“Tell them who you met,” Romeo growled.
My brothers waited quietly while I strummed up the courage to confess. “I was meeting a man named Hemlock. He is King’s younger brother, but King didn’t know at the time.”
“How many fucking brothers does he have?”
“Three. Two now,” Romeo announced. “Ravage of the Golden Skulls is King’s brother. Ravage’s father is Morpheus.”
Morpheus needed no introduction; everyone knew who he was.
“What about Hemlock?” Baltimore asked.
“Hemlock was the twin brother to Shamrock. Also in the Golden Skulls. Shamrock was killed by Reaper when all that shitwent down with Reaper’s mother and theSociety. Their father is Snoopy from the Soulless Sinners.”
“Jesus, and King didn’t know about any of them?” Smokey asked.
“King didn’t know O’Malley was his father until this past December,” Ace explained. He looked at me. “You gonna tell them who your brother is?”
“You have a brother?” Tito asked.
I sighed heavily; they deserved the truth. Secrets got men killed. Mine almost got me killed. “My brother is Justin Peterson, also known as Shame from the Soulless Sinners. And since we’re laying it all out, my father was Samuel Peterson.”
“The fucking cult leader?” Psycho shouted.
“The one and only. Justin and I didn’t grow up with him. We barely knew him. Our mothers raised us. We also have a sister. Janelle Ingalls.” I waited as some of the older members realized who I meant.
“Who is Janelle Ingalls?” someone asked.
“The wife of Karl Ingalls Sr., the former governor of Alabama. Now, with all that shit out there, you still want me?”
“Hell yes!” Cobra shouted, followed by the others slamming their fists on the table.
“Alright. Then let’s get started. I’m not going to assign anything. We make these decisions together. Who do you want for Veep?”
“B!” the men shouted together.
“Fucking hell,” Zombie cursed.
“King said you were willing to be my VP, but you didn’t want to be president.”
“King’s a fucking liar. I never said shit about being VP.”
I threw my head back and laughed. It felt good. I should have known King was blowing smoke up my ass.
“All in favor of B being Veep?”
Shouting and clapping boomed through the room, and with each officer’s patch, I asked for a nomination. By the end of the meeting, I had my circle.
Ambush was sergeant at arms. He was diplomatic and fair, but piss him off, and you’d never see him coming.
Krypto and Venom were my enforcers. Two men who I knew would always have my back. When someone asked about Angel, I explained where he was and assured everyone his place would be there when he came home.
Keno and Tito were the cleaners. They learned everything they knew from Zero.
Monty was the money man. He got his name from Full Card Monty; his hands were quick, but I trusted him to hide the money that needed hiding while still being fully transparent.
Warden was the secretary. There wasn’t a man I knew who was more organized and disciplined than he.
Spider was the road captain, and Crater was the tail gunner. One led the way, and the other picked up the fallout.
