Ruin Me (#2 in the Brotherhood series)

Chapter 16

Zade

I may be many things but a stupid I am not. Before arriving at the dinner I watched the camera footage from the bar but the I only see when she arrived and then it cuts out and she is no longer there.

Someone clearly cut the footage. Using my technology skills I hacked into the surrounding stores' cameras and all of their footage had been wiped as well. All except one, but the store is far from the bar therefore it didn't have good footage.

When we arrived at the dinner Rayna was fine. Well, as fine as she can be.

As soon as Santiago walked into the room Rayna's body stiffened which is why I started to observe her. Despite the fact that I practically kidnapped her she's never looked at me with such fear, truth be told she's never been afraid of me.

Her eyes widened and I could see her breathing rate begin to increase. She was about to have another panic attack.

I placed my hand on her thigh in hopes she'd relax, but the more Sant spoke is the worse her anxiety got. Hence why I asked her what he did he do?

Everyone in this room is well aware of how Santiago treated women in the past, but o thought he had gotten past that. I don't care if what he did to her was before I married her; the day I said I do to her, she became mine. If he hurt her or did anything to her then I'll be sure to have a little fun tonight. At least that's what I hope

I carefully observe him as he tells the table of his adventures in Philadelphia, but no matter what he keeps skipping over why a girl would lie about such accusations.

"Sant, why did the girl lie on you?" Christian asks as he takes a sip of whiskey.

"She was a greedy hoe. She wanted my money and I wouldn't give it to her." He says nonchalantly.

Anger rises in me and I'm seconds away from pulling outta my gun and shooting him, but Christian speaks again.

"Really? So you're saying she sent you to prison because you wouldn't give her money? What did she do snitch on your operation?"

"Yea..."

Trey's eyebrows furrow, "Nigga try again. We have protection no matter where we go. There's only one two things we don't protect against and that's rape and domestic abuse towards women."

Silence fills the table.

Rayna digs her nails further into my skin. I know it's only a matter of time before she can no longer keep herself together.

Santiago glances at Rayna, and in that moment I get all the confirmation I needed. Some how these two know each other and somehow he was able to find her two days ago, and that's what triggered her panic attack.

Realization hits me harder as I start to go down Rayna's timeline. My heart leaps when I realize that Ray is the woman who sent him to prison for domestic abuse and sexual assault.

My stomach churns and suddenly I feel a wave of nausea. This prick put his hands on my sweet angel.

I down the rest of my bourbon and stare at him. All of my self control dissipates and I take out my gun and place it on the table.

Everyone's eyes land on me. Most are confused, but the ones who see the tension are ready for action.

I point to my wife, who is begging me with her eyes not to do what I'm about to do, but I ignore her.

"Do you know her and before you lie and tell me know I want you to think about how much worse this is gonna turn out for you." I say in a low tone.

He leans back in his chair and smiles, "I guess that cat's out the bag now. So now you can tell everyone how you stole what belonged to me!"

I stand and point my gun at him and Christian does the same, "stole? She was never yours to begin with! What did you do to my WIFE?"

His grin grows wider, and he looks at Ray, "I had hoped you told him, but I guess not. Despite your dumb decision to send me to prison you're definitely smarter than you look." He chuckles and snaps his fingers.

The door to the private room burst open and about seventy men storm in with armor and military grade weapons.

"I loved you all like you were my brothers. It was the fifteen of us against the world. Ten out of all of us are present in this room and many of you can with your wives. We were such a good family. It's a shame, truly. I know I'll no longer be apart of your.... Brotherhood but that's fine with me." Santiago looks at me, "you disappoint me the most. The least you could do was not marry a whore."

I take the safety of my gun. I feel my impulsive behavior start to get the better of me. Our brotherhood meeting prohibited guards so none of us are prepared for this.

We may be armed but not with the weapons he has. As much as I want to pull the trigger I know that's committing suicide. Furthermore I wouldn't be able to live with myself if my angel were to get hurt, or worse.

Every irrational bone in my body is screaming pull the trigger, but my heart won't allow me.

"You're not welcome here anymore!" My friend Tony says

"Truth be told I was always the outsider anyway. Make no mistake, if one of you fire a bullet in my direction as I turn around to leave, these men are going to kill your wives, girlfriends, and you." He says and he gets up from the table and starts to walk away.

His foot steps pause as he turns and looks as Rayna one more time, "I told you I that I don't make empty promises June bug."

With that he walks out of the room with his soldiers following behind.

As soon as they all walk chaos erupts in the room with everyone cursing and yelling at each other.

I pull out a cigarette from my pocket, light, it and sit down. Finally looking at Rayna I realize she's moments away from having another panic attack.

Quickly I out my cigarette. I pick her up and rush towards the back door that leads to a garden. I hear footsteps rushing behind as I sit her down on a stone bench.

Angrily I look behind me and see everyone hovering around her. "Back UP!"

"Give her space she needs room to breathe!" Kennedy orders

I focus back my attention to Rayna. I gently take her shaking hands and place them over my heart.

"Ray, baby look at me." I plead.

Tears stream begin to stream down her face, but she seems to be in some state of shock.

"Ray... look at me!" I yell louder which thankfully grasps her attention.

"Take deeps breathes baby. Breathe in with me. In through your nose and out through your mouth."

She does as I say until I see her body begins to relax and her shaking stops.

I look behind me and see Josiah with an emotionless expression which only means that's he pissed. I remove Ray's hand from my heart and walk over to him.

"I'm gonna kill him." I state angrily

He nods, "Believe me, imma be right there when you do"