Chapter twelve
Nadia
“Ithought it was weird. We blew up the factory they had their sights on and never retaliated. Not a peep.” Pop replies.
“Oh, they did retaliate. We were playing chess, but they were shaking the fucking table.”
“I feel like a fucking parrot asking this over and over again, but what happened?” Pop looks at me.
“I have a brother, Pop. Well, two actually.” That stuns him.
“Eight years ago, I told you I’d find out more about the Scorpions and Olympus. I did. I trailed the Scorpions to Briarwood, only to find they had an internal war on their hands. They were overthrown from the inside, and their new leader took over and created a new gang: the Wicked.”
“I was suspicious of this and knew that Olympus would come knocking. So, I befriended him. Rainer Laurent, their leader. I dug into his past and found out that his mom was killed in what the police declared was a robbery gone wrong. Only, nothing was taken from her home. It was him. Anton, he killed her. Had a one-night stand with a woman from Colorado, got her pregnant, and had Olympus take care of her. She ran, had the baby, but they eventually found her.”
“The gods of Olympus were supposed to have children and bring others into their organization. I don’t exactly know why my father spared Rainer, who is only a year younger than me.”
“And the other brother?” Pop questions.
“Vasili Knight. Though we call him by his middle name, Rhys. Product of Anton and, get this, Rainer’s ex, Josslyn Knight. He gave us our names and made us take our mothers’ last names so we couldn’t be connected back to or used against him. He’s two. Living in Denver with someone I trust.” I smile.
Rhys is the most adorable little boy. I love him to pieces and would cross any number of lines for him.
When I found out about Rainer, and eventually Rhys, I thought I would feel different.
That I would cherish them or love them more than I do Deck, Abby, and Isla, because they share my blood.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
I love them all the same. Well, except Rainer, who’s in jail right now and probably doesn’t even know he has siblings. But that’s a story for another day.
“You left to take care of Rhys?”
“No, I left to save him. Rainer killed Anton before he could extend protection to Rhys, so he was taken by Olympus. But they didn’t give a shit about Rhys; I was the prize they had their eyes on.” I take a seat on the chair next to Pop, taking the beer he extends my way.
“I’m actually headed to Denver to see him for a bit. I should be back on Tuesday. Plenty of time to get ready for my race.” I take a hearty pull of the beer, watching as Deck pulls up and helps Isla get out of the car.
“I’ll tell you the rest another time, Pop.” I press a kiss to his cheek, grab my bag, and stand.
“There you are.” Isla grabs both my hands.
“I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve been gone less than twenty-four hours.” “You’ve been gone longer.” She reminds me, pulling her purple hair into a ponytail.
“Yeah, well, Pop’s sending me off again. But I’ll be back on Tuesday. I’m gonna need my car.” I turn my eyes to Deck.
“Oh, you mean your precious baby that I’ve been taking care of since you left.” He teases.
“Yes, that one. I’m sure it’s great, but I wanna get a feel for how it’s driving. See if there’s any work I wanna do.”
Deck dips back into his Supra, grabs a set of keys from the center console, and hands them to me.
“It’s in the garage out back.” He motions behind Pop’s house.
“I appreciate you, Deck,” I call over my shoulder, walking in the direction of my baby.
“Yeah, yeah. You just be sure to win this weekend.”
I plan to.