last saw one of them. I don’t know if it means they’ve given up, or if they are just busy with something else. Maybe they are trying to lull me into a false sense of security and will strike again when I least expect it. Unfortunately my next move will feel like the ultimate betrayal to them if they get wind of it.
Annie and I grew up in the MC lifestyle, thanks to our father being a member. While it was great growing up in those surroundings, the consequences weren’t so great. Our parents were killed at the hands of Uncle Trent, who wanted to use us as leverage in a deal. But it didn’t go according to plan as Annie and I never went along with his idea.
When we came to live in Kenner, it was okay for a while but I barely made any friends as people around town knew how bad the Kings’ reputation was. Everyone was scared away by either one of the guys keeping an eye on me, or their reputation of shooting any guy that would get too close to me. Of course, I always added fuel to the fire when I could and made sure to piss off Trent at every opportunity. That was my payback for what he was doing to us.
He wanted his club to be the most powerful club in all of Louisiana. He nearly succeeded, but his plans backfired and he wasn’t able to merge the Kings with the Bastards from Hell. His failure caused the club to turn on him and that’s when things really turned to shit. He is one of the four men responsible for my Annie’s death, well both the Bastards and the Kings played a part, but Trent was the one who gave the order. I couldn’t cope knowing what had happened to her, the grief was driving me insane, until one day I did the unthinkable.
It’s been a week since Annie was killed.
A week of pure agony knowing I’ll never see her again, never hear her laugh or see her smile again. The look of fear and horror on her face will haunt me forever. The only thing that could ease the pain would be getting revenge on Trent by inflicting the same pain on him.
Jared has been insisting to see me all week, claiming that he could help me cope and get better, that we could make it work and that nothing would happen to me, that I would be safe from suffering the same fate. I finally accepted and contacted Trent to set up a meeting. He thought I was just going to agree to whatever he wanted, that he had me now that Annie was gone, but he didn’t know what I had planned for him.
I asked him to meet me in their old warehouse, it was empty so no one would disturb us. Everything should go according to plan. I arrive at the warehouse long before Trent is due and greet Cabe, Marcus — Cabe’s father who always had a vendetta against Trent — Gabe and Phillip—Anthony’s father.
“Thanks for coming.” I look at all of them, my heart breaking when I see the look of hatred on Gabe’s face. I wasn’t expecting him to hug me or anything. I know he loved Annie and seeing me brings bad memories but I’m not the one responsible for her death.