Page 51 of King of Cruelty

“I wouldn’t put it past the Brotherhood to lie and fake that the Merchants were behind the house fire that killed his parents—all to manipulate him into burning down Sacred Heart and killing seven innocent people.

“It’s insane the lengths we’d go for our parents. To avenge them. To get justice for their memory,” he said. “You want to turn a person into a monster or a petty, vengeful asshat. Just tell them someone hurt his mommy.”

I froze, my smile for Laurel freezing on my face. A thought occurred to me. A terrible, awful thought. “Or...” I whispered. “Their daddy.”

“—zie?”

I snapped out of it, Sienna pulling me back to reality.

“Kenzie, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I fixed my face, smiling back at Laurel. “I’m just worried. I’ve been calling and calling the guys, but no one’s answered. They all went to rescue Genny last night. We should’ve heard something by now. Plus, I need to tell them everything Damien told us. They need to know Vance Hollywell is the most dangerous brother we’ve come across.”

She nodded. “He put the trackers in the clothes. He came closer than anyone in their goal of taking the Merchants out for good, and he did it all while hiding in plain sight.”

“He must’ve known that you guys would’ve gone straight to Frost to confirm his story,” River put in, putting aside his tumultuous family drama. “And he also must’ve known that Damien would tell us the truth. Seriously, what incentive did he have to lie and make himself an enemy of the Merchants, all for a guy he only used for his money?

“Vance knew he was cooked the minute you and Sunny walked out of his office.”

“But we did walk out of his office,” I reminded. “Giving him plenty of time to get away, plan his next move, or all of the above. Even more reason—”

My phone went off, buzzing against my thigh. I lit up when I checked the screen. “Bane,” I cried. “Guys, it’s Bane. One sec.” I answered on the third ring. “Bane, finally. Are you okay? Is Genny okay? I’ve been calling you all morning.”

“Kenzie.”

Something in his voice stopped my words in its tracks.

“Kenzie,” he croaked. “Last night... Last night was... bad.”

The Night Before

GENNY

She smiled. Lips parting, she made to say—what? I’d never know.

Gunshots rang through the night, ending our last goodbye.

“Ahh!” I threw my hands up, flipping over and covering Bee as bodies rained down on us.

Edwin, the nine-fingered wonder, dropped like a stone, and that hard fucking head dropped right on my gut.

“Ow!”

“I think what you meant to say, baby sis”—Bane’s car roared onto the lawn, bringing a hail of bullets pouring from the passenger’s side—“is thank you.”

“Get these assholes off me!”

“Close enough.”

Headlights blinded me—flooding the forest with squealing gears and honking horns. The cavalry had arrived.

The brothers still cowering on the porch kicked off, returning fire at Bane’s car, then Sunny’s, then Liam’s, then about a dozen fucking cars of people I didn’t know, but didn’t have to. The Scourges, the Sons of Saint, and Liam’s Prissy Sissys—he refused to name his gangs, so I did it for him.

They all came.

“’Bout fucking time,” I snapped, kicking free of my would-be assassins like the damsel in distress I was not. “I summoned you hours ago!”

“Yeah, and I begged Mom to reverse the adoption and give you back to your birth parents,” Sunny shouted back, bitching me out shamelessly as he rolled out of his car, crouched behind the wheel, and shot over the hood—picking off brothers one by one. “So we’ve all got things to be disappointed about!”

---