Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
WHIP
May 2022
“Fuck, this mouth.” I thrust into the cut slut’s mouth and empty my balls.
“ASSHOLE!” She spits and pushes me away as she gets to her feet.
“You knew what would happen when you snuck into my room.” I shrug my shoulders as she stomps around, grabs her shit, and then slams my door on her way out.
I light a joint and crack my window, letting the smoke hit my lungs and relax the tension in my shoulders. You’d think a good blowjob would have done that.
I sigh as the sound of my cell phone ringing across the room undoes all the work the weed has managed. With a huff, I snuff out the roach and grab my phone.
“Yeah?” I slump into my chair, waiting for someone to talk.
“Whip.”
My spine straightens. “Cannibal,” I say in acknowledgement.
“Brother, I found her. It’s not good.” The shock of his words travels through my system, and my grip on the phone slips.
It crashes to the floor, and I hear him calling my name over and over, but it’s like my body is frozen.
My door crashes open, and Skull’s massive shoulders come into view.
“Abel, I got him. Call you back.” He puts his phone away and grabs my shoulders, slightly shaking me. “Whip, breathe, motherfucker.”
I gasp and feel the air burn my lungs.
“That’s a good lad. You clocked out on us. Where’s your head at?” He tilts his head as he watches my eyes.
“Eden.” Her name slips from my lips.
“Your sister. Did Abel find something?”
I nod once. “Her, he found her. Oh God.”
It’s what I wanted. What I prayed for. That I could have a part of her to lay to rest with my parents. So that I knew she was at peace.
“How about we call him back and get more info?”
I blink, but it’s all the energy I have in me.
“You’re on speaker.” Skull’s Scottish accent makes all the American slang he uses sound off.
It draws a chuckle out of me that he frowns at.
“He all right?” Abel Cannibal Brooks, the vice president of the Paradise mother chapter, asks our medic.
“No, he’s damn near chaotic. Tell me what you found.” Skull sits on the edge of my bed and braces himself mentally and physically just as I grab the armrests of the chair I’m in.
“She’s alive.”
What?
The wood under my palms snaps.
“FUCK! You asshole. Next time, lead with that!” I throw the broken pieces of timber across my room and then curse again at all the splinters in my palms.
“I tried! I was warning you before I dropped the bomb. You ready to fucking listen now?” Skull stomps out of the room after seeing my hands, and I know he’s off to get his med kit.
“Fucking talk, then!” My patience was gone before the call, but my temper always flares when it comes to my baby sister.
He fucking found her! Alive.
“I’ve had an algorithm running for her DNA profile since you gave me a sample. I got a hit yesterday, but I needed to confirm. A Jane Doe was admitted to Raleigh Medical Center for what looked like severe anemia.”
My brows scrunch up at the information dump. “Jane Doe? They didn’t know who she was?” As far as I’m aware, that’s the only time the placeholder name is used.
“According to the admission paperwork. Someone dropped her off unconscious at the ER, then fled. That isn’t the worst part.”
I can hear the hesitance in his voice, and his previous warning comes floating back.
It’s not good.
“Just spit it out.”
Skull returns and takes the phone from me. “You’re on speaker. I need to take these splinters out,” he grumbles at us.
“Splinters?” Abel asks, and I growl.
“Fucking focus! Tell me.”
I cringe when Skull rips a big piece of wood out with a look on his face that says, Calm the fuck down .
“She hasn’t woken up because she’s really sick. She was so sick that they ran her DNA profile through a national database, which is how I found her. Brice”—him using my real name means this must be a worst-case scenario—“she has leukemia.”
Roanoke Island, NC Three days later
Thank you for your patience, Mr. Dare. I’m sorry the bloodwork has taken so long. As you were told when you arrived, due to the nature of your sister’s condition on arrival, we’re taking extra caution with visitors.”
I’ve been stuck in this conference room with Abel for hours.
He flew out to meet me for support and, frankly, as legal counsel.
“Care to explain what that condition is now? You called her my sister, which means the DNA matches.” I’m slowly losing my fucking mind.
I understand that they’re all just trying to protect Eden, but the longer we wait, the longer it takes to find out if I’m a bone marrow match. The fact that I haven’t been able to see her is the icing on this fucked-up cake.
“Yes, Mr. Dare, and to save time, I’ve already asked that your sample be tested to check if you are able to be a donor.”
I sigh in relief, and the doctor smiles slightly.
“I cannot imagine how you must be feeling. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to her.”
I’m on my feet so fast Abel has to stabilize me.
“Easy,” he hisses in my ear.
“It’s been twenty years.” My voice cracks.
“I know, brother. I know.” He rubs my back and then slaps it hard. “We got this. Every member of the club is ready to get tested if you’re not a possible donor. We will get her the best medical care money can buy. We won’t give up on her.”
A tear rolls down my face as I nod.
“This way, gentlemen.”
We follow the doctor down a long corridor, and my nose wrinkles at the smell of, well, hospital. It doesn’t matter which ones. They all smell the same.
We stop in front of a closed door with a security guard standing next to it. I don’t know who he is, but I reach out to shake his hand.
“Thank you for watching her until I arrived, but we got it from here.”
He nods with a frown. “It was my honor. But, sir? I don’t leave until someone takes my place.” His eyes are deadly serious, and I glance at the door again.
“Doc, I think it’s time you tell me what I’m walking into.” The older man clutches my sister’s file to his chest and sighs.
“Whoever had her didn’t hurt her physically, but the abuse she suffered is clear. She’s severely underweight, which has affected her ability to fight the cancer.” My brain fills in the blanks quickly.
“They starved her.” There’s no way I can hide my anger. “Abel, I can’t.”
I shake my head. No way in hell can I see her with the venom that is boiling my blood. I want to kill the people who took her from me. Burn down their lives and dance on their bones. He grabs me by my shoulders and shakes me.
“Fucking focus, brother. When she wakes up, it should be you by her side.” Those words break me.
A sob so soul-deep breaks from my lips. He drags me into his shoulder and holds me.
“The battle is just starting, and you need to walk into that room and be her champion. You have an army of people behind you. We won’t let either of you fall.” My shoulders shake as I try to breathe through all the emotions.
“Hey!” My head flies up as the security guard waves his hand in front of a young woman holding a camera.
“I’m sorry. I’m with the Raleigh Gazette .” She waves a press badge at us all, and Abel steps between us to block my view of her.
“I’m sorry, but this is not the appropriate time for an interview. Please call this number to set something up.” Abel hands her a card.
“I’m just the photographer, but I’ll give it over to the report. It’s best for candids if you don’t see me coming. I apologize for my candor, but finding her after all this time is the best case, right?” She glances around at us with a huge smile on her face.
“Read the room, sweetheart. My sister is in the hospital, and if you haven’t noticed, these aren’t happy fucking tears!” I yell at her.
She blanches and steps back from me.
“All right, settle down,” the guard warns me.
“I’m sorry.” The chick flees.
Good fucking riddance.
“Come on.” Abel slaps my back and grabs the door handle, and I know I can’t delay this any longer.
“Want me to go first?” I take a moment to think it over but then shake my head.
“No, I got this.” He grins and nods.
“Yes, you do.”