Rust

by J. M. Walker

  “I don’t want it. I don’t need it like you apparently do.”

  “You’re lying.” Kenny pushed off the edge of his desk and walked back to his chair. “If you didn’t want power, you wouldn’t enjoy when your boyfriend submits to you.”

  My stomach sunk to my feet. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You think I don’t know what you do, Creena? That you don’t own him?”

  I shook my head, gripping the arms of the chair. “Why would you care what I do in my personal life?”

  “Because everything you do affects me and our family. It’s a business, my dear sister.” He laughed. “Sister.” His gaze bored into mine, his eyes roaming down the length of me.

  I swallowed hard, my heart thumping against my ribs. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “I can see what he wants with you. I get it.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Kenny sighed. Reaching into the drawer of his desk, he pulled out a manila envelope. “I guess it’s time you know.”

  “Know what?”

  He placed the envelope in front of me. “Everything in here will explain it.”

  I frowned, taking the package and opened it. “What is this?” I asked, pulling out paper after paper but I didn’t know what I was looking at. But then my fingers landed on government papers. My gaze flicked along the words staring up at me. No. This couldn’t be. There was no way.

  I met Kenny’s gaze.

  He grinned.

  “You ... you aren’t ... this isn’t ...” I swallowed hard.

  “Say it. Tell me what you’re reading,” Kenny demanded, his voice rough. “Tell me.”

  “You’re not my brother.” I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Kenny had been adopted after my father hired men to take his parents out. He would have been too young to remember. My family had his name changed. “Where did you get this information?”

  “I have my ways.” He rose to his feet and headed to the bar. “Drink?” he asked, glancing at me over his shoulder.

  I shook my head. “I still don’t understand.”

  “Let me see, how do I put this lightly?” he grinned. “Fuck it. Your parents killed mine. Took me in and raised us together. Both of us were too young to know any different.”

  “How? You would have had to have been a baby for them to raise us as twins. They led everyone to believe we were brother and sister.”

  “Come on, Creena.” Kenny took a sip of the amber liquid swimming in the bottom of the tumbler in his hand. “You’re not stupid. How do you think they got away with it? They paid people off. Your mom was in the hospital for a while with you from complications. And surprise, instead of one baby, she had two.”

  “Why would they go through all the trouble?”

  “Because it looked better on them I guess.”

  “So, what now? Are you getting them back? Our parents are dead and gone. Why after all of this time are you doing this?”

  “Because I want something from you.”

  My stomach twisted at the underlining hint of lust in his voice. “What do you want?”

  Kenny finished off his drink before closing the distance between us. Leaning toward me, he gripped my wrists and brushed his mouth along the shell of my ear. “You.”

  “WHAT DO WE know?” I asked, pacing back and forth while everyone sat at the table.

  Coby had called his friend Lucas, needing to get all of the information he could on Kenny Chan. But little did they know, I had already done my research. Angel knew. Because it was what he asked of me. But what he didn’t know was that Kenny and the bastards who attacked my sister and the fucker who killed Sienna, were all connected.

  Coby placed his phone on speaker and set it on the table. “Go ahead, Lucas.”

  “All right,” he cleared his throat. “What I was able to find out is that Creena’s family is in some heavy shit. It goes as far back as her great-great grandfather. It ranges from drug trafficking, to weapons, even some terrorism and I’m sorry to say it but even sex slavery.”

  “Are they linked with this organization?” Coby asked.

  “Yes,” Lucas and I both said at the same time.

  “Please tell me Creena doesn’t know,” Jay demanded. “If I find out she kept this from us—”

  “She doesn’t know,” I told her. “I found this out on my own while looking into the bastards who killed my ex.”

  All heads turned my way.

  “His ex was caught up in some serious shit,” Lucas answered.

  I almost forgot he was on the phone. “How did you know that?”

  “Because I know all,” he said. “Listen, Creena is innocent in this. It’s all her brother. From what I could find out, their father was trying to put an end to the human trafficking side of things but it backfired on him.”

  “Their parents’ deaths weren’t an accident, were they?” I stopped pacing, waiting to hear what I already knew.

  “Nope. Not one bit.” Lucas clicked some keys before barking out a laugh. “Wow. This fucker has some serious issues. You guys thought Tina and Zane were bad. Kenny is the epitome of evil. I hope you all know who you’re dealing with here, and Stone?”

  I tensed. “Yeah?”

  Lucas cleared his throat. “He’s not her brother.”

  ***

  (Creena)

  My whole life, I had looked up to Kenny. After losing our parents to a tragic accident, he was all I had. But it was all a lie. “If you hated my family, why didn’t you kill me too?

  “Because like I said, Creena, I need you.”

  “How could you?” Tears pricked the back of my eyes. “How could you take them away from me?”

  “Because they were in the way. They were a distraction. They stopped me from going after what I wanted. It’s their own fault I had to end them before it was time.”

  I pulled from his grip and shoved him back. “You killed our parents,” I screamed, my hand landing against his cheek.

  He laughed, the sound foreign to my ears coming from him. “Your parents, Creena. I killed your parents. They were nothing to me.”

  I geared my hand up to hit him again when his words stopped me.

  “Hit me again and everything Stone has done to you will be nothing compared to what I will do.”

  I swallowed hard at the threat. “What do you want?”

  “What do I want?” He tapped his chin. “What do I want?” he repeated, slower that time. “I want you, Creena. Why do you think I’ve kept you around this long? I could have killed you years ago. I probably should have. But instead I didn’t.”

  “Why?”

  His gaze roamed down the length of me. “Because you’re hot as fuck and we would make a perfect team.”

  “So, you’re just going to throw everything away, Kenny? We’re brother and sister. We—”

  “We are not brother and sister,” he boomed, grabbing my jaw in a rough hold. “Listen to me when I tell you, you are not my sister.” He pushed my head back.

  “Doesn’t mean anything,” I bit out, shoving out of his hold. “I still look at you like a brother. Nothing more, Kenny. I don’t give a shit how you feel about me. I love ...”

  “You love ... you love what?” He raised an eyebrow. “You love Stone?” He threw his head back, a cold maniacal laugh leaving his mouth. “This is great. This is fucking perfect actually.”

  My stomach twisted, bile rising to my throat. “Everything I told him was a lie. I do love him. And you won’t stop him from showing up.”

  “I couldn’t have planned this better if I did it myself.” Kenny leaned against the edge of the desk across from me. “You’re going to kill him for me.”

  It was my turn to laugh. “I already told you. That’s not going to happen.”

  “Does he know there was a hit out on him? Does he know it was you who was supposed to take his life? What if I have you kill his sister? Oh, even better. What if I tell him it was you who led those men t
o her house?”

  “He wouldn’t believe you,” I swallowed hard. Kenny didn’t need to know that Stone was already aware of the hit out on his head.

  “I think he would.” Kenny started pacing back and forth. “You see. I just start feeding him information, doesn’t matter if it’s all lies. Eventually, especially with the lies you told him, it will put doubt in his head.”

  I shoved to my feet, getting into my brother’s face. No matter who he thought he was to me, I still considered him my brother. Nothing more. But right now, I wanted him begging for his life at my feet.

  My fingers itched, my palms becoming sweaty. I needed help but there was no way I could reach for my phone without him seeing it.

  “What are you going to do, sister dear? You going to kill me? Do it and see how fast your own life ends. Every person in this place is under my watch. I pay them to protect me. I pay them with the money that was rightfully mine. Your parents' money.” A booming laugh left him. “Blood money at its fucking finest.”

  At that point, all respect for him was lost. I turned, heading toward the door.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

  As soon as I placed my hand on the door knob, Kenny was behind me. His hot breath fanned over my head. The scent of liquor wafting into my nose and forcing my stomach to twist and churn with disgust.

  “I hate you,” I whispered.

  “Good.” He grabbed my hand, spinning me around to face him. “Now you’re either going to kill your little boyfriend or stay with me. Either way, the choice is yours.”

  All of my training couldn’t prepare me for this moment. I had to choose between my brother and the man I was in love with. It wasn’t normal. It wasn’t right. Kenny Chan was not the man I thought he was. He was a monster. The epitome of evil. He made this damn organization look like fucking saints.

  “Make your decision, Creena. The clock’s ticking.” Kenny kissed my cheek. “Hmm ... I understand what he sees in you.” He cupped my jaw, digging his fingers into my cheeks and crushed his mouth to mine.

  I whimpered, struggling against him but much to my surprise, he was strong as fuck.

  He released me, licking his lips. “Decide. Now.”

  “Fuck. You.” My fist flew across his face, my knuckles cracking at the impact of hitting his jaw but the pain only heightened the hate I now had for this man. A man I loved like he was a part of me. He had been the only one I looked up to. The only one I wanted to impress. But he took my parents from me. He took my fucking life.

  I swung again but Kenny blocked me, throwing me onto my back.

  “Don’t forget who fucking trained you after your father died.” Kenny wrapped his hands around my throat, squeezing until air burned through my lungs. “I know all of your moves.”

  I kicked my legs out from under him and had him on his back before he could take my next breath. “Well, my dear brother, I haven’t trained with you in years. I’ve learned a couple moves since the last time we sparred.” I pulled the small switch blade from my boot. Digging it into his inner thigh, I kissed his cheek. “You always did forget to check my boots,” I said, pressing the blade further into his flesh.

  His eyes widened. “You won’t win this. You can’t retire and move on. It doesn’t happen that way.”

  “Then why the hell did you make me think I could? I followed your rules. I killed who you told me to kill. I did everything I was supposed to. I almost killed an innocent man for you.” I reminded him of all the shit he had forced me to do but it only fell on deaf ears when he smiled up at me.

  “He was innocent.” Kenny laughed.

  “What?” My eyes widened. “You said he wasn’t.”

  “I lied. But I didn’t fucking know you would go running to that bastard.”

  The man was innocent and I killed him.

  Kenny shoved me off of him, not caring in the least that my blade was pressed hard against his thigh. “Listen to me, Creena. You and I can run this shit. We would be powerful.”

  “I killed for you,” I repeated. The first time, I lost a part of myself and retired. My parents died shortly after. This time, I would leave, for good. Kenny wouldn’t be able to find me again. So, I had to do what I did best.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Kenny waved it off. “Because you’re innocent. You feel guilty over taking someone’s life. Creena, who the hell do you think I am? You may be able to fool your friends and that boyfriend of yours but only I know the real you.”

  Faster than I could have imagined, Kenny had me on my stomach with his knee digging into my back.

  “I know everything there is to know about you,” Kenny growled, gripping my wrists behind me. “Everything.”

  “You don’t know shit.” I struggled beneath him but his hold on me only tightened.

  “I know you’re trying hard to fit in with your friends. You want Stone to love you. The real you and not judge you. You want him to see past the evil inside of you. You were made for this family, Creena.”

  “Get off of me.”

  Kenny chuckled, pushing himself off of me and pulled me to my feet. “Sit in the chair. We have business to discuss.”

  I glanced at the door.

  “If you even think about leaving, I’ll have my men kill you.”

  My head whipped around. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Try me.” He smirked, rubbing his jaw and pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “Now sit. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

  I sat in the chair, my body stiff from being thrown around by him.

  “I know your little boyfriend is on his way. I give him a half an hour.” He checked his watch. “Maybe less.”

  “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” My fingers dug into the arms of the chair. “You want him to show up here so you can see whose dick is bigger. What the fuck do you want?”

  “I want him to hear you choose.”

  My stomach tumbled over itself, a laugh escaping my lips. “It’ll be over my dead body before I would choose you over him.”

  “I can arrange that,” Kenny said, tenting his fingers under his chin.

  “No, you won’t because you need me. I’m a woman and I do the dirty shit. No one would expect it from me. Remember? That is what you said.” I stood, leaning over the desk, and got in his face. “So, tell me, Kenny. What do you really want? Besides power and money which you already have. What else could you possibly need from this?”

  Kenny smirked, rubbing the dark scruff on his jaw. “Control.”

  ***

  (Stone)

  We needed to find her before I ripped the hair out of my head. I had been to hell and back, fighting mission after mission. Saving people, destroying the bastards who took the innocent but nothing compared to this. My emotions were running wild, I knew that, and I shouldn’t have let them control me but no matter what I did, I couldn’t stop them.

  “We’re coming for you, baby girl,” I whispered, bouncing my knee up and down as I sat in the passenger seat of Coby’s SUV. “Fuck. I hate not being in control.”

  Coby only grunted, pressing his foot harder on the gas.

  “We’ll find her, Stone,” Brogan said from the back seat of the large vehicle. “I promise you that.”

  I huffed, rubbing my neck and glanced in the side mirror. Greyson and a couple of his guys were following us in a black cube van. Other members of his club were behind it, riding their bikes. I appreciated the backup but everything inside me told me we were going into a shit storm.

  “Lucas said the compound is just outside the city but I have no idea why the fuck Kenny wouldn’t hide it better.” Coby met my gaze. “You need to be prepared for the worst.”

  “He won’t kill her,” I said, not exactly sure how I knew that. “He’s sick in the head but he loves her.”

  “He’s not her brother,” Coby reminded me.

  “She’s going to be pissed I knew all this and didn’t tell her,” I mumbled, scrubbing a hand down my face.


  “Yeah.” Brogan sat forward. “How the hell did you find that out?”

  “I have connections,” I said instead of telling her that I actually knew Greyson. The fucker still hadn’t told her we grew up together.

  “Right,” she said slowly. “Lucas is a fucking genius but it took even him awhile to find that shit out. So, tell me, Stone.” Her underlining threat went unsaid. She was looking out for Creena. I couldn’t blame her.

  “I’ve spent the last year and a half trying to track down the fucker who went missing after my ex was murdered. I had to do some favors for anyone to give me information.” Bile rose to my throat over the shit I had done. “Once those favors were complete, someone from Kenny’s family as he calls them, told me Creena’s father was trying to end the trafficking side of things. But Kenny was having none of that so he had him killed along with his wife.”

  “What did you have to do to get this information?” Coby asked, staring straight ahead.

  “That’s for me to live with. You don’t need to hear that shit,” I said, pushing those nightmares back.

  “Stone,” Brogan said gently. “Listen, I get it. We both do. We would do anything for those we love. Hell, we’ve already done that. But you need to remember that Creena isn’t like the rest of us. She’s a trained professional.”

  “She told you that?” I asked, my head whipping around.

  “In not so many words, yes. I just put two and two together.” She shrugged. “And I’m not stupid.”

  “No,” I mumbled. “You definitely aren’t.”

  “Creena’s smart,” Coby added. “She’s the only one who can bring down her brother and put an end to all of this.”

  “Yeah well, wait until she finds out it’s actually her family who started the Organization.” I glanced down at the phone in my hands, re-reading the last text message she had sent me hours before.

  Creena: I love you.

  I would cherish those three words for the rest of my life because once she found out what I knew about her brother without telling her, she was going to kill me.