Ruin & Rule (Pure Corruption MC #1)(57)
Author: Pepper Winters

What is this place?

An emblem of a bloody dagger disemboweling a rose glowed in neon on the Clubhouse.

Rose…

“Thorn, take Cleo across to Diane, would you? I have to get this done for Rubix by tonight.”

My father scooped me up from the porch, where I was playing with LEGOs. “Come along, Buttercup. Time to go and bug some other family.”

I stared harder, willing more memories to come. The longer I looked, the more frustrated I became. I knew I knew this place, but the damn wall refused to let me see.

Arthur pressed against me. “Recognize it?” he breathed.

I shivered as his breath skated down my neck again, making me not care in the slightest about the view in front but only the man behind. “Not really. I know I should, but it’s not coming.”

“What’s the club’s name?”

I stared at the rose and dagger and went for the obvious. “Rose and Dagger?”

He twitched behind me. “Close. Dagger Rose. They’re a fifty-member-strong MC. Bigger than Pure by over half. They have Chapters all around USA, but this is the main HQ.”

As I kept spying, I noticed children playing in a sandpit in one of the yards and two women taking in washing from the line. Men lazed around in the typical biker attire while others did gardening chores half-naked and content in the late-afternoon sun.

It looked normal and safe.

“Hey, little Cleo.”

I looked up at the man who’d been there since I was born. He always had something sweet in his leather jacket and he hung out with my dad all the time.

“Hey.”

“Where’s Thorn?”

I cocked my head at the Clubhouse. “With Mom. They heard of a raid. I think they’re shredding a few things.”

The guy scowled, darkness flickering in his eyes before disappearing just as quickly. Reaching into his pocket, he threw a small packet of licorice allsorts at me. “Thanks, princess.”

I jerked back from the fence, breathing hard.

Burn, baby girl. Burn.

Him.

The match.

The fire.

The melting house all around me.

It was all because of him.

“What did you remember?” Arthur spun me around, clutching my shuddering frame. “Hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you. No one will touch you.”

That’s what I thought. I thought I was safe. I was supposed to be untouchable.

Burrowing into his jacket, I inhaled his winds and salty scent. “I’m all right. Just give me a second.”

Arthur stroked my hair. “You saw him. Didn’t you?”

I froze.

“Fuck, you remembered.” His voice turned hard and almost evil. “That fucking bastard. That lowlife fucking piece of shit.”

I squirmed in his fierce embrace, looking into his eyes. “Who? What is this place?”

He paused, his body tight with anger. “I thought you just remembered?”

I bit my lip, the heavy wall inside my mind slamming resolutely closed. There was no point prying. It was locked and impenetrable. “It doesn’t work like that. I remember snippets. Things come in a flash and then fade. I still don’t have enough to piece together the full story.”

Sighing, I asked, “I should know that place, though, shouldn’t I?”

Arthur pinched the brow of his nose, striding away with frustration. “You should, yes.”

“Why?”

Standing still, he dropped his hand. “Because you were born there. You were raised there. Me, too. Our entire lives, until you turned fourteen, were spent happy—down there.” His tone wasn’t that of a man speaking fondly of his childhood, but a prisoner who’d miraculously escaped and wanted to slaughter the men who held him captive.

My mind slithered like a hibernating snake, hissing its way to truth, strangling all other thoughts in its way. “What happened after my fourteenth birthday?” I murmured.

Arthur went ramrod straight. “You mean… you don’t remember that either?”

Horror crept over his features.

My heart seized. “Arthur… I’m asking you… what happened that night?”

He backed away from me, his hands diving into his hair. “Don’t ask me that, Cleo. You can’t ask me that.” His face turned white.

“Art, you can tell me. I need to know. It all hinges on that one night. The fire. The blood. I remember escaping, but I don’t remember how it started or why.”

Arthur shook his head, pacing like a caged animal. “I—that night.” He looked up, tortured. “I—I can’t—shit!”

I moved forward, reaching for him.

He dodged my touch, striding toward the bike. “Come. We can’t stay here. They’ll see us. I mean to start a fucking war, but on my terms, not theirs.”

War.

This means war.

He’d said something similar in the Clubhouse.

“Why? What are you keeping from me!”

Arthur spun around, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me in the direction of the bike. “I’m not going to tell you until I know what you know. I don’t want to risk putting memories in your head.”

Lies.

He’s keeping something from me.

My stomach dropped to think that the one man who I loved—the one man who was supposed to be on my side—had a hidden agenda. I was still that pawn, being shoved around an unseen chessboard.

“It will only be worse if I find out what you’re hiding and you don’t tell me,” I whispered, following in his footsteps as we stomped through the forest.

He didn’t reply.

He didn’t need to. He knew he was in the wrong. And he was both petrified and eager for me to remember.

War was coming.

War was imminent.

It would happen between Pure Corruption and Dagger Rose.

And it would happen because of me.

Chapter Twenty

So much she didn’t know.

So much I couldn’t tell her.

Death on the horizon. War in the air.

I couldn’t share what I meant to do until she remembered on her own. Only then could I show her why I had to murder the people closest to me. Only then would she understand.

—Kill

We hadn’t talked.

Not one word since Arthur dragged me away from Dagger Rose and threw me on the back of his bike. The roar of the engine nullified the awkward silence between us, but only until we arrived beside Mo and Grasshopper’s Triumphs at the yellow-and-white diner.

Arthur didn’t make eye contact as he took my helmet and opened the door for me. Striding inside, he shrugged his jacket off, slinging it over my shoulders in a possessive alpha gesture.

I blinked.

Why the hell had he done that? Staking a claim?

The restaurant was busy with families, a few biker members with patches I didn’t recognize, and solo motorists.

Mo looked up. His dirty-blond hair caught the last rays of sunshine glinting through the glass. Waving, he motioned us over to the booth.

Grabbing my hand, Arthur guided me through the diner before sliding in beside Mo.

“Sit beside me, Sarah, Cleo, whoever you are.” Grasshopper waggled his eyebrows, stroking the yellow vinyl beside him.

I flashed a smile, perching beside him. “Thanks.”

“No worries.” Pouring a glass of water from the jug on the table, he slid it to me. “Saw the old place, huh? Home sweet home, right?” He laughed as if he’d made the best joke in the world.

Something ached inside me.

I craved answers—to know the history of Dagger Rose, to remember the large compound. Why had something so fundamental as the location of my childhood disappeared?

Something happened down there. Something so traumatic, your brain protected you.

Some protection if it now ruined my future.

I narrowed my gaze at Arthur across the table. “It was interesting,” I said. Arthur refused to make eye contact.

Dammit, what was he hiding? And why was he absolutely terrified of telling me? The scent of him clouded my nose from his jacket. Was that why he made me wear it? To remind me that no matter what happened, I was under his protection? His love?

“Interesting?” Grasshopper laughed. “I’d say it was a lot more than that.”

Arthur’s head snapped up, glaring at Grasshopper. “Enough.” Grabbing the jug of water, he poured himself a glass and threw it back. Slamming the empty on the table, he added, “He wasn’t there. Not that I could see.”

Who wasn’t where?

My eyes flew between the men.

Mo said, “Maybe he was off the compound?”

“Maybe.” Arthur raised a finger, signaling the waitress. “But I don’t like the fact that the motherfucker wasn’t there. If I’d had a clean shot, I could’ve taken him out and handicapped them before…” His eyes fell on me, lips zipping tight.

“You’ve had a shitload of times you could’ve taken him out. That wasn’t how you wanted it to go down, dude.” Grasshopper glanced my way. “Cleo… maybe you shouldn’t—”

“What, be here? Listen to whatever you guys are planning?” I balled my hands in my lap. “No way are you keeping me in the dark anymore. Any of you.” My eyes bored into Arthur’s, transmitting just how close I was to losing it and screaming for truth. “Tell me. I want to hear all of it.”