Burned (Devil's Blaze MC #3)(6)

“But you did. Show up, I mean.” I watch as my brother’s back stiffens. Skull is on a thin line and I know that Colin is pushing it.

“Because I had to wonder what you could possibly think I’d want to meet with you about.”

“My grandfather died. Well, he was murdered, really.”

“Did you do it?”

“No. That’s suicide in the family. There are a few men off-limits in power plays, and my grandfather, he is one. You cannot gain control and respect of the family by taking out the man who is responsible for everything.”

“You’re saying you f*ckers have some morals, even if it is just twisted? Of course this doesn’t surprise me, considering you’re the same f*ck who wanted to stick his dick into his own sister.”

“Stepsister,” Colin growls, finally showing signs of losing control, his pale skin going pink.

“Tomato, toe-mat-toe,” Skull says, then gives us boys the signal to mount up.

“You disappoint me, Skull. I thought you would at least be interested in knowing who killed my beloved grandfather.”

“I figure I already know.”

“Is that a fact?”

“Whoever you could manage to pay since your purse strings have been clipped. Torch,” he says, facing me, “let’s get going. The air here is starting to bother me.”

“Sure thing, boss.” I’m more than happy to get the f*ck out of here myself.

“Colin, in case the message hasn’t gotten to you yet, if you step foot into the state of Kentucky, let alone my territory—and that means you and your flunkies, the Chrome Saints—I will call Romanov and he will end all of you. Tempt me to call, Colin. I’d almost plead with you to give me one f*cking reason to make sure you stop polluting the air I breathe,” Skull warns Colin in a deadly voice.

We all make it to the door before Colin decides to drop the real reason the f*cker is here.

“You’re rather boring with your threats, and so predictable. My brother Matthew said you wouldn’t care anymore. I thought he was wrong.”

“I didn’t even know your grandfather other than to know the *’s seed had to have poison in it to have the offspring it did. So no, Colin. I do not give a f*ck that your grandfather bit the dust.”

“You might change your tune if you knew that he died at the hands of someone you know. Someone you know very well. Someone you might even want revenge on.”

Skull holds his head down and pinches the bridge of his nose. I can literally feel the tension that comes off of him.

“Say whatever the f*cking hell you have to say Colin, because it’s obvious that’s all this meeting is about. So just spit it out so I can get the f*ck out of here.”

“I thought you’d like to see your ex-girlfriend again after all these years,” Colin says.

I think every breath in my body freezes. What the f*ck is going on? If it’s sending this amount of shock through me, what in the hell could it be doing to Skull? Nothing shows in his face except anger. You not only see it in his face, you can literally feel that f*cking shit.

“What the f*ck are you going on about?” Skull asks, his voice so low and deadly you have to strain to hear it.

That’s when Colin shoves a folder at him that had been lying on the table where he sits.

“I came here only to give you a gift,” he says. “Open it. You’ll see how giving I am.”

Skull opens the folder. I’m looking over his shoulder, and my stomach drops to my f*cking feet when I see what’s inside. It’s a picture of Beth and another girl standing at a flower stand. She has a baby in a pink outfit on her hip—a baby with dark black hair with small curls. The baby is smiling while Beth kisses the side of the child’s face.

Fuck.

“Where did you get this?”

“My men took it. This was the last known sighting of Beth and her sister Katie.”

“Where? When? What are you trying to prove here?” Skull growls.

“Ironically enough, Tennessee. Just a month ago.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you that the woman you’ve been grieving—the woman you thought you killed—has been alive all this time, and hiding.”

“You’re f*cking lying!” Skull yells, his body jerking in fury.

“Am I? Then ask yourself, Skull, why does that child she’s holding look so much like you?”

“You’re f*cking lying!” he screams again.

I see the pain my brother is going through, but all I can do is think back to the phone call I got almost two years ago when I put a drunk and unconscious Skull to bed in his room. Fuck.

“After you work it out in your mind, Skull, you might ask yourself two important questions.”

“You son of a bitch.”

“First, ask yourself why she let you think she was dead this entire time.”

“You. Son. Of. A. Bitch.”

“Then ask yourself if you can find her before the Saints do, because if I find her first, she’s going to die.”

“You—”

“She’ll have to. The family wants the blood of her and her sister. I only came to warn you because I wanted to see that look on your face.”