Page 79 of Retaliation

“I’m not sure I follow,” Skel said, leaning his forearms on his knees.

“I’ve been seeing someone,” she explained, suddenly self-conscious.

“The cop outside?” he exclaimed, but she stopped him with a raised hand.

“No, not the cop. I only met him tonight.”

“How does he fit into all of this?” he asked with knotted eyebrows.

“I’m getting to that,” she answered. “So the guy I’ve been seeing is Scorpion, leader of the Dune Demons.”

“How did I not know about this?” he demanded.

A sad smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She knew Skel’s most lethal weapon was his information. He knew everyone, and everything and was her eyes and ears in the underworld.

“It was still very new,” she shrugged.

“So you broke his heart, and he broke your territory?”

“Something like that,” She drew from her cigarette again, blowing out clouds of smoke. “I killed his brother,” she stated. There was no reason to beat around it.

“Tidal? P, that wasn’t you,” he blurted, his control slipping.

“No, not him. His name was Double R.”

Poison explained everything to Skel. From meeting Scorpion, to Reaper showing up everywhere she was, to meeting Gavin and everything in between. Once she was done, the bottle of liquor was nearly empty, and Skel was quiet.

“Say something,” she almost begged. “I know I’ve done the crew and our territory a lot of harm. I will understand if you feel that you need to challenge me for leadership.”

That made Skel look up. “Are you mental?” he blurted. “Sorry.” He snapped his jaw shut and shook his head. “I just mean, I would never.”

“I don’t deserve to be the leader of the Silver Serpents anymore.”

“Spare me the pity party, P,” Skel said, staring at her. “This is not on you.”

“How do you reckon that?” she asked with raised brows.

“This is all on Reaper. He played you,” he stated flatly.

“The truth would have come out sooner or later,” she countered.

“I just want to know how he made the connection with Scorpion. You don’t think they are working together?”

“No way,” she answered. “Meeting Scorpion was a coincidence. I can’t see how he and Reaper could have orchestrated that. Besides, Reaper has been out of the city for the past ten years.”

“Yet he still kept tabs on you. Why do you think he did that?”

She could see Skel trying to piece the puzzle together.

“I swore I would kill him. If I were in his shoes, I’d

have done the same.”

“Somewhere, we’re missing something. What’s Reaper’s motives for turning Scorpion on you?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” she shrugged, emptying the bottle into their glasses.

Poison stared out the tinted windows; the sun’s rays didn’t have any impact on the dim interior of the club. The sun was up.

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