Page 17 of Karma
Apparently, Nero is a mystery.
Before Colt can ask, Brock walks from the room to get his laptop as others filter in from their apartments. The mass message clearly fulfilled its intended effect.
Lex turns to walk away, but VP grabs her arm and whips her back around to face him. “Lex, I mean it. Where the fuck did you hear that name from?”
“From him,” she bites back, yanking her arm from his grasp. The way she looks at her arm, it’s as though she just escaped a snake bite. “So, it’s true? What he told me?”
Colt walks over and looks between father and daughter who wear drastically different expressions. His wife looks livid while VP looks… scared.
“He’s not right in the head, Lex. You need to stay as far away from him as possible,” VP says, his voice shaking. “He’s dangerous, and he’ll hurt you.”
“Hurt her?” Colt echoes, suddenly very invested in finding out who this Nero guy is.
Her father looks at his son-in-law, and it startles Colt. He pleads with Colt, something he’s never done before. “Tell her to stay the hell away from him. I’m serious, Colt. Nero’s fucking insane, and it makes him even more dangerous than anything we’ve ever faced before.”
“Who is he?”
“VP’s oldest son,” Lex says as she glares at her father.
Looking around, Colt looks for an Original Ten in the room. He’d never heard anything about VP having another kid, but others likely would have. As though conjured up, his father walks into the clubhouse with Diesel Short right behind him.
“What’s going on? We got a message saying, and I quote,Shit’s about to go down. Come watch a bloodbath.What’s up?” TK asks.
Colt’s best friend and Vice President, Ky Short, looks at their fathers with narrowed eyes. “Do you guys know a kid named Nero Sanders?”
Stopping in his tracks, Diesel glares at VP. “They know about Nero?”
“Wait, you know about him?” Lex asks, her eyes wide as she gapes at the man who’s been more of a father to her than VP ever has been. “Does everyone fucking know?”
“He’s not healthy,” TK says. “Whatever you think you know about him, you gotta stay away. He showed up when Zane was… what? Two or three? He’s crazy.”
“Tried to skin a cat when he was four. While it was still alive,” Diesel says and rubs his bald head. “At least, that’s what VP told us.”
Swallowing, VP lets out a shaky breath. “He has psychological problems. I saw the issues when he was only three, but his mother refused to. I took him to see a doctor after the cat incident without her knowledge, and they diagnosed him with many things I don’t even remember. Their recommendation was to lock him up because he’s a danger to himself and others.”
“What’s his mom’s name?” Brock asks, suddenly appearing at a high-top table beside them with his laptop.
“Kelly Sanders,” Lex says.
Colt looks at Brock. “Why is that name familiar?”
“I’m not sure,” he says before adding, “Oh, fuck.”
“What?” Colt asks.
Eyes wide, he looks up at Colt. “I found his birth certificate, which VP isn’t listed on. It’s why I didn’t find him before.”
Lex turns and tilts her head. “Find him before? I thought you didn’t know about Nero?”
“We didn’t,” Colt asks. “What’s the issue?”
“Nero Sanders is NeroPhillipSanders.”
Nodding, his wife looks between them, suspicion on her face. “Yeah, he said he goes by his middle name. What’s… Why do you both look like that?”
Clenching his fists at his sides, Colt steps further away from his father-in-law. The temptation to knock his ass out becomes nearly compulsive at this point, and he needs to keep his cool.
“I asked if anyone knew someone named Phillip months ago when Gerard mentioned it. This motherfucker, who you claim is dangerous, has that name. And you didn’t think to mention it to… I don’t know? The rest of us?”
