There was a reason why the Devil’s Chaos was so successful, full of loyal brothers who would do anything for him. Well, apart from Omen. Thinking of him and Lily made my blood boil and I was too tired to deal withthat anymore.
It was surreal seeing Hudson’s old house like this. I missed the garden, it was so sterile now with paving slabs and decking, and just a few borders with ferns and small trees and a handful of potted plants.
I’d always loved sitting out in the fairy garden his mom made when she was pregnant. Hudson hated it as he got older saying it was for girls, but she never took it away and he never argued too much about it with her, even at that young age he could see it meant a lot to her, more than any of us had understood.
I tilted my head up to look at the stars above me. Being caged and sure you were going to be killed gave you a whole new appreciation for the night sky, knowing you were still able to look up at it. After the talk with Mace, we’d left him and gone into the kitchen, where I filled them in on everything Danica told me.
Hudson seemed troubled by it, but War was mad. So mad he’d punched a cabinet and Hudson had then punched him for damaging his property. It had been funny at first, but the seriousness of the situation prevented me from laughing at them.
War didn’t believe any of it either, but he was troubled there was an aunty we had never heard of, he declared he wouldn’t believe it until it came from dad’s mouth. The memory of this woman had been completely wiped out. No one ever mentioned her name, let alone any sign she existed. Even Rosa hadn’t said a thing.
I thought back over the conversation I’d had with Rosa about Danica. It seemed a million years ago now, but I recalled a lot of what she had said. And knowing what I knew now, a lot of things she hadn’t.
We’d decided to spend the night here then figure out how to broach introducing Mace to King. The only thing Hudson said about it was, it wouldn’t be here. He seemed unsettled enough about being here, so I understood.
My mind flashed back to the last time I set foot in this house. Hudson had kicked one of the fairy statues at the wall, shattering it into a million pieces. I’d always thought it was a metaphor for his heart breaking after what his dad did.
As far as I was aware, Hudson has never spoken to, or of his father since the day he went to prison. In keeping this place, it was a way of holding that connection, the way he had wanted to for his mom’s memory, without having to openly acknowledge what he was doing.
The sound of the back door opening had me looking up. I’d expected Hudson but my brother stepped out, closing the door behind him. He was carrying something as he came towards me. It was a blanket. When he reached me, he sat down and spread it over both of our laps, then put his arm around me.
I leaned into him, and he kissed the top of my head. He didn’t need to say anything. I could feel the relief pouring out of him at being able to hold me. He hadn’t mentioned Connor once. All I knew was what Hudson told me back in the motel room.
“Weird being here, isn’t it?” he said.
“Did you know he kept the place?” Warren shook his head. “Has he…spoken to Leon?”
Warren sighed. “No. And Leon hasn’t tried to contact him either. I keep tabs on him though. He’s protected in there, no one bothers him. He has a job, reads a lot, keeps to himself mostly. Every now and then King goes to visit him.”
“Really?” I sat up and looked at Warren. Why on earth would my dad go to visit Hudson’s dad in prison? “Why?”
“I used to think it was to try and convince him to contact Hudson, pretty sure he wanted him to apologize to his son for what he’d done. Not just the beatings,” he sighed heavily. “But, for letting him down so completely.”
“He would have just tore it up,” I said. Warren nodded in agreement. “Youusedto think that, so what do you think now?”
“Don’t miss a fucking thing do you?” Warren dug his knuckle into my side making me flinch away, but I slapped his chest hard. He laughed as he rubbed it but sobered. “I think he works for him.”
“Doing what?”
“I’ve never asked. I don’t want to know because I don’t want to keep shit from Hud. But sometimes, you need favors from people inside.”
My gut clenched slightly, thinking about what kind of favors he could mean. Both dad and Ballistic had been amazing to Hudson and Ballistic in particular was super pissed with Hudson’s dad for what he did. It made sense they were using him in there.
What I wasn’t sure about was why Leon was doing it. Leon Kelley hadn’t wanted to live after his wife died. It didn’t matter to him he still had a young son who needed him. So why hadn’t he just given up inprison and let it happen. Not that he would have been killed, but he could have been messed with I guess.
You hear awful things about prisons. Self-preservation must have kicked in. And sobriety would have given him a clearer head I supposed.
He was beholden to the club and whether he liked it or not, King was clearly cashing in. No wonder Warren didn’t ask questions. Hudson may pretend it didn’t bother him but deep down, I was sure there was some concern for his dad, not love, I think that ship sailed a long time ago, but there was definitely a connection, he would never admit it though.
I could see why Warren kept it from him. His dad was going to die in there. He’d be well into his seventies by the time his stint was served. He was ineligible for parole as part of his sentencing.
“Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I told him, though I could tell from the way he studied me, he knew that wasn’t true but I didn’t want to talk about it. “Are you?”
His turn to look away.
“Warren?” I took his hand and squeezed it. “We’re both okay.”
