I had good memories of Blue. He’d always been a strong male presence in my life. Dad hadn’t wanted us to spend a lot of time with him, but Mum had snuck visits in when she could. Looking back now, I realised it was thanks to Blue that I’d learnt how to treat a woman right. He’d had a long-time girlfriend who he’d cherished, and I’d watched them for years, taking in the way he showed his love for her.
“Your father and I always had a hard relationship. I chose not to join Storm even though our family had a long history of membership with my father and his father before him. Dad supported my decision not to join, but Marcus belittled me for it. I had little respect for Marcus, but Sharon wanted him in her life, so I stood by her choice and watched out for her. Then I met Miranda and I knew she’d be the woman I would spend the rest of my life with. We never married, but we didn’t need that. What we did need, though, was for Marcus to leave her alone…” He stopped talking and swallowed hard as his hands clenched.
My gut churned. I sensed he was about to tell me something ugly about my father. As if there weren’t enough ugly truths about him already.
I was right.
Blue’s eyes met mine and the pain I saw there hit me in the chest. When I flicked my gaze to Mum, I took in her ashen face. This wasn’t going to be easy to hear, but it had to be said. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but the understanding sat deep in my soul that we needed this out on the table in order for us all to move forward.
Blue cleared his throat. “I’ve already told your mother, so she already knows this.” He paused and I nodded. Tell me. “Marcus wanted a relationship with Miranda, but she said no. She never told me because she didn’t want to hurt your mother or me with the revelation. He tried to sleep with her a few times and she continued to say no, but one night when I was out of town, he forced himself on her. He raped her and then threatened her so she wouldn’t ever tell anyone.”
My mouth turned dry and nausea rolled through my stomach.
My father had more evil inside him than I’d ever realised.
Mum wept beside me while I balled my fists. The need to lash out was strong. I wanted to punch my anger at my father out of my body, but I controlled that need, and waited to hear what else Blue had to say.
“I never knew all this until very recently when I went through her journals. I kept them all these years after her death, but never worked up the courage to read them until now.”
“She died of a drug overdose, right?” I said.
“Yes. After she was raped, she turned to drugs to deal with the pain. I could never understand what led her to the drugs, but it all makes sense now.”
“How does this all fit in with you leaving town?”
“I never knew why she did drugs, but I always knew she was getting them off Storm. Off your father. After she overdosed, I went to the police to try and help them bring Marcus down. I worked with them for a while, and in the course of that, I stumbled across the fact your father killed a cop who had blackmailed him into snitching on Sydney Storm. Apparently, the cop discovered Marcus had killed a biker from another club and used that information to force him to give them details on drug deals Sydney was involved in. The VP of Sydney and two other members ended up doing time after Marcus gave the cop details of their activities. When the VP went to jail, Marcus panicked and killed the cop so Sydney would never know it was him. After I discovered this, I blackmailed him myself – told him to get Storm out of drugs altogether, or I would tell Sydney what he’d done. I didn’t want you kids to deal in drugs, and neither did your grandfather. This was my one opportunity to put an end to that era of Storm.”
And all the pieces fall together.
“So you had to leave town or Marcus would have killed you,” I said as I pieced it all together.
He nodded. “Yes, and I had to keep moving around over the years because Marcus had his feelers everywhere. That Adelaide President was in his pocket and came close to finding me a few times.”
I scowled. “I don’t trust that asshole.”
Before Blue could say anything further, a knock at Mum’s back door cut through our conversation.
“You expecting someone?” I asked as I stood.
They shook their heads, so I left them to go and see who it was. I pulled my gun out, ready for any possibility.
The tall cop who’d stood at my front door the other day, now stood in front of me at Mum’s door. “What the fuck do you want at this time of night?” I demanded as I shoved my gun away.
“Blue here?” he enquired.
“What the fuck?” I was completely confused now.
Blue joined us. “Let him in, Scott. Carter’s working with me on this.”
Carter?
Working together.
What the fuck?
I spun around to face Blue. “What the hell is going on?”
Carter pushed past me, shutting the door as he went. “I’ll tell you what the fuck I’ve got going on,” he muttered, meeting my gaze. “I’ve just come from the hospital where I have a dead informant lying in one their beds. You know anything about that?”
“Fuck, did you kill Rogue?” Blue asked, his voice strained.
I eyed the cop, not willing to admit anything in front of him.