Bonus Chapter
OCEAN
There was a man in my office with his fucking feet on my desk.
The room was too dark to see much, but it was the pungent aroma of weed that had given him away. The intruder didn’t react when I hit the lights or flinch when I promptly placed a gun to his head.
I would be impressed if that were easy to do.
The stranger with a death wish was obviously expecting me.
“How was your honeymoon?” my uninvited guest greeted calmly. “I heard Tahiti is nice this time of year. Or was it Bora Bora?”
“Both,” I said, recognizing the younger man’s voice from the phone call I’d received a week ago. “I heard you were in prison.”
“They let me out for good behavior.”
“Hmm.” I pulled out my phone with my other hand and texted Abel to lock down the place, then Hunter with instructions to get herself and Coby somewhere safe until I came for them.
“That’s not necessary,” the intruder said without turning around. “I’m here for answers as promised.”
“So, is this a friendly visit or an unfortunate one?” I asked after receiving replies from both of them and slipping my phone back into my pocket.
The man cocked his head slightly to the side but still made no move to let me see his face when he said, “I thought I was clear. That depends on you.”
”And if I don’t have the answers you want?” I lowered my gun and pushed his feet off my desk before sitting in my chair on the other side.
At last, I was face-to-face with the man who once ruled Chicago.
Angeles Knight.
I heard he’d given up his seat for love.
Suppressing a yawn and feeling a headache on the rise, it was all I could do not to check my watch.
Maybe I should have done that.
If I had given up my birthright like Angel, I could be in bed right now, curled up with my wives. Instead, I’m dealing with this shit.
“Then I’ll leave the same way I came,” he swore.
“And I’m supposed to believe you came alone?”
Angel’s lips tilted, but no amusement could be found in his dark gaze. “Of course not.”
“I hope you’ve warned whoever’s sneaking around my house not to piss off my wife. Her trigger finger is itchier than mine.”
“Funny. I thought there were two.”
Unwilling to give the former Knight intel that he might not already have, I ignored his bait and changed the subject. “Why are you here?”
Angel’s expression suddenly darkened, his voice taking on a hard edge when he spoke. “You know why.”
He moved fast, slamming a worn photo on the desk. There were three people in the shot—Angel, another White man with sandy blond hair, and a much younger version of my former associate.
His black-and-blond-streaked hair was longer, but his green eyes were familiar as they stared into the camera.
Kellan.
It was all I could do not to snatch the picture from the desk for a closer look. Instead, I sat back in my chair, feigning indifference.
“Where is he?” Angel bit out.
I shrugged as if I hadn’t combed every inch of the city looking for the man after he disappeared. I didn’t know if the man sitting across from me was a friend or foe of Kellan’s, but either way, there was only one reason he didn’t tell Angel where he was going.
Kellan didn’t want to be found.
As much as it killed me, I was hellbent on respecting that. It was the least I could do after he risked his life protecting Hunter and Coby. He’d gotten what he wanted when he killed Michael Black, which meant he could have easily slipped away before the carnage.
“I wouldn’t know,” I answered. “He didn’t exactly give me two weeks’ notice before taking off.” It was the truth, though I could tell Angel didn’t believe me. “Until you showed up here, I assumed he went home.”
Kellan had come to Black Veil to kill Black, his father, for what the pimp did to his mother when he was a child. I couldn’t fucking blame him, and neither could Hunter. It was the reason Hunter hadn’t killed him that night. She’d even been moved enough to let him take her beloved Deborah.
Angel shook his head before shoving tanned fingers through his dark hair. His gaze turned bleak as worry began to overshadow his anger.
I sighed. “Go home, Angel. Be with your woman and son. Enjoy your freedom. You were away from them for three years. Kellan will let us know when he’s ready to be found.”
“Z.”
“Bless you.”
Angel rolled his eyes and then shot to his feet, snatching the picture from the desk and pocketing it.
“His name is Zachariah Ellis. His real family calls him Z.” I looked away, my teeth clenched so hard that my headache immediately became a migraine.
A moment later, I heard Angel sigh. “Kellan is his middle name.”
I relaxed.
At least, it hadn’t all been a lie.
“I’ll let you know if I hear something,” I offered reluctantly.
If Kellan—Z—ever decided to come home, which one would he return to? I had hoped it would be here in Black Veil, but now I wasn’t so sure. Maybe he’d return to Chicago.
Angel obviously cared deeply for Zachariah/Kellan—enough to risk coming here, breaking into my home, and pissing off my wives.
Angel nodded at my offer but didn’t promise the same before walking out.
Custody battles were always ugly like that.
In case you’re wondering about this little crossover, Angel is the anti-hero from the Stolen duet, and Kellan/Zachariah is his best friend and a side character in Angel and Mian’s story.
The Kellan and Michael Black plot line served no real purpose other than giving my long-time readers a chance to see Z again.
Hope you don’t mind. They’ve been waiting eight years for his spin-off. >.<