Never Give You Up (Snakes Henchmen MC 4)

Then there's the fact each time she sees me; she makes me promise that once the baby is born, I'll take care of it. I've been thinking a lot all night about what that means, and to tell you the truth, I'm terrified she's going to hurt herself to get out of this marriage, just as Avery hurt herself when she thought Ghost had been taken from her. I tried to explain my fears to Hammer this morning. He told me to mind my own business and that I didn't know what I was talking about. If anything happens to Maria because he didn't heed my warning, I'll fucking kill him!

I feel like a fucking fool in this suit, and I can't seem to make myself leave the clubhouse. I should've gone ten minutes ago, but this cold beer is just too good to leave. There ain't nobody else here, but a couple of prospects manning the gate for security, every brother and his old lady have already gone to the church. Even those without women left ages ago. My dad has already called me twice to tell me to get a move on, but all I want right now is to break some fuckers face! Maybe that will make me feel better.

“Don't you know it's rude to turn down a wedding invite?” Vidal. What the hell does he want? How the fuck did he even get in here? Bastard could have snuck up on me and killed me!

Damn prospects!

“What do you want, Draven?” I don't even look at him, he ain't worth looking at. I'll end up punching him, and fighting a man like Vidal is not in my favor right now. The man's a cage fighter, a ruthless killer, and I've been drinking. Might be just the two of us here, but I ain't sure either of us would walk out alive should it come to it. The guy might be built bigger than I am, but I'm not stupid when it comes down to it, and I'm in just the right frame of mind right now to kill a damn army! All he has to do is fucking try me.

Shit, I've never been any good with loss. Couldn't cope when Celia – the woman who gave birth to me – took Nova and left me behind. The loss of my sister destroyed the little boy I once was. Turned me into this brutal fighting, killing machine.

I couldn't cope when my grandfather, Apollo, the president of this club before my father, died. I was so angry for so long that I almost lost myself to grief.

Losing Maria and the baby? Nobody is fuckin' safe from me right now, including this motherfucker!

“Mind if I join you?”

“Free country.” I shrug.

He takes the stool beside me at the bar, entwining his fingers in front of himself like he's Lord of the fuckin' underworld.

“I came here because I want to know why for the past month my brother has been badgering me about you. Seems to think I'm making a huge mistake where Maria is concerned. The same mistake I made with Avery. So I wanna know what you think.”

“Why, Draven? It's not like I have anything to say that you'll listen to.”

“Not what my brother seems to think. Tell me why my sister wants to be with you so much, tell me why you want to be with her? You don't even know each other.”

What the hell am I supposed to tell him? I can't tell him that I've been sneaking into his house for the best part of a week to fuck his sister. He'll blow my fuckin' head off before I've finished the sentence.

Regardless, I'll tell him what I think of his sister.

I lean over the bar and grab a bottle of whiskey from underneath the counter and two glasses. I pour us both three fingers and slide a drink over to him. “You wanna know why, Draven? I'll tell you. She's amazing. Never been able to talk to a woman the way I can talk to her. That first night, we connected in a way I didn't even know was possible. We talked for hours about nothing and everything all at once. She makes me smile, makes me laugh. Just being near her makes me a better man. I don't give a shit what you think of me, it's irrelevant. However, I'll give respect where respect is due and tell you that you did a good job raising her the way you have because she is so special, Draven. So damn special.”

I can sense him smiling. Bigheaded cunt.

“She's pregnant with my kid. Neither of us expected it, but it happened. She came to find me and tell me because she wanted to do the right thing. She's a good girl, Draven.”

“You don't need to tell me that.” He tells me in an annoyed manner.

I ignore him and carry on.

“She wanted us to get married for the baby, but I would be a liar if I said I felt nothing for her and that I just wanted to be with her for the kid. She means everything to me. I don't understand how it happened, but she had me from the moment I first laid eyes on her. That kid inside of her is half me, half Maria. I want to be a father to my child, Draven. You must understand that?”

“I know you've been sneaking over the wall of my house to see her,” Fuck! “That isn't a blind spot I saw you each and every time.”

“Why didn't you stop me if you wanted me away from her so badly?” And why aren't I dead already?

“Because I heard you talking one night. I'm not sure if it was the first time you'd snuck in or what, but I charged up those stairs ready to blow your brains out right in front of her.” I don't say anything, don't even move a muscle in my face, there's no need for me to act tough in front of this man right now. I want to hear why he didn't stop me sneaking into his house.

“I heard the way she cried to you. Won't lie, it brought back memories of my mother and hearing her cry. I was angry with you, with myself, but I figured I'd let you both get it out of your systems. I also figured it would sting you more to know you'd never have her again after today. Then Hammer told me how much I was so obviously hurting Maria because she'd fallen in love with you. I spoke to her last night, and I saw how in love with you she is. What I want to know is have you fallen for her, too?”

I look at him for a moment, sizing him up. I don't know what's going on here, but I am no liar. That's why I nod my head in honesty. “I have. I know you're all about respect, Draven, and I have respect for you, but when it comes to Maria, I can't stay away from her. She did something to me, something I swore I'd never let any woman do. She made me fall in love with her, and I can't shake it. She's beautiful, smart, the mother of my child. The thought of her marrying some other guy, having him raise my kid as his own, knowing he'll have his grubby hands all over her...” I grit my teeth in anger.

I take a deep breath and center myself. “Having to watch it from afar. I don't know, man,” I shake my head. “Feels like the worst kind of punishment.”

“If I wanted to punish you for touching my sister, believe me, it wouldn't be this way. Trust me; I would hurt you in ways even a biker hasn't heard of.” He knocks back his whiskey and sets the glass on the bar and gets out of his seat. “The wedding starts in thirty minutes. I expect to see you there. Show me that you're a real man, Jett. One last test.” With that, he slaps me on the back and walks away from me.

Be a man? Be a fuckin' man? One last cunting test! What else am I supposed to do, stop the wedding? Have three-hundred or more Italian mobsters plow me with bullets?

I can't attend this damn wedding it all but killed me watching her getting ready this morning. Yeah, I snuck over the damn wall that Draven Vidal now knows about, and I watched her in her room and all the women rushing around her. One doing her hair, another doing her makeup, one doing her fingernails, another doing her toenails, and the whole time she stared off into space. She didn't want to be there, and she doesn't want to marry that motherfucker, but what can I do about it? I have nothing to offer Vidal in exchange for his sister's hand in marriage.

But am I really gonna sit here and let the mother of my child marry someone else?

What the fuck is wrong with me? I've never in my life just given up like this, and I damn well won't start now.

No. Maria is mine, and I'm going to get my woman back or die trying.

Chapter Thirteen

Maria

A girl's wedding day is supposed to be the best day of her life. All of her childhood dreams about wedding dresses, horses, and carriages, her groom waiting at the altar. The man she has loved for what feels like forever. Waiting to hear the I do's, and that first k

iss as a married woman, yet I feel like I'm about to enter hell with a man I can't bear to even look at.

I know I'm not the only woman in the world to be forced into an arranged marriage, and I know many women in this world don't even get to voice their concerns about marrying a man they don't know. They don't get to tell their father's or brother's that they don't want that life, and I should really think myself lucky that I have someone to care for me the way my brother does.

I thought about it a lot last night, and I feel really selfish in the way I've acted towards my brother. All he's doing is what he thinks is right for my baby and me. Yes, it's killing me inside that I won't get to be with Jett. It's killing me that I'll have to sleep with Jovanni; actually, the thought makes me physically sick, but I can't let Draven down. I will go through with this wedding, and I will try so damn hard to make it work. I'll try even harder to put Jett out of my mind as much as I can.

God, even the thought of not being with him for one-second is tearing me apart, but what's the point of wallowing when there is nothing I can do to change things?

I was woken up by my aunt's at 6 AM, forced into the shower where they scrubbed me clean. Like I wasn't capable of cleaning myself! Talk about humiliating.