“I don’t think it will be that bad,” I mutter and look down at my feet. “I mean, we’re not even together. It was a mistake. His wife is here.”
“Who, Mags?” Misty snorts. “I never liked that hot mess. You don’t have to worry about her. She’s a problem for Reap to handle. She just doesn’t know she’s a sitting duck.”
“What do you know about her?” I ask, then wince. What does it matter? I shake my head and hold up a hand to stop Misty from answering. “Never mind, forget I asked. It doesn’t matter,” I say sadly.
“Was the sex bad?” she asks as she looks me over. “Was he too rough.”
I shake my head as I try to hold back my tears. “No, it was amazing. I… I think I thought it was more than it was. I just want to forget him.”
“Eva.” She reaches for my arm.
“No, Mist, for once, let me let this go,” I plead.
Misty sighs. “For now, and only because I need to finish that ice cream.”
I laugh, she’s so freaking silly. I pull my best friend into a hug. I missed her something awful and I feel terrible now for ditching her for some guy.
My stomach growls right as we break apart. She lifts a brow and bursts into laughter. “Sounds like you need some ice cream of your own,” she teases.
“Yeah, something like that.” I snort.
I wiggle my brows and grin. I scurry over to the corner of the pantry everyone knows to steer clear of. It’s King’s shit. There’s even a lock on the cabinet. I pull the key from the pocket of my sweats and open the cabinet to get to what I’m looking for.
Misty lets out a long slow whistle when she sees what I pull out. “You’re trying to make him kill you. Not the Cookie Crisp.” She giggles.
“He’ll get over it. I mean, he wouldn’t have given me and Sal a key if he didn’t really want us to eat his shit.” I laugh.
“Yeah, but he grumbles about it every time. Hey, are there any candy bars in there?” she asks and moves closer to look over my shoulder.
I laugh and reach in to grab one. She shoves me out of the way and takes three. I frown at her and place my hand on my hip. “Look who’s talking about trying to make him kill you. What’s up with all the junk food. Weren’t you just talking about going on a diet?”
Misty snorts. “As if he…” She trails off and gets a funny look on her face. “Spider is going on a food run in the morning. I’ll have him replace them.”
“Whatever.” I laugh and close the cabinet back and lock it. “I don’t know who has a worse sweet tooth, you or King. I swear you two shouldn’t even have teeth left in your heads.”
“Remember that time he was so sick he was flat on his ass in bed for like a week?” Misty asks with a twinkle in her eyes. “I brought him a bag full of candy bars and ended up as sick as he was ‘cause I tried to keep up with him eating the stupid things.”
We both burst into laughter as we exit the pantry and sit on the stools at the metal prep table in the kitchen. Misty tears into a candy bar and goes back to devouring the ice cream she was eating when I arrived.
I lift a brow and shake my head. It must be that time of the month. I smile as she closes her eyes and moans while she eats a mouthful of ice cream and candy bar.
“So, Brick,” Misty says as she reopens her eyes.
I huff and narrow my gaze on her. “Misty,” I warn.
“No, Eva, wait. I know you, and you always miss what’s going on around you if it’s not in a book or a drawing.” She puckers her lips in thought. “I hope you’re not letting something slip by that—”
“That what, Misty?” I cut her off. “That can never be? You’re right, King would lose his ever-loving mind and then what? Besides, I told you. I misread things. I mean, look at his ex-wife. I’m clearly not his type.”
She drops her candy bar into her ice cream. “I will never understand how you don’t see how gorgeous you are. You’re hot, young, and smart as shit. Why wouldn’t he want you? Mags is as dumb as a bag of rocks and she’s trifling.”
“How do you know so much about her?” I mumble.
Misty frowns and twists her lips in disdain. She turns back to her ice cream. “I pay attention.” She shrugs.
“Well, if you pay attention, then you already know he has moved on. I haven’t seen him since we arrived,” I mutter.
“That’s because he’s been gone since you guys arrived. King had him head right back out,” she says and points her spoon at me.
I’m a little thrown and hopeful with this new information. Maybe Brick would have apologized, at least if he were around. I’d like to think our time meant enough for him to at least say he’s sorry for using me.
“How do you know King sent him out?” I ask to distract my thoughts.
“I told you, I pay attention,” she says and shifts on her stool.
I start to pay attention. My best friend is hiding something from me. I watch her right as her phone buzzes on the tabletop. Her whole face lights up as she looks down at it.
“Is that your latest boy toy?” I ask as I watch her.
Misty tries to reel in her smile. “I guess you can say that.” She smiles.
I reach for one of the bowls stacked in the center of the table and fill it up with cereal. I groan inwardly as I realize I’ve forgotten the milk. I slide off my stool and head to the refrigerator.
I hear someone else enter the kitchen as I rummage through the shelves. I stop and smile as I recognize the voice. I grab the milk and spin to close the door.
“That’s not food, Misty,” King growls as he towers over my best friend.
King is a gorgeous man. Those blue eyes and his blond dreadlocks have most of the women around here drooling and lusting after him. On the rare occasion that you get a smile from King, it’s breathtaking. I’ve just never seen him as more than my big brother.
“Um, Eva and I wanted something quick,” Misty says nervously.
I wrinkle my brows as King’s head shoots up in my direction. Misty is usually anything but nervous around King or anyone else. She’s known for her sassy and feisty personality.
King looks back at the table as he takes a step away from Misty. “You little shits were in my cabinet.” The smile on his lips tells me he could care less. He reaches for one of the candy bars Misty stole and opens it.
“Hey, that was mine,” Misty pouts.
“No, it was mine and you stole it,” he grunts around a mouthful of candy.
“I was going to have Spider replace it,” she grumbles.
King laughs, but he’s distracted by his ringing phone. He frowns down at it and his face darkens. “I gotta handle this. Eat some real food, Misty,” he commands before he turns to leave.
I sit and pour milk over my cereal. “What’s that about?” I ask.
King is just as protective of Misty as he is of Sal and me. However, there was something different in that last command he gave. Something a little possessive, I guess you could say.
“What?” she asks around a spoonful of ice cream.
“Why is he up your butt?” I ask with a lift of my shoulders.
“I haven’t been feeling good since I arrived. I guess he’s checking up on me.” She shrugs back.
“Yeah, by the way. I’m so sorry I bailed on you,” I say, feeling like crap again for totally failing as a friend.
Misty gets that weird look on her face again. For the second time, I know she’s keeping something from me. I decide to pry this time.
“Hey, did like something happen? You know with you and that guy? His friend was a jerk, by the way,” I say as I watch her.
She started acting strange around the time I went out on that date. Honestly, now that I’m thinking about it, it may have been way before then. Misty had been acting out of character for a couple of months. First, she was all dreamy eyed. Then, she was sort of nervous all the time.
“Who, Jeff?” She waves a hand at me. “I blocked his calls and deleted him weeks ago. I think I’m going to
head to bed. I probably ate too much junk. I’ll see you in the morning.”
With that, she slides off her stool and gives me a hug and kiss on the cheek. She’s gone before I can ask any more questions or think about what’s really going on with her. I’m left with my bowl of cereal and my own thoughts.
Chapter 24
Pay Up
Owen
“Good evening, Mr. Mason,” the bouncer says as I move to the entrance of the club.
I nod and grunt.
Exhausted is beyond what I am right now. I’m annoyed, tired as fuck, and I miss my woman. I didn’t know I could miss someone this much. It’s been three days since I left Eva at the clubhouse pissed off.
So far, I have shit. No one knows anything. For the most part, I think that’s true. Just one person has me believing otherwise. That’s why I haven’t returned home.
Something stinks in the Mayor’s home. Not the Mayor in South Carolina, no, his ass was clueless, and I believe it. The Mayor of Georgia is the one I’m finding an issue with. The more I think about it the more I know his ass is up to something.
Mayor Finch has been in for quite a grip with the club for about a year now. He knows King is going to come knocking for that bread sooner than later. Helping someone bring down the club would be in his favor.
Finch has no morals and he’s a sniveling piece of shit. I also know one important fact about that motherfucker. Finch has a nasty tell. When he lies, his right brow twitches.
That shit was a twitching mess last night, when I paid him a visit. That’s why I’m on my way to see a friend. Clayton Hennessy may not be a brother of the Lost Souls, but he’s like a brother to me. We met in college as roommates. Clayton helped me smooth out my rough edges to get through the doors Cage was counting on me to break through.
Clayton and his family have connections. If you so much as breathe in the South East, North East, or East Coast Clayton knows about it. Anywhere else, he’ll have access to the information soon enough.
Clayton and I have an understanding. Ask what you need, act as if the rest doesn’t exist. It works for us. Has for the last decade or more, no need to change it now.
“Welcome back, Mr. Mason,” a pretty brunette with a tray of drinks in her hand says as I walk into the club. I’m positive I once knew this one biblically.
I look into her hazel eyes and confirm, I indeed once fucked her. She has a come-hither look as she lets her gaze roam over me. Not Eva, not interested.
Hell, I can’t even remember this one’s name or how long ago we fucked. Clearly, she didn’t leave the impression I so obviously left with her. Ignoring her flirtatious looks I keep moving.
Dressed in a tailored black suit and black dress shirt with the top three buttons open, I move through the club Clayton and I silently own together. I’ve learned it’s always a good idea to have my eggs in more than one basket. Not that I don’t trust King and the Lost Souls. I just wanted something to call my own.
King is the same way. He and I both actually have businesses outside of the club together.
After Cage died, we always wondered what truly happened that night. We knew who we could trust and who we needed to keep an eye on. We also knew we needed a nest egg in case we needed to regroup.
I spot Clayton up in VIP and head straight there. Although, this isn’t a Lost Souls business, I have hired Diggs’ Security firm to handle the place. I don’t trust anyone else.
Clayton stands with a smile on his face as I reach him. He pulls me into a big bear hug. Not many men can dwarf me. Clayton comes pretty close.
The ginger is a jolly red giant without the perpetual jolliness. He’s the guy who everyone is drawn to, it doesn’t matter that he’s brooding most the time. He has a way of talking and moving that makes people gravitate to him.
When Clayton smiles your way, you move because it seems like a gift he’s bestowing. I have seen it work on women and men alike. I’ve been amused more often than not to watch him in action.
“It’s good to see you,” Clayton says as he releases me and nods for me to take a seat. He goes to wave over one of my usual girls, but I hold up my hand for her to stay put.
Again, I’m not interested. If it’s not Eva, I want nothing to do with her. The busty blonde pouts and turns back to her seat, looking deflated. I’ve already forgotten her. When I look at Clayton, he has his brow lifted at me.
I shrug my shoulders. “Things have changed,” is all I say.
Clayton looks me over and smiles. “Is the wife back in the saddle?” he asks, but I know he’s about to answer his own question and a few I’ve come to get answers to. “I hear she has ruffled some feathers. I can’t believe she has unraveled all you’ve done for her.
“Mayor Finch has been looking for a way out of his debt to your circle.” Clayton pulls a face. He never likes referring to the club in public. “He had nothing, not until your crazy wife went barking up some of the wrong trees. This is less about your brothers than it is about her. Miguel is coming for her ass. However, he does seem to have a bit of a problem with you and King as well.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” I snort. Although, his words confirm Jemma’s suspicions and my own.
“I think you have two problems on your hands here. There’s a hidden player in this all. Someone not involved with Miguel, but who’s watching what’s going on to make a move. I’m hearing talk, but I’m still digging on that one.”
“What kind of talk?” I ask, leaning in with my forearms on my knees.
“Listen, this unknown, they’re after anything with the name Kennedy or attached to it. Friends, family, associates. The LS included. Someone wants that whole club to burn.” He frowns, his eyes turning hard.
A growl rips through my chest at the thought of a price being on my woman’s head. I’ll take care of me. If someone wants to come knocking at death’s door, I’ll open that motherfucker up nice and wide, but don’t come for my woman.
That will get your ass a straight visit from me. You don’t have to come to my door, I’m going to blow your shit in. This has gone to a new level.
Everything has changed. I stand, unable to sit knowing someone is after everything I put my life on. My woman, my family, my brothers. Not to mention, Mags silly ass is playing with an open can of worms. I could ring Magdalena’s neck. Yet, there’s another can out there that’s waiting to burst.
My nostrils flare and I crack my neck. My fists are balled so tightly I know I’ll break skin. The rage going through me is hot and coiling to a boil.
Clayton gets my attention with his next words. “Whoa, Brick, I’m not done. What is she worth to you? I know that look in your eyes, does Mags still have value to you? She’s going to need to because you may not like what you learn next.” He tilts his head to the side as if studying me more closely. “This third party. They don’t give a fuck about her, but Miguel still does. He wants something.
“Have you ever wondered what she’s really running from? Good pussy will drive you to do some crazy shit, but I get the feeling there’s more here. I did some asking. I couldn’t get much. Everyone’s scared to mention her, but Magdalena was never his woman,” Clayton says as he looks me in my eyes. “No, brother, she has some other value to him. Some value he’s been waiting a long time to collect.”
I nod as I take his words in. “Thanks,” I grumble. Clayton has answered most of my questions.
“And Brick,” he calls as I turn to leave.
“Yeah.” I look back over my shoulder.
“Tell him before he finds out from someone else. The streets are whispering,” Clayton gives me a knowing smile.
I close my eyes and nod. Fuck. I already knew I wasn’t as careful with my relationship with Eva as I should have been, but I thought I would have gotten a chance to talk to King by now. I had no idea I would be out handling club business.
Now that I have what I need, I need to head home. I have some things to iron out and a woman to protect. Someone ha
s written a check on their own life.
I decided to ride my bike here despite the suit. This area can be packed, even on a Monday night. Parking my bike would just be easier. The moment I leave out of the club I feel them.
I act as if everything is fine as I walk to my parking spot. A smile creases my lips as anticipation floods my veins. I have a taste for blood after what I’ve learned from Clayton. I welcome my beast to the forefront.
Cage had a knack for picking everyone for a role that would fit them best. He didn’t just send me to school to become an architect. Cage had me trained to be a soldier. Not just any soldier, a Lost Souls soldier. The Squad general.
You don’t become Squad because you’re willing to fight and kill for the club. No, Squad members are broken. Most of us came to the club that way. Cage found us all before we were completely lost and made us something in between the darkness.
It’s why we’re so damn loyal. We were saved from the broken hell that was meant to be our fate. We’ve known loss, that deep rooted scar your soul shit. So, we have no fear of it.
No, I don’t fear shit. Like I said before. The Lost Souls don’t allow me next to the trouble, I am the fucking trouble.
Don’t let the suit and tie fool you. As a Squad member, you know and understand the importance of getting in and out. We move like ghosts.
We handle business and disappear like a soul lost in the wind. I reach my bike right as the unlucky souls advancing on me close in. I turn and toss a blade into the neck of the one on my right.
His gurgles fill the night air and send a delicious tingle down my spine. I move swiftly to retrieve my blade and sheath it in its hiding place once again. Another rushes me, getting a good right across my left cheek.
I feel my flesh split and smile wider. My left, right combination hits him faster and harder than his hit me. I body check him and he crumbles to the ground. The next asshole goes to pull the trigger on his gun, but I was in motion to stop him all along.
Forever Page 16
