Page 1 of Devil in Disguise

Chapter One

Dante

December 29, 2024, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The sound of my phone ringing shattered the silence of my deep sleep. Not that I was really sleeping, anyway. Rolling over in bed, I fumbled for my phone on the nightstand, finally answering the insistent ringing. When I heard the voice on the other end speak, my world instantly shifted.

“Dante?”

Sitting up, I barely said, “Silas? What’s wrong?”

“You need to come home. It’s Danny.”

Something was wrong. Silas never showed fear. Never in all my years had I ever heard his voice tremble. He was one of the strongest men I knew.

Wide awake now, every muscle in my body coiled in fear, I whispered, “What happened?”

“Danny’s hurt. A building exploded, and he was in it. It’s bad, Dante.”

I leaped from the bed and began a frantic search for clothes, all the while questioning where he was. “What hospital is he at?”

“He’s not.”

That caught me off guard.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s at the Playground. Sinclair has him.”

“WHAT THE HELL?!”

“I don’t know what you know, but it’s really bad here. Everyone is looking for him. It’s only a matter of time before the clubs realize where he’s at. Dante, the table has issued a kill order for Danny. They want him dead.”

“Why?”

“Because they can’t let what’s in his head get out into the open.”

“How does Sinclair figure in to this?” I asked, jumping into a pair of jeans.

“Because Danny let it slip that he possibly knew where Thena was. Sinclair isn’t fucking playing around this time, Dante. He’s keeping Danny until he reveals Thena’s whereabouts.”

“Why?” I growled. “Why is he still looking for her?”

“Because of what she has.”

“What?”

“She took something when she ran away. Something Sinclair wants back.”

Yeah. I didn’t know what to do with that information. Right now, I had to focus on getting to Danny, and every bit of information helped. “What did she take?”

“I don’t know, but like I said, Sinclair isn’t fucking around. He’s got Danny in a private room at the Playground under lock and key. He’s keeping him alive in the hopes that Danny will reveal where Thena is. If he doesn’t, then I don’t know what Sinclair will do to him.”

“I’m gonna kill him.”

“Get in line because when the clubs learn Sinclair took Sypher from the hospital, there will be nothing Rowen or I can do to save him. I’m hoping that maybe you can talk some sense into him before he gets himself killed.”

“He’s never listened to me before, Silas.”