Page 53 of King of Cruelty

“It’s cool,” I said, extracting myself from her hold. “All a part of the service.”

With that, I took off before anyone else got it into their heads to hug me again. Nothing against them, but I had a thing about hugs ever since someone used one to literally plunge a knife in my back.

Another reason I didn’t let bitches like Brother Abraham call my biker ganglittle. I fought, bled, scratched, bit, and killed to lead these women and rule my borough. Nothing little about it.

Taking off out the back door, I rounded the house to find the scene I was expecting.

My brothers standing around like proud, self-congratulatory peacocks while their people did the cleanup.

“Genny,” Liam said, inclining his head toward me.

I rolled my eyes. “You can be less like our dad, you know, and jump up and down hugging, kissing, and crying at seeing me safe and sound.”

“Maybe later,” the dickbag replied, striding off toward the porch.

“Your turn,” I called, holding my arms out to Bane and Sunny. “I’ll lift my lifetime ban and allow you to hug me just his once.”

Neither one moved.

“Put your arms down, woman,” Sunny said. “I love Angel more than life, but what the hell were you thinking letting her talk you into running at the Brotherhood with nothing but a tampon? You had us punched in the face for going off without you, and we at least had weapons!”

I shrugged. “Because you need them, baby brother. I’m lethal with or without. As you can see.”

Sunny was walking off, shaking his head before I finished.

It was Bane who came over, hugged me, and dropped a kiss on my head. “You keep joking,” he murmured, resting his chinon my head. “But Mom knows that you walked into the hands of a homicidal, Merchant-obsessed cult with no weapons or backup... and she’s waiting for you.”

My grin wiped off my face. “Yeah, we should go.”

With the brothers dead and the bomb defused, we quickly cleared out the house and loaded up the cars and trucks with the hostages.

“We’ll hang back,” Bane said, jerking his chin at his silent band of Scourges. “Sweep the area. Tear apart the van and their cars for info, and clear the house.”

“You should do that in the morning,” Sunny suggested. “Scoping out their territory in the dead of night? Who knows what other little surprises they’ve got hidden around these woods?”

“We’ll risk it.” Bane tossed me the keys before going off to talk with his men and women.

I cast them a curious glance while I followed Bee and Shug to his car.

We mostly kept our gangs and our business separate from each other. We ran different boroughs and had different interests, so there was no need for mixing.

Liam laundered big money through dozens of high-end Leighbridge businesses. Bane manufactured weapons. I dealt mainly in protection. Harlow was a dangerous borough with innocent people being preyed on every minute of every day.

The Cardinals were basically a lethal, and very attractive, private security company—except we didn’t charge the people we protected. I took my fee from the stupid bastards who messed with them.

As for Sunny, he had a piece of every criminal racket in his borough. As long as they paid up, they lived.

All that said, I didn’t know much about the people my brothers trusted with their lives, but I knew even less aboutthe Scourges. Bane didn’t talk much about his business because except for my bomb-making dad, Killian, none of us knew a thing about manufacturing weapons. And even if we did want to talk to him about it, the hermit freak was always off hiding in some hole in the woods.

Honestly, there were times when I saw more of Melanie—the Scourge who delivered our monthly shipment of guns and ammo—than I did my big brother, and she wasn’t one for chat.

Melanie would oversee the delivery, reject an offer for a beer or drink, resist all attempts at small talk, and then take off without agoodbyeorsee you next time.

I’ve always said the people we recruit for our gangs are a reflection of ourselves, and going by Melanie—Bane’s reflection was closed off, enigmatic, serious, and an expert at saying only what he needs to—no more, no less, and never anything that revealed the real him. That reflection...

...was spot-on.

Strange, but familiar, thoughts swirled in my head as I followed Liam’s car down the dirt road—finally on the path back to my city.

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