“Ember! Stop! You know you can’t go down there!” Coal yelled back.
“The hell I can’t!”
“You two stay up there. We’re both fine and we’ll be up in a minute,” I called out. “Brothers, give us a minute, yeah?”
Duke glanced around the basement, unable to stop himself from surveying the area for threats. When his eyes landed on Octavius’s very dead body and the gun on the floor, he nodded and motioned for the others to go back upstairs. I was proud of him. As my SAA, his job was to protect me at all costs, even if it meant going against my orders.
When I heard the door close, I turned back to Annabelle, who had been surprisingly silent since she fired the first shot. “You okay, doll face?”
She cleared her throat and shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. So, um, I guess we’re even now?”
“Excuse me?”
“You know, you lied to me about him being alive and I lied to you about wanting to say my piece to him,” she sheepishly admitted. When I just looked at her, completely confused, she clarified, “I didn’t have anything to say to that bastard. I just wanted to shoot him.”
I stared at her blankly for two seconds, absorbing what she’d just said, before I threw my head back and laughed. I pulled her against my chest and engulfed her in a hug. “Woman, I fucking love you.”
“Yeah, I love you, too, you big bastard. But let’s get one thing straight right now. I understand why you did it, but if you ever lie to me again, I don’t give a fuck what it’s about, I’ll superglue your balls to your leg while you’re sleeping.”
I had no doubt she would. “There is something else I need to tell you. I wasn’t intentionally keeping it from you, I just hadn’t found a good time to tell you.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“Luke called with the results from the DNA sample you provided. It was a match,” I said softly, unsure of how she would take the news.
She was silent for a moment and then asked, “Anything else?”
I cleared my throat. “Your father is also dead. Badger killed him when we went in to get Nathan.”
“You’re sure he’s dead?”
I nodded. “Absolutely. Badger shot him in the head. He was dead before his body hit the ground.”
She exhaled and her body visibly relaxed. “Remind me to thank him.”
I chuckled and threw my arm around her shoulder. “Will do. Let’s go see about our kids and let the boys get this place cleaned up.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Phoenix
After reassuring Ember, Coal, and Nathan we were okay, as well as Gram and Pop, I called the officers and Nathan into Church. There were a few loose ends we needed to tie up before we could put this whole mess behind us.
“How did they get you?” I asked Nathan.
“I was driving to the airport this morning and a truck came out of nowhere. He was all over my bumper and wouldn’t go around. I slowed down some, thinking he would pass me, but he rammed me instead, which sent me off the road and into a ditch. The next thing I knew, a man was at the window jabbing a needle into my neck. When I woke up, I was tied to a chair in that warehouse,” Nathan explained.
“Did they say why they took you?” Badger asked.
“Yeah, they said it was for money. From what I understood, Octavius used to supply guns to the club that Gnaw belonged to. Since the operations at the farm were shut down over a year ago, Gnaw’s club has been losing money, or not making as much. Anyway, he said he wanted compensation for some of the money lost. He told Octavius he was going to take Mom, but every time his guy got close to her, one of the Blackwings got in the way.”
“Did he say who that guy was?” I asked, trying to contain the rage that was vibrating through my body.
“He said the guy was a prospect for the Disciples of Death. I think he said his name was Kevin.”
“What about Crystal, the girl that was in the warehouse? Did they mention how she played into this or what she was doing there?” I asked.
“Yeah, she’s Kevin’s sister. She was at their clubhouse complaining about Mom stealing you away from her to Kevin. Gnaw overheard their conversation. That’s how he knew Mom was back in town. Gnaw tasked Kevin with kidnapping Mom and Kevin got Crystal to help him out. She’s the one that told Gnaw about me and she’s the one who took your keys during the wedding reception to let Octavius out,” he explained.
