Twenty-Six

Malice

It had been three days since the accident, and Bane still refused to release me or Arianwen. I got he was being overly cautious with her, considering she'd miscarried, but there was nothing fucking wrong with me.

I wanted out of this place.

Like yesterday.

As it was, Montana ordered Payne to babysit me, which only pissed me off further. To make matters worse, the very next morning, someone delivered a package to the clubhouse. A dollhouse. An exact replica of the house my mother lived in. Whoever ran me and Arianwen off the road wasn't fucking around, and they knew exactly where my mother lived.

With no choice, Montana ordered me to tell him where she was, so he could bring her in. The second her location was out of my mouth, Rage and Torment hopped on a flight.

They were due back sometime today.

"Put out the word to all our clubs. Popeye is now a wanted man," Montana said, sighing while he looked at me. "Do you have any idea who this Gray Greer person is?"

"No."

"Well, I've got Pippen on it. Told him to stop everything. The faster we know who this person is, the quicker we will know who ran you and Silver off the road. The police are still calling it a weather-related accident."

"What about the club files?"

Montana groaned. "For right now, they are on the back burner. Don't have time to jump down that rabbit hole when someone out there has a hard-on for my enforcer. Those fucks singled you out and I want to know why."

"Could have something to do with the Trick Pony."

"Reached out to Law. He said nothing looked out of the ordinary. He's got Ace going through all the club's patrons. It's a lot, brother. How that fucker stayed under the radar as long as he did, I will never know. Right now, everyone associated with that place is running or hiding under a rock. I don't envy Harbor Security right now."

"You can't kill Popeye. You know that, right?"

Montana nodded. "I know. Fucker is a goldmine of information right now. Besides Snoopy, who is as oblivious as Happy, seems to be the only one who knew exactly what my dad was into. If he comes clean, I won't kill him."

"And if he doesn't?"

"I'll rip his brand off with my bare hands. I don't have the luxury of being pragmatic about this. The club has skeletons coming out of the closet fast, Malice. I need to know what's coming," he admitted as my room door opened. Moving slowly, Arianwen shuffled toward me. She looked tired and from the grimace on her face, she was hurting.

"Scoot over," she mumbled.

Doing as she asked, she lifted the covers and slid into the bed next to me. Holding her close, I said nothing as she laid her head on my chest and sighed.

"Sweetheart, you should be in your own bed."

I growled and she snarked, "Shut up, Montana. You find those asshats that ran us off the road, yet?"

"Got everyone looking for them."

"Look faster," she sneered, snuggling closer as I smirked.

My woman was bloodthirsty.

I liked that.

"They took my blood."

"What?" Montana and I said at once.

"Don't know why everyone wants my blood, but when I was laying there on the ground, some fucker dressed in black leather took my blood. He was real careful about it too. Told me everything was going to be okay."

"Did you get a good look at him?"

"Nope. Wearing a helmet like the others." She yawned. "Can we go home? I hate it here."

Holding her close, I looked at Montana, who nodded. "I'll go light a fire under Bane's ass. I'll be right back."

She was quiet.

Arianwen really hadn't said anything since she walked into my room and climbed into bed with me. Not even when Bane released us and said we could go home.

Once again, I found it hard to decipher what she was thinking. Her face was devoid of any emotions. So I simply stepped back and watched her like I always did. Instead of resting at the penthouse, she wanted to sleep at the clubhouse. Why, she didn't say. Only that was where she wanted to go. The moment we arrived at the clubhouse, she parked her ass behind the bar and sat. No one said anything, giving her all the time she needed.

I thought for sure when Sin showed up at the clubhouse later that day, she would have at least acknowledged him, but like everyone else, she ignored him. Instead, she sat behind her bar, reading a book.

There was a low, underlying ominous feeling to the clubhouse. I could tell I wasn't the only one sensing it. Montana stayed holed up in his office with the door closed, making calls and doing whatever it was he did. Mercy enlisted Storm's help to make sense of all the ghost files. Pippen was like a madman while he scoured the internet looking for the mysterious Gray Greer. Fury and Vicious picked up the slack wherever they could, but with their brood of girls to care for, they couldn't leave Linsey to fight that battle alone. As for Tessa and Largo, well, they took Sophia and York and hightailed it to Delany, needing a break from all the drama.

I didn't blame them.

Bane was still hell-bent on finding out anything about Iris and why George had linked her to him. I wanted to tell him it didn't matter. That George was just a sick son of a bitch and probably did it to throw us off the scent, but Bane was in no mood to listen to reason.

Everything just felt off.

Sitting in my favorite spot in the main room, I had a clear view of the entire space, including Arianwen, when the front doors opened and in walked Rage, followed by my mother and Torment.

Quickly getting to my feet, I noticed Amelia didn't look happy. I didn't blame her. I promised her a life away from all this crap and now she was smack dab in the thick of it. I hated this for her. I really did, but I refused to let anything happen to her.

Placing her bags near the door, I nodded to Rage as he walked over to the bar and asked Arianwen for a beer.

"Gideon," Amelia acknowledged as she looked around the room, getting right to the point. "Why am I here?"

"Someone found out where you live."

"Who?"

"I don't know that yet."

"Ivy?"

"Montana called Luc. He's got Ivy taken care of," I confirmed. Amelia frowned at Torment while he smirked and walked over to the bar.

"He talks too much."

"I know. It's annoying."

"That her?" Amelia asked, looking toward the bar.

"Yes."

"I want to meet her."

Nodding, I stepped to the side and allowed my mother to pass. Amelia Scott was a small, petite woman. I towered over her by several inches. Yet she had a backbone made of steel. She'd endured a lifetime of hell and survived it and only asked to live the rest of her life in peace. It was the one and only thing she'd ever asked of me. If it was the last thing I ever did, I was going to keep that promise to her.

Leaning against the bar, I said, "Arianwen?"

Turning toward me, my woman showed no emotion. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, yet she answered, "Yes."

"I'd like you to meet Amelia Scott."

"Hello," she greeted blandly. "Welcome to the Soulless Sinners clubhouse. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you." My mother frowned, looking up at me, before she turned and walked away toward one of the tables.

Following, I held out a chair for her to sit.

Taking the one next to her, Amelia looked at the bar and whispered, "What happened to her, Gideon?"

"We were in a motorcycle accident three days ago. Arianwen was pregnant. She lost the baby."

My mother closed her eyes and sighed. "It was God's will."

"Not so sure about that. Had I known, I wouldn't have had her on my bike. I was being reckless and took stupid chances."

"Everything happens for a reason."

"That's what Father Dominic used to tell me. Now, I'm not so sure."

"Why?"

"Because everything's changed."

"Change is inevitable."

Arianwen walked over, placing two glasses on the table, along with two unopened cans of Sprite, before walking away.

"She's struggling. I don't know how to help her."

"You can't."

"Amelia, does the name Gray Greer mean anything to you?"

"Should it?"

Shaking my head, I muttered, "No."

"Then why ask?"

"Because—"

"Amelia?"

Turning, I found Snoopy, one of the Retirement Rejects, staring right at my mother. Getting to my feet, I stepped in front of her as he approached.

"How do you know her?" I growled.

Looking around, Snoopy sidestepped me, choosing to sit at the table. "Amelia, what are you doing here?"

My mother didn't look upset or surprised to see him. In fact, she looked like she knew him and when she lightly patted his hand, I knew there was something she hadn't told me.

Looking up at me, she simply said, "I am here at Gideon's request."

Curious, Torment and Rage walked over to stand next to me.

"You shouldn't be here, Amelia."

"Not gonna ask you again, Snoopy. How the fuck do you know my mother?"

"Mother?" Snoopy's head whipped to mine as his face paled right before he jumped to his feet and started ranting. "Oh God. That low down piece of shit. I should have fucking known he wouldn't keep his fucking word. If he wasn't already dead, I'd kill him with my bare hands!"

Grabbing the Reject by his cut, I snarled, "Speak!"

Snoopy gulped, then looked at Amelia.

"Let him go, Gideon."

"Not until he tells me how he knows you."

"He can't do that."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because of who I'm related to."

"Who are you related to, Ms. Scott?" Torment asked.

My mother looked at me and said, "Matthew James. The former President of the Satan's Angels."

"Oh shit," Rage cursed, rubbing the back of his neck as Torment frowned. "Steele is dead."

"Is he? Jack took over as president of the club. Until your southern clubs had him arrested. Jack is now in prison for the next five years."

"How are you related to them, Amelia?" I clipped, not really wanting to hear the answer.

My mother simply said, "Steele is my half-brother."

This wasn't happening.