“I told these sons a’ bitches I was fine.” Hollywood groaned from the bed in the back of the clubhouse. I sat on the chair next to him, smoking a joint and smiling at his whines. “But Doc won’t let me up until I’m off the pain meds.”
“Doc’s right,” I said. “If you’re in too much pain to move without them, you shouldn’t be moving.”
He narrowed his eyes and snatched the joint out of my hand, bringing it to his lips for a deep inhale. I looked across the room at Saint, lounging back on another bed, his thigh wrapped in gauze.
“How about you? Doc stitch you up?”
Saint gave me a thumbs-up, but he was still heavily medicated. “Oh, I’m fine, KC. Fucking fiiiinnnne.”
I snickered at his drugged-up slur.
“How’s your girl?” Hollywood cut in, handing the joint back to me.
I shook my head and sighed. “I don’t know.”
I truly didn’t. Yesterday, we were talking about moving in together. Today, she wanted to leave again. Which brought me to a fork in the road. If I wanted to keep her, I had to let her know. I had to tell her that she was in this now, like it or not. And the best way to protect her was to make her mine.
Maybe I should have been afraid of that. Maybe I should have been outright terrified of committing myself to someone so completely after only knowing them for a few weeks. But I felt this rightness with her in my gut, and nothing could change my mind. She was going through a shitty fucking time. First, her mom, and now Aris.
Jesus Christ. Aris.
That shit blew my mind. I could only imagine what was going through hers.
“I heard about her mom,” Saint said. “Shame. She seems like a nice lady.”
I nodded. “She is.”
“Give Alba my best, yeah?”
“Yeah. Can you still walk and shit? Or are you gonna need someone to lug your big ass around now?”
He laughed. “Yeah, motherfucker. Those Caputi assholes can’t take me down that easy.”
It was good to see Saint back in his spirits. He’d scared the shit out of me yesterday. We weren’t as close as me and Hollywood were, but he was my brother. My family. I loved him. A quiet knock at the door brought my head up, and I found Ru standing there, her curly brown hair in a messy bun on top of her head. Add a pair of glasses, and I’d see the resemblance to Alba. Ru’s face was rounder and she had higher cheekbones, but the eyes and the nose were the same.
Why hadn’t I fucking recognized it before now?
“Hey,” she said, taking a few steps inside. She looked rough, like she’d been up all night helping the club. Knowing her, she likely had.
“Hey,” I said.
“How’s Alba?”
I gave her the same overview I’d given Saint and Hollywood. “How are you doing?”
“Ah.” She waved me off. “I’m not surprised, honestly. I found out about Penny years ago. I should have guessed there was a child.”
“You seem well adjusted.”
She shook her head. “My dad’s an asshole. That’s nothing new.”
I glanced at the bodies milling around behind her. Crow bounced between groups of people, checking in to make sure everyone was okay, giving them his strength as only the President could. Almost the whole club was here, just over forty people with their spouses. Some had even brought their kids. When one of us bled, we all bled.
“How are you?” She nodded to my side. “Heard you got winged.”
“Yeah, it’s a scratch.”
She laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “’Tis but a flesh wound.” Ru focused her attention on Saint, a wistfulness coming to her eyes before she went to his bedside. I knew they were fucking once upon a time, and judging by the adoration in his eyes, I’d say they still were together.
I’d promised both of them I’d keep my mouth shut, and I still did. I said my goodbyes and headed to Crow.
“Hey, KC,” he said, pulling me into a hug. “Good to see you, kid. Glad you made it out okay.”
“Glad no one else is seriously hurt.”
“We got lucky,” Crow said. “Those motherfuckers are gonna pay for this.”
I had a thousand questions about last night. How had we gotten the bad intel? How had they known where the shed was in the first place? What were we going to do next? But Crow clapped the side of my face and turned to Aris, whispering something about calling church to order.
“C’mon,” he said, and I followed him to the meeting room in the back while Aris shouted behind me for everyone else to join us. I pulled out my phone and checked for messages from Selene or Alba. I didn’t know if I should be relieved or worried there weren’t any. I’d only been gone an hour, but it felt like fucking years.
Jesus, if I hated the separation now, what would I do when she left?
Fuck, I didn’t like that look in her eye earlier today, like she didn’t care if it bothered me. Grief could make people say fucked-up stuff they didn’t mean and make them do stuff they wouldn’t normally do.
Alba had likely thought she had more time with her mom, and now that she faced the end, the anger over that loss might make her act out. It had for me. Sometimes I still acted out, missing my dad, my mom, Gemma. Perhaps missing a childhood that included them most of all. Lamenting that version of me that got to have the big family.
Watching my brothers file in filled me with a strange nostalgia. Yeah, my parents were gone, but I still had family. I still had them, and they still had me. Every one of these fuckers would lay their life on the line for me if I needed them to. I’d do the same for them.
Is that not family?
Alba thought she was alone, but I loved her. And because I loved her, all of them loved her. They’d protect her. They’d come for her if anything happened.
Is that not family?
Thor found me and smiled, coming to stand next to me. I didn’t have a chance to say anything before Aris opened with, “Thank you all for coming.”
Switch closed the meeting doors. Bodies crammed into the small space, the most members we’d had at church in a long time.
“By now, you’ve all heard what happened last night,” Aris said. “The run that produced nothing but a gunfight. The near miss with my storage shed. The Caputis we killed and fed to the pigs. I won’t lie and say things look good. Things are pretty fucking bleak. But we’re all here. Most of us are healthy.”
“All of us are healthy, Veep,” Hollywood shouted from the back.
“Shut the fuck up, Hollywood,” Doc said. “And sit your ass down before you pass out, you dumb son of a—” The laughter of the room drowned out their tussle, but Hollywood ultimately gave in.
“All right,” Crow barked in that booming voice of his, silencing everyone again. “Let the man speak.”
“I’ve been keeping something from you,” Aris said. “So I must ask your forgiveness. It put the whole club at risk.” His steel-blue eyes came to me specifically. “Some more than others.”
Whispers and murmurs echoed around me, but I straightened and shifted my shoulders, ignoring the ache in my side.
“Twenty-five years ago, I fell in love with Penelope Wright. Some of you know this, but most of you don’t. She’s the daughter of Benito Caputi.”
The room fell quiet. No one even fucking breathed.
“Alessandra Caputi. When she got pregnant, she came to the MC for help. We faked her death and set her up here with a new name and identity.”
More hushed talking amongst the brothers, but Aris hung his gray head and sighed. “I’ve tried to protect us the best I can, but last night, we were blindsided. All of this blood, it’s on me.”
Shouts of “No!” and “Stop it, Veep!” came from the crowd.
“Ain’t your fault!”
“Benito started this bloodshed.”
“Last night, we lost more than our pride. Saint took a hit in the leg. Hollywood got clipped in the shoulder. We let them get the better of us. Not again.” Aris let out a deep sigh. “Penny and I had a child. A daughter.”
That shut everyone up. I couldn’t believe he was telling them, telling us all.
Why?
Why risk it like this?
It could get back to the Caputis. There were people here I hadn’t seen in ages. Years, even.
Unless…
That’s what they wanted. They used the excuse of me fucking her to set up surveillance at the house. And now? They were shining the bat signal.
They think we have a rat.
It was the only excuse. How could they have known where the shed was? How could they have known we’d come after them last night? How could they have known our plans?
I glanced around the room, my paranoia at an all-time high.
Who could it be? Who could it be?
Almost the entire club was in this very space. Odds were the snitch was right here, right now.
I put my hand on my nine. If I ever found out who it was…
“Her name is Alba Wright,” Aris said, drawing my attention back to the present. “And Penny is on her deathbed. Cancer. Can you believe it? She survived her father only to be taken out by her own fucking body.” Aris clutched the back of the chair, leaning over it. “I know I’ve got blood on my hands—Rose and Caputi alike—and I’m sorry.”
No one said anything, but I read the room. It wasn’t because we thought Aris owed us an apology. It was because there was no forgiveness to give. Loving Penny shouldn’t have been a crime. Loving Penny shouldn’t have caused the mayhem it did.
Crow stood and walked closer to Aris, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Anyone wanna impeach him?”
Silence and then, “Move to exonerate,” came from Thor next to me.
“Seconded,” Slip said.
“Anyone against?”
Silence.
“I agree.” Crow turned to Aris and opened his arms, pulling him in for a giant hug. “Love is love, brother. Benito started this fucking shit.” Aris gave him a nod and a pat on the back. When they separated, Crow turned to the rest of us. “The blood is on his hands, and it’s led us here to this. Last night, we wasted three of Caputi’s men, Julian Caputi included. Won’t be long now before they come looking for revenge.”
Crow took a couple of steps forward, moving into the crowd and making himself one of us.
“And when they do”—he crossed his arms over his chest—“we’ll be fucking ready this time. When they do, this fucking ends.”
The MC went wild, shouts and hollers coming from all directions. I joined in, the first taste of anticipation on my tongue. For thirteen years, I’d been waiting for my chance to get even. For thirteen years, I’d lusted for Benito’s blood. And now? I’d finally get it.
* * *
Death could be a shady bitch.
She could make a man feel powerful as fuck—when he’s leaning over someone who was trying to take his life with his hands around that fucker’s windpipe, watching as death pulled their soul from their body. And knowing, deep down, he was on death’s side that day. That’s some overwhelming shit. Addictive, too.
But sometimes… death could make a man feel more helpless than ever. Like standing next to the woman he loved and holding her sobbing body while her mother took her last breath, knowing there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop death this time.
Well, that’s the flip side. That power he felt in the killing? That was just borrowed strength. Death always came for what was hers in the end.
Always.
Penny passed peacefully in her sleep at eleven-thirty that night, with Alba holding one hand and Aris holding the other. The two people who had loved her the most in her life were there with her at the end.
After the morticians took her body to the funeral home, I carried Alba down to her room and put her in her bed, crawling in behind her. We had a long few days ahead of us, and not just because of Penny’s death. She’d need her rest.
This would be hard, yes. But the shit with the Caputis would be hard, too.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Alba said.
I kissed her shoulder, the side of her head, and anywhere else I could. “I know, sunshine.”
“It hurts, Jer,” she said. “It hurts so bad.”
“I’m sorry.” I kissed her ear, holding her tighter and wishing there was something I could do to take away her pain. “I’m so sorry this is happening.”
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” She turned in my hold so she faced me. “I’m sorry my grandfather did that to your parents. I’m sorry about all—”
I shut her up with a kiss, cupping her face to hold her still. I didn’t want to hear that shit. It wasn’t her fault. None of it. She didn’t know. How could she? She’d been lied to her entire life.
“If I could kill him for you,” she whispered, “I would.”
I laughed and kissed her again. “I know.”
“I’m sorry for what I said earlier.” She shook her head. “It’s a habit to say I’m leaving.”
“Do you still want to?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I dream about it. Just running off and disappearing. Especially now, knowing about my family.” She gave me a half-hearted smile and wiped at her cheeks, brushing away tears. “But then, I think about leaving you. Leaving this. It’s scary, but I do love you, Jericho.”
The weight on my chest lifted. I believed her when she said it, the truth radiating from inside her. And that was the fundamental difference between her and Nikki. When Nikki told me she loved me, I questioned it the entire time we were together. But with Alba? Not a single fucking part of me thought she was lying.
“I love you, too.”
“But what if I did disappear?” She said the words low and murmured. “What if Benito could never find me or learn about me?”
I shook my head. “He might never know. She’s lived as Penny Wright all these years. No one has put it together yet.”
“But if he does… he’ll come for me.”
“He won’t get you.” I kissed her softly and sweetly. “I promise.”
She tightened her hands around my wrists. “Why? Why does he want me so bad?”
“You’re his granddaughter. His blood.” But it was worse than that. “And you’re half Rose.”
“Rose. Caputi. These are stupid labels. I’m a human.”
“Benito doesn’t see it that way,” I said. “There’s too much history. Too much bad blood.”
“Would giving me to him end this?” She glanced at me. “If he finally found me, would it stop the war between you?”
I shook my head, firm when I said, “No fucking way. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you knock that shit off right the fuck now. Remember what I told you the first night we spent together? It’s about more than some stupid love affair. It always was. Benito killed my parents. He killed Crow’s old lady and most of his family.” I kissed her knuckles, hoping the tenderness would ease what I was about to say. “Benito has to die. That’s the only way this ends.”
“Won’t someone else take his place?”
“Don’t care,” I said. “If they do, we’ll stop them, too.”
“Or maybe things will get worse.” She sighed and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. “Do you think… if I talked to him… maybe…”
Alarm prickled down my spine. “Alba, don’t you fucking dare.”
She snapped her attention to me.
“He’s dangerous,” I said. “If he finds you, if he even suspects, he’ll kill you. And it won’t be a bullet to the head. It’ll take days for you to die. Do you understand?”
She trembled and I pulled her closer, kissing her shoulder again.
“I’ll protect you,” I told her. “If you let me.”
Please let me.