Chapter Seventeen

Storm

Twirling the gold band on my finger, I leaned back against the seat and watched the city I loved pass me by. Never in my life did I ever think I would be in this position. For years, I'd devoted my life to the Soulless Sinners, always doing anything that would only benefit the club and my brothers. I followed every rule.

For the first time since I became a branded brother, I was going to walk into that boardroom and not know what the outcome was going to be. While I had some of my brothers on my side, I didn't have them all. Happy and Shame still didn't know all the facts.

And then there was Montana, the president of the Soulless Sinners. The man himself was a wild card. No one could guess what he would do. His temper was legendary, his bite worse. However, I would rather take on a hundred Montanas than knowingly go up against Reaper. But no matter how I spun it, the fact was I just branded and married a Golden Legacy without the permission of the Golden Skulls' president.

That in itself was a death sentence.

But when Reaper found out that my club knowingly worked with the Society to help bring down and destroy the Golden Skulls, then subsequently killed a direct descendant of the Original Seven, yeah... I wasn't expecting to live much longer.

"Stop worrying," Mercy said, sitting next to me as the car pulled into the compound. The bikes following us pulled up and parked. "Let's just get through tonight. We'll worry about the other shit later."

"Easy for you to say. You didn't defy Montana or just marry a Golden Legacy without a club president's permission."

Mercy chuckled, shaking his head as he reached for the door and opened it. "Nope. No, I did not. Gotta say, brother, always knew you were gonna be fun. Just didn't know how much fun until now."

"Glad I can amuse you," I deadpanned as I stepped out of the car.

Sitting in my seat in the boardroom, I ignored the glares from the fucker sitting at the head of the table. I knew it was only a matter of minutes before Montana blew his fucking top. He wasn't happy unless he was yelling and screaming at someone.

Yet, I had to give him props.

He was keeping a tight lid on it. He wanted to make damn sure everyone was present before he chewed my ass a new one.

"Where the fuck is Malice?" Montana growled, his eyes glued to me. I refused to say anything, letting Mercy take the lead on this one.

I was only here to secure my woman's place in this club.

The rest of the show was all Mercy.

Mercy leaned back in his seat, looking at this phone and responded, "Fucker had to stop and see Father Dominic. He said he would be here."

"He tell you where the fuck he was?"

"Nope, and I didn't ask."

"Why the hell not?"

Mercy sighed, putting his phone down before looking at Montana. "Contrary to your belief, Montana, my life doesn't revolve around your wants and needs. Now, chill the fuck out. Brother said he'd be here, then he will be here."

No sooner had Mercy said the words, the moody brother walked in eating an apple, as if everything was right in his world.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Montana roared.

Malice shrugged his shoulders, took another bite of his apple and said nothing, like that alone was an answer.

Payne smirked, shaking his head.

"Can we make this quick?" Shame asked, leaning forward. "I have a date tonight."

Ignoring the brother, Montana looked directly at me and asked, "Where the fuck is that bitch?"

Taking a deep breath, I calmly replied, "My wife is at home with our daughter."

"And I'm canceling," Shame muttered reaching for his phone.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Montana seethed.

"Delany and I were married today."

"THE FUCK!"

And that was all it took for Montana to lose his shit.

"Brother, tell me you didn't," Happy asked while Montana threw his chair across the room, ranting and raving like a lunatic.

"I did," I admitted. "Would you like to see the paperwork? Or my brand on her back as evidence?"

Happy shook his head. "Do you know what you've done?"

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't!" Montana roared, slamming his hands on the table. "That bitch's father is a fucking traitor. He killed five 9/11 families. You, of all people, should know the repercussions of what her father did. It's bad enough his face is all over the fucking papers, but when the media learns you married the arsonist's daughter, they are going to eat us alive. No one will do business with us again!"

And that's when I knew Montana knew nothing about anything else. My president was clear of suspicion.

Looking at Shame, I shook my head. "Let me guess, you haven't learned the truth yet, have you?"

"What truth?" My brother's head snapped to mine.

"The truth about what happened? What is really going on here?"

Shame frowned, looking from Montana back to me. "What am I missing here?"

Mercy reached over and grabbed a file from his briefcase before sliding it down the table to Shame. "Gonna need to hire better investigators, brother, because we had no problem finding out the truth."

Shame wasted no time opening the file and reading the contents. I watched when he got to the good stuff and his body stiffened. I knew he just read who was behind all this and what was at stake. It didn't take a genius to know Shame would stand beside me.

Now all I had to do was convince Montana.

"What the fuck is going on?" the angry bastard shouted.

"Sit down, Montana. You will not like what you are about to hear," Mercy said firmly, and for the next several minutes Montana sat and listened to everything Mercy had to say regarding David Campbell, his time as a firefighter, and his subsequent death at the hands of our club, including the revelation about his own father's involvement.

"My dad did all that?" he asked, astonishment lacing his tone.

"Yeah, brother. He did."

"But why? Why go after a firefighter? What purpose did that serve?"

"Storm, do you want to tell him?" Mercy offered, looking at me.

Nodding, I sat up and told him the rest. For the next hour, Montana sat and listened to everything I learned, and when I finished, Montana ordered, "Get that motherfucker and bring him in here."

Malice quietly got up and left the room.

"SHIT!" Montana yelled, turning to Happy. "Tell me you didn't know about any of this."

The big man slowly shook his head. "I didn't. George rarely confided in me once he found out about me and your mother. Like I said before, he only kept me around to watch over me and blackmail your mother."

"Payne, round up the Retirement Rejects. I want to speak with them. Now!"

Moments later, George Stone sauntered into the boardroom like nothing was wrong. The fucking bastard looked like shit, but I didn't care. Taking a seat, Malice stood behind him and glared, daring the old fuck to do something.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!"

"Gotta be more specific than that, boy." George smiled. "I've done a lot of stuff in my time on this earth."

"Mercy, give me your gun," Montana ordered. "I'm gonna cap his ass now."

"Can't do that, Prez," Mercy sneered at George Stone as the fat man looked smugly at his son.

"Malice, kill him!" Montana ordered, as Malice grinned happily.

"Malice, you move, I will take your brand!" Mercy shouted back, halting the moody fucker, before turning to Montana. "Boss, think. You kill him, we know nothing. As much as I hate it, we need the fucker alive."

"What's the matter, Son? Getting too hot in the seat?"

"Give me a reason not to kill you, old man, because I'm real fucking close to putting a bullet in your head."

Ignoring the irate Montana, I turned and faced George. "Tell me why you had David Campbell killed."

The former president of the Soulless Sinners leaned back in his chair and smirked. "So that's what this is about. You finally found out, huh?"

"Do you know what the fuck you've done, Dad?" Montana growled. "If the truth ever comes out, it will destroy everything. The club your father—my grandfather—started, will be no more."

"Ain't nothing gonna happen to this club. Ensured that, boy."

Glaring, Montana stiffened. "What the fuck does that mean, Dad? What did you do?"

"Made sure the club was protected."

"How?"

"Satan's Angels. Anyone comes after the club, all you gotta do is call them. They will come."

"Holy fuck." Mercy groaned, hanging his head as Montana shot to his feet and shouted, "Satan's Angels! The same club I just ordered our southern clubs to eradicate! That fucking club?"

George blanched, then threw his head back and laughed.

Montana lunged for his father, wrapping his hands around the old man's neck, trying to strangle him. Vicious and I jumped up to get Montana off his father as Malice stepped back, smiling, refusing to lend a hand.

"He's not worth it, Montana. Now that we know, we can work to fix everything. I need you to help me fix it, brother."

"I can't fix this!" Montana shouted, pushing me off him. "Don't you see? There is nothing I can do or say that will fix this. He put this club on a war footing. All our alliances will take sides, and when they learn what this motherfucker did, they won't be standing with us."

"We still have options, brother," Mercy carefully stated.

It was late by the time I walked back into the penthouse on 5 th .

Until the club settled the matter with Delany and Harlow and I knew they were safe, my family was staying put. I'd given Delany my word that nothing would happen to her, and I aimed to keep it.

No matter what.

The penthouse was dark when I exited the elevator. Silent as the night, I made my way to Harlow's room. I needed to see something good in this world, and every time I looked at my daughter, just seeing her made me feel better.

The second Payne returned with the Retirement Rejects, Montana ordered Malice to escort all of them to the mailroom. Happy included, until he could think of what to do next. Until he had a plan, he'd make damn sure they knew they weren't going anywhere.

As it was, everything was still up in the air.

Walking into my daughter's room, I stopped dead in my tracks, seeing who was sitting next to her bed.

"You have a beautiful daughter, Storm."

"Thank you," I replied, walking into the room and quietly closing the door, never taking my eyes off the Russian Bratva kingpin, Maxim Fedorov. "What are you doing here, Maxim?"

"Heard you needed to speak to me."

"Who told you?"

Maxim Fedorov faced me and smiled. "What do you need?"

I should have known the man wouldn't tell me.

Sighing, I walked closer. "I need to find Remi. The only one who possibly knows where she's at is Vladmir. I need him to get in touch with Remi and schedule a meeting."

"Why?"

"Because Remi is the only one who can stop Reaper from killing me."

"And what could you have possibly done to warrant Reaper's justice?"

"I married a Golden Legacy today without his permission."

Maxim whistle, getting to his feet.

Buttoning his jacket, the man stated, "Reaper is many things, but forgiving isn't one of them. You know that, right?"

"I do. That's why I need to speak with Remi. If she can help me sway Reaper, I might live to see my first anniversary."

"Remi wants nothing to do with Reaper right now. What makes you think she will help you?"

"I don't. I'm grasping at straws here, Maxim. I'll make a deal with the fucking Devil myself if it keeps my family together."

"You mean if it keeps you alive, because Reaper will not think twice before killing to protect the Golden Legacy. Both of them."

"Yes. Fine. I admit it. I want to live and see my daughter grow up."

"Remi is the daughter of my best friend. My goddaughter. I was the first to hold her when she took her first breath. We're linked by blood. If it comes down to it, I will side with my family. So, tell me, Storm, what is stopping me from taking the both of them away from you right now?"

Glaring at the fucker, I sneered, "You are not taking my wife and daughter away from me without a fight."

"Careful, Storm. It almost sounds as if you care for them."

"I do care."

Shaking his head, Maxim walked toward the door. Stopping next to me, he leaned close and whispered, "If you want Reaper to believe that bullshit, you better work on it."