Page 194 of Malice and Surrender
“I’m really worried about him,” Raine whispered. “What’s going on, Jace? I know it’s his couch, but it seems like so much more.”
Jace poked his head out of the kitchen, making sure Avro was gone before turning to face us. He crossed his arms over his chest and rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb.
“Avro has some control issues if you haven’t picked up on it. It comes out in mostly harmless ways, but it started after what happened to him. I’ve been able to help him through most things, but it got really bad again after his accident, and he refuses to talk about it,” Jace said. “He saved for months to get that set and was so proud of it, but it’s not just the couch. This made him feel violated.” Jace shook his head.
“So, not to be the asshole in the room, but why don’t you just buy him a new one? I’m sure you have the money,” I said, earning myself a punch in the arm and a hard glare from Raine. Man, she had hard little fists.
“What? It’s a good question. He’s a rock star, for fucks sake.”
“I could, but Avro won’t let me. I haven’t spent a dime on this house except for my music room. I refused to let him buy anything in there and had a huge fight about that. He wants to do shit on his own. He hates leaning on me, especially financially. I could buy him the whole fucking block if he wanted it. I could build a custom home, but nope. Anyway, I’m going to call the cops. This is the weirdest fucking break-in.”
Jace paced the living room as he spoke to whoever picked up at a police station. I’d never called one to find out. We hadn’t seen Avro since, and I felt like an asshole, even though I had nothing to do with the couch caper.
I wasn’t worried for Wilder, anyone that could carry a freaking couch out by himself without making a noise or leaving a scratch didn’t need it, but I had no interest in being interviewed by cops and my name popping up in the parole board system. That was a no-go for me.
“I don’t understand this. It’s crazy,” Raine said, shaking her head as she turned to face me. “This place was supposed to be the safer option.”
Leaning down, I whispered in her ear. “Wilder showed up last night, but I swear I didn’t know he would take the couch.”
When I stood straight, her mouth was hanging open, her eyes wide in obvious disbelief. “What the fuck? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“How do I explain Wilder? My possibly unstable and delusional neighbor broke in to make sure I was okay because he was worried about me. He then randomly decided to steal a couch when I went back to bed. Oh, and he’s like ex-military, ghost-level shit and already had your house code. But don’t worry, he’s harmless and thinks he’s protecting me or maybe all of us.”
“Yeah, okay, aliens seem more plausible.”
“Thank you, but…I’ll talk to him and see if I can get him to return it.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, already picturing how that conversation would go.
“No, don’t. That would just add another layer to the violated feeling Jace mentioned. I understand the need to feel safe and in control. I still check my locks multiple times a night when I’m at home. I barely slept, and I’d find a place to hide on really bad nights. I know it probably all sounds stupid to you,” Raine said.
I cupped her face and forced her to look at me. “No, I don’t think it’s stupid,” I said and then brushed her lips with mine, loving that she opened up and moaned softly.
Breaking the kiss, I laid my forehead against hers. “You think that if he knows it wasn’t some random joke and ‘whoever it was’ can get back in, it will make the insecure feeling worse.”
“Yes, exactly. I’ll take him furniture shopping, make a day of it. I know his favorite lunch spot, and there is a sale at one of the stores he likes. I’m just going to spend the day with him.”
I nodded in agreement, but I was still talking to Wilder. I had no idea how to get him to understand boundaries, but I obviously needed to make that happen.
“I have a few things that I need to get done today, and I don’t know when I’ll be finished, but I’ll call,” I said, grabbing my leather jacket off the kitchen chair and shrugging it on.
“Is that code for I’m going to be killing people today,” Raine asked.
“Who says I would do that? Okay, maybe once or twice.” I smirked before I sobered and walked back to where I’d left Raine standing. I couldn’t tell if she was okay with what I did or not. It wasn’t a conversation I ever planned on having with someone. “Are we okay? Are you good with what I do?”
My heart rate picked up as I waited for her to respond. What the hell was I going to do if she said no? Would I force her to be okay with it? Would I quit the MC? Shit…
“Am I okay with you breaking kneecaps and killing people?” She put her hands on her hips and stared at the floor as she nibbled her lip. I knew that look and held perfectly still as she thought.
“Honestly, Kai, I don’t know how to feel. It’s not like I know much about the inner workings of an MC. Like how do you choose who to go after? Is it you that chooses or someone else that chooses them?” She rubbed at her eyes and sighed. “I don’t want to know anything about any of it and don’t tell me when you’re going because I’ll worry myself sick. I want a backup number for someone you trust that I can call if you don’t come home. Shit, I need to think about it more. It’s not as if I woke up one day thinking this would be an issue and I should have a plan for how I would feel or react.”
“That’s fair,” I said, but I was worrying now.
I didn’t want to be like my father or force Raine to live as my mother had. She hated what my father did, and his cheating ate her alive. I watched it with my own eyes, and yet we were trapped. You don’t just walk away from an MC. I understood that now, but he could’ve done things to make them better, and he chose not to. That wouldn’t be me.
Other guys in the club had great home lives and still worked with the MC. That was what I needed to figure out how to do. Cause I wasn’t letting Raine go, that wasn’t even an option in my mind, but I wasn’t cut out to work a nine-to-five in an office either.
I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and drew her in close to my body. Raine’s hands slipped around my waist and held me tight, instantly calming the storm that constantly raged in my body.
The scent of her body wash and shampoo drew me in, and I laid my lips against her forehead and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and let her smell wash over me. The world disappeared when she touched me.
