PROLOGUE
Breaker
Some Time Ago . . .
“Celia?” Mabel squeaks out, almost sounding a mixture of surprised and nervous.
Cee, who’s by my side, turns to look at Mabel and while I can’t see the expression on her face, I can almost guarantee it’s shock. Cee takes another step and I can actually see how she’s looking at Mabel. Cee swallows hard and her eyes are widening, almost like someone who has something to hide. I’ve never once called her the name Celia, and only know her as Cee, yet she seems to be making some sort of response to it. Is Cee short for Celia?
“That’s not her name. This is Cee, my girlfriend.” I speak plain as day, hoping that if anyone proves me wrong right now it’s going to be Cee, not Mabel. I look at my beautiful woman, the one who’s been the first to make it past all of my walls and wait for her to say something, but she doesn’t. The only person who does is Mabel, and it’s not what I expect.
“Her name is Celia,” Mabel states, looking at me and then glancing over at her friend.
Now everyone in the clubhouse is paying attention to what’s going on. They’re all tuned in to what’s happening, and those who were facing away have now turned their attention to the situation at hand.
There’s no denying that the tension in the room is thick. We’re all waiting for Cee to say anything, but instead there’s a thick, dense quiet.
Ops steps behind his woman and puts a hand on her shoulder. “What’s your full name?” he asks Cee.
Cee takes in a deep breath, clears her throat, and finally after a moment of intense silence speaks. “Celia,”
I don’t know what the fuck to think right now. I’m staring at her, wondering why she wouldn’t tell me something as simple as her full name . . . but there’s only one answer I can come up with. It’s because she’s hiding something from me. I cock an eyebrow at her while I clench my jaw tightly. I’m giving her an opportunity to be honest with me, and yet she doesn’t take it. Instead, she’s staying silent which is only proving her guilt.
Mabel keeps staring at Celia, and brushes her hair behind her neck. She takes a step closer to her, and Mabel nervously looks back at me and then at Celia. The way she’s staring makes me think she believes I’m the bad guy in this scenario.
“What are you doing here?” Mabel asks her. I think she’s going to give Celia time to answer, but she doesn’t. Instead, she keeps continuing. “It’s been a long time. Have you been here the whole time?” Mabel seems to know Celia very well and we know which family Mabel is associated with . . . so now I’m curious if Celia is associated with the Guatemalans too. I mean, I know she’s Latina, but I’ve never asked what nationality she is.
Celia begins walking toward Mabel and Mabel pulls her into a hug, though Celia doesn’t seem so keen on it. She holds onto Celia for a moment, but right as she’s about to let go of her friend, Celia puts her lips against Mabel’s ear.
I can tell Celia is trying to keep her voice as low as possible, but Sarge shoots me a glare which tells me he just heard whatever Celia said to her friend. Fuck, what is going on?
Mabel walks back over to Ops and Celia starts approaching me. “Come on babe, let’s get out of here.” Ah, so that’s how Celia’s playing this. She wants to leave and act like this awkward as fuck situation never happened in the first place.
I look past Celia and stare right into Mabel’s eyes. They’re glazed over, almost like she’s going to start crying. I’m wondering why she’s this upset about what’s going on, which just proves to me even further that something else fishy is going on.
I meet my eyes with my girlfriend’s and nod, then smile. “Sure, we can go, but first, I want to know how you two know each other.” I’m not going to change my mind. She’s going to tell me the truth, and there isn’t another option.
Instead of answering, Celia remains quiet. Hmm, she must be thinking about what the hell she can come up with to get out of this.
I turn and look at Mabel, considering she’s the one who’s more likely to be honest in this situation. “You answer. How do you two know each other?”
Celia’s staring at Mabel coldly, flaring her nostrils.
“We’ve known each other since we were little girls. Our fathers are friends.” Mabel answers, and I look back at my girlfriend, who won’t even give me the decency of looking into my eyes.
I look back at Mabel, and then at Celia. Why the fuck would she keep that from me? Celia would’ve had to see Mabel here at some point. For fuck’s sake, Celia’s been around me so much over these last few weeks.
“Guatemalan?” I ask the million dollar question.
Mabel looks at Celia and I know I must be putting her in an impossible position.
I point to Celia and Mabel nods.
I inhale sharply, finally figuring out what the fuck has been happening. I’ve gone against my club, stripping everyone of their patches when Celia’s the one responsible for all of this. I do my best to keep my cool, but I can’t. I explode in a blind rage. “You’re the fuckin’ rat!”
Celia immediately drops to her knees and that’s all the confirmation I need to know she’s the one responsible for all of this. “Breaker, babe, please, you don’t understand. Don’t kill me. I didn’t have a choice. I was so torn between being an MC queen by your side and pleasing my father.”
She was torn, huh?
“What? You were conflicted?” My voice is like pure acid as it passes through my lips. I can’t be kind to this woman, not after what she’s done. I spit directly on her face. “A real ol’ lady would never have that fuckin’ problem. You would stand by your man through thick and thin, no matter what fuckin’ outside influences there are. All this because of a fuckin’ bitch,” I throw my hands in the air, wanting to do more harm than that, but I will never lay my hands on a woman in that manner. Even if she deserves it, I won’t cross that line. “Agony, Fury, come get this piece of shit and get her out of my sight until I figure out what the fuck to do with her.”
They do exactly as I say and pick her up. When they do, she starts screaming and cursing violently, as if that’s going to change anything. “You won’t fucking get away with this! You don’t know who you’re dealing with! I’m important!”
I can’t hold back anymore. I surge toward her. “You’re not as fuckin’ important as you think. You’re not irreplaceable!”
“Bullshit, I’m not! I’m the leader of the 17’s daughter,” she yells in my face and there’s a sharp draw of breath from behind me.
I turn back, realizing it’s Mabel. “Your father’s position can’t protect you forever, Celia. You have no idea what he’s done and how your decision to tell your father things impacted others.”
Celia swings her head in Mabel’s direction. “You stupid, ignorant bitch. You think you’re so high and mighty because your father is a dealer? No, you’re nobody. You shouldn’t be the one talking to me like this. Not when you don’t even support your father’s lifestyle! You act like you don’t know what he does, but we all know what you’ve been doing, Amabel. You’re lying to yourself because you can’t face the truth. You can’t face the fact that your entire family made their money selling drugs. I’m a daughter who appreciates their father. I was the first one to help him clear the streets of this trash. I’m the one who brought him the asshole drug dealers who went against him!”