Payback: A Vigilante Justice Novel

by Kristin Harte

  “Fuck.” Bishop grabbed his wallet, frowning. “Three more minutes, and I would’ve won the bet.”

  “You two put money on how long it would take me to go after her?” The jackasses.

  Bishop lifted a shoulder, all casual-like. As if betting on my love life was completely normal. Though, I hadn’t been on a date in three years—maybe it was.

  “You gonna stand here and talk to us, or go get your girl?” Gage asked as he took the bills from my brother. I would have answered, but I was already out the door. Fuck them. They knew where I was going. They also knew better than to be at my house when I got back. I was bringing my girl home, and we’d need some time alone. Naked time. I’d worship every inch of her until she finally forgave me.

  I just hoped it worked because I had no idea what else I could do to tell her how sorry I was.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Shye

  Elijah Kennard differed greatly from his brothers. Especially Alder.

  “The instructions for the espresso machine are in the drawer, though I’d be happy to make you a cappuccino or a latte if you’d like. Or Lainie can help you.”

  I shot a glance at the only sister of the four Kennard brothers. She sat in the living room, legs crossed, foot swinging as she read on a tablet. You’d think that would relax her, but no. With her body stiff and a deep frown firmly in place, anger practically oozed from the pretty blonde. She certainly didn’t look as if she wanted to help me with anything. In fact, she looked pissed that I’d invaded her space. Lovely.

  “I won’t be staying long,” I said, my voice more whisper than not. Finn, Elijah’s twin and the man who’d driven me out here, had already left to go back to Justice, which meant I was trapped for the moment. I didn’t have to stay trapped, though. “I’ll probably be out of your hair in the morning.”

  Elijah’s hawklike gaze swept over me, making me feel as if he’d just looked inside my head and found every one of my secrets. Now that was a Kennard trait. “My brother said you’re to stay here until he takes care of whatever’s going on in Justice.”

  “Alder isn’t the boss of me.”

  Elijah finally smiled, and the similarities between him and Alder came to light. From the cheeks down, he was the spitting image of his brother. And man, did that hurt.

  Lainie snorted from her spot in the living room. “You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t doing what the big boss told you to.”

  Whatever bravado had moved me to speak disappeared, leaving me empty, my face heating at the accusation.

  And just like his brother, Elijah came to my rescue. “Knock it off, Lainie.”

  I really needed to get away from these white knight Kennards. All of them. “I think I’ll head to the guest room. I’m really tired.”

  Elijah glanced at his watch. Almost one in the morning, if the clock behind him was accurate. “Of course. Do you need anything?”

  To get away, and the strength to finally surrender. “I should be fine, but thank you. And thanks for letting me stay. I appreciate it.”

  “Any time.”

  With a nod to him and a purposeful avoidance of his sister, I hurried down the hall to the little bedroom I’d been shown when I’d arrived. There was nothing special about it—beige walls, tan carpet, nondescript furniture. Nothing special at all and nothing unique. Not like the warmth and splashes of color at Alder’s place or the smoky, beetle kill pine floors that stole the show there. Elijah’s house, while obviously expensive, felt somehow empty. Temporary, perhaps.

  Alder’s had felt like home.

  But he’d told me to leave, had pushed me right out the door and into Finn’s car the second his brother had pulled up in his driveway. He’d never told me what happened out at the barn, but that had to be the reason. Something changed because of those moments. Something had come between us. And I had a feeling I knew what.

  Taking a deep breath and praying for calm in the face of one of my greatest fears, I took out my phone and scrolled to the one contact I’d never wanted to have to use again. Then I hit call.

  My stepbrother picked up on the second ring. “Well, if it isn’t the little troublemaker. We’ve been looking for you, Shyness.”

  I had no doubt of that, but it wasn’t my immediate concern. “Why’d you burn my trailer down?”

  Colt—also known as Pistol, enforcer for the Soul Suckers chapter in Boulder and all-around destroyer of my life—sounded completely casual as he said, “Don’t know anything about that, but if I did, I’d say it was payback. You were supposed to keep an eye on our kitchen.”

  “I did.”

  “Naw, Shyness. You can’t lie to me like that. If you’d been doing your job, we wouldn’t have had to send a crew out to deal with that Kennard guy you’ve been hiding behind.”

  I’d known they’d figure out I was staying with Alder, but it was still a kick to the gut to hear the confirmation. “Alder has nothing to do with this.”

  Colt laughed, a harsh, mocking sound that made me want to hang up the phone. Made me want to hide. “Don’t try to play ignorant. We know who runs that town. True, we didn’t go for him directly at first. Had to deal with that other guy—the one who needed to be taught a lesson about respecting the Soul Suckers and minding his own business. Heard you had a front-row seat to that one—the flames keep you warm, sis?”

  The bastard. “Camden. The mill’s site manager—that’s who you mean. You burned his house down, you sick son of a bitch.”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t burn down shit.” Because we were on cell phones, and because he probably hadn’t burned the house down. He’d simply ordered his men to take care of it. And if the harsh laughter in his voice was any indication, he enjoyed it. A thought he confirmed when he said, “Sleeping Beauty was a nice touch, no? Take my money, I take your doll. Fair trade.”

  Doll. He meant Leah. Jesus, only a psychopath would think murder was somehow a fair trade.

  My voice cracked as I murmured, “She had nothing to do with you.”

  “She was a means to an end. Her man got up in my team’s face about being out in the woods, and my guys felt disrespected. I’d have let that one go, but he must have notified his boss because your precious Alder set up security in those woods. We can’t even get a shipment out of our kitchen right now because of him. But he’ll get what’s coming to him, no matter what. We always take what we’re owed, isn’t that right, sis? You know all about payback.”

  The phone shook against my ear, and I had to take a deep breath to resist the urge to throw it across the room. Payback. I’d been forced to give payback to the Soul Suckers once. For men involved with the Soul Suckers MC, payback usually meant a fine or a beat down, depending on the severity of the inciting incident. The worst punishment was to have your patch taken away, to be kicked out of the club. But for the women who hung around and were involved with the riders, payback came in a different form. If a woman betrayed the club, she paid with her body.

  I’d been a virgin when my dad died, and his name and rank in the club had protected me just enough to avoid being raped. But Colt had pressed that I had to make amends for my role in his stepdad’s death, that my debt needed to be paid. And since I wasn’t blood to the guy, he’d argued the protection my father’s name didn’t stand. The club’s leaders had agreed, so I’d been given the choice. Pussy or flesh.

  I hadn’t been willing to spread my legs for the club, so I’d ended up being forced to pay in flesh. Literally. Colt had used a bullwhip on me, had covered my back in scars as payback for my big mistake. They served as reminders of how it had been my fault his stepfather—the president of his chapter—had died. Every inch of mottled flesh, including the ownership brand on my hip, given by the man on the other end of the phone.

  I couldn’t let Alder get involved in this shit.

  “So what’s up, Shyness?” Colt asked, pulling me from my thoughts. “You sick of hiding? Planning on coming in to take your punishment for fai
ling us? Or are we going to have to come pick you up? Prez already sent a team to Justice, you know.”

  I did know. Or at least, I assumed that was what had happened in the barn. Soul Suckers on Alder’s property, in his town. This couldn’t go on.

  “I’m not in Justice anymore.”

  “That’s real unfortunate. You wasted our time, sis. But since you’re not there, we can add the hours and gas mileage of sending a couple of guys straight to you to your bill. Hell, maybe I’ll give them the okay to take what you owe them directly.” His words sent a shiver of fear up my spine, but this…this was how the Soul Suckers operated. What they expected. And if I was going to keep them away from Justice, I had to accept it.

  Everyone had a debt to pay, and the time to protect the only currency I had left was over.

  “I’ll come in on my own, but on one condition.”

  “You’re not in a position to make demands. Besides, I can’t promise to keep that pussy safe this time. You lost us a lot of money.”

  He thought I wanted to protect my body, when in actuality, I wanted Alder safe. That might actually work in my favor—I had a commodity to surrender to them. Something to offer in exchange. The thought of it made me sick, but I’d do what needed to be done.

  I closed my eyes and reached deep for every shred of courage I had. I wasn’t a virgin anymore. I’d spent one amazing, sensual night with Alder, which would simply have to be enough to get me through what was coming. I could pay my debt back with the one thing the club hadn’t been able to take from me and fight from the inside to keep them all away from Justice. From Alder.

  “I understand what needs to be paid, and I’m not trying to keep the guys from taking what’s owed. I have a different condition, one we can talk about in person.” Because if I gave him too much time to think, he’d strike before I even made it in. I needed to set this up just right, to work through how I could convince him to let me pay Alder’s debt on top of my own.

  Colt grunted, sounding far too happy for my liking as he replied, “Yeah, well, we’ll see about that once you’re here. Don’t go running your mouth now, either. We don’t want to make your punishment any worse than it already is, do we?”

  “I won’t talk.” A lie. If it meant saving Alder, if I thought anyone could actually do anything about the club, I’d tell the whole world all I knew about the Soul Suckers. Loyalty to the club had meant everything to my dad, but Colt had taken it too far. With me, with Camden, with Leah…and now with Alder.

  Way too far.

  “Get your ass to the clubhouse, then,” Colt said, his voice like gravel. “I’ve got some new toys to play with, and I want to try them out on you.”

  My back burned at the thought, and a single tear fell down my cheek. But I stayed standing, kept my shoulders back, kept my chin up. If I was going into hell, it would be on my own two feet…

  And for my own reasons.

  “I’ll be there tomorrow.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Alder

  The drive to Elijah’s usually took a solid two hours without traffic. I made it in ninety minutes. It helped that there were no cars on the road so late at night. It also helped that I broke every speed limit to get to my girl faster.

  My truck engine roared through the city streets of Denver as I finally made it to Elijah’s neighborhood, the heavy rumble breaking the silence of the night. Or morning, depending on how you saw the hour, I supposed. Shye would normally be asleep already, but I doubted that was the case. The night had been too packed with emotion and adrenaline. She’d be awake and likely hurting, all because I’d made a bad decision. One that I would do anything to make up to her.

  And me? The ache of losing her still ate at me, but the flame of rage burning in my gut over what had happened earlier that evening overpowered it. The Soul Suckers wanted to come after me? Wanted to try to show me who was boss? I’d let them, and then I’d rip them down one by one until my girl, my family, my business, and my entire fucking town were safe once more. No options, no second chances, no warnings. And no way would they ever get close to Shye again.

  After way too long in the truck, my tires finally rolled onto Elijah’s driveway. Lights glowed through the windows, telling me more than just Shye was likely awake. Not what I’d been hoping for. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with my sister’s inevitable attitude. If Lainie decided to throw one of her “what about me” fits, I’d have to ignore her and deal with her shit another day. I needed to see Shye.

  My girl’s soft smile on my mind, I threw the truck into park and raced inside, not bothering to knock. Elijah must have known I’d be coming because he sat in the kitchen with Lainie, both of them looking as if they’d been expecting me. Elijah even shot me a sarcastic smile, looking so much like a healthier, younger version of Finn it almost made me pause. Almost…

  “Second door on the right,” he said, nodding his head toward the stairs. “Try not to break anything, okay?”

  I didn’t even attempt to make such a ridiculous promise. Instead, I ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Needing to see my girl, wanting to fix things between us. I’d beg if I had to, drop to my knees and crawl for her if she wanted me to. Whatever it took, I’d fix this thing between us.

  When I reached her door, I didn’t pause. I simply barreled through it, ignoring the crunch of the handle hitting drywall that I’d probably have to pay to get fixed. Didn’t matter. All I cared about was Shye, which was why I froze the second my eyes landed on her. And why my gut suddenly felt as if I’d swallowed a bucket full of lead.

  This might be harder than I thought.

  Looking completely unfazed by my entrance, Shye sat on the edge of the bed wearing one of my T-shirts, her eyes rimmed in red and her face streaky. Jesus fuck, I’d made her cry at least twice in the past few hours. She looked exhausted and wrung out, like her emotions had tried to consume her and she’d had to fight to stay alive. I’d never allow myself forgiveness for putting her through that, but I’d beg for hers.

  “I’m an asshole.”

  Her brown eyes refused to meet mine, and she didn’t move except to respond with a soft, “Correct.”

  “An ignorant, selfish asshole who wasn’t thinking.”

  “Still not arguing with you.”

  I wanted her to look at me, to give me some sort of sign that she hadn’t walled herself off from me completely. But she gave me nothing. Not a sigh, a look, a shiver. Not a damned signal of any kind. It was time to get real honest with her. “Tonight, two men broke in to the barn as part of an ambush. The Soul Suckers are coming for me because our harvest on Widow’s Ridge shut down their meth lab.”

  Dead eyes finally met mine, empty and flat. Not my Shye at all. “I know.”

  Her simple response stopped me cold. “You do?”

  She nodded and rose to her feet, inching closer. Setting my heart on fire with every fucking step. “My stepbrother is the enforcer for the Boulder club. My father—stepfather, really—was president at one time.” Closer still, no longer looking in my eyes. “I swear I never wanted to be involved in any of this.”

  The pain in her voice killed me. Ripped my heart right out of my chest. “Involved in what, honey?”

  She shook her head, looking completely heartbroken and scared. “I was just supposed to let them know if anyone came snooping around my side of the ridge. Nothing else.”

  Truth slammed into me like a fist to the chest, nearly knocking me backward. “You knew the meth lab was there.”

  She shook her head. “Not specifically, no. But I knew something had to be out there if they were putting me in that trailer to watch. I didn’t want to know what exactly, so I never asked.”

  My thoughts scrambled. She knew. She knew they were up to something, and she never told me. Never asked for help. She never said—

  “They would have killed me if I’d told anyone,” she murmured, as if reading my thoughts. Slowly, hands shaking, she pulled my shirt over her head and tur
ned, showing me her back. Confusion spun straight into rage as I put together the pieces of what I was seeing. What I’d felt with my own hands earlier in the evening. The reason why she’d run from me.

  “They whipped you.”

  “Thirty lashes or thirty men. That was the choice I was given to pay for the damage I’d wreaked on the club. When you owe a debt, you have to pay it back, and my only currency was flesh or sex.” She turned, showing me the brand on her hip. Two shallow, sharp S’s side by side—Soul Suckers. “I chose flesh again the second time, not because I wanted to, but because I had no other way to do it.”

  “What sort of debts?” I reached for her, needing to touch her, feel her. Wanting to hold her. And my god did it half kill me when she jumped away from me, too skittish to let me close to her.

  “I killed my father.” She tugged her shirt on, covering herself once more. “It was a car accident—T-boned by a semitruck—but I was driving, and the police deemed it my fault for running a yellow light. Since he wasn’t my biological father, the club decided I wasn’t allowed any sort of family protection. I thought my stepbrother would step in for me. He knew me—had met me when my father married his mom years before. I assumed he’d explain what had happened and how it wasn’t intentional, but he told me the club came before family. So he set the punishment.” She shook her head and curled in on herself that much more. “Set it and carried it out.”

  Her stepbrother was a dead man, but I’d get to that. “And having to watch the meth lab?”

  Her face turned stormy, her eyes burning with anger. “I didn’t come out of the accident unscathed. The Soul Suckers paid for my father’s funeral and my living expenses while I recovered. Nine months of housing and doctor bills—with interest, my final debt came to four years labor.” Her shoulders relaxed again, her anger fading. “I had six months left when all this started. That’s why they burned my trailer down—I didn’t do the job I’d been assigned.”