by Simone Elise
“You still kidnapped me.” I give him a slight glare, because who goes around kidnapping people.
“I’m sure Kace has dealt with this situation before. God knows he is a biker. Don’t their women always get threatened?”
“You’re telling the story.” I snapped at him, not wanting to shed any light on mine and Kace’s relationship.
“I’ve got one question for you Ivory.” And he stands up.
“You kidnapped me. The least you can do is have more than one question.” I can’t stop the smart ass comment coming out.
His lips twitched up. “Always were demanding.” He then moved towards me, and I’m aware of the gun in his hand, so I push myself away from him, my back hitting the beds headboard. “Do you love Kace?” He says the words but I know he doesn’t really want the answer. “Like you loved me?” he adds.
I just blink because the honest answer was, no. I didn’t love Kace the way I had loved Taylor.
“Taylor, you and Kace, are different people.”
“Answer the question Ivory.”
“No.” I blew out and the look he gives me, tells me he wants more of an answer. “My sixteen year old self, fell in love with the boy next door. I thought I knew what love was then. But I was wrong.” And I paused, seeing if I could really tell him the truth. By his non changing expression I knew I could. “I found out what love was, because of Kace.”
“Would it break you if you knew he wasn’t faithful and didn’t love you back?”
“Yeah of course.” I quickly shake my head. “But I know Kace doesn’t love me, already. Still that doesn’t stop me from loving him.”
“How do you know he doesn’t love you?”
“Because he can’t say the words.” I blink getting emotional and shrug. “But I’ve accepted that, and I now know that he feels for me, what he is capable of feeling. So I’ve settled.”
Taylor brings his hand to my cheek, after getting closer as I spoke. “You should never settle.”
“I’m happier with him, even if I only get half of him.”
“So I don’t even make the list?” his lips twitch up with sadness.
“No.” And I say that word with confidence.
“Remember what I told you before I knocked you out?” Taylor says and I frown. “I said, if I can’t have you, no one can.”
And those words again off his lips, scare the shit out of me. Because I’m more than aware of the gun in his hand now. As he raises it I stare at the barrel.
I see the tears in Taylor’s eyes, as his finger goes for the trigger. I’m thinking, flight or fight but I can’t do either. Because he pulls the trigger.
64
Kace
Can’t change fate.
If I had been five minutes earlier. It wouldn’t have happened.
If I had gotten the address, earlier. If I had kicked down the door instead of silently popping the lock. If I had gone to the master room, instead of working my way through the house. All the what if’s. All the should haves. Instead. I arrived to find Taylor standing over Ivory, who is bleeding out. And I was five minutes too late to have an impact on the outcome.
Five fucking minutes.
Couldn’t kill him. I needed to call an ambulance. I was busy applying pressure, while he ran. I was busy screaming at Ivory not to leave me. While her blood soaked my hands.
The ambulance came and I watched my life’s purpose get taken away—not breathing on her own.
Taylor was army trained he knew where to shoot. So the fact that he missed her heart, was God looking down and I wasn’t a religious man.
Now as I sat in a pew in the hospital’s church, my mind is racing. My clothes stained with blood. I wanted answers. Why did the woman I love have to be shot? Why was it I could save club girls from situations similar to this. But I couldn’t save Ivory.
Now as the President of Kings Deceivers sits beside me. I am questioned whether I am to act and find Taylor or the club is. But the option the Henderson’s want, is for the police to handle it. I knew sure as fuck that wasn’t happening. Taylor deserved to suffer. And the worst part was that I didn’t know if Taylor had told her about the lies Asher fed to him. I didn’t know if Ivory was dying, hating me, or loving me.
That really got under my skin. Because I needed to know that Ivory had every reason to fight on that hospital table, and not let her be taken from me.
“Ivory Henderson.” The Prez mutters and glances at me. “Is going to be your undoing.” The Prez was always wise, but his words right now just confused me. “If she pulls through, you’ll commit. If she doesn’t, you’ll end up with a death wish.” He runs his hand down his long beard. “You need to decide Ace if she is worth your soul. Cause she will cost you, your existence.”
He was right. Because with Ivory I was everything. Without her I was breathing but my purpose, my reason for existence wasn’t there.
So I rose up from the pew. Ready to end the man that had put my existence in question.
Breathing is simply just inhaling air and exhaling. So why the fuck did it feel so difficult. Why the fuck did it hurt so much. Perhaps it was because I didn’t know if she was still breathing. I lost my right to updates when I left the Henderson family at the hospital.
Taylor was like liquid in the ocean. He was gone. But it took time for me to realize that and during that time, Ivory was fighting for her life. According to Gabe we nearly lost her twice. But I now know my existence isn’t over, as I watch her sleep.
Creepy as it was, I felt the calmest I had been since it happened. The racing heart, the loss of purpose, the mind never shutting up with what could happen—all that stopped when I laid eyes on Ivory who is breathing on her own.
I run my hands over my head. My body is running on cigarettes and caffeine. Ain’t healthy. But neither is half the shit I do to my body. Watching Ivory’s chest rise and fall, became my pass time. As much as I wanted her to wake up, I didn’t. I wanted her to heal and her body would heal while she was sleeping. I didn’t want her in pain, and I knew personally the pain that follows from a gunshot wound.
I’m on edge. I know Taylor is the type of man that won’t like hearing that his plan to kill Ivory failed. So I knew eventually he would come back for her. But I wasn’t letting that happen while she wasn’t with me. So I took it upon myself to be at her bedside.
Gabe didn’t get the threat.
Links posted security at the door.
As for Asher, he just hated me in the same building as Ivory. Which I had news for him, Ivory and I—we weren’t separating.
My hand goes to her stilled one and I wonder, how long do I have to wait to see her blue eyes. But again I would rather her out on pain medication, then awake and clenching in pain. So I’ll suffer while waiting, as long as she is breathing, that’s all I cared about. I bring her cold hand to my lips. I’ll make this right. I’ll make everything she has been through right. But I begin to wonder, if I’m promising myself that so I don’t lose myself to the boiling rage that is slowly consuming me.
65
Kace
Ivory came to. It was natural for her to be confused. But when she pulled her hand from mine, looking terrified. I knew something was wrong. So did Gabe when she couldn’t tell who he was. She was just staring at us, like we were complete strangers.
But it was natural for her to be confused? Wasn’t it?
“You all must understand when Ivory was shot, her oxygen levels dropped. Well the depleted actually.” The doctor looks at us like we should understand, but I don’t, and neither do the Henderson’s. “Ivory has a condition called Anoxia.”
We still look at him.
“Her memories have been affected, causing memory loss. It most likely is temporary.” He says the sentence and I don’t know whether it is just me, or the Henderson’s as well. But I don’t want to believe it.
“So she has no idea who we are.” Links says slowly. When the doctor nods his head, I feel physically sick.
Time. I didn’t have.
The doctor leaves and the Henderson’s are discussing their next move. I realized now, that there is no Ivory fighting for us. How as I going to go up against her family, when she won’t want me here.
My name being said makes me look up, seeing Gabe and Links, staring at me. What had they said?
“Sorry, what did you say?” I ask and they look clearly pissed off that I hadn’t been listening.
“Ivory needs support now, we need to know if you are planning on sticking through this or leaving?” Links says, and I just blink. So they wanted me gone as well?
“I think for Ivory’s sake, we should make things as normal as possible. That means her living with Kace.” Gabe says it, and his mother eyes are glaring at him. “The doc said familiarity will help her. As much as I hate it, Kace is what she is used to.” Gabe looks at me. “Question is, are you sticking around?”
This was my chance to leave Ivory. This was it.
“You sure you want to keep me in the picture?” I say to them, standing up. “Cause now is your chance to get rid of me.”
“You’re saying that like you want out.” Links says tilting his head. “You said you loved her, question is, what that love conditional.”
But the real question was, is what Ivory and I had, lust or love?
66
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