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Drake glowered and stomped off. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ellen whip her phone out. Any moment now, Phoe would be getting a call updating her that Carmelle was here.
“Take a seat, both of you,” he ordered on entering his office. “What happened?”
“As said, Fury located her. As we left her street, Fangs turned the other end. Only Anderson and I knew where Carmelle was being hidden, and neither of us leaked it,” Ghost explained.
“So you brought her here?” Drake asked, keeping his voice even. It had been over a year since he had found out about hissister, but he’d shoved it to one side because he wasn’t ready to handle it. Not only was Carmelle an unexpected surprise, she was also unwelcome because her grandfather was none other than Fury himself.
Ghost claimed Carmelle and her two kids had been kidnapped and held captive by Romeo Santos. He only had Ghost’s word for that. And the one time she’d been seen, she was escaping in Santos’s helicopter with the children. Drake, right now, didn’t want anyone linked to Fury in his clubhouse, but he was facing his half-sister. And truthfully, Carmelle didn’t look too friendly towards him either.
“Oh, believe me, if I did not have to be here, I wouldn’t. As soon as Ghost finds another safe house, we’re gone,” Carmelle spoke, and Drake stared at her.
“I don’t know you or trust you,” he said bluntly.
Carmelle laughed, and it was bitter enough to make Drake flinch. “I’ve already guessed you don’t need me in your life. I’m Arrow’s dirty secret, although Mom always claimed he died before she told him. With you knowing I have existed for over a year, and you haven’t reached out once, believe me, I know you don’t want us around,” Carmelle spat. There was anger and hurt in her eyes, and Drake held her gaze.
“The DNA results tell me my father was also yours. But I don’t know you, for all I’m aware, you might be Fury’s clone,” Drake replied.
“Except the one time I met Fury, he murdered my husband,” Carmelle’s voice hitched, but she continued, “and he ordered me to be kidnapped. That’s all the information I have about that motherfucking scumbag, and even that is too much. I want nothing of your club wars, spilling of innocent blood, and territorial fights. All Fury wants from me is my bloodline and my daughters. He’ll force me to marry some little prick to grab Rage, as I’m also Arrow’s legacy, and so are my babies. Santos tookgreat glee in explaining what would happen to me, Shannon, and Sadie when they turned sixteen.
“That vile piece of shit even assured me that as soon as they began their periods, they’d be claimed by a man who’d teach them how to be a wife. I’d slit their throats before I allow that to happen. I do not like you, I don’t like Rage, and I hate the fact that your situation has killed my husband and ruined my family,” Carmelle spat.
Drake blinked in the face of her anger even as his own temper rose. It stung because what she was saying was the truth.
“Don’t blame me for Fury killing your husband. This MC was mine by rights, and Fury doesn’t like it. That old motherfucker hates that I took Da’s club back and turned it into a clean, successful MC. You wanna blame someone, blame your grandfather,” Drake hissed.
Carmelle looked at Drake, and he saw sadness in her eyes again.
“That monster has nothing to do with me except the fact he was my maternal grandfather and kidnapper and murderer of my husband,” Carmelle snarled. Rage flashed across her face. “Place him before me right now, and I’ll put a bullet in his fucked-up head. Beau was a good man, and I loved him. He tried to protect us, and as we fled out the back door, Fury killed him. I want to bathe in his blood.”
Drake blinked at the hate in her voice and wondered if he’d made a mistake. When he found out about his sister, he’d been excited. Another living family member. And then the bullshit began with the Venomous Fangs, and Drake shoved her aside. He told himself he was doing it to keep her safe, but if he was completely honest, he didn’t trust her. Drake had allowed self-doubts and his dislike of Fury to take away the precious fact he had a sibling.
Even now, looking at Carmelle’s expressions, there wasn’t any deception. Shit, her emotions were clearly displayed on her face, but Drake still held back.
“With everything happening around us, sorry if making you my priority didn’t go down well,” Drake sneered.
“Did I ask to be that? Or anything else to you? After the first month of discovering I had a brother, the excitement died down when it became clear you’d no interest in me or my daughters. We don’t need you, and now we certainly don’t want you. Ghost, I’m finished here. Take me and the girls somewhere safe until this bullshit is ended. Stay out of my way, Drake, and I’ll stay out of yours,” Carmelle snapped.
“That’s going to be hard as you’re coming home with me,” Phoe stated from the door, and Drake wished he could bang his forehead on the table.
“That’s not happening,” Drake and Carmelle responded together.
“I’ve no idea who the hell you are,” Carmelle added.
“My wife,” Drake ground out.
Carmelle studied Phoe from head to toe and assumed a blank look again.
“So, you are the famous Phoenix Michaelson.”
“And you’re my husband’s sister. Carmelle Travers—and those two gorgeous girls out there are my nieces. My husband is a bonehead at times and stubborn to his core. Ghost, there is nowhere safer than Reading Hall, and you can’t deny it. Should Fury send another wave at us, we’ve the basement. In fact, I’m putting you all in the Lilac Bedroom, which has its own secure panic room. Should we be attacked, Carmelle and the girls will be fine,” Phoe said as she marched across the floor and placed a hand on Drake’s shoulder.
For once, her touch didn’t soothe him. Drake was riled at being confronted by his sister unexpectedly, and worse, Phoe now wanted her to move in. He was resentful of both situations.
“Not Reading Hall. That puts a target on the kids,” Drake snapped.
“They already have targets on their backs. Fury placed those there. And you are mad at everything that you can’t control, but Carmelle and those babies didn’t cause this war. An evil man did. Rage, RCPD, and allies will put him down like the mongrel he is. But for now, your sister,your blood, needs help, and you’re going to help,” Phoe ordered and squeezed his shoulder hard.
Drake shrugged her hand off and glowered at Carmelle. He found it difficult to meet her eyes. They just kept reminding him of Arrow and what they’d all lost and then suffered when Bulldog took over. Those damnable eyes of hers.
