“Enough,” Cain said. His voice was soft but no less menacing. He shifted his body between Stunner and Suzie, but she moved to the side, not letting her father come directly between them. “You have anything you want to say to me, boy?”
“Would it matter now?” Stunner wasn’t stupid enough to think that if he came clean now everything would go back to the way it was. One family had been lost to him forever two decades earlier. Now, he’d lost a second.
“No.” There was no hesitation on Cain’s part. “But you will tell me the extent of your dealings with El Diablo and exactly how much of Bones and ExFil has been compromised.”
“Short version is --”
“Stop!” Cain held up a hand. “You don’t get to give me the short version, Stunner. Start at the beginning and give me everything.”
Stunner nodded, holding on to his composure as tightly as he could. “Before I do, will you tell me if the threat to Argent Tech has been contained?”
“It has. Salisberry had no clue who he was dealing with. Alex shut him down. Suffice it to say that, whatever Giovanni dug up on the man was enough to get him blackballed from every business he’s ever been involved with. If he’s not broke yet, he will be by tomorrow. Didn’t negate the hit on you, but stopped any thought of a takeover of Argent. Now stop fuckin’ stallin’.”
“When I was thirteen, I watched my father kill my brother and my mother.” Stunner heard Suzie take in a sharp breath, but her mother held her back when she tried to go to him. He glanced in her direction but then returned his gaze firmly to Cain’s. “The details are a little fuzzy, but the bottom line is I killed him before he could kill me. We lived in an extremely secluded area of Oklahoma on a farm with over ten thousand acres, much of it woodlands. Again, the details aren’t important, but I got rid of the body and scattered anything that remained in places where I knew the wildlife would take care of it. Anything I couldn’t depend on the animals for, I burned.” Stunner focused wholly on Cain, needing to see the man’s reaction. And this wasn’t the worst part by any means. So far, Cain held steady.
“Anyway, after it was done, I knew I couldn’t stay in Oklahoma. The chances someone would find something were just too great. At thirteen, I couldn’t imagine anything being worse than going to prison. So I fled to Argentina.”
“Helluva place to pick. Why?”
He shrugged. “Foolishness. I read in school how, after World War II, there were Nazis who fled there and lived long and happy lives. I guess I figured if they could harbor that kind of murderer, no one would bat an eyelash at me.”
“Christ,” Cain swore, but nodded for Stunner to continue.
“Anyway, I lived there a year before I got into real trouble. Crossed the wrong gang. That’s when I first made contact with El Diablo.” When Cain said nothing, Stunner continued. “He could have killed me. Was supposed to kill me, but he didn’t. Instead, he gave me a reprieve with the understanding that I work for him. I’d be loyal to only him for the rest of my life, do what he said, learn everything he had to teach me. In exchange for my service, he’d let me live. I found out later that the average life expectancy of people in his employ was about twenty. Since I’d started at fourteen, I wasn’t expected to make it to sixteen. I was twenty-two before I realized I’d survived past what was technically the original agreement, not that I was stupid enough to mention it.”
“What happened then?”
Stunner shook his head. “Not really sure. El Diablo gathered me and a man called the Reaper, El Segador, in for a meeting. Only the meeting was actually a ride back to the U.S. via private jet incoming to a private airstrip. There had been a falling out with him and whatever organization he worked for years earlier. It was why he was in Argentina. Once he had an excuse to get back to the States, he took it, moving me and Reaper with him.
“His plan was to start his own operation. To do that, he needed cover. While he was well dressed, well mannered, and well spoken, he didn’t have the time to integrate into that kind of society. Instead, he figured he’d be better suited to some kind of gang. The decision to fit into an MC was an accident.”
Stunner glanced around the room. It was hard to tell if they believed him or not, but no one was getting impatient or frustrated. That alone gave him the courage to continue.
“I was in Nashville. We were researching places and available resources. I’d been looking for some action out of sheer frustration and found myself in a biker bar. That’s where I met Gremlin.”
Suzie gasped and she sank into a nearby chair. Angel knelt beside her, urging her to leave, but she just shook her head. Her lovely face had gone pale, and her breathing was ragged. Stunner hated causing her pain, but it was best to just get it all out.
“The man had been beaten horribly. He was upright, but I had no idea how. The bruises on his face looked to be a couple days old, but it was hard to say. I had the feeling this guy was El Diablo’s way in. The answer to setting up whatever operation he wanted. So I got him drunk and, as I’d hoped, he started talking.
“Kiss of Death was into all kinds of shady business dealings. But that wasn’t important. The club was connected, ripe for the taking. That’s what I needed information about. Apparently, there was an element inside the club not happy with the way the president, Crow, was running things. Gremlin thought they were all pussies, but then, Crow
