Rival (The Aces Book 1)

by A. J. Macey

  “Fine!” he practically shouted. “Get drunk and be stupid before having to go parade around in front of your father’s rich friends. I don’t care,” he growled before stomping away. The door slammed, echoing against the tile as he left. Realizing I was alone with Jace, I immediately clammed up. My senses went on high alert as he started leisurely around the room.

  “Sorry ‘bout that.” He smiled. I had to force myself to not shiver at it. “He’s just a little high strung today.” Unable to help myself, I scoffed.

  “He’s always high strung,” I mumbled into my glass, finishing the liquor, reveling in the pleasant burn that flared in my chest. Before I realized it, Jace was right in front of me, greedy eyes taking in my face.

  “He doesn’t deserve you.” My breath caught at his possessive tone. His hands gripping my face kept me from taking a step back, and then his warm lips roughly pressed against mine. I pushed, kicked, punched, but everything I tried to do to keep his hands from wandering down my body was futile. Jace had always been faster than me.

  The crystal glass slipped from my fingers in another frantic attempt to keep his touch away from me, his intrusive hands slipping under my tank and sweats. That fury I always had flared within me, and I screamed at him. I had no idea what came out of my mouth, but immediately after it did, Garrett came barrelling back into the room. Rage sharpened his green eyes as he tackled Jace. Garrett didn’t shout or say anything as they fought, but Jace was ranting about how I was his and some other crazy shit I couldn’t make sense of.

  “For touching Kiera,” Garrett whispered sharply when he had Jace secured under him, his hand reaching out to grab a pointed sliver of the glass. Before I realized what had happened, Jace’s strangled screams filled the hollow space. Three jagged cuts marred his once abnormally perfect face. Clutching his damaged cheek, he ran. Garrett and I listened in silence to his fading footsteps. I was used to being the best so with him getting in my personal space, I felt a cold tingle of ice slide down my spine.

  Garrett’s tanned face was devoid of color except the two patches of red that betrayed the effort he’d used in beating Jace. Blood coated his hands and clothing as well as puddled on the marble tile. Jumping into action, I took my sweats off and started to wipe up his arms. I felt his gaze on my legs before dragging up to my face, but I didn’t look at him as I cleaned up the blood. He had just saved me from Jace’s unwelcomed advanced and yet, I knew that if I met his eyes, I would have wanted more. What did that say about me...

  “Come on,” I urged him, pushing away the thought. I was shaken up but determined. “Let’s get this clean before Frankie can find out.” We worked in silence until there was no trace of what happened except in our memories, Garrett taking the last of the physical remnants with him as he left.

  Chapter 7

  April 27th

  Saturday Midday

  Brooks

  “Fucking Alloy Kings,” I seethed, muttering under my breath. My body thrummed in excess rage as I watched the clean-up crew take Ricky, our most recent prospect, and wrap him in the body bag. Ricky had been tasked with watching the front gate last night, but when those fucking bastards came rolling through they didn’t hesitate to put three bullets in his chest. I could barely stomach watching the security footage from the night before, and I’d added a few more boot holes into the office wall. Stone stood stoic and as still as his namesake to my left, while Garrett clenched his jaw and tightened his fists to my right. Nate had been charged with arranging our drops with our dealers, while we attempted to get a handle on the Alloy Kings issue.

  Garrett had ridden Kiera’s Harley back to her house last night, and Chase had driven her back home after she’d fallen asleep against Garrett. From what I had been told, she was still asleep after having been awake for almost 20 hours. Acid burned in my stomach at what my vice president and she had revealed last night. Not only do we have to steal back Kevin’s Old Lady, we need to protect our shipments, move against the Alloy Kings, keep Kiera’s psychotic stalker attempted rapist away from her, and get those files from that one lawyer.

  Great.

  Sighing, I let the crew continue their progress on clean-up and walked toward the nearest picnic table, my mind briefly flashing back to Kiera’s fiery eyes as I checked her out that day we had taken a walk. Garrett was glancing at his cell, jaw ticking as he shoved it back into his pocket while Stone was scanning the area around us.

  “Discussing our moves against the Alloy Kings or Kiera’s job shouldn’t be done here at the compound today,” I stated quietly despite being out in the yard alone. “Any ideas where we could create a second ‘homebase’ for when we need it?”

  “I can ask Kiera, her house is where she plans all her heists,” Garrett suggested. I cocked a brow. Is he offering this because it’s the best for the club or because he wants to be near my baby? “What?” he bit out.

  “I don’t trust her,” Stone added grumpily.

  “We know,” Garrett and I said in unison before turning back to each other.

  “We don’t exactly have a better option seeing as how we all live here at the compound,” Garrett snapped. “Unless you want to buy a house or have another idea, she’s our saving grace.”

  “Would she even be okay with that?” I asked finding myself unable to disagree with the plan. While Garrett would get to be closer to Kiera, so would I, I thought.

  “I don’t see why not. Chase lives there, I can ask him.” He pulled out his cell as I felt my brows go up.

  “Chase lives there?” Stone seemed as confused as I did. Kiera didn’t strike me as the type to have a live-in boyfriend, or whatever the hell they are.

  “Yeah, moved in right after they first met,” Garrett answered, distracted with his cell.

  “You mean the day after he tried to kill her?” Stone growled. I rolled my eyes. I didn’t understand what his issue was, she hadn’t done anything to warrant his wrath. Unless… I stared at my enforcer realizing how blind I’d been. He likes her too.

  “Are they a thing?” I found myself asking. Garrett scowled as he stared at me.

  “I don’t think so, but with her, who knows. I don’t like to know everything about Kiera’s sex life,” he snarled as he held his phone to his ear. “Is Kiera awake? We need to use her house as a secondary clubhouse for the three of us.” He waited as he listened, his stony face not giving away any details of what Chase was saying. “We’ll be there shortly.”

  “All good?” I moved to standing, feeling an unusual excitement filling me at the prospect of going to Kiera’s home. Without further talking, we left the compound on our bikes, Garrett leading the line. I eyed her enormous two-story house as we approached. The ride was barely fifteen minutes from the compound until we were pulling into her wide four-car driveway. The bright-red front door stood out against the sandstone and tan-colored face as we walked up to it.

  The grand entryway with its two-story ceiling and curved staircase caught my attention. Our boots thudded loudly against the hard flooring. After walking deeper into the house, we came to an open kitchen that was remodeled to the nines while her living space held a large leather sectional and giant flat-screen TV. Chase’s familiar face appeared from the main hall as he stepped into the brightly lit kitchen, the TV playing some cooking show I didn’t recognize. The assassin was barefooted and wearing a pair of dark grey sweats. He wasn’t wearing his normal jacket, only in a black shirt, and his shoulder holsters weren’t strapped to his lean torso.

  “Hello, boys,” he greeted joyfully, his smile slightly manic as he eyed us. “Welcome.” He gave a great wave of his arm around him.

  “You’ve never been here?” Stone asked Garrett who shook his head, his scowl growing deeper.

  “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Kiera and I don’t exactly get along,” he said through clenched teeth glancing around him.

  “Psh,” Chase huffed flapping his hands in front of him, “don’t be silly. You two are perfect together.” His w
ords were innocent enough, but I saw the mischievous glint in his grey eyes, nor did I miss Garrett’s sliver of hope growing in his green ones. “Come on, make yourself at home. Kiera will be down in a minute; I just got her up.”

  “Are you always so happy?” Stone snapped. Thinking about it, those two were pretty much the exact opposite of each other. One was always seemingly cheerful and fell for Kiera immediately, while the other was grouchy and pushed as hard as possible to keep her away.

  “Yes.” Chase smiled again before going to the fridge. “Beer?” A round of yes’s went up, and he passed around the cold bottles.

  “So, are you and her an item?” Stone asked what had been burning in my mind since I found out they lived together. Chase laughed heartily as he opened his own beer.

  “Not in the traditional sense,” he explained, his eyes filled with love as he chuckled, “but I’m not exactly normal, so Kiera is it for me. But I know she’ll take others.” His knowing eyes landed on me as his lips curled in a tiny smile. Busted…

  “Wait.” Garrett shook his head in disbelief. “You’re all right knowing that she’ll fuck other guys?” Chase looked unruffled at the thought as he turned to Garrett.

  “Of course, I want her to be happy. Besides, I like to watch. There’s also the fact that Kiera will do whatever she wants to do, but I know she’ll always have her special place for me right here in her little heart.” He tapped his chest, his crazed smile growing wider. “She’s my kittycat, and I’m her assassin.” He crossed his heart in an x.

  “Stop talking about me.” Kiera’s husky voice echoed down the hall. She rounded the corner looking grouchy, but that couldn’t take away the fact she was in a pair of short-ass denim shorts, a loose tank that showed off her lacy bra, and her waves were tousled and messy like she had just woken up. Or just been fucked. My blood pounded at the thought remembering how it had felt to be wrapped by her tight pussy. “Great, just the faces I want to see when I first get up,” she grumbled, stomping over quite adorably to the fridge. Pulling out an energy drink, she opened it and chugged until it was gone, Then burped loudly as she slammed the empty can on the marble counter. We all stared at her; she returned our gazes with narrowed eyes.

  “Kittycat,” Chase caught her attention. “Want to move this to the backroom?” She nodded, looking more and more awake as the seconds ticked by. Following behind her and Chase, we made our way down a side hall off the living room toward a nondescript door. She typed in the code on the small pad next to the frame and placed her fingerprint on the biometric scanner. The beep sounded followed quickly by a clunk of the door unlocking.

  “Welcome, boys, to The Cat’s inner sanctum.” Chase practically skipped into the room in excitement while my baby followed at a more leisurely pace. I took in the room around me, noticing a large table with a stone top, but with the amount of papers on top it was hard to see. The walls were covered in corkboard and held glossy photos, papers, notes, with string connecting them, as well as a giant map of the city on the far wall. One common factor I found throughout the stuff tacked to the walls was her father, Frankie Casterelli, or information about his businesses.

  “Holy shit,” I muttered looking around. “You’re really gunning for your father, aren’t you?” She glared at me, her eyes sparking dangerously.

  “That fucking piece of shit is going down even if it’s the last thing I do,” she growled. I held my hands up in surrender.

  “I didn’t doubt you, I was just asking. No need to claw me, baby.” I paused as I grinned at her. “Unless you want to, of course.” Garrett glared at me from his position on the other side of the table. My distraction worked, as she huffed out an eye roll before turning toward the table.

  “Most of the plan is in place for the heist,” she explained looking at the warehouse blueprints, “only need a run down on the guards and their security protocols.”

  “I should know by Tuesday,” Stone added, his eyes focused on her notes. She nodded.

  “Shouldn’t have any issues with the heist,” she said. “Chase and I need to go watch another shift change tonight and see if there is any difference between the day guards and the night time guards. We have their behavior, patterns, and rotations down, but I want to observe them a few more times throughout the next couple of days to identify anything that could pose a problem or any changes to their shit leading up to the auction.” I had to admit, I was impressed. With her thoroughness and attention to detail, it wasn’t hard to see why she was one of the best.

  “We good to stay here and discuss some of our options for handling the shit with the Alloy Kings?” I ground out their name. She nodded as Chase practically ran out of the room and up the stairs. He’s very strange.

  “Yeah, but not in my workspace. You can have run of the living room and kitchen.” We filed out into the spacious great room. “And if you go snooping, I will know because I have cameras recording 24/7 all over my house inside and out, so if I find out you went somewhere you shouldn’t, I’ll turn you into a female. Got it?” I cringed at that painful thought before nodding. “Good, I need to change before we go.” After she exited the room, Chase rejoined us, his sweats changed out for jeans and his holsters now peeking out in their usual spot from under his jacket.

  “Anyone hungry? There’s lots of leftovers in the fridge, but if you want anything meaty you’ll have to make it yourself.” He pulled out a container of tupperware that looked like it was filled with some type of pasta dish.

  “Do you eat meat?” Stone narrowed his eyes at Chase, not sure whether to take his statement seriously or not. Chase shook his head vehemently as he tossed the food in the microwave.

  “Nope, I’m a vegetarian. Don’t wear anything made from animals.” He eyed our leather cuts as he petted his jacket absentmindedly. “Faux-suede, faux-fur. Animals are cute, innocent little creatures and I refuse to contribute to the slaughter of them.”

  “You literally kill people for a living,” Stone scoffed, crossing his arms. “How is that not worse than eating a cow?” Chase chuckled.

  “People are assholes.” He shrugged happily as if that answered all Stone’s questions and left it at that as he started to scarf down the leftovers. After a few minutes of silence, Kiera re-entered the room dressed in her black pants, a black long-sleeve shirt, a matching beanie clutched in her gloved hand, and her hair braided over her shoulder. She had a black leather pouch strapped to her right thigh and her black gun poked out of the waistband of her pants on her left hip.

  “You’re left-handed?” I asked, dipping my head toward her gun, and she looked down at it before nodding. “You just keep getting weirder and weirder, baby.” I smiled slyly at her to which she rolled her eyes.

  “Stay out of trouble.” Her sparkling eyes flickered between the three of us as she walked to the door leading out to the garage. “Don’t make a mess of my house.” Without further conversation, she went into the large garage with Chase right behind her.

  “Nice house,” I noted looking around after the garage door sounded signifying it was closing. “Maybe we should get one of these.”

  “I’m good at the compound,” Stone bit out, curiously eyeing the house while looking uncomfortably stiff in Kiera’s space. Glancing around, I spotted Garrett standing in front of the stone fireplace staring at a row of photos on the mantel. I walked over to him and examined the color pictures. Several of them were of Chase and Kiera together in different places around the world, both looking extremely happy with wide smiles and bright eyes. Next to those, was an older photo of a woman who looked almost exactly like Kiera, but had shorter, curlier hair. Her mom, I surmised tucking the question about what had happened to her in the back of my mind. Finally, the three pictures Garrett was staring at were the most surprising to me with how much they were at each other’s throats.

  One was of a teenage, non-tattooed Kiera standing in front of a similar aged Garrett, neither looking at the camera as if they didn’t know it was being taken. Their a
ttention was on each other, their usual scowls and glares prevalent on their faces, but even in the photograph I could see the love between them. Looking at the next one, it was of them a little bit older, a little after Garrett had been voted in the club. Kiera had a few tattoos, and Garrett was wearing his cut. They were seated on a patio somewhere. Kiera was looking out off to the side away from Garrett who was staring at her with a slight head tilt and no scowl, his sole focus on his stepsister. The third picture was recent based on Garrett’s tattoos and haircut. This one was of him alone standing with his arms crossed over his chest in front of his bike. It was obvious he didn’t know the photo had been taken since he was looking off to the side, and this is the photo that held Garrett’s attention the most.

  “We had just had a huge argument,” his harsh voice whispered. “She had taken on a job I didn’t want her doing and, Kiera being Kiera, she didn’t want to listen and stormed off. I thought she had left at that point, but I didn’t want to head back to the compound yet until I had calmed down. I didn’t know she put these up here; I didn’t even know she had them at all.”

  “You don’t exactly ask nicely, Garrett,” I countered. His jaw clenched. “You really care about her, don’t you?” He hesitated, staring at the photo of them on the patio when he answered.

  “Yeah, Boss. I do.” His words were barely audible. “Have since I met her six years ago, but we’ve always been so hot-headed that all we’d do was go at it. I’m not going to lie, Chase was right when he said that her fiery attitude is hot.” He looked over at me, his eyes hard. “I know you think so too. I also know that you two fucked each other the other day.”

  I grimaced. If I had realized how much he cared, I wouldn’t have pursued her. Yeah right, you always want what you can’t have, my brain whispered.

  “Can you blame me?” I asked sheepishly, and he sighed.