I pulled the t-shirt on and when he tossed me my jeans, I tugged them on too. He got dressed and we headed downstairs, he explained King wanted to talk to me about what went down with the Kingsmen while him and Warren ran an errand. I eyed him suspiciously, but he gave me that look that I’d grown way too accustomed to of late, so I didn’t argue.
We rode up to the clubhouse where War was waiting by his bike. I climbed off and Hudson pulled me into him, running his nose up behind my ear and kissing my tattoo. “If you want me to stay while you talk to him, I can. War can hold off a while.”
I glanced at my brother, his face was an intense mask as he looked towards the compound gates. I didn’t know what they were doing but whatever it was, my brother wanted to get it done now.
“I’m a big girl, I can handle whatever King throws at me.”
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine but he nodded. I stepped back but went over to my brother and threw my arms around his neck. He was surprised but he hugged me back after a second. I didn’t say anything, just kissed his cheek and then walked away from them. I wanted Warren to know I loved him no matter what he was about to do, for some reason, something was telling me he needed to be reminded of that.
Casper let me know King was with someone, so I grabbed a breakfast burrito from a takeout box that had been left on the counter in the kitchen. I made a mug of coffee then went back into the bar to sit and eat. It seemed like forever ago I woke up here that first morning to Tanya and Gia having their bitch fight.
Smokey was sitting in a corner, quietly drinking coffee. I gave her a wave when she noticed me, she smiled back. It was hard to believe her and Jolene were club girls. They never flaunted it and I’d never actually seen them going off anywhere with anyone other than Connor. I knew what he was going with them for too.
The girl who put her hands on Hudson came over to sit with Smokey. She welcomed her happily enough but when she started staring at me, Smokey quickly nudged her and spoke in hushed tones. The girl was wide eyed but she nodded. She knew now not to mess with me or Hudson.
“Waverley.”
I turned to see King at the end of the bar. I expected him to take me back to his office but he headed for the front door of the bar. When I asked where we were going, he said he needed some god damn air. Fair enough. I followed him outside.
A few guys said hello to him, or stopped him but they didn’t talk business when they realized I was behind him. Eventually, we left all the disruptions behind. He didn’t stop walking, he went beyond the swimming pool and towards the slope that led up to the lake.
The Shed and the cabin where Mace was staying was off to the right and the houses where Hudson and I had spent the night were on the left. I decided to wait him out. We passed close to his cabin. Mace and Handlebar were outside talking. I frowned, not knowing what was going on there. King saw me looking and nodded in their direction. Handlebar raised a hand, Mace nodded back. The curiosity was killing me.
King shoved one hand in the pocket of his jeans, he didn’t stop walking but he diverted us away from the two men. We came to a stop when we neared the lake. I didn’t think King spent any time up here but I’m sure he knew it was where we all hung out. We walked over to the bench and sat down.
“Did Hustle tell you much about what went down?”
“He didn’t tell me anything,” I said, not wanting him to know Hudson had mentioned the cartel, and added, “I didn’t ask.”
King chuckled but it didn’t last long. “We didn’t manage to take out Nytro and another of his officers. Some shit went down, and it got in the way of what we were doing and they managed to leave. But you don’t need to worry. The Kingsmen are over, Nytro is in hiding for his own safety now.”
“Where does that leave Mace?” I couldn’t help but ask that question.
“Mace will be fine,” he said looking at me. “He’s proven himself to me, that’s all you need to know.”
“You should patent that phrase.”
“Maybe I will,” he stroked his beard thoughtfully. “There is no easy way to say this other than to just lay it all out for you.”
My heart jack hammered slightly. Something terrible was coming, I could feel it.
“Everything Danica has done has been about money. She killed your mom over it, she tried to kill her while she was pregnant with you both, but we hadn’t figured that out until recently,” his face had darkened as he spoke. “Your great grandmother was left a massive fortune when her family all passed. When her daughter married into the Walkers, got involved with the MC, she disowned them, but she still had a will. After your grandmother, Danica’s mom died, the beneficiaries automatically moved on to her kids. We don’t know the full reason why, but Danica was disinherited. Everything was going to your mom.”
“She killed her for the inheritance? It would go to her if mom was dead.”
“Turns out it wouldn’t, but at the time she didn’t know that. The money goes to you.”
“Me?” I reared my head back slightly in shock. “Why would it go tome?”
He went on to explain the female only succession of the inheritance and after Danica’s original plan to take out her sister failed, she killed her with the intention of taking her place so she could control me. But that backfired too.
I listened as he told me about where she had been since she ran, the trail of rich men she’d left in her wake, the final guy she married who’d died recently leaving her in debt. So now, she really needed that money.
“She is a narcissistic, sociopathic bitch who doesn’t care about anyone, and she would step over everyone to get what she wants. I don’t know what she intended on doing with you but once you got the inheritance on your twenty fifth birthday, which is in less than six months,” he looked at me. “She wanted that money.”
How much was my mother’s life worth, or mine? It didn’t even matter. I didn’t care about the money. I was heartbroken at the senselessness of what Danica did.
“In my experience, most people lose their shit and commit incredibly horrible crimes against their family for two things. Love, and money,” King leaned back against the bench. “I get the impression you aren’t interested in learning what the inheritance is? You can do a lot with it Waverley.”
