Payne (The Soldiers of Wrath MC: Grit Chapter Book 3) (2 page)

P
ayne ran
a hand down his face, tired, bored, and wanting only one woman, Vicky. Where was she? He’d seen her talking with Clara but she hadn’t come out to greet him. In the last couple of weeks, she’d been avoiding him, and he didn’t like it. It wasn’t like her. He missed their nights together, their closeness.

“You okay, man?” King asked.

“Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?” He took another large gulp of beer, not tasting it. Nothing tasted right to him anymore.

He was losing his fucking shit, and right now, that wasn’t good. His men were around him, expecting shit from him.

The club whores were out in full force, and he wasn’t interested in their pussy. Only one woman belonged to him, and in his heart, he belonged to her. Clara came out of the clubhouse and moved to King’s side. He saw she looked a little pale.

“You okay?” King asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“I said I’m fine.” She snapped the words out, and then started biting her lip. “It’s nothing. Forget it.”

Payne frowned as she walked away. She was acting strangely, and considering she was strange to begin with, that was saying something. He didn’t like how he was feeling or what was happening around him.

The day wore on, and he lost his temper. Where the fuck was Vicky? Storming into the clubhouse, he looked around the main room, the bar, the pool room, going toward the walk-in pantry, only to find everything empty. Her presence was nowhere. Heading upstairs, he went looking for her in his room, and what he found turned his stomach. He had a small wardrobe, and drawers. Both were open, empty of her clothes. Going to the bathroom, he saw that all of her stuff was gone as well. Vicky had gone. She had left.

He knew it without a shadow of a doubt.

“Will you leave me a note if you ever go and I’m not here? So I don’t worry about you?”

“No, Payne. When I go, I’ll only be a memory. I won’t cause any trouble. That’s not who I am.”

It was a distant memory, so old it had almost faded. She had been part of his life for so long that he’d not even considered her ever leaving. Clara’s pale face. The fact Vicky hadn’t come out with her. She knew, and he was going to find out where the fuck Vicky was.

He left his room, slamming the door as he did. Leaving the clubhouse, he saw Clara resting against a tree. King was there in front of them. They both looked so happy, so at peace, and he was about to ruin that. He would kill Clara if he had to.

“Hey, Payne,” someone said.

Payne shoved them out of the way, charging toward the woman that had known. She knew Vicky was leaving, and rather than warn him, she just let her go, and he was pissed. So fucking pissed.

He pushed King aside and wrapped his hands around Clara’s neck, pinning her against the tree.

“Payne, what the fuck? Get your hands off my woman!”

“Where is she?” he asked.

Clara held onto his arm but she didn’t fight him. Squeezing her throat a little tighter, he stared into her eyes, letting her know he would kill her.

“Payne!” King said.

“Vicky is gone. She knows, and I’m not going to rest until I find her.”

“You think this is the way to let everyone know that you’re in love with Vicky?” King asked, stepping in close.

King didn’t make a move to attack him. He was a smart man. There was a reason that Payne was the Prez of the Soldiers of Wrath: Grit Chapter. No one could best him in a fight. He was the best, the strongest, and the hardest.

“Do I look like I give a fuck right now? She’s gone. How long?”

“Clara doesn’t know anything.”

Payne smiled. “Do you want to tell him the truth?”

“Yes, I know.”

King froze.

Clara swallowed. He felt the action against his palm. “I knew she was going. I didn’t say anything, and I gave her a chance to get away.”

Payne pulled her toward him. “Where is she headed?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know where she is going, only that she is.”

“Why?”

“She told me it was time for her to move on,” Clara said.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not. Vicky wouldn’t tell me because she knew your crazy ass would do this, and she didn’t want to risk me getting hurt. That’s all you seem to know, isn’t it, Payne, hurting people?”

He glared at her.

“You were breaking her heart. It’s what you do best. You break hearts, and don’t give a fuck about the person that you leave behind,” Clara said.

“Stop it, Clara.”

“What? Stop telling the big bad Payne what an asshole he’s been? Vicky deserved better than you. You saw what a gem she was, and you stuck your claws in, dragging her back to your fucking lair, and then proceeded to hurt her.”

“I would never hurt her,” Payne said, gritting his teeth.

“No? Then tell me why she has spent so much time crying in my lap? Why she would do anything to get away from you?”

“I love her,” he said. He spoke the words against her ear so that only she could hear them. “I need her.”

“Not enough to claim her. She was just a hole for you to use.”

Payne let her go. There was no point choking her, or killing her. It wouldn’t get him any closer to Vicky, and when he did finally find her, she would be pissed at him for killing her best friend.

“Vicky was never a hole. Do you think it was easy for me to keep holding back from her? She is all I think about. I’ve got a club to lead, and with that comes risks. I thought you’d understand that, being King’s old lady. I couldn’t risk Vicky.”

“Then you should have told her all of that. Besides, you should trust Vicky. She would have been proud to stand by your side, and she wasn’t stupid.”

He snorted. “I know she wasn’t.”

“Nor was she reckless. Vicky is—she’s fire, Payne. You don’t see that inside her, but I know her. She’s fire, and you, with constantly pushing her away, you put that fire out, and that’s not fair on her.” Clara rubbed at her neck. Bruises had already started to appear.

“Can I contact her?” he asked.

She sighed. “I know she took her cell phone. For how long, I don’t know.”

Payne left her and made his way back into the clubhouse. Going to his office, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number. His heart was racing, and for the first time in his life, he felt sick to his stomach.

“Is Clara alive?” Vicky asked, picking up.

“Come home.”

“Is she alive?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Fine.”

The call went dead, and he was in so much surprise that for a few seconds he simply stared at his cell phone. When he dialed her phone again, he got the message that the caller was currently busy.

Slamming his fist onto the desk, he waited another few seconds, and dialed again.

“She’s alive. I just checked,” Vicky said.

“I would have told you!”

“I’m not playing games with you, Payne. You wouldn’t answer, and I care about Clara.”

“You don’t care about me?”

“Don’t. You don’t get to question my feelings for you.”

Sitting back in his chair, he closed his eyes. Just hearing her voice helped calm his very soul. “You left.”

“I told you I would.”

“I want you to come home.”

“No.”

V
icky had done it
, just left, hadn’t told Payne about the pregnancy, and she felt scared shitless.

It was wrong not to tell him about the baby, she knew that, but she was also afraid of his reaction. Would he blame her, thinking she “trapped” him? She also didn’t need her heart broken all over again at hearing him say he only wanted her as a piece of ass.

She stared at her cell phone, her heart racing at just getting off the phone with Payne. He’d said he wanted her to come back, but was that because he saw her as his property? She loved him, was so in love with him it hurt, and she knew Payne wasn’t the type of man to settle down.

He’d told her that, and she’d heard that from others at the club.

No, she’d made the right decision for herself and for her unborn baby. Placing a hand on her belly, she looked down. She wasn’t showing, and the thought of her stomach getting big, the baby in her growing, becoming strong, healthy, had her smiling.

She just hoped Payne let this be, because they both would have a better life if they weren’t with each other.

You say that, but you know you don’t mean it.

Vicky didn’t know what the future would hold for her and her baby, but she knew she could get through it. She’d been through a lot of shit back in the day, and although it had been hard—and this would be by far the hardest—she’d prevail.

I have to, because there isn’t any other choice.

* * *

P
ayne was a fucking fool
. And it had taken Vicky leaving for him to realize the best thing in his life had walked away.

You have no one to blame but yourself. You fucked up, didn’t want commitment, and now look at what the fuck went down.

He paced the meeting room in the club, waiting for Brix, one of the newly patched members, to come in. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.

“Yeah,” Payne barked out and turned to face the door.

Brix pushed the door open, a laptop under one arm and a scowl on his face. “What the fuck, man?” He asked, looking sleepy as hell. “It’s early as shit.”

“It’s fucking noon.” Payne wasn’t amused.

“I had a long night with two very eager club whores.”

Payne tipped his chin toward the computer. “You can pretty much find out anything about anyone with that thing, right?”

Brix gave him a “are you kidding me” look. “Hell yeah.” He went over to the table and set the computer down before taking a seat. “I can find out the bra size of your girlfriend from tenth grade if I want.”

Payne snorted and went over to the other man.

“So, you want to know something about guns, drugs, or pussy?”

“What makes you think it’s about one of those?”

Brix looked over at him. “You gonna tell me it’s not?”

Payne didn’t speak for a second. He sat down in the seat across from Brix and glowered. “I need you to find out where Vicky is.”

Brix grunted, the sound making Payne know the other man was satisfied he’d been right.

“Can you track her cell phone?”

“Can I track her cell phone?” Brix said in a sarcastic tone. “It’ll take some time, but I should be able to locate where she’s at.”

Payne nodded and stood. “I have shit to do, but as soon as you know something call me.”

Brix nodded, already working on the computer.

Vicky thought she was just going to run from him? Hell fucking no.