by J. M. Walker
“Say it, Creena,” Kenny said, his voice raising.
I locked eyes with Stone. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, letting my gaze fall to my hands in my lap.
“No.” Kenny charged for me. He grabbed a fistful of my hair, forcing me to look at Stone. “Tell him you don’t love him.”
“I-I don’t love you,” I confessed, my voice cracking.
“Tell him he bores you,” Kenny murmured, his lips caressing my ear. “Tell him it was fun but you’re moving on.”
“Kenny,” I whimpered, ashamed of myself I was allowing him to get to me.
“Tell him,” he demanded, his hold on my hair tightening.
“Everything we’ve done was because I was bored.” Gasps and muffled curses sounded around us but I only continued, “It was fun but I’m moving on.”
Stone didn’t say anything. No emotion showed on his face but I saw that look in his eyes. Love and pain. It was a toxic combination. He knew I was lying. He had to know.
“Now it’s settled,” Kenny said, releasing me.
“If you want me” —I rose to my feet— “take me out of here and leave my friends alone.”
“Your friends?” Kenny barked a laugh. “You don’t have any friends, Creena. You don’t deserve to have these people. Remember your training and your sole purpose in life. That’s all you’re good for.”
***
(Stone)
She didn’t love me. She said the words and I knew she was lying but they still hurt like a bitch.
Her brother made her say it and with all the training Creena had over the years, her lies were truths falling on people’s ears who didn’t actually know her. But I did. I knew everything there was to know about this woman standing only a few feet away from me.
If only Creena was aware that the man she had looked up to for years was not in fact her brother. When Greyson had brought this information to me a couple days ago, I knew I had to get her out of his clutches.
While her and Kenny argued, all I could focus on were my surroundings. Angel kept Jay behind him. Dale gripped Max’s hand tight in his. Asher looked like he was ready for a damn brawl now that his girl was pregnant with his twins. But although the guys would do anything to keep the women safe, these girls could hold their own. And Coby looked like he wanted to skin these fuckers alive with the help of his girlfriend.
I was in awe of their bravery. These women didn’t need to prove that they could survive in a man’s world. They owned this shit.
“Let them go,” Creena demanded, rising to her feet and heading toward her brother.
I tried with everything in me to will her to stop. Kenny was unstable. I wasn’t sure how Creena didn’t see it but his eyes were glassed over. He was high off of something. I had quickly debriefed Vice-One on him but it wasn’t enough before the girls showed up. Creena would be pissed I never told her but I didn’t give a shit. Keeping her safe was my main goal. And her brother was a fucking monster. But I couldn’t wait to dance with the devil.
As if they could hear my thoughts, the guys shifted. With the gun at my temple, I was useless.
“Let them go,” Creena repeated. “Please.”
My stomach twisted at hearing the submission in her voice. I didn’t like it and I would praise the day I could make her brother pay for it.
Kenny looked from her to me, back to her again before crouching down in front of me. “You know who I am,” he said, his voice low enough for only me to hear. “Maybe I should tell your little girlfriend you know all about her brother and didn’t tell her. How do you think she would feel, you keeping that information from her?”
“Fuck you,” I muttered.
“Fuck me?” Kenny laughed, looking above my head. “Hold him.”
The guys at my back grabbed onto my arms, holding them tight behind me. I struggled but couldn’t break free.
“I heard you’re looking for someone.” Kenny cupped my jaw, digging his fingers into my cheeks. “How would you feel if I told you he’s right in front of you?”
“No.” I shook my head. “That’s not possible.” The guy I had been hunting down looked nothing like Kenny.
Kenny laughed, slapping my cheek. “It’s all a ruse. Everything is a fucking ruse. The guy you thought you were looking for was nothing. He was a pawn. He did the dirty work for me.”
“How would you feel if I told Creena it was your family who started this human trafficking shit and how her father was trying to get out of it?” I threw back at him. “Think she’d still go with you?”
Kenny’s jaw clenched. “Kill him.”
I laughed but was shoved forward.
“No,” Creena screamed, rushing toward me. “I’ll go with you. I’ll do anything but don’t you dare hurt him,” she pleaded, gripping her brother’s arm.
He shoved her off, glancing back at me. “Anything, huh?” His gaze flicked to Coby. “Move one more inch and I’ll kill him where he kneels.”
I met Coby’s gaze, giving my head a small shake. I appreciated where they were coming from but this was a battle no one was going to win if we didn’t follow Kenny’s rules. I knew how men like him worked.
“All right, my dear sister.” Kenny nodded to the guy standing behind me.
They switched places with her brother now pointing his gun at me.
Kenny leaned down to my ear. “How’s your sister?”
My stomach fell to the ground beneath me.
He chuckled, raising back up to his full height. “All right, Creena. Show me what you’ll do to make sure he lives.”
AFTER ALL OF these years, I thought my brother was not always right in the head. He would laugh at things that shouldn’t be laughed at. Torture people just for the fun of it. Hurt animals like it was all fun and games.
There were no saints in our family but our father did try to shed some light on the shit we did, even if it was just to keep the cops at bay. He wanted to clean up. But my brother was money hungry. He wanted power. The more he got, the more evil he became.
Now, with Kenny pointing a gun at the man I loved, I couldn’t think straight. My emotions were all over the place and I found I would do anything to protect him. Even if it meant lying to his face about how I felt.
“Whatever you do,” Brogan said as she came up beside me, “we got your back. I got your back.”
My chest tightened.
“Awww, isn’t this sweet?” Kenny asked his group of men.
They chuckled which ended up pissing me off anymore.
“Take me with you,” I told Kenny, needing to keep everyone safe.
“Nah, you see, Creena. I’m interested to find out what you would do to keep Stone safe.” In a quick move, Kenny’s fist landed against Stone’s cheek, splitting open the stitches I had given him the other night.
Everyone shifted around me and what happened next, I couldn’t be sure. All I could focus on was the past couple of months with Stone. Every delicious memory. Every time I was with him, I forgot about what I had done. What I had been trained to do and what my brother tried bringing me home for.
Taking a step forward, the commotion around me settled. All eyes were on me but I didn’t care. I loved Stone with everything I was. I could be myself around him and he wouldn’t judge me. We could be free and come together as one. I didn’t care about the shit he did before me. I loved him. I loved that he would drop anything for his sister and her kids. He loved his daughter with every inch of him and made horrible sacrifices to keep her safe. His brothers were everything to him and he would do anything for the Harlots. We were family.
Placing my hand on Kenny’s arm, I stopped him from hitting Stone again and took the pistol from his hand. He raised an eyebrow. I didn’t know what I was doing either but I was damn determined not to have anyone else run my life ever again. If I wanted to submit, it would be because it was my choice. Not someone else’s.
“Creena,” Stone said my name but his voice was lost to me as I stared my brother down.
“What are you doing?” Kenny asked, glancing down at his empty hands. It was like he only just realized he had given me the gun willingly. Stupid boy. He may have been the leader in our family but he always came to me. It was me who had the final say. Every single time. I realized what our father was training me for. This was the final moment. Brother against sister. Kenny would think he had the upper hand but he didn’t. He never did.
Although my plan hadn’t gone exactly to plan, it still brought my brother to me.
I took a step back, keeping a firm grip on the pistol in my hand. This was it. It was time to call my brother’s bluff. I would leave with him. He knew that. Everyone knew that. But I wouldn’t leave without proving a point first.
I stepped away from the group, keeping a distance between me and my brother for fear he would try and stop me. Stone’s gaze burned into me, heating my skin on fire by the mere intensity of his dark eyes but even he couldn’t stop me.
Taking a deep breath, I lifted the gun to my temple.
Gasps and what the fucks sounded around me but I ignored them. This was between my brother and me. He wanted to play? He wanted to think he was King shit and that everyone bent to his every command? Well, the only person I bent to was kneeling at his feet.
“Creena.” Stone’s voice, that deep timber, vibrated through me. It shook as much as I knew he didn’t want it to. He didn’t know my plan. Only my sisters did. But hell, I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore.
“Let them go,” I told my brother, keeping the pistol against my temple.
“You’re bluffing,” he said, taking a step toward me.
“Stop.” I held up my hand. “Let everyone go or I will pull the trigger. I don’t think you want to call my bluff right now.” I cocked the gun. “Do you?”
“Fuck,” Stone breathed and stood. “Shit, man.”
“What the hell?” Kenny demanded, spinning on him.
“Listen to me,” I said, my voice rising. “Let him go. Let all of them go.”
Kenny ignored me and snatched a pistol from one of his men before turning it back on Stone.
“Kenny,” I cried, aiming the gun at the ground and letting out a shot. The sound reverberated through me, making my heart flutter. “I said, listen to me.” I moved the gun back to my temple. “I’m not even fucking kidding you right now. I will shoot. And I know you don’t want that. You need me.”
“Creena.”
“What the hell is she doing?”
“Shhh.”
“Quiet.”
So many voices but all I could focus on was my brother.
“I told you I would come on my own time. Saturday to be exact. But you forced me to become desperate. You won’t listen to reason.” I took another step back. “Let my friends go.”
Kenny nodded once to his men. They lowered their guns but they still didn’t move.
“I’ll leave with you but I want your men to leave too,” I demanded, knowing once I left with Kenny, I wasn’t sure if I would ever see my friends again.
“Creena,” Stone pleaded, coming toward me.
“No.” I held up my hand. “I have to keep you safe. All of you.” I shook my head, my hand trembling. For the first time in my life, I was terrified. Fear was a sign of weakness according to my brother. But when the man I loved stood only a couple feet away and I didn’t know if I would see him again, I embraced that fear and let it control me.
“Please,” his voice shook. “I lost a woman already. I won’t lose you too.”
“I’m making it easy for you,” I told him, not liking the taste of the words on my tongue. “Move on, Stone. You deserve better. I am who I am. I realize that now. I can’t run from my family.”
“You don’t need to but you also don’t need to do this shit.” He took a step in my direction. “Please. Come home with me. We can sort this all out.”
“No.” My throat constricted. “I can’t. You know I can’t.”
“Creena,” Kenny barked. “I suggest coming with me if you want your friends to make it through the rest of the night.”
He called my bluff.
Our eyes locked.
He knew I would never actually shoot myself but I still got him to back off.
Side stepping around Stone, I went to follow Kenny when a heavy hand grabbed my arm.
Stone spun me around.
Before I knew what he was doing, his mouth was on mine and his tongue deep between my lips. “I will find you. I will burn this motherfucking world down to get you back.” His mouth brushed to my ear. “The next time you say that you don’t love me, I’m going to spank your ass so hard, the only place you’ll be able to sit is on my face.” He released me roughly and went back into the clubhouse.
“Creena,” Kenny snapped. “Last time.”
I didn’t meet my friend’s gaze and followed Kenny and his men to the side of the house.
All eyes were on me but all I could remember was Stone. The pain, anger, fear, and outright rage swam in his dark depths. His kiss. His claim. His owning me by that mere touch. If Kenny saw it, he didn’t say anything.
I prayed I would see Stone again, but I prayed most of all that he would forgive me.
I WAS ENRAGED with the need to kill. The power trembling through my body, the fear and anxiety taking over my damn soul, was suffocating. I couldn’t breathe, the terror wrapped around my lungs, squeezing the life out of them.
If Kenny was who he said he was, it was because of him that Luna was without a mother and that my sister almost lost her life. The fucker who escaped my wrath must have been working for him. How the hell I never came across that in all my research on Kenny, I would never know.
Sounds surrounded me. Voices and low whispers slid into my mind.
“Will she come back?”
“What do we do?”
“Call Greyson. We need all the backup we can get.”
I didn’t know who said what. But I knew I needed Creena. I needed to know she was safe. And I needed to know what the fuck she was thinking. That kiss proved she loved me. When she kissed me back, I knew we were meant to be. She was mine, and I wouldn’t let some fucker take her from me. I didn’t care he was her brother.
“Stone.”
Two boots came into view and I realized I was kneeling on the ground.
“You know she can take care of herself.” Coby.
“I don’t give a fuck,” I muttered, my voice rough. “One wrong move and she could have killed herself.” That was my biggest fear. Knowing what had happened to Sienna, even though she died at the hands of monsters, she still died. And Creena could have been right there beside her.
“But she didn’t.” Coby knelt in front of me. “Listen to me when I tell you this. She loves her brother, but the family they have, it’s not something you can just retire from and go on with your merry way.”
“I know.” But fuck if I didn’t want it to be that way. “She could have hurt herself. Or worse.”
“But she didn’t. Remember who she is and what she’s capable of. She’s strong.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “But she needs you to be stronger for her. If we’re going to get her back, you need to get your shit together.”
I had a girlfriend who threatened to take her own life because of her asshole brother and a bastard out there who I couldn’t find. Even if Kenny was who he claimed to be, he was number one on my hit list for putting my sister in the hospital. But it still didn’t ease this need to kill the guy who helped attack Sienna. Fucking great.
“Stone,” Coby’s hard voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Is your shit together?”
I met his gaze. “Yeah, brother. It is.”
“Good.” He squeezed my nape. “Then let’s go get your girl.”
***
(Creena)
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I shouted, slamming my fist on top of my brother’s desk. “It was you. All this time. You attacked Stone’s ex. You attacked his fucking sister.”
<
br /> Kenny sat back in his chair, tenting his fingers under his chin. “I didn’t do shit.” He tapped the picture in front of me. “My men did. Add a sketchy drug dealer to the mix and the rest is history. And when it came to his sister, I didn’t do that, either, but her husband got home before my men could rip her apart.”
Bile rose to my throat. “Why?”
“Why not?” Kenny shrugged. “Stone had something that belonged to me, he still does, but I’m over it. I was trying to prove a point and my men couldn’t find what they were looking for either before they were interrupted.”
“What’s that? You wanted to see who has a bigger dick? God, Kenny. Sienna had a baby. Aria has a family. Why the hell would you do this?” I saw my brother in front of me. He looked like Kenny. He sounded like him. But he was nothing like the man I used to know. He was a complete and total stranger.
“She stole my fucking money, Creena.”
“She was a mother.” I slumped onto the chair, a slow breath leaving my lips. I had to tell Stone and I knew that once he found out, he would go after Kenny and kill him. Stone’s ex died at the hands of Kenny. His sister was attacked because of him. Even though my brother didn’t lay a finger on her, he gave the order. But I was thankful his men never found what they were looking for. “So, you were Sienna’s supplier.”
“No, I have people who do that shit for me.”
“Then what the hell are you? Who are you?” I demanded, swiping my hand across the desk, the pictures and items falling onto the floor with a crash.
“I’m the fucking King,” he yelled, shoving to his feet and came around the desk. He stood in front of me, his nostrils flaring. “I own everyone. Everything. Our father thought he was King shit. Our grandfather just the same. Well, no one, not one fucking person in our damn family is as powerful as me.”
“Power,” I repeated, the word singeing my tongue. “You want fucking power. Why?”
“Why?” He leaned against his desk, crossing his arms under his broad chest. “Why not? Join me, Creena, and you can have the same.”