Never Give You Up (Snakes Henchmen MC 4)

“Vinny cast him out of the family, and I made sure he never came back. Maria woke up and was confused, didn't understand where her Mama and Papa were. It took me months to get her to understand what happened.”

“Do you believe that bastard killed our parents?”

He leans his arms on his desk. “Yes. I believe he killed your parents as punishment to my mother for ignoring his orders never to see her sister again.”

Damn.

The room is suddenly bedlam. Shepard is doing his best to calm Hammer and Tank, but they just found out their parents were killed by someone other than the fucking MC we destroyed! Those boys, my brothers, have not had the justice they deserve.

“He killed my mother, too. You're not alone in that, and this is why I want the bastard dead!”

“He's fuckin' dead all right!”

“Tank,” He won't look at my father, he's hurt. I know what it's like to lose your mother. Not in the way my best friend did, mine just didn't want me and left with my baby sister. He lost his mother in the worst way. Hell, he lost both parents in a hail of bullets as they drove toward a restaurant for date night. “We'll deal with this the right way. I won't have you rushin' off hot-headed, getting in trouble. Y'all need to pull together now, son.”

“He's right. We have a common enemy, and we will deal with it, but until then, I can't have that man near Maria. If she remembers what happened, it will be devastating to her. She doesn't need the stress right now.”

“Are you kiddin' me? Stress? She's so fuckin' stressed; she's not eating or sleeping!” I snap.

It's the truth. No stress at all the doctor said, and she's had nothing but because she can't stop worrying and having damn nightmares each time she closes her eyes. I want this shit dealt with and now. If I catch the sonofabitch before Draven does, I'll rip him to shreds!

Chapter Twenty-One

Maria

I'm a strong woman. I'm not weak. I was born and raised by the mob. I learned a long time ago that weak women end up dead in my world. I'm not weak, and I most certainly am not a pushover. I won't take orders from anyone! I married Jett for the sake of our baby, to give her the life she deserves, two parents who love her. Not only that, I'd fallen in love with him. However, I won't have him dictating to me where I can and can't go, nor whom I can and can't see and speak to! Jerk!

Weeks I've been practically under house arrest! I can't go anywhere without having two of either Jett's men with me or two of Draven's. I have no privacy at all!

I get it no one wants me to see my father. It could be dangerous, blah blah fucking blah, however, until they give me a good reason as to why I'll do as I damn well want.

After finding out my mother and Hammer's were twins – like, oh my god! – things have been different. Tank is now real family and not just because he's Hammer's brother. He's mine and Draven's cousin as well.

I've spent some time with Tank and Nova, getting to know them better, getting to know their little ones, whom I adore. I've always liked Tank, so now our relationship is even more special. We looked at pictures of our mother's, read some of the letters they sent to each other. Even cried a little over the picture of my mother holding Draven when he was a toddler and Hillary holding a tiny Sam in her arms. They were stood right next to each other with big smiles on their faces.

Tank and I had the picture copied and framed and gave them to Draven and Sam as a gift. They loved them. The four of us laughed how it's so obvious why the four of us look alike. It's nothing to do with Joseph Vidal and everything to do with the fact we all look like our mother's. Tank looks like his father. It's evident from the picture he showed me. However, there is no doubting each of us takes after our mother's.

I've learned so much about my mother and her sister since finding out that I feel much closer to her. I can't wait to tell Jessica all about her amazing grandmother and great aunt.

I've been feeling off all day today. I'm sick of not having any privacy, and if one more person tells me it's nothing but hormones making me feel like this, I'm going to smack them in the mouth! It has nothing to do with my hormones and everything to do with the fact I'm tired of having my life dictated to me!

I thought coming to McFadden's Restaurant to meet with some old friends would help me feel better. You know, talk about old times, what we've been up to since the last time we met up.

I don't feel better. It's not Judy and Nancy's fault they couldn't possibly know why I feel like standing in the middle of the road with my fingers in my hair, pulling it and screaming like a crazy woman. However, they're certainly not helping right now.

Having Brooke here helps, she keeps me calm. It would have been better if Abrianna could have been here, but she's with Avery right now. It seems she's always with Avery, and Avery never has time to meet me for even a small coffee.

I honestly feel like beating the hell out of my head against a brick wall right now. I don't know if it's just my hormones, but I've never felt this angry in my life before.

Although I haven't told Judy and Nancy why I feel like this, Nancy is sure making me feel like crap. I don't even know why I'm still friends with her after the way she treated Jett at our wedding. The way she looked at him like he was filth on her shoe. The way she congregated with our other friends, making it evident that she was giving them the lowdown on the dirty biker I'd been “forced to marry.”

That was what she thought, anyway. She had no damn clue. She knew I was supposed to marry Jovanni, yet she went around telling everybody that my brother forced me to marry Jett as punishment. What punishment? I don't have a clue, that lie hasn't gotten back to my ears yet. But it will.

Hell, the bitch has spread so many rumors about me over the past couple of months, I'm surprised she's still breathing!

“You can't honestly like sleeping with him?” She hasn't stopped yet. I'm already angry over things, and now she's being a bitch about my husband... I seriously feel like crying. “I know he's a decent looking guy and all...”

“But wouldn't you prefer to be with one of your own?” Judy cuts in, and by one of my own, she means Italian. Yeah, these bitches are as racist as Brooke's father, and they don't even try to hide it.

“I'd prefer for the two of you to shut your ignorant mouths!” Both women look at me like I've slapped them, which I may well do before this day is through if they don't stop. “Keep your thoughts about my husband to yourselves. I was not forced to marry him. I wanted to! I love him, and he is everything to me. I don't care whom you think he is, but you have no damn clue. Say one more thing about him, and I'll kill you both!”

“Maria, let's go, this isn't good for you or the baby.” I nod at Brooke. She's right. She's such a good friend to me, and she's kept me sane these past few weeks. She's always looking out for me. “And you two, stay away from Maria from now on. You are no friends to her. She doesn't need you in her life. Racist friends like you are not worth the effort of anyone!” I couldn't've said that better myself.

Judy and Nancy are too gobsmacked to say anything. I don't say anything either. I take Brooke's outstretched hand and let her lead me out of the restaurant.

“Why don't we go back to your place? We can pile crap on our faces that's supposed to make us look younger, and we can eat our weight in ice cream, and watch crappy movies that make us laugh even though they're not funny.”

This is why I love Brooke; she knows just what to say to make me laugh. She has such an awful home life, even if she doesn't talk about it, we all know. However, she never lets it get her down.

“Sounds like an amazing idea.”

“Thank you for this. This is exactly what I needed.”

“Girl, me too,”

Brooke and I are sitting on my couch, relaxing after just pampering ourselves. We had fun watching a movie with face masks on, our feet up and talking about the future and what we hope to gain from it.

All I want is for my baby to be born healthy, my man to always love me, and not too many

stretch marks.

Brooke wants to marry Hawk, have his babies, and to be reunited with her sister. She told me all about Marine a while back. Her story pulled at my heartstrings. Marine was married off to some racist piece of crap by her father, a lesson to her for falling for an Italian exchange student.

According to Brooke, Marnie was so in love with Vitto, and he loved her fiercely. Their love was cut short when Vitto was killed in a car accident, leaving Marnie pregnant with their baby. A baby she couldn't tell her family about. Vitto wanted her to move to Italy with him as soon as his time in America was up. Marnie refused to leave Brooke behind with her monstrous father, Vitto jumped in his car and drove away. Marnie never saw him again.

What really broke my heart, other than knowing and feeling the pain Marnie must have been going through losing the love of her life, was the fact her father caused her to lose her child. I can't even begin to imagine the pain she was in during that time.

Marnie now lives a horrible life with a man who does nothing but beat and humiliate her. She's not allowed to see her family because her husband comes from a wealthy family who won't associate with ranch farmers if they don't have to.

Hearing Marine's story made me think what my own life might have been like if I had married Jovanni. The thought scared me so much that I clung to Jett as if my life depended on it that night. I didn't tell him my fears I just said to him that I needed him to hold me while I slept.

“Do you think you'll ever get away from your family?”

“I don't know, Maria. It took a lot for me to admit the truth to Hawk. I didn't want him to hate me when he found out what kind of people my family are. It was so hard to tell him how racist they are.”

I grab her hand and entwine our fingers. “Hawk would never hate you, that man loves you, Brooke.”

“I know.” She smiles. “He told me that. He said he didn't care about my family, that he'd take me away from them, help me have contact with Marnie. He said he'd protect me from my father. I know he would. I don't know I guess it's just difficult.” She sighs deeply.

I can't even imagine what it must be like for Brooke being raised that way. My mother and my brother raised me to believe every single person on this earth was born to be whom they're supposed to be. However, there will always be people out there who think it's okay to be racist, homophobic, bullies, and all that vile stuff. I don't see the world that way, not at all.

Judy even asked me a while ago what I would do if my daughter turns out to be a lesbian. It's not like it can't happen when her daddy is a dirty white biker. I had never been so angry in all of my life! What the hell did the color of her father's skin have to do with my daughter's future sexuality?

When I told Judy that I wouldn't care even if my daughter wanted a sex change and married a black man or woman, she would still be my child, and I will always love her. The shock on her face, I really thought she was going to throw up.