American Street Kings: The Complete Series

by Bella J

  “Get away from her, motherfucker!” I wanted to tear his goddamn skin off for thinking he had the right to stand so close to her.

  “Onyx, stop.” She took a step my way, but Slither grabbed her arm. And that was when the beast in me took full control, grabbing the motherfucking wheel and riding straight into the flames of hell.

  “Take your goddamn hands off her, Slither. I don’t need another reason to fucking kill you.” As I moved forward, already seeing his face painted with his own damn blood while my bullet cracked through his skull, Crow stepped in front of me, blocking my view, making it impossible for me to get a shot.

  “Put away the gun, Onyx,” he said softly.

  I glared at him. “This ain’t your fight, Crow. Step out of my way.”

  “This might not be my fight, but this is my goddamn club, and you are not soiling my street with this filthy fucker’s blood. You feel me?”

  Manic finally caught up to me. “Onyx.” He leaned closer but didn’t say anything further. He knew better than to tell me what to fucking do in front of all these people.

  “Get out of my way, Crow,” I snarled, a monster determined to dare the devil.

  Crow merely took a step closer. “Think about this, VP.”

  “President,” I shot back. “I’m the president now.”

  His eyes widened. “What? Something happen to Granite?”

  “No.” I looked over his shoulder at Slither, hiding like a coward behind the sea of Sixes. “My brother stepped down.”

  A look of enlightenment crossed Crow’s face. “Because of the deal he made with Slither.”

  “Yeah.”

  Crow turned and glanced half-way at Slither and Wraith before turning back to me. “So, the deal is no longer valid.”

  “Nope.”

  “What the fuck you talking about?” Slither stepped up, guiding Wraith behind him. It was like my vision zeroed in on that one spot on her elbow where he touched her, and it turned everything around me to different shades of red.

  “Take your hands off her, Slither. This is your last motherfucking warning.”

  Crow glanced from me to Slither, and back to me, and it was clear as fucking daylight the man was amused as fuck. “Hold on. So, you’re the president of the Kings now?”

  I nodded. “That’s right. Fucker over there didn’t think we’d find a way around our little deal. Well, I’d say we pretty much fucked him in the ass.”

  Crow smirked. “I did not see that one coming.”

  “Yeah,” I glowered at Slither, “neither did he.”

  Slither’s face fell, and I didn’t think I had ever seen him without a smug grin. Like me, he knew he was fucked. The deal between him and Granite was no longer valid, which meant the Sixes’ business was fair game. But right now, none of that shit mattered. The only thing that mattered was getting Wraith out of here before he ended up hurting her as well.

  “Wraith, come on.” I gestured toward me, but she didn’t move. “Wraith, get the fuck away from him.”

  But she didn’t move. She only stood there, staring at me like her life was about to end.

  “Oh, this is good,” Slither commented from the side. “This is really, really good.” The smug grin that had disappeared for a second was back, and he reached out, placing his hand around her waist, pulling her in next to him.

  I snarled, baring fucking teeth like an animal. I tried to launch forward when Crow stepped in front of me, holding me back. “Not the time, man.”

  “Let go of her, Slither,” I ordered over Crow’s shoulder, his hands still firmly pressed against my chest. There was no way in hell I’d let this monster hurt anyone else I cared about.

  Slither tightened his grip around her waist, and she gasped, her face pale, eyes frozen. “Where’s my manners?” Slither started. “I should introduce you two.”

  “Slither, don’t.” Wraith turned away from me so to face him. “Don’t do this.”

  But he ignored her, keeping his glare pinned on me. “Dahlia, meet Onyx, apparently the new president of the Kings.”

  “Slither—”

  “Onyx,” he smirked, “meet Dahlia. My sister.”

  Religion wasn’t my thing. Gods, angels, devils, and demons—I didn’t want to believe there were higher powers playing a game of chess with us as their pawns. But at that very second, I was sure the gods had pulled the universe right out from under me.

  My heart was lodged in my throat, my skin clammy and cold even though it felt like the heat of Satan scorched my inside. “What?”

  Slither grinned. “You heard me.”

  “Oh, fuck.” Manic stilled next to me.

  “What the fuck is he talking about?” I looked at Wraith.

  Her silence, the way she just stood there staring back at me, I could have sworn I heard her scream the answer I didn’t want to hear. That Slither was telling the truth. It wasn’t a sick, twisted ploy to mindfuck me. It was the truth. It was right there on her face, her pale cheeks, and red lips.

  I cleared my throat, trying to stop my heart from choking me so I could take a damn breath.

  “You’re—” I choked on the words, swallowing hard. “You’re his sister?”

  “Of course she is.” Slither pulled her closer, rubbing his cheek against hers. “Can’t you see the resemblance?”

  I knew he was being a melodramatic fuck, milking this grave moment for all it was worth. But there actually was a resemblance, something I never would have noticed did he not push his goddamn face against hers.

  “Wraith, is he your fucking brother?” I gritted, heart about to rip from my chest.

  Without looking at me, she merely nodded, no trace of the confidence she always seemed to carry.

  “No,” I breathed in disbelief as I stepped back. “No, no, no. This isn’t true.”

  “Oh, yes, yes, yes,” Slither mocked.

  While my heart turned into shards of glass tearing through my spine, it was impossible for me to form any kind of coherent thought. A sentence. A motherfucking word. My entire world just got shot to shit, and I didn’t know how the fuck I remained standing.

  Crow turned to face Slither, and by the way Slither straightened, letting go of Wraith, I could only guess Crow was glaring at him. “So, let me get this straight. She’s your sister?”

  Slither lifted an arm. “Am I speaking fucking Japanese? Yes, she’s my sister.”

  I kept my attention on Wraith, her eyes red and cheeks wet. She was crying, but I was too busy clawing the knife out of my back to care.

  Crow walked closer, arms hanging down his sides. “Earlier, you said she was one of your girls,” he stilled, “but that she was mine for tonight.”

  “Jesus Christ,” I muttered, pulling at the roots of my hair, my skull practically in fucking flames.

  “Yeah,” Slither responded without hesitating.

  Crow glanced toward me with a frown, then back to the Slither. “So, you’re telling me your sister is your clubwhore?”

  “I’m not a clubwhore,” Wraith spat out.

  “Shut your goddamn mouth.” Slither glared her way, and I was ready to smash his skull against the sidewalk.

  He walked up to Crow, clearly picking up on a vibe from him. “How we do things is none of anyone’s business.”

  Crow held up his hand, his entire demeanor turning hostile—even I could see it simply by looking at his back. “You brought your little sister here, to my club, with the intention of whoring her?”

  “Motherfucker,” I cursed under my breath.

  Slither reached for Wraith’s hand, but she pulled away. I didn’t know why that eased me a little, but it did.

  “This is business, Crow,” Slither stated.

  “True. But she’s your sister, man. She’s fucking blood. And that’s one line we don’t cross here. We don’t fuck with blood.”

  “That part, you got right. My blood. She’s my blood. And I’ll do with her what I want to.”

  Confused and angry, I looked
her way, my heart slowly bleeding out. “Is he making you do this? Is he forcing you to do this?”

  Wraith didn’t move. She didn’t confirm or deny, and it was unsettling, to say the least.

  “Wraith!” My voice sliced through the dark, and she yelped. “Answer me, goddammit. Is he fucking making you do this?”

  She bit her lip, eyes downcast and shoulders slumped. “No,” she whispered.

  “Excuse me?”

  “No.” Her gaze cut to mine. “He’s not forcing me to do anything.”

  My knees were no longer strong enough to keep me upright, so I crouched, hand in my hair. “Jesus Christ. This is not happening.” I straightened. “This is not fucking happening!” I yelled, and I wanted to break and kill something. I wanted to feel bone crack in my palms, see blood flow over my hands and stick to my nails.

  “Oh, poor lover boy,” Slither mocked. “I hope you at least got a good fuck out of this, since the only reason she even looked your way was because I told her to.”

  And here I thought the knife couldn’t twist any deeper into my back. “Wraith, tell me this isn’t what I think this is.” I gritted my teeth.

  Again, she only stood there, pale as a ghost.

  I frowned with disbelief. “So, I was just a target? You used me, to what? Get some inside information for your brother, here?”

  “Ding, ding, ding.” Slither laughed. “Seems like you’re not as stupid as I thought you were.”

  “I’m sorry,” Wraith muttered, tears lapping against her lips.

  “Oh, God,” I breathed. “Today at the beach, when you talked about your past, and your brother, you were talking about…him?”

  Tears kept streaming down her face, red blotches covering her face.

  I grimaced. “Was any of it actually true, or was it all just a bunch of bullshit you fed me?”

  “No. I told you the truth today.” Her bottom lip trembled, her jaw ticking as she tried to suppress the tears—tears that meant nothing to me. Tears that were unable to crack through the concrete wall of betrayal.

  I retreated, the sight of her making my stomach twist inside out. “You’re a fucking liar. A fake.” That goddamn knife in my back jabbed all the way through my motherfucking heart.

  Slither rolled his eyes. “Cut the drama, would you? You’re gonna give me an aneurysm.”

  “Yo, shut the fuck up,” Manic said from behind me, and my instincts instantly flared up like the motherfucking Fourth of July. Slither reached for his gun, and so did the rest of his crew.

  I had mine aimed and ready by my next breath, but Crow’s voice erupted through the chaos. “The first person who pulls a motherfucking trigger here on my street will choke on his own fucking blood, I swear to Christ!” His glare moved from me to Slither as he pointed at his crew standing behind him. “Both of you are heavily outnumbered here, so don’t fuck with me on my turf, or neither of you will see daylight again.”

  Slither’s top lip lifted with a snarl, and I could see the bloodlust in his eyes. He wanted me dead almost as much as I wanted to bury him. But right now, the stench of betrayal was far stronger than the hunt for blood.

  Bold, brave, and hurt like hell, I walked up to her, not giving two flying fucks that Slither was standing right next to her with a loaded gun in his hand. All I cared about was hearing the truth from her lips. “So, all this time, you were being the Python clubwhore who spread her legs to impress big brother, here.” Her expression was pained, like I had just slapper her in the face, but I didn’t give a fuck, my insides slowly being torn to shreds.

  I stepped closer, so close I could smell her perfume. Perfume she didn’t wear for me. Not tonight.

  She looked at me, black mascara smudges sticking to the skin around her eyes. If deceit and lies didn’t cling to my soul like dirt, I might have mistaken her despondent look for regret. Remorse. Maybe even a broken heart.

  I bit my lip, and I no longer saw the beautiful woman who tempted me with her full lips, sharp tongue, and curvy body. I no longer saw the woman I would move heaven and hell for, give her my world just to keep her in my bed, keep her close to me. She was no longer the woman whose touch thrilled me, whose kisses seduced me.

  All I saw was the Python clubwhore who accomplished what she had set out to do. Ruin me.

  “Onyx—” She reached out for me, but I pulled back, letting out low snarl.

  “Don’t,” I warned.

  “I didn’t mean—”

  Slither pulled her back. “I’m going to take all this melodramatic bullshit as our cue to leave.”

  Her eyes pleaded with me, like she was begging me to ask her to stay. But I’d rather swallow glass. The anger simmering in my veins was too much. The scent of betrayal was too fucking pungent in the air around us.

  “Slither,” Crow called the same time two of his men flanked the snake and his sister. God, I threw up in my mouth a little, thinking of her being his sister.

  “I don’t do business with men who have no respect for family,” Crow growled. “Don’t come back here.”

  “Excuse me?” Slither narrowed his eyes. “Since when do you take the moral high ground?”

  “Get the fuck off my turf, and I better not see your face around here.”

  Judging by the animosity that pulsed all around us, it seemed like we didn’t need proof of the Pythons’ hands in the Sixes’ drug trade after all. All it took was for Crow to see for himself what a low-life piece of shit Slither really was.

  Slither wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, pure hatred beaming from his eyes. “This isn’t over. I can promise you that.”

  While Crow and Slither had the stare-off of the motherfucking century, all I could do was look at her. Stare at her, wondering how it was possible for a lie to have felt so fucking right ever since it all started.

  Another tear trickled down her cheek. “This isn’t how I intended for things to turn out.”

  I watched with a wildly beating heart as she looked from me to her brother, then back to me. It was there, every conflicting emotion she felt was right there in the blue shades of her eyes.

  “Dahlia!” Slither scolded. “Shut the fuck up, and let’s go.”

  “Then what the fuck did you intend to happen, huh?” I bit my lip, hand shaking while I still clutched the gun. “You pretended to be someone you’re not, doing his bidding. And even after you saw what he did to Neon, after you witnessed the hell she’s going through, you still came back to him. Still stand next to him?” Disbelief crashed with fury, and I didn’t know whether it was my heart or my goddamn mind that was breaking. I leaned forward, shooting a glare right at her pretty fucking face. “You’re not just a clubwhore. You’re a monster. Just. Like. Him.”

  The look in her eyes scared me. It told tales of loyalty, history, and family secrets. Secrets she would keep…in order to protect her brother.

  She whimpered, placing her palm in front of her mouth. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Onyx. I’m sorry. This wasn’t supposed—”

  “Fuck this bullshit.” I turned my back on her and on everyone else who stood there watching the show. I couldn’t stand staring at her for a second longer.

  “Onyx!” I heard her call after me, but I ignored her. I ignored the piece of my heart urging me to turn around and go to her. I ignored everything inside me that wanted me to go back and beg her to tell me all this was nothing but some sick, twisted, fucked-up joke. She had made a fool of me. Played me. Lied to me like I was nothing but a street rat, and not even the plea in her voice as she called my name could make me see past that.

  “Onyx! Please!”

  I couldn’t stop myself from walking away.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Onyx

  Watching her get into a car, driving away with Slither tailing her, I wanted to claw my own heart out. My mind was struggling to make sense of it all, how she deceived me since day one. The connection I thought we shared, the undeniable attraction was all a lie. Everything was a lie. Every touc
h, every kiss, every heated breath wasn’t real.

  After today, at the beach, I was sure we connected on some deeper level with her sharing a piece of her past with me. I was convinced it was a step in the right direction to have her trust me with her secrets. But now, every goddamn word she spoke to me today felt like knives of lies cutting through my chest.

  “You okay, man?” Manic slammed the cage door, and I stared after the car that eventually disappeared into the distance.

  “Yeah, I’m good.” Liar.

  “This is some fucked up bullshit.”

  I roughed my hand through my hair, trying to swallow this heaviness lodged in my throat.

  “I can’t believe she’s his sister.”

  I bit the inside of my mouth, thinking of the blood that coursed through her veins being the same as that of my enemy.

  “Crazy shit,” Manic muttered, and I lost it.

  Slamming my first against the steering wheel, I cursed as the rage poisoned me. All this time, I was sure I had no more space left in me to be consumed by hate. But I was wrong. Apparently, there seemed to have been another little empty corner in my soul which was now occupied with something worse than hate, or fury.

  Heartache.

  Manic finally shut up, not daring to say another word as I kicked at the motherfucking dash. “Jesus fucking Christ!” I screamed, my heart pounding against my ribs like a sledgehammer, cracking bone.

  Harley engines roared, coming from a distance.

  “Granite and Dutch.” Manic stated the obvious.

  I got out of the van and lit a cigarette, pacing across the asphalt as they parked their hogs on the side of the road.

  “What happened?” Granite walked right up to me, probably sensing that things were all fucked up inside my head.

  “Wraith.” I couldn’t even say her name without wanting to break something.

  “What about her?” Granite looked from me to Manic, but Manic knew better than to speak for me.

  I took a long drag from my cigarette before facing him. “She’s his sister.”