Chapter Thirty-Three
King
“Grace!”
Beck and Sam rushed down the steps of the clubhouse and pulled Grace into their arms.
“We were so worried about you,” Sam said. Kytten and Aspen stood on the porch watching, Aspen holding on to Diesel, who looked like he was ready to tear her arm off.
The dog was growling and snarling.
“Aspen, take him inside,” I ordered.
“I can’t, King. If I move, he’ll bolt and I’ll lose my hold.”
“Beck, take Grace up to my room.”
“No, I want to go to my room,” Grace argued.
I turned her to face me, my hands resting on her shoulders as I dipped down to look in her eyes.
“Nothing has changed.” She closed her eyes, and I knew she was trying to hide her tears.
“Go up and take a shower. I’ll be down here for a while dealing with this shit.
Take a nap. When I come up, we’ll talk.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then we’ll lie on the bed, and I’ll hold you in my arms until you do. Nothing has changed.” I kissed her forehead and sent her upstairs with Beck and Sam, Kytten following closely behind them.
I walked over to Aspen as she struggled to contain her beast. Morpheus hadn’t moved, but he didn’t look worried. He stood at the bottom of the stairs staring at Aspen, his head tilted to the side.
Aspen stared at him, then looked at me. “Is he...?”
“Yes, can you go get your mother?” I asked her, reaching over to grab Diesel’s collar.
“Are you sure?”
“Fuck no. But if possible, can you try to keep your father inside?” I asked, knowing it was unlikely. Aspen just laughed at me as she let go of the dog and walked inside.
“Who is she?” Morpheus asked.
I blew out a hard breath. “I’m gonna need you to control yourself.”
“Who the fuck is she?” he bellowed.
“She’s my daughter.”
Morpheus’ head snapped around at the sound of his sister’s voice. He didn’t move a muscle; he just stared at Rhea as she slowly descended the stairs. Diesel was still snarling until Banshee walked over and growled, “Enough!”
The fucking dog sat at my feet, but his growl didn’t stop. It dropped to a low rumble. He was still alert. Diesel knew Morpheus was a threat to almost everyone here.
A few of the Bastards walked over, and there was no question that the man who stood on Morpheus’ side was the father of my tech expert. Cerberus was an older, identical version of Nav.
“Gabby?” Morpheus finally whispered. His voice was a harsh rasp.
“Hello, Kane.”
“Where the fuck have you been?” Morpheus growled, and Diesel stood again. I looked down at the dog, wondering if he had any real allegiance or if he just protected whoever he thought needed it. I wasn’t sure which would be better.
Rhea crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her brother. Kronos stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. Zeus and his men had surrounded his parents and the group of onlookers was growing to numbers that if a fight broke out, three clubs might be decimated in a matter of moments.
“Why don’t we move inside? You can talk in church,” I offered, then noticed a black SUV pulling into the lot. Every head turned except for Morpheus and Rhea. The siblings continued to glare at each other.
When the vehicle stopped and the passenger side opened, I groaned.
“Fuck my life!”
“Son!” Sal rushed over and before I could blink, pulled me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me.
“Who called you?” I snapped.
Sal pulled back but kept his hands on my biceps. “Beck called.”
I turned to look at Blade. “You better tan her ass later.”
Blade smiled, and I groaned louder. “Gladly.”
“Fucking pervert,” I muttered.
“O’Malley.” Morpheus’ attention left his sister when Sal spoke.
Sal turned, and I saw his eyes widen just a hair. “Morpheus.”
I looked between the two of them. “You know each other?” I asked. I could feel the anger rising in my blood, and I guessed Diesel could sense it too because he moved closer and nudged my hand.
“Banshee, get your fucking hell beast out of here.”
“I got it, Prez,” Jack said with a grin. “Diesel, Charlie.”
The dog took off through the backyard to the house they’d had built. I looked at Jack.
“Neat trick, right? Avery is up there with the kids. Sam called her as soon as she knew we were on our way back. Figured Grace would need her girls.”
“Thanks, Jack.” He nodded, knowing the words were hard to say. Not because I wasn’t thankful, or that I didn’t make sure my men knew how much they meant to me, but because anything to do with Grace right now had my heart in an iron grip.
I knew she would pull back. She would want to run, thinking she was unworthy of love now.
I meant what I fucking said. Nothing she’d gone through changed the way I felt about her, or the fact that I wanted her in my life.
She would still be my old lady. Still be my wife and the mother of my children.
I would be there for her for as long as it took for her to understand that.
“What happened to Grace?” Sal asked.
“Why the fuck are you here?” I snapped. I didn’t need this bullshit right now.
Sal stepped back at my harsh tone and sighed.
“Beck called when Maureen went into labor. We wanted to be here for her. She’s still family,” Duncan said behind Sal. I looked over at him and Mac.
“Where’s the fourth musketeer?” I asked, not seeing Cian.
Sal growled and walked up the stairs into the clubhouse. Mac chuckled, and Duncan slapped his chest. “Cian is currently on his shit list after what happened with Caity.”
“His sister?” I asked, looking back at Duncan. I didn’t call her my aunt, not yet. Maybe someday. I didn’t call Maureen my aunt either, but that was because she was married to my brother. The damn family tree was so fucked up it gave me a headache when I thought about it.
I walked into the clubhouse to shouting.
I shook my head, knowing it was going to be a long fucking night.
I stared down the hall. All I wanted to do was hold Grace in my arms while she cried.
I knew there would be a lot of tears for a while as she dealt with what had happened.
I was never more fucking thankful that Gunner had stalked Haizley.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP, ALL OF YOU!”
I looked around the room; Morpheus was standing toe to toe with Kronos. Zeus stood right beside his father, as Rhea watched, not saying a word. The Gods of Mayhem stood behind Kronos and Zeus, while the Brotherhood backed up Morpheus.
My men stood around the room watching the melee, their hands on the butts of their guns ready to do what needed to be done.
“Morpheus and Rhea, in church,” I ordered as I walked toward the double doors.
“She’s not going alone,” Kronos snarled.
“You’re not coming with her,” I fired back. I looked around the room. “Poseidon, let’s go.” Poseidon looked at Zeus, who nodded. At least someone had some fucking sense.
“King!”
I moved quickly and pushed Kronos up against the wall.
“Don’t fucking push me today, asshole. I am not in the mood to deal with your fucking temper tantrum.
My brother is downstairs in surgery fighting for his fucking life, and my woman is upstairs dealing with shit no woman should ever have to fucking deal with.
Shut your goddamn mouth before I put a bullet in it and call it a fucking day. ”
After one final shove further into the wall, I let him go and stormed into church. I fell into my chair as Cash sat next to me.
“That was fucking awesome,” he said.
“Kronos is a dick,” I muttered. Cash laughed as the rest of my officers moved in and found their seats along with Rhea, who sat down. Poseidon stood sentry behind her, and Morpheus stood against the wall watching me.
“How long have you known where my sister was?” Morpheus asked.
I ran my hands over my face before answering. “About a week or so, I don’t even fucking know anymore. This whole fucking year is a blur.”
Morpheus looked over at Nav. “You didn’t fucking call him?”
Nav grinned. “Of course I fucking called him.”
Morpheus straightened from the wall and pushed the door open. “Cerberus! Get your ass in here!”
Nav sat back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest with a smile on his face. He knew his father was about to get his ass handed to him, and he was going to enjoy every damn minute.
“You got the cameras on?” I asked. Nav nodded as Cerberus entered the room and promptly hit the wall when Morpheus punched him.
“You fucking knew?”
Cerberus glared at his son, who only smiled wider. “I just found out before Kyllian was taken.”
“And after we got her back?” Morpheus demanded.
Cerberus shrugged. “I forgot?”
Nav laughed when Morpheus hit him again. Cerberus shoved him back and snapped, “You sent me after your son, asshole. I was a little preoccupied.”
I looked over at Rhea to see her reaction to how Morpheus and Cerberus dealt with their conflict. Tears streamed down her face as she watched her brother fight with his VP.
“Kane!” Morpheus looked over at Rhea. “You’re just like him.”
He didn’t dispute her words. He didn’t hang his head in shame. Everyone in the room knew she was talking about their uncle, Kalden Baudelaire. Morpheus couldn’t deny he had not only become his uncle, but he’d also become something worse.
“Where have you been, Gabby?” he asked.
“Hiding.”
Morpheus stepped closer and sat down next to his sister. “Hiding from who?”
“From you.”
Morpheus snapped his head back as if Rhea had hit him. Without a word to anyone, he stood up from the chair and walked out of church. We heard the front door slam, and Rhea looked over at Cerberus. “How did you let this happen?”
“You let this happen, Gabby. The day you left without a word… it changed him. Then he lost Gretchen and Jackson, and he was never the same after that. He’s never stopped looking for you, even after thinking you were dead all this time. You broke him, Gabby. Not Kalden.”
Rhea gasped, her hand covering her mouth.
“Son, I need to check on Jackson,” Cerberus said to Nav.
“This was not my fault, Zach! He would have killed me too!” Rhea pleaded.
“Then you should have fucking told me!” Cerberus yelled. Poseidon stepped in his path, and Cerberus looked him over.
“Try me, old man,” Poseidon challenged with a grin.
Nav rushed over and pushed his father back toward the double doors. “Let’s go downstairs and check on Jackson.” Nav looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes as he shoved his father out of the room. But not before he took one last dig at Rhea.
“This is on you, Gabby.”
Rhea covered her face with her hands as the door swung open, and Kronos stepped in. He glared at me before moving to his wife, Zeus and Asclepius right behind him. I looked over at Cash and rolled my eyes, and he and Colt chuckled.
“Are you okay, Rosebud?”
Rhea shook her head. “He’s just like him, Lucas. He became him, and he blames me for it. They all do.”
“Fuck them,” he hissed. “You’ve had a great life without them.”
I sighed heavily as I stood up. “I think we’re done here,” I said, dismissing them.
“Have a little compassion, King.”
“Fuck you, Kronos. Your family bullshit has nothing to do with me. Maybe it’s time you all went back to fucking Texas.”
Kronos stood up and glared at me again. “Listen, you little shit,” he started. Mimic stood up, pulling his gun.
“You heard my president.”