Chapter 16 #3
There’s no direct connection from Marty’s gambling debts to Layla and Patch going missing, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t something to it.
Anyone who fucks around with loan sharks is just asking for problems. The one person in Nova’s family she thinks she can trust is waist-deep in some serious shit.
“Good work,” I say finally. “Keep following the money. My gut says Marty’s involved. We just have to figure out how. We find Layla, we find Patch.”
Cipher nods. “On it, Prez.”
I leave Cipher to do his thing, and I go back up to Nova’s room where I find her awake and waiting for answers. I’ve already decided how to handle things, so there’s no hesitation as I sit down on the bed next to her and give it to her straight.
“Cipher discovered gambling debts. Some are in your uncle’s past, but not all of them. We don’t know what that means, but Cipher’s looking deeper into it.”
Nova’s face is pale as she links her hands, twisting her fingers back and forth. “Okay, but there’s not anything about Layla, right? I mean, Cipher didn’t find something that links Uncle Marty to Layla’s disappearance, did he?”
“He didn’t,” I admit. “But he’s also been hiding some pretty big secrets from you and Layla. I think you may need to prepare yourself for what Cipher could find.”
“I’ve always been able to trust him,” Nova says. “He’s always been someone I can count on.”
“Has he?” I ask a question that I think of every time Nova talks about him, “If he knew how shitty your parents were, why did he let you, a teenage girl, take the responsibility for raising her sister instead of giving the two of you a home?”
Nova looks down at her hands. “He lived in a one-bedroom apartment and couldn’t break the lease.”
“There’s always ways to break a lease,” I say.
“I get that he’s family and, especially when you were younger, you wanted to have at least one trustworthy adult in your life.
I get wanting to still believe he’s not the type of guy who could betray you and Layla, but we don’t always get what we want in life.
Hell, in my experience, getting anything good is rare.
Sometimes you just need to expect everything to go to shit. ”
Something about either my tone or my words catches her attention because she raises her head and studies me for a second before saying, “That’s a bleak way of going through life.”
I make an exasperated sound. “After all the shit you’ve been through, how the hell aren’t you pissed at the world?”
She shrugs. “Layla, I guess. When we were little, I tried to shield her from the worst of things, and it was easier to do when I found good things to tell her about. When we got older, even after she realized what our parents were like, she wanted to look for the positive.”
The way she talks about her sister makes my chest hurt, and for the first time since this all began, it hits me what it really means for Nova’s sister to be missing. After all, didn’t I know what it’s like to lose a younger sibling?
“Maybe if I took that outlook, my brother would still be here.”
The words come out before I even realize I’m thinking them and then I can’t take them back.
“Your brother?” Nova puts her hand on my arm.
I nod. It’s my turn to turn my attention to my hands. “Reid. He and Ace were the same age, so younger than me, but damn if they didn’t try to keep up all the same.”
I can feel one corner of my mouth twitching upward at the memories that come forward. Those two running after me on short little legs, telling me not to go anywhere without them. Rhett, Reid, and Connor. Then we became Creed, Revenge, and Ace.
“What happened?” Nova’s voice is gentle, coaxing me back to the present.
“The day Ace and Revenge turned eighteen, the three of us walked right into the Roadhouse and said we wanted to join the Kings. We were prospects together and became patched-in members together.” I curl my hands into fists.
“Two years. We had two years of riding together before it happened. Seven motherfuckers decided they should be in charge of the Kings and turned traitor. We were supposed to be club brothers and they fucking betrayed us. There was a fight and their leader killed Reid.”
“Oh, Creed.” Nova leans against my side and then wraps her arms around me. “I’m so sorry. No wonder you have a hard time trusting people.”
“Cipher does background on every prospect,” I say. “I’ll be damned if I let a snake into my club.”
“Did the cops catch him? The man who killed your brother?”
I look at her now and when she raises her head, I let her see the darkness in my eyes. “The Kings handle their own justice, Nova. Thought you would’ve figured that out by now.”
She doesn’t pull away and there’s no shock in her gaze. Surprise, maybe, but not shock or disgust. “You killed him.” She pauses, then shakes her head. “No, you killed all of them. All seven of the men responsible.”
“Me and Ace,” I say. “When Bowie made me Prez, Ace was the only choice for my VP. He’s always been my right hand, and he’s my brother.”
“But you miss Reid.”
I swallow hard. “Every fucking day.”
I don’t add that if Cipher and I missed something with Creed and that mistake costs Nova her sister, I’ll never forgive myself.