Page 5 of Brutal Sinner
WELCOME TO HEAVEN
Stopping, I reach inside my leather jacket and my fingers close around the object I’m searching for and as I step off the bike, I head toward the sign and grin.
With one quick movement of my hand, I draw a black line through Heaven with permanent marker and write Hell in its place.
Yes, this place has always been hell to me and should be prosecuted for misleading the public. It has never been Heaven; it’s always been Hell and this time the devil is riding into town on a horse of steel to shatter some souls.
I take a quick pic of my handiwork and send it to the bastard who persuaded me to take this trip, and I grin when the text is returned with the words.
Then you’re in the right place, soldier.
I take a moment to appreciate the man who took me in. Ryder King. President of The Twisted Reaper MC and the man I would die to protect. A bad-assed ex-military assassin who left and formed the club we all live and die by.
We work for the government under the disguise of leather and devil intent and take out those who threaten our constitution. When the law fails, we step in, and I relish tossing the bad guys on the devil’s inferno in the afterlife.
When I left the military, I was sent straight there by my commanding officer. He told me they would have a home for me, and he was right. I live at the Rubicon and work for my brothers and there is nowhere else I would rather be. They gave me a freedom I’ve never had, and it’s a powerful drug for a man who has never experienced that. However, there is one thing from my past that I just can’t shake and it’s the reason why the woman I loved ran from me. She disappeared and no matter how hard I searched, she remained hidden and only when her best friend told me she had run from me did I stop looking.
It hurt. It destroyed, and it set me on my current path and I headed back to the military, where I vented my anger for the good of the country. I was out of control, which led to my commanding officer recommending a different kind of army and I never regretted the transition.
Now it’s time to head home for a visit and I wonder what they will think of the man I became.
If I know my parents, they will pray for my soul and with a slight chuckle, I step back on my bike and prepare myself for a homecoming that none of us will be celebrating.
CHAPTER3
FAITH
As soon as we are home, I turn on my parents angrily.
“I won’t do it.”
The fear in my mother’s eyes tells me I’ve pushed them too far and my father roars, “You will do what we tell you, girl!”
“Cyrus, no.”
Mom says quickly as he raises his hand to me and as he lowers it, he says icily, “You need a strong hand, girl, and I regret treating you so good. You threw it all back in our face when you—”
“Stop. Please.” Mom says with a sob, and I wonder why she’s bothering. Men don’t listen to the women in Heaven because it’s always been all about them.
He says with a warning in his voice, “Now go and pack. You’ve been given a second chance to redeem yourself in the eyes of the lord and Reverend Peters is a saint for taking you on.”
“A saint?” I make to argue, but the warning in my mom’s eyes freezes the words in an instant.
I won’t win this argument. Not with them. I never will because a child is owned by their parents in Heaven. They are made to do what they want and if you go against the code we live by you are an outcast. I should know, I’m one of them and my thoughts turn to the reason I’m in this mess in the first place.
“Where is she?”
My father steps in front of my mother and says with a sigh.
“It’s for your own good, Faith. Both of you.”
“Where is she?” I hiss and he yells, “Where you are going and be thankful he is taking you both on. You are lucky he is so generous.”
“Where is she!” I scream and mom says quickly, “With Reverend Peters.”
“How?”
“When we were at Church. It was arranged.”