Copyright © 2019 by Alexx Andria
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Bad Decisions
Alexx Andria
Alexx Andria
Contents
Back cover blurb
A Note From Alexx
Keira
Kane
Keira
Kane
Keira
Kane
Keira
Kane
Keira
Kane
Epilogue
Also By Alexx Andria
About the Author
Back cover blurb
Five years ago I would’ve died for her — today she’s just a pawn in my game.
Keira DeLeon was the love of my life until she betrayed me. Now I bear the scar of her betrayal from the knife at her brother’s hands and I’m ready to take my vengeance on the DeLeon family.
Bound and at my mercy, Keira is her brother’s only weakness. He’ll come for her and when he does, I’ll be ready to end them both.
All I have to do is forget I ever loved her…and maybe still do.
USA Today bestselling author Alexx Andria delivers a gritty, emotional short story guaranteed to leave you breathless as only she can!
A Note From Alexx
There’s something so sweet about a matching-making dog! Hobbs is that pup who might just know something that we don’t. Read on and find out if these two humans were made for each other or completely wrong for one another.
xoxo
—Alexx
Keira
“You’re awake.”
My head throbbed and my mouth tasted like something had shit in it but yeah, I was awake, not that I’d consider that an improvement on my situation. It didn’t take long to realize I was tied to a chair in some shit-hole, staring into the scarred face of my brother’s most hated rival, Kane Wylder.
Fuck me. This didn’t bode well. Don’t show any fear. I met his gaze, pushing past the pain to test the rope as I said, “You’ve got balls, Kane.”
“That rope ain’t going nowhere unless I say so,” Kane said with a smirk that made me want to kick those balls straight into his throat. “For once in your life, just sit there, keep your mouth shut and look pretty.”
“You’ve made a big fucking mistake. Rey is going to come for me and when he does, he’s going to give you a matching scar for the other side of your face,” I said, gritting my teeth against the throb in my brain.
“Don’t make me tape that sassy mouth,” he growled, narrowing his gaze.
I willed my body not to react to the energy pulsing between us. He towered over me. I could smell his skin, his unique scent. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second before opening them again to snap as my head swam, “Jesus, what the hell did you do to me?”
Kane ignored my question and cracked open a bottled water. “Open up,” he instructed.
“Untie my hands.”
“Open your mouth, little bird or you get nothing.”
“I fucking hate you,” I spat but my mouth was too dry to continue arguing. I dropped my jaw and he poured water into my mouth until I sputtered and choked. He chuckled and took a swig himself. “You’re a dick,” I managed amidst coughing jags. I tried to ignore the twinge of heartache knowing he sought my pain — even if I’d earned it.
“Why deny it?” Kane shrugged, my insult bouncing off his back. He dropped onto the old sofa, sending a poof of dust particles into the air. I had no idea where we were but it was clearly somewhere no one would think to look for us.
A moment stretched between us until he said, “I’d almost forgotten how beautiful you are,” as if making conversation until he added, “but looks like yours…are fucking poison. I learned that the hard way, didn’t I?” He illustrated his point by tracing the faint scar that split his right brow and ran down his cheek.
I refused to show any reaction even though my heart spasmed with shame. “What’s your end game, Kane?” I asked, once I could speak clearly again. “What the fuck do you think you’re going to gain dragging me here? Rey is going to find me.”
“I’m counting on it.”
“And then what?”
“Then, I’m going to kill him.”
A chill settled in my bones. He meant it. Kane didn’t make idle threats. In all the years I’d known him, I’d never seen him so cold, so devoid of emotion. “You’re an idiot. You can’t kill Rey,” I said, lifting my chin. “Rey has an army. You have nothing.”
“I don’t need an army. I have you.”
“What do you mean?”
Kane rose from the sofa in a quick, fluid movement, like a jungle cat on the prowl, every muscle coiled for action. He exuded menace with every step. My breath caught as he lowered on his haunches beside me. His smile grew colder. “Rey would do anything to save his precious little sister, Keira from someone like me, wouldn’t he?”
“You don’t scare me,” I said but my lip trembled. Was it so long ago he’d looked at me with tenderness? Seemed a lifetime.
Kane knuckled the skin of my cheek with a surprisingly gentle touch as he whispered against the shell of my ear, “I should,” before rising and stalking from the room, slamming the door behind him.
Only when Kane was gone did I release the pent-up breath I was holding.
Rey would kill Kane. Or Kane would kill Rey. I didn’t want either to die. My brother wasn’t a good man but he was my only brother. My only family. He’d protected me when there’d been no one else in the world to look out for me.
But Kane…
At one time, Kane had been the love of my life — maybe he still was. Not that Kane or Rey could know. A woman’s secrets were her own.
It was my fault that Rey and Kane were at each other’s throats. My fault that they wanted to kill each other.
And now, that fucking idiot has gone and kidnapped me, pretty much assuring that my brother Rey was going to put a bullet in Kane’s head. Rey ran the 13th Street Boys. If he didn’t retaliate for this insult, he’d lose the respect of his gang and Rey would never let that stand.
“Damn you, Kane,” I muttered, wincing as the pain hit a crescendo. “What have you done?”
I had to find a way to talk some sense into Kane — if that was even possible.
Kane hated me and my brother.
For good reason.
Rey may have scarred his face but I broke Kane’s heart.
For all I knew, Kane might have plans to kill us both.
Maybe Kane was right…maybe I should be afraid.
Kane
My heart hammered hard against my breastbone. Seeing Keira again was an assault against my soul that left bite and tear marks.
God, how could it still hurt?
That woman was the fucking devil and yet, I still wanted her.
She haunted my dreams. Those long legs wrapped around my waist, her jet black hair twisted in my palms as I pressed hungry kisses up and down the fine column of her neck, the soft cries when she came — Keira was an addiction I thought I’d kicked but clearly five years wasn’t long enough to wash my veins of her poison.
But Rey DeLeon was a cancer that needed to be ripped out. Keira was his weakness. Without something to draw him out of his safety zone, I didn’t have a shot. But he’d come for Keira.
Keira was the one person he’d walk into an obvious trap for — and I was banking on that blind allegiance so I could finally kill the bastard.
The trap was set. All I had to do was wait for the animal to sniff out the bait.
But first, I had a score to settle with Keira.
Returning to the living room where I left her, I double-checked the doors and windows to make sure they were locked tight before going to stand in front of her. “I could give two shits about your comfort so if you don’t behave, I’ll leave you in that chair and let you piss yourself, you feel me?”
She jerked a sullen nod. “And if I promise to behave?”
“Then, I’ll let you off that chair but your hands stay tied.”
“I can barely feel my fingers as it is,” Keira grumbled. “You’ve obviously got us in the middle of nowhere. Where am I going to go?”
“Not the point. Take it or leave it.”
“I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”
“You don’t.”
Her green eyes flashed with the promise of retribution but she nodded in apparent acquiescence. I enjoyed knowing how she must be choking on the knowledge that I held the cards. It was just her and me. There was no running from what was coming to her.
“This is pathetic,” she said, but I caught the subtle intake of her breath as I leaned in to untie her from the chair. I pulled away just far enough to meet her gaze. She lifted that stubborn chin, giving away everything without even realizing how much I saw in that jade storm behind her eyes. “I never realized you had a death wish.”
“I fell in love with you all those years ago, didn’t I?” The moment pressed down on us both, memories neither of us wanted to remember crowded between us. I shoved away from her, saying with a sneer, “But don’t worry, I never make the same mistake twice.”
Keira rose on unsteady legs with a soft groan, shooting me a dark look. “Is this your ‘A’ game, Kane? Drag me out to the boondocks so you can bore me to death with your brooding bullshit about the past? I’m over it and I’m over you. You should try it.”
I barked a short, mirthless laugh, ignoring the heat rising in my groin as my cock twitched. For fuck’s sake, she was goddamn evil incarnate and yet I still wanted to drill her senseless. Maybe she was right — I was pathetic. “Your brother is a cancer I plan to rip out at the root. You’re his only weakness.”
“You always did like playing the hero, didn’t you?” she mocked, shaking her head, “except as I recall, it didn’t really work out for you very well the last time, did it?”
I was on her in a flash. “Because you fucking betrayed me,” I growled with repressed rage, squeezing her arms, lifting her almost off her feet. The person I’d loved the most had sold me out and nearly gotten me killed. I learned in the most excruciating way possible that the love of my life had no fucking soul. No, don’t let her get under your skin. I dropped her from my grip like she were made of poison and stepped away. “The only reason you’re still alive is because I need you to get to Rey. Remember that,” I advised coldly.
She swallowed but didn’t give an inch. Keira was many things but she wasn’t a coward. “I have to piss,” she said, lifting her bound hands. “You’re going to have to untie me so I can handle my business.”
I laughed. “Not gonna happen.”
“How am I supposed to piss with my hands tied?”
I saw the gears working in her head. Like I said, I never made the same mistake twice. I knew the minute her hands were free, she was going to find something to smash into my head and bolt. Keira was just as dangerous as her brother. No way in hell was I going to play nice with a viper. I gestured for her to get to walking. “Bathroom’s that way.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Do you have to piss or not?”
Keira spun on her heel and walked the short distance to the bathroom, turning to me with a hot glare. I smiled, enjoying every minute of her humiliation as she was forced to allow me to unbutton her jeans and shimmy them down her rounded hips past her perfect thighs so she could sit on the toilet.
“Enjoying the show, perv?” she asked.
I laughed at her scathing tone as I thrust some toilet paper in her tied hands. “Not really my thing but it’s not like I haven’t seen you piss before.” Even though she didn’t deserve any kindness, I turned around to give her some privacy. I waited for the flush then turned back around to help her button her jeans again. I grabbed her by the arm and lead her roughly to the bedroom where I pushed her to the bed.
“And just what do think is going to happen here?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, sweetheart,” I said. “I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last woman on earth and the human race depended on fucking you to survive.”
“Big words for the man who’s been sporting a hard cock since I woke up.” She lifted her gaze to mine, calling me out. “Or is that a fucking banana in your pocket?”
I ignored her taunt. Yeah, I was lying through my teeth. I wanted to fuck her so bad, I was nearly shaking but I wasn’t going to. I could remember the feel of her skin beneath my fingertips, the taste of her juices when she came. I didn’t need a refresher course.
“Did you know Rey was responsible for the Veirra Street hit?” I said, leaning into her space, causing her to scoot away until she was backed against the headboard. “A kid died. He was only four years old. But you’re cool with that because all’s fair in business and Deigo was pushing in on Rey’s territory, isn’t that right?”
Keira looked away but not before I caught a flash of shame in those eyes. So she did care, somewhere, deep down. Seemed almost impossible but it was there. At least, I thought so, until she said, “That kid wasn’t supposed to be there. Bad parenting. Can’t do anything about the way people choose to parent their fucking kids, Kane.”
“Jesus, Keira, is that how you justify all the shit you do for Rey? He’s killing people, our people. We knew Deigo. Rey is out of control and you know it but you’re just sitting and watching him run over everyone.”
“What am I supposed to do?” she asked, her eyes flashing with sudden heat. “You think I have some power over him? He does what he wants.”
“You’re the only one with any sway,” I insisted, refusing to buy her protests. “He still listens to you!”
“You don’t know shit! Rey doesn’t listen to anyone but Rey! If you think that anyone has any power over my brother, you’re more stupid than you look. No one has any say or pull over what he does. Not even me.” She looked away, unable to bear the weight of my stare. “You have no idea how powerful Rey’s become. No one stands in his way.”
“Wrong. I will.”
She laughed, turning to meet my gaze. “You know what your biggest flaw is, Kane? Always picking the losing team.”
Keira
His gaze narrowed at my insult. Kane’s sense of justice would get him killed. Why couldn’t he just walk away? “I would’ve hoped that in the five years you’ve been gone you might’ve gotten smarter,” I said.
“The same could be said for you.”
My hands ached but my fingers were numb. Kane wouldn’t untie me, he knew I would try to escape. He’d always understood me, something Rey never did and still didn’t but the difference being Rey didn’t try either. Rey didn’t care to understand other people.
“I’m not the one toying with death a second time,” I said. “Was normal life so boring? Did the white picket fence dream not quite live up to the hype?”
Kane’s subtle half smile hinted of dark promise, daring me to keep pushing to my own detriment. I was shitting on hallowed ground, deliberately scratching at scabs over wounds that would never heal.
“I never took you for such a shallow bitch,” he said. “I never realized until that night that you and your brother were cut from the same cloth.”
My brother was a narcissist — the world existed for him, not the other way around. I don’t know when it’d happened, when my older brother turned into a monster but it was gradual enough that by the time the change was complete, I was too far in that I couldn’t get out.
I mean, I guess at some level I still cared for my brother. Maybe I hoped that deep down the boy who�
�d always protected me when I’d had no one else was still in there. I used to search for a glimmer of that boy but I gave up the night I watched him slice open Kane’s face with a cold smile.
Holy fuck, I’d known then I was screwed but saving Kane had been my priority.
And now the jackass had come back, screwing up everything I’d done to save his ass.
I forced a shrug. “And you’re surprised, why? He is my brother.” I couldn’t react to the pain arcing through my soul. I was nothing like Rey. But we lived in the hell of our own making and sometimes, we stayed there for good reason.
“You had me fooled,” Kane said.
“Is there a point to all this?” I said, feigning boredom. “If you dragged me out to the middle of nowhere to choke me to death with your self-righteous bullshit, you’re doing a bang-up job. I’m suffocating already.”
He chuckled and looked away. “You’re a piece of work.”
I felt his disgust. I’d earned every ripple but it still hurt. I never expected to see him again. He was supposed to be gone from my life, free from Rey and this hell Rey had created with the 13th Street Boys.
I wanted to shake some sense into his hard head but I was afraid that what might start with violence would end with primal desperation. Fuck me, I missed having his big body next to mine but he couldn’t know that.
Five years hadn’t dulled that sharp need to be the hero. Except five years ago, he’d tried to be my hero and I’d stabbed him in the back for it.
There was so much he didn’t know about that night.
A part of me wanted to tell him, to set him straight but that was a luxury my conscience couldn’t afford. Even so, my traitorous mouth muttered, “You know there’s no walking away from my brother even if I’d wanted to.”
Bad Decisions Page 1
