Whiskey: Soldiers Of Hades MC, #5

Cotton entered the room just then and halted when he saw them all standing there. “What the hell is going on out here?”

“Tell me something girl, is your mother still alive?” Python asked her as he ignored Cottonmouth.

Sydney frowned. “I am not going to…” She halted then looked up at him. “What do you know of my mom? And why would you care?”

“I need to know,” Python insisted.

“Well, that is just too bad, isn’t it? You and your other snake here can go suck on a fucking egg. Both of you.”

“Just answer my question,” Python remained unmoved by her insults.

“How the fuck would I know?” Sydney shrugged. “She walked out on me when I was sixteen and that was ten years ago. I haven’t seen her since then.”

“I’ll fucking kill her.” Python growled. “If I ever see her again, I am going to fucking kill her.”

“What difference does my mom mean to you?” she finally asked. “If you knew her back in the day, you should have known what she was like. She did not stay with one man. Nothing ever satisfied her. She ran off with a married man and ruined not only her life but his as well when I was just a teen.”

“Dad, how do you know her mother?” Cotton asked.

“I met Cecily shortly after your mom disappeared. I wasn’t in a good place at the time and we got together for a short while. When I left, I didn’t know I was leaving her behind.” He motioned toward Sydney. “No matter what… I never would have left behind a kid of mine.”

Sydney scrambled to her feet, as he looked utterly panicked. “Oh, hell no. No, you don’t buster! This is NOT funny!”

Cobra glared at his dad. “What the fuck old man?” he snarled.

Python glanced at his sons. “I told you I was in a bad place. Back then, we thought your mom had just ran out on us. We didn’t know the cartel took her. I went on a run to Georgia and I met her mom there. We weren’t together very long but I swear I didn’t know this girl was a result of it.”

Cotton ran his hands over the back of his head. “Well, she’s younger than Scarlett, so it adds up.” He shook his head. “What the hell is mom going to say though? That’s what’s going to be the real issue.”

Sydney snapped her head toward him and snarled, “Your mother doesn’t have to worry about me. We will never meet. I’m on my way out of town as soon as I can get the fuck out of here. You cannot be for sure that I am your kid. So just let me go!”

“You aren’t going to run away from this cartel bastard,” Python insisted. “We’ll take him down and you won’t have to run again.”

“Well, good for you.” She shook her head. “I hope you get what you want but I won’t be here to find out.”

“Valins don’t run girl,” Cobra stated in a low voice.

Sydney turned to him and snarled, “Valins? What are you talking about?”

Cobra opened his mouth to reply.

“Your family name,” Python interjected. “Valin.”

“Sydney sighed. “I’m not a Valin though, am I? I didn’t come here looking for a daddy that didn’t want me my whole life. In fact, I did not come here at all.” She paused and stared at Whiskey. “I was dragged here against my will.”

“Tell us how you know Carmen Brago?” Whiskey asked.

Sydney glared at him. “I never knew his name, only his face. I only ever saw his face.”

Whiskey stepped closer to her despite the growls from the other three men. He grasped her gently by the shoulders. “When and where did you see this man before tonight?” he asked her in a firm, clear voice.

Sydney kept her eyes on him while she ignored the other men in the room. She let out a sigh. “I really don’t want to talk about it, okay? Can you just let me go?”

Whiskey shook his head. “You need to see that is not going to happen. So, just tell us.”

Shaking her head, she spoke, “I never actually met the man himself. Three years ago, I was sitting in the shadows on the beach in New Orleans when I heard a fight behind me. I got up to look and was horrified to see two men fighting. One of the men had a knife while the other man had no weapon at all.” She paused then added, “The man with the knife had no mercy in his heart at all. He slaughtered the other man and turned to walk away like the other man hadn’t been there at all, almost like his life didn’t matter.”

She moved into his embrace as she shuddered.

Python gritted his teeth at the move.

“I must have made a sound and he came after me. I had to hide, so he wouldn’t find me. After he left the area, I went home and packed my stuff. I left town that night and I’ve been hiding and running ever since. I’ve seen the man in two other places before I saw him today.” She paused to shake her head. “I never knew his name before you told me who he was. I also didn’t know the cartel owned the warehouse or I never would have gotten a job there. I-I just cannot believe I was working for the same man who wants to kill me! Oh, my god…” She looked up at his face. “I really do have to go though. I can’t stay here any longer. I don’t want to die yet.”

“You aren’t going to die sweetheart,” Whiskey told her softly. “I won’t let that happen. Carmen is a dead man walking, he just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Please just let me go.” Sydney planted her face in his chest. “I told you what you wanted to know, just let me go now.”

Whiskey took a deep breath and he could smell her scent. He couldn’t tell if it was her hair or what. It just drifted in through his nose and instantly seemed to take over his usual focus. She smelled like chocolate and coconut. He decided right then and there those two scents were now his favorite. “Well, I wish I could but then you’d have three very pissed off men coming after you. I have a feeling they would drag you back here, kicking and screaming.”

“They could try to find me but I’ve done years of hiding in plain sight. And I doubt they would even look for me,” Sydney whispered.

“Oh, don’t ever doubt these men,” he warned her.

“What the hell are you two whispering about?” Python growled.

Sydney groaned and keeping her face in Whiskey’s chest, she growled back, “It’s none of your business Mr. Python.”

“It could be little girl,” Python grumbled.

She turned to face him still wrapped in Whiskey’s arms. “Look, I don’t care what you think ok? I don’t know or care that you think you have some say over me. I’ve been on my own since I was old enough to remember so don’t try and push me around now. I don’t know you. My mother never told me who my dad was, I’m not even sure she knew who did the deed, so your claim has no sway with me. You merely screwed my mom but then a lot of men did that. She always was a flake but again, that’s her not me. I’m not here to lay a claim to you or yours. I’m not here for money or a daddy. I don’t want to be here in the first place.” She paused and turned her head to glare at Cobra and Cotton. “I’m not here for brothers either. I have no claim to you or your family. And I would never hurt your mother. You are lucky to have one who cares about you, so you better respect her no matter how old you are, always respect your mother.”

“Maybe you should do the same,” Cotton told her.

Sydney snorted. “I would if only she’d cared for me, just a little bit. But her life was always about her, never about me. When she did remember she had a kid that was when life was good but it never lasted long enough to make a difference. One minute she was there and the next she was gone. Nothing I did could make her stay when she didn’t want to. There was always something better than me waiting for her, and she kept looking. So when she left town with a married man, I wasn’t surprised.” Shaking her head she told them, “I decided I wasn’t going to be there when she came back and by god, I wasn’t. Did she come back? Hell, I don’t know nor do I care. She was on her own back then. I wasn’t going to work my fingers to the bone to take care of the two of us anymore. She had a job but she never went to work. I took care of me for a change.” She shrugged. “She walked away from me long before I left her misery behind me. That’s just the way life goes sometimes.”

The men in the room were silent.

Python pounded the table with his huge fist and the glasses bounced along the surface.

Sydney paused to look over at him and she frowned. Suddenly, her shoulders dropped and she said, “Now I’m tired and I need to go to sleep. Tonight has screwed my world up and outward.” She let out a long sigh. “I can’t take any more of this shit.”

“Come on then, you can sleep in my room tonight. I’ll sleep on the sofa.” Whiskey turned to look at Python and his sons. “No worries on that.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her behind him and they disappeared down the hall.