Page 39 of Massacre
I sat there looking at the picture and all I could see was Massacre. His smiling face, so proud as he stood next to his little brother and his beautiful family.
Tears streamed down my face as I stared at the picture.
He had what I wanted. A family. There was no mistaking the love shining in Massacre’s eyes.
“Amber.” Haizley’s voice cut through the quiet of the room. “What are you feeling, sweetie? Talk to me.”
Slowly shaking my head, I sniffed. “I can’t do this. I need to leave.”
“I know what you are thinking, Amber,” I heard Remi whisper.
“No, you don’t!” I yelled, glaring at the pregnant woman. “You weren’t there! You didn’t know what those sick bastards did to me. They never stopped. They...”
“They held me down and, one after the other, took their turn raping me. They told me Reaper didn’t want me anymore. That he threw me away like trash and that I was theirs to do with as they pleased. They beat me so badly, I could barely open my eyes. When I went away into myself, they beat me some more. They cut off all my hair and urinated on me, and that was just on a good day. So, trust me, Amber, when I say I fucking know what they did to you because they did it to me, too,” Remi said, her eyes as cold as steel as she looked directly at me, tears rolling down her beautiful face.
As Remi spoke, my blood ran cold, and the trauma of my past threatened to overwhelm me. I had survived the unthinkable at the hands of the Golden Skulls, and now, here I was, facing them again. My mind raced with questions: Was this some cruel twist of fate? Had my past finally caught up with me? I felt trapped, my exile now a cage of my own making. The rain outside mirrored the storm raging within me, blurring the world beyond as if it, too, were uncertain.
Reggie shifted and sighed. “You may hate the Golden Skulls for what the Louisiana club did to you, Amber, but that chapter was not what the real Golden Skulls are about. Yeah, they wore our patch, but they lost their way and they paid with their lives. I know nothing I say right now will make you trust me, but know this. Every one of my brothers in this clubhouse will die protecting you. Not because of what you survived, but because of this,” he said, reaching into his jacket, pulling out a Golden Patch. Handing it to me, he added, “This is my patch, Amber. I want you to have it. No matter where you are, if you need me, I will come. Family protects family. Always.”
My head snapped to his as he placed his patch in my hands. Holding onto it, I ran my finger over the raised threading, tracing the Golden Skull as Remi stood and opened the door.
I looked up as another brother walked in, kneeled before me, then ripped his patch off his arm before handing it to me. One by one, brother after another, walked into my room, saying nothing, just kneeling before me as they offered me their patch. And when Remi walked over, her hand clasped with a handsome man, she stepped to the side as he kneeled before me, laying two swords at my feet.
“On my honor, you will have my blades until the day I die. You are my family, Amber. Forever and always.”
Looking around my room at all the Golden Skulls standing, staring at me, I considered their actions, their words, as my mind raced. Family was not a concept I was familiar with, but the idea of belonging somewhere, of having a place among these people, stirred something deep within me. And when I saw him cautiously walk in, I gasped.
He was here.
Getting to my feet, my hands full of Golden Skull patches, I ran to the man who promised to protect me forever.
Chapter Fifteen
Massacre
“Why am I down here?” Amber asked as I wrapped my arms around her, watching as King paced the main room, muttering something under his breath, while Reaper stood off to the side, with our club’s VP, Ghost and the Silver Shadow’s VP, Cash. Neither man saying a damn word.
“Shush, baby,” I whispered. “Just listen.”
“What’s it gonna be, King?” Reaper eventually asked, looking bored.
“It’s not that simple, Reaper,” King snarled as he looked around the room. Brothers from both clubs sat, waiting, watching for any clue why this meeting was being held in the main room and not in church. I fucking knew, but Reaper ordered me to keep my fucking trap shut or he would cut out my tongue.
I believed him.
“I can’t make this decision. I’m not the president of the Mother Chapter.”
“That reminds me.” Reaper scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why the fuck not?”
At that, every one of the Silver Shadow brothers stiffened and paid close attention. I knew where Reaper was going with this. The Mother Chapter president was a dick. I’d worked with Steele before. I wouldn’t trust that motherfucker with a stick of gum.
“Why what?”
“Why aren’t you the president of the Mother Chapter?”
King looked at Reaper, then at Cash, who shrugged. Turning, he looked around the room at the brothers in the Silver Shadows and said, “Because Steele is.”
“Steele is a fucking dick.” Reaper sighed.
