Cohen: King's Descendants MC #5

by Bella Jewel

  “Why did you kill all of them?” I ask, my voice tight.

  “Because they were all in on it. They had a fuckin’ buyer and everything, you were goin’ to get sent away and nobody would have ever seen you again. I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “I just don’t understand, Cohen. If it was as simple as taking my family out, why did you send me away?”

  “It wasn’t until the day I went to take out your family, that I learned other people knew about your father’s plan. Those two men knew and they were going to take you before he could sell you, then they were going to force you into marriage so they could have you sign it all over to them. It’s fuckin’ genius, really. After it belonged to them, you’d be dead and that would be the end of it.”

  I shake my head, struggling to process any of this.

  It’s almost unbelievable, like it has been made up for a story.

  Like it couldn’t possibly be real.

  “I had to get you out of there, because no matter what way I looked at it, you were going to end up in trouble. If I just killed your father and brothers, those men would have found you. It all happened so fuckin’ fast, and I never planned on you endin’ up where you did. I was goin’ to hunt down those men, and then bring you back, but I couldn’t get hold of them ...”

  “So, you forgot about me,” I whisper, pain clogging my throat.

  “No, I never fuckin’ forgot about you. Not for a single fuckin’ second, but I didn’t know where you were. I had to trust you ended up somewhere safe, and I accepted I’d never see you again.”

  “You could have checked!” I cry.

  “I tried,” he barks. “I couldn’t find you, which is exactly how it was meant to be. I had to believe the best.”

  “You believed whatever made you feel better!”

  His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t argue.

  He doesn’t argue because he knows I’m right.

  He did do what made him feel better. Believing I was in a good place made him think that he had done the right thing, but deep down, I’m sure he knows he didn’t.

  “Are those two men the only two that know?” I ask, my heart racing.

  “As far as I know, yeah.”

  “Then we need to have them taken out.”

  “Yeah,” he agrees, his voice tight.

  “What about the rest of it?”

  “All the things you own?”

  I nod, unable to fathom the amount that has been left to me.

  “It’s up to you. You can do whatever you see fit with all of that, one thing is for sure, you’re a fuckin’ rich human.”

  Yeah.

  Rich in money ...

  But what about the rest of it?

  Life, love, happiness?

  What about that?

  Will I ever be rich in that?

  13

  THEN – COHEN

  “What’s goin’ on?” I ask, standing at Aviana’s front door.

  She has puffy eyes and she looks upset about something. I’ve never been to her house but have been trying to find a way to get over here since I started digging around in her family history. I need to know more about what her father is up to, and the only way for me to do that is to bug this place. I need to get in to bug it, and now is my chance.

  I hate that I’m being dishonest with her, but she’s safer if she simply doesn’t know what I’m starting to learn.

  Once I know the truth, the full truth, I might be able to tell her but, for now, it’s safer this way.

  “I went on a date with this guy,” she hiccups. “He was really aggressive.”

  My back goes up, and I find myself on high alert immediately. “What do you mean aggressive? Who is he? Where is he? Did he fuckin’ hurt you?”

  She swipes under her eyes. “Well, we went on this date and after dinner he was driving me to the movies and when we stopped he started getting really grabby. I couldn’t get him to stop, I was really scared.”

  “Did he do anything to you?”

  She shakes her head. “I managed to punch him in the balls and get out. I ran off.”

  I grit my teeth. “Who the fuck is this dick? I will take him the fuck out.”

  She looks up at me, and a small smile spreads across her face. “I don’t know his full name, and I’m sure you would.”

  “Find his fuckin’ name, give me his number, I don’t give a fuck. I’m payin’ that dog a visit.”

  Her cheeks grow pink. “You’d do that for me?”

  “Do fuckin’ anything for you.”

  She stares at me like I’m giving her the fucking world, but all I’m doing is promising her nobody else will take that world from her.

  “Give me his information, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt another woman.”

  She bites her lip, glances past me, and then says, “My dad and brothers are out of town tonight, did you want to stay for a movie and pizza?”

  I shouldn’t, mostly because I don’t trust myself around her, but also because I’m not being honest, but the fact is I need to plant these bugs and the only way to do that is to have access to her house. So, I nod. “Yeah, got nothin’ on.”

  She smiles and steps aside. “Well, come in then.”

  She shows me around her house, her very fucking big house, and then we settle in on a very big, very comfortable couch and start watching a movie while we wait for the pizza to arrive. She must get lonely in this fucking big house by herself, it feels like it’s never ending. Just a gigantic mansion.

  “Your dad ain’t goin’ to flip if he sees me on the security footage, is he?”

  She laughs and looks to me. “I turn that off when he’s not here. I don’t like him seeing everything I do.”

  Smart girl, also dangerous considering that means she can’t tell if anyone is coming in. “That safe?” I ask her.

  She rolls her eyes. “The house locks, you know. I don’t need cameras on me all the time.”

  I chuckle, and then fiddle with the tiny camera in my pocket. Cost me a fucking lot of money to get this, but the only way I’ll know what her dad is up to is to put this in his office, which is convenient right now because Aviana turned the fucking cameras off. I can get in and out without being seen. I’m sure her dad doesn’t keep anything just lying around when he’s not here, but I’d like the chance to look anyway.

  Pizza arrives and we eat, laughing at the mindless comedy on the television. Mid-way through, Aviana dozes off, her head falling down to land on my shoulder. This is my chance to get up and plant this camera, but feeling her against me, listening to her soft breath, it’s fucking nice. I sit there for a moment more, wondering how it would feel to have her doing this every damned day of my life.

  Not bad, I’d imagine.

  I carefully lay her down as I stand, and then I glance at her one more time before disappearing down the hall to her dad’s office. She happened to show me where the key was stashed when she showed me around, so I go and get it before entering. The office is dark, and I try to keep it that way, only using the flashlight on my phone to look around. I find a spot on his bookshelf where I can wedge the camera so that it won’t get seen.

  I do that, turn it on, and then check on my phone that it’s working. It shows a live stream, and the sound is good, so I turn and have a look around. As suspected, her father isn’t leaving anything out. There is a massive safe that I have no doubt holds a lot of information, but you’d need a fucking bomb to get that open.

  I leave the office and join Aviana on the sofa again. I check the camera and sure enough it’s working. My heart races, and I feel like a fucking criminal, but I have to do it. I have a bad gut feeling about what her father is up to, and I’m determined to get my answers, even if it means I’m lying to the only person I really like having around right now.

  “Gosh,” Aviana groans, sitting up. “Did I fall asleep?”

  “Yeah,” I say. “I should get going anyway, let you get to bed.”

  “Oh,” she whispe
rs, her eyes dropping to my mouth.

  Fuck me.

  She wants me to kiss her. It’s written all over her pretty face.

  Fuck.

  I can’t do that.

  If I do, there is no going back.

  I want this girl in my life, but not until I know what is going on. Not until I can be sure she’s safe. Only then will I take the next step, and fuck me, it’ll be a big one. I want nothing more than to lay her down on this sofa and let my body fall over hers, fucking her slowly, listening to her whimpers beneath me.

  My dick twitches.

  That’s my cue to get the fuck out of here.

  Before I know what’s happening, Aviana leans forward and her lips are on mine. For a stunned second, I sit there, completely taken aback. I didn’t even fucking see her move and now her sweet fucking mouth is on mine.

  Her lips move, softly, and her tongue creeps out, pressing itself against my lips. I can’t fucking stop the urges, and I find myself kissing her deeply, passionately, tongues fucking dancing, hand in her hair, the other on her waist. I pull her closer with a growl and kiss her like I’ll never fucking see her again.

  She moans against my mouth.

  Then she moves until she’s straddling me, rubbing her pussy against my cock.

  Fuck.

  I can’t be doing this.

  I fucking can’t.

  Not yet.

  I pull my mouth from hers, place two hands on her hips, and stand, placing her on her feet. She stares at me in confusion and shock, and then her cheeks grow red and she looks away.

  “Hey,” I say, grabbing her jaw. “This ain’t about you, I promise. I got somethin’ I have to do before we can take this further, but we will fuckin’ take this further. Do you understand me? I want you, more than you could fuckin’ understand.”

  She looks back at me, and without question, she nods. “Okay.”

  I run my thumb down her cheek, and then I let her face go before turning and walking out.

  I need to finish this.

  Now.

  So I can have her exactly how I want her.

  Fucking right next to me.

  COHEN – NOW

  “So, you’re tellin’ me that those two men are after Aviana?” Alarick asks, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Yep.” I nod. “I thought there might have been more, I knew about the two of them but figured they were workin’ for someone or maybe more people knew but I’m startin’ to think they’re the only two that know about what Aviana is sittin’ on and they’ve worked out she’s still alive and are goin’ to try again.”

  “Can you be sure there is no one else?”

  “At this point, no, but I’m fairly certain there isn’t. I’m goin’ to do some more diggin’, see if I can find out more. I want to get my hands on those two fuckers, it’s the only way we’ll get our answers.”

  “You know they gotta go, yeah?” Alarick growls.

  “I know. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Work out a way to get hold of them; we got so much shit we’re tryin’ to deal with, we don’t need this too. You owe it to her to finish this for her, so make her safe and put this shit to bed.”

  I nod. “On it, boss.”

  “She know about all of this now?”

  “Yeah, she knows.”

  “How’d she take it?”

  “Not the greatest, she’s pretty fuckin’ confused, but she’ll come around. I told her we’d have her back, that we’d trust her if she let us in. I’m hopin’ she’s done that now and will stop tryin’ to run. I want to keep her safe, regardless of the past.”

  “You tell her that?” Alarick questions.

  I glare at him. “Of course I fuckin’ told her that.”

  “No, Cohen, I mean have you looked her in the fuckin’ eye and told her you want to keep her safe, and then tell her why ...”

  “What do you mean why?”

  “You know exactly what I mean. You never told her how you felt back then, and you haven’t fuckin’ told her now. Don’t make the same mistakes over and over again. Tell her all of the truth, not just your part of it.”

  I grit my teeth and turn, walking out of his room.

  I’m done with this fucking conversation.

  I get back to the motel room where I left Aviana with Briella and Merleigh. The three of them are sitting on the bed when I walk in, watching something on the television and talking amongst themselves. All their eyes move to me when I enter the room, and I glance at Bohdi in the corner, sitting on the same chair I had pushed over to the door to stop Aviana escaping. He’s off in a silent world, not saying anything, just staring at the wall.

  That man scares me sometimes, the depths of his soul are terrifying.

  He goes off into this world where you can’t get him back until he’s ready.

  I wonder where the fuck he goes?

  He jerks when I slam the door and his eyes move to mine. He stands quickly and walks over. “All good?”

  “Yeah, brother, thanks for filling in.”

  “You can stay, if you want,” Merleigh says to him when he walks to the door.

  “I don’t want,” he murmurs. “But if you want to take a walk with me, I wouldn’t say no.”

  She smiles and stands, pulling on her shoes and then disappearing out the door with him. The two of them have formed a friendship, maybe more, it’s hard to tell because neither of them say a great deal. I wonder if he’s told her about his past and why he’s so fucking vacant all the time.

  Maybe she’ll do him some good.

  “Avi told me everything,” Briella says, turning the television down. “Those men aren’t going to get her, are they, Cohen?”

  I shake my head. “Not if I have any say in the matter.”

  “They seem pretty determined,” she goes on.

  “Yeah, well, I’m more fuckin’ determined.”

  Aviana looks to me and her eyes soften, just a touch. I hope with time, they’ll get as soft as they were when we were friends. Back when she was a fun-loving, high-spirited girl I couldn’t get enough of.

  I want her back, so fucking bad.

  “Do you know their names?” I ask her, hoping maybe she’s had time to jog her memory a little.

  She shakes her head. “No, I don’t recall. I do remember my father talking to my brothers about a man he was having issues with. I don’t know if it’s one of those men or not, but his name was Xander. I heard that name come up a few times, so maybe it’s worth looking into.”

  I heard that name, too.

  Heard it on the tapes when they were talking. Heard it mentioned more than once after that. Guarantee whoever Xander is, he knows about Aviana and he’s trying to get his hands on her. Only one way to finish this problem, and that’s to get rid of him once and for all, so she can move on with her life.

  “I want to take a walk,” Avi says, standing. “Can someone come with me? I need fresh air.”

  “I’ll come,” I say, meeting her eyes. “Can’t go out there alone.”

  She nods and gives Briella a weak smile before we both leave the room.

  We walk in silence for a few minutes, and even though I’m standing way too close to her, she doesn’t say anything. I’m not risking anything happening to her. While I don’t think they’d kill her, because that won’t get them what they want, I do think they’d do some serious damage to get her. I point down a quieter street and tell her we should go down there to be safe.

  She nods, and we walk until we find a small park with an old, rusty slide and a rickety swing. As suspected, Aviana walks right over to that swing and sits on it, closing her eyes and launching off, making the entire swing set creak. It doesn’t bother her at all, though. She swings her worries away, a small smile on her face. I sit on the other swing and watch her for a moment, so carefree.

  She finally slows down and looks to me. “It’s bothering me a lot.”

  “What is?” I ask, holding her ga
ze.

  “That my father was planning on doing something so awful to me. I know he didn’t particularly like me, but I never thought he’d hurt me. It’s a shitty feeling when you suddenly realize that even your own family doesn’t give a shit about you.”

  “They didn’t fuckin’ deserve you,” I tell her. “You’re a thousand times the person they were ...”

  “Am I?” she laughs bitterly. “I was planning on taking this entire club down. I wanted to hurt you all. I wanted to see you suffer. How does that make me any better than them?”

  “Because you didn’t do it,” I say, shocked at her plan.

  Though I had a suspicion she was up to something.

  “So?” she mutters, kicking the sand with her shoe. “I wanted to. God, I wanted to so badly it was all I could think about. Hell, part of me still does, just to get the bitter feeling out of my chest. Like if I hurt you all, then I won’t feel so much pain myself.”

  “It won’t help, but you already know that. Deep down, you know that or you would have done somethin’ by now. What I did to you, what the club did, you have a right to be hurt about that but you don’t really want to hurt us, if you did you would have done it by now. You’re just lookin’ for a way to make yourself feel less pain, and you think that’s how you’re goin’ to do that.”

  “Since when did you become a therapist?” she asks, her lips twitching.

  I grunt. “Since I had to deal with all the shit this club throws around. We’re all fucked up, Avi, it’s how we control it that counts.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  “We’ll find the men that want you and we’ll get them out of the picture. You’ll be able to go and live the free life you fuckin’ deserve and you’ll be able to do it with a fuck load of money and choices. If I can give you anything for what I did, I’ll give you that. I’ll make sure you’re safe. I’ll make sure you’re free.”