Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,128

strong. Still as powerful as he'd been when I was younger. And if it weren't for Mom's death, then he'd have been leading the Sinners and I'd just be his VP.

"Rex?"

He couldn't die. Not like this. This couldn't be the end.

The doctors kept on telling me he'd pull through, but I wasn't sure I believed them.

I wasn't sure who I could believe right now.

Dad had been coming home with a storm cloud hanging over him, one that spoke of years’ worth of cover ups. Cover ups that he'd been hiding from me.

Me.

The fucking Prez of the Sinners.

A man who wielded his own goddamn battalion of men. His own personal, private fucking army.

Of course, the second he'd shared that news with me, had told me about the LEAs who were stitching up ex-cons, this happened.

The clubhouse was no more.

The compound was a wreckage.

We'd lost men and clubwhores.

And all while a pair of corpses decomposed in a bath of fucking lye on our property.

It was a wonder we hadn't been hauled into jail. We had pull, but not with the fucking Feds. The O'Donnellys had more reach than we did with the alphabet agencies, and they could help, but—

"Rex?"

The voice was like a buzzing in my ear, and I wanted to bat at it with my hand. Shoo it off like it was a fucking mosquito, but then soft fingers squeezed my shoulder, and the scent of lilies and citrus filled my nostrils.

I felt her behind me, moving closer, turning into me, and I twisted around, unable to stop myself from burrowing my face in her stomach.

We spent half the time at odds even though we worked for the same team, but she was here when I needed her.

Just like she'd always be.

Just like I'd always be there for her.

Her hand moved to my hair, and she started stroking it, smoothing over the strands, soothing me like I was a kid.

Any other time, I'd have probably shooed her away, but this wasn't any other time.

"I'm being a pussy," I rasped, and my throat hurt, which keyed me into the fact that they were probably the first words I'd spoken in a while.

I wasn't even sure how long I'd been here, how long Dad had...

"You're being a son. It's always hard when family dies or gets hurt," she said sadly. "But Bear is family to all of us, Rex. You know that. We're all hurting."

I bit the inside of my cheek at that, because I knew she was right. My parents had been my council's folks too.

Theirs had mostly been a pile of shit, but mine had big enough hearts for a bunch of rag tag little fuckers who'd come to lead the Sinners someday.

I highly doubted my dad had seen that much potential in us back then, of course. If I asked Rachel, she'd say there was no potential to waste when you led the council of an MC club and not a corporation.

I made more fucking money than a legitimate corporation and paid less tax. Who the fuck wanted to be the President of an LLC when you could rule over an MC?

"The doctors are positive—"

"Positive about what? Even if he makes it, you know how hard it was for Maverick to adjust to life in a fucking wheelchair. How's a man like Bear going to deal with it?"

She cleared her throat. "About Mav..."

I frowned, peering up at her when she hesitated. "What is it?"

"Maverick's just gotten out of the hospital too."

"He has? What the fuck happened?"

"He tried to go into the clubhouse for something. Debris landed on him." She cleared her throat. Again. Never a good sign. Rachel wasn’t the nervous type. ”He’s forgotten, well, I don't know if he's forgotten or if he's just gone back in time." She squeezed my shoulder. "Rex, he can walk."

My nostrils flared. "You're fucking with me," I rasped out.

Only, she was shaking her head. "I'm not. I know it's crazy."

"Crazy? It's fucked up is what it is. You mean to tell me that bastard has been living in a wheelchair when he didn't need to? We couldn't get him to do any of the PT—how the fuck can he walk?"

She shrugged. "You'll have to ask him. As it stands, he's mostly confused right now, so he won't even remember hiding his mobility from you. You'll need to wait for answers, I'm afraid."

My mouth firmed into a grim line. I was happy for my brother, just confused as fuck as to why he'd choose