Page 19

A person with morals wouldn’t eavesdrop on a conversation he wasn’t meant to hear. Considering I find it fun to decorate myself with the guts of my enemies, I was excluded from that morality bullshit.

To hear Birdie say she was scared to trust any of us and that being here wasn’t good for her heart was a punch straight to my sacred nuts.

I walked out after that, not equipped to stomach hearing how much we broke her—how much I broke her.

I’ve avoided her as much as possible the last couple days, incapable of looking at the broken woman she is now and becoming enraged.

At her.

At myself.

At all the Steel Slayer corpses I pissed on after I cut off their ugly ass heads.

At that fucker Clink who dared come for my woman.

There’s so much rage inside me I could open my fucking mouth and set the damn world on fire.

Cypher calls at the perfect time because I was about to order Pretty Boy to get in the ring with me. I want to rearrange his pretty mug and make him ugly for being so good looking. That shit goes to his head too much.

“Talk to me,” I answer.

“Prez, Bugsy and I are on our way into town. Got some shit to go over.”

“How far out?”

“Got about thirty before we hit city limits. Just stopped to grab some gas and take a piss.”

“We’ll call church when you get here. Just you and Bugsy, or do we get to finally meet the reason you requested both those property kuttes?”

“That’s another thing we need to talk about while we’re in.”

“Heard. Ride safe, brother.”

“Always.”

I’m about to shove my phone back in my pocket when a text from an unknown number comes through.

Usually, I’d ignore it, but the word kids in the notification bar catches my eye.

A message thread opens when I click on it to read it fully.

The first thing I see is the picture of Birdie, Lovelyn, and Legend smooshing their faces together.

The twins are smiling, the twinkle in their eyes bright.

Birdie has a sparkle she hasn’t had since she showed up here.

She’s still missing that beautiful fucking smile, but there’s a hint of one, at least.

I consider what it’d take to get a full one from her.

Probably the heart of Frankie on a platter.

Scratch the probably. Definitely. That’d definitely make her smile.

What woman wouldn’t find it romantic to be handed the bloody, still beating heart of the person who hurt them?

Huh.

Does that mean I should rip mine out and hand it over to her, too?

It’s not a difficult thing to do since I did once already a long time ago.

I finish reading the text, eager to see what she has to say.

BIRDIE

{Picture}

The kids insisted we send you a picture and wish you a good day.

My shoulders drop and my lips curl into a pout, disappointed that it sounds so . . . impersonal.

ME

You all look like home

With a sigh, I shove it into my pocket after replying.

Since I don’t have time to get in the ring with Pretty Boy and work out this fucking aggression, I bury it down for now.

It wouldn’t hurt to get some damn work done.

Savior is usually the one who runs Tapping It, but I told him I’d cover him today so he could go visit his mom.

She’s been in a residential treatment center since he was a teen.

They had some nasty shit go down that kind of just .

. . fractured her brain. Her doctor and nurses say the only time they see some light in her is when he or one of his siblings go visit.

It’s mostly just him, though. His brother and sister stopped going as much a few years ago, stating it hurt them too much to see her so broken.

Savior goes every week. He doesn’t like missing one, and if he has to, the man turns into a goddamn monster.

I’m talking . . . he won’t be appeased until he’s making someone fucking bleed.

Cypher texts me to let me know they’re at the clubhouse, so I shut down the computer and lock up the office.

Raiden, one of the fighters who helps us run this place, is in the ring with Canyon.

They’re both going at each other pretty well, and I stop to watch the fight for a few minutes.

They’re both fucking beasts in the ring.

They’re the top two fighters in the MMA circuit for a reason.

Raiden and Canyon are also why Tapping It is undefeated in the underground circuits.

I wince when Raiden lands a good hit against Canyon’s jaw, causing him to stumble.

I bring my thumb and index finger to my mouth and blow a sharp whistle.

They step away from each other, both breathing heavily with blood dripping from various parts of their faces and turn to me.

I let Raiden know I’m heading out and for him to hold down the place until Savior returns before heading out.

People are out and about in the city as I ride through.

Most smile and wave, but a few still turn their backs.

It’s always going to be that way. If people want to stick their nose up at our colors, it’s no sweat off my ball sack.

We’re cool ass motherfuckers. They could totally join the cool kids’ club if they would pull those giant fucking cactuses out of their asses and stop turning away from us.

I mean, who turns us away?

Fuckers, that’s who.

Two older men mean-mug me, so I blow them a kiss, laughing under my breath when one stumbles against his cane.

That’s what he gets for being a judgmental prick.

I nod at Devious when he opens the gate and fly through before it’s all the way open.

Everyone is greeting Cypher and Bugsy when I stroll through the doors. Some sweetbutts try to get their attention, but they’re both ignoring them.

So much so that when one woman tries touching them anyway, they snarl at her.

I can’t help but chuckle when the sweetbutts scurry away in fear.

Guess they didn’t clue the fuck in when they were being ignored. We need to have another chat with them about being handsy when their touch is unwanted.

I clap Cypher on the back when I make it to the group. “Brother. Good to see you.”

“Prez,” he replies, wrapping me in a one-armed hug. “How the hell you been? How are Birdie and the kids?”

“Life is gonna be as magical as the rainbow glitter a unicorn farts.”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “Gonna be fucking beautiful then.”

Bugsy doesn’t like being touched unless he initiates, so I hold out my hand to him. Normally, he’d hesitate, but he shocks me when he slides his hand into mine. “Bugsy. All good, brother?”

“Yeah,” he replies, his voice raspy from his damaged vocal cords.

When he was seventeen, Bugsy set his kidnapper’s house on fire to escape.

Unfortunately, he ended up trapped in the flames and burn scars now cover the entire right side of his body.

They start at his feet and travel up the side of his ribs, feathering onto his back, chest, and throat.

They spread over part of his right cheek and jawline to just under his eye socket.

It doesn’t detract from how attractive people find him. Why the hell should it? He’s still the same fucking person underneath. Objectively, I have to admit he’s handsome as hell.

His blond, shaggy hair falls into his whiskey-colored eyes and he uses his colorfully inked fingers to move it out of the way.

Honestly, if I liked dick, I’d definitely throw him my bone regularly. I’d totally make that sexy motherfucker walk funny from fucking him so hard. Alas, I enjoy pussy only. Specifically, one pretty kitty.

“You all ready for church?” I ask, pulling from my thoughts.

“Need to grab my laptop from my bag first,” Cypher replies.

I let out a sharp whistle to grab everyone’s attention. “I need all council members in the chapel in ten.”

Once the council members fill the oval table, I call a start to church. My fingers run over the gavel Birdie had commissioned for me when I stepped into my position as president. It’s the thing that brought me the most comfort over the last seven years.

“Right. Cypher and Bugsy have brought us some news on Birdie’s shit. The seat is yours, brother,” I tell Cypher.

Cypher does some stuff with his laptop before he speaks.

“It took some deep fucking digging to find what I have. There’s probably a hell of a lot more to find, so I’m staying on it, but this couldn’t wait.

” He turns his focus to me. “Prez, there’s a connection between your parents, him, and their catholic church.

I’ve not been able to uncover what kind of correlation, just that his name ties back to theirs. ”

I blink a few times, trying to process his words.

Birdie’s husband is connected to my parents and that fucking church cult? Just the thought has my stomach hardening and vomit rising in my throat. The conversation she overheard before she ran makes much more fucking sense if he’s got any kind of affiliation with those vile fucking humans.

I move to hide my clenched hands on my thighs under the table. “No idea of the connection, exactly?”

The gruffness in my voice has the council sitting straighter, understanding how this one piece of information has already affected me. They don’t know a lot about my childhood. Hell, no one does. Not even Birdie. Not really. That shit is something I don’t talk about at fucking all.

Gavel’s eyes sear my flesh as they try to dig deep to find out how I’m dealing. I keep mine turned from him, not wanting him to read whatever the fuck will be in them.

“Not yet, but I will,” Cypher promises.

I accept his answer with a nod, slowly unclenching my fists. Darkness tries to crowd in my brain as I fight to keep the memories of my childhood at bay.

Needing an anchor, I wrap the gavel in my hand before turning to my grandfather. “Do you know anything about them and their connection to Frankie?”

Gavel’s face is pretty grave as he considers me.

“Frankie Sullivan? The name isn’t familiar, but you know I left that fucking vile place in the dust a long time ago.

He came after I was gone, if he’s the age of you or Birdie.

The only thing I can tell you is to look deeper into the members of the congregation.

You’ll find the majority of them with skeletons so deep in their closet you’ll regret ever looking. ”

Cypher nods, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “I’ll try to find a list of all of their members.”

“I can give you the ones I remember. They were deeply ingrained within the church, so most of them are probably still there. If not, I’d bet my left nut their lineage is,” Gavel replies.

“Appreciate it. The more information I have, the better results I’ll find.

” Cypher spins the laptop toward Gavel. “Here’s one of the few pictures I could find of him.

There’s no social media presence on him or Birdie, which shocked the hell out of me, considering how much she used that shit before she left here. Do you recognize him?”

Gavel studies the picture intently, his brows furrowed in concentration. Something flickers in his eyes, but it disappears when he shakes his head. “No. I thought he was familiar, but I don’t know. I can’t think of where from or why.”

“No problem. We’ll figure this out,” Cypher reassures him.

“Right. Any other items on the agenda? You mentioned something else was on your mind. Is that something for here or for just me?” I ask Cypher.

He shuts his laptop and leans back in his chair. He peers at Bugsy, then back to me. “We’d like to come off the road. My partners want us to settle down and, frankly, I’m getting older, Prez. Thinking about starting a family.”

I nod. “Sounds good. You know you have a home here, brother.” I turn to Bugsy. “And you?”

“Me and mine are coming home too,” he rasps.

“Yours?”

He nods. “Goin’ to need to hit Scorch up for a property kutte.”

I lift a brow with a smirk. “Well, well, well. Someone finally caught them balls, eh, brother?”

Bugsy doesn’t smile, but his eyes are finally happy. “Yeah, she did.”

“Happy for you.” I look to Cypher to include him.

“Happy for both of you. Look forward to meeting your partners. Right. Cypher, keep digging to see if you can find that connection. I don’t want us going after anyone until we have as much information as possible.

We won’t win a war without proper intelligence.

All right. Anything else?” I ask the council members.

They shake their heads, so with a relieved sigh, I smack the gavel against the sound block, calling an end to church.

“Do you all have a timeline on when you’ll be moving?” I ask Cypher and Bugsy.

“We’re hoping within the month. Nyla and Calix are packing up their homes.

We’re going to rent a place in town until we get a house built.

Calix is worried about the way the club will handle our relationship.

He won’t do anything to have Nyla hurt. I tried reassuring him nobody would give a fuck, but it’s something he’s going to have to witness for himself. ”

“You’re right. He’s going to have to experience how little we give a shit about who someone is fucking. You know you got a piece of property here whenever you’re ready.”

“Where did you think we were going to build at?” he asks with a smirk, clasping my shoulder before he walks away.

“What about you?” I question Bugsy.

“Drusilla is also packing her place. We’ll stay here at the club until we get our place built.”

“Heard. I’ll tell you the same, you have property whenever you’re ready. I’ll have some sweetbutts get a room ready. Do you all need to head back to help them?”

“We’re goin’ to get Cypher, Nyla, and Calix’s place secured before headin’ out.”

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“Will do, Prez. Lookin’ forward to meetin’ your family.”

We chat for a few more minutes before we file out of the chapel.

It’s going to be damn good to have my brothers home with their new families. I never thought I’d see them settle down, but I suppose we all fall to love eventually.