Chapter Thirty-Four
Nano
I felt them before I saw them.
The shift in the air behind me. The subtle displacement of space that told me someone had moved into position. My instincts screamed a warning half a second before Garrote’s hand clamped down on my left shoulder and Scythe’s fingers dug into my right.
Fuck.
I knew. In that instant, I knew exactly what Morpheus intended to do.
“Wait!” I started, but the word had barely left my mouth before they yanked me backward with brutal efficiency as my chair scraped against the floor.
I tried to plant my feet, tried to resist, but Garrote and Scythe were enforcers for a reason.
They knew how to move a body that didn’t want to be moved.
They knew how to apply pressure in exactly the right places to make resistance futile.
“Morpheus!” I shouted, my voice raw with desperation. “Don’t do this! She’ll talk. I can make her talk. Just give me more time!”
But Morpheus didn’t even look at me. He sat at the head of the table, his expression carved from stone, his eyes fixed on some point beyond the church doors. Waiting. Planning. Executing the strategy he’d already decided on before I’d even walked into this room.
“Morpheus!” I roared again, thrashing against the hands that held me. “She’s mine! I claimed her. You can’t!”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want,” Morpheus sneered quietly, his voice cutting through my protests like a blade. “And right now, what I want is results. You had your chance, brother. Now it’s my turn.”
Garrote twisted my arm behind my back, the angle just shy of dislocation, and I felt my knees buckle from the pain.
Scythe grabbed my other arm, mirroring the hold, and together they hauled me toward the church doors.
“You’re making a mistake!” I shouted, my voice cracking.
“She’ll shut down. She’ll fight you. She won’t give you shit if you do this! ”
“Then she’ll watch you die,” Morpheus said, still not looking at me. “And then we’ll see how long her defiance lasts after that.”
The doors slammed open as they dragged me into the hallway. My boots scraped against the floor as I tried to dig in, tried to find purchase, but Garrote and Scythe were relentless. They moved like a machine, coordinated and efficient, hauling me toward the stairs that led down to the basement.
“No!” I twisted violently, managing to wrench one arm partially free, but Wanderer appeared from nowhere and slammed his fist into my kidney. Pain exploded through my side, stealing my breath, and I sagged between them.
“Stop fighting,” Garrote growled in my ear. “You’re only making this worse.”
“Fuck you,” I spat, but the words came out weak.
Breathless as they dragged me down the stairs, my boots hitting each step with a dull thud that echoed through the narrow stairwell.
The basement air hit me like a wall. Cold, damp, smelling of concrete and old blood.
The single bare bulb overhead cast harsh shadows across the gray walls, and I saw the metal chairs waiting in the center of the room.
Two of them.
Oh fuck.
“Sit,” Scythe ordered, shoving me toward the nearest chair.
I fought. God, I fought. I twisted and kicked and threw my weight backward, but there were too many of them.
Garrote, Scythe, Wanderer, Cobalt, they swarmed me, forcing me down into the chair with brutal efficiency.
My wrists were yanked behind the backrest, and I felt the bite of rope as they began to tie me.
“You chose a thieving cunt over the Brotherhood,” Scythe hissed in my ear, and then I felt the cold press of a knife blade against my throat.
I went still. Not because of the knife. Not because of the threat.
But because he was right.
The realization hit me like a freight train, stealing whatever fight I had left.
I chose Alex over my family. I chose her over the club.
Over my brothers. Over everything I had sworn to protect when I patched in.
I got attached. I fell in love with a woman who soothed the monster inside me, and I convinced myself that was enough.
That if I could just control her, if I could just make her submit, I could have both.
My club and the girl. The Brotherhood and the connection.
But I had lost sight of the bigger picture.
Without trust, I was no better than the men who had abused my mother.
The men who had used her desperation against her.
The men who had taken her need for connection and twisted it into something ugly and exploitative.
I had become the very monster I had been trying to fight all these years.
And now everyone was going to pay for it.
The ropes tightened around my wrists, cutting into my skin. My ankles were bound to the chair legs. And then Scythe shoved a gag into my mouth, tying it tight enough that I tasted blood.
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t warn her. Couldn’t do a goddamn thing except sit here and watch Morpheus destroy everything I cared about.
This is your fault, the voice in my head whispered. You did this. You chose her, and now she’s going to suffer for it.
The basement door opened again, and I heard shouting. Struggling. The sound of boots on the stairs. “Get your fucking hands off me!” The voice was unfamiliar but filled with rage. “I’m a Gods of Mayhem brother. You touch me and Zeus will declare war on your entire club!”
Poseidon.
They dragged him into view, Wanderer and Cobalt on either side, Vortex bringing up the rear.
Poseidon was bigger than I had expected, built like a linebacker, with the same dark hair and sharp features as Alex.
His cut bore the Gods of Mayhem patch, and his eyes blazed with fury as they forced him toward the second chair.
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Poseidon snarled, fighting every step. “Zeus will burn this clubhouse to the ground when he finds out you kidnapped one of his brothers!”
Laughter erupted from the brothers surrounding us.
Harsh, mocking laughter that echoed off the concrete walls.
“Zeus?” Garrote repeated, grinning. “You think we’re scared of Zeus?”
“The Gods of Mayhem are nothing,” Scythe added, his knife still visible in his hand. “A second-tier club playing at being relevant.”
“Fuck you!” Poseidon spat, but they were already forcing him into the chair beside mine. He fought. God, he fought hard, but there were too many of them. Within minutes, he was bound just as tightly as I was, ropes cutting into his wrists and ankles.
But they didn’t gag him.
Not yet.
The basement door opened again, and Morpheus descended the stairs with Cerberus at his side. The room fell silent as our president crossed the concrete floor, his boots echoing in the sudden quiet as he stopped in front of us, his expression calm. Almost bored.
“Poseidon.” Morpheus smirked. “Welcome to the Brotherhood of Bastards.”
“Zeus is going to kick your fucking ass.”
“He can try.” Morpheus chuckled before his voice turned bored, almost conversational. “You are the brother of Alexandra Jones.” He paused. “The woman currently locked in a room upstairs.”
Poseidon’s eyes widened slightly, but he recovered quickly. “If you’ve hurt her.”
“I haven’t done shit.” Morpheus smirked as he looked toward me. “Nano, on the other hand, is another story.”
Poseidon’s head whipped to me. “What the fuck did you do to my sister?”
Scythe sniggered. “You mean what didn’t he do to her?”
Several brothers chuckled.
Morpheus held up his hand, stopping Scythe from saying anything more. “Your sister has something I want, Poseidon, and I’m going to use you to get it.”
Poseidon demanded. “What the fuck do you want from her?”
Morpheus studied him for a long moment. Then he said, “Your sister stole seventy-five million dollars from the Brotherhood of Bastards.”
The effect was immediate. Poseidon’s entire body went rigid. His mouth opened, then closed. His eyes darted to me, then back to Morpheus. “That’s...” He swallowed hard. “That’s not possible.”
“It’s very possible,” Morpheus said calmly.
“She transferred the money from accounts belonging to Cade Birch. A strip club owner in Rapid City who was laundering for us. She stole it and fled to Athens, Texas, before we could get our hands on her. But no worries. Nano is very good at what he does. Didn’t take him but a few hours to locate her before I sent him and a few others to retrieve her.
She has been enjoying the Brotherhood’s hospitality for the past week or so. ”
Poseidon’s face had gone pale. “Seventy-five million...”
“Dollars,” Morpheus confirmed. “Which gives me every right to put a bullet in her head and dump her body in a ditch, if I choose. The fact that she’s still breathing is a courtesy I have extended to you and Zeus.”
Poseidon stared at him, and I could see the moment the fight drained out of him. The moment he realized Morpheus was right. Alex had committed a crime so severe, so unforgivable, that the Brotherhood would be justified in executing her.
“That’s why she showed up out of the blue. Why she was so fucking jumpy? Always looking over her shoulder. I knew she was hiding something. FUCK!” Poseidon cursed angrily, before saying, “Tell me she gave back the money.”
Morpheus nodded. “She did, but what I need now is information.”
“What kind of information?” Poseidon asked warily.
“Your sister has knowledge about a man we believe orchestrated the hit on FIRE,” Morpheus said.
“Eros.” Poseidon’s eyes widened as he whispered, “How? How would Alex know about that shit?”
“Because she told Nano.”
Poseidon looked at me. “What did she tell you?”
When Morpheus nodded, Garotte removed my gag.
“There was a man she was seeing before she stole the money. She overheard him talking to a biker. Someone she couldn’t identify.
This man, whose name is Michael, paid this biker to eliminate FIRE.
She didn’t know who FIRE was at the time, but she does now. ”
The second I was done talking, Garotte replaced my gag.
“Fuck,” Poseidon groaned, shaking his head.
“Only my sister could find herself in the wrong place at the wrong fucking time.” Taking a few seconds to digest everything, Poseidon eventually looked up at Morpheus and asked, “So what’s the plan?
Because I can tell you right now, Zeus will lose his shit when he learns Alex knew information that could help us in this war and she didn’t say shit.
She’s always lived her life on her own terms. She doesn’t listen to anyone.
We all tried. Alex has always gone her own way, even when it’s the wrong way. ”
“Your sister knows who ordered the hits. She knows where to find this dead man walking. She knows details that could help us prevent further attacks. But she’s refusing to cooperate.”
Poseidon sighed as the realization hit. “You are going to use me as leverage.”
Morpheus’ expression didn’t change. “Yes.”
Poseidon was silent for a long moment as he looked at me, his eyes narrowing slowly. “And if she doesn’t?”
“Then I put a bullet in your head,” Morpheus said simply. “And move on to the next person she cares about.”
Morpheus’ eyes flicked to me as Poseidon followed his gaze, and I saw understanding dawn in his expression. “Him,” he said quietly. “She cares about him.”
“She does,” Morpheus agreed. “Which means she has a choice to make. Tell us everything about this fucker or watch the both of you die.”
I tried to speak, tried to shout through the gag, but all that came out was a muffled sound. Morpheus glanced at me, his expression unreadable.
“Nano disagrees with my methods,” he said to Poseidon. “He thinks he can make her talk without resorting to this. But Nano’s judgment has been compromised. He’s fallen in love with your sister, which makes him useless in this situation.”
Poseidon’s eyes locked on mine, and I saw the question there. Is that true? Do you love her?
I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t do anything except stare back at him, helpless and bound and completely fucking powerless.
“So here’s what’s going to happen,” Morpheus said, turning back to Oscar.
“I’m going to bring your sister down here.
I’m going to explain the situation. And she’s going to tell me everything I want to know about this motherfucker.
Where he is. How to find him. Every detail she has been holding back. ”
“And if she doesn’t?” Poseidon asked again.
“Then I bury your sister in the same grave as you,” Morpheus said calmly.
The basement fell silent.
Poseidon stared at Morpheus, his jaw clenched. Then he said, “You’re a cold-blooded bastard.”
“No. I’m protecting my club and my brothers, even from themselves,” Morpheus corrected, his eyes glaring at me. “Alexandra put herself in this position when she stole from us and withheld critical intelligence. Now she’s going to face the consequences.”
He turned toward the stairs, then paused. “One more thing, Poseidon. If you try to warn her, if you try to signal her in any way, I’ll gag you too. And then I’ll make the choice for her. Understood?”
Poseidon’s hands curled into fists behind the chair, but he nodded.
“Good.” Morpheus looked at Cerberus. “Get Carver. Tell him to bring the thief down.”
Cerberus nodded and disappeared up the stairs.
Morpheus turned back to us, his expression still calm. Still controlled. “This is going to be unpleasant,” he said conversationally. “For all of us. But it’s necessary. Your sister needs to understand that defiance has consequences. That her choices affect more than just herself.”
I tried to speak again, tried to make some sound that would convey the rage and desperation burning through me, but the gag held firm.
Morpheus looked at me, and for just a moment, I saw something that might have been sympathy in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, brother,” he said quietly. “But you left me no choice.”
Then he turned away, crossing to the far wall where he could watch the stairs. Waiting.
I sat there, bound and gagged and helpless, listening to the sound of footsteps above us.
Listening to Carver’s voice, muffled but audible.
Listening to Alex’s protests as he dragged her from the room.
And I knew, with absolute, terrible certainty, that I was about to watch the woman I loved break completely.
Because of me. Because I chose her over the Brotherhood. Because I became the monster I had always feared.
The footsteps grew louder. Closer.
And all I could do was sit here and watch it happen.