I was the last one to enter. The moment my ass dropped into my chair, Badger banged the gavel and began. “We need to go over everything that has happened today. Not a one of us has been present for every single event that has taken place and we haven’t had the time to discuss much in between the fires we’ve been putting out. Copper and I have crudely put together a timeline of the series of events and will take turns sharing details as it pertains to us. Please hold any and all questions and comments until we have reached the end unless you are specifically called upon by one of us. Understood?”
Sounds of affirmation went up around the room. “Okay, let’s get to it.”
I knew most of what had happened up until the part where I had to leave for the hospital with Phoenix. Copper was sharing that portion of the story, “...so we told them to get him to the hospital and we would handle things there. I used Octavius’s phone to text his council members instructing them to meet him in their main office in 15 minutes. They made it easy for us, too. Not a door in sight was locked. We walked right into that office, positioned ourselves accordingly, and waited to capture our prey. There were 10 of them and 14 of us, so we took them down with ease. Much as I wanted to put a bullet between their eyes and make the world a better place, Badger and I thought it might be best to keep them breathing in case we need to extract more information from them. We borrowed some more of those fancy SUV’s Octavius has stockpiled at his place, loaded up the fuckwads, and tossed them downstairs in the cells. Ultimately, we have to decide if we want to handle them in house or if we want to turn them over to the police, when we’re done with them of course, but we’ll come back to that.”
The two of them continued on until everyone was brought up to speed. The next words out of Badger’s mouth were music to my ears, “I say we table everything for tonight. It’s late and it has been one hell of a day. Everybody can get some sleep and we’ll come back to the table with a clear head. Any objections?” Not a one. “All right. Night, brothers.” Badger banged the gavel and church was dismissed.
I fell face down on my bed, fully dressed, and passed the fuck out with Ember beside me and Reese on the other side of Ember.
***
I forgot to turn my fucking alarm off and I couldn’t find the right button to hit to make the shit stop squawking at me. Pissed as hell, I finally sat up only to realize it wasn’t my alarm clock, it was my phone ringing. Who would have the balls to call me at six o’fucking clock in the morning?
“This better be good,” I answered gruffly.
Goosebumps spread across my skin when he spoke, “I want to see my daughter.”
“Phoenix?”
“Who the fuck else would it be? Get your ass out of bed and get my daughter up here.” I heard the click of the call disconnecting. Oh hell, Phoenix was awake and he sounded pissed.
“Ember, baby, wake up.” She rolled away from me and pulled the blanket tighter around her. I gently shook her. “Ember. I need you to wake up. Your dad is awake and he’s asking for you.”
She shot straight up. “What?”
“You heard me. Get dressed so we can go.”
Thirty minutes later, we walked into Phoenix’s hospital room. “Dad,” she rasped. “How are you feeling?”
He gingerly held his hand out to her, “Been better, baby doll. Come here and give your old man a hug. I’ve been so worried about you.”
She went right to him and carefully wrapped her arms around him. “I’m fine. I’ve been worried about you. What happened?”
Phoenix patted her back and sighed, “You both should probably grab a chair and sit down. I have a lot to share. Has anyone called my grandparents?”
I shook my head. “Not that I’m aware of. You want me to call them?”
“No, not yet. I’ll call them myself. They won’t believe I’m okay unless they hear it from me and I don’t want them hopping on the first flight to Croftridge just yet.”
“Gotcha. I’ll let Copper and Badger know as well.”
Phoenix’s brows furrowed in confusion, “Copper?”
I chuckled, “Guess we have a lot to fill you in on as well.”
“You go first. I have a feeling my part will tie up any loose ends of your story.”
I told Phoenix everything that happened in the last 24 hours. He remained silent throughout the entire explanation, patting Ember’s hand at various parts of the story. All in all, he took things better than I thought he would.
He cleared his throat and adjusted himself to a more comfortable position in the bed. “I’m going to fill you in on what I know, but I want you to keep it to yourselves until I’ve had the chance to tell the club myself.”
Ember and I readily agreed to not say a word.
“Night before last, I was at a loss as to what to do with Octavius. Our leads were hitting dead ends and I was quickly running out of options. I decided to call my Pop and ask him if he knew anything about the farm, not the rumors that everyone in town has heard, but anything concrete or factual. Turns out, he did know some things about the farm, a lot of things actually. My mother, Julia, was married before she married my father. She married a man named Zayne.” Ember gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, but didn’t say anything. Phoenix turned to me, “Zayne was Octavius’s father. According to Pop, as soon as they were married, things started to change. They moved into a house on the farm property and Zayne became increasingly controlling. She stayed with him for a little over a year before she told Pop she wanted out. Pop didn’t go into a lot of detail, but he said she felt like she was a part of a cult and that she thought his family might be involved in illegal activities.” He cast his eyes toward the window, away from us, and took several deep breaths.
He remained silent for several minutes before he continued. When he did, his voice was thick and I knew he was trying to get his emotions under control. “This next part was hard to hear and it is even harder to say.” When he turned back to face both of us, his eyes were haunted and he looked lost. “She was desperate for Pop to help her get out of the marriage and get away from Zayne because she was pregnant, with me.”
Ember reached out and grabbed his hand in an attempt to give him some comfort. I sat there stunned with absolutely no idea what to say. All that came to mind was, “What the fuck?” I remained silent and patiently waited to see what other bombshells he might have to share.
“Pop didn’t say what it was, but she knew something they wouldn’t want getting out. Pop used that as leverage to get the marriage annulled. He threatened to expose them if any of them ever tried to contact her again. Then, he shipped her off to California to start a new life. She married Phillip when I was an infant and I was raised to believe that he was my father.” He paused and then continued with more vehemence, “He wasn’t my biological father, but he was my Dad.”
I leaned forward in my chair, my elbows resting on my knees, “So, this makes you and Octavius half-brothers, right?” He nodded. “I’m just not following, Prez. This is shocking news, but how does it relate to Ember’s situation?”
“I had the same exact question after I talked to Pop, but I still couldn’t piece it together. Since Octavius was the only one around who could fill in the blanks, the boys and I decided to ride out and pay him a visit. We were gathered in the common room, seconds from walking out the door, when him and his men rolled up and started tossing concussion grenades left and right. Next thing I knew, I was coming to at the bottom of a damn staircase, my hands bound behind my back, with none other than Octavius standing over me. He drug me over to a corner of the room and explained everything to me as he beat the hell out of me.”
Tears were running steadily down Ember’s face. She choked on a sob after his last sentence. He squeezed her hand, “Hey, hey, none of that. I’m okay, baby girl. It’s over, I’m okay, and he can’t hurt me, you, or anybody else. I’ll make sure he never hurts anyone again.” She sniffled and nodded. “You need to hear the rest of it, but it’s not a nice story
. You think you can handle it right now?”
She wiped the tears from her face and straightened her spine, “I’d rather hear it now. I’ll drive myself crazy thinking of all kinds of horrible things if I wait.”
Phoenix patted her hand and continued, “As you know, when I was 15, I moved back to Croftridge to live with my grandparents after my parents died in a car accident. My first day at Croftridge High ended with me getting into a fist fight with Octavius. I saw him grab a girl’s arm and shove her down to the ground. I intervened and the little punk swung at me.” Phoenix shrugged, “So, I swung back and handed his ass to him. He got up spouting some crap about being Octavius Jones and he would make me pay. Unbeknownst to me, this was the catalyst that unveiled 15 years’ worth of secrets and set the stage for the next 20 years.”
“Octavius wanted to make me pay for humiliating him in front of the whole school, so he started digging, trying to find out anything and everything he could about me. It didn’t take him long to find out who I was and why I had moved to Croftridge. When he didn’t find much on me, he started researching my parents. That’s when he found the newspaper article announcing the marriage of my mother and his father. It didn’t take a genius to put the dates together and figure out that I’m Zayne’s child. What did he do with this information? He confronted his father, which was a big mistake on his part. Zayne had no idea of my existence. Once my mother was gone, he moved on to the next woman almost immediately because he needed a male heir in order to take over the farm from his father. Enter Octavius. What Octavius didn’t stop to consider was the fact that I am actually the first male heir, not him. Had he kept his mouth shut, no one would have ever known otherwise. Once Zayne knew about me, he completely disregarded Octavius and began focusing on how to become a part of my life so he could bring me into the fold. Pop found out what he was doing and put a stop to it, using the same threats he used to get Mom’s marriage annulled. Zayne backed off at the time, but Pop didn’t know that Zayne planned to try again once I turned 18. For the next three years, Zayne either ignored Octavius or treated him like shit. It didn’t help matters that Octavius and I had become rivals at school, completely unintentional from my side. Whatever I did, he tried to do and was never able to best me. Football, wrestling, grades, friends, girls, you name it, I was better. Zayne also threw this in his face often. It didn’t surprise me when Octavius told me he killed Zayne just before I turned 18 to prevent my true paternity from being revealed to me and my existence revealed to their people.”
Phoenix repositioned himself, took a few sips of water, and went on, “The summer before my senior year of high school, I met Annabelle, your mother. I fell for her hard and fast. We all know how it ended, but I now know that Octavius is responsible for Annabelle’s disappearance. He wanted her, but she wanted me. I had no idea he had even approached her. After she rejected him, he stepped back and began plotting. He did his research and found out that Annabelle’s parents were worthless trash who spent any money they had on cigarettes, alcohol, and gambling. Octavius had the brilliant idea to loan them money, a large sum of money they would never be able to pay back. The day after I deployed, Octavius rolled up to their house and informed them that they would be repaying their debt to him by working on the farm, effective immediately, and Annabelle was coming along, too. Octavius planned to shower her with acts of kindness and lavish her with gifts to win her over, but she wasn’t interested. He changed tactics and said he would reduce the amount of debt her parents owed him if she would give him a chance. She hated her parents so that didn’t work for him either. He continued his efforts until she finally told him she was in love with me and pregnant with my child. Octavius was furious with her, but having learned from his previous mistakes, his words, not mine, he thought about things before he acted.”
Phoenix squeezed Ember’s hand again and softly said, “Baby girl, this is the hard part. You still want me to keep going?” She nodded quickly. Phoenix took in a deep breath and looked down at their joined hands, “He went back to Annabelle and told her that he would allow her to keep the baby, even provide her with medical care, if she agreed to marry him after the baby was born, and then bear him a son. At this point, he didn’t really want her; he just wanted to ruin her in my eyes, again his words, not mine. He promised that he would let her leave free and clear after she gave him a son, but the son would remain with him. She refused at first, but he told her he would have her baby aborted, lock her away, and continue to impregnate her until she gave him a son. Then, he would kill her. Obviously, she chose the first option.”
Ember’s eyes widened and filled with tears, “Then how did I end up at the orphanage? They told me my mother died during childbirth, which we know isn’t true since Annabelle was still there for a while as Annelle.” She clutched her chest as if she were in physical pain. Horror washed over her face as realization dawned, “Oh, no, does this mean Nivan is my brother?”
Phoenix appeared to be in pain as well. His brows were furrowed, jaw clenched, lips in a thin, hard line. “From what I gathered, you ended up in the orphanage as leverage to make sure Annabelle stuck to her end of their agreement. He was clever in his wording, leading her to believe she would keep and raise the baby, when he really meant he would allow the baby to live. As far as Nivan being your brother, I don’t know the answer to that. I was damn near unconscious again from all the blows I had taken by the time he finished talking. I do remember demanding to know what happened to Annabelle.” Phoenix looked down and shook his head. “That fucker grinned at me and said, ‘I’m the only one that knows and I’ll never tell you a damn thing about her.’ Then, I saw his boot flying toward my face. The next time I opened my eyes, I was in this room and here we are.”
“Damn, Prez. That’s one fucked up story. You believe everything he told you?” I asked, genuinely curious. I wasn’t sure how I would react if I was ever in his position. Hell, I didn’t even know how to react as a bystander, but I did know that we shouldn’t blindly believe everything Octavius told him.
“Yeah, I think so, most of it anyway. He was blurting it all out in a fit of rage. Plus, he had no reason to lie at that point. He thought he had won. He had me with no one to come save me, or so he thought, and he was going to have Ember back in his grasp within a few hours.” Phoenix grinned. “He didn’t count on me having a contingency plan in the form of another chapter, led by my family.”
Phoenix clapped his hands together and looked directly at me. “Now, boy, have you got something you need to say to me?”
Oh shit. Straightening myself, I met his gaze, “Yes, Prez. I’m in love with your daughter and would like to make her my old lady.” I held his gaze for what felt like an eternity, but it couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds.
“You touched her?” he asked sternly.
“Dad!” Ember yelled, her cheeks turning a telling shade of red.
“We have rules, baby girl. I cannot allow those rules to be broken. If I allow one to get away with it, others will think they can, too, and then everything goes to shit. Honor, respect, and loyalty are the foundation of this club. Without those principles, we are nothing,” he explained.
“I understand that, Dad, but we had a good reason for waiting to tell you and that reason is based solely on respect, so you can’t hold it against him for upholding a founding principle,” Ember pleaded.
Phoenix quirked an eyebrow, curious as to what she was going on about. He turned his attention to me, “Explain.”
“I didn’t want to tell you over the phone. I thought anything less than a face to face conversation would be disrespectful. I was planning to come talk to you the night Ember got shot. After that, I didn’t get a chance to talk to you before we left for the cabin,” I explained, meaning every word I said.
“And I asked him not to say anything to you until this was over because I wanted you to be focused on what was happening down there and not worried about what was happening between me and Dash at the cabin,” E
mber blurted out.
“She did do that, but that’s not why I waited. Like I said, I felt like it was a conversation to be had in person. I know I should have waited to move things along with us until I had spoken with you, but I didn’t and I’m not sorry about that. She has made me the happiest I have ever been in my entire life. I didn’t know how everything would turn out, so I wanted to have every second I could with her in case our time was limited.”
“I can understand that, more than I care to,” Phoenix said quietly. Then, he perked up, “I get it and you two have my blessing, but I still have to black your eye or something visible, so the boys don’t think I’m getting soft.”
I was about to say I understood when I was hit in the face with Phoenix’s sledgehammer of a fist. “Fuck!” I grunted and fell back into my chair.
“Daddy! Are you okay?! Should I get the nurse?” Ember’s frantic voice had me lifting my head to look at them.
Phoenix had his good arm wrapped tightly around his ribs and was pressing some kind of handheld button for dear life. He said through gritted teeth, “No. I’m fine. Just. Need. The drugs. To kick in.”
I shook my head and laughed to myself, “You fucking Blacks and your iron fists. I’m okay, by the way. In case my old lady was curious.”
Ember’s eyes shot to me. She winked, “I wasn’t worried, baby. I know you can take a punch.” I fell a little bit more in love with her in that moment.
Phoenix started swatting her hands away, “Stop fussing over me. I’m fine now. Besides, I need to have a chat with Dash, alone. Can you step out for a few minutes?”
I stood, “Not until I make sure someone is out there. Can’t be too careful.” Phoenix gave me a chin lift, his eyes full of respect.
I returned to Phoenix’s room and sent Ember out to sit with Badger. “What’s up, Prez?”
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