Page 30 of Inglorious (Unwanted Bastards MC #1)

Nanci

K ya sat playing in a corner of my office as I finally finished the financial reports.

I was awed at how much cash Inglorious had stashed away on the club’s behalf.

It amounted to a small fortune. Hercules had recovered thirty thousand of the money that Party had stolen from us.

The asshole had spent twenty k, but considering he’d no chance of paying it back, it was a loss I shrugged off.

No point fretting about it when Party had died hard.

Memorial Day was approaching fast, just a couple of weeks out, and I’d informed the club we’d have our usual big blowout. But it would be only the MC present. I wanted time to remember our own fallen this year.

A bang from outside, followed by a shout, made Kya and me look up.

“Shall we see what’s happened?” I sighed, and Kya smiled.

Slowly, she was coming out of her shell.

I’d been surprised at how much time Inglorious spent with her.

Well, I had, and I hadn’t. It didn’t surprise me that he took his duties seriously now that he was sober.

But it shocked me a little, and how loath he was to let her go with the others.

Razor had fought hard to spend the day with Kya, and after Kya returned resembling Pennywise, nobody had been given permission to take her out since!

Kya got to her feet and grabbed my hand as I reached out. We headed outside and stopped. Inglorious sat on the floor, legs splayed out with several boxes in front of him. It was clear he’d tripped on something and landed wrong.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He held my gaze as he rubbed his tailbone. “ Are you okay, babe? Sure! Nanci, I’m doing my duty. These are Yeti’s belongings. I was carrying them up to the attic and fell.”

I winced because he must have fallen down the flight of stairs. “Did you break anything when you dropped the boxes?”

“Wow, talk about sympathy and affection for your man. No, I don’t think anything broke other than my ass!”

Kya moved forward and climbed into Inglorious’s lap. “I love you,” she said and kissed his cheek.

Inglorious stared at her before wrapping his arms around her. “Not as much as I love you. You’re my princess!”

“Not Nanci?”

“Nanci’s my Queen Bee, but you are the princess,” Inglorious replied as my heart melted. It was obvious he was in pain as he kept rubbing his ass, but his focus was on Kya.

Inglorious’s words suddenly sank in, and I stared at him. “Your duty? Are you emptying the rooms?”

“Yes. You’ve not had much time, what with the construction, selling your business and interviews. I needed to stop avoiding this and embrace it. Clearing Yeti’s room brought up a lot of good memories,” he replied.

“Do you need to call anyone?” I asked cautiously.

“Not right now. Nanci, I’m alright. The discomfort is there, but I’m handling it. Ain’t gonna like it; it was difficult, but I managed.”

“Okay, did you do Psych’s?”

“No. I thought we’d do that together. Chill is coming in half an hour and is going to take Kya to see our stables so we can do Psych’s bunk.”

Pain hit me hard, and I wanted to run away. Did I want to empty Seth’s room? No. Did I have to? Yes.

Inglorious captured my gaze. “I’ll be with you,” he murmured as Kya looked between us.

I held back my tears because Kya seemed anxious and nodded. “Okay. How about we see if Meadow has some lunch for you before you go with Chill?”

Kya nodded slowly, clearly recognising something was happening but unsure what.

Inglorious squeezed her and blew raspberries on her neck, making her giggle, and Kya lightened up. I couldn’t lie; I was concerned about Kya.

She was still quiet, apart from the rare times when excitement got too much for her.

Then she acted like a normal six-year-old.

But Kya held back. I could tell she was waiting for someone to snatch this all away from her, and that worried me.

Obviously, I wanted her to be safe and secure, and I guessed that in time she would be.

But after living with Manda, I couldn’t imagine how insecure Kya must feel.

She’d gone from a loving home with Heat and the brothers to a shithole where her mother starved and ignored her.

And I’m damn sure Manda got slap-happy with Kya, although Kya didn’t comment on that.

Doc still monitored her diet, and while she was eating more, the food remained bland.

Slowly, we were introducing spices and tastes, but on Doc’s schedule.

In fact, Sabre had given her a slice of pizza about a week ago, which led to Kya having a terrible upset stomach.

Between the shits and puke, it was an experience I didn’t want to relive soon.

Sabre had felt awful when he’d realised what had happened and bought her a huge rag doll, which Kya dragged everywhere. Even now, it was in my office.

Meadow kept Kya’s meals simple and consulted with Doc, which I appreciated.

Despite them being bland, Meadow made them fun.

The other day, Meadow had created a smiley face with Kya’s food, and she’d brought in some cutters that turned sandwiches into animal shapes.

Those efforts made me glad I’d hired Meadow.

I smiled as Kya jumped to her feet and Inglorious playfully snatched her up and blew more raspberries. Kya’s giggles bounced through the clubhouse, and I rejoiced at the happy sound. That was what we needed a lot more of, and in time, I hoped Kya would grow to be a confident, amazing woman.

When Chill arrived to take Kya, I almost grabbed her back. I didn’t want to empty Psych’s room and was dragging my feet. Honestly, Inglorious wasn’t much better, and he fetched us coffees. Finally, I turned to him.

“We can’t keep putting this off. Let’s do this,” I said, straightening my shoulders.

“We’re delaying the inevitable,” he agreed and got up. Inglorious hauled me in close to him.

“I’m dreading what I might find,” I admitted.

“Yeah, I understand.” And I knew Inglorious understood what I was feeling. Inglorious felt it too. Seth had been as much his brother as he was mine.

I headed to Seth’s room and shuffled my feet in anxiety as Inglorious faced the door.

He inhaled deeply as he pushed open the door, and I closed my eyes.

The first thing I noticed was his aftershave lingering in the air.

The scent of sandalwood lying just underneath it, and that was the room freshener he used constantly. Seth had loved that aroma.

I forced myself to look and stared into the room.

It was neat and tidy. Seth once hated mess.

I entered gingerly, allowing my senses to take over, and memories rose to the fore.

There was a poster from a concert Seth brought me to when I was fourteen.

On his bedside table were two pictures of me and him.

One from when I was about six, and another of me at eighteen.

There was a flyer of my face wearing my Miss Mysteria mask and advertising me at the strip club.

I laughed quietly while I gazed at it. What a thing to keep!

It didn’t show my body or anything, but even so!

I turned and saw his heavy leather jacket on an old armchair.

The club patch would be on the back of it.

I walked to his bed and sat down as I eyed the memories Seth had surrounded himself with.

One wall was covered in posters and pictures.

When he’d slept at night, he’d have faced them and probably dredged up a memory around them.

I sat there and let the minutes tick past as I studied what my brother had deemed important.

Inglorious stood by the door, lost in his thoughts, and I knew this was killing us both. I turned to his bedside table, opened the top drawer, and paused.

“Inglorious.”

“What, babe?”

“Look.” My voice came out strangled, and Inglorious strode over, concerned. He glanced down and stiffened as he saw what I had. Two letters. One addressed to him; the other, me.

“Shit.”

“Seth wrote to us?” I asked, suddenly tearful.

“Yeah.” Inglorious picked them up and handed me mine. Guilt washed over his face as he gazed at the envelope.

“Go on. I want to hear what he said,” I urged, and Inglorious slowly tore open the letter. He read it through, and tears welled in his eyes as he swallowed hard.

I held mine loosely, although I wanted to grip it tight, but that would crush it.

“Inglorious?” I whispered.

Inglorious coughed to clear his throat.

“Brother, if you’re reading this, I died.

Whoop-de-fuckin-doo. There’s no way I’d ever say this shit to your face, and I reckon you need to know it.

First up, this wasn’t your fault. Fury and those assholes were coming for us.

The club had a target on its back, and we all knew it.

And we aren’t the type of cowards to run and hide.

Even if you’d given the orders to disappear, I would have stayed and fought. That’s who I am.

“Stop the self-blame, because I bet you’re putting yourself through it.

You and I were brothers from the moment we met as kids, and not a thing changed that.

I love you, man, and we had a good run. I’d have liked to grow old and see the club pass to a younger generation, but it wasn’t to be.

Understand this, I’d change nothing about my life.

I lived, drank, fucked, and was happy. I haven’t got any regrets, and you shouldn’t have either.

None of us were walking away from this fight.

“Now I have something you need to do. Claim Nanci. You think I don’t know what happened between you and her.

You’re wrong. Nanci loved you, and I believe she could again if you try.

You kept her secret and my honour by not making a move on her, but you and she are soulmates.

Find Nanci, bring her back, and while this is a fuckin’ nasty thought, keep her pregnant and happy.