Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 141464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
“Sold it at this gallery nearby,” he continues. “Met my stepfather there.”
So she remarried. To someone normal or another religious zealot? “Was he good to you?”
He cocks his head as if he needs to think on it, then stares me dead in the eyes. “Treated me nicer than our father did.”
Maybe he’s not here to kill me after all. “That’s a low bar.”
He scoffs. “You could say that.”
“So how’d you find me? And why come here of all places?”
He reaches into his hoodie pocket.
My body tenses and I sit up straighter in case he’s going for a weapon.
But all he pulls out is a folded-up piece of glossy paper that looks like it was torn out of a magazine.
“Mom really got to love country music after we moved.” He unfolds the paper and holds it out to me. “Big fan of Shelby Morgan.”
A smile twitches at the corners of my mouth. How about that? Rooster’s little songbird is somehow responsible for bringing my half-brother back into my life.
“She saw this in a magazine and recognized you right away.”
I take the paper and scan the page.
It’s a gossip piece from maybe two years ago when I was on tour with Shelby helping Rooster work security.
There’s a full-page picture of Shelby and Rooster wrapped around each other after one of the shows. My scary face is visible in the background to Rooster’s left. Both of our cuts with our Lost Kings MC patches on display.
Shelby Morgan parties with bikers after sold-out show.
Dex, Pants, and a few other guys that had also been on tour are also visible in the background but I’m the only one who was dumb enough to be glowering straight at the camera.
“She knew your face.” Cain taps his finger over Rooster. “And your friend. She wanted me to keep it and track you down when the time came.”
Meaning, after she died.
“Why?”
His expression hardens. “You and Jezzie are the only family I have left.” He shrugs. “I don’t have anywhere else to go. Thought I’d do some traveling and look you up.”
My stomach knots at the mention of my sister. No fucking way is Cain getting near her until I can trust him.
“What about your stepfather?” I ask. What’d the guy do, toss him out after Ruth died?
“What about him?” Cain shrugs. “I said he was better than our father. I didn’t say he was great. He treated my mom good. Tolerated me.”
He rubs his hand over his chest and frowns. “She left whatever money, life insurance, and stuff to me. He wasn’t so happy about that.”
Is that his way of letting me know he’s not looking for a handout?
“That’s shitty.”
He tilts his head and levels a sarcastic stare at me. “I’m used to shitty situations.”
I snort. “Yeah, I feel that.” I mirror his pose. “You even old enough to be in this place?”
A blush creeps over his cheeks, and he stammers, “I…I didn’t really realize what kind of establishment it was until…”
“Where are you staying?” Fuck, I can’t bring him back to my place. I can’t even let him stay at our clubhouse next door. If he’s blushing about stepping foot inside a strip club, he’ll probably die at the antics that go on over there after Crystal Ball closes.
“I got a room at a hotel over by that big mall.”
I nod, knowing where he’s talking about.
He shrugs. “For a few days at least.”
“How’d you get here?”
“Rode. Took about a week.”
“You ride?” Guess we have more in common than I thought.
He nods. “Stepdad was into motocross. He taught me how to ride. Mom had picked out a Kawasaki Ninja for me for graduation.”
“Nice.” My back aches just thinking about riding the foreign sport bike that far.
The ache in my chest is worse. What the hell am I supposed to do with this kid?
“How’s Jezzie?” he asks as if he’s trying to steer the conversation back where he wants it. He frowns at the closed office door. “She doesn’t…she doesn’t work here, does she?”
“Fuck no.” What kind of asshole does he think I am? “She’s in college. Just talked me into letting her take a part-time job at a pizza shop.”
That’s not enough info for him to find Jezzie. There have to be more than two hundred colleges in New York and three times as many pizza places near a campus.
While this little family reunion’s been surprisingly non-lethal, he’s not getting near my sister, my club, or my girlfriend.
Not until I know what the fuck he’s really doing here.
CHAPTER FOUR
Margot
Death doesn’t scare me.
Silence does.
Not the silence of the dead. Not the hush of the home I grew up in. Or the prep room where I prepare the dead for one last goodbye from their loved ones. I’m comfortable with all of those variations of silence.
It’s the silence from Jigsaw.
The kind that coils around my heart and whispers, he’s not coming back.