Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Hades
I might have to kill my president.
I’d grabbed the chair from the van and carried it inside to set up for Apollo. He hated the damn thing, but he didn’t have a choice. When the door opened and Kraken walked in carrying him, I tried not to look.
My brother deserved dignity. As much as we could give him, anyway.
Apollo had just settled into his chair when I heard the yelling. Rhea’s head snapped up at the sound of her son’s voice, and I groaned. I knew letting them come with us would cause problems, but Mimic and Kytten were Diana’s children.
Rhea’s grandchildren.
“What is he shouting about?”
“Rhea, wait,” I said, following her.
“KANE LUCAS COOPER!”
Every man turned to stone at the tone in her voice.
Each and every one of us had been at the center of Rhea Cooper’s wrath, full-named and dressed down, and it wasn’t something you ever forgot.
It was a sound that made grown men flinch.
A mother’s rage wrapped in disappointment and delivered with surgical precision.
“Would you like to tell me why my grandchildren are not welcome in my home?”
I had to give it to him—Zeus didn’t waver from his decision to keep his mother in the dark. He glared at Mimic, and when Indie stepped in beside him, he turned that glare on me.
I shrugged.
“I don’t want them in my clubhouse,” Zeus said to his mother.
“Why?”
“I have my reasons,” he countered.
“That’s not good enough,” Rhea said, standing before Zeus and glaring at him.
“Club business.”
I shook my head. That shit never worked with Kronos; why Zeus thought he could get away with it was beyond me.
Then again, after what we’d learned, I guess there was a lot of shit Kronos kept from his wife.
Decades of lies stacked on top of each other until the truth was buried so deep it might never see daylight.
“Don’t give me that bullshit. I lost my husband for this club. My children lost their father. You lost your father. I know you’re hurting. We’re all hurting, but those are my grandchildren. They lost someone too.”
“They didn’t fucking know him,” Zeus argued.
Indie snorted. The sound was sharp and mocking, pulling Zeus’ attention back to her. I’d just taken a step forward to stop my president from throwing us into another war, one with men we were supposed to be allied with, when someone called out.
“They can stay with me.”
Zeus never took his eyes off his mother, but I did, and what I saw almost knocked me to my fucking knees.
She was gorgeous. Golden hair fell almost to her waist, thick and wild, catching the light like spun honey.
The long skirt she wore did nothing to hide her slender hips, and the tank top stretched across her full tits had my mouth watering and my cock stirring to life despite the chaos around us.
“Lettie?”
“I’m only two miles away. I have those extra two bedrooms upstairs,” she offered.
How was she two miles away and I’d never seen her before? Where the fuck had she been hiding? And why the fuck hadn’t anyone told me about her?
“Would that be alright with you?” Rhea asked Mimic, who ignored the question until Indie spoke for him.
“That would be fine with us.”
“My name is Indie, and this is Mimic.”
“Violet Foster.” Her hand looked tiny as Indie grasped it. Delicate fingers, pale skin that looked soft as fuck. “But everyone calls me Lettie.”
Violet. Like the tiny little flowers that grew all over the fucking grounds. I used to pick them for my mother when I was a kid.
“Would his sister and her old man be able to stay as well? Mimic and Kytten are kind of inseparable.” Indie chuckled, and Lettie turned as Cash and Kytten walked closer.
“I... um...” She looked back and forth between the mismatched couple, and I smiled, knowing exactly what she was thinking. The same thing everyone thought when they saw Cash and Kytten together. That he was a predator and she was his victim.
“I’m not as young as I look. I’m twenty-one. And yes, Cash is thirty-four, so there is an age gap, but I didn’t even know him until I was twenty. I promise he’s not a predator.”
I saw the hesitation in Lettie’s eyes, and I wondered how old she was. How many years separated us? Was she too young for me? Would she look at me the way she was looking at Cash? Filled with suspicion and judgment?
“Lettie, I would really appreciate it if my children could stay with you.” Diana’s tone shifted, turning softer. “If you had more room, I might ask to stay with you too,” she added, glaring at her brother.
Zeus stood to the side with his arms crossed over his chest, unwilling to budge. The man was more stubborn than his father had ever been. More rigid and unforgiving.
“I wish I had more room for all of you.”
“Thank you.” Diana turned to Kytten. “I’ll have your father drive you over and bring the van back.”
“Oh, no need. I have a truck. She can ride with me.”
“Are you sure?” Rhea asked. “How will your mother feel about company?”
Her mother?
“It’s not her house.” Lettie shrugged. “I apologize now for the woman who gave me life.” Her small laugh sounded apologetic, but also like a melody only I could hear. Soft and musical and fucking intoxicating.
“We don’t want to be a burden,” Kytten said.
“Nonsense. She rarely comes out of her room anyway.”
I stood quietly as she walked to her truck, Cash and Kytten following behind her. How had I not known this woman existed? I wondered why her mother might be a problem, and even more, why she never left her room.
A hand clamped down on my shoulder. I glanced at my brother out of the corner of my eye, not wanting to lose sight of her until I absolutely had to.
“Don’t even think about it, big brother. Pretty sure Kraken’s already laid his claim.”
“I don’t fucking think so,” I said.
Kraken was a big son of a bitch, but he was only a brother. As VP, I had first refusal. The only man above me was Zeus, and I knew he wouldn’t be interested.
Violet Foster was too soft for Zeus. Too pure for him to ever consider going there.
But for me?
I wasn’t just looking to get my dick wet. I was looking for a place to drown. Somewhere to lose myself completely and sink so deep I’d never find my way back to the surface.
I walked into church and groaned when I saw my father and the other founders sitting there.
Zeus wanted to talk to them, find out how much they knew, but I wanted to live in ignorance where my father was concerned.
I didn’t want to know if he’d been involved in that shit.
Didn’t want to face the possibility that the man I’d worshipped my entire life was just as much a monster as Kronos.
I sat in my chair and waited for the others, my eyes locked on my father’s. He didn’t squirm. Jupiter had been VP before me. You didn’t get to this position by being weak or flinching when someone stared you down.
Zeus and Apollo were the last to enter. Apollo was adjusting to the chair quickly; his room had been moved downstairs temporarily. Zeus wanted to wait before making any major changes to the clubhouse until we knew if Apollo’s paralysis was permanent.
Apollo agreed.
Zeus and I both assured him his position didn’t require him to go on runs. We’d spare no expense to ensure Apollo had a bike he could ride. Custom-built if necessary, modified to accommodate his injury.
Zeus sat down beside me in his chair. It was a chair I never wanted; hell, I wasn’t sure I wanted the one I had anymore. Ignorance truly was bliss. The patched brothers who weren’t officers never had to deal with this shit, never had to know the ugly truths that kept them up at night.
“I miss the days when we were ignorantly unaware of the bullshit, brother,” I muttered to Zeus.
He snorted. “Were we ever really ignorant?” he asked, slamming the gavel on the table. The sound cracked through the room, sharp and final.
Maybe he was right. As sons of the president and VP, we’d always known more than we should have. We grew up in the shadows of this club, watching our fathers make decisions that would haunt us for the rest of our lives.
“Zeus, from all of us, condolences on the loss of your father. Kronos will be missed,” my father said.
“Did you know all the shit he was into?” Zeus asked.
My father didn’t flinch. Zeus sat stoic as ever, studying the men who came before us. The men who founded this club, who wrote the bylaws we all lived by.
“Did you know he’d been lying to my mother for the past forty years?”
All four remaining founding members lowered their eyes. It was the only indication they gave us that they knew something. The question was: how much did they fucking know? How deep did the rot go?
Oceanus looked over at Asclepius. “How much did you tell them?”
“Everything I knew,” he answered.
My father inhaled, then spread his hands out over the wooden table as he slowly exhaled. He didn’t look at me. His eyes were firmly on Zeus, studying him, preparing for whatever came next.
“Yes, we knew Kronos was older than he’d told Rhea. We also knew he got her pregnant on purpose. But your father loved your mother.”
“Bullshit,” Zeus snapped, standing up. “Did you know about the Trick Pony?”
I watched my father closely. I knew his tells. Knew when he was lying his ass off, when he was afraid. Hell, I knew when my father was fucking constipated. We were that close.
So when I saw his eyes widen a fraction, relief flooded through me and the tension in my shoulders released immediately. He didn’t know. Whatever Kronos had done at the Trick Pony, my father hadn’t been part of it.
“What the fuck are you talking about, boy? Your father wasn’t involved in the Trick Pony.”
My eyes shifted to the other three men sitting here. Each of them had a son in this room, an heir who took their place when they stepped down five years ago.
Aether was Anders Crane, the former road captain until his son, Hermes, took over when Zeus claimed the presidency. He’d been responsible for planning club rides and mapping routes for shipments, making sure no one got caught.
Pontus was Pearson Hughes. His son, Caishen, took over as treasurer. Caishen was smarter than his old man, and in the five years since the younger generation had been running things, he’d doubled our profits.
Then there was Oceanus, aka Quentin Hayes. His son was Ares, one of the club’s enforcers. Most of us followed in our fathers’ footsteps, but none like Ares.
Where Oceanus had been tough, Ares was deadly on a good day.
Brutal, efficient, and completely without mercy.
He and his father had a tumultuous relationship.
Oceanus had beaten the shit out of Ares as punishment when we were growing up, until Ares got big enough to fight back.
Until he’d put his father in the hospital and made it clear the abuse was over.
I used to ask my father why they didn’t stop it.
His answer never wavered: “You don’t interfere with another man’s family.
” I guessed that was why they never told Rhea the truth.
The same reason no one stepped in when my mother disappeared.
Family business was sacred, even when it destroyed everyone involved.
Zeus ignored my father’s question. “Did you know about the Brotherhood?”
Oceanus’ fingers twitched against the table. A tell so obvious it might as well have been a confession. The son of a bitch knew. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, eyes locked on the table, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze.
“Did you know, Pop?” Ares asked, leaning forward, his voice a low, dangerous growl. The kind of sound that promised violence. “Did you know Kronos was Nemesis?”
My father looked over at his friend. “Ocean? What the fuck are they talking about?”
“It was a long time ago. Before your mother, kid,” Oceanus said.
“Only, it wasn’t, was it?” Zeus hissed. “He knew exactly who she was the minute he saw her. He’d watched her grow up.” Zeus slammed his hand on the table, the sound like a gunshot in the enclosed space. “He was a fucking pedophile!”
“Your mother was sixteen,” Oceanus argued. “Hardly a fucking child. Things were different back then.” He paused, his jaw working. “She stayed, didn’t she? Women have a choice to stay or leave. Sometimes we have to make that choice for them.”
“And the others? The young girls he raped at the Trick Pony? The ones who aren’t given a choice? Like Karlyn Ingalls?” Zeus demanded. “She was sixteen years old, and it was only seven fucking years ago!”
Oceanus shrugged.
My father hadn’t said a word. He just stared at his friend while Oceanus and Zeus went back and forth. I didn’t even hear what they were saying anymore; my focus was locked on my father. His jaw clenched. His fingers twitched. Small movements that spoke of barely contained rage.
“Dad?” I stood up from my seat and started moving. “Dad!” I rushed around the table, calling out for Ares to get off his ass. The room became a blur as I tried to stop him. But I was too fucking late.
The gunshot was deafening, the concussion wave hitting my chest, the smell of cordite and burnt powder flooding my nostrils. Oceanus fell out of his seat and hit the floor with a heavy thud, blood spreading out beneath him, dark and thick.
“What the fuck!?” I cried, staring at my father who had just shot one of his best friends. He pointed the gun at Aether. Steady and unwavering, his finger on the trigger.
“Did you know any of that shit?”
“No, brother, I swear.”
“Pontus?”
“Fuck you, Jupiter,” Pontus snapped. My father should have known better than to question him. Pontus had one son, but he had four daughters. The youngest, Shelly, had disappeared when she was only seven years old.
The club searched for weeks, leaving no stone unturned, no house left standing.
When they finally found her, it was too late.
Not only had the bastard kidnapped her and killed her, but he’d ripped her apart.
Brutalized her in ways that made grown men vomit when they saw the crime scene photos. Her mother, Sandra, never recovered.
She became a shadow of her former self. For years, Pontus had her watched, worried she’d try to kill herself. The one thing that kept her going was her grandchildren. She still wasn’t the same woman we knew as kids, but she was still here. Still breathing. Still fighting.
I looked over at Ares, my hand on my gun, watching to see what he’d do. How he’d react. Protecting my father was my main goal, even if it meant shooting a brother.
Ares looked me in the eye and shrugged.