The Damned and the Dead

Chapter Thirty~One

    "What?" I asked faintly. My father's eyes locked with mine and I didn't look away under his gaze.
"William Braddock was in love with your mother and I took her away from him," James answered and I felt as if the air had been knocked from me. "Like you, he blames me for her death. I guess he's finally gettin' around to sicking the hounds on me." I knew there were secrets. My mother had them as well as my father, but I never thought any would come to the surface. Like the past, I didn't want them to be brought up. But, in the end everything you run from just comes back to punch you right in the face.

✞Anna✞

    "He was courting your mother I guess you could say, way before I even met her," James continued to explain. "From what she told me he took care of her and tried countless times to make her his wife. The man was obsessed with her." The gringo with the funny accent had a thing for my mother?
    "When I took her away from that place she cut off all contact with William," James crossed his arms and shifted on his feet. "Every now and then she'd get a letter or a phone call from him, but that was it. The man hated me, he hated me almost as much as he loved your mother."
    "Did he--was he the one who sent those men after my mother?" I asked hesitantly and felt my throat constrict. I had been so close to that gringo, so close that I could have killed him.
    "No," James answered,"he loved her too much to ever hurt her. When she was--when the incident happened he didn't find out until you had left." Incident. I hated that word. My mother was murdered.
    "When he did find out," James continued,"he called me raging about how it was my fault she was dead. He kept saying that I had killed her and that he would kill me too. I guess he's finally come around to wanting me dead."
    The gringo loved my mother. The man who now wanted my father dead had been madly in love with my mother. I don't know why the hell she picked this motorcycle prick over a rich English gentleman, but she did. I suppose girls really are attracted to bad boys. Maybe that's why Dredd had me crumbling. Maybe that's why I'd gone soft.
    Would it have been so bad if she had stayed with the gringo? He loved her obviously more than my asshole of a father did because he cheated on her. Maybe if she hadn't of gotten knocked up with me she would have had a better life. I know she would have.
    "I know you want revenge for what he did," James spoke taking me from my poisonous thoughts,"but he's a very powerful man. You can't take him on by yourself, Anna. It would be suicide." My eyes stared into his that I had once found comfort and love in when I was younger. Now all I saw was deception and betrayal.
    "Sometimes revenge is all we have," I murmered.
    "You're killing yourself thinking like that," his jaw tightened and the lump in his throat bobbed up and down.
    "I died a long time ago," I said and sat back down on the edge of the bed,"you just weren't around to see it happen."
    "Stop talking like that," he quietly demanded and I crossed my arms.
    "What are you planning on doing about him?" I asked.
    "If he wants a fight I'll give him one," James replied and I scoffed.
    "That's what he wants and that's what he expects," I said dryly. "What he won't expect is me coming back from the dead and strangling his pale ass."
    "I'm not letting you go after him and get yourself killed," James said with that 'fatherly' defiance that pissed me off. I groaned in frustration.
    "You can't--" The beginning of my rant was cut off when the door opened slowly reveling long blonde locks that framed the super model face of Jenna.
    "Am I interrupting something?" Jenna asked cautiously and her gaze shifted between James and I.
    "No, come on in," James said simultaneously with my 'yes'. Much to my distaste, the home-wrecking whore slipped into the room and drew close to James' side.
    "I was hoping to talk to Anna alone," Jenna spoke softly and I felt my eye twitch from the amount of anger I was holding in.
    "Do you want to die?" I asked in a sickly sweet tone. James would not like what his precious Jenna would look like if he left me in the same room as her.
    "I don't think that's such a good idea right now," James said slowly while glancing back where I sat on the edge of the bed.
    "Oh," Jenna said in a defeated tone,"maybe some other time then?" She asked and turned to give me a small smile that I scowled at. Bitch.
    "I hope you're feeling better," Jenna said with genuine sympathy to me then leaned upwards and placed a lingering kiss to James' cheek. I scowled again and looked away from the disgusting scene.
    "I'll see you later," James spoke softly down to her.
    "I hope it's soon," Jenna said suggestively and placed her hand on his chest. I rolled my eyes and was relieved when she slowly sauntered out of the room. James' eyes were glued to her purposely swaying hips and I had to force myself to hold in the dry heave that wanted to come out. When the door closed, James turned his attention back to me.
    "You've got yourself a real winner there," I said with sarcasm woven in every word.
    "She's a good woman, Anna," James defended that woman. I laughed bitterly while shaking my head slowly.
    "She f*cked another woman's husband. You both knew what you had waiting at home for you," I bit out harshly. I would never, never forgive him for what he did to my mother. I sure as hell wouldn't accept that leather clad biker groupie either.
    "I don't know about you, but in my book that's not 'a good woman'. My mother was an amazing, loyal, and gorgeous woman; that chick is just skimpy clothes, an ass, and boobs." I said with challenge in my voice.
     "Don't talk about her like that, Anna," James said with warning.
    "Go on and get out of here," I nudged my head in the direction of the door signaling for him to leave. "You're starting to make me sick to my stomach."
     Something flashed in his eyes that made him look almost sad and pained, but I ignored it. The man had a guilty conscience that he wanted to get rid of. That was the only reason he was trying. All he cared about was her; that woman he chose my mother over. The woman he left us for.
    "I'm gonna take care of William, " James said seeming unfazed by my harsh words. "I'm going to make sure he never hurts you again and then I'll fix this. I'll find a way to make things right between us, Anna." He turned and walked to the door leaving me alone in the room.
    I let out a heavy sigh then fell back against the bed wincing when my injured arm bounced a little too hard against the mattress. He planned on killing the gringo, but he was mine. I had to understand what was going on in the head of a man who loved my mother enough to send her own daughter to kill the man he blamed for her death. Once I heard what I wanted then I would kill him . Somehow, I would get my revenge.
✞ ✞ ✞

    Fingers brushed along my cheek pulling me from the sleep I had fallen into and I slowly opened my eyes. Through slits, I could still see Dredd's monstrous body looming over me.
    "What are you doing?" I asked in a raspy voice.
    "Waking you up," he answered simply and pulled his hand away from my face. I sat up and pushed my hair out of my face.
    "Why?" I asked.
    "I want to show you something," he said in that gruff tone of his.
    "Show me what?" I asked with curiosity.
    "Come on," he walked to the door opening it then turned around waiting for me to follow. I stood up and shuffled to the door then followed him down the hall. He went downstairs and I reluctantly followed hearing loud laughter and voices coming from downstairs.
    Dredd waited for me at the last step then wrapped his large hand around my wrist to tug me past the people who cast curious glances in our direction.
    "Where are you taking me?" I hissed when he led us outside.
    "You'll see," he brushed off my question then led me to a row of bikes. He let go of my wrist to straddle a sleek, black bike then turned to face me.
    "Put the helmet on and get on," he said and motioned with his head for me to get on.
    "Aren't you worried that I might knock you out and steal your bike?" I asked. It was tempting, but Dredd was a big guy. I knew I wouldn't be able to get far and I bet he had a hard head anyway.
    "It'd be amusing to see you try," he said in a dull tone. I picked up the helmet and placed it on my head fastening the straps then slid onto the bike. I took quick notice of just how close our bodies were in this position and tried my best to put some space between us.
    "You're gonna have to get a lot closer than that if you don't want to fall off," Dredd said pointedly then turned on the engine. One of his large hands reached down and grabbed my calve pulling me forward diminishing any space that had been between us.
    I placed my hands on my thighs but quickly wrapped them around Dredd's waist when he suddenly pulled away from the line of bikes. My fingers dug into the cool material of Dredd's leather jacket when his bike tore onto the highway picking up speed as he drove towards the setting sun. All I could think of at the moment was: what the hell did I just get myself into?

VOTE...COMMENT...FAN...SHARE???