by Ivy Knight
Unexpectedly, Nick pulls me up against him. His fingers bore into my waist and I inhale a sharp breath. I look up at his cold eyes as mine start to brim with tears.
"Your body's so clean and untouched with no scar to show. I hate to do this, but you've left me no choice," without hesitation, he takes the butt of his cigarette and presses it against the skin right under my sports bra.
...♛...
"Summer," my eyes split open in panic. Instantly, my eyes land on Alec's worried expression. I look around noticing that I'm in Alec's car parked outside the house.
Recalling the events, I remember that we were driving home from our workout session at the gym. I must've dosed of on the way back.
"Are you okay? Summer, you've been acting really off lately," Alec asks staring at my stomach. I look down and find my hand right under my sports bra. I cautiously remove my hand. The skin feels as if I can still feel the pain inflicted on that spot two years ago.
"I'm fine, I'm just tired," I brush off.
"Are you sure, have you been getting enough sleep?"
"Yeah, I'm good," I lie. "I'm gonna head inside, now."
I pull the strap of my duffle bag over my shoulder and exit the car. It's been three weeks since I've been a part of The Black Killers. Since then, all I've been doing is training in every aspect possible to become unstoppable. I won't lie, I've improved a lot too; though, the lack of sleep is catching up to me.
For three weeks, I've raided more than fifteen bottles of vodka. I've tried not drinking every night just because it's not good for my health. Plus, I always end up hungover in the morning. But when I don't, I don't get any sleep at night. Due to that, I fall asleep at the most random times and get nightmares which I'm afraid someone will soon notice.
This is getting harder and harder for me to hide. I don't know why I dream of the same things over and over again. There's no way to stop them. The only thing on my mind is to get something stronger. I need to smoke, but there are no cigarettes in the house. I literally spent all night looking for them once.
After I'm in my room, I head straight to the bathroom. I put my dirty clothes into the laundry basket before they can stink up the room and decide to wash my face. Making sure the water is ice cold, I splash some on my face rubbing off the makeup.
Dark circles under my eyes are now visible. The redness in my eyes is light, but still noticeable making me feel empty on the inside. I haven't been feeling this low for a while.
I walk over to the rack and grab the towel wiping off my face. Heading out of the bathroom, I walk towards my closet. In there, I apply some coverage under my eyes like I've lately been doing.
Once I'm done, I take out the bottle of vodka I've kept hidden under some clothes and drink out of it.
Knock knock.
I swallow the drink in my mouth and hide the bottle in the same spot as before. Panicking, I grab a bottle of perfume and spray it all over me as I hear my door click open. I exit my closet feeling a little hazy, but I hide it under a smile.
"Dinner's ready," Alec says. His nose wrinkles as he takes a sniff. "That's a lot of perfume."
"I like it," I lie. "And we never have dinner together."
"Kai and Cole are both here, so we have to pretend like we have dinner together every night."
"Okay, I'll be down in five," I reply. Alec nods and heads out. It's surprising Kai and Cole are both here today. Kai's been in and out throughout the three weeks. He makes his best efforts to stay away from me.
In a way, that's good and bad. Good, because his presence is aggravating. And bad, because I haven't been able to get any information about Nick out of him. I'm still unsure about how everything is going to go down, but I'm not confused about my next step.
For three weeks, I've been training in combat and weapons building my stamina. Everything's been great and my only goal for now, is to get my second mission.
I don't see Cole on a regular basis. He skips dinner whenever he can and only talks to me during Friday nights when he's forced to help me with all the homework I don't understand.
Every time I think about what's keeping him so occupied, my mind always lands on Alice. A part of me says that he's either helping her, or breaking her in ways they'll regret doing.
Sighing, I head down to the kitchen. My mind is a little hazy from the drink, but my senses are still on point.
Entering the kitchen, I find the three men already digging at their food. I take my usual seat and start eating as well. The men keep a light conversation going. I can butt in at any time, but I decide not to.
Once I'm done eating, I rinse my dishes and put them into the dishwasher. Before I can leave the kitchen, Kai stops me, "Meeting in my office, be there in ten minutes."
My head bobs letting him know I heard him as I head out. I wonder what this meeting is about. I haven't been invited to any recently, so it should involve me in some way.
To make the ten minutes pass a bit faster, I brush my teeth. When I'm done, there's five more minutes left and I take that as my sign to head down. I walk slowly, to let time catch up and at ten minutes sharp, I respectfully knock on Kai's door.
Kai's voice lets me in and I twist open the knob. Inside, I find Alec and Cole sitting on the two chairs. Alec nods as a hi, and Cole looks at me letting me know that he's aware of my presence.
"I would say take a seat, but there are no chairs available."
"It's okay, I'd rather stand than sit like a bitch," I respond. Alec laughs and immediately covers it up by coughing.
"Apologize, I choked on my spit," he lies. Kai's nonchalant expression tells us he's not impressed, so Alec quiets down.
"See you haven't changed."
"Didn't want to disappoint you. My personality is what brought me here in the first place, isn't?"
This is the most words we've exchanged in three weeks and to my liking, it isn't going as bad as I imagined it to be.
"Indeed, but that's not the point. Today I'm giving you an opportunity and you have every right to turn it down."
"Yeah? Well, depends on what it is."
"There's a Halloween party at the Closson mansion, the gang that runs Indiana. This party isn't just a party, it's an attempt to cover up a meeting the leader is having with a few other gangs."
"Gangs have meetings all the time, why is this one so important?"
"An insider let us know that this meeting was initiated by the leader of the Black Knights in LA. Nick has recently taken over three states ever since I declared war, and this meeting is not a good sign. I'm not taking any risks, so we need you to sneak in and be a part of this meeting."
"How exactly do you expect me to do that? Nick knows me. He saw me at the ball with you."
He clears his throat.
"The leader being young, was foolish enough to invite others into the meeting. More specifically, dancers."
"You want me to go in as a dancer and most likely give your brother a lap dance as an excuse to spy on them?"
"If you succeed, you get to go to school and start your job on Monday," he bribes.
"Throw in a little party time and I'm in," I sheepishly bargain.
"As long as you finish the job and stay away from alcohol, I could care less about you partying," my gaze shifts to the side at the mention of alcohol.
If only he knew.
"Then you've got your person."
"Good. Get what you need, we're leaving now. Their mansion is in New Castle which is a four-hour drive from here. Once we get there, we need to come up with a plan on how this is gonna go," Kai says.
"Okay, I'll meet you guys in an hour," they all nod, and I take that as my sign to exit.
This is the exact opportunity I needed. If I'm able to do the job without a single flaw, I gain Kai's full trust. From there, I build it until he falls so deep that when he realizes the mistake he's committed, it's unredeemable.
Appeased by my own progress, I head to my room and pack. I just hope everything happens to my
advantage.
Chapter 26
"No, that doesn't work because the way they're going detours back to the same hall cutting us off," I point out to the three men. All four of us are huddled around a map of the Closson mansion coming up with escape routes and going over how everything's going to play out. It's currently close to midnight and we arrived around six in the evening. The apartment is cozy and nothing over the top.
"Okay, then we only have the first three. The best one would be that you somehow get out of the room and blend into the crowd, but if you can't get out of the room, there's a vent you could use to crawl out," Alec mentions.
I nod in response.
"You're not going to have any pieces of equipment on you except a tracking device just in case things don't turn out as planned. You need to listen to every single word that comes out of everyone’s mouth and pay attention to what's in between. Pay attention to what they're not saying," Kai instructs.
"Okay," I reply dully. I look through the window at the dark night. Exhaustion is taking over my mind as it goes off of focus. "I'm gonna warm up some milk for myself. We're done, I think."
"Seems like it, I'm gonna head to bed," Alec says. "Are you sure you're okay sleeping on the couch?"
"Yeah, I am," I smile. Alec gives me a skeptical look, but doesn't push it further as he gets up and walks into his room.
Cole is the next to stand. His hand brushes through his black hair as he yawns tiredly, "I'm gonna head to bed too."
I watch as he disappears behind one of the bedroom doors. My head turns to my side to look at Kai, but he's not there. The sound of a door closing makes my head turn towards the washroom. Left alone, I get up and head to the kitchen.
I couldn't bring vodka with me for the night, so to help me stay awake, I decide to make myself some tea. It's not as caffeinated as coffee, but it should still work. I can usually never go to sleep after drinking tea. I pull out a kettle from one of the cupboards and fill it with water.
I plug it into the outlet and wait for the water to heat up. A cold wind passes through me as I yawn tiredly. I rub my eyes and start looking for a cup to keep myself busy. I spot a bunch of cups in one of the high cabinets.
Being five seven, I sometimes think that I'm tall enough to do anything. My dreams are always crushed by these darn cabinets that are so fucking high. Like what idiot thought to put the cabinet seven feet high? It's not like men are in the kitchen all day.
I stretch until I feel a string of pain travel down the side of my ribs. I hiss as my arm brings itself down. I hold onto my arm waiting for the pain to subside. This is exactly why I stay away from the kitchen; this shit is more dangerous to me than fighting on the ledge of a mountain.
When the pain disappears, I try to be more efficient. This time, I climb onto the granite counter and stand on my knees. Easily, I reach for the cups. I decide to bring down a couple for the morning as well.
I climb off the counter and carry the cups over to the sink. I wash them using some dish soap and dry them. Just on time, I spot the steam being released from the kettle. I take one of the cups over to the kettle and pour some water into it.
I grab the box of tea, that I got on the way here, and take out a tea bag. I dip the tea bag into the water and watch as the colour slowly takes over the clear water. Walking over to the kitchen island, I take a seat on top with the cup in my hand. I blow on the tea to cool it down.
Tomorrow's going to be one of the biggest challenges I'll ever have to face. I'll be eye to eye with Nick. It'll be the first time in almost two years, that I'll be that close to him. I don't know if I'll be able to do it, so I'm going to try and do everything I can to stay away from him.
He knows my body, every inch of it. If I'm too close, he'll know it's me. The physical scars he imprinted on my skin were removed by laser. Those scars he left, were something I never wanted to see ever again. The external one's I removed, but the internal one's are still here.
"I thought you were going to drink some milk," Kai's voice startles me. I turn my head back to face him. My eyes widen for second spotting him shirtless. The defined lines on his abdomen highly visible, I bite my bottom lip. His tattoo is the one thing that makes him even more attractive.
The perfect black lines connecting and swirling to make the perfect masterpiece, the artist is truly amazing
I don't reply to Kai. On the contrary, I turn back around and take a sip of my tea ignoring him.
My ears perk as I faintly hear the bottom of his silk, black pajamas rub against each other indicating his walk close to my direction. He comes to a stand a few feet away from me. I watch as his strict posture loses its form leaning on the counter behind him. His arms cross over his chest.
I take another sip of my tea ignoring his presence. Why is he here? He's been avoiding me for three weeks, and all of sudden, he comes back with this offer. He might have control over me now, but he won't in a few weeks.
"If it wasn't clear, I expected an answer," Kai states gaining my attention. Gradually, I lift my head. My eyes trail up from his bare feet, to his stony abs. Lustfully, my eyes linger on his chiseled eight pack. It feels wrong to feel something more than hatred for this man,
Whether it's his personality, rare, yet hidden in the deepest parts of a human's soul like a diamond in the earth's crust or the view of his outer layer - alluring, but impossible to gain without a certain price, he is truly intriguing to the mind just like a diamond.
"Caffeine felt like a better option," I shrug. For some reason, the tea seems to have lost its taste. Maybe it's because it's cold or the curious eyes on me prevent me from enjoying it, I can't tell.
I sit there silently with the cup of tea on my thigh. My eyes glued on the black liquid inside. It's funny, from this view, I can only see the top layer. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that's all it was. But if I look from the side, I'd know there's actually more than I thought.
It's almost like humans. We see only what we want to see in a person. Most normal children learn that there's always more than one perspective to everything: to a picture, a book, a movie etc... always multiple views to see things from. I guess it's the day and age. We get too carried away with our own ambitions and pain that if something goes wrong or doesn't feel right, we blame the person next to us rather than checking ourselves first.
Maybe it was the other person's fault, but we see everything from our perspective. Did we even try to ask the other person their side of the story? Statistically, the answer is no. I wonder why. I mean, after all of this, the things that'll be done. Will people blame them on me or would they ask me my side of the story? I surely hope I get a chance to share my side of the story. Doesn't everyone deserve that?
"You think too much," I look up, spooked by the heavy voice. In the midst of all my thinking, I had forgotten that Kai was still around.
I clear my throat not knowing how to respond. I do think a lot, but no one's ever pointed that out to me. Being a thinker can have it's pros and cons, so I don't know if I should take his words as a compliment.
Probably unsatisfied by the silence, Kai paces over to me. My head tilts down staring at the tea. I watch as Kai's fingers lace over mine taking a hold of the cup. I look at him with my eyebrows risen. He doesn't reply. He tugs at the cup and I let it go. My eyes watch as he places the cup further down the counter.
"What are you doing?" I ask. It's clear that I want to do nothing. Not talk, not look at his face or even move from my spot on this counter because it has somehow become comfortable.
"Look at me," he demands, his voice lighter than usual. Without hesitation, my head lifts up in curiosity. At this action, Kai takes the opportunity to decrease the distance between us. His hands flat on either side of me, cage me in. Our heads are so close that I can't tilt my head down without us bumping heads. My best escape route would be to climb onto the counter and crawl to the other end.
Breathing through my nose, the musky scent of his cologne takes over my brain.
Taking in the smell, my eyes close. Salty with an edge of sweet citrus, it's like I've drained fifty bottles of vodka dry. I can't believe I forgot how crazy his smell drives me.
"What are you doing?" I breathe. My eyes open and I hold back from a gasp when I find his lips inches away from mine. He looks like he's contemplating something with his eyes closed.
"Tomorrow's a big day, Summer," he says.
"And?"
His eyes open meeting mine. A croaked smile shows on his face.
"Tell me, when was the last time you gave someone a lap dance? Or even kissed someone?"
"Excuse me?" my voice a little higher than usual.
He laughs at my reaction.
"I already know, it was with that excuse of a man I shot the night you thought I killed Alice. From how I remember it, he was the one taking control. But correct me if I'm wrong, don't you like taking control?"
His index finger trails along my left arm coming to a stop at my shoulder. From there, his hand continues until his fingers curl under the neck of my shirt. He pulls the fabric to the side, exposing my bare shoulder. Leaning in, his moist lips make contact with my skin landing a soft kiss.
"Kai, what is this?" the words were harder to get out than I let on. He doesn't reply. His head turns to his left and I feel his warm breath on my neck. Like a normal human instinct, my head drops to the opposite side giving him more access. Knowing I was going to that, his left hand catches my head.
"You're inexperienced," he words. I feel his throat vibrate on my shoulder as he leans further in kissing my neck.
"No," my hands lift up. With my hands flat against his chest, I slightly shove him. His head retreats from its action, leaving a numbing sensation. "This is wrong, Kai."
"What's wrong?" his voice husky. An unknown innocence displays on his face, but I'm not stupid. I can read the determination soaked in his eyes. He's doing this for a reason.
His rough hands capture my wrists and he pulls my hands away from his chest. He adjusts his grip on my hands quickly, so that I can't escape. With his hands now against the insides of my wrists, he extends my arms out and closes onto me until my back is finally flat against the counter.