Elwood’s gaze landed o
n Valentina again, who was standing beside me, half shielded by my body now.
“And who is this?” he asked, and I could sense the deathly silence around us. It was the question that was on everyone’s mind. Including Commando’s, even though he hadn’t asked me directly.
“This is Valentina Luis, her father is Romero, the former leader of the Muerte Viviente,” I replied and watched as Elwood’s brows furrowed in confusion.
“You mean the same fuckers who got the Black Skulls involved in the fighting ring business?” he growled, turning his rage to Valentina now. I said nothing but only tipped my head once in response.
“The same fuckers who I had to rescue you from ten years ago?” Elwood continued in the same barking voice, and now he stood up from the stool. I could see him taking slow, dangerous steps towards Valentina. His mouth was scrunched angrily; he was breathing fire from his nose. The Muerte Viviente had been a pain in the ass for him for a long time, and now he had the daughter of their leader in front of him.
I didn’t want to fight Elwood, but if he laid a finger on Valentina…
“Daughter of their former leader. My dad is old and sick now, he wasn’t involved with the Black Skulls and their fighting ring,” Valentina spoke up, and I jerked my head down to look at her. I could see the fear mixed with defiance in her eyes. She was staring Elwood down, holding her chin high up in the air.
Elwood stopped in his tracks; the room was still silent. He hadn’t expected Valentina to speak up like that. He grunted, as his eyes roamed over her, he was still sizing her up.
“And what are you doing here? Daughter of the former leader of Muerte Viviente,” he said, in a low hissing voice.
“They were holding her captive. Romero owes the Muerte Viviente money, which he hasn’t been able to pay back. They kidnapped Valentina as revenge,” I cut in, and Elwood turned his emblazoned eyes at me again. I could nearly feel the heat coming out of his nostrils now.
“And what is it to you?” he asked, and I clenched my jaw. He was going to make me confess my feelings and my past, in front of all my brothers here.
“She’s my friend. I knew her from when I used to work the fighting rings for her father,” I said, and Elwood and I locked gazes. He was searching my eyes, trying to figure out the truth behind my words. Then he snapped his head away to look at Valentina again.
“Friends huh?” he said, and he looked into her face, and she looked back. I was proudly surprised that she had the courage to stand up to Elwood, to look him in the eye. She knew exactly how he felt about her father and the rest of the gang that he used to belong to.
“And you’ve brought her here?” he asked me, and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I rescued her from her captors, and she needs to be kept safe,” I replied, and Elwood narrowed his eyes at me.
“And you want to take on the responsibility of keeping a Muerte Viviente girl safe?” he countered.
“Yes,” I replied, as authoritatively as I could. It would be within the MC code and within Elwood’s power to refuse Valentina’s presence here, on Rogue Rebels territory.
Elwood grunted, then turned from us and walked back to his stool.
“You’re taking too many risks that are unlike you, King,” he said and reached for his can of beer that was resting on the bar counter all this while. He took a swig of it, and when he was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “It’s how we turn into men,” he added, and I stared back at him.
Had he permitted me to give Valentina the MC’s protection?
“She can’t stay with you. They’ve seen you rescuing her, they’re going to come after you,” Elwood continued, and I looked at Valentina, whose eyes seemed diffused. I could see that she didn’t want to stay anywhere else, but with me. Elwood was right though.
“I’ll find somewhere for her to stay,” I said, and he tipped his head to me.
“And let’s make sure that those motherfucking Black Skulls know exactly what they’re in for. Using kids for fight clubs is not going to go unpunished,” he cried out loud, and a huge cheer flew around the room. The MC was still bloodthirsty. Our business wasn’t finished yet.
I met Valentina’s eyes and a weak smile formed on her face. She knew I had meant it when I told her that I was going to keep her safe. Before we walked away from Elwood, he stopped us in our tracks.
“I’ve always been curious. What the fuck does Muerte Viviente mean? Something Spanish?” Elwood was speaking to Valentina directly. She smiled, as she answered him.
“Living Death,” she said.
Chapter 8
Valentina
“Where are we going to go?” I asked Jesus as we walked out of the bar that was bustling with noise now. My first experience of Church had been exhilarating. One moment I was trembling with fear and nervousness, and in the next, I had gathered up courage out of nowhere to hold a conversation with the leader of the Rogue Rebels. A man I knew Papi used to despise.