Prologue
“You’re a stupid f**king cunt. Why did you do this?”
Neal Coal stayed in the background looking at his parents as they fought. His mother was high again, but this time there were tears in her eyes. Whatever had happened, it was bad. His father was clearly pissed.
“What? Had some fun? You have your fun all the time with your f**king whores. What do I get?” His mother sounded bitter, angry, terrified. “I get their sloppy f**king seconds. You’re no good.”
“You’ve no idea what you’ve done.” His father looked scared. In all the years he’d known his father not once had Neal seen him scared.
“I don’t give a f**k. You got your pu**y, and I got what makes me happy.”
He gasped as his father slapped her around the face.
“You’re a f**king whore. He**in, crack, weed, you name it, you’re on it. You’ve got so many f**king infections you’re a talking petri dish.” His father sneered at her. “You’re not fit to be anything, let alone a f**king old lady and a mother to my kids.”
The front doors slammed open, and Neal was thrown against the wall as large men he’d never seen entered the room.
A kick landed to his ribs, and Neal grabbed his chest, panicking. His sister was dragged into the sitting room. He heard the screams along with the shouting. Neal curled in a ball trying to dodge the blows that came his way. His father was part of the club called Savage Brothers MC. It was an exclusive biker club, and Neal knew no one hurt the Savage Brothers and got away with it.
“You see, son, there is only one way to deal with scum.” Neal heard the booming voice over all the pain and male grunts. Toward his left he saw a large man using his younger sister. Other men were taking turns on his mother, and others were holding his father down. His father was fighting with all of his might, but nothing he did released him from being held down. Neal tried to fight harder than ever before. His family needed him. For many years his father had told him the place Neal would be expected to take at the Savages’ table. He couldn’t embarrass his father now.
“You little shit.”
Pain, excruciating pain unlike anything he’d ever felt exploded inside him. Putting a hand to his stomach he felt the wetness of his blood.
“Dad, he shot the boy.” The small boy looked toward him. Neal saw the confusion on the other boy’s face. Fear pulled at him with tears falling down his face at the pain and his failure. No club would ever rely on him. He was weak, pathetic, and he couldn’t protect his own family.
“He’ll die like his family. This is what you’re going to have to do, Frederick. You’re going to have to make choices you hate. Men need to learn to respect you, which means hurting people you shouldn’t. Women and children are the best source of getting to a man. Find a man’s weakness and use it again him. You must always be willing to pull the trigger.”
“I understand, Dad.”
Neal watched the older man smile down at his boy. “You listen to me, Fred, and you’ll never have a care in the world. You’ll know that you can take what you want without a care in the world. I’m building you up an empire, son, one that is going to give you the world on a plate.”
Minutes passed, and Neal started to shake. This morning he’d woken up excited about his holidays. Now he was on the verge of death.
“Now, with these decisions you need to know when to end them.” In quick shots the older man fired his gun killing everyone in the room. There was no emotion on his face, only determination to see an end to what he was doing.
The boy known as Fred stared around. “There’s blood everywhere.”
“But no signs of us around. Earn respect by being willing to kill. You will learn with time it’s the only way to go. What I’m doing for you will cement your life in years to come. Only allow men you trust to do your dirty work. Everything else, you do on your own. Always, Fred, be willing to do whatever it takes. Everyone will be eating out of the palm of your hand.”
Opening his eyes, Neal stared into a pair of brown eyes.
“Dad, this boy is alive.”
The older man looked over at him. “He’ll die before the ambulance comes. We need to go now, Fred. Your mother will bitch if we’re late for lunch. I’m not interested in listening to her moan.”
He watched the two people who’d taken everything from him, leaving the house. The pain was getting worse, and he closed his eyes, wishing for the pain to end. He started to see lights and along a line he watched each of his family heading toward the light. They were all beckoning for him to join them. It would be so easy to cross that line. The moment he did, the pain would be gone. He didn’t know how he knew this, only that he did.
****
“We’re losing him. Come on, kid, don’t die on me.” Someone was touching his neck. His family was disappearing from sight. The pain increased as if he was being ripped open. They didn’t look sad for him to be going. “We’ve got a pulse. Come on, son. Get your ass back here.”
The female doctor was stern, demanding his return.
Coughing, Neal opened his eyes seeing the white of the room. “Come on, we need to get these stitches in.” Warm eyes smiled down at him. “Hey, kid, you’re back, and I can promise you, you’re not going anywhere.”
He was no longer in pain, and the female doctor was putting some stitches into his body. “Name?” he asked.
“Do you know your name?” She grabbed his chart. “You’re Neal Coal.”
Shaking his head, he pointed at her. His body felt heavy, but he pointed at her and said her name.
“My name? I’m Becca Stanford. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She leaned in close, whispering against his ears. “I was a friend of your father’s. I’m going to protect you.”
The warmth in her eyes let him know she was more than a friend. Either way, he was safe, which was more than he could say for his family.
****
Neal was due to go to the foster home they had lined up. He’d been in the hospital for the last three weeks, and he was on the mend. Becca was the only person in his world right now. She kept him protected and made sure everyone else stayed away. His family was all dead, but no one would tell him what happened, not even Becca. The only person who visited him, beside the police, was Becca, the doctor who saved him and his father’s lover.
“Hey, kid, are you ready to go?” she asked, taking a seat on his bed.