CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ky
I lean forward in the uncomfortable plastic chair, resting my elbows on my knees and lowering my head into my hands. It’s been hours since I arrived at the hospital, and still I’ve been unable to see Sera. Unless she’s told the staff not to let me in, I can’t understand what the delay is. I’ve heard she’s cleared to have visitors. Fucking Ink has been in there sitting with her, and I’ve had to stop myself from wringing his fucking neck.
My father’s phone sounds, and I jerk my head to look at him as he answers. He stands and walks to the corner of the room, his eyes on me as he speaks to whoever is on the other end. I watch him carefully, and see his jaw tick, knowing he’s trying to keep himself in check.
I’m just about to get up from the chair and stalk across the room to find out what’s happening, when he rings off and returns to where me and the rest of the brothers are sitting.
Putting a hand on my shoulder, he says, “Church in an hour.”
Everleigh stands, and he wraps her in his arms before walking out together as one unit.
She had been by Sera’s kid’s bedside until now, only just replaced with Zoe. I felt a warmth run through me at the mere thought of how they’ve brought Sera into their circle, and by extension, her little girl.
“I wonder what that was about?” Riggs says, motioning with his chin towards our president and his ol’lady that just left. I shrug my shoulders.
“Who knows? But I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Just then, Ink appears from Sera’s room, and I narrow my eyes at him. He looks back at me, an almost smug expression on his face —and I want to knock him into next week. I tighten my fists, coming to the realization that Sera doesn’t want to see me.
With that knowledge weighing on me, I finally stand, leaving the rest of my brothers in the waiting room, ignoring Ink’s voice as he calls out to me. He can kiss my lily-white ass. And almost burst out laughing at that thought.
Ever since she returned home, Lily’s done everything she can to avoid running into Ink. She’s been staying with her twin brother, Spider, and his kid, and helping at the gym, manning the phones.
Straddling my sled, I start her up, safe in the knowledge that at least she has never let me down, almost flying out of the hospital parking lot. I wanted to blow off Church and all my other responsibilities and just ride. I longed to escape this place, to ride my sled until the world around me was nothing but open sky and endless possibilities. But of course, I don’t, but I ride for a while, my thoughts still a jumbled mess. With nothing figured out, I turn back toward the clubhouse—parking my sled in my spot, ignoring the looks from my brothers.
“Are you really gonna let a brother move in on your girl?” Riggs says, meeting me just outside the room we use for Church as I dump my phone in the basket by the door and enter without replying, taking a seat. The thought of Ink and Sera together is something I have deliberately ignored while still having to deal with Mariah.
From what I can tell, she’s gone back to the house with Finn, so that’s one less thing to worry about.
Ink will probably bring Sera here to the clubhouse since she doesn’t have a house to go back home to. I know it makes me an asshole, but I don’t think I could handle having to see them together around the clubhouse. Which is ridiculous because I’ve done way more with Mariah in the few months she’s been here. Though not of my choosing.
But nobody needs to know that. Yet.
Disgust washes over me, and I vow to get to the bottom of what’s going on. But for now, I push those dark thoughts out of my head as Ink walks in, followed by my dad. I can’t help throwing Ink a murderous glance, and get a clip across the ears by Kick, my President and father.
“Ow,” I whine, earning me chuckles all-round the table from my brothers. Sitting next to my father, Tiny, the VP of the club, smirks in my direction. Since returning from Seattle alone, the vacant look in his eyes has just grown. I know he must be missing his woman and kids something fierce.
And here I thought my love life was a total fucking shit show.
“Okay, so what’s so important, we had to have church today?” I ask when everyone has finally settled down.
My pops fixes me with a stare, and it lasts so long, I fidget nervously in my chair.
“I had a very interesting conversation with Kon,” he starts, and I arch an eyebrow, willing him to continue when he doesn’t.
“And?” I push.
“And he imparted some information to me I hadn’t been aware of.” When he doesn’t elaborate further, I want to demand he tell me now, but I restrain myself.
Barely.
“Which is?” I prod. Seriously, talking to my dad is like pulling teeth sometimes.
“Seems he had a visit from someone by the name of Angelo Bianchi. And a very interesting conversation ensued. Apparently, this Bianchi character has taken over the family business from his stepfather, who has recently died. He’s heard of our connection and has gone to Kon to demand we release his sister, Seraphina Bianchi, immediately. He’s giving us till the end of the week to return her. Otherwise, and I quote.” Making air quotes before he continues. “‘There will be consequences.’” My pops pins me with a dark stare. “Wanna tell me what that’s all about? Why this fuckwit thinks we would have this woman as our hostage?”
The name Angelo Bianchi comes at me like a bullet train. That night, four years ago, that night that turned deadly.
Everything stops, as all my brothers' eyes turn to me. I’m taken back to four years ago. The warehouse. The fight. The woman I had picked up at the bar, a need inside me to fuck her senseless.
“Care to enlighten us on what the fuck this asshole is talking about?”
I clear my throat, Deciding it was time for the truth, unable to cover for Sera any longer. No matter how much I wanted to.
“Sera isn’t his sister. She’s his stepsister,” I reply cooly. “I hope Uncle Kon told him where to stick his threats?” My brain working overtime on what the hell I just heard. What’s the fucker playing at going to my Uncle about Sera? Even after all these months, since she told me Angelo was her stepbrother.
Pops continues to stare at me, arching a brow, and I can see the disappointment in his whiskey-colored eyes. But he continues on as though I hadn’t spoken.
“Kon also says the fucker seems unhinged. Like someone who doesn’t care what he has to do to get what he wants.”
My thoughts immediately turn to the fire that destroyed Sera's home. Could Angelo be the one who started it? I wouldn’t put it past the asshole to do it. He had no qualms in shooting me.
Clearing my throat, I open my mouth and everything spills out. From the night I was shot by this same fucker that is now threatening our club, to Sera and who she really is.
The shock on all of my brothers' faces makes me feel like shit that I’d kept such important information from them. Especially my dad, if the disappointment on his face is anything to go by.
After I stop speaking, nobody says a word, until my pops, the President of the Devil’s Carnage MC, smashes the gavel on the worn table, the bang so loud I think every single one of us jumps out of our seats.
“Church adjourned. Everybody get the fuck out. Now! Except for Ky.” I could feel the heat of his gaze burning into the side of my head. His jaw so tight that I fear his teeth might break.
I stay seated, as everyone else vacates the room, and I wish I could slink off unnoticed, but I’m not a coward, my father taught me well. So I sit there, ready to take whatever was coming to me.
“When were you going to tell me about all this? Or were you even going to?” he asks, his voice deceptively soft, but steadily rose the more worked up he got.
“I was by your bedside day and night for weeks after you were fuckin shot. You said it was some punk ass kids robbing you and the girl who was found dead next to you. Not once did you tell me then, or since, the one who did that to you was part of the Bianchi family from fuckin’ New York.”
I wince, realizing what a stupid mistake I’d made. But in my defense, I thought because we were leaving New York straight after I recuperated from the gunshot; I didn’t need to say anything. I open my mouth to speak, but before I can, he lunges at me, wrapping his hands around my cut, getting in my face.
My eyes widen in shock, because I’ve never seen my father like this. Yes, he’s shown violence towards others who deserved it, but never towards me, his son.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t throw your ass outta the club for lying to me, your fuckin President. Hmm? Tell me about Sera,” he demands on a growl. I fight to remain calm as he shakes me hard, my head lolling about with the force of his shaking.
“Let me guess, you were not thinking with your big brain, but your little one,” he snarls in disgust, pushing me away from him as I land with force back in my chair.
I clear my throat, and to cover my own embarrassment, because after all, he was half right; I go for the jugular.
“You should know about thinking with your dick. After all, we’ve got almost half a dozen Kick’s running around from three different women,” I sneer, which, of course, is the wrong thing to say right now, when a look of rage morphs on his face and he grabs for me again.
“You wanna repeat that, you little shit?” With a forceful shove, he pins me against the wall with his strength and I can see he’s itching to hit me, as we’re nose to nose. I’ve never seen my old man so angry. Well, not the type of anger he has now directed at me.
Before I know what’s happening, his large hands are wrapped around my throat, squeezing tightly. My vision is blurring and I feel I’m about to pass out. But before I do, I’m aware of the door to church crashing open, but it’s not one of my brothers standing there come to save me, but Everleigh, the woman I’ve shown nothing but disdain for since she got back together with my dad.
“Kadyn,” she screams shrilly, using his real name—Everleigh being the only one that did. Suddenly, the fingers that were tight around my neck loosen, and my pops was being thrown off me.
I slid down the wall, gasping for air. What the fuck just happened?
I couldn’t believe he would be capable of killing his own kid, but being on the receiving end of his wrath, I knew now it was more than possible.
“What the hell happened here?” Everleigh demands, and I finally lift my head to see Tiny had joined her, his eyes narrowed on me. He must've been the one to throw my father off me. Even with everything going on in his private life, he’s still a capable VP, which was important to my father.
For years, it was just me and my dad, until Everleigh inserted herself into our lives. Yes, I still felt slighted by her, but the concern on her face when she looks at me, seeing the bruises already forming around my neck, those feelings dimmed a little.
But it’s the anger on my dad’s face that I can’t handle.
“Get the fuck outta my sight.” He sneers. I shake my head and jump to my feet, turning my attention back to Everleigh.
“Where’s Finn?” I croak, my voice gravelly when I speak, but I ignore the pain in my throat.
“He’s at your place with Ella. Apparently Mariah has gone out for the night,” she calls out, as I’m already headed in that direction before she finishes speaking.
"Thanks," I say, already halfway out the door, the rest of her sentence swallowed by the sounds of others around me.
I crave Finn’s presence, to look into his innocent eyes and see his precious smile. My thoughts go to where Mariah could be right now, shaking my head since she doesn’t seem to give a shit about her own son.
But before I could see my son, I needed to clear my head. To get away from everyone and everything at the clubhouse. But as I throw my leg over my sled, I hear Everleigh’s voice calling out to me.
“Ky, wait. Please.” Her voice is pleading, and no matter how much I want to, I can’t ignore it. But if she thinks she can get me to forgive my father for what he did, she’s got another thing coming—but despite the conflicting emotions inside me telling me to keep walking, I stop and wait for Everleigh to catch up.
She sounds a little out of breath when she speaks, and I narrow my gaze at her. She has always been the picture of health, and I can’t help thinking there’s more at play here than any of us know.
“Your father is dealing with a few things. Please don’t take what happened in there to heart.”
I chuckle, but it’s far from humorous. “Don’t take to heart the fact my father was about to choke me if you and Tiny hadn’t come in?” Her eyes widen, and a tear slides down her cheek. I can’t stand when a woman cries, and I turn my head, staring down at my steel capped moto boots.
Everleigh links her arm with mine, forcing me to the picnic tables we have scattered around the backyard. The cool night air goes a long way to clearing my head.
She lowers her head, and I can tell she’s at war with her own thoughts, but slowly lifts her head to look at me. Unshed tears shining in her green eyes.
“There’s something I want to tell you. But you have to promise not to tell Lukas or Lily,” she says, and my stomach knots at her grave expression. I drop my ass on the bench at the picnic table.
Do I really want to know?
Do I want to be the one holding back secrets from my siblings? But if it’s bad, then hell yeah, I’ll protect them
I take a deep breath. “Okay, you’ve got my promise. What is it?”
I watch Everleigh for a minute as she paces, before sitting down next to me. She’s about to tell me something big, I can tell, and I’m bracing for impact. If something’s wrong with my dad, I don’t know how much more shit I’ll be able to take.
“I found a lump in my breast last week.”
A long, thick silence fills the air, thick with tension, after she’d told me her news. Whatever I was expecting her to say to me, it definitely wasn’t this. Before I could think further on it, I take her hand in mine, as she lowers her head. “I’m going in for a biopsy tomorrow to see if it’s benign or cancerous.”
“Shit! Everleigh, I’m so sorry. I honestly don’t know what to say,” I reply lamely. But that explains so much. The way my pops flew off the handle, something he never would’ve normally done. He’s been completely out of it for the last week, and the timeline fits.
“I know he’s acting out of character, but cut him some slack. I know he didn’t mean any of what happened back there if he was in his right mind.”
Just then, my pops walks out, remorse written all over his face, as his eyes take us both in, focusing on the bruises already forming on my neck. Sitting next to Everleigh, he wraps her in his embrace, and I suddenly feel like the third wheel.
“You told him, didn’t you?” he says, no judgement in his tone. Not even anger.
“I did,” she replies softly, burrowing deeper into his arms, and I jump to my feet.
“I’m so sorry, son. I don’t know what came over me,” he explains, and I look at my father, who until moments ago, was the strongest man I knew. But now, seems to be beaten down by everything that’s happened. His eyes lower to my neck, and I could fucking swear I saw tears in his eyes.
The man never cries.
I clear my throat, still painful. I finally face the man who is my father, man to man.
“I can’t do this right now. I know you’re going through hell, but I just can’t forgive and forget my own father almost choking me.” I stand, making to remove my cut. “If you want my patch…” I start, but I don’t get to finish what I want to say as he quickly cuts in.
“Don’t you fuckin’ dare,” my President, and my old man growls. “What happened in church probably doesn’t really show you, but I’m proud of you, son. I haven’t said that nearly enough over the years.”
A ball of emotion lodges in my throat, and I was finding it hard to swallow, I recoil slightly when he goes to wrap his arms around me and hug me tightly to him. I told him I can’t forgive and forget just yet, and I was telling the truth, but I still love him. He is my father, after all, and I always will.
We pat each other’s backs, and with that, things were again right with the world.
“I need to get outta here for a little while,” I tell them, turning to head to my sled.
“We’ll figure things out about that issue you brought up this morning,” my dad calls out, and I lift two fingers in a wave of acknowledgement before throwing my leg over my bike.
After an hour of riding aimlessly, I was finally able to clear my head enough to head home. And when I walk through the door half an hour later; I was disappointed that he was already in bed. I smile at Ella and thank her profusely for looking after my son.
I check in on Finn, once Ella leaves; the anxiety I felt over everything that happened tonight washing away instantly when I see him.
Closing his door, I stride to my room, thankful that Mariah wasn’t home yet. I face plant onto the bed in exhaustion, wearing only a pair of black boxer briefs. Falling asleep almost immediately.