Chapter Thirteen

Malice

Leaning against the wall in Bane's office, I said nothing while I watched a frantic and disturbed Bane type quickly into his computer. I didn't know what he was so fucking worried about. I knew there was no fucking way he could be Arianwen's father, which meant Popeye was grasping at straws.

Besides, even if he was, what was the big deal?

Then again, I barely knew the club doctor. What I did know was that he hated Montana and wanted nothing to do with the Soulless Sinners. Fucker held a twenty-year grudge with Montana that consumed him.

"Are you sure about this, Intern?" Montana asked, standing behind Bane as he scoured the club's medical records, looking for anything that would tie him to Arianwen.

The intern nodded, standing next to Storm and Vicious, who, like me, looked bored. "But you won't find anything in the medical records. You need to look at the club records."

"The kid's right." Bane sat back in his chair, looking up at Montana. "I don't have a record on Silver. When you took her in, you and I weren't exactly on speaking terms. I never did a full physical and considering I've never treated her for anything, not even the flu, I wouldn't have a record for her."

"Like I said," Pippen reiterated. "You need to look in the club records."

"Why?" Mercy asked, stepping forward because that was his domain. Part of his job as VP was to keep meticulous records on all the brothers. Everything from family, to who they did business with, to who they fucked. Nothing worse than getting caught with your pants down. Well, at least that's what I thought.

"Because twenty-something years ago, Bane was on a path of self-destruction. According to club records, he went through club pieces like water. Brother didn't give a fuck. All he cared about was staying drunk and planning Montana's downfall."

Bane smirked. "Yeah. Those were fun times."

Montana growled. "Not so fun now, asshole. Paybacks are a bitch."

Bane flipped Montana the one-finger bird.

"Anyway," Pippen broke in, halting the two men. "Like I was saying, Bane was still in medical school back then. When he wasn't at the hospital, he was here fucking his way through Barney's girls. One piece in particular stuck around for a bit until George Stone ordered Popeye to get rid of her."

"How the fuck do you know this?" Mercy sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because club records are password protected. Not even Montana knows the password."

Pippen shrugged, looking down at his hands. "Eighteen-digit password verses a world-renowned hacker. It wasn't really that hard. Plus, you made it especially easy with Largo's birthdate and Sophia's name. It took me like two seconds."

Montana and Bane moved quickly to stop Mercy from strangling the intern. "I'm gonna kill him!"

"Oh, now you want bloodshed," Montana barked.

"Can we concentrate here for a second?" Fury groaned, shaking his head. "Jesus Christ, it's like a fucking frat party in this place today."

"Secrets galore, brother." Vicious nodded. "Fucks everything up, every time."

"Zip it, you two!" Montana snarked, before pointing at Pippen. "Two minutes. You got two minutes before I let Mercy off his leash."

Pippen dug out his phone, clicked and typed before turning his phone around so we all could see a picture of a woman. She was pretty. Dark black hair, green eyes with creamy porcelain skin. Even from where I stood, I could see the resemblance to Arianwen.

She looked just like her mother.

"Her name is Iris Hughes. She was one of Barney's girls. One of his favorites. When she wasn't attending school at NYU, she was working for Konstantin Baranov, the former Russian Pakhan, to spy and keep tabs on George Stone."

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Montana sneered. "Please tell me she isn't some long-lost relative of Maxim's crew?"

Pippen shook his head. "She's not."

"Thank fuck."

However, when Pippen turned and looked at me, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as he gulped. "She's the half-sister to Crispin Sinclair."

Now it was Montana's turn, along with Payne, Fury and Vicious, to hold me back. "THE FUCK YOU SAY?"

Backing up against the wall, Pippen held up his hands. "I'm sorry, Malice. I just found out today. Silas told me. That's why Sin moved to the city. Not because he really wanted the Playground. He wants you back in the fold. He wants access to his niece. He thinks if he can get Silver, then you will fall in line."

"I'll fucking kill him!"

"Get in line," Montana growled. "No one is taking Silver away from us."

"Us?" I glared at the fucker. "Oh, so now there's an us?"

I watched as Bane took Pippen's phone and took a really good look at the picture. The man stared at it for the longest time and when he handed the phone back to Pippen, he admitted, "I don't remember her."

"That's because you spent your twenties drunk, dickhead. I'm surprised you remember your medical training!" Montana shouted. "Kid, I want a deep dive into that bitch and Crispin Sinclair. I want to know everything, and I want it fast. Get with Mercy. The both of you will work together. Leave no fucking stone unturned. If Silver is related to that shithead, I want it verified immediately. In the meantime, no one, and I fucking mean no one, will say shit to Silver. Girl's been through enough shit. Not going to pile anymore on. Malice, you and I are going to go talk to Silver."

"No," I growled.

"What the fuck do you mean, no?"

"Mine," I snarled, pushing the fucker off me.

"I don't give a flying fuck," Montana countered, getting right in my face. "You brought that motherfucker here to my goddamned city. You are responsible. Now, I don't know what fucking hold that son of a bitch has on you, but that brand on your motherfucking back means you are fucking mine. Silver is mine because I claimed her long before you did. So get the fuck over yourself. She's like a fucking daughter to me and you damn well know it."

"She's not your daughter."

"I know!" Montana roared, flinging his arm toward Bane. "But as of right now, she's Bane's until a DNA test says otherwise."

"WHOA!" Bane yelled, jumping into the fray. "You leave me out of this!"

"Then next time, wear a fucking condom," Storm deadpanned.

"Oh, that's cute coming from you, Storm," Bane snarked. "Remind us again how you fathered Harlow?"

"ENOUGH!" Montana roared.

"Malice, buddy," Payne carefully said, getting my attention. "Gonna need you to listen to me for a second. No one here is questioning your claim. Silver is your woman. We got it. She bears your mark. But this entire situation is a clusterfuck, and even you have to admit that. Bane, Sinclair, your other family, Popeye, the Russian Bratva, Barney's mystery bitch. You've got to help us out here, brother."

"You know," a female voice spoke up, grabbing all of our attention. There, leaning against the doorjamb, were Tessa and Largo, both shaking their heads. "If this is how you idiots get anything done around here, I'm shocked the clubhouse is still standing."

Montana groaned. "Tess, this is club business."

"Then you should have kept it in the boardroom. We thought you morons would like to know that Silver left the clubhouse a few minutes ago."

"I would have left too, if someone had grounded me to my bedroom," Largo snarked, looking right at me. "Seriously, Malice? She's not twelve."

"What do you mean, she left?" Montana asked.

"I mean, she walked out the front doors, jumped into a cab, and left."

Pushing past the women, I rushed to Arianwen's bedroom and flung open the door, only to find her room empty. Growling, I marched past my brothers toward the main room, and headed for the front doors, when Montana stepped up beside me.

Stopping, I looked at the fucker.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"To help you look for her."

"I don't need your help."

"Too fucking bad. I'm going."