Free Betrayed (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 2) by Michelle Betham

confuse me, and I don’t want to hurt him again. I’ve hurt him enough, and like I said, he deserves better than me. So I have to suck it up and make things right with Zeb. If I knew where the hell he was, because his bike isn’t here. And I get straight back on mine because I know Mack’s only inside, and he might come looking for me, to see why I didn’t answer my phone, and I’m not ready for that conversation. I need to find Zeb…
     
     
    Zeb
     
    ‘Is he right, Sam? Is my father telling me the fucking truth?’
    I had to confront him, had to find out if what Kes told me is true because I’m still struggling to get my head around this shit. And Sam, man, I thought I was one cold-hearted bastard but this guy – he’s made of freakin’ stone!
    ‘So, he thought coming to you first was a good idea, huh?’
    ‘Is it fucking true, Sam? ‘Cause I ain’t in no mood for games.’
    ‘I want him dead, yes.’
    ‘You’re still bearing a grudge? After all these years?’
    He raises an eyebrow and walks over to a bag on the table. We’re in his basement, because that’s where he likes to stash his arsenal of weapons. He’s got this place kitted out just like our old one, a vast empty space filled with shelves and cupboards all housing guns and knives and Christ knows what else he’s got hidden away in here, I don’t always ask ‘cause I don’t always wanna know. Sometimes I wonder just how dangerous a man Sam really is. ‘You think I should just forget about what your father did?’ He reaches into the bag and pulls out a large, ash-black pistol, turning it over and over in his hand. And then he looks up at me. ‘Hmm? You want me to just let this go?’
    ‘I didn’t fucking say that, Sam.’
    ‘So, what do you want me to do, Zeb?’
    ‘I want you to tell me if he’s telling the truth. You want me to kill him?’
    He says nothing for a beat or two and I watch as he continues to turn the gun over in his hand. ‘He’s telling the truth. Although, I have no idea how he worked that out. I guess your father is a more astute man than I give him credit for. Maybe we’re not that different after all.’
    ‘Why me, huh? Why not get another of your stooges to gun him down? Why involve me?’
    ‘You don’t think he should be punished? For what he did?’
    ‘Why now, huh? Why now, after all these years? Why didn’t you just kill him when you found out what he’d done?’
    ‘Because I was more concerned about getting to know my son, Zeb. Back then your father was nothing but a distraction, and I was feeling generous. I wanted to face him, see just who the man was; had he felt any guilt, any remorse… was he sorry for what he’d done? I wanted to see the brother I hadn’t even known I’d had.’
    ‘And? Did you see any guilt, or feel any remorse from him?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘So why let him go? Why not just deal with him there and then? Why all of this ?’
    ‘I had other things on my mind, Zeb. And like I said, I was feeling generous. I decided to give Kes a second chance. And that’s where you came in. You come and work for me, and he gets to go some place I don’t know about. He gets to go live a life far away from me, but what he didn’t tell you was that life of freedom was only going to last as long as he kept his head down. The second I knew where he was,   it was over.’
    I frown slightly, because this isn’t making any sense. ‘Huh? So, hang on… you told him to go, to keep his head down and… what the hell was this, Sam? Some twisted game of hide and seek?’
    ‘If you like, yes. In a way that’s exactly what it was. And now I’ve found him, the game’s over.’
    ‘You still haven’t explained why you want me to kill him.’
    ‘Because it’ll be a true test of your character, Zeb. And sometimes we all have to do something in this life that we aren’t completely at ease with.’
    ‘This ain’t my fight, Sam.’
    ‘Are you backing away from a challenge?’
    ‘This is