Chapter One
Banshee
Looking up from my place at the bar, I found Gunner barking orders at the prospects as he pointed to multiple bags on the floor.
“Archie, put those bags in the room Amber readied,” Gunner ordered, pointing to Aspen’s bags. “Johnny, put those bags in my room.”
We’d all heard what had happened to Aspen, the woman who ran the flower shop in town.
She’d been living here for almost two years, but I’d never met the woman.
I’d had no reason to visit the flower shop, and the old ladies said she kept to herself, not making much of an effort to get to know the people in town.
“Wait, I am not staying in your room.”
“We’ll talk about it later. Let’s get Aspen settled.”
While Gunner argued with the woman he had been stalking, I searched the room for Aspen. She was easy to find, being the only woman I wouldn’t recognize. Except, I did fucking recognize her. And that was the moment my world tipped on its axis.
There was no doubt in my mind it was her. Her hair was dark, not the golden honey she’d had when she was younger. Her features were a little different, softer.
What the fuck was she doing here, and why was she going by the name Aspen?
I remembered the first time I saw her. She was barely twenty years old, and I felt like a perv when I couldn’t stop staring at her. She was beautiful. And I’ll never forget the day I had to walk away from her.
2018 Little Rock, Arkansas.
“Banshee, get your ass in here!”
“You’re fucked, brother. Steele sounds pissed.” Romeo snickered.
“When isn’t the fucker pissed off about something? You’d think with all the money and pussy the man has he’d smile once in a fucking while.”
“BANSHEE!”
“I’m coming. Keep your drawers on, for fuck’s sake.”
I walked into church and froze. The officers all sat around the table, and at the other end was Kronos, the president of the Gods of Mayhem.
“What’s up?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. Kronos was a son of a bitch on a good day. But given the mood Steele was in, shit might just be flinging from the ceiling fans shortly.
“Kronos has a proposition for you.”
I looked in his direction, and he sat back in his seat. That was when I saw her. Irene. Kronos’ youngest daughter.
I’d seen her a few times when we made a run to the Gods of Mayhem clubhouse. She was fucking gorgeous, and if I wasn’t careful, Kronos would notice the bulge I was now sporting, and it just might get me killed.
His oldest daughter, Diana, twin sister to his son Zeus’, had disappeared back in 2003 when she went to college in New York City. Word was, Kronos had begged her not to go, but he’d spoiled his daughter and just couldn’t tell her no.
She’d been gone for fifteen years. Irene was only eight when Diana left, and when she didn’t come home, Kronos went ballistic, tearing apart the city looking for her.
He was convinced the Soulless Sinners had something to do with his daughter’s disappearance, but without any proof, starting a war would only end badly for Kronos.
Irene had gone to community college. Kronos refused to let her go further than their own backyard. Why he’d brought her here to Arkansas was anyone’s guess.
“What kind of proposition?” I asked, looking at Steele. I knew better than to let my gaze linger on Irene. But the way she sat quietly next to her father, with her hands in her lap and her head down, pissed me off.
“Banshee, the Gods of Mayhem, has built a solid reputation with the Silver Shadows. I’ve been watching you for a while now, and I think you’d be a good fit for my baby.”
My eyes snapped around the room, landing first on Steele, my president, then his brother Stone, my VP. All the way around the table to one of the enforcers, Chasm and our Road Captain, King.
King shook his head, the barest movement. Something was up. I turned to look at Kronos.
“What the fuck does a good fit mean?”
“It means I am trusting you with my youngest daughter.”
Your only fucking daughter, you mean. Fifteen years was a long time for a girl to be missing. If she wasn’t dead, she’d decided she was never coming home, and I had to wonder what would drive a daughter away from her family without a word.
“Kronos, you’re gonna have to spell this shit out to me, ’cause it sounds an awful lot like you trying to sell off your fucking daughter.”
I had to hand it to the man; he could control his temper when he wanted to. If someone spoke to me like that about my kid, I’d fucking put him in the ground.
“Banshee,” Steele warned.
“No, Prez. I wanna hear this shit from him. Am I misunderstanding you, Kronos?”
Kronos stood from his seat and loomed over me. He thought he could intimidate me, but he was fucking wrong. Kronos didn’t scare me. He might be fit for a man in his fifties, but there were fewer years between him and me than there were between me and his daughter.
“I came here to give you the chance to secure a bond between the Silver Shadows and the Gods of Mayhem.”
“By what? Fucking your daughter?”
Irene’s gasp distracted me from ducking when Kronos’ fist shot out and connected with my nose. I heard a crunch and felt the blood dripping over my lips.
Fuck me, the man had a solid right hook.
Respect for my club was the only reason I didn’t swing back. Steele could go fuck himself if he thought I would agree to Kronos pimping out his daughter.
“Banshee, Kronos has generously agreed to let you marry his daughter.”
“His daughter is barely out of high school.” I cracked my neck and finally set my eyes on Irene. “Baby girl, how old are you?”
“Twenty-three,” she whispered.
“Twenty-three.” I shook my head. Glaring at Kronos, I growled, “I’m almost fucking forty.”
“Banshee—”
“I am old enough to be her fucking father,” I shouted.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kronos scoffed.
“How old was Rhea when she had Zeus?” I didn’t dare mention Diana. I didn’t want to get hit a second time. Though, by the way the Gods of Mayhem president was looking at me, I might not be so lucky.
“You keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” he snarled as he bumped me with his chest.
My father tried that shit with me when I confronted him about messing with my little sister. I put him in the fucking ground. Which was where I wanted to put this piece of shit.
“The answer is no.”
“Banshee—”
“He said no, Steele.” Steele looked across the table at Chasm. “The deal was that it was his choice. We agreed not to force a brother to take a woman. Not even to secure an ally.”
Steele narrowed his eyes at Chasm and then turned back to me. “You won’t even consider it?”
“Fuck no.”
Her sharp intake of breath made me feel like an asshole. “It’s nothing against you, baby girl; you’re fucking gorgeous. But you deserve to fall in love. You don’t deserve to be used as a pawn in fucking politics.”
Kronos hadn’t taken his eyes off me. When I met his gaze, I saw the anger he was trying to control. No one told Kronos no. He’d built a name that most men feared.
His club might not be big. They had only one chapter, like us. But the Gods of Mayhem were fucking lethal. They were a club few people crossed.
“Hey, Aspen. You ready to talk?” Blackwater asked in a quiet voice, pulling me out of my memory. Aspen took a deep breath and nodded. She was still that girl who sat quietly in church while her father tried to sell her off.
“Aspen, honey, do you want to talk in private?” King asked.
He and Declan stood off to the side, trying not to crowd her.
Without looking at him, Aspen nodded again.
“Gunner, set them up in church. Nav will shut off the cameras,” King ordered.
“Come on, Haizley.” Gunner helped Haizley from her seat and asked, “Aspen, honey, you ready?”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Standing to her feet, she pushed her shoulders back and shuddered. Amber took her hand and smiled. As they walked toward church, I stepped in front of her.
I tucked a finger under her chin and tipped her head up until she looked in my eyes. “Hold your head high, baby girl.” Her eyes widened with recognition, and I leaned in and whispered, “I want that fucker’s name.”
Aspen stared into my eyes. Her face held a blank expression, but her eyes bored into me. I saw every fear in her eyes as she whispered back, almost too low to hear, “Greg.”
I nodded once, then stepped aside, letting her continue into church. I felt my brothers’ eyes on my back as I stomped out the door.
Son of a fucking bitch!