Page 79 of Mischief Mayhem
“She’d be proud of you, ya know,” came a voice from behind me. I startled and turned to see Selene holding hands with Ru. They must have followed me here after things ended at the memorial. “And she wouldn’t blame you for any of this.”
“I could have done something,” I said, pushing to my feet. “Instead, I just watched while she killed them.”
Ru’s features cracked, and she rushed forward to wrap her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug while I sobbed.
“We were all there that day,” Ru said, rubbing my back. “It’s okay.”
“We all could have done something,” Selene said, shaking her head while she stared down at the headstone. “You know my parents are over there.” She nodded to the right where another Montgomery headstone stood out against the gloomy winter morning. “I was the reason they were in Annapolis that day.”
She’d told me that before, but I’d never believed Selene had been responsible for their deaths. It had been the Caputis that bombed the car containing our parents.
“I blamed myself for so long,” Selene said, making me wince.
“Sel—” I started.
But Selene took a deep breath and straightened to look at me. “Horrible things happen, V, especially in this life we’ve chosen to live. We can’t control those things, only how we react to them.”
“You’re too smart for your own good.” I rubbed at my scar again, grimacing as the pain radiated down my stomach and up my neck.
“We share this burden with you,” Selene added, grabbing my other hand. “When we get through it together, we’ll share the victory with you, too.”
Ever since I was a kid, I had cherished the friendship of these two women. I had run away after high school, hoping to escape this life, but now that I’d returned, I couldn’t imagine it without them. We were the women of the Steel Roses, and we were indomitable. Our strength came from our empathy. We were the heartbeat of this family, and we fucking knew it.
Together, we would find Gabriella Caputi. We would dismantle her empire from the inside out, just like my father had wanted us to do, and we would make sure she suffered for what she’d taken from us. Until then, we would support each other and hold each other up.
That was what separated us from the Caputis. They relied on blood, on outdated ideas about what made a real family. But we were loyal to the ones who’d proved themselves, and as long as we still had that, we would make it through this hell together.
“The Hell’s Knights won’t stop coming for us,” Dad said. “The motherfucker I killed was a snitch piece of shit, but he had three brothers I’m aware of. Crank won’t be the last.”
“My camming days are done.” I winced as I said it, but it was true. Yeah, I was good at what I did and I made decent money, but in the days since I’d been sold to the Hell’s Knights, only to be rescued by my lover and my brothers, the Beacon had reopened. I had my general manager spot back, not to mention the shows Hollywood and I could put on during the weekends. I figured going straight edge would make things a lot easier on me and my family, at least when it came to vetting the people in my life.
“Bear tells me you’re seeing Hollywood,” Dad said from behind the double-paned glass. He looked even worse than the last time I saw him. Big, dark bags hung under his eyes, more pronounced in the month he’d been behind bars, and he’d cut his hair short, damn near a buzz cut compared to the chest-length waves I’d grown used to. I’d tried to get here sooner than this, but the Feds wouldn’t allow anyone except for his lawyer to visit.
“I am,” I said, clearing my throat as I adjusted myself in the seat. “Is that a problem?”
Dad shook his head and sighed. “No, I guess I shoulda seen that coming.”
“What?” I narrowed my eyes, scrunching my nose at his nonchalance. “Where’s all that male bravado? No one touches my daughter!”
He smiled at my horrible impression of him. “I taught you better than that. If he made it past you and your brothers, I figure he’s sticking around.”
It had been almost twelve weeks since we’d started dating, and I didn’t see any end in sight for this beautiful relationship that had sparked between us.
“I think I’m going to marry him one day,” I said. “For real . . . not like whatever’s going on with Bear and that Caputi bit?—”
“Hey,” Dad cut in. “Your brother’s doing what he needs to do for the club.”
My cheeks burned, but I gave him a firm nod.
“Besides, don’t talk about any of that shit here,” he said. “They’re recording me. They’re always recording me, waiting for me to screw up so they can use it against me.”
I let out a sigh. “Detective Jordan’s still up your ass, huh?”
Dad nodded and gave me a look that said I needed to keep my wits about me. “She’s up yours, too. So watch out. She’s relentless. If she wasn’t trying to keep me in here for the rest of my life, I might admire the poisonous cunt.”
“I tried to get Castor and Pollux to come with me,” I said. “But they’ve been busy trying to find the bitch who killed our family.”
“Listen to me, V,” Dad said, leaning in closer and holding the telephone tighter to his head. “Things are about to get real sticky for Bear and the Roses. You need to be there for him, understand? You need to help him through this and make sure he keeps his head on straight. You know what I mean?”