Page 102 of Golden Atonement

“The journal is two hundred and fifty pages. Each page has fifty lines. There are codes on every page, every line, front and back.”

“Jesus Christ,” Phantom groaned, shaking her head.

“Fuck,” Matrix sighed. “You said two hundred and fifty pages, front and back? That’s over twenty-five thousand lines of key codes. What exactly is on that fucking thumb drive?”

“No clue, because Sypher has only uncovered ten percent of it.”

Chapter Ten

Reaper

“Give him his father’s cut.”

Everyone turned as I stood on the porch looking down at the kid before walking down the steps. Jason moved through the crowd and stopped a few feet from me before I reached out and hugged the young man.

“Fuck me. You still have that fucking baby face. Have your balls even dropped yet?”

Brothers chuckled.

I remembered Jason’s dad. Arsenal was a good man, honest and loyal to the club. More importantly, loyal to Pops, and from what I knew about Jason, he was a carbon copy of his old man. Morals and all. As the son of a patched brother, Jason was born Golden. To add to his legacy, Jason’s mom was Nitro’s sister. From what I remember, Shane Keller, Pops, Nitro, and Arsenal were all good friends. Where one went, the others would follow. Jason was still in high school when Pops died and I took over the club. By then, Arsenal, Shane, and Nitro had long been gone and my demon had taken hold.

Those were dark days that I tried not to think about.

But seeing the kid was like a breath of fresh air. Jason was cool as a cucumber and not easily riled. Though time had moved on, Jason hadn’t. He still looked fresh as a baby’s butt. Man may be twenty-six, but he didn’t look a day older than seventeen.

“Still got bigger balls than you.”

I flung my head back and laughed loudly. “Fuck me. Come on, baby face. Let’s go get a beer, and you can catch me up on all the shit back home.”

We all filed into the clubhouse, loud pipes had us turning as Satan’s Angels rolled past. None of us moved when the fuckers slowed before the gate, then sped up.

“Trouble?” Jason asked.

“When isn’t there?” I muttered before ignoring the fuckers and leading Jason into the club. As night fell, I closed the clubhouse to the ol’ ladies and kids and opened it up for a brothers’ party. It had been a long time since we’d all been able to sit back and relax. Just a bunch of brothers drinking, laughing, and having a rip-roaring good time.

I stood and whistled loudly, gaining everyone’s attention. “Tonight, we welcome home a Golden brother. Tonight, we welcome him in the Golden tradition of brothers, booze, and bitches!”

Just then, the clubhouse doors swung open and in walked scantily dressed women, all smiling and licking their lips as they eyed the buffet before them. It didn’t take them long to scatter, quickly finding a brother that caught their fancy.

I couldn’t remember the last time the clubhouse let loose and just had fun. Though I wasn’t sure Remi would be happy with this new revelation. My woman made it clear she hated club bunnies, hangers-on, and club sluts. Having these women here, while great for the single brothers, had me walking a thin line, but with everything going on, I wasn’t leaving anything to chance. Her safety always came first.

Taking a seat at a card table with Torque, Vicious, Jason, and Trout. A buxom blonde with the biggest set of fake tits I’d ever seen sat herself down in my lap while I downed a shot of bourbon.

Fuck. I was dead man if my wife ever saw this shit.

The night wore on, I ignored the cunt in my lap when Jason leaned over to me. “Reaper, we need to talk. I brought you something. Hoping you can help me with it.”

“What is it?”

“Something I found in Dad’s footlocker.”

Nodding, I frowned when the bitch wiggled her ass against my crotch.

“Wait till I leave, then follow.”

Music thumped all around and women danced. I watched single brothers hoot and holler as women tried to entice them, moving seductively and groping themselves. Shaking my head, I wondered how long I would have to stay here before I could duck out and head home. When my eyes landed on Ghost and Ink, I knew he was thinking the same thing. This was not our scene anymore. Hadn’t been for years. While I didn’t begrudge my brothers their fun, I had something better at home waiting for me.

Brothers laughed and drank all around me like nothing was wrong. Yet, when the bitch bent to kiss me, I stood, shoving her off me, and her ass fell to the fucking floor. The angry cunt got to her feet and started shouting, but I was done with this shit and stormed off to my office, slamming my door shut behind me.

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