Enemy (The Aces Book 3)

by A. J. Macey

  “Enough!” Brooks boomed as he, Chase, and the rest of the guys shoved through the crowd. Chase made his way quickly to my side, dual silver guns aimed at the bastard who’d tried to cut me.

  “No killing, my little assassin,” I murmured only loud enough for him to hear. Chase’s lip curled into an adorable pout, his whine nearly inaudible in the wind.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” Brooks demanded. No one spoke immediately, all too frozen in shock to respond. “Someone is going to tell me in the next ten seconds, or everyone is getting punished!”

  “Here,” a small woman spoke up, holding out her phone for him to take. “Got almost the entire thing on video. Only thing missing is Brewer’s initial shouting.” Brooks, Garrett, and Stone didn’t talk as they watched the video, the surrounding members waiting impatiently to see what would happen. I didn’t lower my gun, staring at Brick as I flicked the knife I had taken from Brewer in my other hand. The motion caught Brick’s attention. His eyes twitched nervously, Adam’s apple bobbing as he no doubt remembered my threat from only a half hour earlier.

  “You can’t seriously expect me to not react when there’s a traitor on our compound. Grave, you know what she’s capable of,” Brewer said, his voice slurred from the swelling around his mouth. My jaw tightened, fury pulsing within my chest as I glanced at Stone. Stalking forward, the enforcer glared down at the pitiful man curled on the ground. As much as I didn’t want to care, my chest squeezed, and I slowed my breath, trying to calm down as I waited for his response.

  “Kiera is not our enemy,” Stone ground out, shocking the absolute shit out of me, but I schooled my expression into a smooth mask.

  “Let me be very clear,” Brooks boomed, stalking around the open space of the circle surrounding us. “Kiera Casterelli is not her father’s daughter. She is not our enemy, and she is not the one threatening us. War is coming, and I will not tolerate anyone disrespecting our girl, my Baby. Are we understood?”

  I growled internally. I’m not his fucking anything, but he may as well have just pissed all over me to mark his territory.

  You think he would have listened when I said I didn’t like golden showers.

  A round of murmured yeses went up, and Brick stepped away from me, fear swirling in his gaze when he realized how much he’d just fucked up. Brooks waved them all away with the command that they stay alert and watch each other’s backs. As he did so, I tucked my weapon away, turning my attention to the man bleeding all over the dirt.

  “You are officially a prospect. Now get the fuck off my compound, and when I’ve determined a proper punishment, you’ll come back when I call. If you don’t come, you’re done, got it?” Brooks hissed, a venom in his voice that I’d never heard before. “Get the fuck out of my sight.”

  “But my leg…” Brewer started.

  “I don’t give a shit! You pull a knife on an officer’s Old Lady, you fucking figure out your own way off this acreage,” Brooks shouted. Despite being angry at his inability to keep his nose in his own shit, my body thrummed to the asshole alpha vibes he was radiating, and my pussy clenched in response.

  Damn him.

  We stood in a tense silence, Brewer limping and hobbling up off the ground and toward the gate. As soon as he was far enough away, I stormed up to Brooks, shoving him with my free hand.

  “What the fuck was that? I’m not your anything, or were you not fucking listening to what I said back in the bar?” I snapped. The men’s attention focused on me.

  “I heard you loud and clear, Baby, but this is my compound, and I won’t have my members treating you like that. Besides, you can fight me all you want, but you’re stuck with me,” he murmured, his whiskey smooth voice sending a shiver down my spine.

  The lusty fog that was brewing mixed with my anger and, deciding it would be best to not say anything, I chucked the knife at the ground. The blade burrowed into the dirt between his booted feet, leaving no mistake of the feelings behind my silence.

  “Good aim,” he said, smirking at me.

  “Maybe I missed, Prick,” I bit out in a snarl before storming over to Stone. “And you!” Pointing to the asshole who had started all of this shit in the first place, I continued, “Don’t think that little show means anything. You’re not forgiven. I may not be your enemy, Grave, but I’m sure as fuck not your friend either.” Turning, I strode away, glancing at Abby over my shoulder to wave goodbye.

  Abby’s sassy smirk firmly in place, her lips moving as she mouthed, ‘I told you so.’

  God damn it.

  Garrett

  “Go home,” Brooks commanded, his worried gaze centered on me. “We’ve run through all our plans up until this point. Kiera’s back, and you need to get some sleep.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off. “Don’t even fucking do it, Warden. I’m ordering you to go get some sleep. You can come back to the compound after you’ve gotten at least a night of sleep.” He sighed, his hand gripping my shoulder tightly. “Kiera’s home, and while it’ll be a rough go for a while, we’ll get her back.”

  “You might, hell, even Stone may, but I won’t,” I scoffed, shaking his hand off my shoulder. The soul deep ache crushed my chest in a wave of pain; only a fierce stinging filled the hole in my heart where Kiera’s love used to be. I shook my head almost violently. “I promised her, swore that she could always come to me, and what do I do at the first hint of a problem? I hesitated to trust her, and it cost me everything. Six years of longing before finally getting what I wanted, and then she was just gone.”

  “Give it a chance. Now, get the hell out of here and get home.” I couldn’t stop the defeated, full-body sigh that escaped knowing there was no use fighting him, so I headed out to my bike. It was only fifteen minutes to the house, but I was so exhausted it seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. The ride was a blur of Nevada desert that I didn’t really see, but the bite of the wind against my face gave me back a little bit of life, just enough to steel myself to walk into the place that reminded me of Kiera.

  “Ugh. No energy drinks.”

  I heard Kiera’s mumbled grumbling as soon as I walked into the house. For whatever reason, I hadn’t expected to see her in our shared kitchen ever again, so as the door closed, I felt my chest tightening. Of course, she would be staying here. This was built for her.

  Now that I didn’t have the extra distraction of the other officers around me, I could really look at her. Truly see Kiera for the first time since she’d gone away. Her skin was tanner despite it being winter. Long loose waves were chopped shorter in a very Kiera kind of hairstyle, and her body was thinner, almost too thin like she hadn’t been properly eating over the months. Startlingly, it was her eyes that had changed the most. Cold. Distant. Closed off like they had been when we first met, and I refused to believe we were back where we started—her looking at me like a stranger and me wanting nothing more than to break those concrete walls down.

  “What? Why are you staring at me?” she snapped when she saw me standing in the doorway from the mudroom to the kitchen, the sharp sound pulling me from my thoughts.

  “No reason, but I’m sure Brooks or Chase will get you some of your energy drinks on their way back,” I muttered, bending over to untie my boots.

  “Yeah, well, that doesn’t really help me now, does it?” she ground out, reopening the refrigerator as if they would have magically appeared. I rolled my eyes, figuring she was still too busy glaring holes into the fridge to see, but when she slammed the door shut and crossed her arms, I realized she’d noticed. “What the hell’s the attitude for, Garrett?” Even when it was said with such obvious scorn, my name on her lips was music, the one tune I hadn’t expected to hear again.

  “I don’t have a damned attitude, you do,” I snarled, growing increasingly irritable. “I tried to make a helpful suggestion, and you snapped at me for it. It’s not like they’d just be kept around for months on end if we didn’t think you were coming back.”

  “You thought I would
n’t come back?” she questioned, her brow arching as she scowled. For the first time in months, my blood pumped, my cock stirring in my jeans as her ferocity re-kindled the spark I thought had died.

  “Well, were you planning on coming back? Because you just fucking left, just one fucking word on a scrap piece of paper and didn’t give us a chance to explain even though we showed up only a minute or two after you ran off!” I shouted. We might have fucked up, terribly fucked up, but she couldn’t be the only one to say we didn’t listen when she didn’t either.

  “You didn’t want to listen! You thought I was working with Frankie! I saw the suspicion when I looked at the three of you even after everything I’d done for you and your stupid club—”

  She opened her mouth to say more, but I moved without a second thought, too fired up to listen to my brain screaming that what I was doing was a bad idea. My heart didn’t care. Boss was right—Kiera was here now, and I wasn’t going to waste the time I had before she decided to run off again. If this was my only chance, there was no way in hell I wasn’t taking it. I’d wasted six years, and then I lost six months. I wasn’t wasting anymore time.

  Stalking over to her, I stopped only when our bodies were brushing against one another, her peaked nipples rubbing over the taut planes of my chest. I could see her heart racing, the vein in her neck pulsing as lust swirled in her eyes. Cupping her jaw, my fingers tangled into her hair, and I kissed her hard.

  The moment was brief, but I felt as though I was on fire, my body and mind finally waking after six months of numbness. She didn’t try to throw me off, didn’t yell or scream, her lips moving ever so softly against mine. Before it could go further, I pulled back.

  “I’m sorry, and I love you, Kitten,” I murmured, my voice thick as I attempted to convey how much I meant the words I was saying. Before she could say anything or potentially stab me, I strode away, heading up to my room where I closed the door. As I sat on the bed, I reached into the end table and pulled out the ring box. Its soft velvet exterior once again held a sliver of hope instead of a crushing wave of sadness, but I couldn’t stop the tingling in my hands from the feeling of her soft sun-kissed skin. My body thrummed with pent up desire, and if I didn’t get this ache in my balls under control, I might go back downstairs and that would just be a shit show.

  Groaning, I shifted in a futile effort to relieve the tightness of my jeans. After quickly tucking the ring back in the drawer, I released my already stiff cock from behind the rough denim, figuring this was the best way to handle the situation. Set to rid myself of this overriding need to fuck her, I pumped my hand from base to tip, a shiver working its way down my spine. Once I’d stroked myself to completion, I could think clearly again, and I found my determination had only grown stronger.

  We can and will fix this, I told myself. I would fix this, whatever it took, because the alternatives were too depressing to consider.

  Kiera’s my Kitten no matter what her stubborn ass says.

  Chapter 4

  December 13th

  Friday Morning

  Kiera

  I slept harder, better than I had in months, the comfort of my sheets having lulled me into a deep unconsciousness. My body ached as I stretched, joints popping as I tried to wake my sleepy limbs. Chase wasn’t next to me when I glanced over, the comforter tossed haphazardly to show an empty space. When I brushed my fingers over the dip in the bedding, it was cold telling me he had been awake for a while.

  Rolling from the confines of the silky sheets, I strode into the bathroom and ran through my morning routine. A strange sense of deja vu swept through me as if I had never left, and a weird contentment filled my chest. No, I commanded. Things weren’t the same; their suspicion had hurt me the most, and until they showed me I could trust them, they would have to work to get back into my good graces. Slowly. Painfully. Just like how I had been feeling since I walked out of the bar six months ago.

  No one fucks with The Cat without some claw marks to remember me by.

  As soon as I was decent, meaning I wore a pair of skin-tight leggings and my usual cut-off T-shirt, the band of my lacy bra peeking through the open sides of the dark material, I started down the stairs. With each step, I prepared myself for seeing all of the guys today. Thank god I had a good night’s sleep. My mind was mostly clear, just some lingering grogginess and irritability that I was sure would be with me throughout my stay here.

  Sure enough, as soon as I rounded the corner into the kitchen, all four pairs of eyes landed on me. Only Chase seemed unfazed, giving me a little wave with his spatula as he cooked. Stone’s conflicted gaze pulled away first as he turned his attention to the coffee mug clutched in his hands. Brooks was giving me a cocky, self-assured grin, his eyes dragging down my body at an agonizingly slow pace. Fuck off, Prick, I grumbled, enjoy your eye-fucking ’cause that’s all you’re getting for a long while.

  Garrett stared, his emerald irises burning with a barely restrained fire, no longer appearing dull and dead. Seeing him sitting at the counter like nothing had happened brought everything from the night before rushing to the forefront of my mind.

  I’m sorry, and I love you, Kitten.

  Shock and disbelief hit me, followed quickly by longing because if he hadn’t walked away, I would have done the one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t. Fuck him right then and there. Because hell if I can’t stop my addiction to my asshole stepbrother. But he did walk away, and as soon as he was out of my line of sight, the anger rushed in at his audacity, but he was gone too fast for me to give him a piece of my mind.

  Probably a good thing, seeing as how we had a tendency to fuck in the middle of our arguments, and I need to prove Abby wrong.

  Welcome to Pettyville. Population: one.

  “What?” I snapped, realizing they had all been staring at me for the last thirty seconds. “This is my house too, you know.”

  “Just enjoying the view, Baby,” Brooks flirted. I growled slightly but kept the snarl that wanted to escape controlled. Walking up to the island, I curved around the shiny counter instead of taking my usual… old… seat between Brooks and Garrett and went up to Chase.

  “Good morning, my little assassin,” I murmured, giving him a soft smile. He must have realized what I was doing, his gray gaze lighting with laughter as he bent down to kiss me.

  “Morning, Kittycat,” he whispered, his lips brushing mine with each word. “Sleep well?”

  “Yes,” I answered, giving him one last kiss before pulling back. Chase’s chuckle grew when he glanced over at Brooks and Garrett, both of whom were glowering. Stone was still staring at his coffee as if it was the most interesting thing in the whole damned world. I went to grab a plate, realized there were none out, and based on Chase’s smirk and narrowed eyes, I knew that was on purpose.

  Why?

  Because Stone was standing right in front of the cabinet where the dishes were kept.

  Damn troublemaker.

  So, I cocked a brow at Chase’s not-so-subtle challenge and strode confidently to where Stone stood. He didn’t look at me initially, probably hoping I would go away. Not that that would happen; I’m going to prove to all these assholes that I can be an adult.

  Don’t turn those judgy eyes on me, people, I said adult, not a mature one.

  “What?” he muttered, finally meeting my eyes. Stone’s deep voice was always low, never raising above a soft tone, well, at least until he decided to scream at me six months ago.

  At the reminder of why I left, I ground my jaw against the flood of emotions flaring within my chest. Anger. Pain. Longing. Nope, you can be the better fucking criminal here, Kiera.

  “I need plates,” I said, mentally patting myself on the back for how level my words were. Pointing at the cabinet behind him, I silently asked if he would move.

  “Oh, right. Sorry. Let me get them,” he offered, surprising me since I thought he would move out of the way for me to grab them. Without any of my energy drink in my system, I was too slo
w at processing his helpfulness, and my brows were still furrowed when he turned back to me, five plates stacked in his calloused hands. “Here.”

  “Uh… thank you…?” I sputtered, my statement going up like a question. His near-permanent frown curled into a small grin that shocked me once more. “Uh…” A moment later, my brain finally caught up, screaming at me to stop being a dumbass and move to the island.

  I heard Chase chuckling to himself, but I kept my chin high and sank onto the stool between the Aces President and VP, giving Chase my best ‘that all you got?’ face. Blowing me a kiss, Chase went back to cooking as Brooks took the plates from my hands.

  “Good morning, Baby,” Brooks murmured, his tone light, rotating on the stool to face me. His knees rubbed against my thigh until they were on either side of me, creating a warm trap that I was reluctant to turn out of no matter how much I didn’t want to fall back into it. “Don’t I get a kiss?” At his question, he leaned closer, his smile taunting as he braced an elbow on the stone.

  “Fuck off, Prick,” I snapped, unable to stop the surge of lust that flooded me at his half-lidded icy blue gaze. “Stop staring at me, I’m not a fucking zoo exhibit.”

  “No, you aren’t. You’re much prettier,” he countered, unfazed by my attitude.

  “Can we not?” Garrett growled. “It’s too damn early for this shit.”

  “Agreed,” I muttered, glaring at him out of the corner of my eye. He was doing the same, the tension between us ratcheting up until it was nearly palpable in the air. Instead of saying something like I anticipated, he got up and headed for the coffee pot, empty mug clutched within his fingertips.

  “Here you go, Kittycat. Eat up,” Chase instructed, passing me a full plate. I had just started to stab some of the scrambled eggs when Brooks began to tease Chase.