Vicious

Chapter Four

From the outside, Joe’s pub looked like every other non-descript pub in England. People bundled outside under the awning as it began to rain, sucking on cigarettes as if the nicotine itself could provide the comfort they so clearly sought. The large glass window could have been inviting, but in this setting I simply found it sad, giving you a street view of the drunken pub and its patrons. I stepped through those bundled up bodies, with their burning filters between fingers and mouths, and through the dark wooden thresh-hold of a door. 

It was like coming home and realising that it was no longer home - that it no longer fit, and it had probably been that way for a lot longer than I had labelled it - if I felt like being honest with myself. It was too small - too stifling for the life I wanted, for the choices I wanted to simply be able to choose to make. 

Despite the bustling crowd of smokers outside, the stale smell of cigarettes still lingered in the air, pressed in on those maroon carpets that lined the floor. The small round high wooden tables, complete with bar stools, spattered throughout. The bar boasted a few local patrons, but other than that it was fairly empty - probably by design. Depression and desperation clung to the walls, filling a Serazzi like me with all kinds of hope and calculating on just how to pounce on such weaknesses. 

I hated that this scheming and conniving ability was in me. I still wasn't sure if I was born with it or if I had simply developed it over time from the sheer amount I was around my father and his cronies, privy to their conversations. 

The elderly man behind the bar dipped his bald head in greeting, motioning that the door next to the bar was open. Joe for today - we had a few rotating Joe's - all elderly, all bald, all under my father's thumb. Of course the door was open for me. For me, that door was rarely shut.

I steeled my shoulders and walked through the green painted door into an entirely different world - one that I was still comfortable in, yet simply didn’t want to be in. I supposed that was the difference between Lucio and I - I simply didn’t want to be there, and he couldn’t understand why. I didn't want to be beholden to my father's organisation - to his antics, where every friend I had was scrutinised and my boyfriends were brought in for questioning. Of course that became A moot point - because if I just gave in and gave dated Lucio then this wouldn't be an issue. 

Why didn't I want to be there when with their connections the world was at my feet? Simple. Because with them came strings, and with those strings came a lack of freedom. 

Tommy, a hulking bulk of a man with the smile of a sweetheart, led me down the hall, rapping his knuckles once against another green door at the end of the hallway. His knuckles were bruised and split - something that should have bothered him simply didn't - no doubt due to carrying out some or other message for my father. Along the way other doors stood open, boasting card games and an array of gamblingg. Business as usual. Someone called my name room, but Tommy hustled me along quickly before I could even reply. 

“Come in,” I heard Lucio’s grumble behind the door and watched almost helplessly as Tommy swung it open. 

I plastered a smile on my face, faking all the confidence I could in the current circumstances. Stepping into the room, that same maroon carpet taunted me, reminding me of all the despicable things I had already witnessed occur within this room. The very room that had caused me to run in the first place, seeking more than just violence and chaos under the guise of family. Maroon was a choice colour simply because it didn't show up any blood, or if it did you could pass it off as a stain. 

I glanced around, a frown forming on my face. My father was nowhere in sight. 

Lucio sat behind the large mahogany desk, shuffling papers around - probably ensuring that no one was skimming anything off the top. 

I stood and watched his muscles bulge and flex from beneath his black shirt, his gaze solely focussed on a piece of paper in front of him. A pair of glasses sat perched on the edge of his nose, his dark hair styled to the side. Few people saw this side of Lucio, fewer people even knew he had reading glasses. 

I tried to still my nerves and not bounce between my feet. I blew out in frustration, waiting for Lucio to glance up at me. It was the same tactic my father used on occasion, and seeing Lucio use it on me only served to infuriate me. Whilst my father was certainly training Lucio to take over from him, I never thought he’d use these tactics on me. 

Finally, he glanced up and saw me standing at the entrance, Tommy at my back. He pulled the glasses off his nose and placed them neatly on the table, amongst the paperwork. 

“Vivienne,” he said, saying my name as if it were a term of endearment itself. 

I smiled, “Hey Lucio,” I said as I seated myself in a chair opposite him. 

He looked at me carefully and leaned across the desk. 

“Why were you on Hell Hounds soil?” He asked, ignoring all additional pleasantries, his rolex glinting in the overhead lights. I knew that those lights were strategically placed, casting the light at the right angle, ensuring that whoever sat behind that desk looked menacing - intimidating really.  

“Because,” I said, flipping my hair over my shoulder, “Sadie - who is my best friend - is currently staying at the Clubhouse, so I went to go and see her.” 

He narrowed his gaze at me, as if he could see my bullshit for what it really was. 

I made a show of looking around the office, “where is my father?” I asked, the row of certificates and photographs adorning the back wall. I knew that if I squinted carefully, I would see photographs of myself in that mix - we were family after all. 

“Not here.” 

“Why thank you captain obvious. Seriously though, where is he?” I demanded. 

“He is travelling on business.” 

That didn’t bode well for me. 

“Do you want to tell me why Sadie and you were seen partying with the Sergeant in Arms of the Hell Hounds London Charter in Luxembourg?” Lucio seethed. 

I closed my eyes. He had me followed. I should have known that they would have me followed, but I trusted them to leave me alone - let me live in peace. Sure, I expected the occasional security precaution, but I didn’t expect to be followed in the town I had moved to. Not when I had moved to gain freedom - space. Additionally - I didn’t know that Axel was the Sergeant in Arms - he hadn’t told me, no one had. I supposed I should have been proud of him for earning that title, but it did nothing to lessen the tension riding through me, and I was fairly certain it wouldn’t score me any brownie points with Lucio. 

“He came to see Sadie,” I smiled tightly, knowing that we were skating on thin ice. 

“I thought you moved to Luxembourg to escape unsavoury characters, not engage with them,” he sounded bitter when he spoke, almost accusatory. 

“Lucio,” I spoke gently, “I didn’t leave you, I left the entire organisation.” 

“Because we were too unsavoury for you - I was too unsavoury for you! And then you go and fraternize with the enemy. Do you have any idea what those men are capable of?” He seethed. 

I heard the low click of the door behind me as Tommy finally closed the door on our conversation, shielding us from prying eyes and ears. 

“I imagine the same things you are capable of, just without my father’s instruction.” 

He narrowed his gaze on me, “Do you think this is a joke?  You are lucky they don’t know who you are! You would be a prize hostage for them to barter with - and make no mistake, we would barter for you - even if it has to be in bodies.” His tone was menacing, and I had to fight the urge to shrink back from it- to shrink back from him. 

I shivered. I hadn’t thought of it like that - would Axel and the club keep me as hostage simply to gain one up on their opposition? I didn’t know. I would hope that this baby would change things, but I still wasn’t sure - all I had were Axel’s promises. Axel had just found out who I was - who I was tied to and what legacy awaited me. Not even Sadie knew, and I swallowed down that guilt of not telling her. 

“Why was Ammo escorting you off their property?” He continued asking me questions before even giving me a chance to reply. 

"Because.." 

He cut me off once more. 

"Why were you at the club looking for Ammo and not Sadie?" He asked, a smirk plastered on his face, but it couldn't hide the disdain in his eyes. 

How on earth did he know that? Did they have someone on the inside of the Hell Hounds feeding them information? It wouldn't surprise me. 

"Do you know," he spoke slowly, "that Sadie was kidnapped and had been missing for the last two days." 

My eyes flared in surprise. 

"So you see Vivienne, it is impossible for you to have simply gone to the Hell Hounds London Charter 'to simply see your friend'," he sneered. 

I sat quietly, my hands feeling clammy from the nerves, awaiting his next question. 

"I'm going to ask you again: why were you on Hell Hounds soil?"

My hand travelled to my stomach of its own accord, lingering there - reminding me that it was no longer just my life at stake. 

It was the wrong move. Lucio tracked my movement, his eyes glaring at my hand lingering above my stomach. 

“Are you and Ammo together?” he demanded, leaning forward even further across the desk, showing a hint of his gold chain that I knew held a cross at the end of it. 

I remained silent, unsure of what to say. 

“Are you pregnant?” he seethed. 

I looked up at him and saw the anger swirling in the depths of his eyes, and still I could not deny it. I could not deny this child of mine, and so I nodded.