“Who the fuck is Diana?”
My heart hammered against my ribs, a wild, trapped bird. Mercy’s raw pain was a mirror to my own, yet he didn’t have the context, the years of insidious manipulation, the sheer terror that had dictated my every move. “Diana,” I ground out, the name a foreign thing, heavy with a grief that still felt too new, too raw. “She’s my wife.”
Mercy’s breath hitched, his storm-cloud expression momentarily cleared, replaced by sheer disbelief, then something akin to shock. His gaze flickered from me to Montana, searching for confirmation, for an explanation that wasn’t shrouded in half-truths.
“Your wife? You... you’re married?”
The betrayal in his voice was a fresh wound. He’d known me most of his life, and I’d kept another monumental secret from my vice president.
Mercy’s disbelief morphed into a dangerous quiet. The roaring fury subsided, replaced by a chilling stillness. He looked at me, then at Montana, his eyes scanning our faces, as if searching for the truth hidden beneath layers of betrayal. “Married? And you kept this from me? From us?” His voice was barely a whisper, yet it carried more weight than his earlier shouts. His unspoken accusation hung heavy between us. This was more than just a secret about Shame and Diana’s survival; this was about the foundation of our brotherhood, now fractured by my choices.
My pain, the gnawing emptiness left by Diana’s absence, felt like a cruel joke when faced with Mercy’s hurt. I wanted to explain, to pour out the decades of fear and manipulation, to make him understand that every decision I’d made, every lie I’d told, had been a desperate attempt to protect her, to protect them. But my words caught in my throat, choked by the sheer magnitude of what I’d hidden. Montana stepped forward, placing a hand on Mercy’s shoulder, a silent plea for calm, but even he looked uncertain, caught between loyalty and the undeniable truth of my deception.
“It wasn’t about not trusting you, Mercy,” Montana finally managed, his voice rough. “It was about keeping you all safe. If anyone knew, it would have put a bullseye on their back. Shame’s life, Diana’s life needed to be protected. I refused to let them become collateral damage in my dad’s fucked-up game of power.”
I met Mercy’s gaze, my own eyes raw with the weight of years of secrets. “I know I messed up. I know I broke your trust, and Iwould do it all again. I will do anything to protect my wife. Just like you did with Largo.”
“Don’t bring my wife into this,” Mercy seethed. “I never hid her from anyone.”
“No, you just subjected her to Blood of a Sinner.”
Montana moved fast as Mercy lunged for me. “YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Bane
“Did you have to piss Mercy off?” Montana asked as he shoved me into a seat in the boardroom. Grunting, I tried to make myself comfortable as I watched him walk over to the small mini-fridge and remove a bottle of water. Slamming it down in front of me, he reached into his jacket and produced three prescriptions, placing them next to the bottle of water. “Take them. Now.”
“I still have another hour.”
Montana sneered, glaring at me until I picked up one of the prescriptions, removed the lid, and shoved a pill down my throat. Swallowing, I smiled. “Happy now?”
“Not even close,” the fucker snipped, taking his seat as Mercy walked in. “Where the fuck is everyone?”
“Malice and Silver are on a date, Rage is on his way in, and Payne is down in the mailroom annoying the bitch.”
“Date?” I questioned before popping another pill, unsure I had heard him correctly.
“Yeah, don’t ask. All they do is ride on the bike and come back, both eating a green-apple snow cone.”
Smirking, I refused to comment as I took the last pill.
“Talked with Reaper. Fury and Vicious are at Davenport Tower getting cleaned up, and Torment’s plane landed an hour ago,” Mercy added.
“Snoopy and Popeye?” Montana asked.
Mercy shook his head. “No luck. No one has seen them.”
“What about Storm?” I asked.
“I’m here,” the man himself stated, walking into the boardroom, dropping an overnight bag at the door before taking his seat. “And for the record, Mercy, threatening to have Malice hunt me down and give me the Blood of a Sinner was a dick move.”
The VP shrugged. “Got ya here, didn’t it?”
Moments later, Torment strolled into the boardroom looking all fresh and well-rested. Narrowing my eyes, I looked at the fucker and said, “You look weird. Why are you so fucking happy?”
Grinning from ear to ear, the club’s therapist smiled as he took his seat and leaned back, placing his hands behind his head. “Because, my dear cranky brother, I’ve finally found my equal, and she’s more terrifying than me.”