Page 23 of Deceit

Chapter Thirteen

King

JINX AND I got backto the clubhouse just after everyone had dinner. Instead of sitting down with everyone while I ate my dinner, I headed straight through the common room toward the office I have on the first floor. Unlocking my door, I let myself inside and sat down at my computers. While I have a few names to look into, Blood sent me a message shortly after we left his clubhouse, my gut is telling me to look into Jerome. I pull up the programs I typically use and input his name. Scathe sent me a picture of him so I know what he looks like so I don’t get the wrong person. The last thing I want to do is to pull up a ton of information about the wrong person and believe that’s who we’re looking for. It would not only waste time, but it could put Brynn in even more danger than she’s currently in. With the escalation of her stalker, I have no doubt he’ll end up getting physical and won’t hesitate to hurt Brynn.

Brynn is strong willed yet soft. When she feels backed into a corner, she’ll let her fiery side out to play. If this fucker is like I think he is, he won’t tolerate a woman getting mouthy with him. My girl tried so hard to be strong and deal with this shit on her own. She didn’t want to tell her family or anyone else about her stalker and more than likely felt as if it were someone fucking with her in the beginning. At least until it started to get more serious. I’ve combed through the entire tote she has of everything that’s ever been left on her porch with the exception of any flowers this scumbag left. Those all went in the trash as soon as she opened her door and got in her kitchen. Anyway, Brynn is truly scared about this situation. She proved that to me when she didn’t fight about staying in the clubhouse and not leaving for any reason. Not even just to go sit outside. I don’t want to keep her as a prisoner here, but we don’t know anything about this fucker and I refuse to take any chances with her.

As I work and let several of my programs dig into Jerome Battle, there’s a soft knock on my door.

“Come in,” I call out, not taking my eyes off the computer screens in front of me.

The door opens and closes softly. Looking up, I find Brynn entering my office filled with hesitation as she holds a plate in her hand.

“Hi,” she says almost shyly as she continues to slowly move closer to me. “I thought you might be hungry and brought you some food. Was my family able to help you? I know you won’t talk about club business, but this is about me and I don’t believe you’ve taken it to the club yet. When you do, I’ll tell them anything they want to know.”

“I haven’t taken it to the club yet. I will as soon as Vault calls church. They need to know what’s goin’ on so everyone here can keep an eye out and protect you, Kitten. Your family gave me a few names, but the first one was a Prospect that apparently didn’t make the cut and had an obsession with you as a minor when he was older than your typical Prospect in the club,” I tell her honestly because Brynn is right that this is about her.

“Jerome,” she breathes out, her shaky hand setting my plate on the edge of my long desk that I had custom built to handle all of my computer equipment.

“You remember him?” I question her, my voice soft and gentle.

“Yeah. He, um, was always watching me when I was at the clubhouse and made several attempts to talk to me and get me to go somewhere alone with him. I never kept it to myself despite his attempts to get me to lie to my family or anyone else who happened to find us when he was near me. It didn’t take long at all before I had a permanent shadow when I was at the clubhouse from the other Prospects or one of my family members. They kept a close eye on Jerome and he only lasted an hour after the last time he cornered me and tried to get me to leave the compound with him,” she tells me, tears rolling down her face as I pull her into my arms and hold her close after pulling her down onto my lap.

“You think he’s the one behind this?” I ask, not letting go of her as she melts into me and continues crying.

Brynn nods her head but doesn’t say another word as she remains in my lap. She flinches when someone knocks loudly on my door before I call out for them to enter. Valor walks in my office with Vault, Jinx, Ghost, and Devil. Hope is waiting in the hallway as the door closes behind Devil, leaving her out there alone.

“Need to talk. Brynn needs to be here for this conversation,” Vault says, not getting too close to us where we sit in front of my desk. “First you need to know Morgan is no longer in the clubhouse. She thought it would be a good idea to go after Brynn when she was in the kitchen with the other ol’ ladies earlier. Brynn took care of the situation and put the bitch in her place. Valor got her out of here and Ghost personally put her on a bus and reminded her never to come back to Pine View. Don’t know where she went, but she’s gone. Never thought she would’ve come at Brynn the way she did. Guess her obsession with you was worse than she let on. Now, I need to know what you found out from Blood and her family while we get as many details as possible about the situation. You tellin’ us now means Brynn won’t have to sit in church and tell us as an entire club.”

“I can do that,” Brynn says, sitting up slightly and wiping the tears from her face, not caring that these men are witnessing her in a vulnerable moment. “Jerome started Prospecting for my grandpa’s club when I was maybe eleven years old. I was always at the clubhouse because it was my favorite place to be and when my grandparents weren’t working, that’s where they’d be. I spent a lot of time with them. In the beginning, Jerome stayed away from me. I would feel as if someone were watching me, and it was always him. From the time we’re born, as I’m sure you’re all aware, we’re taught more than any other kid about listening to our instincts and all sorts of other shit like that. I was already learning to defend myself as soon as I could stand on my own and trained every single day with my dad and uncle.

“The looks from Jerome got more intense as each week passed. He would find ways to get close to me and would brush up against me or ‘accidentally’ touch me when he managed to get close. I hated it and tried so hard to stay away from him at all costs. He still managed to get close to me a few times and I never once kept it a secret like he wanted. I told my parents or whatever adult was around at the time. Jerome was spoken to multiple times and even got kicked out of the clubhouse. He was put on gate duty and then he still couldn’t enter the clubhouse. He had an apartment in town and my grandpa declared that the only time he could be at the compound was when he was at the gate. My family kept me inside when he was there. Still, the asshole managed to get close to me one last time and it was the scariest.

“I was in the bathroom on the first floor and had just started to wash my hands when the door opened. I was happy because my grandpa was about to take me for a ride on his bike when he went to check out the club’s businesses. Jerome walked in the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Fear instantly filled me as I shut the water off and dried off my hands. The look in his lifeless eyes was feral as he looked me over from head to toe with a sinister smile on his face. I don’t remember what he said, but I know the words were creepy as hell and something about finally taking me away from the family who were trying to keep us separated.

“When he reached out to grab me, I screamed as loud as I could. My dad and grandpa were walking by the bathroom and heard me. They broke the door down and found Jerome trying to get me in his grip as I kept slipping away from him. I knew I couldn’t physically hurt him at such a young age. Anyway, I watched as my dad and grandpa beat the hell out of him right there in the bathroom before everyone else came rushing to find out what was going on. It took five guys to hold my dad back and my grandpa was so mad his face turned purple. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the men in my life so vicious and ruthless. I wasn’t scared of them, it was all because of Jerome. My grandpa got me out of the bathroom and into my grandma’s arms as my mom rushed back to the clubhouse from running errands. That was the last time I saw Jerome and I never once asked any questions about him,” she tells us all, her voice breaking several times as she speaks in a monotone voice as if she’s a robot and has no feelings about this situation.

My arms tighten around her instinctively as more tears spill down her face and land on my arm. Rage fills me at the thought of her younger self dealing with all that shit. She trembles on my lap and no one says a word to her for several minutes. Every man in this room knows what Jerome was attempting to do and are enraged on Brynn’s behalf. None of us fucking deal with that shit for any reason and we’ll always step in when we see it.

“What happened to Jerome?” Valor asks, his voice barely above a whisper as he tries to keep himself under control.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t have been told even if I asked. You know that as well as I do. For the longest time, I had nightmares about Jerome and what he was trying to do to me. My parents talked about putting me in counseling, but I refused to go. I just wanted to forget it ever happened and I constantly talked to my parents and grandparents about it. Even my uncle Ace pulled me aside and took me with him a few times so we could talk. They let me scream, yell, cry, and get everything out in any way I needed to. That’s why they didn’t fight me about the counseling thing. I’m sure if you called my grandpa or dad they’d let you know what happened to him,” Brynn answers Valor as she sinks even deeper into my body before burying her head against my neck.

“I’ll make that call in a little bit, Kitten. Thank you for trustin’ us with this information. I think Hope’s waitin’ in the hallway to hang out with you. Why don’t you two go in my room and relax. I’m gonna make a few calls and work on some shit. I’ll be up there late. Don’t wait up for me,” I tell her, pressing my lips to the top of her head and lingering for a few minutes.

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