Page 78 of Monster Mania

“Not from you,” Bishop spat.

Angel's voice trembled. “What truth?” Neither man answered, and Angel snapped. “What fucking truth?” Razor smiled, and Bishop closed his eyes. Ghost looked between them and then at Angel. Suddenly, he knew. He didn’t know all the details, but he knew enough.

“Oh, fuck,” Ghost breathed.

Angel turned toward him. “What?” Ghost didn't answer. He couldn't, because Bishop had Elena's ledger. Bishop had disappeared after Elena's death. Bishop had spent twenty-five years protecting Angel. And Bishop wasn't looking at her like a cop looking at the daughter of an old informant.

“You’re looking at her like—” Ghost couldn’t finish what he was about to say.

“No,” Bishop whispered.

“Like what?” Angel asked.

Razor laughed, and Angel looked at Bishop. Ghost saw his eyes fill, and Razor answered for him. “Like a father.”

The color disappeared from Angel's face. “No.”

Bishop stepped toward her and Ghost blocked him again. “Angelina⁠—”

“No,” she breathed.

“Please,” Bishop begged.

“My father was Mateo Sanchez,” she insisted.

Bishop looked as though he was in pain. “Viper raised you.”

Angel shook her head. “No, he was my father.”

“He loved you,” Bishop insisted.

“Stop,” she said.

“He was your father in every way that mattered,” Bishop offered.

“STOP!” she shouted. Her scream echoed through the barn. Ghost grabbed her before she could fall. She clutched his shirt, and Bishop stared at her. Then he said the words that shattered the last piece of the life Angel thought she'd known.

“Mateo Sanchez wasn't your biological father,” he said. Angel stopped breathing, and Ghost held her tighter. Bishop's voice broke. “I am.”

ANGEL

Angel had spent seven years believing the worst thing that could happen to her had already happened. Her father was murdered. Shadow was murdered, and she was blamed for a crime she didn't commit. Her club—her family—sentenced her to death. She'd run, hidden, changed jobs whenever someone started asking too many questions, stopped making friends she might miss, stopped loving anyone who could be used against her, and she'd survived all of it. But nothing had prepared her for this.

Mateo Sanchez wasn't your biological father. I am. Angel stared at Samuel Bishop. The barn had gone silent around her. Ghost's arm was wrapped around her waist. Jackhammer stood close enough that his shoulder pressed against hers. Monster and the other Toxic Monsters were there, but Angel couldn't really see any of them. All she saw was Bishop.

“My father was Viper,” she said. Her voice didn't sound like hers.

Bishop nodded slowly. “He was.”

“No. You just said—” she started.

“He was your father, Angelina,” Bishop said.

“Don't call me that.”

Pain crossed his face. “Angel.” She hated that her name sounded different coming from him. It sounded too familiar for a man she'd never met. Or maybe she had met him and just never knew who he was. That thought made her stomach roll.

“Have I met you before?” she asked. Bishop hesitated, and Angel's heart started pounding. “Have I?”