Loving War

by C. M. Owens

  “You can get a Sterling tattoo, too,” Kode says, winking at me.

  Fortunately, with all the buzzing and chatter going on, no one overhears him. Even though I’m actually starting not to give a damn. Rain and Dane can just get over it. Kode isn’t trying to get Rain’s attention. I know that without a doubt, because all of his attention stays centered on me. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt so special to anyone.

  “Little early to be staking that sort of claim,” I playfully quip, enjoying the sound of his rumbled laughter.

  “I agree,” Corbin chimes in, the only one who is close enough to hear. “But I foresee it happening eventually.”

  My face heats red, and Kode continues laughing while the tattoo artist remains stoic. Corbin tugs his shirt off when the guy is finally ready to start on his permanent marking, and my head tilts when I see the name etched across his shoulder. He’s also got several other tattoos, which I wasn’t expecting. But the name of the girl I heard mentioned earlier is proudly displayed in an extravagant font.

  “Who is Ruby?” I ask again, hoping to get an answer this time.

  Corbin looks up, and he motions around the shop. “She owns this place. It’s one of her many shops. It’s not open for business yet, but she called in the staff for a trial run on us.”

  “Are you two dating?”

  Kode laughs, apparently finding humor in that question.

  “Nah. We’re friends.”

  “But you’ve got her name tattooed on you?”

  Corbin tilts his head, looking down at it as his lips curl into a smile. “It was a triple dare.”

  That rouses my curiosity even more. “You’re serious?”

  “Can’t deny a triple dare,” Corbin says with his bigger grin.

  Kode’s laughter grows, and the guy tattooing him warns him to be still or have a permanent mistake on his back.

  “They have a weird friendship,” Kode says as his laughter tapers off.

  “She has my name tattooed on her, too, so it levels out.”

  “Oh, so you’re like Rain and Dane. Secretly in love with each other for years but not brave enough to act on it.”

  Corbin and Kode both tense up for some reason. Corbin is the one to break the uncomfortable silence.

  “No, we dated. Three times when we were younger. It never worked out for us, so we just stay friends.”

  “Why didn’t it work out?”

  Kode’s head pops up, his eyes trained on Corbin like he’s just as curious as I am. Corbin looks like he swallowed something sour.

  “Long story,” he grumbles, his face turning the brightest shade of red I’ve ever seen.

  “What the hell, man?” Kode asks with a mocking grin. “Why are you so red right now?”

  “Keep on and I’ll ask questions about secrets you two want to keep.”

  Kode and I immediately shift the subject just as Dale walks over to display his work of art. Unlike the others, he looks more militant than a sexy, laid-back playboy.

  “Remind me to kill Maverick for this tomorrow,” he announces.

  Laughter resumes, and everyone finishes up with their bonding ritual that will be forever branded on their skin and in their minds. I feel like an outsider looking in, but it’s fun to watch.

  As they all pay for their new ink, I head back out to the limo. Kode is quickly joining me before anyone else, and he leans over to place a kiss on my forehead, refraining from losing his cool and giving in. That’s fine. I’m going to give in this weekend if he doesn’t cave by then.

  “This was actually pretty nice,” he says while wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

  I lean into him, smiling as I feel his abs through his shirt. “You going to give in so I can claw up your pretty new tattoo?”

  He groans while tugging at my head to tilt my face up to meet his, and he kisses me just on the tip of my nose.

  “Not yet,” he murmurs while grinning that wicked smile of his.

  He scoots away just as Corbin climbs in, rolling his eyes at us while taking the seat by Kode.

  “You know, whenever you two decide to end this little game of yours, give me a warning.”

  Kode tilts his head, apparently as confused as I am by that request. “Why?”

  “Because it’s scorching hot to be around you two with all this pent-up nonsense. I can only imagine how heated it’s going to get when you unleash on each other. You’re going to burn the whole fucking city down.”

  Chapter 17

  KODE

  “I hate Maverick,” I tell Dane over the phone as I leave Silk. I had Eleanor meet me with all of Edward’s files instead of going to her house where people might see me and ask questions. I don’t want Rain or Dane knowing what I’m doing, because then they’d want to know why.

  Rain wouldn’t mind so much, but Dane would assume I was stepping on his toes and trying to get Rain’s attention. Since Dane needed me to meet his alcohol supplier while he was in a meeting, I decided just to have Eleanor meet me here.

  “I hate him, too,” Dane groans.

  Eleanor pulls out of the parking lot as I finish arranging the last of the boxes in the trunk. Just as I shut the lid, the face of the son of the bitch I hate the most is staring at me.

  Pete Fucking Mercer.

  His smug grin turns up as he leans up against the wall of the club, standing in the alleyway between Silk and a storage building, the same spot where I beat his ass a few months ago.

  I don’t hesitate to stalk toward him, ready to end this fucking game.

  “Dane, call the cops. Pete Mercer is at Silk.”

  “Shit, Kode. Don’t do anything—”

  I hang up on him to stay focused on what matters, and slip my phone into my pocket. Pete backs up farther, his smirk etching up. If I wasn’t in a blind rage and zeroed in on destroying his face, I might have stopped to pay better attention to the fact that we’re now deep into the pit of the alley, almost to the beach gate that connects to the two buildings.

  “You’re not the Sterling I expected to find, but you’re sure as hell the one I’d rather have.”

  His sinister tone doesn’t intimidate me, but the thudding of feet behind me puts me on alert. I turn around to see four guys who look like they love steroids a little too much.

  “Oh, look. Turns out you’re not the only one with friends.”

  Ah, hell. I shouldn’t have been stupid enough to get this deep. I turn back around just in time to get sucker punched by Pete, but I barely flinch before sending a punch of my own.

  Arms try to wrap around me, but I’m swinging and connecting rapidly, my brutal training sessions with Jax finally paying off. One hit connects solidly with a face and breaks a nose, and then I turn and land another one across a jaw that has teeth crunching.

  But five on one turns out to be shitty odds, and this time when arms wrap around me, they manage to hold me back as a bloody-mouth Pete steps forward with fury blazing in his eyes.

  “Rich, pampered pricks like you shouldn’t fuck with guys like me, Sterling.”

  A hard punch connects with my gut, the blow powerful enough to send my body in a reflexive curl, but the strong bastards holding me just lift me back up. Pete’s face isn’t as fucked up as I was hoping it would be, but I still manage to laugh.

  “This rich, pampered prick kicked your ass all by himself. I didn’t need a bunch of gorillas holding you back to do it. I merely had an audience.”

  Pete scowls and pulls his fist back. I stare, waiting without blinking, ready to take the hit without giving him the satisfaction of seeing me flinch.

  “Hands in the air! Hands in the air!” foreign voices yell. I figured they’d react quickly after getting a call from Dane Sterling.

  I smile as curses are spewed, and Pete tries to run through the back gate. Unfortunately for him, there are two cops with guns drawn on the other side of that gate, their commanding voices threatening him as he slowly raises his hands in defeat.

  “You, too! H
ands in the air!” a cop yells at me, and I comply, smiling the whole damn time.

  “My name is Kode Sterling. This is my brother’s club. I was jumped while trying to leave, and I want to press charges.”

  “You motherfucker!” Pete roars. “This asshole jumped me months ago! If he’s pressing charges, then so am I!”

  He can say that all he wants. Pete’s face has healed up nicely during these months, and Dane shredded the footage of that night long ago to cover our asses.

  I frown when I see my phone has been trampled on the ground. That’ll have to go on my never-ending list of things to do—buy a new damn phone. Then I’ll have to wait on them to finish swapping all my info—

  Cold steel on my wrists snaps me out of my inner reverie. I’m being cuffed like all the others, and the cop behind me leads me to the car to start making calls. He takes my wallet to search for ID, and when he feels satisfied that I’m telling the truth, he moves behind me to remove the cuffs.

  “We’ll need the video surveillance to corroborate your story.”

  I grin while nodding. “I’ll call my brother so that it’s all legit. He’ll come—” Dane pulls up, jumping out of the car with Rain and his sister, Britt, on his heels “—right now.”

  The cop turns as Dane rushes over, and Rain runs to my side to investigate my injuries. Fortunately for me, they’re nowhere nearly as bad as they could have been if the police hadn’t shown up when they did. Five on one never ends well for the one. Not even I’m that badass.

  “Any idea who these men are?” a cop asks me.

  “Just the bald one that was running his mouth. That’s Pete Mercer. You’ll find he has a warrant out for his arrest for violating a restraining order held by Tria Noles.”

  The cop calls in the information I just gave him, while Rain curses me for getting into a fight. I can’t wait to tell Tria that Pete is going back to jail. He just got caught jumping a Sterling in Sterling Shore. Big fucking mistake.

  Chapter 18

  TRIA

  Rain is driving me nuts. I swear she calls me more everyday. I’ve already talked to her once today.

  “Your sister is seriously freaking out. Maybe she’d feel better if she knew you were safely tucked away with Kode,” Brin says.

  Sighing, I think that over. “I wish. Rain and Kode have history. I’m still dealing with that. My entire life revolved around everyone seeing Rain, but looking right through me. Kode is a lot like me in that respect. Dane is the shining star in their family. But at the same time, Kode was like everyone else. He never saw me until he stopped seeing Rain.”

  I sound poetic again. More like a sad poet. Maybe some of Poe’s work won’t sound so disturbing if I read it now.

  “So you think she has feelings for him? Or him for her?”

  My laughter comes out before I can stop it, and then I shake my head. “No. Rain is beyond in love with Dane. She never saw Kode as more than a friend. And I don’t think Kode has any lingering feelings for her. I know he had the hots for her, but if it was gone that easily, then it couldn’t have been a very long crush.”

  Obviously Kode developed a small crush for a short period of time. He’s an intense guy, so it just looked like a bigger deal than it was. Right?

  “He’s so different with you than anyone I’ve seen him interact with,” she says, grinning. “You know, the guy says five words to me. But he sees you, and he spills all sorts of things. It’s really sweet. He’s one of those guys girls want to love, but can’t get him to love them back. You’ve landed a white whale, so to speak.”

  Smiling, I lean back in the seat.

  “Have I told you thank you for hanging out with me so much?” I ask her, turning to look as her light brown hair falls out of her ponytail holder.

  She curses while pulling it back up, and then she grins over at me while we sit idly in front of Kode’s home.

  “You don’t have to thank me, Tria. Everyone needs someone. If I hadn’t had Maggie when I went through my divorce, I don’t know what I would have done. You’re getting stalked by a psycho, so you need someone. I’m here. Any time you need me.”

  It’s hard to picture Brin getting married so young. She married straight out of high school, which seems so rash for someone as grounded as she is.

  Out of the blue, I hug her, surprising her. But she hugs me back affectionately.

  Smiling, I release her and head inside, making sure to strategically grab all my bags so that I don’t have to make two trips. Kode left earlier and said he probably wouldn’t be home until late, so I had Brin take me out to get groceries. My meal tonight will have him caving. No doubt about it.

  My phone has been blowing up with calls from Rain and other random numbers, but I’ve ignored them all. This day is my day. I fully intend to devote all of my attention on Kode and winning this stupid bet.

  It takes some finesse, but I manage to get the door open without putting any of the bags down. Moving quickly, I get everything put away. It’ll be a while before he gets home, so I decide to go for a run.

  Just as I finish pulling on my workout shorts and sports bra, the door opens and closes, and I grin, though I’m surprised. He made it sound like it would be after dark before he got back.

  “Just so you know, you’ll be on your knees and begging—”

  My words catch in my throat when I see the wide eyes staring back into mine. Maverick Sterling has one foot still suspended in the air as I shriek and grab a pillow from the sofa to cover my body.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he asks on a gasp.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I echo, still reeling from his unexpected visit.

  “I couldn’t get ahold of Kode, so I came over to check on him to make sure Dane wasn’t downplaying the damage. Now what the hell are you doing here?”

  My blood runs cold as I think about all the calls I’ve ignored.

  “What do you mean? What damage? What happe—”

  The door opens again, and I drop the pillow to sprint through the house just as Kode rounds the corner. My stomach hits the floor when I see a rough, purplish bruise on his cheek surrounding an angry red gash. He moves like he’s sore, and he grins grimly when he sees me.

  I’m immediately in front of him, cupping his face so I can examine any further damage, but that’s all I see.

  “What happened to you?” I ask, my voice hoarse and threaded with dread.

  He bends and kisses me softly on the lips before stroking my cheek with his open hand. “Pete Mercer is in jail for good. The police will probably be questioning you soon, so be ready to deal with them.”

  My stomach lurches, and I barely manage not to vomit. “Pete? This was done by Pete? Kode, I’m so damn sorry. Why did he go after you?”

  His grin turns sheepish for some reason. “Probably because I beat his ass after he ran you off the road.”

  Before I know it, my lips are on his, and I’m kissing him. Hard. The way I should have been kissing him this whole week. Stupid bet. He can win.

  His tongue delves into my mouth as his hand curls around my waist, tugging me closer before wincing. I instantly shift back on my heels, and pull at his shirt until I can see the damage on his torso. Shit.

  Bruises are slowly forming in large patterns, and tears form heavily in my eyes. This is all my fault.

  “Don’t look at it like that, babe. You look guilty. This is a reason for celebration. Pete is done for. You don’t jump a Sterling and get away with it. He’ll be in jail for a while between the assault charges I filed and the broken restraining order with you.”

  Gingerly, I run my fingers over his stomach, still tracing the lines of the purplish colored parts of his abdomen. Then a throat-clearing emerges, forcing Kode to tense and my whole body to go stiff.

  Balls. I forgot about Maverick.

  “Something you maybe forgot to mention,” Maverick says from the back of the room, gesturing to us, and not looking at all pleased about it.

 
Kode’s jaw tenses as he wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Didn’t know you were here,” he says, glancing down at me, then back up at his cousin.

  Maverick’s jaw is set in a hard line, and I’m sure he’s restraining something, though I don’t know what.

  “Clearly,” he says acidly, then he shakes his head. “You’ve tried a lot of shitty things in the past, Kode. I didn’t think you could top the last thing. But here you are, proving you’re as stupid as ever. Rain is in love with Dane. Get the fuck over it.” He turns his eyes toward me, and frowns. “I can’t believe he’d do this to you. To Rain. Sorry, Tria.”

  I roll my eyes, sick of listening to him cut Kode down. “Maverick,” Kode says in warning. “Don’t. You don’t have a clue about what’s going on here.”

  “Don’t I, Kode? It’s pretty fucking obvious. How long has this been going on? A few days? A week? Convenient timing with the wedding right around the corner. How stupid do you think—”

  “One month and two weeks,” I say, glaring at Maverick like I’m ready to throttle him.

  His eyes widen in surprise, and he glances between us. I continue before he can. “We’re keeping it quiet until after the wedding so that no one has a jackass remark like you just had.”

  His mouth hardens into a thin line, and he leans back on the wall. Kode wraps his fingers around my hip, pulling me to him.

  “Go out on the deck or on the beach for a while, Tria. I think I should talk to Maverick.”

  “No. I’m not letting him try to accuse you of using me to get to Rain. It’s like no one thinks I’m worth dating without there being an ulterior motive. It all has to be connected to Rain. It’s as though she’s the center of the universe, and I’m the shuttle that gets you there. I’m sick of it.”

  His brows furrow as he looks at me, as though he’s trying to think of something to say, but Maverick beats him to it.

  “Sorry, Tria. I didn’t even think about how insulting that must have sounded to you.”

  That’s a shocking thing to come out of the mouth of Maverick Sterling. I return my gaze to him to see that he really does look truly remorseful.