Shattered (Shattered Souls MC 1)

What if your club knew? Stay away or they will.

Ice fills my veins and my stomach turns. I read the note several times and close my eyes. I know without a doubt it’s Brooks. He might have Zane fooled, but I know. I can feel it. He probably knows for sure my father had to do with the break ins. This is payback.

I sit in silence, curled up in a ball on the floor. My finger traces the torn pictures of my mother. It’s all I have, my only memories. Brooks knows how special they are to me. He did all this to get me back. To prove he’s tougher than my father. They are both weak assholes, but I’ll admit he got me this time. He’s counting on me telling Zane. He wants the confrontation. I just don’t know what to do. I go over all the scenarios in my head. If I tell him, if I don’t. Neither have me coming out good, but I need to decide what to do.

Without another thought, I grab my phone. “Baby,” I say. As soon as I hear his voice, I lose it. I can’t stop the tears from coming. He keeps asking what’s wrong and telling me he’s on his way, but I suddenly have no words. I just cry listening to him. He’s cursing and trying to soothe me at the same time. It makes my heart hurt more.

“I’m here, I’m coming in,” he yells into the phone and it goes dead.

I still can’t move, I’m frozen to my spot. Tears still running down my face.

“Harper, fuck. Babe,” he’s screaming. I hear his heavy footsteps racing down the hall. He sees me and drops to his knees. “Fuck, babe, are you alright?” He lifts me into his arms and wraps me in his protective embrace. It causes another round of sobs and he holds me tighter, his hands holding onto my hair. My face is buried in his neck, I’m feeling everything. “I’m here, nothing is gonna happen to you.”

I take a deep breath and pull away from his neck. “They left a note,” I say, my voice cracking.

He stands, keeping me pressed against him. He sits on the bed and reads the note. “Fuck.”

“It’s Brooks, isn’t it?”

“I honestly don’t know, babe.” He kisses my head and pulls his phone out. “Kace, get to Harper’s now.”

“They destroyed my mom’s pictures,” I whisper.

“Oh, babe, I’m so fucking sorry. I’m gonna find out who did this. They’re gonna pay. I promise you.”

We’re quiet for a few minutes and I decide this is my time. “It was my club. They are the ones who broke into Adalyn’s and the others. I don’t know why, but I found a mask when I was looking in my father’s office.”

“We know,” he says, holding me tighter.

“I went into his safe, thinking I could find a reason why.” He pulls me back a bit to look at my face. I wish he’d let me keep my head buried, this is the hard part. Tears run down my cheeks again and he brushes them away with his thumb. “The entire thing is filled with pictures of me and men. The men who I’ve been payment for.”

The anger I see take over his face sends a chill down my body. The vein in his neck is pulsing, his jaw is ticking, and his eyes are hard. “He’s dead.”

“Z,” Kace yells, running down the hall. “What the fuck?”

Zane is still staring at me, his body has gone rigid and I beg him silently to relax.

“Harper, are you alright? What the fuck happened?”

I slowly turn my gaze to Kace and nod. “I’m fine.”

“We need to get her back to the club. We have business to handle and she needs to be safe,” Zane says, a calmness to his voice that scares the shit out of me.

“No, Zane. Please, baby,” I beg, as he stands, putting me to my feet.

“Z, what’s going on?” Kace gently asks. He looks at me and I cover my face, sinking back down onto my bed.

The noise makes me jump. I watch Zane punching my door, so fucking hard again and again. I see the blood running down his knuckles and regret wraps around me. I shouldn’t have told him. I should have just destroyed the pictures and never said a word. He’s losing his shit and it’s going to cost him his life.

“Z, relax,” Kace yells, wrapping his arms around him from behind. “We’ll find out who did this. Harper is alright, it’s gonna be fine.”

Zane pushes Kace off him and runs his hands through his hair, pacing my room. “This was Brooks, fuck that asshole. It’s payback for Kingsley going after us,” he says, grabbing the note and throwing it at Kace.

“Fuck,” he mumbles.

Zane turns around and looks at Kace. “I’m gonna kill Kingsley. I’m gonna rip his fucking heart out of his chest while it’s still beating. So I need you to make sure Harper is safe, keep her at the club.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”