A New Paige: Stained Souls MC - Book 2

by Zara Teleg

  “I fucking love you so much.” Kai buried his face in my neck. “You better never pull that shit again. I can’t lose you,” he whispered in my ear.

  I looked into those dark emerald eyes, which penetrated me. I could feel how much he meant it.

  I thought I needed to know my father, that it would heal some piece of me, that it would help me make sense of everything that didn’t. But I was wrong. I had everything I could want in this man; he was all I needed.

  “I love you too, and I’m not going anywhere. This is only the beginning.”

  Kai and I had spent the last week exploring all the things we didn’t know about each other and learning about our interests. He had found a renewed interest in photography and had been taking artistic pictures of me, some of which made me blush. I had been teaching him about hydroponics. We had gone so quickly from friends to lovers that we’d skipped the steps in between, but now we were making up for it.

  I wish I could say I didn’t think about my father every day, but I did. I distracted myself with work and Kai, but when I laid my head down at night, I thought about the family that could have been. Would he have been such a cold man if he had stayed with my mother and me? I knew it was useless to even dwell on, but I couldn’t let go of the connection I felt with him, even if he was a big fat jerk. He was also my only connection to my mother, whom I desperately wished I knew more about.

  “Hey, hunny, you’re glowing again today.” Amber circled me, kissing me on the cheek as she placed her arms around me. “Another night of good loving?” She giggled.

  “Ha-ha. You know I don’t kiss and tell.”

  “Seriously, you have been different this week. I’m so happy you and Kai were able to work it out.” Amber smiled.

  “Me too.” I slammed my locker closed and got ready to leave.

  “I never thought I would see the day Kai would settle down, but honestly, I’m so happy for you both.”

  “We’re taking it one day at a time, but I appreciate you saying that.”

  “I would love to meet for a shopping date next week if you can break yourselves apart for a night. We both have Thursday off.” Amber waggled her eyebrows. She loved to shop.

  “Okay, I will let you know later. I promised Juliet I would spend some time with her too.”

  “Okay, let me know.”

  I walked through the main dining room on my way out. Tracy began waving an arm at me.

  “Paige,” she called.

  I changed directions, saying hi to the regulars as I made my way toward her. Tracy always had a warm smile and a contagiously happy attitude.

  “Hey, Tracy, what’s up?”

  “I’m glad I caught you. Someone dropped this off for you. He said not to bother you.”

  I reached out and took the envelope with my name on the outside.

  “Who was it?” I studied the writing.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before. He was handsome in that older bad-boy way.” She fanned herself with a napkin. “You know,” she pointed her bright pink nail at me, “his eyes, they were the same color as yours. I knew there was something familiar about him.” She laughed, proud of her connection.

  My blood drained to my feet. I gripped the edge of the bar for a moment to keep my legs from buckling. My heart was racing.

  “Thanks, Trace.” I plastered on a fake smile and managed to walk on shaky legs out of the bar.

  When I got to my truck, my hands were trembling so bad that I dropped the keys. I picked them up and opened the door and sat there staring at my name on the envelope before mustering up the courage to open it.

  I turned it over and ran my nail under the flap. I reached in, pulling out the creased photo strip that I had crumbled and tossed in the trash at the Cajun Kings clubhouse. I swallowed the painful lump in my throat and pulled out the other paper inside. The words were scribbled in black ink.

  Daughter,

  We need to talk. ALONE. 8 pm motel off route 80 in Black Rock.

  My hands shook as I contemplated whether I should go alone. What if it wasn’t Venom? Wait, Tracy said he had my eyes. It had to be him.

  I promised Kai I wouldn’t do anything like this again. I couldn’t call Kai now because he was out on club business and wouldn’t be back until at least ten.

  I bit my lip and tapped on the steering wheel before my curiosity got the best of me. I started the engine and prayed I was doing the right thing.

  My stomach made loud, rumbling noises as I drove. My arms were like noodles holding the wheel as I let my imagination run wild.

  I jumped when the GPS said, “Your destination is one hundred feet on the right.”

  The old motel didn’t look to have many guests. There were a few cars in the small lot. I didn’t know how I was supposed to find him. I drove to the side of the building where I saw a chopper and a man leaning back on the seat, a stream of smoke billowing from his mouth. He looked so cool in his bandana, well-worn leather jacket, black shirt over ripped denim jeans, and those big bad motorcycle boots.

  His eyes followed me as my truck came to a stop next to him.

  Venom sat up and jumped to open my door.

  “Th-thanks.” I cleared the frog from my throat.

  He pointed his pack of cigarettes to me, offering me one.

  “No, thank you.” I waved my hand.

  He nodded and tapped one out of the pack and brought it to his lips. He pulled out a fancy lighter from his pocket. He flicked the dragon’s head, and fire breathed from its mouth, burning the white paper.

  “You feel like walking?” He pointed to the trail that surrounded the property. It led to a pond that had benches and several tall lights illuminating it.

  “Sure.” I rubbed at my arms where goose bumps had appeared.

  Venom turned his head and began taking off his jacket and tossed it over my shoulders.

  “You shouldn’t be in short sleeves. It’s not summer, ya know.”

  “I was on my way home when I got your note.” I inhaled the scent of leather and smoke with lingering cologne.

  “Look, Paige, I’m not good with words. I’m even worse with surprises.” He kicked at the ground as he pointed at the bench for me to sit. He rubbed his temples. “I don’t even know where to start.” He blew out air.

  “The second I laid eyes on you, I knew exactly who you were, only you were not supposed to have existed.” His voice cracked. He rested his elbows on his knees and placed his head in his hands. The ink-black hair stuck out between his fingers.

  “You… I-I thought you passed away with her. I didn’t know. I was told—”

  I reached out, placing my hand on his arm. “I know.”

  “When I found out about you, it was too late. She was gone.” His face tilted to the sky; his eyes shone with water. He blinked rapidly. “Maggie… She wrote me a letter about you, right before I was born.” His jaw became tight and rigid. “Who raised you? Were they good to you? You didn’t end up in the system, did you?”

  “I had a great childhood. I’m sure you knew my parents.”

  “I’m your parent,” he gritted out. “And what do you mean, I knew them?”

  “They were Paul and Catherine Conti, the couple who ran the mission where you met Maggie.”

  His eyes looked like they were replaying memories. He was silent for a few moments. “I remember. Paige… Your name, it killed me when I heard it.”

  I tilted my head in interest, remembering that was my mother’s only request.

  “Magnolia grew up with a best friend whom she lost when they were kids. Her name was Paige. She was the reason Maggie wanted to be a doctor. It shattered her when she lost her friend to a preventable illness. And Victoria. My father was Victor. I was with Maggie the night he left this world. I should have been there with him.” Guilt ravaged his face.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “I lost my mind that night, I thought it was my fault. I guess I scared her off. It was bad—” He stood abruptly and pa
ced. “I blamed her. I broke her heart. I did everything to drive her away. Before I knew it, I was in jail. And Maggie, the love of my life, was gone. Gone forever.”

  He looked up at me then and took my hand in his large calloused ones. “There is so much to catch up on, but not now. I just had to see you. I had to make things right. I have not stopped dreaming about my beautiful Magnolia since the night I saw her face in yours. I’m sorry about the way I acted that night you came. But it was for your own good.”

  He closed his eyes again before bringing his gaze back to me. “In this life,” he tapped his finger over his patch that read Vice President, “if there’s anyone you care about, well, that makes them a target. I won’t put you in danger.”

  My finger swiped under my eyes, pushing the liquid off the side of my cheek.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” His voice was a rasp.

  My phone dinged, breaking our moment. I looked down to see Kai’s text in large full caps.

  Kai: ARE YOU OKAY? WHY ARE YOU THERE?

  I had texted Kai on my way to meet Venom just to be on the safe side in case things went sideways. Venom frowned and shook his head while I typed out.

  Me: I’m fine. Please don’t come. Call you soon.

  I turned the phone over, placing it face down on the bench. Venom’s hand went to his hips before waving to the sky and yelling, “Just great. You spend your life being protected from knowing me, your father, who would have protected you with my life. And now you’re with some biker from another club. This is my punishment.”

  He gazed down at me, shaking his head with disappointment. “This would have killed Maggie. This is exactly why she did what she did. To protect you and keep you away from the dangers of club life.”

  My voice filled with anger and resentment. “Now, you just wait a minute. First of all, what I do is my business. Father or not, you have no say. You and my mother made your own choices. And as for me and Kai, I love him and he loves me. He and his club are nothing like yours.” My words were meant to stab.

  “I know who Kai is, and faithful ain’t in the fucker’s vocabulary.” Venom took a step toward me, his intimidating shadow falling over me. “And, you came looking for me. Whether you want it or not, you are my business. And there is nothing you can do about that now. I won’t let you put your life in danger with that pussy club your boy’s a part of.”

  I started involuntarily laughing at him calling Rage and Kai pussies. He had no idea.

  “Where were you when my life was almost ended a few months ago in a basement of a drug cartel? Kai and his brothers risked their lives for my sister and me. Kai didn’t know me, yet he killed for me, protected me, and after he had saved my life, he sat beside my hospital bed. Kai was there when I pushed away everyone else. He was my savior, both mentally and physically. I would have been raped and murdered if it wasn’t for Kai and his brothers.”

  A pained look tormented Venom’s face as he took in the information I just threw at him.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked. He tried to grab my arm, but I pulled away.

  “I guess I’m not like my mother. There is nothing you can do or say to make me stop loving Kai. Even if my life was on the line, I’d choose him. I always will.” I pulled my arm back the rest of the way and picked up my purse off the bench, grabbing my keys.

  “Wait, Paige, I didn’t mean to—”

  I turned my back on him, walking away with unshed tears in my eyes.

  “He’ll break you and disappoint you. We always do,” Venom called after me.

  This time it was me who spewed venom. I didn’t realize how sensitive I had become about my relationship with Kai. As much as I desperately wanted to know this man, I wouldn’t let him drive a wedge between Kai and me.

  “I can’t do this with you. I don’t even know you. You are judging me and my ability to make choices for myself, and I won’t have it. I have gotten through my whole life without you, and I certainly don’t need you now.”

  Venom’s face appeared shocked at my words. I bet no one dared talk to him like that, and if they did, they probably did not live to tell about it.

  I watched the man who seemed too cold to show emotion pull out a pair of sunglasses, placing them over his eyes on this dark night.

  “Paige, this conversation isn’t over,” he said. “I saw how club choices tore your mother and me apart. You will only get your heart broken, or worse, you will get hurt. I won’t let you.”

  I stopped and turned to him, placing my hands on my hips. “I’m not my mother. And Kai, well, he is certainly not you.”

  His face fell then, which almost broke my resolve.

  “Don’t be stupid, Paige. You could do so much better.”

  I began to walk away. I pulled out the medallion, which I had been keeping in my purse. I squeezed my fingers around the chain. I could hear his heavy boots trailing close behind me. I opened my palm, my finger brushing over the word Venom—that was exactly what spilled from his lips. I looked at it for the last time before placing it on the seat of his motorcycle.

  I got in my truck and was already backing out when he got to his bike. I glanced in the rearview mirror, watching him pick up the medallion and hold it in the air, shaking his head. A piece of me did break, but I knew it was for the best. I wouldn’t be the cause of a war between the clubs. And Venom was right—if any of his enemies knew about me, I would be in danger.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Venom

  It was like seeing a ghost. Everything I had ever done right and wrong in my life had come back for a giant karmic slap to my face when she looked at me.

  A spark of shocking pain spread through my chest. The heart that had been dead and withered more than twenty-three years suddenly had a pulse.

  Maggie’s face materialized before me, only it had big violet eyes, not Maggie’s green ones. The gut-stabbing pain tore me in two. The little girl I believed to have perished with her mother was here, alive, and right in front of me. She looked as if she had been through hell. A deer in headlights surrounded by men in my club. Around her neck was something I hadn’t seen since I was a new member of the Cajun Kings. My tag looked just as it did the day I placed it around Maggie’s neck and promised to protect her forever.

  I had to play this right. I couldn’t let my emotions show. It could be her end if anyone caught wind of me having someone I cared about, a beautiful, vulnerable daughter. In a split second, I knew what people meant when they say their life took on a whole new meaning when they first laid eyes on their child.

  It was all white noise until she said her name, Paige Victoria. Another of karma’s knives pierced my heart.

  I cleared my throat watching this dick Havoc standing protectively near the girl he thought was his pickup for the night. A growl started low in my throat as I took in the long men’s shirt covering her body and the mark on her face.

  “You fuck her?” I asked, knowing if he did, his life in my club just got really short and painful.

  Paige’s chin lifted as she didn’t think twice about yelling her displeasure in my question. I kicked out the brothers and watched as her wild eyes fell on my tattoo. When she reached out to touch it, I stepped back. Treating her poorly enough to run her out of here was the kindest thing I could do, no matter how much it killed me inside. All of me wanted to hug her, tell her I would die making sure no one ever hurt her, tell her how I died the day Maggie did. But I couldn’t do any of those things—attachments were targets in my world. That was precisely why Maggie hid her. She was smart; she knew if anyone found out, especially Viper, her life was all but over.

  I forced the brutal words from my lips. Watching pain and disappointment wash over her was one of the hardest things I had ever done.

  “Look, little girl, I don’t know who put you up to this…” If she thought I didn’t believe her and didn’t care, maybe she would go back to her safe life, and everyone here would forget this ever happened.

  Th
e hope that was in her eyes when she first looked at me turned to hate and disbelief.

  “Fuck you, old man,” she said boldly.

  I knew I had done it. An agonizing throb was in my chest.

  Pushing her to leave was torture. I disappeared to my room and stood at the window to watch the cab pull away. I may never see Paige again. I had a few minutes to see the beautiful life that Magnolia and I created in a moment of the purest, truest love that anyone could experience. No one deserved that type of bliss. I should have known the price I would pay for loving Maggie.

  When Paige’s head turned, I moved the curtain, shielding myself. Her stunning face was still visible through the sheer.

  A few minutes later, an envelope was slid under my door. I opened it as I guzzled the bottle of Patron I’d received on my birthday and been saving for a special occasion. When the carnival picture fell crumpled in my hand, a madness took over.

  I howled a horrid noise as I tore my entire room apart, leaving no furniture in one piece. A rage I had never felt emerged as my veins filled with fury. I wanted to rip apart every enemy I had made over the years. I wanted to put an impenetrable bubble around my beautiful, fragile girl. If I stayed here any longer, I was going to burn the house down. Vicious knocked once but got the hint when my knife hit the door.

  “Jesus, Venom, are you fucking nuts?” he barked.

  The room began to spin, and my breaths were shallow. I felt dizzy. I needed air. I kicked the door with such force it broke its hinges. Throwing on my leather jacket and gripping my keys, I set out for my bike.

  I drove aimlessly for hours. My mind spiraled with so many bad scenarios that I had to pull over. I drove into an empty church parking lot where I stopped my bike and gripped my tight, aching chest.