Page 35 of Secret Betrayals
It’s a gamble. If I slow down, I might get shot again. But if I pass out while doing 90 on a bike, I’m a dead man either way. I bite down on a groan as the pain throbs, worse with every bump, every lean. My side is soaked, the bandana useless now, blood seeping through the fabric like ink through tissue.
But then—there. A sign.
Hospital – Emergency Room →
Relief washes through me too fast. Too soon. I make the turn. The parking lot looms ahead. I try to slow down, but everything inside me crashes at once. My vision blurs. My fingers go numb. My grip slips.
And then—darkness.
I feel the handlebars disappear from my hands. I hear the metal scream as the bike skids across the pavement. I feel the pain before I feel the ground—sharp, brutal, all-consuming.
And then?
I feel nothing.
Just weightlessness.
Like I’m floating.
Like maybe this is it.
Ten
“I am my brother’s keeper.”
What a fucking shit show of a day. This was supposed to be simple. An hour-long sit-down, tops. Then right back to celebrating Luna’s birthday, toss back a few drinks with the brothers, and enjoy some time with the people that matter. That was the plan. Instead? We walked straight into a damn storm. I can’t even wrap my head around it. Talon—my brother, ourPresident—has twin sons. Seventeen-year-old boys. Mafia-bred. Hard-eyed. Sharp-tongued. And they hate his fucking guts.
Correction—they hateallour guts.
What. The. Fuck?
I’ve seen a lot of crazy shit in this life. Been waist-deep in blood, bullets, and betrayal. But nothing has ever hit me like this. Not because they exist—hell, I’ve lost count of how many kids have popped up in our world out of nowhere—but because these boys ain’t just some side-babies. They’rehis. They carry hisface. His blood. And the rage they’ve got simmering just under the surface? That comes straight from him, too.
Back when all this shit must’ve been going down, I wasn’t paying attention. I was all-in on college ball, chasing my own bullshit. Only “snatch” I gave a damn about was the kind that was easy and available—club girls, college flings, nothing serious. Talon's personal life was background noise. I didn’t ask, and he didn’t offer.
I remember the girl, though—barely. Pretty. Quiet. I saw her in passing once or twice, but she didn’t stand out to me. Just another name, another fling. I figured she was part of a rotation. Talon was a savage with women back then. Didn’t give a damn about sticking with one until Heather came around and locked him down.
So yeah—he knocked this chick up. She disappeared, and now… now we find out she didn’t just vanish on her own. She left, knocked up with Talon’s kids. Raised them. Turned them into soldiers. And worse? She turned themagainsthim.
Now she’s back, and it’s clear as fuck she’s not here for peace.
This is gonna cause chaos—real, deep club chaos. I can feel it. Gabriella showing up isn’t just bad news for Talon. It’s a direct hit to everything we’ve tried to hold together. Our Ma? She’s going to lose her goddamn mind when she hears about this. She’s old school—believes blood is everything and secrets are sins. This? This ain’t just a secret. This is a betrayal.
And Talon? That motherfucker ghosted.
Straight updisappeared. Didn’t even stay to face the fallout. Just took off like the whole thing wasn’t burning behind him. Yeah, he and I are gonna have averyserious conversation whenhe drags his ass back. Because while he’s out doing fuck-all, I’m here playing babysitter to his ol’ lady.
Heather.
Her ass has been circling like a damn vulture, trying to pick the meat off every conversation. Asking questions she knows she shouldn’t ask, giving me that look like she thinks I owe her something. I love her—I do. But she’s always been a hard pill to swallow. That woman can nag the chrome off a Harley.
She’s been poking, prodding, trying to dig into what was said at the meeting. Pacing around, snapping at anyone within arm’s reach. The only reason she hasn't blown this whole party to hell is because me, the brothers, and a few of the ol’ ladies have been tag-teaming her like she’s a damn fire we’re trying to smother. Every time I turn my back, she’s got someone cornered with that fake smile and those loaded-ass questions.
And it’s only a matter of time before she explodes.
Still, I glance over and see Luna—my niece, Talon’s daughter—laughing with her friends. No clue her whole world just tilted sideways. Her dad’s missing, her mom’s five seconds from throwing a tantrum, and she’s sitting there, full of joy, like none of it exists.
That laugh? It slows my pulse a little.
