Page 3 of Inglorious (Unwanted Bastards MC #1)

“Inglorious is in a bad way,” Drake stated, his eyes observing me.

“Not my problem.”

“No?”

“Nope. The Unwanted Bastards have nothing to do with me, not now that Seth is gone.” I allowed my pain to show, and Drake winced.

“Nanci, we all lost people,” he replied.

“Other than the RCPD, nobody lost as many as Unwanted Bastards!” I shot back, and anger flashed on my face.

“That’s true, Nanci, and I’m sorry,” Drake said.

“It wasn’t Seth’s fight! That was your war. Fury was a former member of Rage. Your fucking club killed my brother!” I yelled at Drake.

Now I had a chance to say everything I had bottled up, and I let rip. I didn’t care that hurt and guilt crossed Drake’s face.

“Rage MC had no right asking Unwanted Bastards to fight for them. Everyone who died, their deaths are on Rage MC. You didn’t do your fuckin’ jobs properly when you cleaned the club.

You allowed Fury to slip through your fingers and didn’t chase him down.

That’s on you, Drake, not my brother—or the rest of those who perished.

If Fury had been killed when shit first kicked off, so many would be alive today! ”

“Think I don’t know that, Nanci? That it doesn’t torture me?

I stare at my hands, and all I see is blood.

Nanci, I’m fuckin’ drowning in it. I close my eyes, and the faces of everybody who died are there.

Hell, I’ll never stop seeing them. Those deaths will haunt me till the day I die.

” “They should Drake, it wasn’t anyone’s war but Rage’s. ”

“Fury wouldn’t have stopped with us,” Drake stated, and I nodded.

“Oh, I know. He’d have come for everyone, which is why my brother and friends stood up and fought. But Rage failed, and innocents paid the price. I’m so angry at you and MCs right now, I don’t even want to be near you,” I said, the fight leaving me.

I could sling anger and guilt at Drake all day, but it wouldn’t bring Seth back.

Nothing would. Seth was laid to rest in a cemetery I couldn’t visit because it was in Merritt, South Dakota.

My brother lay in the graveyard there, alongside miners and gunslingers.

Laid in the cold, hard ground surrounded by most of his club.

Only three survived. Inglorious, Razor, and Chill.

“I didn’t come here to fight or throw blame,” Drake said. He suddenly looked old.

“Why then, Drake?”

“Inglorious is bad. Nanci, he wakes up, hits the bottle, and falls asleep hugging one. Chill’s not much better.

And Razor… shit, Nanci, we believe he’s seriously sick.

We’ve seen Razor in and out of the hospital.

Razor won’t talk to anyone. We don’t know what’s wrong, but it’s a serious issue.

He’s lost weight, is pale as a ghost, and has the shakes; he’s also vomiting a lot. ”

“Chemo,” I muttered, and Drake nodded.

“That’s what we think. Razor isn’t saying shit, but he’s trying to hold what’s left of the club together. The four prospects are leaderless, and I ain’t too impressed by two.”

“Drake. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m female. And even if I had the desired balls and cock to join the Unwanted Bastards, my brother died there. I don’t want to be anywhere near Merritt. It hurts too much,” I whispered.

“Check the charter, Nanci.” “I know the charter, Drake.”

“You will lose Inglorious if he carries on this way.”

Damn, Drake hit low. My feelings about Inglorious were all over the place.

I blamed him for joining Drake and fighting.

Inglorious was responsible for the entire club and led them into a fatal situation.

But he was also the guy that yanked my ponytail and bunches and snuck me shit my parents most certainly did not approve of.

Inglorious was Seth’s oldest friend and once had been a big part of my life. Fuck!

“Drake, I lost Inglorious many years ago. He’s not my concern.”

“Then whose is he? Do I need to seek out Rhea?” “The fuck no! You leave that girl alone! I mean it, Drake, Rhea is off limits to everyone,” I hissed and rose to my feet. I placed my hands on my desk and glared at Drake.

“Don’t have a choice. It’s you or her, Nanci.”

“There’s a third option. Let Inglorious drink himself into an early grave, because that’s what he’s going to do.

Walk in his shoes, Drake. Say you lost your club, what would you do?

Your brothers, best friend, mentor, all gone.

Dead. Blown to pieces. Now ask yourself if you want to live. I bet the answer is no.”

“Your brother deserves to be honoured better than this!” “Seth should be alive and banging his way through the female population before settling down and making me an aunt! That’s what Seth should be doing.

Don’t try to manipulate or guilt me, Drake.

The entirety of my family died in that fucking war. Seth was all I had!” I yelled.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have come. Have a nice life, Nanci,” Drake said.

He left the room without another word. Fay stared at me through the doorway, her mouth open and a shocked expression on her face.

“Shut the door, Fay, I don’t want any further disturbances,” I ordered, and she nodded hurriedly.

Tired, I rested my head in my hands, and taking a few deep breaths, I straightened and picked up the document I’d been studying.

◆◆◆

Two hours later, I gathered everything up and stacked it neatly.

I couldn’t concentrate, and after reading an application five times and still not knowing what it said, I gave up.

Slowly, I stood up and walked over to my window.

I loved Vegas. The lights, the people, the excitement; it all appealed to me.

This was the life I’d chosen, and I’d been happy until Seth died.

If I were honest, Seth’s death opened my eyes.

He had been taken while childless and single.

My funny, wonderful, loving brother, who had so much to offer, hadn’t left a legacy.

Apart from me and the last three members of the Unwanted Bastards, nobody really mourned Seth.

People were shocked and horrified that so many had perished, but truly grieving Seth… only four of us.

Not even my parents bothered. They’d not attended his funeral.

All Unwanted Bastards’ allies had, and plenty of strangers, but not them.

Hell, I’d not spoken to them either. The police had informed them of Seth’s death.

I’d refused to. Antonio Ramirez had given them the notification.

Ramirez, being a decent sort, had refused at first to tell me what they’d said.

When I pushed, he’d given in. My parents weren’t surprised that Seth had died in a gang war.

Ramirez had sternly correctly them, attempting to shame them.

He’d informed them that it was no gang war, and maybe they ought to pay attention to the news.

Ramirez then proceeded to inform them exactly how much of a hero Seth was and how many lives he’d probably saved.

Who knew if that impressed them? I couldn’t care less. It was typical of them to assume that Seth died in a gang fight. Because, of course, everything Seth did was illegal. With neither Seth nor me obeying their wishes, we were the children they didn’t mention or claim.

I didn’t need them. Seth hadn’t either. Their loss, not ours. However, Drake’s visit had rocked me. Heck, I wasn’t too steady lately, anyway. I’d mourned the loss of Seth’s future while wondering about my own.

Vegas no longer fulfilled me, and there was a gnawing in my gut for something more.

The question was: what did I want, and how could I achieve it? There was nobody to help me now. I’d only ever had Seth, and he was gone. Anything from here on in was for me to work out alone. No strong shoulder to lean on anymore. My rock had crumpled, and I was adrift.

I puffed out my cheeks and sighed.

Drake’s words kept running through my head. I didn’t need to review the charter. Clever fuckin’ Drake Michaelson. I understood exactly what he was referring to when he said to check the charter. That damn document I knew inside out. Yeah, there was a loophole.

A growl escaped as I decided.

I marched back to my desk and logged onto my laptop. Without hesitation, I booked a flight ticket for tomorrow. Once paid, I called Fay and my manager and informed them I was taking a month off to sort out a family situation.

Fay didn’t look surprised, and funny enough, neither did Isabelle.

I guess gossip was rampant. In a slight act of revenge for their gossiping, I handed Isabelle the stack of applications and asked her to narrow them down.

Once she’d worked out the acceptances, she had to send them to me.

After giving Isabelle several other things to monitor, I left the office.

Isabelle would run my business as well as I could, so I wasn’t worried about leaving it in her hands.

As soon as I arrived at my apartment, I began packing.

Jeans, tees, and sweaters all went into a case.

I wasn’t high maintenance and didn’t need to pack a shitload of makeup and skin care.

I grabbed the basics and shoved them in.

After that, I sent a text and then ordered takeout from my favourite barbecue place.

I was chomping on a rib when my phone rang. Hell, I hadn’t expected him to return my call.

“Hey,” I said inanely.

“Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?”

“Nice to talk to you, too.”

“Nanci. I ain’t screwing around. You’re going back? Seriously?” “Inglorious is a permanent drunk, Chill’s not far behind him, and it looks like Razor has cancer,” I replied.

Silence greeted my words, and I waited.

“Razor has cancer?”

“I’m not certain, but Drake Michaelson described his symptoms and said that—” “Drake Michaelson? That asshole?”

“Calm down. Let me finish. Drake claims that Razor has been visiting a hospital lately. Mixed with Razor’s paleness, shakes, vomiting, it sounds like the big C.”

“You don’t owe Unwanted Bastards anything,” he said.

“I’m aware, but I wanted you to know I’m going back.”

There was silence again. He was clearly churning things over.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this. Nanci, you ain’t going alone. I’ll book a flight.”

“Thank you,” I whispered. Damn, I’d hoped he’d come through for me, and he had.

“See you tomorrow, lady.”

“Bye, Vortex,” I said and felt bolstered by his support. With Vortex beside me, I could conquer the world.