Chapter Seven

Montana

Leaning against the doorjamb, I observed the gentle rise and fall of her breathing while she slept.

After Bane took a good look at her, I didn't give her a choice and demanded she return to the clubhouse, where we could all protect her better. With Malice still at large, I refused to take any more chances where she was concerned. Until the fucker came to me and explained what the fuck happened, I was not letting him anywhere near her again.

Even after all this time, all I saw was the scared sixteen-year-old girl, her eyes filled with vulnerability, who'd wormed her way into my heart. My sole desire was to shield her from any harm. I knew she had it rough and over the years, I didn't need her to tell me how rough it actually got. My imagination worked just fine. However, when she told me herself, with Malice's help last year, I realized my imagination had nothing on the truth itself.

After that day, I vowed no one would ever hurt her again.

I never expected my brother to be the one who shattered my trust and proved me wrong. I saw the way he looked at her, his gaze lingering on her with a mix of admiration and affection, but he never gave me pause to worry. He was the one who saved her all those years ago. He was like a shield, always by her side, ready to defend her whenever anyone dared to look at her funny or make a snide comment. Throughout the years, I learned to place my complete trust in Malice when it came to the well-being of Silver. Knowing he had previously saved her made me confident that he would do it again without hesitation. What I didn't anticipate was his betrayal. He had gone against my direct order and covertly laid claim to her without my knowledge.

That was something I couldn't forgive.

The second... was what he'd done to her.

I didn't give a fuck if something had triggered him. I didn't give a shit if he wasn't in his right mind.

He fucking knew better.

Feeling her arms wrap around my stomach, I sighed. "I should have brought her home with me."

"She wouldn't have gone."

"How do you know that?"

"Because even though Silver thinks of you as a father substitute, she prefers her independence. She loved that you trusted her enough with the clubhouse when you were gone. There was no one else in the clubhouse that you trusted more than her. We all know that. With her, she is the exception to every rule."

Blinking, I ignored my watery eyes and whispered, "He hurt her, Tess. He hurt my little girl. I can't let that go."

Walking around me, my woman frowned. Reaching up, she wiped away a lone tear. "I know. I'm having a hard time with it too. All we can do is follow her lead. Be there for her. No matter what she decides, we support her."

"I don't know why this is so hard for me. All I want to do is find the fucker and put a bullet in his brain. I want to take her away from this place, somewhere safe, where she will never have to feel pain again. She is too good for this life. Better than me. Better than all of us."

Tessa shook her head. "Guess it's a good thing we had a son. I'd hate to see how you'd feel with a daughter."

"Bite your tongue, woman. Boys. I can handle boys. Girls are a no go. Nope. I am barely keeping it together regarding Silver."

"Well," Tessa sighed, turning to look at Silver, "I was going to wait and tell you later, but I might as well prepare you now. I'm pregnant again."

"What?"

Tessa smirked, shrugging her shoulders. "Surprise?"

As I looked around the boardroom, the sound of my fingers drumming on the table filled the air.

It was a first.

Generally, someone was yelling, mainly me, about one thing or another. Only this time, no one said shit.

Not even me.

What was there to say?

I guess it was safe to say we were all in some variation of shock.

Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"Gonna smoke if no one has a problem with it."

"Give me one," Bane clearly said, holding out his hand.

Handing him one, I muttered, "Thought you quit?"

"I did," the man replied, placing the cigarette between his lips before digging in his pant pocket, retrieving a lighter, then lighting the cigarette. Taking a deep drag, Bane hung his head back and let out the smoke, sighing. "Fuck, that never tasted better."

Lighting my smoke, I threw my pack on the table in case anyone else wanted one.

"Before we discuss the elephant in the room, is there anything else we need to know about? Anything going on that needs our attention?"

"No," Mercy clipped, shaking his head.

"Full disclosure," Fury spoke as he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. "I received an email early this morning. I thought nothing of it until I saw Silver. Malice signed everything over to her, and I mean everything."

"He's still protecting her," Torment muttered. "That stupid motherfucker."

"Like you, he swore me to secrecy. Attorney client privilege. I couldn't speak even if I wanted to, but now that the cat is out of the bag, I am under no such obligation. With the swipe of a pen, Malice just made Silver a very rich woman. She owns everything. The Foundation, his bank accounts, everything."

"If he's divesting everything, he's not coming back," Storm added.

"We need to find him," Payne spoke up. "Not going to leave my brother out there hanging in the fucking wind."

Putting out my cigarette, I asked, "Does anyone have any idea where he might go?"

"Ivy?" Vicious muttered.

Shaking my head, I replied, "Not likely. After the shit that went down there, he wouldn't want to upset her anymore."

"His mom?" Torment added.

"Does anyone know where he stashed his mom?" I asked, looking around the table as my brothers all shook their heads.

This entire situation was a clusterfuck.

"Hate to pile on to this shit show, but we have a bigger problem now. Unless I am mistaken, and correct me if I'm wrong, Fury, but club rules state that a sitting board member must be able to maintain club dues and charitable donations while continuing to build his wealth. If Malice signed everything over to Silver, then that means he's broke. Not a fucking dime to his name."

Storm quickly pulled out his phone, typing fast. "Oh shit. Mercy is right. I'm looking at Malice's accounts right now and there is nothing there. Balance is zero. He transferred everything into Silver's account. Malice is broke."

"Then transfer it back!" I shouted.

"I can't. Silver has to be the one to do it. She will need to sign for the transfer."

"How the fuck did he do this with none of you knowing until after the fact?" I fumed.

Fury looked at Storm, who sighed. "Fuck."

Getting to his feet, Storm walked over to the door, opened it, and yelled, "PIPPEN! Get your ass in here!"

Moments later, the young intern walked in.

Storm pointed to a seat and ordered, "Sit the fuck down and tell me what the hell you did."

"Uh... what do you mean, Storm?"

"Kid, I'm not in the fucking mood. As your sponsor, I demand you tell me what the fuck you did."

"Still gonna need more than that, Storm. I do a lot of things for the club. Can you be more specific?"

Slamming my hand down on the table, the kid jumped as I shouted, "Malice! What the fuck did you do for Malice?"

Pippen gulped, shrinking into his seat. "Malice came to see me this morning. Woke me up. Told me he needed me to type up some legal document signing everything he owned over to Silver. When he signed it, he had me email it to Fury. Then he told me to break into Storm's servers at Calloway Investments and transfer all his investments into Silver's account. I was going to refuse, but he's a sitting board member. Plus, the gun he held to my head got rid of any worries I had about breaking club rules."

"What time was this?" Torment asked the kid.

"Around seven in the morning."

"Shit," Torment cursed. "He showed up at the office around nine, giving him plenty of time."

"Only takes forty-five minutes from the clubhouse to your office. That leaves an hour and fifteen where he roamed free. Where else could he have gone?" Vicious asked.

"St. Agatha's?" Payne offered. "Maybe to say goodbye to Gladys?"

"Call and see if he stopped by there," I demanded as Payne reached for his cell phone. "So, after visiting you, Torment, you both returned to Davenport Tower. What time was that?"

"Maybe ten o'clock. But he wasn't there for long. Like I said, the second I saw Silver, I told him to fucking leave."

Looking at my watch, I groaned. "So, he's got a good five-hour head start. That means if he fucking hopped on a plane, he could be across the country by now. Fuck!"

"Gladys said he stopped by this morning. Said goodbye and then left," Payne informed us, placing his phone back on the table. "I'm telling you, he won't go far. He won't leave her helpless. He's in the city somewhere. All we need to do is find him."

"It's a big ass city, Payne. Where the fuck do you suggest we look?" I sneered.

"My guess. Every dark and depraved hovel we can find."