My eyes flew to Kaden, wanting to say something, anything that might lessen the impact of what his dad just told him. The two of us knew Vex abused her, but we didn’t know the severity until now. Hearing what his mother went through made me want to hurt someone. I could only imagine how Kaden felt. His shoulders tensed right before he gripped his hair, leaned back in his chair, and briefly raised his head to the ceiling.
Oddly, Cutter was the one who placed his hand on Kaden’s shoulder, much like my ol’ man had done with Marek moments ago.
“She’s okay now,” the old guy said. “Sully is one tough broad.”
“That she is,” Jagger added. His lips thinned into a tight smile. There was a brief moment of silence, and I wasn’t sure if it was because the conversation was uncomfortable for everyone present, or if Marek tried to gather his next words. Maybe it was a combination of both. Either way, he soon continued with specifics from the past.
“We tortured and killed Yanez, Vex, and Psych, sending them to hell where they belonged, and each one of them knew exactly why. The one connection they had between them was what ended their lives in the end.” As if feeling his confession wasn’t enough, he rose from his seat and walked up behind Kaden. “I made them all pay, son.” He rested his hands on Kaden’s shoulders. “I made sure they suffered till they took their last breath.” Kaden’s eyes glassed over as did Marek’s.
His ol’ man cleared his throat before retaking his seat.
“After hiding this from us all these years, why now? Why is it okay we know everything that happened?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“Because we didn’t want you guys,” he said, referring to me, Kaden, Ace, and Brick, “to be tainted with what we had to do back then. We did it because we wanted to end the war between us and the Reapers, to stop looking over our shoulders every time we left this compound, to stop losing members of our club at their hands. We wanted a better life for our kids, and whoever else came into the club well after that shit was done and over. The only things you had to worry about were school and girls. You didn’t have to wonder if at any point during the day your life would either be snatched from you or you’d be the one to end someone else’s. I now see we did a disservice by not telling you. If you’d been armed with the details, you would’ve known the detriment of what could happen if that war started back up.”
“Which we think it has,” Ryder grumbled.
“Because I took Maddie,” I said, a declaration and not a question.
“Yeah,” Marek answered. “After looking at her, I understand why you did it, but I have no doubt they will retaliate. They’ll either want her back or—”
“I can’t hand her back over to them,” I spit, my anger doing a shit job at staying hidden, erupting before I could control myself.
“No one is sayin’ that,” my ol’ man interrupted just as hurriedly. I relaxed, but only a fraction.
“If they were the ones who set the fire at Indulge because of a scuffle, what the fuck do you think they’re gonna do knowing we took their plaything from them?” Hawke asked, his reference to Maddie as a plaything fueling my anger even more.
“Exactly. And when I spoke with her, she mentioned Dutch,” Marek said. Jagger, Trigger, and Ryder groaned while Cutter and Hawke sported an odd grin I didn’t understand.
“That fucker’s nuts,” Tripp mumbled, but we all heard him loud and clear.
“Who’s Dutch?” Brick asked.
“He’s one of ’em, but from a different charter,” Marek replied. “Although he’s been spending more time here than back in Tucson. He rivals Psych in delusion and amusement with torturing women. If he hadn’t been mentioned, I wouldn’t be as worried but now… now we gotta prepare ourselves, which means making sure you four are carrying from now on.”
We all knew how to shoot, had been visiting our makeshift range behind the clubhouse for a couple years, but we never had a reason to carry before today. In fact, we were forbidden to have our guns on us whenever we left the clubhouse lot. To be honest, I didn’t mind because while I was a damn good shot, I didn’t care much for the weapon. I could give or take it, preferring to use my fists. But now I’d be sure to follow the change in instruction and be strapped from here on out.
Marek cleared his throat and sat up straighter. “On to the issue with Tag.” My ears perked up at the mention of the guy who could possibly be a Reaper. Last I knew he was still tied up in that basement, but things could’ve changed.
“We don’t believe he’s a Reaper, even though he comes from one.” Our leader spewed out the words as if they pained him, and after hearing the details of what Tag’s father, Vex, did to Sully, I could partially understand his distaste for Tag. But, like he just said, he wasn’t a Reaper.
“Are you sure?” Hawke asked, tucking his hair behind his ear and leaning forward. He looked pissed at the news, and from what I remembered of how he acted in that basement, I could guess the nomad wanted to revisit old wounds.
“Yeah. We had guys we trust dig into his past to see if the story he told Kaden and Linc was true. These same guys have been keeping an eye on the Reapers for years, and none of them have ever seen Tag before, indicating he hasn’t been around the rest of them. He did check out as having a job back in Boston, attending grade school, then high school there as well as college. We even went so far as to visit his mother, and while
