Chapter Fourteen
My hands were clasped between my knees, the bench beneath my ass was cold but I didn’t move.
I stared up at the house before me. War was on the phone to King, finally letting him know I was safe and that we had captured Mace.
Hudson was moving Mace, securing him in one of the upstairs bedrooms so he couldn’t escape. Ironic how the tables were turned.
Oddly enough, Mace had clammed up after that, said he wasn’t about to repeat himself if he was going to tell us anything, he’d do it in the presence of our President. I couldn’t tell if War was pissed or pleased at the statement. Mace wasn’t letting them intimidate him.
I was confident enough that Warren would speak to dad like he said he would, convince him to give Mace a chance, I had no way of knowing dad’s reaction though.
He may refuse and just kill Mace anyway.
Part of me rejected that idea, not just because it was what I wanted, to keep Mace safe, more because I knew my dad didn’t like knee jerk reactions.
There was a reason why the Devil’s Chaos was so successful, full of loyal brothers who would do anything for him. Well, apart from Omen. Thinking of him and Lily made my blood boil and I was too tired to deal with that anymore.
It was surreal seeing Hudson’s old house like this. I missed the garden, it was so sterile now with paving slabs and decking, and just a few borders with ferns and small trees and a handful of potted plants.
I’d always loved sitting out in the fairy garden his mom made when she was pregnant.
Hudson hated it as he got older saying it was for girls, but she never took it away and he never argued too much about it with her, even at that young age he could see it meant a lot to her, more than any of us had understood.
I tilted my head up to look at the stars above me.
Being caged and sure you were going to be killed gave you a whole new appreciation for the night sky, knowing you were still able to look up at it.
After the talk with Mace, we’d left him and gone into the kitchen, where I filled them in on everything Danica told me.
Hudson seemed troubled by it, but War was mad. So mad he’d punched a cabinet and Hudson had then punched him for damaging his property. It had been funny at first, but the seriousness of the situation prevented me from laughing at them.
War didn’t believe any of it either, but he was troubled there was an aunty we had never heard of, he declared he wouldn’t believe it until it came from dad’s mouth.
The memory of this woman had been completely wiped out.
No one ever mentioned her name, let alone any sign she existed. Even Rosa hadn’t said a thing.
I thought back over the conversation I’d had with Rosa about Danica. It seemed a million years ago now, but I recalled a lot of what she had said. And knowing what I knew now, a lot of things she hadn’t.
We’d decided to spend the night here then figure out how to broach introducing Mace to King. The only thing Hudson said about it was, it wouldn’t be here. He seemed unsettled enough about being here, so I understood.
My mind flashed back to the last time I set foot in this house. Hudson had kicked one of the fairy statues at the wall, shattering it into a million pieces. I’d always thought it was a metaphor for his heart breaking after what his dad did.
As far as I was aware, Hudson has never spoken to, or of his father since the day he went to prison. In keeping this place, it was a way of holding that connection, the way he had wanted to for his mom’s memory, without having to openly acknowledge what he was doing.
The sound of the back door opening had me looking up. I’d expected Hudson but my brother stepped out, closing the door behind him. He was carrying something as he came towards me. It was a blanket. When he reached me, he sat down and spread it over both of our laps, then put his arm around me.
I leaned into him, and he kissed the top of my head. He didn’t need to say anything. I could feel the relief pouring out of him at being able to hold me. He hadn’t mentioned Connor once. All I knew was what Hudson told me back in the motel room.
“Weird being here, isn’t it?” he said.
“Did you know he kept the place?” Warren shook his head. “Has he…spoken to Leon?”
Warren sighed. “No. And Leon hasn’t tried to contact him either. I keep tabs on him though. He’s protected in there, no one bothers him. He has a job, reads a lot, keeps to himself mostly. Every now and then King goes to visit him.”
“Really?” I sat up and looked at Warren. Why on earth would my dad go to visit Hudson’s dad in prison? “Why?”
“I used to think it was to try and convince him to contact Hudson, pretty sure he wanted him to apologize to his son for what he’d done. Not just the beatings,” he sighed heavily. “But, for letting him down so completely.”
“He would have just tore it up,” I said. Warren nodded in agreement. “You used to think that, so what do you think now?”
“Don’t miss a fucking thing do you?” Warren dug his knuckle into my side making me flinch away, but I slapped his chest hard. He laughed as he rubbed it but sobered. “I think he works for him.”
“Doing what?”
“I’ve never asked. I don’t want to know because I don’t want to keep shit from Hud. But sometimes, you need favors from people inside.”
My gut clenched slightly, thinking about what kind of favors he could mean. Both dad and Ballistic had been amazing to Hudson and Ballistic in particular was super pissed with Hudson’s dad for what he did. It made sense they were using him in there.
What I wasn’t sure about was why Leon was doing it.
Leon Kelley hadn’t wanted to live after his wife died.
It didn’t matter to him he still had a young son who needed him.
So why hadn’t he just given up in prison and let it happen.
Not that he would have been killed, but he could have been messed with I guess.
You hear awful things about prisons. Self-preservation must have kicked in. And sobriety would have given him a clearer head I supposed.
He was beholden to the club and whether he liked it or not, King was clearly cashing in.
No wonder Warren didn’t ask questions. Hudson may pretend it didn’t bother him but deep down, I was sure there was some concern for his dad, not love, I think that ship sailed a long time ago, but there was definitely a connection, he would never admit it though.
I could see why Warren kept it from him. His dad was going to die in there. He’d be well into his seventies by the time his stint was served. He was ineligible for parole as part of his sentencing.
“Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I told him, though I could tell from the way he studied me, he knew that wasn’t true but I didn’t want to talk about it. “Are you?”
His turn to look away.
“Warren?” I took his hand and squeezed it. “We’re both okay.”
“I know,” he squeezed my hand back as he sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth.
It was his tell that he was struggling to keep control of everything, he was scared for Connor.
Hudson said he wasn’t out of the woods but at least he was alive.
I’d believed they killed him, so to me, that was a huge relief, but Warren wouldn’t see that the way I did.
“Are you going back to see him?”
“Things are too crazy right now. I’ll call him tomorrow, Rosa is keeping me updated.”
“Warren, he needs-”
“Leave it Waverley.”
His tone was sharp, like nothing I’d heard from Warren, at least, not aimed at me.
Or about Connor. It was written all over his face.
He was terrified. He’d almost lost him and he didn’t know how to deal with it.
Connor did need him but not like this. Warren had to get his shit together because Connor needed him strong, not this angry, hate filled but scared version of Warren.
I didn’t push it because I knew my brother too well.
“How are we playing this thing?” I changed the subject.
“Meaning?”
“Asking dad about Danica, her sister, telling him all the shit she told me?”
“We?” He raised a brow.
“Don’t even think about fucking with me Warren Curtis.”
He laughed, but it was strained. There was a lot going on inside my brother’s head but he wasn’t going to let me help him. At least not yet.
“Maybe I didn’t tell you everything,” I said. “So you can’t shut me out.”
“The fuck?” he sat up quickly, the blanket fell on the floor. It was a shitty quip I should have known better than to use on him.
“Relax, I told you everything,” I scrubbed my hands over my face, I couldn’t lie to him.
I hated the thought of being shut out of everything. It was me who went through this, me who suffered at the hands of our deranged mother. I watched as Warren stood and straightened up after collecting the blanket. He held his hand out to me, and I took it.
“We’re in this together,” he said as we walked back to the house. “He’ll understand that, one way or another.”
“Thank you,” I said softly.
We went inside and found Hudson sitting at the kitchen table, playing with his phone. He looked up as we came in, his eyes moving between us, dropping to our clasped hands. “I told Ballistic we need to meet him and King tomorrow. I asked that it was off compound.”
“Bet that was met with some questions,” Warren released my hand and went to get himself a glass of water. He raised his eyes to me in question, but I shook my head and went to sit beside Hudson.
“I made it clear we had sensitive information. We’re gonna meet at Rosa and Ballistic’s place.”
“And him?” Warren pointed to the ceiling.
“We have to take him,” Hudson looked at me, but I didn’t say anything. “He can wait in the van until we’ve convinced them to listen.”