Perversion (Perversion Trilogy #1)

“We can figure out a way,” Grim begins.

“No, there is no other way. I’ll come back with Gabby when it’s safe,” I say with as much determination as my scratchy voice can muster.

“I knew you were a good one from the second I laid eyes on you,” Belly says, pulling me in for a gentle, yet firm hug. I’ve never been hugged like this in my life, and I find myself overwhelmed by it. I burrow into the comfort of his big body. “Don’t do this because you think anything will happen to you by our hands if you don’t. You’re family. Always have been. We tried to bring you home years ago. It’s about damn time you finally got here. You got a place here, regardless of what you decide.”

I look to Grim whose jaw is in a hard line. “Do I?” I ask.

His answer is a simple nod.





Grim


“I can’t be the reason people die,” Tricks says.

I stare down at her beautiful battered face. “You won’t. Marco is going to find a way to start a war regardless of whether you go back or not.”

“But I can’t be the reason, Grim,” she explains. “I just can’t. I have to get Gabby out. I can’t leave her there. I won’t.”

I pull her into the room and sit her down on the bed. We’re both silent for a moment. The space fills with tension and unspoken words.

“I fucked up. Marci told me everything,” I finally say.

She holds up her hand. “Let’s not do this. Not yet. Not now. You don’t owe me anything. I’m going to prove myself. I’m going to help take down Marco. When I’m free of him and Los Muertos, we can talk. Regardless, I’ll come back. I promise.”

“Belly was right. You don’t have to do this,” I say, holding her hands in mine.

“I know, but for the first time in my life, I want to.” The sincerity in her voice strikes me like a fist to the heart. “It’s the only way to see my way clear of all this bullshit and keep Gabby alive.” Tricks winces as she begins to unwrap the bandages from around her ribs.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Showing up to the compound all patched up is going to raise a lot of questions I’m not going to want to answer.”

She’s right. Fuck, I hate this, but she’s right. I help her unwrap the rest, revealing the purple bruises along her torso which match the cuts and bruises around both of her swollen eyes.

Marci comes in, holding an oversized T-shirt with a ridiculous image of cats climbing a rope. “Wear this. You can say you picked it off a clothesline.”

“Thank you,” Tricks says. She reaches for the shirt, but I grab it first, gently tugging it over her head.

“Sandy will take you in the van and drop you as close as he can to the compound without being noticed. The rest is up to you,” Marci says.

Tricks nods. The corner of her lip is caked with dried blood.

I look at Marci. “She’ll need something else,” I say.

“What?” Tricks asks.

“He did this because he wants your loyalty, right?”

Tricks nods, but confusion lines her face. “Yeah. Since I won’t give it to him, he thought he’d beat it out of me.”

I growl. “Marci, Belly, we need to give her something to bring back. Something important she can show him to let him think his loyalty test actually worked.”

Belly stands behind Marci. He nods in understanding, then takes off his Bedlam ring, and tosses it to me. “That should work. I take it off when I work on my bike. I set it on the shelf closest to the door. You can say you swiped it to prove yourself.”

I hold out the ring to Tricks. “Marco wants loyalty, and this is how you’re going to give it to him.”

Tricks takes it from my hands. “Thank you,” she says, her eyes welling up with tears.

I push a stray hair from her face and look deeply into her eyes. I need her to see how serious I am. “Stay out of Marco’s way as much as possible. If he so much as touches you, I’m coming for you.”

“We all will,” Belly chimes in.

“And then what?” she asks.

“We’ll kill everyone who stands in our way to get to you, and I’ll tear Marco apart limb from motherfucking limb.” I hold her face gently in my hands. “Just make it back to me, Tricks.”

“I will. I promise I will.”

I know without a doubt that she thinks she’s telling the truth, but dread still fills my entire body.

Because promising something you can’t know for sure is still a lie.





Twenty-Five





Sandy drops me off in an alley a few blocks from the compound. Wearing my cat shirt with Belly’s ring tucked in my pocket, I walk through the gates.

“Hey, the bitch is alive. Look at that,” Gil, who is standing guard out front, whistles. “Marco isn’t here, but I’ll make sure to tell him you made it.”

“Fuck off,” I spit. I shuffle to the apartment. It takes more than twenty minutes to make it up the three flights of stairs.

Gabby opens the door as I reach the top. “Holy shit. You’re alive!” she says, hugging me too tightly. I groan. “I’m so sorry. Leo told me what happened. I was imagining the worst. The very worst.” Tears pour from her eyes as she helps me inside.

“Shower,” I groan.

She helps me to the bedroom, and I sit down on the bed. I grab my backpack and tuck Belly’s ring deep inside while Gabby runs to the bathroom to start the shower. I want to tell her everything, but I don’t. Not just because I don’t have the energy, but because the less she knows the better.

I take a nap next to Gabby, and when I wake up, it’s dark out. I pop a few Advil for the soreness and the pain because I have more to worry about right now then my aching body. I dress silently so I won’t wake Gabby. Then, I grab my backpack.

I sneak out the door, shutting it slowly so it barely makes a click.

Then, I head straight for Marco’s building.

Marco’s lights are out. Hopefully, he’s out for the night and won’t be back anytime soon. I had an idea on the way over here. If I can find proof that Marco’s the one responsible for the trucks or the park shooting, then The Immortals will be on Bedlam’s side to take Marco out. And I can go back to Bedlam with Gabby the second it’s safe.

The sooner I find something, the sooner I can do just that.

There is only one soldier out front when I approach. I recognize him as a guy they call Fright. “I have something for Marco. I just want to go up and put it in his office.”

I lift my backpack from my shoulder to indicate that the ‘something’ is inside.

“Ain’t no one allowed up,” he says, staring over me, scanning the area.

“It’s me, Fright, not some ho looking to wreck his shit because he never called. I made it back, didn’t I? TRUST me. He’ll be super pissed if I DON’T leave this for him.”

“I said I’m not allowed to…”

“Fine,” I reposition my bag on my shoulder and point at his chest and raise my voice. “But, when Marco asks me why it’s not in his office, I’ll have to tell him it was because you wouldn’t let me put it there.”

He rolls his eyes and sighs, repositioning his gun in his left arm. “Fine. Just be quick. In and out. Leave your shit on his table, and don’t touch anything.”

“Yes, sir,” I say in a low masculine voice, clicking my heels together and giving him a sarcastic salute. I chuckle as I walk past him.

At some point, Fright will tell Marco I was there. I don’t need to give either of them any indication that something is off or any reason to suspect me of anything other than being persistent to the point of annoying.

I open Marco’s office door and feel the wall for the light. I don’t know what I’m even looking for. A file. An email? A fucking sticky note?

I’ll probably know it when I see it.

I finally find the light and click it on. No sooner is the room bathed in light than I’m slammed up against the wall.

Marco.

My wrists are pinned above my head.

“You made it back,” he states. The familiar blue vein throbs in his forehead. His eyes are bloodshot, and I can smell the liquor on his breath as it lands hot against my face. He spreads my legs with his knee, further pinning me in place.