Page 10 of Bane's Beginning

At the bar, when I asked her why she was in town, she said because she was going through a really bad breakup. She said that the fucker had a tendency to hang around after they got into it and needed the space to figure shit out. Was that a lie, too, or was some guy bothering her back home? I wondered if Ares would change his tune about her sticking around if he knew there were some fucking numb nuts chasing her away.

“Ares, are you fucking kidding me?”

I heard Serena, Ares’ ol’ lady scream at him. Serena glared at him. She might’ve been one of the sweetest women I’d ever met, but she had no problem putting Ares in his place. Now that it was official and they were having a kid together, we thought all the bumpy roads were behind them. Of course, that has changed since he lied about having a sister to her and all of the brothers. I didn’t know what the fucker was thinking. He knew his girl was big on family and that this could have been something she would have a hard time getting over.

“Babe, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about Thea. It’s complicated.”

She scoffed in his face, and I laughed. She was a fucking hellcat, too.

“What’s complicated about saying, ‘hey Serena, I have a sister,’” she said in her best impression of a manly voice. “How old is she even?”

At that question, my ears perked up and I stood up a little straighter. God, please let this be good news, I silently prayed to myself.

“She’s 21,” he replied.

Thank fuck. Not as old as I hoped, but old enough to not get me fucking locked up. But, why did she need a fake ID then?

“Look, babe. I don’t want you to worry about this. I’m going to fix it okay.”

“You sure fucking are, Ares. I promise you,” she said to him as she dug a finger into his chest. “You’ll be sleeping on the couch every night until you fix your relationship with her. Did you see her face? She thinks you completely abandoned her and got a new family!”

Tears began to well in her eyes and I knew the waterworks were coming. Poor girl. As I said, Serena is big on family. She’s also the biggest empath ever, which makes her the best, and the worst doctor ever. She had to switch to a family practice from an ER after she couldn’t take seeing so many people not getting better. That’s just the type of person she was. Too nice for her own good, and I knew seeing the hurt in Thea’s eyes really ate her, too.

Hell, it had to eat at all of us who witnessed that. The heartbreak she had in her eyes when her brother told her that he was getting married and having a kid was almost gut-wrenching, but as quickly as it flashed there, it was gone. I knew she was puttingon a front for everyone who was watching, which made me want to run over to her and take her away from all of the pain.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to figure out what the fuck was going on and why Thea was here now looking for her brother after all of these years. If some prick was having a hard time letting her go, I would chase him down myself and make sure he got the fuck over it. I don’t know why I was already so protective of her. We had only spent one night together, but I knew there was more to her than what she was letting on. When I was watching her from across the club last night, her eyes were full of darkness and secrets, not the eyes of a carefree, twenty-one-year-old college kid needing a change of scenery.

“Hey,” I butted in. “I texted the prospect at the gate and told him not to let anyone out, so she is stuck here until you figure out what the fuck to do. You got twenty minutes and then I’m calling for church. If you’re not a voting member, then your ass better not be in my chapel!”

I yelled the last part to all of the brothers in the room so they knew that this wasn’t a typical meeting. No, we were going to get to the bottom of this and figure out what the fuck Ares was thinking about lying to us.

***

THEA

I sat in my car outside of the clubhouse. The beating sun was making my forehead sweat.

“Can you open the damn gate?” I yelled at the guy who had let me in earlier.

“Nope,” he sassed back at me and turned away.

“Have you lost your ever-loving mind? If you don’t let me out, that’s kidnapping and I will kick your ass and make you open the gate,” I growled at him.

That just made him laugh in my face.

“Sorry, sweetheart. It’s Prez’s orders that I don’t open these gates for no one, and seeing as you already lied your way in here, you’re not going to lie your way out.”

Really? He was mad because I told a little white lie, I thought. It wasn’t like he asked me for a security passcode or even my fucking name.

“Okay, I tried to be nice, but now I’m getting Stella,” I said with my hands raised.

“Go ahead, bring your little chick friend. Still not getting out of here,” he mocked me.

Asswipe. I stepped back to my car to get Stella. I popped open the glove box. Stella sat right where I’d left her.

My fuck-around-and-find-out.

I aimed my gun toward the sky at an upward angle and fired off a round. The shot echoed through trees and the quiet area around us. Birds flocked up toward the skyline after the sudden disruption.