Page 23

Carly

I must have misheard him, because I could have sworn he said the only way I was leaving with Christian was if we were married.

It was absurd to even consider such a notion. I barely knew Christian. We were just friends. It wasn’t like that between us. We were just helping each other out.

No.

“She doesn’t have to marry me if she doesn’t want to,” Christian muttered. “She can still leave with me in the morning.”

“No, she can’t,” King stated. “She’s Golden, or have you forgotten that?”

“I am too.” He sighed. “My grandmother was Meridiana Doherty. I’m Reaper’s second cousin by blood.”

“You are more than that,” Nav, the club’s tech guru, spoke up, clicking away on his computer. “While you’ve been chatting it up, I’ve been running your background. Fury, you are connected by blood or marriage to everyone. I’m talking the Valentinetti’s, the O’Malley’s, the IRA, the Golden Skulls, and by oath to the Soulless Sinners. You are a fucking massive trifecta. We can’t stop him, King. Not without causing a war. If you thought having Carly here was bad, Fury is worse. I don’t see a way we can stop him from taking her when he leaves.”

“Wasn’t gonna stop him, Nav.” King let out a heavy sigh, the sound rough against the silence, as his fingers traced his beard while staring intently at Christian.

There was a subtle shift in his demeanor, a barely perceptible tightening of his jaw that told me the cunning man had something planned. I was confused and uncertain about what to do, and I was getting a splitting headache trying to decipher all the complicated political maneuvering and petty club regulations. I just wanted to get the hell out of here and forget this place existed.

“Then what’s with all the marriage shit?” Christian griped.

“Like you, I’m trying to protect my own, and what better way to do that than to seal the clubs together?”

Confused, I looked between the two men as Christian glared at King, who smiled and sat back in his chair. “You know I’m right.”

Christian shook his head and seethed, “I won’t force her to do it.”

“I wasn’t suggesting you do, but even I can see from where I’m sitting that there is something between you two.”

“There is nothing.”

“Lie to me all you want, but it’s there.”

Christian slowly pushed his seat backwards and stood, taking me with him. Wrapping his arm around my waist, he shook his head and clearly said, “We will not become a pawn in this fucked-up game. I’ve got love for all of you, but I left the Soulless Sinners because I refused to be used as a bargaining chip. I don’t want Carly or our kids anywhere near what’s coming. Find someone else. I’m out.”

“You know it’s not that simple, Chris,” the man who met us out by the gate spoke up. “I hate this for you, brother. I hate it for both of you, but you know King is right. There is nowhere on this planet where either of you could go and be safe. The best thing is to fight this mess together as one.”

Looking up at Christian, I asked, “What is he talking about?”

“Tony’s talking about our mutual blood ties. If we marry, no one can touch us.”

“And by joining clubs, the Silver Shadows would be blood bound to protect you both,” King stated, getting to his feet. Walking around the table toward us both, he stood before Christian and added, “Take the night. Talk and leave nothing out. She has a right to know the score, Fury. You can let me know your decision in the morning. Matlock, show them to a room.”

After checking on the kids, Matlock opened the door directly across the hall from them, allowing me to precede him. Looking around the room, it was clean but small. Walking over to the window, I stared out into the darkness, wondering if this crap would ever end. I just wanted to live in peace, away from all the drama.

“The prospects brought up your bags. If you guys need anything, come find me.”

“Thanks, Tony,” Christian said, giving him a quick, manly hug before closing the door.

Turning to face him, I stood rooted to my spot, my arms wrapped around my stomach, not knowing what to say to him. So, instead, I stood there and waited, watching as he took a seat on the bed and hung his head, muttering, “I’m sorry.”

“Gonna need more than that, Christian, because I don’t understand any of this.”

“You’ve been doing research into the Golden Skulls, right?” he asked, not really needing my answer as he continued, “Well, what if I told you that all your research connected the Soulless Sinners and the Golden Skulls?”

Frowning, I pulled out the chair under the small desk and sat. “I don’t see how. The only commonality is that they are both biker clubs.”

“I didn’t understand myself until you showed me William Doherty’s family tree. I thought maybe the geek squad got it wrong somehow, but they didn’t. Well, technically they were wrong, but on the whole, they were right, and when I put it all together with what I learned in Shame’s apartment and the file Tyran gave me, it just clicked.”

Getting up from my spot, I walked over and kneeled before Christian. Placing my hands on his face, I looked into his eyes and said, “What clicked, Christian? You’re not making sense. Start from the beginning.”

“Don’t you see?” he whispered. “It’s a family feud. Only no one knows who is guilty.”

“Guilty of what?”

“The rape of Frances Doherty.”

Shaking my head, I tried to clarify, “You’re talking about the youngest sister of Brian Doherty?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “The man who started the Golden Skulls.”

“Christian, the article didn’t state who started the Golden Skulls. Only that it was a bootlegging operation before the conspirators scattered. It only became a motorcycle club afterwards.”

Christian shook his head. “No. It was always a club. I found evidence of that in Shame’s apartment. Like you, he was also researching everything. He had mounds of information he collected during his time with the Soulless Sinners. Vicious and I even found evidence to suggest he was there to babysit my club.”

“That would mean someone planted him there.”

“Yes, but I didn’t have time to figure out who.”

“Hold up,” I interjected. “Go back to the family feud thing.”

“The article Shame had said that someone sexually assaulted Frances Doherty and left her for dead for her brother to find. Everyone believed that the two members that took off and disappeared with all the money were the assailants.”

“That’s right.” I nodded. “I found the same article, but those suspected men were nowhere to be found. The case was never solved.”

“And nine months later, Frances gave birth to a boy.”

“Yes, John Doherty, who was raised by Brian after Frances died in childbirth. John Doherty later married Hyacinth McGregor and had William Doherty in 1943.”

Christian looked directly into my eyes and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight as he said, “And one other. A girl they named Kathleen Doherty.”

“My research never turned up a sibling for William.”

“That’s because the Doherty family kept her away from William. According to Shame’s research, the family knew something was mentally wrong with William from the beginning. They kept a close watch on him in his younger years, but shit blew up in their faces when William wanted to marry a woman named Margaret Hanover.”

“His high school sweetheart.”

He nodded. “Yes. Now, from what Shame could put together, Margaret was already engaged to be married, which pissed William off big time, because he firmly believed that Margaret was his. The night of Margaret’s wedding, William accidentally killed Margaret in a fit of rage, which set him on the path we all know. Faced with life in prison, John Doherty talked the judge into sending his son to Vietnam instead, hoping that the violent war would claim him.”

“But that didn’t happen,” I whispered, then asked, “And his sister?”

“After William left for Vietnam, fearing for their daughter’s safety if he returned, the family arranged a marriage for her to Colin O’Shea, but an attack on the family en route to New York prevented the wedding from happening. The attack killed John and Hyacinth Doherty, and Kathleen disappeared without a trace.”

“What happened to her?”

“No one knows. She just vanished.”

“I still don’t understand how this entire mess is a family feud, Chris.”

“The two missing bootleggers were Gregory Stone and Edward Goldman. I’d bet my life that it was one of them who raped Frances Doherty, setting a chain of events into play neither could have anticipated.”

Sitting on the floor, I looked up at Christian as my head swam with all the possibilities. It was a lot, that was for sure, but it kind of made sense. The hostility between the clubs, the looming war, but none of that explained the Trick Pony. We were still missing something.

“Christian, was there mention of the Trick Pony anywhere in Shame’s research?”

“No, but Vicious and I barely scratched the surface of what Shame had in his apartment.”

“What did you do with all his research?”

“Boxed it up and moved it to my penthouse at Davenport Tower. Why?”

“Shit,” I cursed. Getting to my feet, I started to pace as my brain went into overdrive. I needed to see what Shame found. I needed to compare it to my own notes. I was so close. I could feel it. But to get the information, that would mean we would have to go back to New York City. And if we did that, then the both of us would be putting ourselves in danger. Plus, I still wasn’t sure about all the biker laws and such, but if Christian and the others were right, the only way we could safely go back to the city was if we were married.

“Christian, ask me.”

“Ask you what, Carly?”

“Ask me to marry you.”

Slowly standing, Christian narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Because we need to go back to New York.”

“No!” he shouted. “Absolutely not!”

“Christian...”

“No.” He furiously paced, shaking his head. “Did you not hear anything? I can’t marry you without permission from your brothers, and as much as I like you, Carly, your fucking family scares the crap out of me.”

“Your family too.” I smirked.

Chris shook his head. “Not bloody likely! I may share blood with Reaper and that’s enough, but there is no fucking way in hell I will stand before Sandman and let him kill me. Not even for you.”

“What if you didn’t have to?” I asked.

“Trust me, Carly, Sandman and Savage will be out for blood when Reaper tells them. And before you say anything else, this wouldn’t be like what happened with Delany. She’s only Sandman’s cousin. You are his fucking sister! Big difference.”

“What I meant was, what if we could bypass them altogether and just ask my father?”

“He’s dead, Carly!” Chris yelled.

Smirking, I looked down at my hands and whispered, “You sure about that?”