Rivals ? - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

Again, Raine's eyes were stinging. He was a mess, and somehow he needed to get his act together before he would leave this room. Softly, he pressed his lips to Juice's; his breathing told him the man had fallen asleep.
Raine swallowed. "It's insane how you can still make me feel the happiest man on Earth in all the shit we're in," he whispered. "And I don't know how our lives will change now they know the truth, but I'd love nothing more than becoming your husband."
It was a thought that crossed his mind a few times the past weeks. Especially when he decided to tell the club about Juice, he fantasized that they would support his decision to be with Juice, and in some future scenarios he had seen the aisle too, where he had put a ring on Juice's finger.
He got up, covered Juice's body carefully with his duvet and looked once more at the bruised face of his lover. His stomach cramped up again, the guilt was still plaguing him. He blamed himself — it had been irresponsible to send Juice to Sasha. He should have known that Esai would make sure his niece was safe after their father went missing. Because of all the chaos he hadn't been able to think straight — and for that, Juice had paid a heavy price.
It however did provide him some information — the Sons were dealing with a similar kind of situation. He picked up Juice's jeans from the foot end of his bed and reached into his pockets until he found his cellphones. The fanciest one belonged to Juice himself, the simpler version was meant for club business. Raine put the latter back, even though he knew there might be valuable information on it. He unlocked Juice's phone, feeling relieved when there was no password demanded, and left the room, locking the door intentionally to make sure nobody could go near his boyfriend.
Okay —what now?
More than anything he wanted to go to Sammy to make sure she was all right, but he knew he had to wade through a clubhouse full of people with questions first, and he had information to share. It was better to bite the bullet right away.
A tense silence filled the room when Raine entered the clubhouse. He read disapproval in the eyes of his brothers — in all of them. Although nobody was moving, it felt like he was enclosed while they gave him no room to breathe.
A shiver went down his spine. Was Juice really safe here?
"I got a lead," he said, hoping it would improve their mood.
He jolted when his president looked him square in the eye. There wasn't a glimpse of sympathy in his eyes. "As it seems, you have some explaining to do first."
Raine sighed. Should they really do this now? He was exhausted, he wanted to see Sammy, he wanted to find his father, he wanted Juice to be safe and to feel better...
"There isn't much to explain now, I guess. Juice and I fell in love and we first wanted to make sure it worked before we would tell our clubs. Ask Angel about it if you want — I told him about Juice when I was in Santo Padre and I told him my feelings for him are serious and that I planned to take it to the table once I was back. Sadly, it all took a different turn."
Marcus raised his eyebrows. "And you really thought we would approve of this relationship?"
"As far as I know, the club doesn't decide who we marry. Juice and I never talk about our clubs — we never have. Some of you neither share details with your spouse."
"But we don't sleep with our enemies," someone else objected.
"We're not in a direct war. Yeah — things are tense and there is a lot of history between the two clubs, but right now we're facing the same problems. Like missing parents." He gave his president an intense look. "I understand there are sanctions, and I even get it when you kick me out. But can we please find my dad first? He is kidnapped, and my relationship with Juice has nothing to do with it. The longer we wait, the harder it is to find him."
Marcus heaved a deep sigh, then he nodded. The look in his eyes however told him this conversation wasn't over.
Esai was less subtle, and huffed: "If you hadn't been so keen on playing nurse, this conversation wouldn't have been there in the first place."
"Well you better be glad I did play nurse; if not we still would have been in the dark. Juice told me the mother of one of his brothers went also missing a couple days ago. Someone reported a black van — possible the same van that drove the two Sons off the road. I wouldn't be surprised if we have a common enemy — someone who is consciously stirring us up to see how we respond."
Marcus' fingers stroked his goatee while thinking. "Fine," he said eventually. "What do you suggest? Is your... informant still conscious?"
Raine gritted his teeth, talking so distantly about Juice annoyed him. "He's asleep," he said. "But I do have his phone." He hesitated. "Chibs knows about us, he saw us in the hospital. I can call him, so he can mobilize the Sons. There seems to be a pattern now — maybe we should ask around to see if there are other charters were people went missing. And maybe Panthom can find some camera footage close to my father's house, so we can look for black vans."
Raine knew very well he was on thin ice now. He was probably the last one they'd take orders from. Yet, Marcus nodded.
"Is Sammy with Diana? I gotta make sure she's okay."
"Sammy and Sasha are both with her," Marcus confirmed.
Raine interpreted his answer as permission to leave. Once he was outside, he pulled Juice's phone out of his pocket, searched for the name "Chibs" and called. Nervously he bit his lip, wondering whether he was putting Juice in danger now or not. They could consider this as passing on information — and especially now their secret came out, he feared the consequences. But this was about his father's life, and the life of an innocent woman. Furthermore he knew that Juice wanted him to use the information; if not, he never would have mentioned it.
"Juicy!" the man said with his thick Scottish accent. "How ye doin'? What's the rush, huh?"
"You're speaking to Raine."
A pauze. "Oh?"
He took a deep breath. "My brothers know. About Juice and me. They were pretty rough on him, but it's our own fault." He rubbed his face. "Anyway, my dad is kidnapped and Juice told me something similar happened to you guys. I told the others; we agreed that we might need a truce until we've found our people. There's good reason to assume we're having a common enemy."
He heard Chibs sigh. "Tha's a lot of information ye got there, lad."
"Yeah."
"Where's Juice?"
"He's asleep. He — he will be fine. I need to see the rest of my family." He closed his eyes. A pounding headache arose and his thoughts and fears started to merge into one another. "Could you please help me?" he asked quietly. He felt weak when he heard the tremble in his voice, but now Juice was injured, his father was missing and his club was pissed at him, he didn't know what to do anymore. He wiped his shoulder across his cheek when a tear glided down. He didn't want to cry, but it was all getting too much. Imagines kept forcing themselves upon him; of Juice, bound to a chair, his head hanging, and masked men cutting his father to pieces.
Sniveling he breathed in. He was exhausted, and it didn't look like he would get some sleep anytime soon.
"Lemme see what I can do, kid. I'll be in touch." A brief silence fell. "Hang in there, aye?"
"Thank you."
He put his phone away, mounted his bike and rode to Marcus and Diana's house, which was only two blocks away. After ringing the doorbell, he leaned against the door frame, wavering inside when Diana opened the door.
"Raine... you look terrible!" Diana eyed him up and down — a motherly look in her eyes which was inevitable when you had seen someone grow up since kindergarten.
"How is Sammy?" he asked.
"She's finally asleep." She studied his face. "Some sleep will be good for you too. Is there any news about your dad?"
"Not much," he muttered. "All we know is that someone kidnapped the mother of a Son as well. We're trying to team up." Now he was standing here, he started to feel restless again. Taking Juice's phone from his pocket, he concluded that Chibs hadn't called him back yet.
"Come sit down, boy. Let's make you some chamomile."
Raine didn't have the energy to object. Soon he would peek around the corner to make sure Sammy was fine, but right now he doubted he would even reach the top of the stairs. He felt weak as water; his whole resilience seemed to be smashed to pieces.
While Diana went to the kitchen, Raine sat down on the couch. He leaned forward, his head in his hands. So many uncertainties. So many things that could go wrong. So many things he could lose — people he could lose...
The couch sank, and a moment later he felt an arm around his shoulders. "What's going on, son? You know the club will find your father, right? Don't worry so much, sweetheart."
Raine leaned into her, closing his eyes. He missed his own mother, his sister. He tried to man up, but instead, he started crying again. Diana rubbed his back in soothing circles while he kept wiping the tears away.
"I'm not sure I'll still have the club after what I did, Diana," he said in a rough voice. "I fucked up pretty bad."
"What did you do, sweetheart?"
He dropped his eyes. "I fell in love with a Son."