Cricket bit at her lip, she remembered that day clearly…Remembered seeing him at their house. This man would have killed her and Cordy.
“When I returned that night, you were gone. I searched again for them but this time I didn’t find them. I had seen you two girls and I knew Orrin had the family I wanted but never had. I knew then I would never have a family with anyone else. It wasn’t that I didn’t like women, I did but I could never feel anything and when Grace left me, I couldn’t even feel the lust anymore. That’s a very hard thing for a man such as myself to admit, but alas, it is true. It has been a good number of years since I have enjoyed the company of a woman.” He sighed deeply. “But that is neither here nor there.” He looked over at the safe nestled in the wall next to the fireplace. “Shall we find out what Grace left for me all those years ago?” Bane got to his feet and went over to the safe. Inserting the key, he twisted it and they both heard the lock give way. He pulled the door open and gazed at the shelves inside.
Cricket could see but not all that well. What could be so important to live years and years wanting to know. A family secret apparently. She just hoped he would go into a rage if it were something that would anger him.
There on the top shelf was a bundle of papers wrapped in a wide purple ribbon. Bane lifted the bundle out and pulled the ribbon off. As the purple cloth floated to the floor, he opened the first piece of paper.
When he read what it was Bane gasped, then growled in anger. “What the fuck?” he shouted in rage. “That fucking woman! If she wasn’t dead already, I would take my time and kill her slowly. I would tear the skin off her body strip by strip and enjoy her screams of absolute pain.” He tipped his head back and closed his eyes.
Cricket cringed as he ranted and raved at her mother. She wondered what was written on the paper he crushed in his hand but she didn’t want to give him any more ammo for his rage. Trembling, she kept silent. All she wanted was to run away.
Then he opened his eyes and stared at the paper in his hand again. “I have a child. Grace gave me a son. A son. Grace gave birth to my boy after she ran away from me the first time. She hid my son from me for close to thirty years. Damn her, damn them both. I’ve been a father all this time and never knew it. God, I hope they both burn in hell for this.” Bane began to pace. “I wonder if Orrin knew I had a son? Did he hate me that much that he wouldn’t tell me?” Then he turned, and his eyes pierced the darkness around him. “Your parents should be roasting in hell for what they did to me. They kept a vital piece of news all these years. They both hid my son from me and for that I hope they burn in hell!” He was screaming by the time he ended his rant.
Cricket shivered at his rage.
“But whatever happens now, is not on you. You have fulfilled your part of the bargain. You returned what your parents took from me and I thank you for that. You saved lives today because I would have taken them one by one until the jar was returned to me. I would have killed each and every member to that MC and their families until they were all dead. There is a card with my phone number on it on the desk. Give the card to Deke and have him call me.” He turned and began to walk to the door, then he stopped and said, “Do not come back here. I allowed your entry this once and only this once. If you break my faith again, I will take your life. I have a reason to hate you so when you leave here, forget where I live.”
Then he walked out of the door.
Cricket took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. You’re damn right she would try to forget him. And this house from a cold hell wasn’t a place she wanted to ever be in again. She couldn’t help but wonder what the man would do if he ever knew Cordy was also his child and that until a few days ago, she was still alive. Would he visit his wrath on the MC that killed her? She couldn’t imagine what Bane would do to them if he found out.
She found her way over to the tunnel and slipped behind the heavy canvas. Making her way to where Raine was waiting for her… she prayed this was over.
Chapter Four
Bane stood at his window and watched the time of day that hung in the balance of night and early morning. The dawn hadn’t happened yet, but the night shadows were departing. This was what he considered as the haunting time.
The fury he’d felt last night when he found out the news Grace and Orrin had kept hidden from him was still inside him. Still closing off his reason, clawing and burning his soul.
To know they kept his son a secret all these years had broken something inside him. He knew he wasn’t a good man, he’d never been a good man, he thrived on the fear he could invoke in others. All these years, he never dreamed he’d want something different.
But those words on that single piece of paper had his heart pounding in his chest. Grace might have hated him all these years, but she had also given him something he never dreamed of having. She had given him a child. A son to pass along his legacy to. Bane had to wonder who the child took after more, him or Grace?
He had seen the fear in her eyes the day she told him she was carrying his child. He would never forget that day. He words brought him a sense of righteousness he’d never felt before.
Was that his true destiny? Was he meant to be a father? What did he know about kids? He’d never been around kids, not even his own brother all that much. He’d always been better off alone. Now there was someone out there that belonged to him.
What he was beginning to feel was strange to him. Did he really actually want this child? Did he want to find him and bring him back? Then for the first time share his world with someone else?
Bane felt his skin begin to itch. Looking down at his arms, he noted the little red welts that were forming on his arms. He frowned and was stymied at the cause of his discomfort.
His thoughts were twisting and turning inside his head as processed the ideas he was having about sharing his world with another person. All he knew for a fact was that he had to find his son…find him and bring him home at long last.
Would the boy be more like him or Grace? He didn’t know if he could bear to see the fear Grace always had in her eyes echoed in his son’s eyes.
He thought it would be better if his son suffered the same condition as he did. As the dawn rose in the eastern sky, Bane turned and walked down the hall. Going into his computer room, he sat down at his bank of computers and set in motion his search for the child Grace had hidden from him for the last thirty years.
Closing his mind to any other thoughts was easy for Bane. He’d learned to do this as a child and it carried over to his adult life. This little trick had served him well as he’d learned his craft. He was known as a world class assassin. He was the best of the best and while his job had gained him a ton of money, it also showed the world, it better fear him.
This fear was what fed the beast inside his soul. The beast needed to feel the fear, needed to see the terror in his victim’s eyes and smell the scent only he could invoke when Bane went in for the kill.
It was only when he smelled the tangy scent of fresh blood did the beast settle down for a while that Bane could actually be what the rest of the world considered normal. He never understood what they considered normal anyway. Wasn’t everyone different if the first place?
Why was what they felt normal and not what he felt? Granted, if everyone felt what he did, the world would be fucked up but even still, why was he the abnormal?
His grandfather had described it the best. When he began his journey into manhood at the age of fourteen, his grandfather had told him he was one of a select few. A true killer and that he should embrace it and make it his own. His lack of feelings would work for him not against him in the grand scheme of things, if he let it.
Then the old man had worked with him, to hone his skills and the better he became the more he gained his grandfather’s approval. It felt good to see the look of pride in the old man’s eyes, instead of the disappointment he always saw in his mother’s eyes.
She’d been afraid of him even as a small child. But not his g
randfather. His grandfather always watched over him carefully. Theo Jessin had taken him under his very knowledgeable wing when he was young enough to appreciate what he was being taught. His grandfather had been a master of all weapons and he went on to teach a young Bane everything he knew. He’d been the one to also push Bane to know the human body, so he would know exactly where to place his strikes to be able to do the most damage in the shortest amount of time or take his time to make the pain intensify.
If his son was like him, Bane could pass those lessons down to his own son. The more he thought about that idea the more he liked it.
~*~
It took him four very long months to find his son. He still lived in California. His name was Michael Grey. It was a week before his thirtieth birthday and Bane was going to finally claim his son.
He stood in the shadows and watched Michael Grey. He’d been watching him for a week already and now it was time for Michael to meet his future. He recognized the young man deep in his soul. He was the child he’d been denied knowing about until now. He noted many characteristics in the young man that he himself had. Then he frowned. He never remembered being so unsettled and Michael seemed to be.
It almost seemed as if Michael was fighting the beast inside him. Bane knew well that feeling but he’d had someone take him in hand when he was fourteen. Now it was his turn to take Michael in hand and give him a condensed version of what his grandfather had taught him.
Stepping out of the shadows Bane headed over to his son. As he neared Michael, he noted the moment Michael felt his gaze. The other man stood straighter and tuned to him long before he got close to him. Bane smiled. That alertness would help him as he learned.
Michael stared into Bane’s eyes for the first time. When Bane stepped closer still Michael’s eyes became slits as he saw in Bane what Bane had seen in him. “Who are you? Why do I know you?”
Bane smiled slightly. “I am your father and I’ve come for you.”
“It’s about fucking time.” Michael growled. “Where have you been all my life?”
“Your mother kept you a secret until recently.” Bane wasn’t going to lie to him.
Michael’s lips curled in distain.
Bane nodded in acknowledgement. “She died long before I could get my revenge for her betrayal.”
“That’s too bad,” Michael commented. “She denied us both.”
“Yes, she did, but we have the rest of our lives to get to know each other.” Bane motioned for Michael to come with him. Without hesitation, Michael joined his father and they went on their way.
Neither man touched the other, never even thought about it. Instead, Bane took his son home with him and began his training following the rules his grandfather had set all those years before.
~*~
Bane frowned as his driver drew closer to the Sin’s Bastards clubhouse gate. He was bringing Michael to meet his half-sister, Cricket. Since they shared a mother, he thought the Michael should finally hear about Grace. Michael had expressed an interest in the woman who gave him birth as well. But there was another reason Bane was here and again, it had to do with a family heirloom, one he wanted back. Now, that he had his son by his side, it had become very important.
As they drove through the open gate, Michael sat back in his seat and stared at his father. “Why are we here again?”
“I told you about my wife Grace, remember?”
Michael nodded. “Yes, you did. You mentioned the fact that she didn’t tell you about me and that she left you to run away with your brother.”
Bane nodded. “What I didn’t tell you was that you have a half-sister from that union. Your other half -sister, Cordelia died a while back but your sister, Cricket is staying here.”
Michael looked around the compound then turned to his father. “Why does she stay here?”
Bane curled his lip in a sneer. “She thinks she has to do penance for her actions toward the MC. She didn’t stop Cordelia from kidnapping the President’s twins but she did return them. They murdered your sister and sentenced Cricket to serve them for a year.”
Michael glared. “And you agreed to this?”
Bane shrugged. “She didn’t mean that much to me to object. I could overlook the insult; besides she wouldn’t let it go. She said something about honor and all that shit. We’re only here now, so you can meet her. She rejected the Jessin name and everything that goes with it. Besides, I had to find you.”
“So, will she come with us today?”
Bane looked away and sneered. “I doubt it, she’s taken one of these animals as a lover.”
Michael stared at him for a moment, then glanced away.
When they got out of the limo, they both gazed around.
The compound was neat and tidy and the buildings were in good repair. There cabins behind the main building and Bane wondered if everyone lived behind the chain link fence they passed through. He also spotted a few nice homes beyond the main clubhouse.
Bane walked toward the front door and Michael followed.
When they entered the clubhouse, Bane heard Cricket laugh and for a brief moment, he thought it was Grace as she’d been so very long ago, when he first met her. He closed his eyes for a moment then took a deep breath and opened them again. When he did, he found himself looking into Cricket’s angry eyes.
Bane veered left and went to a table where Deke, Bones and Gator sat.
All three men wore blank faces.
Bane pulled out a chair and sat down.
Michael sat beside him then his gaze swung up to the tiger murals. He tilted his head in curiosity.
“I wasn’t sure we would ever see you again.” Deke nodded. “I kind of hoped you wouldn’t come back here. We don’t want or need your kind of trouble here.”
Bane acknowledged the statement. “I wasn’t sure you would either, but I had to introduce my son to his half-sister.”
Deke stared at Bane for a moment, then glanced over to where Cricket was standing. He saw the rage in her eyes. Looking back at Bane he said, “I don’t think she wants to meet him or you again.”
Bane shrugged. “I also have another purpose for being here that does concern her. She may or may not want to hear it but hear it she will.”
“And will you threaten our lives again, if she doesn’t listen? Or doesn’t want to cooperate?” An older man who sat next to Deke growled.
Bane’s lips tightened briefly. “She told you that?” He was upset by the other’s man’s statement. She should have kept her mouth shut about that.
“She’s part of this club now and we take care of our own,” Deke assured him “More importantly, we don’t keep secrets from each other. If there is a threat against one of us, it’s against all of us and we have the right to know.”
Bane nodded once. “I see.” He turned his head and watched as Cricket drew closer.
When she came to stand near the table, she raised her head to glare at him. “I would have thought the warning you gave me the last time I saw you counted for you as well. You told me you have a reason to hate me. Well, I have a reason to hate you as well. You told me the next time I saw you, you would kill me.”
“No I told you if you ever came back to my home, I would take your life. You did not seek me out this time, I sought you out.” He paused and glanced over at Michael, then back to her. “I found my son and I wanted him to meet you, as you are his only living relative, beside myself.”
~*~
Cricket glanced at the man sitting next to Bane. He had the same haughty look as his father, the dark hair and cruel face. When he lifted his eyes to hers, she grimaced. Michael had their mother’s eyes, the same shape and color she had but the look in them was all Bane. This man had no soul, just like his father, just like Cordy.
She turned to Bane. “I glad you found him, now leave and never come back here. I will tell you again, I want nothing to do with you or him.” She turned to go, but Bane moved quickly to grab her wrist. His fingers tightene
d on her skin cruelly and he dragged her over to a nearby table. He sat down and forced her to stand beside him.
Cricket didn’t cry out at the painful hold he had on her and she didn’t raise her eyes from the floor.
Bane’s lips thinned when she wouldn’t acknowledge him. “Do not disrespect me, little girl. You won’t like it.” Twisting slightly, he heard her gasp and he had to be happy with that. At least it was something.
Deke started to get to his feet in protest, but Cricket raised her head and shook it slightly. He sat back down but didn’t look at all happy about it.
Cricket turned her gaze his son, Michael. Then she turned to Bane and sneered. “What do you want me to say? Welcome to the family?”
Bane’s eyes narrowed at the tone in her voice. His fingers tightened on her wrist. He could see he was hurting her but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know.
Bane’s lips curled slightly as he released her wrist and noted the reddened skin was already turning purple. “Michael has some questions for you about your mother. Since you claim you knew her better than I, I brought him here to ask you himself.”
~*~
Cricket closed her eyes briefly, then nodded. She sat down on the other side of Michael. “What do you want to know?”
“Anything you want to tell me.”
“My mother was an honorable woman.” Cricket sneered at Bane as she spoke, “She was kind and decent and loved only one man, my father. She taught me to be loyal to those I loved and to stand up for what I believed in. She hated the lies she had to live because of him.” She motioned at Bane. “But she also knew she couldn’t live any other way. He wouldn’t have allowed her to.” Cricket then got up and walked away. She never looked back at them, instead she walked down the hall to her room.
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