Saving Dallas 2 Making the Cut (29 page)

I was relaxed, with my heels kicked off and
my feet propped in another of the dining room chairs. Charlie sat
across from me, the cuffs of his white shirt rolled up to his
elbows. A cigar dangled in one hand while he held an unfinished
glass of cognac in the other. A half empty bottle of Courvoisier
L’Esprit sat on the table between us. We had spent the past few
hours going over my life’s events; from the time my mother was
murdered, up until now. I told him everything about me, my likes
and dislikes, my passions and desires and my love for Luke. For a
little while, I escaped from reality and just pretended I was
talking to a great uncle, or an old friend. Despite Charlie’s
ability to kill with no remorse, or capture and hold people against
their will, he was very easy to talk to. He listened intently to
me. He was patient when I struggled with detail and offered an
encouraging smile when I spoke of my parents and Logan. The cognac
helped to dull the pain when I spoke of Luke and how I had fallen
in love with him. He understood my trust issues and even defended
Luke when I told him about how he had snapped on me that day at the
hospital, telling me that Luke was under a lot of pressure and it
was hard to trust people, especially women you were in love with.
He talked about how difficult it was for a man in Luke’s position
to make clear decisions when his heart pulled him one way, yet his
instincts pulled him another. I was surprised at how much he seemed
to respect Luke, but he used words like ‘people like him’ and ‘his
kind’ reminding me that regardless of his praise, he still thought
Luke was beneath him. When I was finished sharing my life story, I
waited nervously for his proposal. I had no idea what he had to
offer and I took a sip of my drink to help calm my
anticipation.

“Frankie has never had all of his eggs in one
basket.” It was strange for Charlie to use any type of metaphor to
describe someone. He usually just got straight to the point. For
some reason, this relaxed me a little and let me know that our
conversation had become a more personal one.

“He committed a great transgression when he
stole from me. I have been chasing after him for quite some time,
but he has never been worthy enough for me to call in the necessary
reinforcements to capture him. He surrounded himself with people to
protect him, and every attempt I made to bring him here, failed. I
decided it was time to use some leverage against him, so I chose
the only thing that he loved.”

“Maddie,” I confirmed, still not quite
understanding where this was going.

“Yes, Maddie. I told him that if he came
willingly, I would leave her alone. If he didn’t, I would take her
and he would never see her again,” he paused, letting his words
sink in. His plan was to take Maddie all along. “He agreed and at
the same time Luke called asking for my help. I knew Luke must be
pretty desperate to call on me. He knows I don’t do favors without
something in return. He would owe me ten times more than the
information I was going to give him. I made some calls and found
out about your kidnapping, although I didn’t know all of the
details. Frankie didn’t take my threat seriously and tried to run.
He thought that I wouldn’t mess with Maddie. As you already know,
Dallas, I do not bluff. My guys caught up with him, and then went
to Luke’s to retrieve Maddie. I told Luke that I would give him
Frankie in exchange for you.” I froze at his words. Luke had been
set up.

“I was going to kill Frankie anyway. His life
was owed to me, but I wanted to see where Luke’s loyalties lie. I
wanted to see if he was willing to give up everything he had worked
so hard for, for a woman that he claimed to love,” Charlie took a
moment to light his cigar and I thought he looked a little
perturbed.

“Why would you do that?” I asked, my voice
was not accusatory, only curious.

“Luke and I have history. When we parted, it
was not on the best of terms. I let him live, because I knew that
one day he would need me. I underestimated him. I thought he would
call me much sooner than he did. I wasn’t aware of the history he
had with you, or the connection between you and Maddie. Frankie was
going to die at my hands and his daughter would forever pay for his
sins.”

Maddie
. Even if I never would have met
Frankie, this still would have happened. If Luke had not called on
Charlie, it would have been her sitting here and not me. “Of
course, I would have offered her the same life I have offered you,
but she would have spent her life knowing that her father betrayed
her and she was responsible for his shortcomings. After hearing all
of this, you can imagine my surprise when Luke chose Maddie over
you. I knew then that Luke was not aware of the problems between
Frankie and I, but I now understand why he did it. You made him
promise to choose her, because you felt indebted to her.” He had
hit the nail on the head. Maddie had suffered enough. I would not
let her miss out on the life she deserved.

“Her whole life has been in my shadow. I
promised myself that if I ever got the chance to make it up to her,
I would,” I said, playing with the now empty glass that sat in my
lap.

“I made a deal, and I plan to keep it. I
promised Maddie would be left alone if Frankie came willingly. Even
after everything that has happened, my offer still stands. Now I
have an innocent woman here, who is guilty of nothing more than
protecting the ones she loves. I will allow you to leave, Dallas. I
will give you back to Luke, unharmed in exchange for Frankie, but
it will come with a price.” I felt my body come to life, as I sat
up in my chair, full of hope and anticipation.

“You already know my question, but I will ask
it anyway. What is the price of my freedom?” My voice came out
strong and clear, without a trace of fear. Charlie smiled as he
rolled the last bit of cognac around in his glass before finishing
it. His eyes met mine with a look only a heartless man could wear.
When he spoke his voice was cold and full of challenge.

“The ultimate sacrifice.”

Chapter 17

LUKE

I laid in my bed, looking over at the empty
place beside me where Dallas once laid. I would get her back. I
just hoped she had not done anything to make Charlie think that she
owed him something. I had spoken with him earlier, and he agreed on
the exchange, but only on his terms. He seemed almost eager to give
me Dallas and I could only hope it was because she was nagging the
piss out of him. I smiled thinking of how fucking sexy my girl was
when she acted like a bitch. Charlie didn’t know it, but he had his
hands full with that one. He had called me while I was on my way
home; inquiring about things she liked and would need. He wanted
her clothing sizes and food preferences. I made sure that
everything I told him was something that we had shared together. I
knew she was safe, and at the time I thought it was impossible to
get her back. If by some chance I could, I didn’t know how long
that would take, so I made sure to tell him everything I could to
keep her comfortable. Frankie, who was the cause of all this shit,
had turned into a savior. I knew Maddie was struggling with the
fact that once he left, she would never see him again, but she was
better off without the motherfucker anyway. I would be there for
her, just as I had always been.

Charlie’s terms were not ones that I was
anticipating. He wanted Frankie unharmed, which wasn’t a problem,
but he also wanted him cleaned up and dressed nice. I told Red to
take care of it, and she insisted that she do it alone. I knew she
wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize Dallas’s safe return, but she
had something up her sleeve. Maybe she just wanted to give him a
piece of her mind. That sounded exactly like something Red would
do. The worst part of his demands was that he insisted I was to
come alone. I wasn’t scared of Charlie or in fear for my life, but
I knew that was something my club wouldn’t stand for. I also knew
that when Charlie’s guys met me at the state line, if I had anyone
with me, they would not hesitate to call Charlie and let him
know.

“Fuck!” I yelled at the ceiling. I knew I
only had two options. No matter which one I chose, I would be
losing something I loved.

After hours of trying to convince them that
this was best for everyone, I finally talked Ronnie into taking our
brothers back to Lake Charles. Brooklyn needed Ronnie right now. I
knew she was taking some of the blame for what happened. She
thought that maybe if she would have waited a little longer, she
could have done something to prevent Charlie’s guys from taking
Dallas and Maddie. I was actually relieved to know Brooklyn had
left. There would have been dead bodies had she been there and that
was something we didn’t need. I had called an emergency meeting
tonight and I knew the clubhouse was swarming with cuts,
anticipating my arrival. They probably thought I had a plan of
action that would involve us rescuing Dallas from this fucked up
situation. Church tonight would not go well. It might even come to
blows and I was afraid I would lose some brothers over this, but I
had to do, what I had to do.

Tomorrow morning when I left, I was prepared
to not return. I had accepted the fact that when I got there,
things could go bad and I could lose my life. I was ready. I was
not afraid to die, especially when it came to the ones I loved. I
looked over once again at Dallas’s bags, scattered on the floor of
my room. She had hung up most of her clothes in my closet. What
didn’t fit lay on the floor, untouched. Everything smelled like
her. Everything I touched felt like her, and everyone I saw looked
like her. I could spend time beating myself up for not doing
something different, but there was nothing else I could have done.
Seeing Logan’s face every day helped get me through. Maddie stayed
close to me. She was afraid that I hated her for what happened. I
even went as far as to assure her that if Frankie would have backed
out, I still would have found a way to bring Dallas home. I held
her in my arms as she cried. I made stupid jokes to make her laugh.
I did everything in my power to make her happy, but every time I
looked at her, all I saw was Dallas’ face-the one she wore as she
looked at me through the back glass of that SUV.

I knew my girl needed something from me. I
could tell by the look in her eyes. It was the same look she gave
me every time we made love. I knew how to move inside her to make
her come, just like I knew where to place my hands on her to make
her throw her head back in that sexy way I loved so much. She
teased me about my smirk more than once, but always reassured me it
was something she loved about me. I could have looked away, like I
really wanted to. I was ashamed that there was nothing I could do
to save her. That’s what I did. I protected my girl, yet I only sat
there and watched as the most powerful man I knew, drove her away
from me.

I got out of bed and made my way through the
house, smiling at the children that all rushed me with cries of
‘Uncle Luke!’ The ol’ ladies stood as I walked in, all smiling at
me and admiring the way I kissed their children, and made sure to
give each one special attention. I made my way to the kitchen,
taking them each in my arms and holding them a little longer than
necessary. I loved them all for different reasons. Jenn served as a
second mother to me, always ensuring I had everything I needed.
Juggs had a heart the size of the sun, and had blessed our family
with four, healthy babies. Carla was the modest one that kept
everyone in line. Luci had the mouth of a sailor, and handled the
heat when society made false accusations about us via social media.
Baby was a sweet kid that kept to herself, but was down for
anything her sisters had to offer. Texas was the one who kept us
fed. Her ability to make a meal out of nothing, for a bunch of
drunk bikers had saved our lives more than once.

Then, there was my Red. Where Regg sat at my
right hand, she had always been there on my left. She picked me up
when life got me down. She showed me how to love fiercely. She
taught me what family was about when I began to doubt myself. I
would never be able to repay her for what she had done for me. She
was my friend, my sister and my heart. I walked out of my house,
scared to look back at the many lives that I would effect when I
announced my decision. Those ol’ ladies were the ones that stood
behind their men when the shit got bad. They were what kept this
club whole, and I needed them now more than ever.

The bar was lined with men drinking beer and
shootin’ the shit when I walked in. Tiny, Regg, Worm, Coon, Octane,
Bear, Scratch, Buck, Crash, Kev and Boss Hog-my army. The men who
had willingly followed me into possible doom in an effort to
capture the man who hurt the woman I loved. Even if it had ended
badly, not one of them would have done anything different. Three
PROSPECTS stood behind the bar. Marty’s year of prospecting was up,
and the others were not too far behind. I knew where Marty’s
loyalties lied, and I would be proud to call him brother. Regg
noticed me and grabbed a beer and walked towards me.

“Is this gonna be good news, or bad news?” he
asked clinking his bottle with mine and taking a pull.

“News,” I said, not able to look him in the
eye. Out of all my brothers, I knew this would hurt Regg the
most.

“We are ready when you are,” he said,
noticing my avoidance and brushing it off. I had been pretty quiet
since we had gotten back. I hadn’t shared very much with any of
them.

“I’m ready,” I said, turning to walk towards
the double doors that led to the table. I took my seat at the head
of it, looking around the room at the framed cuts that stood for
the fallen.

“Some brave motherfuckers on that wall,” Kev
said as he entered, taking his seat towards the end of the table.
He watched as I nodded at him, and then continued looking at the
shadow boxes that lined the walls. Tiny sat to my right, Worm to my
left and I watched as the rest of the Devil’s Renegades took a
seat, waiting for me to start.