Page 25

Fury

“Give me a good motherfucking reason not to shoot you in the head,” Montana seethed as I felt the cold, steel muzzle of a gun against the back of my head.

With deliberate slowness, I extended my arms to their fullest extent, just as Malice emerged from behind me and seized the opportunity to swiftly remove my firearm from its holster. Carefully lowering my arms, Malice, standing silently next to me, offered no response while Payne guided Carly over to my bookshelves, his hand firmly gripping her upper arm.

I fucking knew it was a bad idea coming back here, and this just proved it. There was no way in hell Montana would ever let me just walk out of here without some sort of retribution. The bastard was vindictive like that, but what worried me most was Carly. If he learned exactly who she was, I didn’t know what that fucker would do, and that scared me more than anything else.

“You can let her go, Payne. She’s not armed.”

“The bitch stays,” Montana sneered, never taking his eyes off me.

Glaring at the fucker, I shook my head.

Shit. He was really fucking pissed.

“She’s not a bitch.”

“She’s whatever I fucking call her.”

Shaking my head, I steeled myself for a fucking fight.

“You still haven’t learned your lesson, have you, asshole? Her name is Charlotte.”

“And what lesson is that, Fury?”

“Never judge a book by its cover.”

Leaning back in my office chair, Montana sneered. “So, who is she then? Some piece you picked up on the side of the fucking road?”

“My wife.”

Montana laughed. “Oh, that’s fucking rich. The playboy of the fucking club got married. Brother, I’ve seen you with a different piece every other week. Don’t fucking start lying to me now. You’re already in deep shit. For starters, you fucking shot me.”

I smirked at that.

“I sure as hell did, and I’ll happily do it again if you don’t tell Payne to get his fucking hands off my wife.”

Lowering his gun, Montana challenged me, “You’re lying.”

“She’s my wife.”

“Bullshit.” Montana narrowed his eyes. “Payne, check her for the brand.”

I stayed rooted to my spot, glaring at Montana as Payne carefully turned Carly toward me and pulled down the back of her shirt to expose her shoulder. The fucking second his eyes landed on her back, I smiled at Montana.

“I don’t lie. Now, tell him to get his fucking hands off my wife.”

Payne took a step back, looking from me to Montana when the irate fucker roared.

“I don’t believe it!”

“Fury’s name is tattooed on her shoulder,” Payne easily lied.

I dared not move as I wondered what game Payne was playing at. I fucking knew he saw the Golden mark on Carly’s shoulder, yet he lied and said differently.

Why?

Montana slowly stood, leaning over my desk. “What the fuck did you do, Fury?”

“What I should have done years ago. I’m done being used to further the club’s agenda.”

“It wasn’t like that, and you fucking know it.”

“Then tell me how it was, because I remember fucking any bitch you told me to.”

Refusing to answer, Montana sat back down.

“What’s he talking about?” Payne asked, as Malice growled.

“Tell them, Montana. Tell them how your dad used me to get to Davina. Tell them how your dad ordered me to seduce and fuck my girls’ mother because he wanted in the gem market. Only he didn’t expect me to fall in love with her, did he? I bet it rubbed his ass raw when Davina claimed her husband had fathered my girls, didn’t it? But it still worked in his favor, ’cause not even five years later, Vicious showed up with Linsey and my girls. Instead of doing the right thing, you did exactly what your dad wanted.”

“Montana?” Payne muttered, stepping forward. “Is he telling the truth?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Montana sneered.

“YES, YOU DID!” I roared, slamming my hands down on my desk. “You were the fucking president. The second you assumed the chair, you made the rules. The buck stopped with you. All of it, Montana. You could have stopped it all, from Largo to Malice to Delany, but you didn’t. Your old man is dead, and you are still doing as he wanted!”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Excuse me,” Carly softly interjected as all eyes turned to her. “I know I don’t have a voice here, but you’ve said that twice now, Mr. Stone. That you didn’t have a choice. What do you mean by that?”

Montana smirked, hanging his head. “She’s smart, Fury. I’ll give her that.” Looking at Carly, he simply said, “It means I’m being blackmailed. If I go off script, they will kill my wife and son.”

“Who?” I asked.

Montana shrugged. “Don’t know. At first, I thought it was Dad, but when the calls continued after he died, I didn’t know what to think. I tried testing the fucker’s reach. When Maxim and I sent Tessa and the kids away when that shit with Baranov kicked off last year, that’s when I got a video message of a man sneaking into Tessa’s room. He held a gun to my wife’s head while she slept. The fucker held up a message saying he could get to her anytime.”

“Jesus fuck, Montana,” I groaned. “You should have told us.”

“Like I said, I didn’t have a choice.”

“Then why are you telling us now?” Payne asked.

“Because I just ensured my family’s safety, and I need you guys to help me find this fucker so I can kill him.”

“What do you mean? Where are Tessa and York?” I asked, but my gut was already telling me I already knew. There was only one place on the fucking planet where he could have sent his wife and kid to and know that they would be safe.

Montana looked up at me and smiled. “A blood pact works both ways, brother.”

“Son of a bitch.” I sighed, taking a step back. “You sent them to Reaper. That’s why he hasn’t replied to the table. You think it’s one of the family heads blackmailing you.”

“Yes, and until the threat to me and mine is gone, I don’t give a flying fuck about anything.”

“To what end?” I snarked. “Because this war isn’t going away because you’ve got other problems.”

“Who said we were at war?”

“Remind me again why we are using my place instead of the clubhouse?” I asked as all my brothers milled around, going through the multitude of files Vicious and I collected from Shame’s apartment. “Not that I care, but you guys are pigs.”

“Because it’s not safe,” Torment said nonchalantly while he flipped through a file.

Great, that cleared shit up for me.

Didn’t anyone know how to fucking elaborate anymore?

“I’ve got to hand it to Shame,” Rage spoke up. “Brother did his due diligence. Fucker collected information on everyone. I’ve got a file here that’s a detailed account of every time your mom and Happy hooked up. And look, there are pictures.”

The man smiled as he tilted his head and slowly turned a photo in his hand.

Montana growled, leaning over to rip the picture out of Rage’s hands. “Asshole. That’s my mom!”

Chuckling, Rage picked up the next file. “Fucking hot mom.”

“What I don’t get is this board,” Mercy commented, standing before the corkboard with all the photos of presumably dead people as he slowly shook his head. “I mean, they are dead, right?”

“No,” Carly piped up from behind her computer. “Most are still alive.”

“How do you know that?” Mercy asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

“Just do,” she muttered absentmindedly as she typed away on Shame’s computer.

“Well, someone needs to prepare Reaper,” Mercy stated. “I vote for Montana. Reaper hates him the most.”

Instantly, all my brothers raised their hands in agreement, me included.

“Fuck you, Mercy,” Montana grumbled as we all laughed.

“Just keeping it real, brother.”

“That’s it!” Carly gasped, standing up.

Rushing over to her, I asked, “What is?”

“I found the connection between the clubs.”

“Great,” Montana groaned. “Malice, I give you permission to put a bullet in my head if Charlotte tells me I’m related to that asshole.”

Malice grinned.

“Well, that’s what I’m not exactly sure of, but it’s a distinct possibility. Christian, you were right. Gregory Stone and Edward Goldman fled after they assaulted Frances Doherty. One of them is the father of John Doherty.”

“So, we need a member of each family to do a DNA test.”

“My blood is on file at the clubhouse. So is Delany’s. Go knock yourself out,” Montana snarked as he flipped through a file. “Look at this shit. A full fucking dossier on Councilman Weathers’ infidelity. Tell me why the fuck that information is pertinent to my club?”

“Because Councilmen Weathers worked for Sienna Mitchell, the head of the Society, ” Carly innocently informed as all eyes whipped toward her.

“And just how in the hell do you know that, Charlotte?” Montana asked, slowly getting to his feet.

Carly looked up at me, her eyes wide, as I wrapped my arms around her. “Now, Montana, before you blow a fucking fuse, just know that I welcomed you into my home. I’m even helping you find what you need. So is Carly.”

Montana growled, taking a step forward. “Carly? You said her name was Charlotte.”

“It is. Her birth name is Charlotte,” I quickly stated as the rest of my brothers slowly stood.

“What is her full name, Fury?”

Taking a deep breath, I muttered, “Charlotte Jane Moreno.”

“Her maiden name, dickhead,” Montana sneered.

“Mitchell.”

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

“It’s actually Keller,” Carly whispered, and I hung my head as I heard several of my brothers whistle while Mercy just laughed.

“Jesus Christ. It’s a curse. You can’t get away from them, Montana. They just gravitate toward you like goddamned golden moths to a flame.”

“Not helping, Mercy,” I groaned as Montana stalked toward me.

“Tell me you didn’t. Please tell me another one of my brothers didn’t fucking marry a Golden Legacy?”

“Actually, her club name is Oracle. Legacy is Delany,” I quickly said, realizing my mistake as Montana’s eyes got wider.

Yeah, I knew I should have kept that part to myself, and when Montana was close enough, the last thing either of us expected was for my wife to turn and hug the irate man.

“Please don’t be mad at Christian. He was only trying to help me. I know I’m not what you wanted for him. I grew up with the enemy, but I promise you, I’m nothing like Mother.”

Montana stood rooted in his spot as my wife continued to pour her heart out to him.

“I’ve only ever wanted to help right a wrong. That’s all, and maybe live to see my son again. Please, if you need to be angry, be angry at me. Not at Christian.”

I watched as the anger melted away from Montana’s eyes and he slowly wrapped his arms around my wife and sighed, shaking his head. “I have a feeling, Charlotte, that you just might be the one to save us all.”