Page 80 of Banshee
Navigator
Holy fucking shit!
Rhea Cooper, wife of Kronos, was Gabriella Baudelaire. Morpheus’ missing sister. And fucking Kalden knew where she was the whole fucking time. The son of a bitch was lucky he was dead; though knowing Morpheus, he might find a way to resurrect the fucker just so he could kill him again.
I had to call my father. There was no other option. This wasn’t something I could keep from him without it coming back to bite me in the ass. My relationship with my father was tenuous at best. He played the dear old dad part when it benefitted him.
There were no birthday cards, no Christmas presents or phone calls once a week to catch up on each other’s lives. My father was the furthest thing from a family man that you could get. He was in his sixties, and with each passing year, the idea that he would find a woman and settle down, step down as VP of the Brotherhood of Bastards and back the fuck off my life, got further and further away.
“Why don’t you want him told?” Jingles asked.
I looked at Gabriella. All my life she was a ghost. A myth. A woman who’d disappeared, much like her daughter had, and said fuck you to everyone else. She had no idea of the hell she’d caused when she took off. The path my life took because she was selfish and wanted out of the life.
And not just my life.
Jackson, Gage, Joshua, and Heath. We’d all paid for her disappearance, and it cost us our lives. I glared at the woman as I waited for her to answer. She sat there staring at the table in front of her. Everyone believed she wanted out of the biker world, and here she sat. Old lady and wife of one of the most notorious bikers there was.
“Did he hurt you?” Aspen asked. Gabriella turned to her daughter, but didn’t answer until Aspen asked again, “Did Morpheus hurt you?”
“No, Sugar, he didn’t hurt me. Why I left isn’t important.”
“It is fucking important,” I shouted. “You don’t know what he’s done to find you. The people he’s hurt. The pain he has suffered. The man lost his humanity because you disappeared without a fucking trace. They all have,” I said, slamming my fist on the table. Diesel barked and ran around the table, nudging me with his head.
“Brother, what’s going on?” my president asked.
I dug my hand into Diesel’s fur and took a deep breath. Maybe Banshee had the right idea with these dogs. Diesel laid his head on my knee under the table as I petted him. I could feel my heart rate begin to slow and the anger settle. I swung my eyes to King. “I have to call my father.”
King glared at me. “You don’t have a fucking father.”
I stood from my seat and lifted my shirt, showing everyone in the room the tattoo inked over my heart. Diesel whined at my feet as I confessed, “My father is Cerberus.”
Gabriella gasped. “Zachary?” She stood and moved around her son’s men until she stood in front of me. She reached her hand out to touch me, and I stepped back, letting my shirt fall and cover my chest. “I held you in my arms the day you were born.” A tear slipped down her cheek, and she wiped it away. “Your mother was my friend.”
“I never knew my mother; she was murdered.”
“I know. I’m so sorry, Zachary. I wish I could have stopped him.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. “What?” I rasped.
“He was the reason I ran. He knew I’d seen him kill her.”
“Who?”
Gabriella shook her head. She turned her back on me to step away, and I grabbed her arm.
“Who killed my mother?” I growled.
Kronos leapt from his seat and stomped toward me. Diesel moved in front of me, guarding me as I stood holding Gabriella hostage. He snarled and barked, baring his teeth at Kronos, halting him in his steps.
“Who killed my mother, Gabriella?”
“Get your hands off my wife, motherfucker.”
The Gods of Mayhem fanned out around the table but were met with resistance when my brothers blocked their path.
“Zach, let her go, brother.”
I looked into the eyes of Eros. “Fuck you, Gage.” Returning my attention to Gabriella, I snarled, “Who fucking killed her?” I saw her wince, but my hand only gripped her arm harder.
