Royce is to my right, with Khaos on the left. Beside Khaos is Kirby, Psyko, and Felon, and then beside Royce is Pope and Rellik, the other members. I wasn’t mad that we lost a bunch of them when I took over presidency. The fucking whole lot of them were run by an idiot. They left the same way they came.

“Thank you for being there tonight,” I start, looking around at them all. “I mean it. This isn’t something you have to take on, it’s mine, but I appreciate the support.”

“Brother, we are here to stay. What is yours is ours…” Psyko says, his arms spreading wide. One of his eyes are pure white from being shot when he was a kid. Psyko, from what I’ve heard, is one of the loyal brothers we have in the MC.

“Hear, hear,” they all sound out around the table.

“Brother,” Royce murmurs, staring at me from over his glass. “Continue.”

“My old lady’s old man isn’t who we thought he was. Not her old man. Was cooking her up all along for me to send her back to Skully—who happens to be her biological father.” I lean back in my chair, flicking my unlit cigar between my fingers. “There’s something I’m missing.” I rack my brain for the missing pieces.

“I don’t know.” Khaos lights his cigarette, bringing it to his lips. “I think it’s pretty fucking black and white, brother.” He flicks the ash. “Skully sent you in, got you to whack off your fake parents, which he knew were part of the Bratva, and Mik’s parents, which would draw attention to Victor who killed yours, which gave him a reason to bring home two stray cats, and the wife and Ruby wouldn’t think anything of it. That way you could do your mission and gain Ruby’s trust enough to take her without it being a display that would hit the headlines of every fucking news agency. Old man Victor found out about you being of Sicilian blood, and after your initiation, found out about Mikhail being after him for the parents thing and the set-up from Skully so faked his death for a couple years.”

“But that’s the thing.” I roll the fat trunk of my cigar between my fingers. “Why would he kill Pearl? Even his last words to Ruby were that he loved her mother.”

“Fuck. Probably should have got that out of him before we sent him off to the butcher, huh?” Felon jokes, smirking at me from the end of the table.

“Nah, he wouldn’t have told us shit…” Royce plays with the Zippo in his hand. “Wicked is right. Something ain’t right. Did Victor even ever find out about her mother if it wasn’t him? Who offed her?”

I shake my head. “I don’t fucking know.”