Chapter Twenty-Three #3
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine but he nodded.
I stepped back but went over to my brother and threw my arms around his neck.
He was surprised but he hugged me back after a second.
I didn’t say anything, just kissed his cheek and then walked away from them.
I wanted Warren to know I loved him no matter what he was about to do, for some reason, something was telling me he needed to be reminded of that.
Casper let me know King was with someone, so I grabbed a breakfast burrito from a takeout box that had been left on the counter in the kitchen.
I made a mug of coffee then went back into the bar to sit and eat.
It seemed like forever ago I woke up here that first morning to Tanya and Gia having their bitch fight.
Smokey was sitting in a corner, quietly drinking coffee.
I gave her a wave when she noticed me, she smiled back.
It was hard to believe her and Jolene were club girls.
They never flaunted it and I’d never actually seen them going off anywhere with anyone other than Connor.
I knew what he was going with them for too.
The girl who put her hands on Hudson came over to sit with Smokey. She welcomed her happily enough but when she started staring at me, Smokey quickly nudged her and spoke in hushed tones. The girl was wide eyed but she nodded. She knew now not to mess with me or Hudson.
“Waverley.”
I turned to see King at the end of the bar. I expected him to take me back to his office but he headed for the front door of the bar. When I asked where we were going, he said he needed some god damn air. Fair enough. I followed him outside.
A few guys said hello to him, or stopped him but they didn’t talk business when they realized I was behind him. Eventually, we left all the disruptions behind. He didn’t stop walking, he went beyond the swimming pool and towards the slope that led up to the lake.
The Shed and the cabin where Mace was staying was off to the right and the houses where Hudson and I had spent the night were on the left.
I decided to wait him out. We passed close to his cabin.
Mace and Handlebar were outside talking.
I frowned, not knowing what was going on there.
King saw me looking and nodded in their direction.
Handlebar raised a hand, Mace nodded back. The curiosity was killing me.
King shoved one hand in the pocket of his jeans, he didn’t stop walking but he diverted us away from the two men. We came to a stop when we neared the lake. I didn’t think King spent any time up here but I’m sure he knew it was where we all hung out. We walked over to the bench and sat down.
“Did Hustle tell you much about what went down?”
“He didn’t tell me anything,” I said, not wanting him to know Hudson had mentioned the cartel, and added, “I didn’t ask.”
King chuckled but it didn’t last long. “We didn’t manage to take out Nytro and another of his officers. Some shit went down, and it got in the way of what we were doing and they managed to leave. But you don’t need to worry. The Kingsmen are over, Nytro is in hiding for his own safety now.”
“Where does that leave Mace?” I couldn’t help but ask that question.
“Mace will be fine,” he said looking at me. “He’s proven himself to me, that’s all you need to know.”
“You should patent that phrase.”
“Maybe I will,” he stroked his beard thoughtfully. “There is no easy way to say this other than to just lay it all out for you.”
My heart jack hammered slightly. Something terrible was coming, I could feel it.
“Everything Danica has done has been about money. She killed your mom over it, she tried to kill her while she was pregnant with you both, but we hadn’t figured that out until recently,” his face had darkened as he spoke.
“Your great grandmother was left a massive fortune when her family all passed. When her daughter married into the Walkers, got involved with the MC, she disowned them, but she still had a will. After your grandmother, Danica’s mom died, the beneficiaries automatically moved on to her kids.
We don’t know the full reason why, but Danica was disinherited. Everything was going to your mom.”
“She killed her for the inheritance? It would go to her if mom was dead.”
“Turns out it wouldn’t, but at the time she didn’t know that. The money goes to you.”
“Me?” I reared my head back slightly in shock. “Why would it go to me?”
He went on to explain the female only succession of the inheritance and after Danica’s original plan to take out her sister failed, she killed her with the intention of taking her place so she could control me. But that backfired too.
I listened as he told me about where she had been since she ran, the trail of rich men she’d left in her wake, the final guy she married who’d died recently leaving her in debt. So now, she really needed that money.
“She is a narcissistic, sociopathic bitch who doesn’t care about anyone, and she would step over everyone to get what she wants.
I don’t know what she intended on doing with you but once you got the inheritance on your twenty fifth birthday, which is in less than six months,” he looked at me. “She wanted that money.”
How much was my mother’s life worth, or mine? It didn’t even matter. I didn’t care about the money. I was heartbroken at the senselessness of what Danica did.
“In my experience, most people lose their shit and commit incredibly horrible crimes against their family for two things. Love, and money,” King leaned back against the bench. “I get the impression you aren’t interested in learning what the inheritance is? You can do a lot with it Waverley.”
“I don’t want it, I don’t care how much it is. Look at what that money has done to our family and we haven’t even got it yet.”
King nodded. “You’ll need to go meet with the lawyers. Their intention was to contact you when you turn twenty-five. You can decide what you want to do then.”
“I don’t want it,” I said adamantly. That wasn’t going to change but I suddenly had a thought. “What about Lily, I mean Kristy. She’s a female in the blood line.”
King pinched his brow. “They were working together to get to you but in all honesty, I doubt Danica would want to share it with her.”
“You think she would hurt her? Her own daughter?”
“We’ll never know.”
That sounded ominous. My lips parted as I thought about the way Warren had looked earlier. They said they had an ‘errand’ to run, but Warren had been so tense and Hudson looked grim too as they were leaving. He’d said all along his plan was to take out Lily and Omen.
“No one has seen her since she left the compound.”
“I have.” I filled him in on what happened the day Lily came to the apartment where Mace was holding me. He shook his head in annoyance but seemed pleased when I told him I kicked her ass. After that day though, I hadn’t seen her.
“I’ve left War dealing with that,” King finally said, but he gave me nothing more, confirming my suspicions that my brother was making good on taking out the person who stabbed Connor.
“I’m making a big concession,” King said after a moment interrupting my concerned thoughts about what my brother and Hudson were currently doing. “I’ll tell you what I can, but I don’t want any questions.”
“Not likely,” I muttered, and his lip twitched. But I waved a hand for him to go on.
“We know where Danica is and we’re going after her tonight.
This all ends, just like I said it would.
You’ll be safe and can go back to North Carolina if that is what you want.
It’s up to you and Hustle to figure that out.
It’s always your decision but… you’re welcome here Waverley, it’s your home, you’ll always be a part of this family. ”
“You think throwing all that in is gonna make me skip over the fact you’re going after Danica tonight?” I arched my brow. “But thank you, I know all of that and I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone that I’m back for good.” I tapped the tattoo behind my ear. “Now, back to Danica.”
“I said no questions.”
“And we both know that isn’t something I’m capable of.”
“Before we have this argument,” he shifted on the seat so he could get into the pocket of his jacket beneath his cut.
He took out a small grey pouch and looked down at it for a long time.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” he said, focusing on his lap.
“I haven’t always been the best father. I let my own grief drown me at times and decisions I made weren’t always in the best interests of you and Warren.
I fucked up where your mom was concerned but…
here,” he thrust the pouch at me. If he was going to say anymore, it died on his tongue as I took the pouch and he looked away.
I pulled open the draw string and tipped it up. A silver chain with a heart shaped locket fell into my palm. I inhaled a sharp breath and held it because I knew. This was hers. Delaney’s. Carefully, I put the pouch on my lap and raised the necklace, holding it so the locket dangled by my face.
“She never took it off,” he said quietly, still not looking. “She would want you to have it.”
Using my thumbnail, I carefully pried open the locket.
There were baby pictures of myself and Warren on either side.
A sob caught in my chest and my vision blurred, but I blinked back the tears, closing the locket and carefully putting it back into the pouch.
I already knew I would get it out and take a closer look when I was alone.
I would keep this safe, I wasn’t sure I would wear it but I would keep it along with the photograph of my parents that Rosa let me take.
It took a lot for King to have this conversation with me, to hand this over, it must have been precious for him to hang on to it all these years.
I wondered if it was the only thing he’d kept of hers.
“Thank you.”
King nodded once. We sat quietly for a while, each lost in our own thoughts. I could feel him start to get uncomfortable after a while and decided to take pity on him, though not in the way he wanted.
“So, about this thing with Danica.”