Page 175 of Romeo

I pushed away from the wall and crossed my arms.

“Tell them who you met,” I growled.

Silence settled over the room.

Chasm looked around the table before answering.

“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,” I answered. “Ravage of the Golden Skulls is King’s brother. Ravage’s father is Morpheus.”

The name landed exactly as expected.

Even after everything we’d learned, it was still fucking ridiculous how many members of King’s family had spent years moving through the same underworld without knowing the blood connection between them.

“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 shit went down with Reaper’s mother and the Society. 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, then he looked at Chasm. “You gonna tell them who your brother is?”

“You have a brother?” Tito asked.

Chasm released a long breath.

The hesitation on his face didn’t surprise me. Men like us learned early that information was leverage and family was a weakness someone could exploit. Keeping your mouth shut could keep a person alive.

Except secrets had a nasty habit of eventually choosing their own time to come out.

“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.”

Recognition crossed several of the older members’ faces.

“Who is Janelle Ingalls?” someone asked.

“The wife of Karl Ingalls Sr., the former governor of Alabama.” Chasm looked around the table. “Now, with all that shit out there, you still want me?”

For the first time since we arrived, he had nowhere left to hide.

These men knew who his father was, who his brother was, what he’d concealed from King, and what his own suspicions had cost him.

“Hell yes!” Cobra shouted.

Fists hit the table as the rest joined him.

Chasm’s shoulders loosened.

They knew the man standing in front of them and chose him anyway.

My hand went instinctively toward the phone in my pocket.