I bare my teeth in a snarl, taking a step towards her. Her eyes flash with fear. “You don’t have the right to have any opinion on who I am or what I do,” I growl. “I suggest you stay the fuck out of our way unless you want to be out on your ass. Understood?”
She nods her head with a jerk, swallowing hard.
“Now, be useful and tell us if Rafe was on that run?”
Her brows furrow. “No, I don’t think so. Your father had him doing something here in town.”
Both of us visibly relax. “Where is he?” I demand.
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “I haven’t seen him since before they left.”
“Do you have a number for him?” Nick asks.
“No.”
“Well, then, what fucking use are you?” Nick growls. “Get the fuck out of here.”
“You can’t talk to me like that!” She stomps her foot. “I’m your mother.”
“Stepmother,” I growl. “You were never a mother to us.”
“I loved you boys. I cared for you like you were my own when your whore mothers abandoned you.”
“Are you fucking delusional?” Nick growls. “All you fucking did was make our lives misrable. You hated the fact that your old man was stepping out on you, fucking anything that moved. You saw us as the enemy and treated us just the same. Don’t fool yourself. You’re an evil, crazy bitch. You're lucky we don’t put you out on your ass right here and now. I’m sure I can get Ghost to agree to that.”
“N-no.” Her eyes widen. “Please, this club is all I know.”
“Then. Fuck. Off,” Nick growls.
I want to tell her to leave, to never come back, and that she doesn’t deserve the help of the Steel Devils North Dakota chapter. But I bite my tongue, for now.
If Nick knew what she did to me, he wouldn’t think twice about putting a bullet between her eyes.
I don’t want him to kill her. I want to be the one to take her life. I just haven’t been able to build up the courage to kill a woman. It isn’t in me.
Part of me feels like a coward. How many other kids did she hurt after I left? Did she take my threat seriously? Did she believe that I’d come back and kill her if I found out she harmed another boy?
I pray she did. Because I don’t think I’d be able to live with the guilt. I couldn’t kill her back then, it would have been a death sentence to both my brothers and me.
But my father is dead now. Everything has changed. And maybe, for the better.
***
For the next few hours, we explore the compound, discovering neglect around every corner.
How long has the club been crumbling? There are more women and children here than men. Any of the members still around are either elderly or prospects. I’m not sure if there’s anything really left to salvage.
Every child we come across looks curious but distrusting, like they don’t know if we’re here to hurt them or not. I try to show them with a smile that I mean them no harm, but I don’t think they believe me.
Not every child looks dirty and emaciated, but they don’t look like happy, carefree children. My heart breaks for them all. “How could he let this place get so bad? These are supposed to be hispeople,” I growl, kicking at a dirty mattress laying in the middle of the field.
“He didn’t care about his own flesh and blood, why would he care about anyone else’s?” Nick snorts. “He was a selfish monster who only cared about pussy, money, and power. Or whatever he could snort up his nose. The world is a better place without him. And so is everyone here.”
I agree with him, I just hate to see all of these people suffer. The women and children of the MC should be taken care of, but they look like they’re lucky if they get scraps.
As we head back to the front of the clubhouse, a little girl steps into our path. She looks to be about five or six. Her blond hair is long and matted, her pink dress dirty. A white rabbit is clutched under her left arm as she sucks on her thumb with her right.
My heart shatters into pieces as I stare down at her.
