by A. J. Macey
“She’s not ready for that,” he murmured before turning to walk away. Anger built, my hands curling into tight fists at his decision. As he took a step, I grabbed his arm and yanked him around to face me. Fisting the front of his black t-shirt, I pulled him down to me, kissing him briefly before glaring up at him.
“You don’t get to decide what I am or am not ready for, Grave,” I hissed. It was only at his miniscule smile that I realized I had done exactly what he wanted me to.
Stupid reverse psychology.
“You’re a dick,” I snapped, pushing him away from me. A single laugh filled the space as he finally left the basement. As soon as the door to the main level was shut behind him, I heard Chase giggling to himself. I can’t believe I fucking fell for that. “I hate you, Chase.”
“Aww, you love me, Kittycat, and my meddling,” he cooed, coming to wrap me in his arms. Grumbling under my breath, I looked up, my head resting against Chase’s warm chest.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re still a dipshit though,” I replied, kissing him as he bent down.
“Never thought I would see the day that you would be so soft and fuzzy, K,” Elliot teased from where he was bent over the table. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Oh, shut up, E. Let’s get to work before I decide I want to stab you too,” I called out playfully, brushing off his statement mainly because he was right.
I didn’t know I did either.
Garrett
My jaw ached, but I didn’t let up as I ground my teeth together. Acid burned my stomach, jealousy pulsing through my veins at the thought that Brooks had earned her forgiveness first. It was petty, I knew, to hold that against either of them because I knew it was exactly what we wanted—Kiera to forgive us—but I was upset that I wasn’t the first.
I sighed and shoved that spiraling thought away and walked with Stone. Our attention was focused half on the perimeter and half on the two men working. Thankfully the equipment installers were finishing up the last of their jobs near the front left corner of the compound before packing up their materials. The silence continued between Stone and me as the workers climbed into their truck and drove away. At the thought of Stone, as I looked over at him, I realized he seemed different. Even though he was still silent and scowling, his muscles were no longer coiled and ready to fight at any given moment.
“What?” he questioned, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. “Why are you staring?”
“You seem different,” I muttered. Shrugging, I looked back at the truck driving down the road on the other side of the fence without really seeing it. “You know, since Kiera came home.”
“Why is it that whenever we’re on these work details, you always want to pass the sharing stick around and talk about our feelings?” Stone asked, only this time his tone wasn’t harsh but filled with a soft laugher. “Ugh, yeah, I guess you’re right. The last six months were hard, harder than I expected. I didn’t expect Kiera to ever come back, and I certainly didn’t expect her to give me the time of day to explain.”
“Seems like she’s surprising all of us,” I agreed, trying my best to keep my surprise at bay. That was the most Stone had said in well… ever. “Have you two had a chance to talk?”
“Uh, no. I don’t foresee that going over very well when we do. Besides, what I said the other day was true; I figured it would be better to focus on the tasks at hand. If any of us survive this shit, then I’ll see if she’ll listen. And hope to hell that she doesn’t stab or shoot me in the process.”
I’d opened my mouth to respond when the echoing sound of a gunshot reached us. Yanking my gun from my back, I took off toward the direction of the sound. Adrenaline flooded my system, pushing me harder and faster. After a few moments that stretched on, feeling like hours in mere seconds, we caught sight of a man collapsed on the ground, bleeding out on the desert dirt. Kevin stood to the side with his gun aimed at the intruder as we closed the distance between us.
“What happened?” Stone barked, immediately looking over the stranger on the ground.
“Saw him trying to cut through the fence since we had it offline for the system update,” Kevin explained, before kicking dirt on him. The rough, garbled cough of the man trying to dispel any dust from his face filled the air, but none of us could find it in us to care. “Found several weapons on him and an encrypted phone, pretty sure he’s trying to come to collect that big old bounty on us.”
“Yeah, well, doesn’t seem to have worked out very well for him, now does it?” I countered.
“Kiera will know who it is, I’m sure, and we have no use for him,” Stone ground out, nodding to Kevin. “Want the honor?”
“Hell yeah, I do. No one comes on the compound without permission while I’m on gate duty and gets away with it.” As he finished his exclamation, he aimed and pulled the trigger. The loud sound of the weapon muffled my hearing. After a few moments, the deafened silence pulled back, leaving a ringing in its wake. The high-pitched noise blanketed over everything, so instead of calling Kiera, I sent an emergency code to our emergency line.
Kitten: Be there ASAP
While we waited, Stone and I worked on covering and moving the body out of view and into one of the outer buildings. It was slow going, moving a full-grown man and his weapons across the compound, but after about ten minutes we finally reached the building. Brooks and Nate were waiting for us. Kevin had returned to the gate after we moved from his line of vision with instructions to let us know when Kiera arrived.
It didn’t take too long; our phones buzzed as soon as we put the man on the slab of concrete. We didn’t talk, Brooks glaring at the intruder with a scowl as Nate stroked his bushy beard rhythmically. Taking a steady breath, I worked on keeping my body regulated as the adrenaline faded from my system.
“Is everyone okay?” I heard Kiera shout as she jumped out of the passenger side of Chase’s Audi before he was even stopped. Thankfully the ringing had subsided slightly, allowing me to hear through the incessant high-pitched noise.
“Everyone’s okay, Kitten,” I told her as she sprinted in through the open door. Panting, she nodded.
She tried to hide it, turning immediately to the work before her, but I could see that she was shaken. The pupils in her mossy gaze were blown wide, and her jaw clenched rhythmically, but the biggest giveaways were the slight trembling in her hands and the way her eyes bounced between the four of us. Chase came in, albeit more calmly, and for once I didn’t want to punch his constantly smiling face when he rubbed a hand down her back, soothing her slightly. My chest ached, wanting to be the one to comfort her, but I shoved it away. Someday, I promised myself, hopefully.
The face that I did want to punch was Elliot’s.
“What’s he doing here?” My question came out sharper than I had anticipated, but it was too late to do much about it now. Besides, why should I have to pretend to like him when I didn’t?
“You had an emergency call. Figured with everything going on we could use any and all hands we had,” Chase explained as Kiera gave me a confused look. Huffing, I didn’t say anything, choosing to ignore the raised brow the thief gave me from behind Kiera.
“What happened?” Kiera asked, stepping away from Chase and crouching next to the man.
“Tried to get onto the compound while the security system was being worked on. Kevin got a shot in before he could get too far. Once we got there, Kevin killed him. Thought you would want to know what happened and that you’d know who it is,” I stated, forcing my jealousy about Elliot away.
“Assassin. Mid-range on the pay grade usually. Not overly well-known but has been gaining steam over the last couple years,” Kiera bulleted. “Name’s Franklin Ulsam.”
“This the first one?” Chase asked looking at Brooks who still hadn’t said anything.
“Yes, fortunately, but I think it’s only going to get worse from here. We need to make a plan. Fast. Nate, Stone, are all Old Ladies and hang-arounds off compound yet?”
>
“Abby and Cheryl are the only two who chose to stay. The rest were moved to the safe houses. Most of the lower tier patch holders are staying with them including any of the prospects,” Nate filled us in. At Abby’s name, Kiera’s head snapped up.
“That dummy,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “She needs to learn what’s good for her.”
“You’re preaching to the choir. I think if we got a dollar for every time we’ve had this conversation, we’d both be millionaires. Well, more so than you already are.”
Kiera tilted her head in thought before agreeing. “Yeah, she’s a stubborn one, but ya gotta love her.”
“Hell yeah, I do.” Kiera gagged as Nate wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh, come on. You have to admit that was funny.”
“I do not want to think about my best bitch that way, and I certainly don’t want to think about your dick, Nate. We’ve gone through too much shit for that,” Kiera told him with a shudder. Her dramatics only seemed to make him laugh, their banter easygoing and light-hearted.
Despite the fact that there was a dead guy on the floor between them.
“Let’s get back on track,” Brooks directed. “You got that plan figured out yet, Baby?”
“You bet your ass I do. We got all the details squared away, but it’s going to take a few days to truly coordinate it, so Elliot and I will be pretty busy.”
Brooks and Kiera went back and forth a few more times, figuring out any details and plans for the rest of us but I couldn’t stop my lips from curling down into a scowl. Kiera had just gotten back and our standing with her—well, mine and Stone’s standing with her—was still up in the air, and as much as I tried not to be a jealous asshole, I couldn’t stop the red hot poker that stabbed me in the chest at the thought of Elliot working closely with her.
The knowledge that Elliot got her laughter and smiles and that easiness with her while I was still on the outs was wearing away at my self-control. The pulse of self-loathing that had taken up residency in my chest over the last six months grew. Kiera didn’t forgive easily, and what were we in comparison to an old friend? Based on the looks from Brooks and Stone, I could tell they felt the same about Elliot.
Kiera was our girl, and I wasn’t about to let some outsider come in and take her from us.
Not now. Not ever.
Chapter 10
December 19th
Thursday Evening
Kiera
The cold night air whipped around me as I pulled up to the compound, my music playing loudly throughout the cab as I was waved through. The last few days had been tedious, making plans, gathering information, preparing for the grab, and all I currently wanted to do was bullshit with my best bitch and have a fucking drink.
And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
“Hope you’re both dressed!” I called out, walking into Abby and Nate’s house after a couple of knocks. “Remember I said I didn’t want to think about your dick, Nate!”
“Oh, shut up, bitch,” Abby snarked back with a laugh. “I’m in the kitchen.”
“Where’s Nate?” I questioned, leaning against the edge of the counter.
“Down in the basement, fiddling with some of his bike stuff or playing a video game. You know, his usual. Drink?”
“Do you even know me?”
Abby’s eyes rolled hard enough that I was surprised they stayed in her skull. Without dignifying my sarcastic question with an answer, she poured me a drink. The burn was welcome, the smooth liquor warming me from the inside out as I sipped. She topped off her own drink and started toward the living room. I followed close behind her and we both plopped lazily onto their overstuffed sectional when we reached it.
“Face masks?” Abby suggested. “I got a few new ones, figured we could chill out, drink, and relax. You need it after all the shit you’ve been through lately.”
“Can we paint nails?” I asked, glancing over at her from where I had laid my head on the back of the cushion. “Any excuse to stay out of the house for a while. I was about to go fucking insane surrounded by everyone.”
“Hell yeah, we can. Clear?” After a shake of my head, I fingered through her small basket of fingernail polishes she kept next to the couch. Deciding to do something different, I picked out a blood red, plucking the tub of mud mask from Abby’s hand as she held it up.
We didn’t talk as we slathered our skin in a bright blue mask and started on our nails. The silence was nice. Abby and I knew when the other needed time to decompress before we would talk for hours on end about everything under the sun.
“So,” I started after another little while, glancing over at her, “want to talk about it?”
“About what?” she tried to play it off, but I saw the twitch her lip always did when she lied.
“Whatever is on your mind; this girlie girl night isn’t just my idea, you know.” Turning back to my nails, I finished the first coat, blowing on the wet paint as I waited. It didn’t take long, before she let out a sigh of defeat. And I win again. Abby never could outwait me.
“You are a shit, you know that?” She laughed slightly before sobering. “I, uh, had a pregnancy scare last month. It was negative, obviously”—she waved absently toward her glass—“but it was… uh, a shock to say the least.”
“How so?” I leaned back, my glass clutched in my fingers delicately so I wouldn’t fuck up the paint, and looked at my best bitch.
“Can you imagine it? Me, a mom?”
“Yes,” I told her. “I can.”
“Psh,” she scoffed, not dignifying my statement with a response. “Anyway, I don’t know, just surprised by it, I guess. Worried how Nate would respond to it since we’d never talked about it.”
“Why not?”
“He’s an officer in a motorcycle club,” she said as if it was obvious. “Would a man like that really want a baby?”
“Aren’t there other Old Ladies who have babies? Members who have families?” I knew the answer already, having seen them around over the time I had spent on the compound, but I played dumb.
“Yeah, but they’re not officers,” she said with a shrug. “I mean, you have three of them, do you think they want a baby?”
“We’re not talking about me, Abbs. We’re talking about you. Not Nate, not anyone else. Do you want a baby?”
“I don’t know, maybe. I really hadn’t considered it until I was late last month, but… I don’t know, possibly?” Her statement went up, stretching her answer into a question.
“How about you think about it for a bit and talk to Nate. You know I’ll support you no matter what. Besides, I’d be the best godmother ever,” I joked, making Abby laugh and lightening the mood.
“Ha, you’d have the baby stealing things before he or she were able to walk. Enough about me, you know I hate talking about my shit. How’s it going over there locked in that mansion with the Aces?”
“Not too bad, surprisingly. I mean, I haven’t stabbed anyone yet, so that’s a plus. IhadsexwithBrooks.” I stumbled through the last sentence, slurring the words together and hoping she wouldn’t hear me. Based on her self-satisfied smirk, I knew she did.
Dammit.
“Good.” Her response surprised me, no ‘I told you so’ or ‘ha ha’ at my expense. “Oh, and I told you so.”
There it was.
“Ha ha,” I deadpanned. “But in all actuality, it’s not as bad as I was anticipating. Stone’s actually being nice for the most part, and Garrett is well… still being an asshole, but I’m finding myself less pissy about it. Though the three of them are all having issues with Elliot, and it’s really starting to annoy me.”
“How so?” she asked, starting on her second coat of nail polish.
“You would think they’d trust me at this point,” I huffed. “They’re so suspicious of Elliot all the time. I mean, I get that he’s an outsider, but if they trust me, then they’d trust that I would know what I’m talking about when it comes to good allies.” Abby looked at me
, her lips pursing slightly.
“I think you may be reading the situation wrong, Kiera.” Her tone was serious, her brow raising as I glanced over at her.
“How so? They’re cold and mistrusting when he’s around, just like they were with me. Garrett is also an asshole to Elliot. Which, granted, is unsurprising, but still. I thought we had made progress on this whole trust dynamic. Right now, he’s acting worse than Stone.”
“You’re so oblivious sometimes.”
“Well, how am I supposed to take that?” I bit out.
“Do you really think the issue is that Elliot is an outsider? Not that they may be jealous?”
“But… Elliot doesn’t like me like that,” I murmured, the pieces starting to fall into place as I leaned back against the couch. Every glare, harsh word, or cold brush-off slowly starting to make sense. “Wow… how did I read that situation so wrong?”
“Because you’re not used to being around normal people,” Abby explained as if it were that simple.
The thought made me pause, a frown curling my lips. For a second, I wanted to protest. I thought I’d gotten myself together better than that. That I’d started to learn how to have real relationships. Ones not tainted by all the little ways my past had warped the way I interpreted sex. And all the feelings that undeniably got tangled up in it. But, I guess, if I was doing as well as I hoped, then I wouldn’t have been so far off the mark.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I think I’m just so used to constantly focusing on survival with how I grew up that… I don’t know… I don’t necessarily understand certain things. I’m not used to sex meaning something.” I took a moment to breathe, nearly whispering my last comment. “This is all so complicated.”
Abby was quiet for a while, letting me get lost in my head as I mulled over what she had talked about. After a few more sips of my drink and blowing on my nails to dry them, I finally spoke.
“Well, regardless of why they’re acting like this, they’re adults. If they have a problem, they can talk to me like the big boys they are.”