Chapter 36
Brooke
There are tears in his eyes. I’ve never seen a single tear come close to Declan’s eyes, but there they are.
“What did you say?” I ask, shifting in the bed.
“A rosary. He gave you a rosary. He told you it would keep you safe.” His voice is low and strangled.
How did he know that? How could he have known? I never told anyone about that, not even Angel.
“How do you know that, Declan?”
His eyes fall on my hands. The rosary sits in my palm, my fingers gently caressing the cross like I’ve always done when I’m scared.
“I’m that boy, Brooke,” he says softly, his voice dancing with emotions.
“No. You weren’t,” I retort. There’s no way it was Dec.
I watch him swallow hard, sniffing back the tears before he says, “My dad was president at the time. He wanted me to join the club, prove myself loyal to them. I wanted that, too. It was my life. Your dad killed my mom, Brooke.”
I gasp at his words. I shake my head. My dad never had to kill anyone. He told me that himself.
“No! He said he never killed anyone, that he was lucky enough to never have to kill anyone!” I scream. That can’t be true. There’s no way that can be true. But when I look up and meet the tear-filled eyes of Declan, I know in my heart that it is.
“Why? Why would he kill her?” I ask, a sobbing mess. I feel like I’m coming apart at the seams.
“We were walkin’ home from the store one night. He saw the cut she had on. He knew who she was. Your dad was a dirty cop, Brooke. He killed her just for bein’ married to my dad. For bein’ a part of this club!” Declan roars as tears fall down his face. “I was doin’ what was right! An eye for an eye!” He screams louder.
The door cracks open, interrupting any further words from Declan. Mayhem step in, more somber than I’ve ever seen him.
“Blu needs you,” he says quietly to Dec.
I watch Declan wipe his eyes before turning to his brother. “Keep an eye on her.” He nods toward me.
“Go to hell, Declan! I hate you! I will never forgive you for what you did! Never!” I scream as hot tears fall down my cheeks.
Declan watches me as I fall apart in front of his eyes.
“I love you, butterfly. That doesn’t change.”
He turns and quickly walks out, leaving me to my mess of tears and a spinning head. Mayhem drops in the chair but doesn’t say a word. I don’t want him to. I don’t want to be here.
“I want to go home,” I say.
“Not happenin’,” Mayhem responds quickly.
“Why?” I look over at him, and he shrugs.
“Someone’s tryin’ to kill you. You’re safe here. We will protect you.” The words leave his mouth, but all I can think about is what Declan said.
“Who’s going to protect Declan?”
His eyebrows furrow as he looks at me. He leans closer to me before he asks, “Why would Declan need protection?”
“He killed my father. I’m going to kill him.” My voice is as strong as I’ve ever heard it. There is so much hatred inside of me. Hatred toward Declan for what he said. Hatred toward my dad for lying to me. Hatred toward everyone who knew and let me suffer all these years, wondering why my dad left us too soon.
“I don’t know what he did or didn’t do, but he loves you, darlin’. You won’t kill him,” Mayhem says with confidence.
“I won’t? Are you sure about that?”
Mayhem raises his eyebrows at me, pondering my statement. The words are ringing loud and clear in his head.
“You say he killed your dad?” he asks. I nod.
“Long time ago, wasn’t it?”
“I was seven,” I snap.
“He tell you why he did it?” Mayhem asks, eyeing me the whole time. He knows too, doesn’t he?
“Yeah. He said my dad was a dirty cop and that he killed his mom.” Mayhem nods his head before pulling his phone out of his pocket.
“Yo, Mystic. Need a favor, brother.” I hear him talking into the phone.
“Get me the information on an old file. Sheriff Charleston. Killed outside his home a few blocks down.”
“Yeah, that’d be the one. Send it up with Mouse to Declan’s room.”
Mayhem crosses his arms over his chest as he glares at me.
“My uncle was a piece of shit president. Even worse of a father. He put his son in more compromisin’ positions than I can count. Declan couldn’t get out of them - it’s the club’s way of life. You think he wanted to kill your dad? You are dead fuckin’ wrong. He may have felt that urge because of what your dad did to his mom, but I promise you that was a forced kill. Declan knew his place from day one. He was raised here.” A knock on the door stops him from talking.
“Open it!” he hollers over his shoulder. Mouse walks in with a thick file in his hand.
“Here you go, Mayhem.” He grabs the file and nods toward Mouse. Mayhem stands up and tosses the file on my lap.
“Look at it. Your dad was as dirty as they come. He wasn’t in our pocket darlin’, but he was in someone’s. Take a look for yourself before you shovel shit at Dec,” he snaps. He turns away from me and walks to the corner. He presses his hands against the wall and lets his head fall forward.
“Why are you doing this?” I whisper.
He doesn’t turn to look at me, but he says, “‘Cause Dec isn’t just my cousin. He’s my brother by every meanin’ of the word. He’s my family. I’ve never seen the motherfucker as happy as I have since you been around. You want to ruin him? You need all the fuckin’ information before you can pass that kind of judgement. Once you have it all, you can decide if that’s really the way you want to handle this.”