“What did you tell him?” snaps Diesel.
“Nothing,” I say, begging for them to believe me. “I wouldn’t tell him anything.”
Diesel looks unconvinced, tattooed arms still crossed over his chest. “You’ve known your father your entire life. That means you have loyalties to him. More than you do to us.”
I tense, Diesel’s face no longer intimating.
I shouldn’t be begging for his forgiveness when he murdered my mother in cold blood.
I drop my shoulders and tilt my chin, challenging him. “And you’re so perfect.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bishop speaks for him.
I turn my gaze back to Diesel. “You killed my mother.”
This causes him to shuffle. He looks away, jaw locked. “How did you know that?”
“You were right about Gigi,” I tell Bishop. “Sticking her nose into business that doesn’t involve her. It appears she’s been doing a lot of digging into my life, going out of her way to get me out of your life so she has a chance with you again. The first attempt didn’t work, but the second would appear to be a success.”
“What are you saying, Melissa?”
“There was a document under my door last week, an official Reaper Sons badge stamped across the page. It detailed every single death, including members’ loved ones.” I return to Diesel, confronting him. “It was 2011 when you killed her.”
Silence extends between us, Diesel’s eyes dropping to the floor. After a minute of listening to the chaos in the next room, he finally opens his mouth to speak.
“It would appear you don’t know the full story.”
I find myself holding a breath. “What are you talking about?”
“It was an accident.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You’re welcome to believe whatever you wish, but I would never lie to you, Melissa.” He looks down at me sternly. “Your mother wasn’t supposed to be there. There was a fight at the Reaper Sons clubhouse and your father decided to bring out your mother. I don’t know what his reasoning for this was. Some think he brought her out to distract us—your mother was a very beautiful woman. Others speculated that he actually wanted her killed so he had nothing tying him down. I don’t know the truth. I guess we’ll never know, but she was there, sitting on the veranda with a terrified look on her face. I was focused on trying to save our men. One of the Reaper Sons members was right there in front of me, so I fired a bullet.”
He pauses for a moment. “He ducked at just the right time, so the bullet continued to sail…and it went right into your mother’s heart.”
The room falls silent, the distant sound of angry men filling it.
My breathing has returned to normal, but this situation is far from over.
“You didn’t want to confront me about this, did you?” Diesel takes a step forward. “It would be too obvious if you did. You’ve thought all of this through.”
I drop my gaze to the floor. “There’s nothing else for me to say.”
I stare at each of them. They look pained. I’ve let them down. That would suggest that I meant a lot to them. That feelings were present for all three of them.
I can’t tell them about the pregnancy now, not when Gigi has just dropped the bomb of the century. I close my eyes and see her wiggling nails, the smug smile on her face as she claimed victory.It was a fair fight and she won it, achieving what she set out to do.
All there is left for me to do now, is leave.
I head to the door, hand poised over the handle before I go to open it. “I’m sorry.”
“Wait, Melissa.”
But I don’t.
I spent this entire time thinking thattheywere dangerous ones, but I was wrong.I’mthe dangerous one. I’m not staying away from the clubhouse because I could get hurt. I’m staying away becauseIam the one that’s doing the hurting.