“You don’t have to stay here,” he told her.
“Son of a bitch,” I cursed.
“Jude, enough!” Morgan snapped. She walked closer to Scorpion and put her hands on his face. “Jude would never hurt me. Not physically, and not on purpose. We have a lot of shit to talk about and it’s probably going to get loud. Thank you for coming to my rescue, but he won’t hurt me.”
Scorpion pinned me with an icy glare and said, “Remember, I’m right outside this door and I don’t give a fuck who you are.” He looked down at Morgan. “You need me, you call me.”
She nodded and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
She closed the door behind him and turned to me. “Don’t you dare!” She pointed her finger at me.
“He can’t get aw—”
“Jude, stop it. You don’t get to punish him for protecting me.”
“You don’t need protection from me,” I argued, slamming my fist against my chest.
“He doesn’t know that,” she whispered. “Something happened to a woman in his life. I could see it in the way he looked at you. The way his hand was on his gun when he broke in here. You should be fucking proud of him.”
“My men should know better. They should trust me.”
“Have you given them a reason to trust you?”
“What?”
Her shoulders slumped and she sat on the end of the bed. “Have you told them why you left? ’Cause you keep saying shit like you were protecting me and you didn’t have a choice, but you haven’t told me anything, Jude. Why you left, where you were.”
She looked up at me. “I trust you with my life. I know that you will do whatever you have to do to protect me. But I don’t trust you with my heart. I can’t go back to where we were before; I can’t live in ignorance anymore. If you can’t be honest with me, can’t or won’t tell me everything, then I can’t stay. No matter how much I love you.”
I sat in the chair in the corner of the room. I couldn’t sit beside her and not touch her. I wanted to shield her from every ugly thing this life held, but I couldn’t do that.
Not anymore.
“My father was Samuel Peterson.”
“The cult leader?”
I nodded. I’d told Morgan about my father, the things he’d done, but never told her his name. I’d told Sully about him andwhat he’d done. I hadn’t held back; she had a right to know who she came from. But I never wanted Morgan to know the truth. Never wanted her to know whose blood ran through my veins. Whose blood would run through our child’s veins.
Her hand went to her stomach, and I leaned forward, my head in my hands. “I never should have stopped to talk to you that day,” I said, looking up at her.
“I’d never been a selfish person. I always did what I could to help whoever needed it. I didn’t want to be like him. I didn’t want to think he had any influence over my life. My choices.
“I joined the Silver Shadows because I was ordered to. I’m what’s called a sleeper. Justin is too. His job was to infiltrate the Soulless Sinners; mine was the Silver Shadows. There are others in other clubs around the country. Together we make up a group of men and women dedicated to justice by any means necessary.
“Our purpose is to take out those who seek to destroy the world. We each had our target, and mine was Titan. Only, Titan wasn’t dirty. His sons were.
“Titan was married to Kimberly St. James. The sister of Sylvia St. James. Together with Jane Craven and a few others, they took over theSociety. Only, Kimberly wasn’t a part of what her sister was doing. The Silver Shadows were never meant to be a part of the corruption in the Biker Federation.”
I stood up and paced the room. Morgan sat quietly, listening as I told her about theSocietyand what they tried to do. What they did. I explained their connection to the Golden Skulls and Soulless Sinners. About George Stone and Devlin Scott.
I explained everything about the Trick Pony and my father’s involvement in all of it. Then I told her why I left.
“I was in that warehouse that day to finally get the information I needed to bring down Steele and Stone. I brought King with me because I wanted him to see the truth with his own eyes. I wanted to introduce him to his brother. The man whowas helping me. Another sleeper who had infiltrated the Golden Skulls.”
“Hemlock.”
“Yes, well, no. I was meeting Shamrock. They were twins. Identical. They worked together, but as one person, swapping back and forth. No one knew but our group. They were identical in every aspect but one. Their personalities were slightly different. So they swapped places depending on who they were getting information from.
