Rival (The Aces Book 1)

by A. J. Macey

  Gross. I shuddered. The sound of the wind filled my ears as we started to pick up speed as we moved away from the compound. I have to fucking get out of here.

  “It’s been a long time since you and I have gotten some quality alone time,” he murmured in my ear.

  I clenched my fists tightly, the urge to punch him in the face pouring through every inch of me. I stood still, hoping if I didn’t react at all he would let go or at least loosen his grip. My attention darted around the small space. The canvas top was draped over several steel bars that enclosed the back of the large metal contraption. Dark grey or black painted benches lined either side of the truck bed, and Jace and I stood between the two long rows. I held back a very sarcastic reply along with the churning in my stomach that had me nearly retching, and I focused on trying to come up with a plan, but there was nothing back here except us meaning it was up to me to get out of this shit situation.

  “Cat got your tongue, pretty girl?” Jace’s lip curled unevenly at his own terrible fucking joke. The unscarred, abnormally perfect side of his face was barely visible in my peripherals as he leaned into my neck again. “Don’t worry, we have plenty of time to catch up, and soon enough you’ll be begging and screaming my name.”

  “Fuck you, psycho,” I snapped unable to keep the bland facade up as fear flooded my system. I was not going to do anything of the sort. I would rather die, as cliche as that is to say. His rough chuckling filtered through my growing panic, the graze of teeth making me yank away as far as his iron grip would allow.

  “There’s my Kiera. I was starting to worry if that step brother of yours had finally broken your fiery spirit.” Pulling back, he looked down at me.

  I stared straight ahead, my eyes glued to the pulse that thudded rhythmically in his neck. I’m going to enjoy cutting open your throat. My resolve steeled at the thought.

  Doing something I knew I would throw up over later, I calmed myself enough so as not to puke as I pressed my lips on his. His scars were rough against my lips as he tried to deepen the kiss, his hands starting to shift away from my arms. Bingo. I took the opening, shoving him away from me and snatching my knife from my boot. His eyes flared in hunger as I squared up against him, thankful that he was dumb enough for it to only be me and him back here. The only Alloy Kings on the humvee were in the cab of the truck.

  He moved, his strikes hard and fast as I attempted to counter them. Even after years of training, he was still quicker than me. When he landed a punch to my bruised ribs I couldn’t hold back the cry of pain; stars burst before my eyes. His other hand grabbed a fistful of my shirt to yank me back to him, his lips pressing against mine before he bit down on my lower lip. Blood flooded my mouth and dripped down my chin as his vicious bite brought another scream of pain. Trying to push through the haze of agony that pulsed through my body, I swiped the knife, but he caught that as he smiled down at me, my blood coating his teeth and lips. His tongue darted out, lapping at the blood on his mouth as he leaned in for another kiss.

  Fuck you, asshole, I snarled mentally before smashing my forehead against his nose.

  He stumbled back clutching his gushing nose. I turned and, without any thought or hesitation, I launched myself out of the back of the humvee making sure to angle off to the side of the road and hoping to land in the grass. Fuck, this is going to hurt. I curled into myself, dropping the knife so I didn’t accidentally stab any part of me, before smashing into the desert ground. I rolled in attempts to ease the pain from the impact, but I was still breathless and throbbing from the landing. Opening my watery eyes, I watched the humvee continue down the dirt road.

  “Ow, fuck,” I whimpered on all fours, slowly climbing to standing. Bracing against my knees as a wave of dizziness passed over me, I focused on not throwing up. I kissed Jace Corden, fucking disgusting. When I was able to stand fully, I limped over to my knife that had landed blade down in the dirt before pulling it out and tucking it away. I wish I had my gun, I thought sullenly. If only it hadn’t gotten knocked away when I was jumped by those stupid fucking bastards.

  “Well, could have been worse I guess,” I said to myself, tallying my injuries. Bruised and bloody face, check, most likely a sprained wrist, check, new bruising on my ribs, check, what I’m sure will be severe bruising on the side that landed on the ground, check, but at least nothing was broken. Surprisingly.

  With that, I started limping back toward the compound, my leg still aching sharply from the impact on the ground. That’s definitely going to be a wicked fucking bruise. I had only walked a few moments before I saw the Aces’ crash SUV come barreling down the hill at an incredibly dangerous speed in pursuit of the humvee. It skidded to a stop about fifty feet from me when they realized I was standing on the side of the road. All the officers hopped from the car and sprinted the distance between us. Garrett reached me first.

  “Oh, my fucking god,” he muttered as he took in my still bleeding face that I’m sure looked terrible. It was covered in dirt, grass, and my own hair that I could feel sticking out at funny angles. “Are you okay?” I tried to chuckle, but cracking a smile ripped the wound on my mouth open further, causing me to whimper instead.

  “Hurt,” I admitted with a huff, my words sounding funny due to the puffy, wounded, and still gushing bite on my bottom lip. “I just fucking jumped out of a humvee hauling ass down a fucking dirt road. Did any of you see it? I’m sure I looked fucking badass.”

  Garrett shot me an exasperated look, while Stone facepalmed and Brooks rubbed his eyes with a groan at my attempt to be funny. Only Chase chuckled finding the humor in the situation like I knew he would. Nate, who I spied over the shoulders of my men standing a few feet back, gave me a thumbs up and a small smile.

  “What’s bleeding?” Stone gestured to my face with a bloody hand, his knuckles split. I realized then that he was wearing only his cut over his bulky muscles, the dark skin dusty with dirt and blood splatter.

  “Forehead—one of the fuckers attempted to pistol whip me. Only hit a bit since I moved out of the way fast enough,” I explained. I took a deep breath and tried to ready myself to reveal what had happened to my mouth. “Lip.” My attempts were unsuccessful as I felt my stomach turn and the thought of kissing Jace finally settled in. Dropping to my knees, I lost my lunch in several waves of sickness. The pool was mostly blood, as the retching made the blood flow in faster waves onto the dirt ground.

  “It’s all right, Kittycat,” Chase soothed, rubbing gentle circles on my back as I shifted to sit back on my heels.

  “What happened to your lip?” Stone asked, leaning forward to inspect my face. I glanced at Garrett when I spoke.

  “Jace was in the back of the humvee,” I muttered softly. Rage exploded in Garrett’s eyes as he started to pace. “He’s still faster than me, so I did what I had to to get him distracted.” Garrett stopped his stomping to glare at me, angry that I had been in Jace’s general vicinity to begin with. “I kissed him.” I retched again but didn’t puke. “Ended up fighting but he fucking kissed me again, bit the hell out of my lip.”

  “He fucking bit you?” Garrett fumed. “Enough to bleed that much?” He took Chase’s spot next to me and dropped to a crouch. His rough hands grabbed my jaw lightly to angle my head the way he wanted to be able to inspect my wound. “I can’t believe that little fucking… I’m going to fucking murder him, slowly and painfully,” he raged, his gaze glued to my wounded lip. “After I fucking cut off his tongue and his lips, and pull his teeth out for this.” I placed a dirty hand on his, and Brooks’ grasped Garrett’s shoulder in a comforting gesture.

  “Not if I get to him first,” I joked, and his eyes darted up to mine, “then I get to do all of that, and trust me I have much more planned especially since that bastard licked and bit my neck.” Finally, after a few more moments of coaxing from me and Brooks, Garrett calmed enough to help me to stand.

  “Why’d you throw up?” Brooks asked softly as we walked to the SUV. Nate held open the door for me i
n the back so I could be between Brooks and Garrett.

  “Because I had to kiss that fucking bastard.” I shuddered in disgust. “I almost threw up on him thinking about it; wondering now if that would have worked better.” The drive back to the compound was quiet, all of us lost in our thoughts as Nate took us around the compound to the front. When we finally reached the front gate, I was feeling the pain throughout my body, the adrenaline having dissipated.

  “Did anyone get injured or killed?” I realized I wasn’t aware of what had happened; I only knew there was a giant fucking fight as I was driven off with a damned psycho.

  “A few knife wounds, two gunshot wounds, handful of minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises from fighting but nothing fatal on our end. We have two Alloy Kings secured; one has a concussion while the other is just bloody from getting his ass kicked,” Stone explained from behind me as he held onto the jump handles.

  I felt my brows rise. It was the most he’d spoken in one go without sounding all judgy or like his usual jerk-off self. Hey, maybe he was starting to like me. I tried to smile to myself, but hissed at the tearing in my lip.

  “Fuck me.” The swelling was getting worse and my eyes started to well up with the growing agony throughout my body. “Please tell me we have some damned good medicine around here,” I whined as we pulled up to the clubhouse, “because I’m really starting to feel that whole ‘jumping out of the back of a humvee like a badass thing.’” They chuckled lightly as we exited the car.

  “Yeah we do, the doctor should be here already looking at everyone,” Brooks explained as Chase acted as my crutch so I wouldn’t topple over. The bar was crowded with members, most just holding ice packs to their faces or knuckles with a few bandaged cuts and injuries. Only three were being assisted by an elderly man with bright white hair, his knobby fingers stitching the gunshot wound in Rider’s leg with ease and precision.

  “Doc.” Brooks approached him as he finished tying off the stitches. “Got one more for you.” He hitched a thumb over at me, and Rider’s eyes flicked up to me as he grimaced with sympathy. The doctor’s eyes were a dark blue behind a set of wired frame glasses that were perched on his crooked nose, his tanned skin full of wrinkles as he looked over me.

  “What happened to you? Get into the guys’ fight?” he questioned moving toward an open seat. I bristled at the thought that because I was a woman I couldn’t fight along with them. Stone understood the question and answered for me, his words stunning me into silence.

  “She’s just as much one of us as the rest of the guys, Doc.” Stone’s dark eyes sought out mine, a miniscule smile curled his lip. “She’s quite the brat though, so fair warning.”

  I flipped him off, but inside I melted at his acceptance. These assholes are just turning me into an ooey-gooey mess of emotions, I mentally chuckled. I sank onto the seat the doctor patted.

  “Well, then, welcome to the Aces…” he trailed off since he didn’t know my name.

  “Kiera.” I tilted my head down in a polite nod. His hands stopped moving as he looked at me, his face moving close to mine.

  “I knew you looked familiar.” The corner of his eyes crinkled in amusement as he fought a smile. “Nice to see you again, Miss Casterelli.” Silence reigned around us, and I realized no one other than my men had known who I was. “Winter Gala of 2006, I believe.” I scoured my memory and when I realized who was sitting in front of me, I burst out laughing despite the pain in my face and bruised to hell body.

  “Anyone want to tell us what’s so funny?” Brooks raised a brow and glanced between the two of us. I finally quieted enough to lean back and let the Doc rinse the blood from my face with a squirty-type bottle.

  “I was nine,” I started, once the dried blood had been washed away. The feeling of the wounds continuing to bleed barely registered in my mind. “Frankie loves his stupid fucking parties, and I loved to cause trouble.”

  “Who would have guessed.” Stone rolled his eyes, but his tone was warm. I chuckled before biting back a long string of obscenities as Doc washed my forehead and lip with antiseptic.

  “I went around pickpocketing all the guests and collecting all the goods before putting it in the Head Chef’s office. He was a huge dick to me, so I didn’t want him around anymore,” I explained seeing the scene in my head as if it were yesterday. An older gentlemen dressed in a hand-me-down suit watched me curiously as I exited the office, his dark blue eyes sparkling.

  “I asked her if she knew what she was doing,” Doc took over for me, “and she gave me this little self-assured smile before waving me behind one of the double doors to a large pantry. We watched the chaos that reigned after they realized their precious jewelry and goods had been stolen, peering through the crack of the door. After a few minutes, the chef had been kicked from the grounds. It was a huge scandal for months afterwards.”

  “You didn’t tell anyone it was her?” Garrett questioned softly, and Doc shook his head looking at me with the same sparkle in his deep irises.

  “Everyone who goes to those things deserves far worse than having their shit missing for an hour, but I asked her why. Know what her response was? ‘Some people deserve to be knocked down a little, and karma takes too long.’ After that, how could I turn such a cute, clever little girl in?” He smiled at me and I rolled my eyes. That dress I had worn that day had been itchy, uncomfortable, and most of all, ugly as fuck. My men watched me all lost in thought as Doc worked through patching me up.

  “You’re full of surprises,” Brooks finally spoke, a small smile on his handsome face. Chase chuckled, his eyes sparkling at the little slice of the past that wasn’t all darkness and demons, while Garrett did the same. Stone just shook his head at me making me chuckle as I sat up from the chair.

  “So what’s the plan, Boss?” I asked eagerly as Doc moved onto another Ace who needed patching. The officers’ eyes lit up, the patch holders around us all watching with nosy expressions.

  “You want to help take down the Alloy Kings?” Brooks questioned. Chase’s excitement was palpable, his jacket swaying as he bounced on his toes. I smirked as well as I could with my bandages.

  “Fuck, yeah. Let’s show those bastards who the real kings are.” A round of shouted cheers went up through the members, and a sense of purpose filled me as I eyed my men.

  Oh, yeah, we’re fucking doing this…

  May 8th

  Wednesday Morning

  Kiera

  Everything hurt. I thought I might have fucking died and gone to Hell, but then I realized I wouldn’t hurt like I had jumped out the back of a humvee if I was in Hell. Hopefully. A drawn out groan escaped me, and I peeled my eyelids open. The large California king was empty except for me and a large tangle of blankets. My black and blue bruised skin was dark against the white swaths of satiny sheets, my comforter having long since fallen to the floor in my night of restless tossing and turning.

  “Ow, fuck me,” I whimpered as I shuffled as gently as I could off the bed. Even the pressure of standing hurt, my leg and side throbbing when I stood. “Fuck, shit, fuck.” Cursing worse than a sailor wouldn’t help the pain, but it certainly helped me feel better since I couldn’t beat the shit out of my punching bag in the basement. The delicious smells of breakfast wafted up the wide staircase, Chase’s soft singing accompanying the sound of a whisk and sizzling bacon. He was wearing his usual lounge attire of grey sweats and form fitting black shirt, his lean muscles deliciously on display as he whisked the bowl of batter.

  “Morning, my little assassin,” I murmured when I made my way into the kitchen, heading straight for the refrigerator. Chase immediately jumped in front of me causing me to nearly stumble at the sharp movement.

  “Good morning, Kittycat.” He very gently directed me to the bar stool. “You sit and I’ll get your morning lifeline from the fridge.”

  I rolled my eyes, thinking, I’m injured, I’m not dead, but I obliged him anyway because I knew he’d be upset if I didn’t.

  “Tha
nk you,” I muttered against his lips as the cold can bit into my hand. I shook the last of the sleep from my battered body. He refused to lean any closer, my bandage and cut up lip making him cautious in kissing me. Biting down on the irritation at him not wanting to kiss me, I rerouted the conversation. “What’s for breakfast?”

  “Pancakes, eggs, toast, fruit,” he rattled off some items cheerfully, pointing at each item as he talked. My brows furrowed; I couldn’t understand why he would make so much.

  “God, how are you so fucking jolly this early in the damned morning?” Stone’s soft question had me whipping around to face the hallway momentarily forgetting I was injured. The twisting of my torso made me whimper as shooting pains radiated from my ribs. “Good one, brat, that’s a good way to injure yourself more.” I flipped him off, unable to snark back as I pushed the pain down.

  “I’m always jolly.” Chase perked up after a thought. “I’m like Santa!”

  Stone scoffed and slipped around the island to pull out a coffee cup, filling it to the brim with the already made brew. “Except you bring death instead of presents,” he argued.

  After playfully waving his arms in front of him, Chase went back to cooking without further exchange. Stone stood stoically sipping his coffee, his jean covered hip resting against the smooth counter. I watched the suspicious enforcer out of the corner of my eye, observing the way his muscles twitched and bulged as he shifted ever so slightly, as if he was readying for a fight despite the fact he was drinking coffee in a house we’re supposed to share. I couldn’t help but appreciate the way his body moved though; it made me want to rip his shirt off and revel in what laid beneath. Don’t turn those judgy eyes on me, I’m in pain, not blind.