Page 66 of Sinner's Fury

Christian looked directly into my eyes and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight as he said, “And one other. A girl they named Kathleen Doherty.”

“My research never turned up a sibling for William.”

“That’s because the Doherty family kept her away from William. According to Shame’s research, the family knew something was mentally wrong with William from the beginning. They kept a close watch on him in his younger years, but shit blew up in their faces when William wanted to marry a woman named Margaret Hanover.”

“His high school sweetheart.”

He nodded. “Yes. Now, from what Shame could put together, Margaret was already engaged to be married, which pissed William off big time, because he firmly believed that Margaret was his. The night of Margaret’s wedding, William accidentally killed Margaret in a fit of rage, which set him on the path we all know. Faced with life in prison, John Doherty talked the judge into sending his son to Vietnam instead, hoping that the violent war would claim him.”

“But that didn’t happen,” I whispered, then asked, “And his sister?”

“After William left for Vietnam, fearing for their daughter’s safety if he returned, the family arranged a marriage for her to Colin O’Shea, but an attack on the family en route to New York prevented the wedding from happening. The attack killed John and Hyacinth Doherty, and Kathleen disappeared without a trace.”

“What happened to her?”

“No one knows. She just vanished.”

“I still don’t understand how this entire mess is a family feud, Chris.”

“The two missing bootleggers were Gregory Stone and Edward Goldman. I’d bet my life that it was one of them who raped Frances Doherty, setting a chain of events into play neither could have anticipated.”

Sitting on the floor, I looked up at Christian as my head swam with all the possibilities. It was a lot, that was for sure, but it kind of made sense. The hostility between the clubs, the looming war, but none of that explained the Trick Pony. We were still missing something.

“Christian, was there mention of the Trick Pony anywhere in Shame’s research?”

“No, but Vicious and I barely scratched the surface of what Shame had in his apartment.”

“What did you do with all his research?”

“Boxed it up and moved it to my penthouse at Davenport Tower. Why?”

“Shit,” I cursed. Getting to my feet, I started to pace as my brain went into overdrive. I needed to see what Shame found. I needed to compare it to my own notes. I was so close. I could feel it. But to get the information, that would mean we would have to go back to New York City. And if we did that, then the both of us would be putting ourselves in danger. Plus, I still wasn’t sure about all the biker laws and such, but if Christian and the otherswere right, the only way we could safely go back to the city was if we were married.

“Christian, ask me.”

“Ask you what, Carly?”

“Ask me to marry you.”

Slowly standing, Christian narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Because we need to go back to New York.”

“No!” he shouted. “Absolutely not!”

“Christian...”

“No.” He furiously paced, shaking his head. “Did you not hear anything? I can’t marry you without permission from your brothers, and as much as I like you, Carly, your fucking family scares the crap out of me.”

“Your family too.” I smirked.

Chris shook his head. “Not bloody likely! I may share blood with Reaper and that’s enough, but there is no fucking way in hell I will stand before Sandman and let him kill me. Not even for you.”

“What if you didn’t have to?” I asked.

“Trust me, Carly, Sandman and Savage will be out for blood when Reaper tells them. And before you say anything else, this wouldn’t be like what happened with Delany. She’s only Sandman’s cousin. You are his fucking sister! Big difference.”

“What I meant was, what if we could bypass them altogether and just ask my father?”

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