Page 179 of Malice and Surrender
“Are we really leaving them alone?” Avro whispered as we walked up the stairs.
“Yup. Want to have a shower?”
“You never need to ask me that. The answer is always yes.” Avro chuckled.
They would tear the entire house apart as they tried to kill one another, or they’d figure shit out—either way, I wasn’t giving them more fuel by being in the same room. I refused to be the flag they fought over in their tug-o-war match.
Jace
“I can’t believe she actually left us alone together,” I said. “But I’m happy she did.”
I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders as Kai smirked, his eyes going from cold to lethal. I should be scared, I knew he was a great fighter, but there was something open about his aggression. He didn’t keep it hidden like Lyle did. There was no doubt in my mind he’d kill me if given the opportunity and motive, but he’d make sure I saw it coming. There was no hidden agenda, sneak attacks, or shooting me in my sleep.
My hand clenched as the memory of my family’s murder flashed behind my eyes. The pain gripped my chest as it had that day. It never stopped aching, and the what-ifs never stopped flowing, but I hid it well because no one really wanted to hear about your pain. They asked how you were but only wanted an ‘I’m fine.’ The moment you started to open up, their eyes got squirrely, and they shifted in their seat, uncomfortable with the sudden heavy reality. So I kept my crap locked up tight.
Except with Avro and now Raine. Avro lived it all with me, and Raine held onto every word I shared. After the wild night in the cemetery, she’d hugged me tight and whispered how sorry she was. They mattered. No one else did.
“Oh yeah, and why is that? If you’re thinking of going round two, I’m more than happy.”
I snapped back to the present as we glared at each other.
I felt the same rage in me rolling off of Kai and knew we were too similar for my liking. Avro and I were balanced. It wasn’t that Avro didn’t get a say— he usually made all the decisions—but I made the final call when it came to certain shit. Kai was just as demanding, and I saw him wanting to yank that away from me. There wouldn’t be any sharing or negotiating with Kai unless we had an understanding.
“I don’t like being threatened,” I said, and as I suspected, Kai’s lips curled up, obviously pleased with himself. I was about to wipe that smile away. “You think I don’t have resources just because I’m in a rock band, didn’t go to prison or spend my time with shady people?”
“I’m surprised that Avro told you. I really thought he’d keep that to himself.”
“Then you don’t understand what we share because we don’t hide anything from one another. Then again, I’m not sure you’d ever understand the concept of real trust, not with how you live and what you do,” I said, picking at the wounds I knew we shared.
“It’s unwise to trust that much, then the other person holds the cards,” Kai said.
I smiled wide, a low chuckle escaping my mouth. “And that’s why you’ll never really have all of Raine, because you won’t give all of yourself.”
“You don’t know anything about us,” Kai snarled as I hit the right chords. His hands gripped the front of my shirt, and I cocked a brow at him but didn’t move to further the fight. If he hit me, it was on camera, and I warned him, so he couldn’t say I tricked him.
“I know enough, and I know your type. You’ll fuck up, and this will all fall down around you because you can’t hold your shit together.” I glanced down at the fists holding my shirt. “Case in point,” I said, my voice as cool as a spring rain. “Do it, Snake,” I growled low, accentuating his name. “Hit me. I dare you.”
One finger at a time, his fists uncurled like he had to order his hands to let go of me. I smoothed out the wrinkles, just to be annoying as fuck before continuing.
“I know what you’re trying to do, and you’re not fucking worth it,” Kai said, his hands going to his side.
“Calling Avro out in the middle of the night to threaten him….” I shook my head. “Not a smart move. It’s a good thing you don’t play poker. All you did was piss me off, and when I’m pissed, I stop playing nice. The things that I found about you….”
“I don’t give a fuck what you have. I have no problem making a few calls and ruining you if you ever try to run off with Raine and think you can cut me out.” Kai stepped in close again so our noses were almost touching. “I will do anything to keep her. Do you understand that? She is mine.”
“Ours,” I growled back, and his body shook with the building tension. “There are three of us now, in case you didn’t learn to count past one.”
“I swear I’m going to kill you. One of these days, you’re going to push me too far. I can already see it.”
I smiled wide but knew that my eyes held as much hatred as the blue ones staring back at me.
“You don’t scare me, Kai, which is what I know really bites your ass. You’re used to intimidating everyone wherever you go and it almost worked when you came here waving your gun the first time. But, I see you now. I see you for who you really are. I’ll never let you intimidate me again, and you’re already toeing my give a fuck limit.” He took a deep breath, and we were so close his chest pressed into mine. “I’ve been blackmailed by much worse than you. And, here is the funny thing about blackmailers, they always have shit in their past that they don’t want anyone knowing about.” I narrowed my eyes at Kai. I’d only scratched the surface and found more dead bodies than he would ever want to be shared.
“Isn’t that right, Kaivan McMillan? Son of Jackson and April McMillan. It’s incredible what you can find when digging through the graves of someone else’s life.”
Kai’s nostrils flared, and the excitement grew in my body, making my heart pound as uncertainty flashed behind those cold, blue eyes.
“What the fuck do you think you know?”
