Enemy (The Aces Book 3)

by A. J. Macey

  “Garrett?” I questioned, sticking my head into the bathroom.

  “Nope, just me, Baby. Almost done if you want the shower,” Brooks called out, his silhouette outlined on the other side of the fog covered glass. I felt my lips pull into a frown.

  “You see where Garrett went?”

  “I’ve been in here for a while, and it was pretty dark when I came in here so I couldn’t see much. Maybe check his room?”

  Closing the door behind me, I made my way out of the master bedroom. Stone was typing away at his computer, blueprints flashing across the screen as he worked. Continuing down the hall, I pushed open Garrett’s door only to find the room empty.

  My asshole stepbrother wasn’t in the kitchen, living spaces, basement, or outside. Where the hell did he go? It’s Christmas, who goes out on Christmas morning? Just when things were getting back to normal, I grumbled. Well, as normal as they can be when plotting to murder your own father. Finally, after about ten minutes, my internal alarm bells were starting to ring. Snatching up my phone, I dialed his number. It only took a few rings before he answered.

  “Where’d you go? I woke up, and you weren’t there—”

  “Hello, Kiera.” Jace’s voice filled the speaker.

  Oh god. I felt my stomach flip flop and I took off at a dead sprint up the stairs. Shards of ice stabbed my heart with each step.

  “How’s your Christmas going, my sweet?”

  “Where’s Garrett?” I bit out as I woke Chase. Pointing to the phone, I mouthed ‘Jace.’ That was all it took to get Chase jumping out of bed and strapping his guns on, running from room to room to collect Stone and Brooks.

  “Oh, don’t worry, he’s safe with me. For now.”

  “What do you want?” I hissed, putting the phone on speaker for the others when they got to the bedroom.

  “Not much, just a little blood and some answers. You know, the usual,” Jace told me nonchalantly. “Your father would like to talk with him, to all of The Aces actually, about why exactly they’ve been such a thorn in his side. Though, I’m quite pleased I was able to get my hands on your stepbrother.”

  I struggled to come up with a response, but bile rose in my throat, cutting off anything I could have said. Chase, Brooks, and Stone stood around me, all looking worried and angry as they waited for me to explain what was happening.

  “Aww, kitty’s got your tongue, huh?” Jace taunted. “That’s more than all right. I have some more work to do on my best friend. I do hope to see you soon, Kiera.”

  “Fucking shit!” I shouted, chucking my phone at the bed as he hung up on me. “Jace and Frankie have Garrett.”

  “How the fuck did they get him?” Brooks exclaimed furiously, rubbing his eyes and pacing. “Nevermind that, how the fuck do we get him back?”

  “I’m going to go in and get him,” I explained, storming into my closet and changing. “Call Val and Elliot, get their asses over here, we have some planning to do.”

  So much for a good Christmas.

  Garrett

  “Oh, Garrett, that’s all you can take before losing consciousness?” Jace taunted. A splash of ice cold water washed over me, bringing me fully back to awareness. I glared, pushing back the throbbing pain that wracked my torso.

  “Fuck you,” I ground out. Jace laughed, the sound echoing off the cement walls.

  “I think I’d much rather be fucking Kiera right about now, but I guess I’ll have to wait until she comes to us,” he pushed, tormenting me with more than just his fists.

  “How do you know she’ll even come? You don’t know her like I do since all you do is hide behind Frankie’s skirt like the coward you are.”

  “It’s adorable that you think I’ve been hiding and that I don’t know Kiera as well as you do,” Jace countered, pacing in front of me slowly. “Remember that time when we were younger and you jerked off to Kiera without her knowing?” My chest squeezed, the signature burn of a flush creeping over my cheeks as Jace cocked a brow at me, but I was too busy remembering that day.

  Kiera’s room was empty as I walked in, my brows furrowing in question to where she could have gone. Her creepy as fuck bodyguard is outside the door, so she has to be here, maybe on the roof? I thought, but on further inspection, I heard the water to the shower start.

  My feet moved as if they had a will of their own, and I walked deeper into her set of rooms. I should turn around, I tried to convince myself, but I couldn’t stop, too focused on hoping to sneak a glance at Kiera. Peeking through the sliver of the door, I found my kitten naked and wetting her hair under the shower stream.

  Fuck, I groaned, biting my knuckle to keep the noise contained. My cock jumped to attention, straining against my jeans as she lathered soap over her soft curves. Rubbing my hand over the front of my jeans, I couldn’t stop the burn of fire that filled me. She was right there. I wanted to step into the marble bathroom and see if she felt as good around my cock as I thought she would, but I didn’t. Settling on stroking myself, I stood silently and watched.

  One day though, I’ll have her.

  And that day can’t come fast enough.

  “Ah, I see you remember it.” Jace’s taunt pulled me from the memory. “Yes, I did in fact know about that. You see, I’ve been watching. Waiting, like you did that day. For years,” he emphasized. “She didn’t know you were there, just like you didn’t know I’d been there keeping an eye on her.”

  “How’d you know about that?” I questioned, my tone low.

  “Cameras that I put in there,” he said, as if it should have been obvious. “I was supposed to watch her and make sure she wasn’t causing any trouble for her father.”

  “You’ve been working for Frankie for that long?”

  Jace sighed, giving me a chastising glare as if I was purposely trying to be dumb. “Obviously, it started the day I first met him. I never did let it slip about any of her extracurricular activities. Though keeping track of her over the last half year has been increasingly difficult because of the three of you,” he ground out. “Can’t very well take her home when she’s off galivanting around Europe. Where do you think I’ve been recently? I was trying to track her down and keep watch over her until her father completed this expansion. Then she is to come home. With me, Garrett.”

  “And you think she’ll just… what? Go with you?” I hissed, tugging at the restraints with the urge to punch the cocky grin off his face. “Kiera can’t even stand the thought of you. What gave you that bullshit idea?”

  “Eh, nothing really, but I do love a challenge. Especially a bratty one. Think she’ll love this as a present?”

  “You fucking bastard!” I shouted, straining even harder when I saw the ring box in his hand.

  He’s a fucking dead man when I get my hands on him.

  Brooks

  I was tense, anger growing every hour that we couldn’t make a move to get my vice president back. Elliot and Valerian hadn’t taken long to arrive at the house, looking as worried as the rest of us. The fact that Garrett had been taken was wearing on all of us, but Kiera most of all, and she’d barely spared a moment’s glance when the two arrived to help us figure out how to get Garrett back.

  Planning only took a few hours, but it felt much longer than that as we watched Kiera go through the blueprints over and over until she finally had a solid route through the casino mapped out. She had been cold, precise, and short during our planning. Elliot and Chase had some concerns that she was too emotionally charged to focus. Baby didn’t exactly take that too well, but I had to give her props; she didn’t throw anything like I would have.

  So, being as thorough as ever, Kiera created a backup plan. Our last resort, shit had hit the fan, Plan Z. The whole reason we’re at the compound to begin with, I thought as I got out of Chase’s Audi.

  When in doubt, hit it with all you’ve got.

  The group was silent as we filed into the bar. Cheryl was off for the morning to celebrate the holiday by sleeping in, so we were alone. I
didn’t see the space around me or care about the holiday decorations that had sparked so much joy in my club the day before. All that mattered was getting Garrett back, keeping my members safe, and making sure Kiera didn’t go off the deep end.

  “All right, we need to call all of the members together,” Kiera stated before groaning. “And hope we don’t fucking tip off the mole. Fucking hell, how did I forget that?” she hissed the last bit to herself, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

  “It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” I took over. “We’ll keep as much information between us as we can, only giving the bare—” The door to the bar opened, stopping my statement mid-sentence.

  “Hey, Doc,” Kiera greeted, her brows dipping down when she looked at him with suspicion. “Something we can do for you?”

  “Hello, Kiera,” he greeted softly. His tone and sad smile set me on edge, but what he said next confused me. “I’m glad to see the lot of you finally starting to get along. It’s nice to have a family you care about.” None of us spoke, wondering where the statement was going. “I have a daughter; she’s sixteen this year. Top of her class actually,” he rambled.

  “I’m sure you’re very proud,” Kiera murmured, her words soft and hesitant. I could tell she was trying to figure out what he was trying to say before he said it. Based on her frown, she was having as much luck with that as we were.

  “I am, very much. I do worry though, about how she’ll be after I die.” At our surprise, he answered the unspoken question. “Cancer. Stage four. I’m sure you can understand how difficult this is for me to admit, but I couldn’t go on without telling you, especially knowing Garrett had been taken.”

  “How did you know about that?” I questioned.

  “Because he’s our mole,” Kiera said. Her voice held no emotion, her expression flat. “Let me guess, wandering around the compound unnoticed made it easy to feed information to my father? Probably even overheard one of the officers discussing my stash when they came to get the crash vehicles.” At his nod, Stone moved and grabbed Doc’s lapel. Before anyone could say anything else, Stone punched him in the stomach. The wheezing groan was loud as Doc folded over.

  I was stunned silent. Betrayal burned through me, and I found myself speechless. Out of anyone who could have been the mole, I’d never thought of him.

  “That’s how the hit men found out where The Bank was, wasn’t it?” Kiera asked, staring down at the old man.

  “I told him the officers had left with some vehicles. That was all,” he wheezed out.

  “Why?” I barked, my fingers curling into white-knuckled fists.

  “There is an explanation,” the traitor coughed out.

  “Then I suggest you talk quickly, old man,” I commanded, the speechlessness slowly seeping away. In its wake, fury flared.

  “He found out I was dying from cancer,” he stated softly. Kiera sighed, cutting off his explanation.

  “My father offered you a deal,” she surmised. “Let me guess, help us and you get a reward, or don’t, meaning… your daughter dies?” she guessed. Doc nodded, his gaze falling to the ground. “Yeah, he’s good at that,” she muttered, her tone resigned as she looked at Doc. Her eyes were surprisingly pensive, sadness softening the edges of the fire that had been burning from the moment Jace answered Garrett’s phone.

  “We would have taken care of her.” My jaw clenching as I held back the urge to shout. “Had you told us what was going on.”

  “I know you would have, but when someone you love is on the line, you’ll find that you do whatever you can to save them. Isn’t that right, Kiera? I can see it in your eyes; you would trade yourself for Garrett’s ensured safety.” Glancing over to her, I realized what he said was true. Kiera refused to look away from him, but her thinning lips told me all I needed to know. “Do what you must, but when I found out Garrett had been taken, I couldn’t stay silent any longer,” Doc stated simply, resigned to whatever waited. “I will accept whatever punishment you deem necessary.”

  “What do you want to do, Boss?” Stone asked softly. I hesitated, my mind at war about what to do.

  “He’s dying already,” Chase interjected. “Dying of cancer is slow and painful.”

  “Brooks,” Kiera murmured, her fingers brushing against my arm. Looking at her, I saw the answer she had chosen written all over her expression. Her lips curled into a sad frown, and the mossy depths of her eyes had been overtaken by pity. “We never would have known if he hadn’t told us, and he’s right, I would do that.”

  “You’re not going to do that,” I bit out, sick from even just thinking of her offering herself as trade. “Understood?”

  “You’re not the boss of me, Brooks. I’m not one of your leather wearing boy band members,” she tried to joke, but it fell flat as she continued to stare at Doc. “Dwight is dead, and it very well may be because of the information you gave my father, but I know what kind of man he is and how persuasive his tactics can be. I don’t blame you for trying to save your daughter, nor do I hold her accountable for being his pawn. With that said, while I personally won’t kill you for your betrayal, I will never forgive you.”

  “I would never ask for your forgiveness for what I’ve done.”

  “Boss?” Stone questioned once more, but I was too busy staring at Kiera, my Baby, the woman that I loved. I knew that if something were to ever happen to her, I would do whatever it took.

  “Doc, you betrayed this club, put us at risk, and broke our trust,” I started, stepping closer so I could look him in the eye. Another chest crushing betrayal passed over me as I looked at the man I had known almost my whole life. “But I don’t hold you at fault for staying loyal to your family. As Chase has said, you’re already dying. You’re banned from The Aces and exiled from stepping foot on the compound for the rest of your life, however long that is.” Doc’s eyes filled with unshed tears as I spoke; a shuddering sigh of relief escaped him in a rush.

  “Thank you.”

  “If we make it out of this alive, there won’t be anything left of Frankie or the Solace mob, but we will honor the original deal you had struck. Your daughter will be taken care of even after what you have done. Until we’re back, you’re going to be held in one of the outer buildings. When or if we come back, you’ll be let go. I suggest when that happens you hug your daughter and enjoy what life you have left because we don’t know how long ours will be.”

  Doc’s tears started to fall as he nodded. Within moments, Stone escorted him to the door, standing guard from within the bar to ensure the older man left the compound. Kiera’s fingers brushed against my arm, her fingers tangling with mine as we watched him drive away. As soon as his vehicle turned out of the gate, I rolled my shoulders back. All emotions pushed to the wayside as I looked at Stone.

  “Call the patch holders in,” I commanded. “We have a war to win.”

  Chapter 19

  December 25th

  Wednesday Night

  Kiera

  Sweat beaded up on my forehead as I crawled on hands and knees. The small underground tunnel was hot, and my long sleeve shirt, pants, pack, and black beanie made me feel as if I was about to combust. Slowing slightly, I waited for the dizzy spell to pass before continuing. The route I had chosen to get into the building was used for electrical and other utilities for the casino and resort, doubling as an escape route for my bastard father’s men if anything were to happen. It was clear no one had been down in this tunnel in at least a year; dust and cobwebs were abundant in the nooks and crannies between the access panels to the wiring.

  “Almost there, K.” Elliot’s voice filled the comm as I worked my way down the grate.

  “How’re you doing, Kittycat?” Chase questioned.

  “Fucking peachy,” I ground out. “I love dusty, spider-infested tunnels that feel like a hundred degrees.”

  “Your sarcasm is noted,” Elliot spouted. “All right, about fifteen more feet.”

  “Thank fuck,” I huffed, nearly
crying with relief when I saw the trap door. Before my celebration got too underway, I had to put on my disguise so I could leave the tunnel. I halted and I unzipped the bag that I had strapped crossways to my chest. Pulling out a small cloth, I wiped my face and hands clear of dirt and dust. Next was a wig, some lipstick, pearl necklace, and a shiny bracelet to make it seem as if I fit in among the posh clients at the resort. As soon as I was as ready as I could be, I shed my now empty bag and stashed it in the dark corner of the tunnel. Small loss in the grand scheme of things.

  “Ready?”

  “Yup, anyone on the other side?” I asked.

  “Nope. On my count of three,” Elliot started, counting down after checking the camera feed we had piggybacked onto. The lock clunked, signifying it was open, so I twisted the handle and pulled the thick metal panel down until I could fit through the opening.

  The room was a storage and cleaning closet on the first floor of the resort building of the Solace. To get to Frankie and Garrett, I had to make my way through the resort, over the fancy schmancy second-floor walkway, and into the casino without being stopped by any of the vile men who worked for my father.

  I can totally do that.

  Don’t look at me like that, people. We all have to take some risks in life.

  This one just happens to be really, really risky.

  “Fresh air,” I whispered happily, sucking down the cool oxygen as quickly as I possibly could without making myself any dizzier. “All right, going quiet unless necessary, so I don’t look weird talking to myself. Give me updates if you see anyone at any point.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain Cat,” Elliot smarted. Elliot and I had worked enough jobs together that he knew I needed something to keep the nerves at bay. Garrett’s life being on the line was an extra complication that didn’t make me feel any better about this whole situation. At least for a moment, I could let myself pretend this was just a routine job with an old friend.