30. Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Wolf
My stomach roils as I sit across from my sister, and she avoids my gaze. I know we’re not close, but she’s never had a problem meeting my eyes while she lectures me.
What happened to her in that fucking basement? She’s been quiet on that front up until now. Thank fuck she agreed to speak to me but what I don’t understand is why she refused to have Duke here too.
Between the two of us, she spent more time with our brother than she did me. I would assume she’d be more comfortable with him here. I guess I was wrong.
She clears her throat, and I eye her pulse, pounding under skin. It reminds me of Lilli in that alley, but I push the thought away.
After what happened to my sister, I can only be thankful that Lilli is far away from this mess. I love being MC and I wouldn’t trade it away because it’s a part of me but knowing Lilli would be a constant target for my enemies is not something I want to consider.
Ironically, despite her psycho parents, it turns out Lilli is safer where she is.
“Mom’s been trying to reach you,” I say and mentally wince at my attempt to break the ice when she stiffens.
“I know.”
She raises her ocean blue eyes and blinks before saying, “I’m going to tell you two things. That’s it. I’m not going to talk about…”
My heart clenches but I slowly nod. This isn’t my story and as much as I’d like to know the entirety, I can’t force my sister to tell it.
Holding up one finger, she exhales and says, “This was a few years ago. I overhead my dad and Grandpa. They were talking about Diablo. It didn’t really make a lot of sense, just that he knew something, and they didn’t like it. Does that make sense?”
It does. This all leads back to my father’s disappearance. I know to my bones that he died for Rose. I don’t necessarily know why or how, but I will figure it out and bring him home.
“Okay,” she says and moves her gaze over my shoulder. The lost look that enters her eyes unmoors me and I drop my gaze to my fists, wishing I could go back and kill those fuckers all over again.
“The man who…” She leans back and crosses her arms, warding off a visible shiver. “The man who took me. He was one of yours.”
“Come again,” I bark, and she raises her quivering chin. We knew we had a fucking mole but this…this is going to go down like a hot poker to his ass when I find the bastard.
“He was one of yours. Wore your cut and colors,” she says. Leaning forward a new glint appears in her eyes and she says, “He had a hand tattooed on his neck.”
For a moment, all I can do is stare blankly. Hand? Fucking Hand did this?
That man has been on the inside for years. What else did he trade away? Who else has he sacrificed?
Fuck me.
Bowing my head to keep my sister from seeing the rage I know shines in my eyes, I clear my throat twice before saying, “Did he say anything?”
“No,” she whispers. “No, he didn’t but Grandpa did.”
This time, she’s expecting my reaction, and she meets my feral gaze steadily. Her blue eyes harden, and she says, “He was there. He left me there. His last words as he walked away…I want that fucker dead before you get rid of her.”
“This is your last chance,” I say, and Duke looks up with a grin.
Today is the day he’s sworn in along with three other prospects. They’ll be good additions to our group and have already proven their loyalty through the recent battles we’ve fought.
I couldn’t be prouder to stand next to my brother while he recites the oath and receives the tattoo that will never leave his body except via a body bag. Thoughts of which bring me around to Hand. That fucker. His day will come though, and I’ll be first in line to strip the skin from bone.
I’m guessing the asshole knew the second my sister decided to sing like a bird because he was gone before I made it back to the clubhouse. Fine. I’ll hunt the fucker down myself. His days are short, and I hope he’s sweating all the way to wherever he’s hiding.
As for the sheriff, I’ve got a few things up my sleeve. With him, I have to be more careful though. As much as he deserves what’s coming to him, as a supposed man of the law, there are complications I don’t have time to deal with right now.
I can’t protect my family if I’m behind bars.
Pushing the thoughts away because this is my brother’s day, I clasp his arm and say, “Proud of you, brother.”
He clears his throat, and I push him away, grinning when he stumbles back and rolls his eyes.
“Thanks,” he says.
“For what?”
“This. Everything. Miriam…”
My mouth sours at the mention of her but I hide my reaction behind a smirk and say, “I thought I taught you how to wrap it up.”
Rolling his eyes to the sky, he opens his arms wide and says with a sigh, “Fuck me, but I must’ve done something wrong in another life to get you.”
Chuckling, I toss over my shoulder as I walk away, “Ah bro, you got what you deserved.”
Once I’m inside, I pass the bar and proceed down the hall before stopping at Joker’s office.
All I can see, with his head bowed, is the ridiculous rainbow stripe of his hair. How long before the big bastard gets rid of it?
Romeo should know, since Joker lost the bet to him which forced him to dye his hair in the first place. Jokes on Romeo though because Joker don’t care and it’s the rest of us who have to look at it every day.
“Prez,” I say, and he looks up.
With a frown, I close the door behind me and drop into the chair in front of his desk.
“What’s up?” I ask as he rubs his eyes. He looks as tired as I do these days.
I know it’s hard being the one who makes all the decisions because, in the end, he bears the brunt of those outcomes. We’ve lost some good men, and it weighs on the big broody fucker. I’d try to ease the burden with useless words, but it would just annoy him.
Don’t matter what I say, Joker will always accept his punishment and that’s to live with this shit until the day he dies.
Joker leans back in his chair, the pitiful thing squealing under his weight, and says, “I knew the day would come that Ice would take a stand. The fucker’s been running scared since but this…”
He waves his hand, and I nod. I haven’t told him what Rose said because this is between me and the sheriff. I don’t want this to come down on the MC. However, with my silence, it leaves Joker believing that Rose was taken over a twenty-five-year-old feud about business and territory.
“It’s only a matter of time,” I say, and Joker raises his head. “The fucker can’t hide forever.”