Diesel (Aces MC #1)

Chapter 14

Harlow

We stood in the middle of forty acres of beautiful grounds at the Chingford Mount Cemetery, in the pouring rain watching Jimmy's coffin being lowered into the ground. As I watched, I felt guilty that I survived and was standing here, holding the hand of the man I loved. Diesel must have seen the anguish on my face and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze to offer some comfort.

As far as funerals went, it was a nice peaceful service and the club had used a new local florist in the high street. Keira, the lady who owned the shop was talented, she'd made a Harley out of flowers which looked fantastic and I planned on paying her a visit to thank her once things were back to normal.
Jimmy's parents declined to attend, fucking idiots, he may not have had his biological family here but his true family were and they'd come from different charters to pay their respect. There was a huge party planned at the clubhouse tonight in honour of Jimmy and some of the old ladies and hang arounds had stayed behind to get everything ready in time.

Once the service had finished, Diesel held my hand tightly and directed me towards his van as I still couldn't ride on a bike due to my cast, which was frustrating. It had been an emotional day but I'd noticed that Diesel was acting strangely, as if he wanted to get something off his chest. I abruptly stopped walking, loosening my hand from his grasp.
"For fucks sake Diesel, are you gonna tell me what's going on? You're doing my head in." He couldn't look me in the eye which I found unnerving.
I followed his stare towards a group of the guys mounting their motorcycles in the car park and saw that Duke was on his way over, slowly walking around the graves out of respect.

"Ink," Duke said with a nod. "Has he asked you yet?"
I looked slowly between Duke and Diesel, "Asked me what?"
Diesel continued to look everywhere but directly at me. I shrugged my shoulders and turned towards Duke hoping that he could shed some light.
"We have Patch in a safe house, do you want to be present when he meets his maker?"
I could feel the anguish and excitement building inside me. "It's a very fitting day Duke, I'd love to accompany you." I stated, walking towards Diesel's van not looking behind me when I heard Duke's laughter.

The guys rode in unison and we closely followed in the van for thirty minutes to an old farm house in the middle of a field off the beaten track.
Diesel's concerned expression touched my heart but he needn't be worried, I wanted to do this.
"Are you ready for this babe?" he asked leaning over to touch my hand.
I simply smiled and nodded my head before exiting the van following CJ, Locke, Duke and Bear into the derelict building.

Patch was bound and gagged, lying on the dirty floor in the middle of the room. I didn't know what the protocols were for events such as this but my emotions got the better of me and I found myself stalking towards Patch.
"It's a shame you're not naked," I said kicking him in the groin.
Bear laughed as an uncomfortable noise came from Patch, he stalked forward and grabbed his arm roughly and threw him into the chair that was positioned in the middle of the room. Visions of my ordeal sprang to mind, I could see the fear on his face and remembered the feeling of terror. I shook my head not wanting to remember or start to feel sorry for this piece of shit as Bear tied him to the chair securely.

I turned towards Duke, "What are you going to do to him?" I asked genuinely interested.
"That depends on you Ink, do you wanna watch or participate?" Duke asked holding up his hand to stop Diesel from talking.
I nodded my head contemplating what I wanted and more to the point what I needed to do to gain closure and try to move on. I glanced at Diesel who had been silenced by Duke, I understood his difficulty of understanding why I wanted to be involved but I needed Patch to feel my pain.

I took the knife from my belt that Diesel had given me after the second attack and studied it as it glistened in my hand. Slowly walking towards Patch I tapped the blade against my right thigh mimicking what Hawke had done before he stabbed me.
Bending down between his thighs, I could see the anguish on his face but I didn't care, Patch along with Hawke had murdered my dad, I wasn't about to feel sorry for this piece of shit.
"It doesn't matter to me, if you die now or later babe." I said throwing his words back at him before
I pulled the blade up and thrust it down fast into his right leg. Patch let out a loud scream that encouraged me to quickly rip it from his skin and stab the knife into his other leg. He thrashed about in the chair as pain radiated off him and Bear held him firmly as I wiped the blade on his leg and returned it to its sleeve.

I tried to muster as much composure as possible before I stood and walked into Diesel's arms, while trying to look like the event hadn't affected me. I'd made it clear that I wanted to do this but nothing could've prepared me for the way I was feeling right.
I glanced towards Duke, "Thank you, he's all yours now."
Duke nodded, understanding that I'd achieved the closure I so badly needed. I knew that when I left, the building Patch would most certainly meet his death.
Did that bother me? Yes, I was only human. I didn't want anyone to lose their life especially in such a horrific way but Patch was responsible for the death of my father and Jimmy, and I wanted retribution so I allowed the club to deal with it the only way they know how.

Diesel put his arm around my shoulder and led me from the building to the sound of Patches screams. By the time we'd entered the van the screams had ceased and I assumed he was dead.
Diesel placed his hand gently on my thigh and squeezed it lightly, "Please tell me you're okay Ink."
I smiled at the beautiful alpha male beside me. "I am now Diesel, thank you."