Page 11 of In the Light of Sin

The memory of the night I’d lost control of myself for the first time in front of my brothers a few months into my reign here passed through my mind. The innocent celebration about my patch becoming a bloodbath landed Prez and Husk in the clinic for a week.

Maybe if I was normal, I would feel regret, but all I felt were the phantom flames that still licked at my body that day. My vision started tunneling out, the fire crawling from my fingertips to my burnt arms.

Fire wasn’t my weakness. It was my trigger.

You better hope you didn’t get in my way if I was suddenly exposed to fire. It’d be better for both of us if the flames consumed me like they should have all those years ago.

“Just teasin’ Prez,” he said with his carefree attitude. “It’s fun to watch him and V interact with Joslyn and Oakley. Dontcha think?”

“I don’t think it’s fun,” Law grumbled from his chair, arms crossed over his chest. “We’re gonna need a new enforcer soon if V doesn’t leave Oakley alone.”

“Why can’t you just get over it?” The corner of Grim’s lips twisted. “Prez doesn’t care I’m fuckin Nyla—”

“Watch it,” Prez hissed at his VP. “For the record, I do care. Nyla bein’ happy means more than my feelings about the two of you. But that’s my daughter you’re talkin’ bout. Say somethin’ like that in my presence again, and we’ll be out a VP.”

“I’ll happily take Grim’s place. The place would be a lot more fun with me second in command.” That would be a short candidacy if Tyrant ever became VP. Someone would kill him within a day. And with the way he constantly cub-stomped my nerves, that someone would most definitely be me.

“You givin’ me permission to take V out?” Law asked with a raised brow.

“No.” Prez shook his head, a scowl on his face. “V ain’t hurtin’ Oakley. If I have to deal with a brother dating my kin, there’s no one I’d rather share that pain with than you.”

“They’re not dating,” Law hissed through clenched teeth. “He scares her, Darrell.”

“She needs it,” he challenged right back. “Don’t know what happened to your girl, but she’s scared of her own damn shadow. V forces people out of their comfort zones. Maybe he’s what she needs.”

His clenched jaw told me he was keeping what he really wanted to say inside. My gut feeling told me that whatever almost slipped from his mouth would’ve caused a brawl in here, and that wouldn’t be ideal since I wouldn’t care enough to break them up, and neither did Husk. Knight and Tyrant would be cheering, and Grim couldn’t break them up alone. Hex just stabs people with a sedative to get them to calm down, but he would rather that not happen since Prez, Grim, and V get shifty around needles.

“If V does hurt her, we’ll take care of it. But if you touch him? After he’s done beating your head in, you’ll deal with my consequences, too.”

“You’re about to find yourself a new goddamn lawyer,” Law grumbled. He threatened this weekly, but we all just ignored him. If he wanted to walk, he was free to do so… so long as his tongue was cut out. He couldn’t tell our secrets that way.

That was the only way you were allowed to leave this club besides death.

“Why are you so protective of V, Prez?” Tyrant raised an eyebrow. “Dude’s an animal. We all know we’re going to have to put him down one day.”

A rueful smile spread on his lips. “You just answered your own question.”

A thick silence ensued. V was unhinged and wouldn’t listen to anyone. One day, he would get in a bind that we couldn’t save him from. Our clubs have already been through a lot of shit. V’s death would be another hard nail to hammer into each of our coffins.

The thought of losing a brother was something that prickled my skin. Anyone who was associated with me met an early demise. It was just a curse I was born with…

A curse that I was passing onto others who were stupid enough to care for me.

I didn’t want to be loved. I didn’t crave a woman’s affection. I desired a brotherhood. I needed a routine. I coveted the solace I created for myself.

No one, not even Joslyn, would change me. Those who tried faced the consequences.

I turned my neck to look at Husk, who sat there staring blankly at the wall with a far-off look. What was going on in his head? No one fuckin’ knew. He was slowly descending into a dark madness once he lost his old lady. A smoking shell of the jovial bastard he once was. I gave him two more years before he was lost completely, even if Marilyn was still out there.

I refused to think of Joslyn in a situation like Marilyn was probably in.

The door opened, and Hex came in, followed by V. I looked at the analog clock on the wall, the second-hand landing right on the twelve. The clicking sound of the clock was replaced by Prez slamming the gavel on the sound block, signaling the start of church.

“Alright, brothers. We got lots to discuss.” Prez stood at the podium, wiggling a tape recorder in his hand before pointedly glancing at me. “Joslyn may have gotten us a lead.”

I balled my hands into fists until my fingernails dug into my palm, the sting not helping take my mind off the way Joslyn put herself in danger last night.

And how I was almost too late to stop it.

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