Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 114647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
The distaste for the name was beyond anything I’ve ever known a kid to show for something like a name. Normally it’s reserved for broccoli, or scorpions. Not a name though.
“Yes, I know. I just don’t understand why you’re going by Janie when your name is Caroline Jeanine. Caroline is a good strong name.” Silas winced as he sat down carefully.
“Cause my daddy wanted to call me Janie, that’s why.” Janie said stubbornly, but still gave him a pillow to prop up on so he would be more comfortable.
“My apologies, Janie.” Silas whispered solemnly.
“Can someone tell me why the hell he’s in our house? Better yet, someone get him the hell out.” Cheyenne fumed in the corner of the room with her arms crossed across her chest.
Silas gave Cheyenne a long thorough look before coming to some sort of decision. “My boy picked a good woman. What would you do for him, Cheyenne? Would you fight for him? Kill for him? Leave him? Let him go if that’s what he wanted?” Silas volleyed the questions at her one after the other, and with each question, Cheyenne’s ire became more confusion than not.
“If that’s what it took. I’d do absolutely anything.” She agreed.
“That’s what I thought. Maybe you and my boy need to take a step back and think of it from my side of things. Do you not think I had reasons for doing the things I did? Do you think it was easy to do anything to my boy? Kids are supposed to have what Janie here has; not what my babies had. I did my best though, and I think I’ve finally met my match.” He was whispering gruffly by the time he finished. Pain was etched on his face, but this time, it wasn’t because of physical pain, but emotional.
The sound of Sam’s Suburban pulled up outside, and I saw on Cheyenne’s face that she was torn. She didn’t want to hurt Sam, but she knew what Silas had to say might potentially change his whole outlook on his childhood, and maybe even his entire life. Just like I did as soon as Sebastian told us a little of it the other morning. Only, not once in the past few weeks had I told Sam what I’d learned, and I didn’t know how the outcome would turn out by the end of this meeting.
One thing was for sure, and that was that lives would most assuredly be irrevocably changed.
***
Sam sat on the recliner. His head was in his hands, and he looked fucking defeated.
It was hard to see.
Sam has always been bigger than life to me. When I was a green-nosed, hot-shot sniper all of twenty two, Max and I were selected to join a covert-ops team. We’d thought we were bad asses, and Sam was the first one to prove us wrong. He pushed us so hard that we wanted to quit, but only the knowing smile on Sam’s face that showed he knew we wouldn’t cut it kept us going.
It was only later that we found out Sam had the upmost respect for us. He’d told us that he’d never seen two people work harder to become someone that was needed. He’d told us that he was proud of us, would always trust us at his back, and would be honored if we’d protect his for him as well.
Never in my ten years of knowing the man had I seen him quite so defeated. Even when we’d been in impossible situations and staring down the gun of a M-14 did he look like this.
“Tell me one more time.” Sam demanded of his father.
“I don’t know what’s going to change in between the third time and the fourth, Samuel Cash.” Silas rasped.
“Please...” Sam left the request hanging, and he was rewarded when Silas continued. A-fucking-gain.
“The summer I met your mother was my first infiltration into a MC that was known for chain-raping women, filming it, and then selling the videos. They also had a lucrative stable, as well as some coke running on the side. The first time I saw your mother was the day that they normally did the grabs. She’d been in the cross hares of one of my ‘brothers’ when I claimed her. I didn’t know what else to do. Goddamn mission and all that shit didn’t care about a few casualties. They were looking at the bigger picture. So, I did what I had to do, only they wanted to film me taking her the first time as my initiation into the club. That was my test. I passed with flying colors.” He snarled.
Sam’s fists went tight at his forehead, but he didn’t interrupt as he’d done the previous three times. Instead, he stayed seated. Oh, don’t get me wrong, he was pissed, but he wasn’t going to interrupt this time.
“That’s the day you were conceived. I kept your mother separate from the club. I fell in love with your mother, head over heels. However, the club didn’t do monogamy, and I wasn’t expected to either. Not wanting them to hurt my ‘citizen wife’ as they called her, I found Lettie. That’s where your brother and sister came in. I had an ‘ol lady, that was aware of what went down in the club to an extent, and then I had your mother, my real wife in the eyes of God and the government.”
Sebastian smothered an oath from the recliner beside Sam, but he still looked calm and collected. He’d heard the explanation before, but I’m sure he was still just as affected now as he was then.
“So then what?” Sam asked.
His voice was tight and controlled. No emotion was leaked from it whatsoever.
“I stayed in the CIA. They felt it’d be paramount for me to stay in the club. Make a name for myself. By the time you were three, I’d made so many enemies, and it wasn’t safe for me to leave The Agency, nor the club, which was well on the road to being completely legal. The club became my home. After routing out the shit, making the businesses legit, what was left became mine. By then your mother already hated me. She knew about the club. Knew she wasn’t welcome there, even though by that point it was safe for her if she’d been interested in becoming a part of it. Knew I had a woman on the side. Then there was my so called ‘second in command.’”