by Nina Levine
“King! It wasn’t his fault.” Skylar tried to move, but her injuries caused her grief, and all she managed to do was scrunch her face in pain.
I moved closer to the bed, which only brought her wounds into sharper focus, causing another wave of fury to fill me. Swelling and bruises covered her face, neck, and arms, but it was what I couldn’t see that worried me the most.
Meeting Devil’s gaze, I demanded, “What have the doctors said? How bad is this?”
Regret blazed from his eyes. “Fuck, man, I’m fucking sorry this happened.”
Every muscle in my body tensed with the anger I couldn’t control. “I didn’t ask for a fucking apology, Devil. I asked what the doctors have said.” I wanted to fucking punch him. Rationally, I knew it wasn’t his fault, but he was all I had to direct my emotions at. Hell, I wanted to do more than punch him; I wanted to rip his fucking head from his body and beat the living shit out of him. But I didn’t. I held my shit together and waited. For what, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I would tear the world apart in order to inflict hurt on those who did this to her.
Skylar didn’t give Devil a chance to reply. She fixed a filthy glare on me and said, “I’m right here, and I’m capable of answering your questions. They think my hip is fractured. They’re going to do an X-ray to confirm and then I may need surgery. Other than that, they’ve given me some good drugs, and I’m fine.”
I ran my eyes over the black and blue marks on her skin. “You’re not fucking fine, Skye. You look like you’ve been through ten rounds with Rocky.” I had to give it to her, though—my sister was a fighter.
“Don’t exaggerate this, King. I mean, aren’t you the one who taught me to suck shit up and not be a pussy?”
Ignoring her, I concentrated my attention on Devil. “What the hell happened?”
I took in Devil’s only injury—a gash on his forehead— as he shoved his fingers through his hair and blew out a long breath. “I took the backstreets like we planned, but I don’t know, somehow they followed us. We were on Cyprus heading to Main Street when they rammed us.”
“You recognise them or the van?”
“I’ve never seen the van before, and the windows were dark, so I couldn’t see who it was. And they took off fast afterwards.”
“Fucking hell,” I muttered. “As if we don’t have enough shit to deal with.”
“You want me to get a start on trying to figure out who the hell was responsible for this?”
“Make some calls and get it in motion, but I don’t want you leaving this hospital. I want your eyes on Skylar at all times.” When his phone rang, I jerked my chin at the door. “Go take that. I’m staying for a bit.”
After he’d left us, Skylar said, “Don’t blame him, King,” before bursting into tears.
I didn’t need any more reasons to hate the people who did this to her, but I sure as fuck had another one now. My sister didn’t cry easily, so I knew by her tears just how shaken she was. And that concerned me because it meant Skylar’s anxiety could flare over this.
Touching her arm gently, I said, “I don’t.”
She glanced down at my hand on her and then looked back up at me, nodding. Her face crumpled as she tried to stop crying.
My skin felt like it could rip apart at any moment. There were too many fucking emotions thrashing around inside me. Emotions that I didn’t know what the fuck to do with. Add to that the fact I wanted to pull Skylar into my arms to console her but I couldn’t because fuck knew where she was hurt, and it was all fast becoming too much to deal with.
I removed my hand from her arm and clenched my fists by my side while I attempted to get my breathing and my thoughts under control. Easier said than done. I’d never been good at getting myself under control. With each passing second, I felt it slip further away.
Skylar’s eyes widened in understanding. She’d seen me here before. “King, don’t…. Everything’s gonna be fine. Just calm down, okay?”
I sucked in a deep breath before forcing it back out.
Everything was not going to be okay.
Not until I found these people and put them ten fucking feet under.
Skylar reached for my hand and squeezed it. “King, sit down and talk to me. Please.”
It was the way she half whispered her request that did it. She’d never coped well when I lost control of myself. After I’d ended things with Ivy years ago, I’d raised her by myself for three years before Jen came into the picture. I’d had to get my shit together fast in those three years while Skylar and I figured out how to live together. One of the most important things I’d learnt was that she needed me in as calm a state as I could get myself. She was one of the only people who could bring me round fast when my rage threatened to take over.
I did as she requested and pulled up a chair. The emotions threatening to cage me in faded to the point where I could breathe again. They didn’t completely disappear, though, and that was a good thing. I needed that shit to keep me focused on my goal.
Before we could say anything further, a nurse came in and told Skylar they were about to take her for an X-ray. After the nurse left, Skylar watched me for a few moments, seemingly assessing my state of mind. Finally, she said, “Devil told me Ivy’s back.”
I knew what she was asking without her having to say the words.
I nodded. “Yeah.” I may have known she was looking for a reassurance that everything was okay, but I didn’t have it to give her, so I said nothing else.
“Why?” Her question came out harshly. Skylar didn’t know why Ivy and I had broken up, so she’d always held a grudge against her, even though I’d told her not to. Turned out my sister’s loyalty ran as deep as mine, even if I did manage to piss her off every chance I got.
“Skye,” I said, my tone holding a warning. “Don’t go there.”
“Why not? That bitch fucked you up years ago, and I don’t want her coming back to stick the knife in any further. Why are you even letting her stay at the clubhouse? You should have told her to go back to where she came from.”
I exhaled a long breath and dropped my head into my hands so I could massage my temples that were slowly being massacred by a headache. Meeting her gaze again, I said, “She didn’t fuck me up. I fucked her up. And I’ve been telling you that for years, so just drop it.”
The wild, angry energy we shared took hold of her and she sat up, the anger grooved into her face. The swift movement delivered pain to her body, though, and she winced slightly before lashing out. “I get it—you’re a bastard. But, King, anyone who gets involved with you knows that. They know what they’re getting themselves into, and Ivy knew for a long time who you were. Stop blaming yourself for that breakup. And for the love of God, walk away from her now. Don’t go back down that path. I’m going to be really fucking pissed at you if you do.”
I leant forward, closer to her. “I’m not going back, Skye. Stop worrying about me and concentrate on yourself.”
“Just let someone worry about you for once, okay?”
Her question gave me a moment of pause. It wasn’t often she expressed herself this way towards me. Usually, we spent most of our time arguing. Her question cut through the tension between us, and I smiled. “You wanna worry about me, Skye?”
She rolled her eyes and lay back down. “Don’t be an ass. You might annoy the hell out of me most of the time, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I always worry about you. You give a girl a lot of fucking reasons to do that, so maybe just this once you could stop with the dumb behaviour and give me some peace and quiet.”
I leant back in the chair and crossed my arms. “I’ll make a deal with you. I won’t pursue Ivy if you stop giving me hell about wanting you at the clubhouse.”
She groaned. “Worst deal, but I’ll take it.”
“Thank fuck,” I muttered.
My phone rang, interrupting us, just as Devil stepped back in the room. It was Hyde. “Any news?” I asked, phone to my ear, eyes on Devil.
I nodded at him, indicating I was over my shit and that we were good. He returned my nod and sat down.
“One of Romano’s guys just turned up,” Hyde said. “Says he’s got information to share with us.”
I sat up straight. “I’ll head back now. Stick him in a room and wait for me.”
“Will do.”
We ended the call, and I stood to leave, motioning to Devil to join me outside Skylar’s cubicle. After I’d filled him in on the new developments, I made my way outside to my bike. I was fucking wired to have this chat with Romano’s guy. I didn’t trust it, though. For all I knew, he’d been sent by Ivy’s husband to screw with us some more. If that was the case, I’d find a way to use him. By the time I was through with him, he’d fucking agree to do anything I asked.
Hyde watched me walk the length of the clubhouse hallway to the office. He looked as worn out as I felt. This shit was taking its toll on all of us. Over a year of fighting off enemies would do that to anyone.
When I reached him, he said, “I’ve put him in a room with Kick.”
“Good.”
“Let’s see if I can rattle him.”
Hyde nodded again. “Also, Axe just arrived.”
“Good. Get him in that room with me. Between the two of us, we’ll break this motherfucker if there’s any breaking to be done.”
Kick’s eyes met mine when I entered the room where he waited with the guy. He then turned to Tony’s man who sat across from him and said, “You ever met King? If there’s anything you want to change about your story, I’d do it now before he gets started on you.”
The guy looked between us. The minute his gaze landed on me, he pushed his chair back hastily and stood, moving backwards fast until he hit the wall. Hands raised, he yelled, “Dude, I’m telling the truth!”
I stalked to him, not slowing to give him time to think about strategy or any of that shit. My body language screamed out my mood for anyone to read clearly. If it didn’t convince him I wasn’t fucking around, my next move would.
“You sure about that, asshole?” I asked, pointing my gun at him.
He nodded frantically, gulping for air as he tried to reassure me. “Yes!”
I aimed my gun at his leg and fired. “I don’t fucking believe you!” As the guy screamed his denials while staring with disbelief at his bleeding leg, I barked, “Shut the fuck up and start telling me the truth!”
I yanked him back to the chair and shoved him down in it at the same time my brother joined us.
“I see you started without me,” Axe said, deathly calm and steady as fuck. Axe could have been in the middle of a fucking ambush and he’d still be as calm as this. That’s what years in the military did to a man.
I, on the other hand, was feeling as far from calm and steady as could be. Every fibre of my being blazed with the need for retribution and blood. For all I fucking cared, the guy sitting in this chair would pay for the sins of Ivy’s husband unless he gave me something. I didn’t give a fuck whose blood I got on my hands so long as at the end of all this, I had Tony Romano’s.
Axe and I ignored the shit spewing out of the guy’s mouth while he protested his innocence and bitched about the fact I shot him. We circled him, and as Axe slowly rolled up the sleeves of his white button-down shirt, I said, “You got all fancy for me, Axe. But white? For this?”
He kept his eyes trained on the guy while he answered me. “Had a work thing I had to take care of before coming here. Required something a little better than what I would have preferred to wear for this. Although, you didn’t tell me we’d be doing this today. I may have chosen black if I’d known.”
I jerked my chin at the guy in the chair, who divided his attention between Axe and me, his eyes and body language growing increasingly fearful. Exactly how they should be. “He just turned up here an hour ago, brother. Says he no longer works for Romano and that he has information he wants to give us.” I stopped circling him and slammed my hands down on the table, staring the guy dead in the eyes. “But I’m not fucking buying it. And that’s what you and I are gonna figure out now. Whether the shit coming out of his mouth is worth another bullet or not.”
The guy yelled at me, “I’m not screwing with you, man!”
Axe looked at him. “What’s your name?”
“Brant.” He swung his head around to face Axe. “You’ve gotta believe me. What do you need from me to know I’m not fucking with you? I’ll tell you anything you want!”
Axe considered that for a moment. It was part of his interrogation tactic. Where I went in like a bull-at-a-gate, he never lost control of a situation. It was fucking killing me not to slam this guy back up against the wall and shoot his other fucking leg, but I knew that between us, Axe and I would get the result we needed. I just had to let Axe do his thing and wait my turn, because eventually, it would come. Axe had to get the guy there first, though.
“How long have you worked for Romano, Brant?” Axe asked, moving behind him.
“Seven years.”
“And now you’re turning on him? Seven years is a long stretch of loyalty for you to throw out the window.”
Brant’s face twisted into a scowl. “If you worked for Tony Romano, you’d understand.”
“Ah, but I don’t, so enlighten me. Tell me why you’re betraying him now.” Axe settled his ass on the edge of the table and crossed his arms like he was readying himself to listen to a long story.
“When you first go to work for Tony, he makes you feel like you’re part of his family. He invites you to his home for parties, he gives you expensive gifts, he treats your family like his and looks out for them. It lowers your fucking defences until the day he has you right where he wants you, fully at his mercy. After that, he forces you to do things you wouldn’t wish upon your worst enemy, and he threatens your family if you don’t do these things.”
Axe stared at Brant like he was bored. “So?”
“So? I’m showing you why anyone would want out of the Romano empire.”
Axe leaned his face close to Brant’s. “No, what you’re describing to me is what other men would consider a picnic in the fucking park, Brant. You’re not showing me anything I don’t already know about working for men like Romano. What I don’t need from you is a fucking sob story about why you want out.” His voice grew deeper, darker. “Tell me why you’d come here and chance King riddling your body with bullets after he gets the rest of his anger out in other ways. Because I’m telling you that if you don’t, you’re going to wish you’d stayed at that fucking picnic you had going with Romano.”
My breathing slowed as I waited to hear Brant’s next words. I focused every sense on deciphering his body language, tone, and what he said in my effort to figure out the truth of him. And all the while, my finger stayed glued to the trigger of my gun because if I decided I didn’t like what he had to say, that gun would be in his face before he could draw another breath.
Brant looked up at Axe and swallowed hard. He took his time forming his words before finally saying, “For Ivy.”
My mind exploded with questions, and I was unable to hold myself back any longer. Throwing our usual plan of attack out the window, I pressed my gun to Brant’s temple. “Keep fucking talking, motherfucker, and don’t hold any-fucking-thing back. The minute you say something I know to be incorrect, you’ll have a bullet in your skull.”
His shoulders bunched more than they already had, and his hands balled. Good. He tripped over his words trying to get them out. “Ivy has always been good to me. Always. And he never appreciated her. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve turned up to their house and found her beaten up. I tried to convince her to leave, but every time she tried, he found her, dragging her home kicking and screaming.”
When he stopped talking, Axe said, “Go on. I feel like you’re just getting to the good bit.”
Brant glanced up at me. “When she told me your history and that she’d heard what Tony had planned for you, I encouraged her to bring t
hat information to you, hoping you’d take her in and keep her safe from him. She wasn’t sure you would, not after the way things ended between the two of you. I figured you would, though, because of the way she said you’d always looked out for her, right from when you were kids. I’ve been waiting to hear from her, but I never did. And then Tony was raided by the cops and went into hiding and I—”
“When was this?” I barked. And why the fuck didn’t Bronze know?
“Two days ago.” His shoulders sagged a little. “Fuck, tell me you have Ivy. That’s all I care about, that she’s safe. I’d never forgive myself if Tony had another chance to hurt her for something I encouraged her to do.”
Brant knew my history with Ivy, which led me to believe him. Ivy had never been the kind of person to share personal shit with people, so for her to open up to him meant she trusted him.
I was the worst kind of asshole. I’d let all the bullshit I carried with me after decades of dealing with the scum of this world affect the way I treated one of the only women I’d ever loved. Ivy had come to me in good faith, and I’d taken that faith and shit all over it. Worse, I’d been a bastard and locked her up.
Fuck.
I was halfway out the door when I looked at Kick. “Find out everything he knows and bring it to me. And don’t let him out of your sight. We’ll keep him here until I’m sure we don’t need him anymore.”
Pulling out my phone, I hit Bronze’s number, and when he answered a moment later, I said, “One of Tony’s men turned up at the clubhouse today. Says Tony was raided two days ago. Why the fuck don’t I know about this?”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “Give me half an hour.”
“I don’t have half a fucking hour, Bronze. Get it for me now!”
Hyde exited the office and came my way, fury etched into his face, as Bronze said, “Half an hour, King, and you’ll say yes because there’s something else you need to deal with right now that I’m just about to fucking tell you.”
I had the distinct feeling that whatever Bronze was about to tell me, Hyde was, too. “What?” I demanded.