“My brother,” I growl, snatching the shades off his face.
Just as I suspected, he has the exact same eyes as I do. The day I mentioned Gabe not having my eyes, Maksim told me not to worry, most don’t. That’s when I knew he was connected to me in some way. Although all the others I’ve met including, Victoria, Yohan, Boris, and Blue Eyes, all have different physical characteristics, there were some very familiar features, height, being one. Considering they all considered themselves siblings, I put the pieces together.
“Wait, Colleen had another kid?” Lucien asks.
I let go of Maksim, putting space between us. He’s right, he isn’t my enemy. In fact, if not for his warning, I wouldn’t have known to get to Summer.
The moment I think her name, I get a pain in my chest that has me rubbing the area as if I’ve been shot there.
Her smile and those freckles that scatter over her nose pop in my head. I reminisce on the last image I have of her before everything went to shit. She was standing at the stove wearingmy shirt, fixing my favorite food. She looked at me and her brow dipped.“Everything okay?”her soft voice had asked.
“I fucking need you, Summer,” I whisper to myself.
“No, Beastie and I do not share the same mother,” Maksim replies to Lucien getting my attention back.
“I would like to tell you all about it, if we could just go inside. It’s not safe out in the open like this. We are all wanted men, are we not?”
“He’s right, Priest.” Zel says.
It’s then I notice they all have their guns out and aimed at Maksim.
“What do you say, Beast. Can we trust him?”
I look to Maksim after Priest’s question. I don’t really know him, but my gut hardly ever steers me wrong. For the past few months, Maksim has done nothing but help me. Even in the beginning, he warned me to take care of my loose ends. And if I remember correctly when the PI was telling me about the benefactor, he told me that the benefactor wanted him to watch over Summer. He said that Summer was the benefactor’s sister-n-law. At the time I chalked his words up to the benefactor lying to the PI. However, now that I think about it, he wasn’t. He did hire him to find Summer and keep her safe.
Turning back to Priest, I answer, “Yeah, he’s good.”
Maksim dips his chin at me. He then pops the trunk of his car and pulls out two duffle bags. We all head back into the waiting room at Doc’s.
“How is she?” Maksim asks as soon as he takes a seat inside.
“We still don’t know yet. Doc has been in there working on her since we got here.” Hawk answers.
Maksim looks at me solemnly. “Yohan took the shot. When I called you, I was trying to get to him before he did it. I might have injured him, but he’s not dead.”
The full image of Yohan pops into my head. I think back on all his details, from the caramel color of his skin to his hazel eyes, his curly hair, even the smirk on his face the last time I saw him. I categorize it all, because once I get my hands on him, he will never look that way again.
“Start talking,” Priest says, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the wall.
Maksim sighs and leans back in his chair. “Corbyn got the idea from the Church.”
“Who is Corbyn?” Zel asks.
“Elliot Corbyn,” Maksim replies.
“Wait, the same Elliot Corbyn that owns one of the largest international investment companies in the world?” Lucien asks.
“Yes, Elliot Corbyn is Beast’s father. He’s also the father of myself and twenty others. There are only eleven of us left, not including Beast. Well, nine now since little brother took two of them out at the club.” He tips his head to me. “Nice work, by the way. I’ve always hated Boris and Freddy.”
I don’t respond.
“Why so many kids?” Zel asks, bringing the conversation back to the topic. “Was he trying to start an army?”
Hawk and Many laugh at Zel’s joke, but I don’t.
“Yes,” I answer for Maksim.
From everything I remember about the two I met at the club along with Victoria and Yohan, they were all well trained. Almost as well trained as me and my brothers. And they were loyal to Corbyn. As if he were their very own Pope.