Chapter Seven
Alex
The Gods of Mayhem clubhouse looked exactly the same as it had four years ago.
Same peeling paint on the exterior walls.
Same row of motorcycles lined up like soldiers outside.
Same faded club banner hanging over the entrance, the Greek gods depicted in faded glory, their faces worn by time and Texas weather.
I spent my childhood here, running through these halls while Oscar attended church meetings, hiding in corners and listening to things I wasn’t supposed to hear.
Back then, it had felt like a fortress. A place where the men who wore the patch were invincible, untouchable.
Now it felt like a trap as Oscar escorted me toward church because he didn’t trust me not to run.
He was right not to.
“Remember,” he said, his voice low and serious. “Zeus is asking you as a courtesy. Because you’re my sister. But he’s still the president, Alex. You answer his questions. You show respect. You don’t give him attitude.”
I turned to look at him, taking in the hard set of his jaw and the tension in his shoulders. He was worried. Not just about what I might say, but about what Zeus might do if he didn’t like my answers.
“I know how this works,” I said quietly.
“Do you?” His dark eyes searched mine. “Because you’ve been gone a long time. Things have changed. The club’s changed. Zeus isn’t as patient as he used to be.”
And that’s my fault?
But I didn’t say it.
The door opened before we reached it.
Hades stood in the doorway, his massive frame blocking most of the light from inside.
Brock Davis had always been an intimidating man.
Standing at six-four, built like a brick shithouse, with a scar running down the left side of his face from a bar fight years ago.
He was Zeus’s right hand, his enforcer when Oscar wasn’t available, and he had a reputation for being ruthless.
“Poseidon,” he said with a nod. Then his eyes shifted to me. “Alex.”
“Hades,” I replied, keeping my voice neutral.
He stepped aside, letting us pass. “Everyone is waiting.”
Of course they are.
Church. The room where the officers met to discuss club business. Where decisions were made and punishments handed down. Where prospects were voted in and members were voted out.
Where interrogations happened.
My stomach twisted, but I kept my expression calm as I entered church.
The walls were covered in photos: club runs, parties, memorial shots of fallen brothers.
I recognized some of the faces. Others were new; added after I left.
The room was exactly as I remembered it.
A long wooden table in the center, surrounded by chairs.
Club banner on the wall behind the head of the table, where Zeus sat.
The air smelled of leather, motor oil, and cigarette smoke.
A scent so familiar it made my chest ache with something I didn’t want to name.
Every officer was there.
Zeus at the head of the table, his hair pulled back in a ponytail, his weathered face unreadable.
Hades took his seat to Zeus’s right. Atlas—Malachi Stevens, the sergeant at arms, sat to the left, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his expression hard.
Hermes, the road captain, leaned back in his chair, watching me with calculating eyes.
Adonis, the secretary, had a notebook open in front of him, pen in hand like he was about to take minutes of a meeting.
Caishen, the treasurer, looked bored, but I knew better than to trust that.
Easton Hughes never missed a detail. Aries, Marcus Hayes, sat near the end of the table, his scarred knuckles resting on the wood.
Hyperion, the tail gunner, was next to him, his expression neutral but his posture tense.
Coeus, the club’s tech guy, had his laptop open, the screen reflecting in his glasses.
Asclepius, the club doctor, looked like he would rather be anywhere else.
And Apollo, the chaplain, watched me with something that might have been sympathy.
And Oscar. My brother. The other enforcer. Standing behind me as he blocked the door.
Twelve men.
Twelve officers of the Gods of Mayhem. All of them looking at me like I was a problem that needed solving.
My ass is grass.
“Alex,” Zeus said, his voice calm and measured. “Have a seat.”
It wasn’t a request. I moved to the empty chair across from him. My legs felt steadier than they should have as I sat down and folded my hands on the table before I met his gaze.
“Thank you for coming,” he continued, like I had a fucking choice. “I know you’ve been through a lot recently. Poseidon mentioned you had a rough time up in Rapid City.”
“That’s right,” I said evenly.
“Bad breakup, he said.”
“Yes.”
Zeus nodded slowly, his fingers drumming once on the table. “Must have been pretty bad for you to come all the way back here after four years.”
There it was. The first jab.
The reminder that I abandoned them, abandoned Oscar, abandoned the only family I had ever known. “It was,” I replied simply.
“Want to tell us about it?”
No. “Not really,” I said, forcing a small, self-deprecating smile. “It’s embarrassing, honestly. I thought I knew him. Thought we had something real. Turns out I was wrong.”
“What was his name?” Hades asked, his voice a low rumble.
“Does it matter?”
“Humor me.”
I hesitated for just a fraction of a second. Long enough to look like I was reluctant to share, not long enough to look like I was lying.
“Derek,” I said. “Derek Walsh.”
It was a name I pulled from a random obituary I read online last week. A man who died three years ago in a car accident in Montana. No family. No connections. No way for them to verify.
“And what did Derek do for a living?” Atlas asked.
“Construction. He worked on commercial buildings.”
“In Rapid City?”
“And the surrounding area. He traveled a lot for work.”
“Is that why you broke up?” Adonis asked as his pen moved across the notebook. “Because he was gone all the time?”
“No.” I shifted in my seat, letting the discomfort show on my face. “He cheated. I found out and left.”
“Just like that?” Aries leaned forward, his scarred hands clasped together. “You didn’t try to work it out?”
“There was nothing to work out. He fucked someone else. I wasn’t going to stick around and play the forgiving girlfriend.”
A few of the men nodded, like what I said made sense. Like they respected that.
But Zeus wasn’t nodding. He was watching me with those sharp, assessing eyes, and I knew that he didn’t believe a word I was saying.
“How long were you in Rapid City?” he asked.
“About a year or so.”
“And before that?”
“Sioux Falls. Worked at a diner there for a year.”
“And before that?”
I met his gaze. “Does it matter? I moved around. Tried different places. Figured out what I wanted.”
“And what do you want, Alex?”
The question hung in the air, heavy with implication.
To disappear. To never be found. To survive.
“I don’t know yet,” I whispered instead. “That’s why I’m here. To figure it out.”
“Convenient,” Caishen muttered.
I turned to look at him. “Excuse me?”
“Just seems convenient,” he said with a shrug. “You disappear for four years. Barely call your brother. No visits. Then suddenly you show up with a sob story about a bad boyfriend, and we’re supposed to just accept it?”
“I’m not asking you to accept anything.” My voice hardened despite my best efforts. “I came home because I needed a place to stay while I got my shit together. Oscar offered. If that’s a problem, I can leave.”
“Nobody said you had to leave,” Zeus said calmly. “We’re just trying to understand the situation.”
“There’s nothing to understand. I had a shitty relationship. It ended. I came home. That’s it.”
“What did you do in Rapid City?” Hermes asked. “For work, I mean.”
Here we go.
“I worked at a club,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “Cocktail waitress.”
“What kind of club?”
“The kind that pays in cash and doesn’t ask too many questions.”
Several of the men exchanged glances. They knew what that meant. Strip club. Probably assumed I’d been dancing, not just serving drinks. They could think whatever they wanted. It was closer to the truth than anything else I could tell them.
“And this Derek,” Atlas spoke up, his voice hard. “He was okay with you working at a place like that?”
“Yes.”
“And he was fine with other men looking at his woman?”
I bristled at the phrasing, his woman, but forced myself to stay calm. “I wasn’t his property.”
“Clearly,” Aries said with a smirk.
Oscar shifted behind me, and I could feel his tension radiating like heat. He didn’t like this. Didn’t like them questioning me, pushing me, treating me like a suspect instead of family. But he wasn’t stopping them because he wanted answers too.
“Did you make any friends up there?” Coeus asked, his fingers still on his laptop keyboard. “Anyone we should know about?”
Fuck.
“A few,” I said carefully. “Other girls at the club. Nobody important.”
“Names?”
“I don’t remember. It’s been a few weeks. And like I said, nobody important.”
“You don’t remember the names of your friends?” Hades raised an eyebrow.
“They weren’t friends. They were coworkers. We worked together. We didn’t hang out.”
“So you were alone up there,” Zeus said. “No friends. Just this Derek and your job.”
“That’s right.”
“Sounds lonely.”
“It was.”
He nodded slowly as he considered my words. Then he leaned forward, his elbows on the table, his eyes locked on mine. “Here’s the thing, Alex,” he said quietly. “I want to believe you. I do. You’re Poseidon’s sister. You’re family. But something about your story doesn’t sit right with me.”
My heart hammered against my ribs, but I kept my expression neutral. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s the truth.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why do I get the feeling you’re running from something?”
The room went silent. Every eye was on me. Waiting. Watching.
I could feel Oscar’s gaze burning into the back of my head.