Sitting on the steps to the main house, Bonnie stands when she sees me heading her way.
“Holly is with Rayna up in her room.”
It’s all she says, and I appreciate her not trying to coddle me. Bonnie’s cool like that. She sees when you need space, and she knows when you need more.
The door to Rayna’s room is ajar, and I creep in quietly, closing it behind me. The room falls into complete darkness, with no moonlight spilling in. Rain begins to beat against the window, but all I see is Rayna curled into Holly as they both sleep soundly.
It shocked me when Rayna didn’t hesitate to toddle up to Holly and fall asleep on her yesterday. Holly was a stranger to her, but it reiterated that I was right to vouch for her, because for Rayna to feel so comfortable with her, she must be good.
Putting my phone on the charger, I ignore the countless texts from Luca, informing me how much of a pussy I am. Cracking open the window, I light a cigarette and inhale deeply. Closing my eyes, I blow the smoke out through the gap.
There’s no way my dad is going out like this. He’s made no show of hiding how he believed he would die by a bullet, but it won’t be this bullet that takes him. It just won’t. I told Holly I don’t plan, but it wasn’t quite true. While I don’t necessarily plan for the future, I do have some ideas. I know I’ll still be a brother, and I’ll still be fiercely protecting and raising my daughter. My position in the club has always been clear to everyone. I’m the son of the president, and was raised being groomed to take over when the time came, yet everyone knows I’m not ready. I don’t even have the mindset to want to lead the men like my father has all these years.
India still plagues me, and when I’m not drowning in guilt, I’m raising our daughter. I don’t have time to run a club.
“You’re back?”
Over my shoulder, Holly is sitting up, carefully repositioning Rayna into the middle of the bed.
“I just got back.”
“How’s your dad?”
Taking another drag on the cigarette, I blow the smoke out the window and close it, choosing to sit on the armchair in the corner of the room.
“He’ll be okay.”
“Does this kind of thing happen all the time?”
I can understand why she would think this, but I shake my head.
“There’re always risks, and we all live with that. But most of the time, it’s pretty quiet.”
Unless I shoot a man in the head and further a war, getting the people closest to me killed, that is.
“How was Rayna?”
I already know from Bonnie, but I want to hear it from Holly.
“She was fine. Bonnie came over and told me dinner was ready here at the house, and then she played for a while. Bonnie bathed her, and then I read to her until she fell asleep. She kept asking for you, but I kept reading to distract her.”
The kid already has so many books because it distracts me as much as it does her. India would’ve liked her collecting books rather than dolls, though she has a shitload of them too.
“You like working at the diner?”
“No,” she snorts. “I doubt I’ve still got a job. Even if I did, no one’s going to want me serving their food with my…”
I’ve not heard her once complete a sentence when she talks about her hands yet. Not that I blame her.
“With my dad…” I can’t bring myself to finish that sentence either. “My mom’s going to be busy, and I need someone to help me with my daughter. I’ll pay you well, more than what you earn at the diner, and I’ll keep you… safe.”
I choke on the last word, not believing it completely. I only say it because my intentions are truthful.
She looks down at Rayna, and I’m glad when she thinks on it. She must know that it’ll be a lot more work than shifts at the diner.
“I’m not trained with kids or anything.”
I shrug. “She fell asleep with you. Know this, though: she is the most important part of me and all I have.”
“I understand that.” She smiles. “Where’s her mom?”
The usual pain in my chest when someone asks after her returns, causing my chest to tighten.
“I don’t talk about her. She’s not here, and none of your concern.”
My tone is harsher than I mean it to be, but I need it to sink in for her to never ask again.
Tension falls over the room, and she lays back down.
“I’ll help you till the end of the summer. That’s all I’ll commit to.”
I can deal with that.
“Leo?” she whispers, my name on her lips making my head spin.
“Go to sleep, Holly. You’ll need your rest. My kid wakes up early.”
“Will you still be here?”
“I’ll stay to say good morning to her, and then I’ll head back to the hospital.”
She doesn’t speak again, and it’s not long before her soft snores fill the silence in the room. Resting my head on the back of the chair, I settle in and think of anything but my dad and where he currently is. I’m not ready for life to change completely again, so I shoot a prayer up to Indie that if she has any pull up there with the good guys, that she helps me out this once.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sparky
“You should go back to the club.”
I tear my eyes away from Cas to Alannah, who’s sitting on the other side of his bed, her red, puffy eyes full of fear I rarely see coming from her.
“I’m not leaving him.”
He’s hooked up to so many machines, and the main one continually beeping has me wanting to rip my ears off. Every second, another beep. It never stops because he hasn’t fucking woken up yet.
“You’re his VP. It’s your duty to step in when he can’t. The brothers will need updating, and you still need to deal with Tal.”
Leaning forward, I rest my forearms on my thighs and hang my head in my hands, running them over my scalp.
I’m a Lost Soul, right down to my bones, but I can’t think about the club without Cas. What would that even look like? It would go on, sure, but it would never be the same. Not for me or any of the brothers.
“He made his plan known on the way here. He wants Leo taking his place.”
“Leo will only take his place when he’s gone, and he’s not dead, Sparks. Your patch means you step in when he can’t, and at the moment, he can’t.”
“I know what my fucking patch means, Barbs,” I snap. “But I also know the club should be ready to accept Leo as their president. The sooner the better.”
She shoots forward, her eyes full of fire.
“You’re acting like he’s already dead,” she spits out. “He just needs time. Time you will give him by stepping up. The brothers know as well as you and I do that Leo isn’t ready. He’s better than he was, but he’s not in the right headspace to lead.”
“I have to disagree—I think he is ready. It’ll be an adjustment, but he’ll be cautious, like Cas. After everything that happened with India, he’ll take his time making decisions. As sad as it was losing her, it’ll make him a better president.”
“Regardless, Cas’s patch isn’t up for grabs. Not until he’s in the ground.”
She’s loyal to her husband, and I get that, but she knows this club as well as I do. She knows I’m talking sense, though she doesn’t want to admit it because it would mean she’s accepting Cas isn’t going to wake up.
“Cas is strong. I’d feel it if he were leaving, but I’m not worried. This isn’t his time.”
Denial is a bitch, and she’s in deep. Not that I blame her. I’m just being realistic.
“His last words to me were how much he loved you, that you were the one who gave him a purpose. How proud of his sons he was, and that he didn’t want the club to suffer.”
Narrowing her eyes into slits, her top lip curls.
“Then go and sort it out, and do what he wished. I mean it, Sparky. He’s not dying today, and if you believe he is, then you can leav
e. Find Luca on your way out and go.”
There’s no talking to her. When I rise from the chair, her eyes widen.
“You really think this is it for him, don’t you?” she murmurs.
“I’ll go find Luca.”
Leaving the room, the beeping fades as I walk through the quiet corridors. Stopping, I turn to the wall and smash my fist into it, punching until my knuckles split open, leaving bloodied smears on the pristine white drywall.
“No,” Slade breathes. “He isn’t…”
Clamping his hand down on my shoulder, he spins me around, forcing me to look at him.
“Brother?”
“No, he’s still with us, hooked up to machines, but he hasn’t woken up.”
His chest heaves with a relieved sigh.
Releasing me, he asks, “Where’s Luca?”
“He went out for a smoke. What do we do now?”
I’ll honour my best friend’s wishes, but for today, I’ll honour Alannah’s. Like she said, he isn’t in the ground, and for that, I’ll step in and keep the club moving forward.
“We’ll find Luca and send him back to sit with Cas, then we’ll head to the club.”
“What about Ethan?” Ricky mumbles through a yawn.
“We keep him around until Cas is back,” Slade replies defensively.
“And if Cas doesn’t come back?”
I start back down the corridor. “We’ll deal with that if it happens.”
Outside, Luca is sitting on a bench, blowing a shit ton of smoke from his lungs. The fucker knows we’re approaching, but he doesn’t acknowledge our presence. He’s so like his dad, it’s scary. Cas was always unapproachable, but once you knew him… well, he was still unapproachable, but he didn’t put you off as much.
“Is he awake?”
“No. We’re heading back to the club, and your mom wants you back with her.”
“Yeah, I’m just finishing this and I’ll join her.”
“Take her a coffee and something to eat. If your dad wakes up to her looking like shit, he’ll be pissed.”
“When, not if,” he grunts, dropping his gaze from mine. “And remind my brother our dad is in the fucking hospital. He should be here.”
I follow Slade and Ricky to where they parked the van, and the stench of Cas’s blood fills my nose. Cramming up front with Slade, Ricky takes the wheel, and nothing is said during the drive to the club.
When, not if. I seem to be the only one preparing for the worst. The fucker has overcome so much, but the journey to the hospital yesterday has shaken me to the core. It was different, and not because of him declaring his final wishes as he bled out, but because I saw who he is fading in his eyes. Cas is a fighter, no doubt about that, and there’s nothing more a man fights for than his life when he’s been shot.
He knew it himself that this was different.
Pope is perched on a chair by the bar door when we drive through the gates, and Bonnie is sitting on the steps leading up to the main house.
“Give me five minutes. I’ll track down Leo, and then we’ll figure out our next move.”
Climbing out of the van, I leave the door open for Slade and walk toward Bonnie. She stands the closer I get and walks into my arms.
Burying my nose in her hair, she smells like home—my home.
“How is he? I texted Alannah, but she hasn’t replied.”
“Her phone battery died a couple of hours ago, and there’s no change with Cas.”
I’m not ready to let her go when she pulls away, so I pull her back against me.
“You need to eat and shower. You stink.”
Kissing the top of her head, I release her and grab her hand. In the house, chatter comes from the kitchen, but it’s quiet, and I find Leo with Rayna on his lap at the table. Holly, with her damaged hands, sits beside them.
How fucking cosy does this look?
Slumping onto the chair opposite of them, I gratefully accept the mug of coffee from Bon while focusing my attention on Leo.
“You planning on returning to the hospital?”
“I’m having breakfast with my daughter, and then I’ll be heading over there, so yes.”
“Are you going to ask after him?”
His indifference infuriates me.
“He hasn’t died, as everyone would be losing their shit if he had. There’s not much I can do sitting at his bedside. Mom’s there, and so is Luca.”
“What’s your fucking problem?” I snap.
Fatigue is hitting me hard. I’ve got no time for this.
“Watch your mouth around my kid,” he growls, showing the most life I’ve seen burning in him in months.
“Your dad was shot. He’s hooked up to so many machines, I couldn’t keep track, and you’re acting like he’s having a nap.”
The chair scrapes against the tiled floor as he rapidly pushes up, collecting Rayna in his arms and holding her on his hip.
“With Bert out of the picture, and the rat not going anywhere, I’m taking Rayna home. Once she’s settled, I’ll head to the hospital. My dad isn’t going to die, and you need to stop acting like he’s already dead.”
“What about the fed Ethan brought to town? We need to question the rat and see exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“You’re the VP, you deal with it. Like I said, I’ll be at the hospital.” He looks down at the girl and jerks his chin. “Let’s go.” Looking to Bonnie, he adds, “Let the doc know to come to the cabin to check on her.”
“Are you sure you should be leaving?” my old lady asks him.
“There isn’t a threat to us now. We’ll be fine.”
Silence falls over the kitchen as they leave, and I sigh when the front door closes after them.
“What was that about?” Bonnie asks, slipping onto the chair next to mine.
“He’s pissed with me ’cause it’s likely he’s going to wear Cas’s patch.”
“Is it that bad?”
“It’s not good, babe. Not good at all.”
Leaning back in my seat when the front door opens, I watch Pope make his way down the hall.
“You look like shit, brother,” he huffs, pulling out a chair.
“You don’t look so good yourself, brother.”
“It’s been a long night, for sure. What’s the deal?”
Finishing my coffee, I get up and dump the mug into the sink.
“We’re going to talk to the rat and find out everything we can about this fed. We’ll get our answers one way or another.”
* * *
Over in the bar, brothers are slowly waking up, some still sleeping where they sit, waiting on news.
Whistling loud enough it wakes every ass up, I roam the room. Sure that I have everyone’s attention, I begin. “Cas is still out for the count. Until we hear anything else, we move forward as usual. If you want to lay your heads down, find a room and leave your phones on. Everyone else, we’ll be questioning the rat about the fed he brought to town.”
Half the brothers opt to lay their heads down, while the rest follow me down to the basement and make themselves comfortable on any surface they can park their asses on. Ethan’s eyes flicker from brother to brother as I drag a chair to sit on in front of him.
“Get much sleep?” I start. He just stares at me.
“Nah, I didn’t get any either. I’ve been sitting at Cas’s beside all night because that’s what you do when you’re loyal. Not that you know a fucking thing about that. You…” I take a deep breath, fighting to keep my calm. “You think you know best, when in reality, you know nothing, and it’s resulted in you getting your parents killed. You’ll probably blame us for it to justify your actions, but we both know their blood stains your hands.”
He fights against it, but the water pooling in his eyes is too strong to fight. His parents were his weakness, and he’s nothing without them.
“You played us longer than you should’ve got away with, and that’s on us. Now, you know as well as we do, what we
have to do to you. You must’ve known the risks before you plotted against us. My question to you is why? What fed your anger toward us? Was it your mom? Was it because of what happened to her?”
His lips remain firmly closed, but I don’t let the frustration I feel show.
“You’re not going to die today, so we have plenty of time for you to talk. And trust me, by the time we’re finished with you, you’ll tell us everything we want to know just so we kill you.”
“Perhaps he should feel the pain his mommy did if that’s what he came after us for. Some kind of fucked-up justice to rid the world of clubs like ours.”
I smirk at Pope, liking how he thinks, especially when Ethan’s face pales and he swallows thickly.
“Someone, go get the blowtorch from the garage,” I order, keeping my eyes on him.
From the corner of my eye, I see JJ slip off the table and head for the door. Ethan watches him go, and I sigh.
“While we wait, tell me what we do that’s so bad?”
I’m real curious, and he’s not going to be up for talking much by the time I’m done with him. I’ve not tortured anyone in this manner before, but I’m not flaking away from my responsibilities. It’s how it is in our world.
“Are you joking? You ruin people’s lives. Even if you don’t shoot anyone, or nobody has you on your knees at the end of their guns, the way you work affects people around the world. India’s dead. Victoria is deaf. Your own wife bears scars from men in a club like yours. We’ve all heard stories over the years, and it isn’t just the men who wear the patch who get caught up in your fights.”
“So you’re our judge and jury? A jumped-up prick of a kid like you gets to determine our fates? I don’t think so—”
Before I can finish, Zach’s fist is pummelling into Ethan’s jaw. Lurching forward, I stop Ethan from tipping over in the chair.
“Don’t use my sister to justify your betrayal. Say her name again, I’ll set you on fire myself and watch you burn,” he threatens.
Ethan spits out a mouthful of blood, refusing to look at him until he moves back to the corner of the basement.
The door opens, and JJ’s steps grow louder. Once he’s at my side, he hands me the blowtorch.
The Club Betrayal: #8 Sons of Lost Souls MC series Page 13