Page 64 of Sinner's Fury

“What old lady, King?”

“Sanctuary granted,” King replied, ignoring Mercy’s question before hanging up the phone. Leaning back in his chair, he added, “You can stay the night, Fury, but when you leave, Carly will stay here because, like I said, I won’t go up against Reaper. Unless you want to change the narrative.”

Fuck.

I knew what King was talking about, and there was no fucking way Carly would ever agree to that. Hell, we barely knew each other. We were veritable strangers walking along the same path. Granted, that path was leading us in the same direction, but that didn’t mean shit in the long term. She had her own life. I had my girls.

“Wait a damn minute!” Carly spoke up. “Why can’t I leave with Christian?”

“You are biker royalty, Carly,” Cash, the VP of the club, cautiously informed. “If you were any other woman, we would let you leave with Fury, but because of who you are, we can’t. I don’t know how much you know about the biker world, but there are rules.”

“I don’t care about the rules. I have nothing to do with the clubs. I wasn’t even raised in them. Christian, tell them.”

“It doesn’t matter, Carly,” I solemnly stated, shaking my head as Carly removed her hand from mine then stared at me, waiting for me to explain.

Sighing, I looked at her and said, “Because of your father, you are considered off-limits. Persona non grata. Untouchable. If it were just your dad, King could let it slide, but you have two active half-brothers. One who is the President of the Tennessee Chapter, and the other... well, your other brother is just plain fucking scary. No one wants to go up against Sandman.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Carly,” Gunner, the Sergeant at Arms for the club began. “There are rules in the biker world, and because of who you are, we don’t have a choice unless...”

“Unless what?”

“Don’t,” I growled.

“Unless Fury marries you,” King clearly said.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Carly

I must have misheard him, because I could have sworn he said the only way I was leaving with Christian was if we were married.

It was absurd to even consider such a notion. I barely knew Christian. We were just friends. It wasn’t like that between us. We were just helping each other out.

No.

“She doesn’t have to marry me if she doesn’t want to,” Christian muttered. “She can still leave with me in the morning.”

“No, she can’t,” King stated. “She’s Golden, or have you forgotten that?”

“I am too.” He sighed. “My grandmother was Meridiana Doherty. I’m Reaper’s second cousin by blood.”

“You are more than that,” Nav, the club’s tech guru, spoke up, clicking away on his computer. “While you’ve been chatting it up, I’ve been running your background. Fury, you are connected by blood or marriage to everyone. I’m talking the Valentinetti’s, the O’Malley’s, the IRA, the Golden Skulls, and by oath to the Soulless Sinners. You are a fucking massive trifecta. We can’t stop him, King. Not without causing a war. If you thought having Carly here was bad, Fury is worse. I don’t see a way we can stop him from taking her when he leaves.”

“Wasn’t gonna stop him, Nav.” King let out a heavy sigh, the sound rough against the silence, as his fingers traced his beard while staring intently at Christian.

There was a subtle shift in his demeanor, a barely perceptible tightening of his jaw that told me the cunning man had something planned. I was confused and uncertain about what to do, and I was getting a splitting headache trying to decipher all the complicated political maneuvering and petty club regulations. I just wanted to get the hell out of here and forget this place existed.

“Then what’s with all the marriage shit?” Christian griped.

“Like you, I’m trying to protect my own, and what better way to do that than to seal the clubs together?”

Confused, I looked between the two men as Christian glared at King, who smiled and sat back in his chair. “You know I’m right.”

Christian shook his head and seethed, “I won’t force her to do it.”

“I wasn’t suggesting you do, but even I can see from where I’m sitting that there is something between you two.”

---