Tangled Rose Read Online Free PDF Page B

the memory of their enemies. Making you and the other daughters dance in their clubs is the ultimate humiliation they can put on the men they killed.”
    Rose shuddered. It was even worse than she’d expected. The DRMC wasn’t just a bad MC, it seemed to be actually evil.
    “And has any girl ever escaped?” Rose said.
    Patrice looked over at the door before answering. It was as if he was afraid someone might come in and see them talking. He shook his head. Rose knew what he was going to say before he even said it.
    “It’s the surest way to get yourself killed,” he said. “I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen girls try. Some of them can’t handle the humiliation, they make a run for it, or they talk to someone and try and get help. It never works out. The MC always finds them, always finds out their plan, and punishes them brutally.”
    “Do they kill them?”
    “You can usually expect a warning or two. A brutal beating. But after that, if a girl keeps trying to escape, they’ll put a bullet in her and drop her in a ditch somewhere along the highway. That’s just the way they like to handle people.”
    Rose nodded. “They actually shoot the girls?”
    “That’s if they’re lucky,” Patrice said. “You don’t ever want to get on the wrong side of Serge and Deuce. I’ve seen them do a lot worse than kill a girl. Sometimes they feel like they need to make an example of someone, and then, well, it’s hell. It’s nasty. It’s very ugly. Let’s just leave it at that.”

VII
    R OSE LAY QUIETLY IN THE bed trying to process all that Patrice had told her. It was clear that her position was desperate. It was desperate and it didn’t look like it would be ending anytime soon. If the DRMC’s plan was to humiliate the memory of her father, they’d found the perfect way to do it. She couldn’t think of a more vicious way for one MC to treat the memory of the clubs it had defeated.
    “You want me to go get you a few things?” Patrice said.
    Rose had been so lost in her thoughts she’d forgotten he was there.
    “Oh,” she said, “yes, definitely.”
    “There’s a drug mart nearby. I can get you some clothes and things.”
    “And a toothbrush?”
    Patrice nodded. “Leave it to me,” he said. “You rest up.”
    He got up from the chair and was making his way for the door when Rose stopped him.
    “Wait. You’re just going to leave me here? Without a guard?”
    Patrice looked at her.
    “I know this is hard to understand right now, Rose, but you really have to listen to me. There’s no point in trying to escape. You’re in Val-d’Or. The DRMC owns this town. They run everything. Everyone knows about them. Even if someone didn’t agree with the club they’d never help you. They know too well what would happen to them. You’re hundreds of miles from the next town. Don’t try anything stupid.”
    She looked at him and could sense that he meant well by what he was saying. He was warning her that any attempt at escape was completely futile.
    “How can I just wait here and let them do this to me?” she said.
    “Don’t think about it like that,” Patrice said.
    “What do you mean? How can I think about it any differently?”
    “Just try,” he said. There was a pleading in his voice. “Just try and see this as your life now. Don’t think about escape. Don’t think about resistance. Just try and live with it.”
    “ Live with it?”
    “I know it’s difficult, Rose. I know it’s unbearable.”
    “It is unbearable. How can I accept this? What about my father? His memory?”
    Patrice opened the door. “Rose,” he said more sternly than before, “your father’s dead, and if you don’t want to join him yet, just do you best to accept this. It’s the reality of your life now.”
    *
    P ATRICE LEFT THE ROOM. Rose remained in the bed. The cuts on her wrists and ankles were burning and she hoped he would bring her back something to put on them.
    She took deep breaths. What he’d said was true.