Page 42 of Graveyards & Greed
“Shut. Up. You’re going to tell me what the fuck’s going on. One of our employee’s kids was raped by a fuckingbiker, you’re at Titties with Drakos Fucking Creed, and MC members are going missing.” His voice got louder, and he ran his fingers through his hair. “Talk!”
I shook my head. “You just told me to shut up. So which is it? Do you want me to talk or shut up?”
He growled and Ezra sighed loudly. “Quit bickering, you two. Sylvie, tell us what happened.”
“Camilla begged me not to say anything. The only reason I found out was because Trina called me from the hospital, frantic.”
Kilian shook his head. “If an MC member raped her, it was aimed at the Spade family. We need to know who it was.”
I started pacing. “Camilla is… struggling. She’s stopped going to school and won’t leave Trina’s apartment. God, this is my fault.”
“It isn’t, Sylvie,” Ezra murmured quietly.
“It is, okay?” To my profound embarrassment, my voice cracked. “If I hadn’t spent time with them, maybe they wouldn’t have targeted her. Her attacker could have seen us at the park playing chess, or at her robotics competitions, or even here at the mortuary.” My throat closed and I struggled to finish. “Why didn’t they come aftermeinstead?”
Fenn swore under his breath and Ezra flinched.
“Do you know who her attacker is?” Kilian asked quietly.
“Was. He’s no longer breathing.”
Fenn nodded, and Ezra paled and slowly sat back. “Please tell me someone else took care of him.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want us to start a war with a goddamned motorcycle gang if the man acted alone.”
“Did Drakos do it for you?” Ezra asked hopefully.
“No. I told you,Itook care of it, and your gender bias is showing, Grandpa.”
A faint frown tugged on Ezra’s lips. “That’s not true.” I raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged faintly. “Alright, maybe it’s a little true. I’m sorry, sometimes I’m a product of my era.”
“He needed to die, and I got the job done. That’s all you need to know.”
Fenn grunted and pulled out his phone. “If you aren’t going to tell us the whole story, I’ll get it another way.” He walked out into the chapel area to make his call.
“You’re a lot like your mother. Even if she was drowning, she’d try to save everyone around her first,” Ezra murmured. For all her faults, Mom had been a strong champion of the marginalized and downtrodden.
“Minus the flair for dramatic, permanent exits,” I muttered, then winced. Maybe I was still a little angry at her.
He looked down at the scars on my arms. “If you keep trying to save everyone but yourself, you may end up making a dramatic, permanent exit yourself.” Sometimes, the truth cut a little too close to the bone.
I heard Fenn raise his voice out in the hall. “Who is he calling?” I wondered.
“The only other person who knows what happened that night,” Kilian replied calmly.
My eyes went wide. “Oh, damn,” I whispered.
Chapter 17
Drakos
I stood in front of Motorheads, glaring at the broken window and bullet holes in the building. Diego and Ivan stood next to me, and Ivan studied his iPad screen.
“It’s the same vehicle used in the drive-by that hit the Spade compound. We need to find out if the Club is condoning this, or if it’s just Terrance and his boys,” he muttered as he went through the security video.
I wanted to call Sylvie and check in with her, but I knew the Salazar funeral was today. This morning, I had a gut instinct to send Milo over to guard her. Pulling out my phone, I texted him and let him know what had happened.
Then I exhaled a long breath. “It’s time to start working with the House of Spades.”
