Page 57 of King of Cruelty

Chapter Seven

The Next Morning

Bane

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

I glanced back at the bed where my sister lay sleeping. Our Mom held tight to her hand, stroking her cheek and murmuring softly to her.

“First, I need to know if you’re still with River.”

“We are,” she replied. “He’s sitting right next to me. Why? Do you need to talk to him?”

“I do. Hand him the phone for a sec, if you don’t mind.”

“Okay.”

Shuffle, and then my uncle’s voice came through the speaker. “Yeah?”

“Oxtail. Rice and peas.”

“Understood,” he replied without skipping a beat. “Hey, Si. Can you pull over here? I’ll drive.”

“Why?” I heard Kenzie ask. “Is something wrong?”

More murmuring, shuffling, car door slams, and then my girl’s voice was back in my ear.

“Bane, what’s going on? Are you all okay?”

“What’s going on is we got to Genny and took out the brothers—or so we thought,” I said, stepping out of the bedroom. “Turned out they called in reinforcements who caught up to Sunny, Liam, and Genny on the road.

“Genny had to spin around and drive back to me. The Scourges blew her pursuers away but Gen...”

“But Gen what?” Kenzie cried. “What happened?”

“Genny got into a crash.” I slid down against the wall, fists balled at my side. “She hit the dashboard at full speed. Our parents and the doc are with her now, but she’s got a broken nose, two black eyes, three broken ribs, and a severe concussion.”

“Oh no— How is—? Did she—? Is she okay? Is she going to be okay!”

“The doctor said she’s going to be fine,” I replied, hearing a whoosh of relief from her end of the phone. “But she’s out of this fight, Kenzie. She needs complete and total bedrest. Mom will tie her to the bed if she needs to.

“The Brother-fucking-hood didn’t break us, but they did weaken us.”

“But as long as you guys are okay,” she said firmly. “We’re never weak as long as we have each other.”

Even with everything going on, I smiled.

I liked Mackenzie Blaine talking about us as awe. I liked it a whole fucking lot.

For fourteen years, I kept my resolution to stay out of serious relationships, and I did it without much trouble. No matter how much I liked a girl, those feelings just furthered my resolve. Loving them meantneverrisking their lives and their futures by dragging them into my crazy, dangerous world.

They deserved a guy who could give them everything—a home, love, family, and protection—with heavy emphasis on the protection.

I glanced back at my sister’s bedroom door.But protection’s the one thing I can’t promise. I couldn’t even unload my clip fast enough to protect Genny—the baddest badass I know. How can I protect sweet, yummy Mackenzie and her beautiful baby girl?

I knew the answer to that. I knew the reality. I knew the life expectancy of the typical gangster and a gangster’s wife, but for the first time ever... I didn’t give a shit.

I didn’t care about the odds. I didn’t care about reality. And I could give a flying shit about my inability to control fate.

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