No matter how ugly it was, the truth wouldn’t save me from anything. My demon wouldn’t allow it and my own mind refused to accept that I was just as innocent as that young girl. Everyone wanted to know about the war plaguing me. Well now they knew.
St. James closed his eyes and sighed.
Yeah. The truth wasn’t fucking pretty. It was nasty and crude. It was the shit that nightmares were made of. There wasn’t a fucking day since my rescue that I didn’t think about what I had done. I prayed for the longest time that I was unsuccessful, but when William pulled me into his office a few days later, he patted me on my back and told me I did good. I knew my life was never going to be the same again. After that day, I fell into a dark oblivion that still cocooned me today.
My brothers believed that when Remi showed up that my demon was finally contained, that she alone was able to hold back my darkness. The fact was it was never gone. I had moments of light, but I lived in the darkness. Waiting, biding my time to unleash my demon on those who fucked with my life.
“That’s the secret. That’s what the Society has on me. Somewhere on this fucking planet, I have a kid who was conceived in the bowels of hell and there is not a damn thing I can do about it.”
“Yes, there is,” St. James grinned. “The question is, do you want to, because once you go down this road, there is no stopping it. Everyone, you, me, this club, your women, the kids, everyone will have a target on their backs.”
“It’s my fucking kid!” I roared, slamming my hand down on the table as several men flinched, including Phantom. “What the fuck do you think? Somewhere out there is a nine-year-old kid who doesn’t know what the fuck is going on. Of course, I want this shit to end. I would eviscerate him if I knew who the fucker was behind all this shit. He’s already threatened Remi and my son.”
Phantom’s head snapped up. “Hold up. How do you know he’s threatened Remi and the baby?”
“Because he said so when he called. Today, in fact,” I said, reaching into my cut, producing a burner phone. Sliding it towards Phantom, I said, “After the shit that went down with Remi, I received that phone. He calls every so often to ensure I’m toeing the line.”
“What do you mean?” Massacre asked, stepping forward. Looking about the room, my eyes landed on Chaos, who sat stoically, not saying a word, when he looked up at me and slightly nodded.
Fuck. If I thought telling my darkest secret was hard, looking at all my brothers and telling them what I’ve been doing behind their backs was going to kill me. I hated lying to them, but I hope they understood I didn’t have a choice. Taking a deep breath, I added. “Because of the shit that went down when I was fifteen, the fucker behind this mess held my kid over my head. Threatening to kill my kid if I didn’t fall in line. He wanted me to continue to help with the transportation of the traffic, but I refused. He allowed it for a time, insisting that I use the Golden Strip Club as a drug distribution center.”
“What the fuck!” Vicious snapped. “We don’t fuck with drugs Reaper. You know that.”
“What are you distributing?” Shadow asked.
“Heroin and Fentanyl.”
Several of the brothers cursed. I looked at Chaos as he added, “And I’ve been helping him.”
“That’s why you clear the club out on Tuesdays. That’s when they show up, isn’t it?” Viper asked.
Chaos nodded.
“Fuck Reaper,” Ghost muttered. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I couldn’t. He threatened to kill my kid if I did. He wants me to bring the club back into the fold. He wants the club back in the trafficking business immediately. If I do that, he will back off. If not, he’s marked us all for death. And before you even ask Phantom, it’s a burner phone. It’s untraceable.”
The woman grinned, getting to her feet. “That’s what you think. St. James, I need to speak with Jonathon. Tell him I need his help.”
St. James got out his phone and started typing as he said, “You’ll also need Matrix. He’s already on the island with his son. They both can help you.”
“What?” I asked, looking at both of them. “Matrix is on the island?”
Phantom sighed. “Yeah, about that. You’ve not been the most approachable lately. I noticed that Matrix had gone MIA shortly after we rescued his son. I didn’t want to burden you with any more shit, so I’ve been looking for him. Guess I should have looked in the middle of nowhere.”
St. James grinned, then added. “You can also call off the search for Player and the others. I intercepted them in Dallas. They are safe on the island as well.”
“When were you going to tell me?” I asked the fucking spook. I really hated this cloak and dagger shit. Of course, I really had no room to talk. I had kept my own secrets too. Though I was taking it as a good sign that none of the brothers had pulled out their guns and shot me. Small blessings, I guess.
“When I knew I could trust you.”
“I’m going to get started on this phone. Do not bother me. I will let you know if I find something.” Phantom said, running from church. Shaking my head, I really worried about that woman. She was all about her electronics and shit. The woman seriously needed to get a life.
“The first thing we need to do is get everyone not essential the fuck out of here and we need to do it without alerting anyone,” I said, moving forward. I still wasn’t sure this was the right move, but it was worth it if I could at least save someone.
“That’s easy,’ Ghost said, leaning forward. “All the women and kids go first. We’re going to need help with this too. I can put in a call to King.”
“No.” St. James said, shaking his head. “Reaper just said they are watching. They have his woman and kid marked. I would even bet that your wife and daughter are marked, Ghost. No. We need to be very selective with this.”
“He’s right. The women have to stay, even the kids.” Massacre stated. “As much as I hate to say it, I think you need the family in on this too. I know my cousin has his hands full right now, but if you want to make this right, you need to come clean with Giovanni. This problem is going to have a trickle-down effect. Besides, Gio has connections that can at least help with the drug issue.”
I nodded. “Okay, I will let you handle that part, Massacre. He’s your cousin. You deal with him.”
“There is a way we can take care of this all at once. If you are willing to continue to play the part.”
I looked at St. James and asked. “How.”
The spook grinned as a trickle of fear seeped into my soul.