She lets out a loud huff, going into her office and slamming the door. I glance over at Mia and she rolls her eyes.
“Her ex-husband is in town. This is always how she gets. She’s still completely in love with him, but he’s remarried to a much younger woman and occasionally he comes back to town. I’m not sure if it’s to piss Debra off or if they have a side thing going on. Either way, she’ll be like this until he leaves again,” she whispers.
Great, just what I need. I’m still learning and normally she’s great about my questions, but now I’m not so sure I should ask if I have one. With any hope today will go by without any problems and I suppose if I need help I can ask Mia.
“Thanks for the heads up. I better get these emails done. I don’t want to give her any reason to take that out on me,” I say.
“Yeah you better. We’ll meet in the lobby at noon for lunch. Good luck,” she says, laughing as she walks away. Bitch.
The morning flies by and thankfully the meeting went without a hitch. I took notes and Debra was so occupied with talking about the new line of summer clothes that she seemed like her normal self. I poke my head in her office, knocking lightly on the door. She lifts her eyes from the computer, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m going to lunch. Do you want me to get you something?” I ask.
She lets out a sigh and drops her glasses to the desk. “You’re such a great help, Ivy. Yes, please.”
“The regular?”
She nods and gives me a tight smile. I start to feel bad for her because unfortunately I know that look. I decide when I bring her lunch back, I’ll try to talk to her. The worst she can do is tell me to shut the fuck up and get out.
I grab my purse and meet Mia in the lobby. “Hey, you ready?” she asks.
“Yep.”
It’s only a five-minute walk to the small deli that makes the most delicious sandwiches. I’ve even come here on the weekends just to get one, it’s that good. After we order, we grab a table outside and enjoy the warm sunshine.
“So, listen, I talked to my boyfriend and he wants to come out with us for drinks tomorrow. He’s gonna bring his friend Chad and I’m telling you Ivy; you guys would be perfect together.”
So that’s what this is. She’s trying to set me up. Fucking unreal. “I appreciate it, but I’m not really looking for anything right now,” I say, lifting my shoulders.
She laughs and takes a sip of her water. “How long have you been in California now?”
“Almost two months,” I say, feeling a little lightheaded.
“And how many guys have you been with since you’ve been here?” she asks, lifting a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.
This time I laugh, feeling my face flush. “None, but I haven’t been looking.”
“It’s time to start looking.”
I think about it for a minute and it kinda turns my stomach. It’s not like I don’t want to eventually find someone, I just feel like something is holding me back. Maybe it’s all the shit I went through with Harper that scares me. You never really know someone. The shit I saw in that club scared me to death. The killings, the violence, the anger. It’s kinda turned me off to wanting to be with anyone right now. I need to find my peace before I open myself up to anyone else. I’ll also admit with complete embarrassment that waking up in that bed I shared with Kace alone still hurts. I’m not ready to feel that again any time soon.
“Not yet, but maybe soon,” I shyly say.
She gets up to grab our food and my stomach turns again. The fear of moving on from Kace and Vegas has my stomach in knots. Kace was never mine and never would have been, but I can’t help that I still think about that night and how I want to relive it. Not waking up in a cold bed, but everything else. We connected that night in a way that I can’t explain or understand. I just know it happened. I’ve wanted to ask Harper a million times how he is, but I won’t. The fear of hearing that he is with someone or that he was shot again hold me back. She never brings him up, which makes me think it’s that he’s with someone.
“Damn, are you alright?” Mia asks.
I snap out of my thoughts and look at her concerned face. Great, now I’m showing my feelings. “I’m fine, just missing Vegas a little I guess.”
She nods as she bites into her sandwich. “Is it Vegas you’re missing or is there a guy?”
My stomach again turns, and I take a long drink of my water to relax myself. I grin, tucking my hair behind my ears. “It’s Vegas. I grew up there, it’s the only place I know.”
“I like you Ivy, you are a good fucking liar,” she says, laughing.
I laugh with her and take a bite of my turkey sandwich. “Thanks.”
“Tell me about him,” she says.
“Not much to tell. We would never have worked,” I say, lifting my shoulders.
She tilts her head, grinning with her plump pink lips. “Why?”
Why? Because he’s part of a mc that scares that shit out of me. Because he may have killed people. Because he could be shot and killed at any moment. Because he could never love me and I’m not sure if it’s because of his ex or because he’s just that cold and callous. I can’t say any of that to her, she’d never understand.
So instead I say, “He wanted one thing and I wanted another.”
“He didn’t want to commit?” She keeps pushing and I’m starting to get annoyed.
“Mia, he wasn’t a good guy. It’s better this way, please leave it at that.”
It saddens me to say it and I’m not entirely sure if I believe it or not. I think Kace has some redeeming qualities, but I’m not sure he believes that. He’ll just keep going the way he has and that’s fine but not anything I want to be a part of.
“Sorry Ivy. I wasn’t trying to pry, just trying to get to know you better. I understand, I’ve been in shitty relationships too. I think you need some serious girl time. I’ll tell Rob tomorrow is girls only. I’ll invite some of my other friends and we’ll make a whole day of it. What do you say?”
She has pity in her eyes and I fucking hate it. I’m not broken or running from someone dangerous. I’m not Harper. I push my sandwich aside as my stomach turns again. Maybe I’m coming down with something. I’ve been feeling like crap lately.
“I think we should get back, I’m not feeling so great,” I say standing up and holding onto the table as my head spins.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, throwing her food away and grabbing Debra’s sandwich for me.
As she asks it, I run to the closest garbage can and everything I’ve ever eaten comes up. It’s disgusting and seems to be never ending. Mia at some point grabs my hair and when I’m done, she hands me a napkin.
“Thanks,” I croak out.
“Are you alright?”
I lean against the cool brick wall and hang my head. “I don’t know. I’ve been feeling crappy lately, I guess I caught a virus.”
“How long have you been feeling shitty for?”
I think about it and peek up at her. “I don’t know, maybe two weeks.”
“Could you be pregnant?” she whispers.
I snap my head up and panic wraps around me. Holy fuck, when was my last period?
Chapter 3
Kace
My eyes crack open and my head is assaulted by the light coming in my window. I groan and grab a pillow, holding it over my face. Last night is a blur, but I know I drank, and I drank a lot. I don’t even know how the fuck I got home. I pull the pillow off my face and force myself to man up. I go into the bathroom and grab some ibuprofen out of the cabinet, washing it down by drinking water from the faucet. I take a quick shower, hoping it will help my pounding head, but it doesn’t do much. I get dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans, running my hand through my brown hair and head downstairs.
I stop short when I see Zane and Riley sleeping in the living room. Zane is on the couch, still wearing what he had on yesterday, while Riley is on the chair with a blanket wrapped around him. What the fuck? I go into t
he kitchen and get the coffee going. Once that’s done, I stand in the living room, crossing my muscular arms, and clear my throat. Zane immediately opens his blue eyes, sitting up.
He scrubs his face, yawning. “Well you didn’t die so that’s something,” he croaks out.
“What?” I ask, biting on my lip ring.
“Brother, you drank so much last night that Harper was freaking out telling me to take you to the hospital. What the fuck was that about?” he asks, standing up and stretching.
I think back to the BBQ, but I honestly have no idea why I would drink like that. Maybe it was because I was trying to drown out Zane and Harper dry humping in front of me. Maybe it was because Riley wouldn’t shut the fuck up about Gillian. Maybe it was because I ignored Brittany’s calls and texts. All I remember is wanting to forget for a while, which obviously worked.
I run my hand through my wet hair and grab my neck. “I have no fucking idea. Guess I just wanted to get lost for a while.”
“Maybe you need to figure out why,” he says, lifting an eyebrow.
“Maybe you should stop acting like a chick all the time and just let me get fucked up without needing some deeper meaning,” I growl.
He laughs and kicks Riley. “Sleeping beauty, get the fuck up.” He walks to the kitchen and I follow, knowing that’s what he wants. He pours us each a cup of coffee and I graciously take it from him. “You don’t think it had anything to do with Ivy calling?”
“What the fuck? Absolutely not. She went her way and I went mine. No feelings were hurt on either side of that deal, brother,” I say.
I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought of her a time or two, but I know she’s off doing better things. She wasn’t meant to be an old lady and she sure as fuck wasn’t meant to be just a fuck buddy. I’m good with that and she was good with it too. I lean against the counter, thankful my head is starting to feel a little better, waiting on him to say something else. I know him so fucking well, I know this isn’t the end of him acting like some chick.
“Just a coincidence, huh?” he asks, sipping his coffee.
I sigh and put my mug down, grabbing my cigarettes. “Z, I don’t know what the fuck you want me to say. There’s no part of me that longs for Ivy and I can guarantee you that she feels the same. Getting trashed last night held no deeper meaning. Let it go.”
He nods, his lips pressed thin. “We need to be around the table in a half hour. You good to get yourself there?”
“Of course,” I say, blowing smoke toward the ceiling.
He gets up and pulls Riley off the chair. “We need to be around the table, wake the fuck up.”
“Fuck, Z.” He growls, pushing him away. “I need five more minutes; I need to finish this threesome.”
I chuckle from the kitchen as Riley drops back onto the chair. Zane looks at me and I lift my large shoulders. He shakes his head and leans down grabbing the bottom of the chair, tipping it back. “I know your dreams are the only place you’ll ever have a threesome, but we need to get the fuck out of here.”
Riley laughs as he jumps off the chair before it falls back. “I’m not the one who gave his dick to one chick forever, Z. Don’t be jealous I can stick mine in anyone I want still,” he says, thrusting his hips toward Zane.
I laugh finishing off my coffee. “You’re lucky to have one chick on your dick,” I say.
He looks at me and slowly smiles. He wiggles his eyebrows, crossing his arms. “That one chick is better than two. You’re both just jealous.”
Zane and I laugh as we get our boots one. “Yeah that’s what it is Riley. Your sex life keeps us up at night,” Zane says.
“It should,” he mumbles, tying his black boots.
“Any idea why we need to be around the table?” I ask Z, ignoring Riley. I could give a shit about his sex life and even more so with Gillian.
He runs his hand through his hair, his blue eyes looking between me and Riley. “No, but I’m guessing it has to do with the Raging Devils.”
“Fuck,” I whisper. I had a feeling that was it but was hoping it was something else.
“Those pricks are going to start another fucking war,” Riley comments.
I don’t say anything, but I nod my head agreeing. That’s exactly what’s going to happen, and we need to figure out how the fuck to stop it. They’ll do whatever is necessary to get what they want and that means they will kidnap, torture, and kill innocents. My skin burns just thinking about it. We can’t let them take it that far.
“Let’s go and see what Brooks and Enzo say,” Z says, grabbing his cut and slipping it over his white T-shirt. I do the same and we all walk out the door. “Kace, I’m not fucking babysitting you the next time you get trashed for no reason. Sleeping on your couch instead of in my bed with my wife is bullshit.”
He’s pissed and I get it, I would be too. I didn’t ask him to stay though, so that shit is on him. I’m not gonna be made to feel guilty for having a good time or trying to forget reality for a while.
We get on our bikes and fly to Souls. It seems we are all anxious to hear what is going on. When we get there, we don’t say anything, we just head inside. Porter, Alex, Finn, and Enzo are sitting at a table eating burgers. I’m suddenly starving and walk over grabbing one off the table.
“Help yourself,” Porter says.
I take a bite and grin. “Thanks, I will.”
“Alright we’re all here now, let’s get this over with,” Enzo says, standing up.
“Brooks is here?” Zane asks.
Enzo runs his hand through his beard, nodding. “Yeah he’s waiting.”
Z looks at me and I shake my head. This isn’t good. We get around the table and once we are all sitting, Brooks puts his elbows on the table, steepling his hands in front of his mouth. He looks around at us and my muscles tighten.
“I got word that the Raging Devils made an unexpected appearance at the Souls Two.” He turns immediately to Zane, grabbing his shoulder. “Harper wasn’t there, and they didn’t get inside.” He looks around at all of us and shakes his head. “We’re gonna need to pay a visit to their club house and remind them we aren’t fucking around.”
“We need to close down Souls Two,” Zane growls.
“Relax, not yet, brother,” I say, grabbing his arm to get his attention. “We do that, and they are winning before it even starts. They can’t get the upper hand.”
“Kace is right,” Enzo agrees. “We need to have a show of force and remind them this is our neighborhood, not theirs.”
“Fuck,” Zane says, slamming his hands on the table. “We ran them out of here once, we need to do it again.”
“It’s not going to be that easy this time. They are bigger and more organized now,” Brooks states, crossing his arms.
Everyone is looking around and I grin, folding my hands on the table. “Let’s remind them we’re bigger and better organized.”
“Fuck yeah,” Riley says, nodding at me.
“We’ll go in and I’ll try to sit and talk with Hawk, tell him there’s no room for them here. We know it’s not gonna go like that, but maybe we can make him a deal that can’t refuse,” Brooks says, leaning back in his leather chair.
“What deal is that?” Porter asks.
“Offer him the rest of the Vegas Kings, let him do a patch over, but only if they stay the fuck out of here.”
I glance around and figure no one else is gonna bring it up, so I do. “How the fuck are you going to offer members of another mc that crumbled to the ground?”
“Seems too risky. We should just go in with force,” Zane says.
Normally, Zane is out of his mind with the ideas he comes up with, but for this I agree. Offering members that aren’t ours to offer isn’t just stupid, it will force them to take revenge when it doesn’t go their way. We’re trying to avoid a war, not start one.
“Z’s right. That deal isn’t ours to make and it seems almost certain a war will be the result,” I say.
Enzo blows o
ut a breath and his worried eyes look around. “They’re right, Brooks. We are asking for retaliation with that move.”
Brooks shakes his head as he lights a cigarette. “We need to offer them something,” he growls, smoke circling his head.
“What if we can find out who Kingsley’s distributor was? We could offer him that?” I suggest.
“Fuck, that’s smart, Kace,” Enzo says, grinning.
Zane is already on the phone before we even ask him to talk to Harper. It’s a smart move. One that will ensure the Raging Devils stay away, if it all works out. If not, we’re fucked.
“Harper is gonna make some phone calls, but she knows it was a guy out of New York. Let’s present the offer and tell him it’s in the works,” Zane says, pocketing his phone.
“It’s a risk, but it’s the best we’ve got,” Brooks says.
“Let’s go make our offer,” Ezo agrees and we all stand up.
We pile out of the room and everyone grabs a quick shot. It’s the last thing I should probably do, but I need something right now. It’s bad enough we are just showing up at their club house but presenting an offer that we don’t actually have yet could end up screwing us even worse.
“Ready?” Brooks asks, looking around. His eyes show his uncertainty, but his body stands with confidence.
We all get outside and once on our bikes we follow in a perfectly straight line. The Raging Devils club house is about five miles out of town, closer to Souls Two, which I’m guessing is why they went there instead of Souls. They know where our club house is located, so it gives me a little relief that maybe they are just looking for some kind of arrangement. If that’s all it is and this works, we can just move on.
Once we pull up to the dilapidated building, we park on the dirt that surrounds it and quickly head toward the door. We can’t give them time to react, we need to be fast. Even as we rush to the broken door, that is literally just a piece of plywood. Alex and Porter pull it down as Riley and I rush in first, guns drawn. They follow behind with Finn and Zane rushes in with Brooks and Enzo behind him.
Hawk, the president and Bane, the vice president stand up, as the rest of the club has guns drawn on us. “What the fuck is this about?” Hawk growls.
Kace (Shattered Souls MC Book 3) Page 4
