Chapter FourteenRoman
The moment Boom Boom returned to the small room where they’d been playing cards, I knew something was up with Nova and Ainsley. Barely concealed anger blazed in his eyes. He sat at the table where I’d been talking to Kite and Wizard, watching as they drank, forcing myself to be content with the few times they lifted a bottle to my mouth. Ordinarily, his glances annoyed me. Or the former me.
Current me was in a fucked up position because I couldn’t defend myself if and when guns started blazing.
We’d arrived on the outskirts of Salt Lake City a couple of hours ago at the Mother Chapter of the American Scorpions. Boom Boom thought an alliance should be inevitable. I wasn’t sure why, besides the obvious, because the club was in the middle of nowhere. To me, they seemed like a fucking rip-off of a club that had been destroyed in a rivalry years ago.
Though the president wasn’t at the clubhouse yet, we were given food, alcohol, and rooms where women waited for us. I hated sharing a room with Kite. I couldn’t caress a woman’s body, sink my fingers into her pussy, or tangle them through her hair. Kite made a production of doing all the things I once enjoyed. My chick rode my cock until I shot my load and left me unsatisfied, missing all the things I once took for granted.
I couldn’t shake my uneasiness or sense of doom. Rendered scorpions decorated the walls. A huge American flag and a club banner hung from the ceiling. Two huge, covered terrariums sat on each side of the room, decorated with Halloween props of fake skulls.
The terrariums looked empty, though Wizard claimed a scorpion lived in each one. Since I knew nothing about this club, I wasn’t sure.
Maybe that’s what had me so uneasy. We were in an unfamiliar clubhouse and I was unarmed.
For the first time in memory, I didn’t know what to do. Kite roomed with me. I couldn’t call Ainsley and tell her to get the fuck out of our house for her own safety.
Immediately, he’d know that I knew what those motherfuckers did to Ainsley. When they disappeared, I would be the first one the club pointed fingers at if I aroused suspicions.
“How’s Nova?” I finally asked. That cunt was on my list, too. I’d check it twice for the naughty and the nice, then fuck them all up. None of those assholes had been nice to my little sister. “She hasn’t called much while we’ve been away.”
Steepling his fingers and resting them on his chin, Boom Boom leaned back. “She and Ainsley had a falling out.”
I remained impassive. “What about?”
He scrutinized my face, glanced at my handless arms, studied my neck. “That isn’t important.”
I refused to ask why. I wasn’t interested, and if he wanted me to know, he’d fucking tell me.
“But you know what is?” He folded his arms. “That slut you have for a sister carrying Reese Sinclair’s baby.”
“ WHAT ?” I exploded, not even caring he called Ainsley a slut. His statement was so outrageous, so fucking unbelievable, that I could only say that one word. It felt as if my heart momentarily stopped and I wanted to vomit. No fucking way…impossible…Ainsley wouldn’t. I began shaking my head in denial. “No. That isn’t true. Nova’s a liar. Ainsley would never betray me that way.”
“You’re calling my daughter a liar, fucker?”
“Yes,” I snarled. “Yes, the fuck I am.” My arms jerked with the need to pound my fucking fists. I settled for stomping my foot like a fucking toddler. “Nova’s a goddamn liar. How fucking dare she spout that bullshit.”
Boom Boom stood, so Kite and Wizard followed suit. I remained seated. If they intended to shoot me for disrespecting that cunt, I wouldn’t show them a modicum of respect. Slowly, Boom Boom brought his hand to his side. My only regret was leaving Ainsley to fend for herself before I found a man worthy of her.
They’d foisted this trip on me at the last minute. They’d brought me there to watch me because I sure the fuck couldn’t do a motherfucking thing without hands.
Instead of pulling a gun, Boom Boom took out his cell phone. Once he found whatever he sought, he laid it on the table and slid it to me.
Ainsley stood next to that Royal Bastard, her hair disheveled, her mouth swollen. I’d fucked enough women to know the afterglow. Seeing it on Ainsley turned my stomach. But knowing it was because of Reese Sinclair ripped my heart in two.
Betrayal sliced through me.
I studied the picture closer and searched my mind. Since Ainsley got tits, I dismissed them. I couldn’t face that she was growing up and I didn’t want another motherfucker looking at her. As her big brother, I certainly wouldn’t. Still, we’d gone to Galveston a few summers back. She also liked crop tops and tight clothing. I didn’t like it, but she’d challenged me to arm wrestling. If she won, she could wear whatever she wanted. If I won, I dictated her clothes.
I accepted the challenge, knowing she’d already won. I always allowed her to beat me in our arm-wrestling contests.
Looking at the photo until the battery saver kicked in, I admitted her breasts were bigger. Even after two and a half months, I forgot I didn’t have hands. Like now, when I hung my head and wanted to cradle it. The weight of the new information made it overwhelmingly heavy.
How could Ainsley do this?
“You aren’t the reason your life was spared,” Boom Boom said, breaking into my heartache. “She is. Her pussy saved your life.”
My nostrils flared. “If that’s the case, I would’ve preferred to die,” I spat, the words spewing from all my hurt and anger.
“She’s a whore,” Kite uttered.
“A slut,” Wizard added.
“A cocksucker,” Boom Boom said.
They looked at me expectantly. As livid as I was with Ainsley, I wanted to hear her side. She must’ve had a reason for sleeping with Reese. Maybe, they had called her and she’d sacrificed herself to save me. That made sense.
“Don’t you agree, Roman?” Boom Boom pressed.
“Ainsley loves me,” I said, refusing to disparage her to anyone, but especially not these motherfuckers. “My guess is she fucked Reese in exchange for my life.”
I blew out a heavy breath, disgusted at the thought, but feeling better about the situation.
Wincing, Boom Boom shook his head. “Nova says otherwise. Ainsley had already fucked Reese.”
A cold feeling slid into me. I was so fucking angry with Ainsley. I’d make her watch while I castrated Reese and then let him bleed to death. If she really was pregnant, she was getting rid of it.
“You know what you have to do, Reese,” Wizard said, his smile icy.
“Yeah,” I said heavily, then revealed my plans.
“Reese does have to die,” Boom Boom agreed. “But so does Ainsley.”
I jerked as if I’d been shot. He was ordering my sister’s death? Of course he was. She’d betrayed us all by sleeping with a Royal Bastard, and an officer at that.
He sat down again, so the other two took their seats as well.
“When will you be fitted for the prosthetics?” my president asked.
“In a month.” Or not. I’d gotten myself out of my funk for Ainsley’s sake, not knowing of her deception. “The appointment’s set exactly two weeks after we return from our run.”
“Good.” Boom Boom lit a cigarette, then picked up the deck of cards that lay forgotten in the middle of the table. “Your first assignment when you’re fully functional again is bringing me Ainsley’s head.”
If my agreement to that fucked-up task got me home alive, then so be it. I could never kill my sister, but as of this moment, she was no family of mine.