“Father,” I replied, the taste of blood coming from my busted lip. We’d been here many times before.
“So. All this?” he mocked, pointing to my cut. “All this for a fucking spic?” My teeth gritted together as that word left his mouth.
I stepped closer to him. Close enough that my boots touched the toe of his expensive shoes. “You speak about Adelita like that again, and I’ll kill you.”
My father’s mouth twitched. Landry got up and came round the table they sat behind. The asshole just plowed his fist into my stomach, then my face.
He kept going until my father pulled him back. “Patience,” my father said to him.
I glared across the table at Beau. “You next?”
Beau, as silent as always, actually got to his feet. Dressed in black, his brown hair falling over his face, he came toward us. He stopped in front of me with his arms folded across his chest. My fucking kid brother, the one who never left my side, was gonna be here as I died. As our uncle and father killed me.
Wade got up too. “Wade,” I said coldly, like the guy wasn’t on my side. I had to protect him.
“Shut your fucking mouth, traitor,” he snapped. His face was red as he spat at me, and his hands were balled into fists at his side. He was doing a good fucking good job at pretending he was pissed.
“Untie him,” my father ordered my brother. Beau moved behind me and cut the cable tie that was holding my hands together. I fisted my hands, ready. My uncle and father stepped back. When Wade joined them, not a fucking flicker of allegiance in his eyes, I waited. Beau moved beside them. The four of them were glaring my way. I eyed my little brother one last time. How the fuck had it come to this?
“Get against the wall,” my father ordered.
I did as he said and backed up four steps until my back hit the wall. Beau, Landry, Wade, and my father all raised their guns.
A fucking shooting wall. An execution. I wouldn’t close my eyes. I would watch them until I was dragged to fucking hell.
“You always were a fucking pussy,” my father said. “You were never the solider your people needed you to be. From being a kid, always questioning shit and being a sniffling lil’ disappointment.”
My old man clicked the safety off his gun. Just as he went to fire, Beau jumped out of line and fired two perfectly aimed shots . . . right through Wade and Landry’s heads. In seconds, he’d knocked the gun from my father’s hands. It went sailing across the floor, well out of reach.
My heart started to quicken. “What the fuck?” my father snapped at Beau.
My eyes dropped to Landry and Wade, dead on the floor, their eyes wide open. Kenny and Lars came smashing through the door. Beau turned and sent them to the boatman too.
Beau came to stand beside me. I stared at my kid brother as he faced our old man. “If I have to listen to one more fucking white-power chant, see one more Nazi salute, or attend one more fucking rally, I’ll slaughter every one of y’all.”
Our father’s face drained of blood. Then it quickly reddened. “You—” He went to hit Beau, but I grabbed his hand and threw the fucker back. His eyes stared daggers at us both. “You planned this,” he hissed at Beau.
Beau smirked. “All of it.” I looked at my little brother in shock. He glanced between me and our old man, his eyes finally staying on me. “I pretended to be Wade. I needed you to think I was all in to this Nazi shit.”
“You weren’t?” I asked, my throat fucking getting thicker by the second. I’d thought he was all in . . . I thought he hated me . . . I thought he was Klan through and through . . .
“Never was. You knew that.”
“I did . . . but then I assumed I was wrong when I left and you took over the leadership. You were quiet when we were kids. Thought I’d got you wrong all these years. That you did believe it after all.”
Beau shook his head. “I never wanted this life. Fucking hated all of it. Every fucking day under that cunt’s rules.” He nudged his head toward our old man.
“Why did you stay? Why the fuck didn’t you leave too?”
Beau paused, then quietly said, “You.” His arms folded over his chest. I knew this Beau. The one who never gave anything away. My baby brother never spoke much, never opened up. Ever. Crossing his arms over his chest? That was him protecting himself from whatever truth he was about to spill. I wanted to fucking pull him to my chest. Protect him like I always did. But I knew he needed to say whatever it was he needed to say.
Beau flicked his chin in the direction of our old man. “He ain’t my fucking family.” He pointed at Landry. “Neither was that redneck prick.” Beau looked at me. “You were, Tann. You were my only fucking family . . . and then you left me behind.”
“I wanted Adelita. I couldn’t be in the Klan life and have her.” I shook my head. “You were away with the army. And I didn’t believe in that shit anymore. Realized it was all bull. I got my chance to leave, through Tank. So I took it. You never came and looked for me after you got out. I figured you were done with me along with these cunts.”
“You fucking left me behind,” Beau snapped, anger lacing his voice. My stomach sank. I hadn’t known . . . if I did, I never would have left.
“But you’ve been leading the Klan. Training the soldiers. You sure as shit acted like you were still an all-in Nazi.”
“Had to look the part.” I couldn’t get it through my fucking head. I couldn’t fucking think. I eyed my father beneath my foot. He looked about ready to combust as he listened to Beau. Fucking stock still as Beau told me it all. “I had to get us in a position where I could take them down. Destroy them before they destroyed you.”
“What?”
“They were always gonna kill you, Tann. You were a betrayer of your race. The cause. The great invisible fucking empire. They were never gonna let you live . . . they were gonna wipe out the Hangmen. You seem happy there. So I had to figure out a way to take the Klan down from inside before they could.” He shrugged. “Had to make you believe I was all in so nothing could go fucking wrong. Needed you to believe I wanted to kill you too . . . I needed you to believe that you had nothing left.”
“You little shit!” our papa hissed. He rushed at Beau, but I smashed my fist into his face before he even got close. The asshole dropped to the floor. I watched him crawling on the ground, and all I felt was disgust. He was a weak-as-piss asshole. Always fucking had been. He abused the fuck out of us as kids, paid some bitch to give birth to us so he could raise his fucking white-power heirs. He was as pathetic as they came.
Our old man held his nose, blood seeping onto his expensive suit. I stood beside him, putting my foot on his back to make sure he didn’t move.
Beau didn’t even acknowledge him. “I needed everyone down here. In one place. Needed you here too.”
“I came because they killed her. Diego fucking killed her.” Beau rocked on his feet. Then his words from before sunk in . . . I needed you to believe you had nothing left . . . “Diego killed her, right? Adelita . . .
I fucking cleared my thick throat. “She’s gone?” I didn’t wanna fucking hope. Didn’t wanna give myself any hope she was still alive. I didn’t—
“She’s alive.” Beau interrupted my thoughts. My heart started hammering. My ears filled with a fucking pulsating roar.
“What?”
“The last time I checked, she was alive.”
“You . . . you fucking told me she was dead!” I had to fight the urge to hurt him.
“I had to! I had to get you here. Had to stop them from coming for you. I knew if you thought she was dead, it would happen.” Rage. I felt nothing but rage. But when I looked at Beau, I saw the truth in his eyes. And he was right. I came here because I had nothing to lose. The Klan and cartel were here to plan an attack on the Hangmen . . . Beau had prevented it all.
Kicking my old man, I walked to Beau and fucking pulled him to my chest. I kissed him on the head, feeling him lose the tension in his always tense body. It was just like whe
n we were kids . . . Beau and me.
All we ever had was each other.
I suddenly felt the cold barrel of a gun on the back of my head. I froze. So did Beau. “Well isn’t this a nice fucking reunion?” my father’s voice said coldly. I pushed Beau away from me.
I opened my mouth to speak, when the door burst open and a voice said, “Governor fucking Ayers!” The gun immediately left my head. I turned to see Ky Willis pointing his Uzi at my father. Styx came in next, followed by my chapter. Tank was through after Styx, and his eyes fixed on mine. I saw the relief on his face—I was fucking alive.
Ky looked down at my uncle, then Wade, Kenny, and Lars dead on the ground. “Looks like we missed the fucking party.” My father, for once, looked nervous. All my brothers had their guns trained on him . . . my fucking brothers were here.
“Been a while, Gov,” Ky said, and he sat on the edge of the table.
My father backed up until he was against the far wall. “You can’t kill me,” he said. “I’m a governor. People will question where I am.” The fucker smiled. “And I have insurance in place if I do.” By the smug look on his face, that insurance involved me, the Hangmen, or both.