Page 172 of Malice and Surrender
“Again, he’s beyond caring. Now you need to care about yourself. So stop worrying about him and worry about us.” I stared at Alex’s face and wondered if we would be okay after this. I couldn’t think about that right now. “This is what we’re going to do.”
“Jace?” I jerked and sucked in a deep breath. “Are you okay? You were shaking,” Raine said.
My heart warmed, looking down at her bright blue eyes. “Yeah, I’m good. I think I was dozing, and I’m chilled. Let’s go back to bed.”
Nodding, Raine wrapped her arm around my waist. One thing was very fucking clear. If Kai wanted to play games, I would play and win. He wasn’t stealing anything from Avro or me. Not now, not ever.
Kaivan
I glared at the television, the beer bottle touching my lips, but I had yet to take a sip. Raine had been gone two nights. She texted and called, sent photographs, and…she looked fucking happy. Not just happy, she was practically glowing in the selfies she sent. Even the cute little kissy faces and suggestive lip bites couldn’t do anything to cool down the steadily building unrest flowing through my body.
Of course, because this world fucking hated me, the news—usually filled with shit like war and people dying—tossed up glimpses of Jace’s concert like a fucking entertainment show. I didn’t see Raine on the stage or in the audience with the quick pan, but it didn’t matter. I knew she was there.
“You plan on drinking that or kissing it all night,” Roach asked.
I side-eyed him as he put his glass down. “Why are you in such a bad mood anyway? I mean, some of the guys are back, all is quiet with the other clubs, and you have a fucking hot ass old lady that anyone here would die to have.”
Sitting the beer down, I contemplated telling him the situation, but with Roach, there was a fifty-fifty chance he would be understanding or stand up and yell out that he had just heard the funniest shit ever. I wasn’t taking that chance. The last thing I needed or wanted was for every fucking asshole in here to know I let my woman fuck other men, but I needed to stay faithful.
“I just have a lot on my mind. Consider this my resting bitch face.”
“Oh, it’s hard to tell since your ‘I sucked on a whole lemon while I killed your dog’ look you have going seems to be the norm lately.”
“Fuck off,” I grumbled. I wasn’t upset about not fucking anyone else. I wasn’t even sure I was pissed off at her fucking Avro and Jace…no, that bothered me. But that wasn’t what turned my stomach.
The more time she spent around them, the more she would realize I was nothing but a worthless piece of shit criminal. I was a killer and couldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it. I did my share of drinking, fucking, and drugs and watched more people die than I could remember. I’d become the monster she thought I was.
If she saw me, really saw me for what I was, why wouldn’t Raine feel she was better off with just Avro and Jace and fucking disappear into the night. Avro had cut a sore spot open. I’d called him over to get the upper hand, and now it felt like he had it instead. Would he dare tell her? What would she do? Shit.
I rubbed my chest and tried to focus on anything other than Jace as he was interviewed on television. His smiling face practically yelled ‘Fuck you, Kai,’ through the television screen.
“Can we turn to something else? There’s got to be something other than fucking news on,” I barked. One of the newer sweetbutts jumped and ran for the remote.
I glanced around the room, and my eyes stopped on the couch. Not very long ago, I had Raine bent over right there. The thought made my cock stir.
“Okay, fine, don’t tell me. Do you think the shit that Wilder guy knew about what Lane sleeps in was true?”
I smirked. It had taken longer than I suspected before he asked, but it was the burning question in Roach’s mind. Had someone else seen Lane’s tits before him.
“With Wilder, anything is possible. He takes his job seriously,” I said. Roach’s face darkened as he polished off his drink.
“If he does anything to her, I’m going to kill him….”
“He won’t,” I said.
“How can you be so sure?”
Whatever pile of bullshit I was about to hand, Roach was squashed at the sound of the main door opening. Chase’s voice boomed up the stairwell as he laughed while Beast talked. All the anger I’d contained curdled in my gut, and a growl ripped from my throat.
Then like some grand magician making his entrance Chase stepped into the clubhouse smiling.
“Hey!” Cheers went up as the men sitting around spotted the prez, returned from his Canadian tour. He was back earlier than Tanner said, which made me wonder if the asshole was lying to us all along.
I slipped off the bar stool and walked across the floor, fully intending to welcome Chase home. But as he shook hands with those he couldn’t care less about, my fury rose to new heights.
“Fuck, it is good to be back! Someone grab me a celebratory drink,” Chase called out.
“I have your drink right here,” I said. Chase turned in my direction, and a moment before my fist connected with his jaw, I saw the confusion in his eyes.
