“How could I possibly bein danger?” I glared harder at my brother. “I’ve been here for five years, away from you and dad and all of your bullshit. No one knows who I am here, Warren.”
“Doesn’t matter where you go, you’re a part of the family.”
I ran a hand through my hair and stared at the desk. Walking away from them, getting to live my life the way I wanted, wasn’t a betrayal, not like my father thought. It was self-preservation.
“So what? I don’t advertise where I come from.”
“It isn’t about knowing where you come from. They know aboutyou. They can find you, sis.”
“Who arethey?” I hissed. “What bullshit has our father dragged me into?”
“Look, there have been threats,” Warren sat down heavily in the chair beside Hudson, who was inspecting his fingernails like he was bored. “And King is worried.”
I barked out a laugh. “Worried about what? That I’m in danger, or that someone has figured out he has a weakness.”
“Waverley, this isn’t a joke.”
“Nope, it isn’t a joke. You two walking in here, wearing your cuts, letting everyone know who you are because you can’t bear to leave home without them. How do you knowyoudidn’t lead this danger right to my door?”
“We didn’t.”
Like that explained everything. I wish Hudson would shut up and get out. I looked at him to convey that. Like my brother, he could read me and he smirked. Cocky, arrogant, bastard.
“Look, Wave, my hands are tied here. If we don’t bring you-”
“If you finish that sentence, I’m going to kick your ass right out of this bar. And you,” I pointed my finger at Hudson. “You say one more word,I have doormen outside twice the size and a million times more vicious than you.”
“I’m shaking in my boots,” he drawled, raising a leg, putting his boot against my desk.
I rolled my eyes and looked at my brother. It didn’t matter what they said, nothing would make me go back there.Nothing.
“Wave,” my brother’s eyes were misty, his voice pleading, and I intuitively knew whatever he was about to say would hurt. “They got to Connor. It was bad.”
My heart almost stopped. I thought about the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy who was always quick to smile, to crack a joke or make fun of himself to cheer me up when things got rough at home. He never liked to see me upset, and I knew it would have devastated him when I left.
Shit, that’ll do it.
Chapter 2
They still wouldn’t give me any details, just that the threat was real. Dad wants me home and nothing I said or did would change their minds, even if they had to put a bag over my head and tie me to the bike. That little nugget came from Hudson, who I ignored.
I sat behind the desk, trying desperately to come up with some excuse to not go with them, to convince them I can look after myself. I had been doing it for the last five years, but from the look in their eyes, they could and would follow through with their threats if I didn’t come of my free will. Hudson pointedly looked at his watch while my brother waited for me to work it through my head, I was sure he was coming up with reasons to refute my objections.
It didn’t matter, King Curtis wouldn’t stop until I went home. Home. The compound. That place wasn’t a home. It was somewhere for drunken, egotistical, whore-chasing idiots who thought because they wore leather vests with patches sewn on them, they had every right to decide on my behalf. It was everything I didn’t want to go back to.
“What am I supposed to tell my boss? My friends?”
“Tell them your mom’s sick.”
I scowled at Warren. Our mother abandoned us when we were three, leaving us to be raised in a motorcycle club. Guess she got boredwith dad’s brand of bullshit and decided kids cramped her style or something. She didn’t care she was leaving two innocent kids to grow up in that environment. As my eyes lowered down his cut, they widened at the patch across his chest.
“Vice President?” I screeched. “Are you kidding me?”
“Yeah, that happened recently.” Warren gave me a sad smile. Vice President meant he’s in this for real. Not that he wasn’t already, but a part of me always thought he could get out if he wanted to, but being the VP? That was a whole different ball game.
“What happened to Nut?”
“He died a few years ago.”
