Never Give You Up (Snakes Henchmen MC 4)

“The right thing? The right thing would've been not to fuck my sister and knock her up!” I wince at his words, and all eyes are on me, Hammer's are burning into me like lasers. “But you have,” He says more calmly while scratching his jaw with his thumbnail. “And I'm going to fix it. She'll be marrying one of my men, a man I trust...”

“What?!” My dad yells.

“Over my dead body!” There's no way I'm letting this man marry off my woman to a stranger! “She's carrying my kid! She's already had one scare through stress,” I look at Hammer. He caused the scare, he knows it, the look in his eyes tells me so. “I already had to take her to the hospital today because of it. You do this to her and she could lose the baby.”

“If that's what God wants.” Vidal shrugs with a roll of his eyes. He really doesn't care! “Just think yourself lucky that I don't kill you right now.”

“You're gonna have to if you think for one second I'll let this happen!”

He laughs deep from his chest while leaning into me. “Watch your back, Jett. I am not the man to mess with.”

Cunt!

“You're doing it again,” I tell him. “Wasn't what you did to Avery, and what she did in retaliation, enough for you to realize the same thing will happen to Maria?”

“There's a difference. Maria doesn't love you. She's pregnant, not in love with you.” Son of a bitch is right. I drag in a deep breath through my nose. I should think myself lucky he's not pulling the same shit with that he did with Ghost and forcing my own club to kill me.

Vidal turns to my father. “We had a deal. I called a truce because my brother is part of this club, and I won't do anything to hurt him,” No, but he'll hurt the sister he raised? Motherfucker! “I had every intention of coming here and blowing your sons head off.”

“This won't end well, Draven. You're angry right now, but you're making a big mistake.”

“Is that so? Maria is not marrying your son. I won't give another member of my family to this fucking club. After all the shit with Avery, you swore to me that it would never happen again. You swore none of your men would come near my sister, and look what happened. Your godforsaken son defiled her!”

Defiled her? He can't honestly believe she was some innocent virgin? A virgin does not know how to work her body to tease a man the way Maria did with me.

“I won't let you do this!” I won't. He can't take her from me now, not with my kid inside of her. “That's my baby inside of her. You think you can just push me out of my child's life?”

He smirks.

He knows as well as I do that he'll kill me before he lets me anywhere near my own child. No matter what I do to get access, it will never happen. He'll allow me to live if I stay away.

This does not feel good at all.

“It's already done. Come near Maria again, and I'll kill every one of you! I will end this motherfucking club before you have time to say, Boom.”

Cunt and a half!

“He gets it, Dray.”

Do I?

Do I get it?

Hammer is a stupid fucker if he thinks this is over. I'm not walking away. She is mine!

Chapter Six

Maria

I feel like a naughty child. My brother moved me back into his house and even took my phone away from me. I have a guard twenty-four-seven. I'm a prisoner, and I am not allowed to mention Jett under any circumstances. The only thing Draven told me was that he didn't kill Jett and that he only let him live on the understanding that he stays well away from me.

I just don't know what to do with myself anymore. Draven hardly talks to me. He's so ashamed of me. Avery hadn't been willing to talk to me until I begged her to please come and see me, that I needed to talk to someone about how I was feeling.

Okay, so I emotionally blackmailed her and told her that she should understand how I'm feeling right now. She sounded upset over the phone and told me she'd be right over.

She came alone. Left the baby with his father so she wouldn't be interrupted while talking to me. She walked into my room as I sat on the edge of my bed. I looked up at her and instantly burst into tears.

“Oh, babe,” She sat beside me, her arm around my shoulder. I rested my head against her shoulder and cried. She let me, didn't stop me once. I cried my heart out until I had nothing left to cry out.

I pulled away from her and grabbed a tissue to wipe my eyes and snotty nose. “How did you do it, Avery? How did you cope?”

“Sweetheart,” She stroked the hair away from my face. “I didn't cope. I tried in the beginning. I thought I could make Draven see how much I loved Ghost, that he was a good man and would take care of me. Even threw in the fact Ghost is Italian by blood. I thought that would make a difference. The truth is, nothing I said made any difference to Draven, he'd made his mind up to kill the man I loved, and he was determined to show me who was boss.”

“I never realize how much pain you must have been in back then.”

She smiled at me. “It was the worst thing I have ever been through, and that includes losing my dad.” I looked at her, not really wanting to remember the awful time I almost lost her because of what she did to herself, but not able to forget either. “I know how much this hurts right now, being forced to marry a man you neither know nor love, but, sweetheart, you're not in love with Jett either.”

She knew nothing. I spent one night with the man, and I've never been able to forget him. I ache for him, and I don't understand why. How can I feel so strongly about him? Is it just because of the baby?

“Maybe not,” I told her. “But I feel so much for him, things that I don't understand, Avery. My heart aches so much. I can't stop thinking about him. I can't stop thinking about my baby, or the lies I'm going to be forced to tell him or her. I don't want this, Avery. Why is Dray doing this to me?”

Tears fell from her eyes. She knew how I was feeling. She'd been through it all before. Yes, her experience was much worse than mine, she was in love with Ghost and couldn't cope without him. I'm not so low that I'd hurt myself, but my brother is slowly killing me. Of that, I'm certain.

The trouble is I know I need to pull up my big girl pants and push through it. I'm stronger than I'm making myself out to be.

“I wish I could fix this for you, Maria. I don't want to see you so sad and lonely. I don't want to see you so afraid. I don't understand why your brother is forcing you to do this, but I suspect the famiglia has something to do with it. Draven got so much shit from the council over me, Maria. They questioned his position. Why would the Don allow his cousin, the daughter of the previous Don, to marry a biker? Then there's the fact he claimed Hammer as his brother. That went down like a lead balloon.”

I knew all of that. The council wasn't happy with my brother at all. My brother is the head of the family, but the council are the ones who set the real rules. They're the elders, and it's their job. The way things have always been. However, Draven listens to Draven, no one else. The council used to consist of six older gentlemen. Two of those elders went against my brother when he claimed Hammer as his brother. Those elders have never been seen since.

Everyone is afraid of my brother and the power he holds. He's a smart man, a brilliant man. The elders plotted against Draven. They wanted to overthrow him. My brother found out because he has very loyal men, plus, he knew those men were acting differently toward him. My brother always says he can read a man by the way he tries to cover his lies. He can wheedle liars out in seconds. He allowed the two elders to think they'd gotten away with plotting, allowed them to think they'd soon be rid him.

They were wrong, and I've often wondered if they begged for their lives before they died.

How do I know all of this?

I heard Dray and Tony talking one night. I'd come over to speak to my brother about something – I don't even remember what – and I heard them through his office door. My heart sank, and I left. I hate what my brother does. I'd rather be ignorant of his world. Well, as much as I can.

>

I doubt very much the council will question my brother again in that way, and that's why I don't understand why he's doing what he's doing to me. Why is he allowed to claim our biker brother and bring him into the family, why was Avery allowed to marry the man she loves and have his child? Is there something wrong with me that means I'm not allowed to be happy?

“He has bigger plans for you, Maria. He wants to honor your mother by making sure you marry a good man. He wants to make sure you follow tradition.”

“I don't know if I can do this, Avery. I'm not strong enough.”