Chapter Seven
CAMDEN
“Is she any closer to talking? Opening up to you?” Sin asks as he pets the bunny curled up in his lap.
We’re sitting at a table in the bar area while we give Saige and Kinsey privacy.
Rogue, not wanting to be far from Kinsey, stayed outside my bedroom door, just in case. I felt better about the decision, too.
“Not by much. Something happened to her; she hates us, hates clubs. I’ve never seen so much anger balled up in one person before,” I answer, tapping my fingers against the cool wood of the table, unease rolling through me in waves.
“Have you met yourself, Chaos?”
“I’m not that bad.”
“When was the last time you did something for yourself?”
“The club is my life, Sin. We’re not here to talk about me. Did you set up the meeting with Wes?”
“Should be callin’ here in about five minutes.”
Last year, we needed to find the location of a club in hiding, the same club that was responsible for killing my brother and his girlfriend.
We thought we had taken them all out after their deaths, but what we didn’t know was that the president had a son, born to his mom’s last name, and started putting their club back together, piece by piece.
Wes came through for us. He’s a private investigator living in Aspen Ridge and is a master with the dark web, hacking, and a shitload of other stuff I don’t understand.
But I do know he’s the best. While I wanted him to work for us full-time, he agreed to be in my pocket for rainy days like today.
“Ooo! Dinner!” Malice squeals as he does grabby hands toward the bunny.
Sin moves quickly, stabbing his fork into the back of Malice’s hand, just hard enough to break the skin.
Malice winces, pulling back and studying the small beads of crimson pooling before licking them off with the flat of his tongue.
“Mr. Bun-Buns is not food, fuck off.”
“He looks like food. We could have rabbit stew! I bet Ogre makes a good rabbit stew.”
“Do you wanna die today, Malice? I’ll peel the skin back on each of your fingers and force-feed it to you if you think about touching my baby.”
“You’re no fun, Sin. You used to be fun. Then you got the bunny and lost your edge.”
“I haven’t lost shit, and you know it.”
“Prove it, you big ugly fucker.”
Sin stands abruptly, startling his pet, a high-pitched squeal right next to my head. He sits back down, Malice long forgotten as he pets and soothes him.
I push their bullshit from my mind, my thoughts firmly with the woman currently naked in my shower. I hope she’s taking it easy on Kinsey. I know she can handle herself, but I fear what Rogue would do if Saige were to attack her and what my reaction would be.
My hope is that Kinsey is able to mellow her the fuck out a bit. They’ve both been through some shit with MCs, and maybe if I’m lucky, Kinsey will get her to open up a bit or maybe see the other side. I want to pursue this girl, but I can’t do that until I get to the bottom of who the fuck she is.
“Just like I said, lost your edge, Sin,” Malice continues to taunt like an idiot. My phone buzzes on the table in front of us, breaking up the relentless bickering between my two men.
“Here’s the cyber genius now, let’s see if he’s too busy for me,” I say before I connect the call. “Wes Draven, good to hear from you.”
“Camden Young, how’s the MC world treating you?”
“Same old same old, always someone out there trying to kill us.”
“Ahh, and that’s your segue to your reason for reaching out.”
“Unfortunately, this isn’t a catch-up call. There’s been a series of murders, all MC members. Their throats have been slit from ear to ear, and a willow branch branded on their chest. We need to find out who the killer is.”
“Police don’t have any leads?”
“Police say it’s club war business, and they’re looking the other way. They won’t get involved. We haven’t been hit yet, but I doubt we’re going to be that lucky. I need to find him before he gets too close.”
“What other info do you have for me to go off of? I’m good at what I do, Young, but you’re not giving me much here.”
I hold the phone away from my head and release a deep breath. Fuck.
“That’s all I got, Wes. There are murders within clubs every day, but this is different. Killer isn’t a club member; it feels too personal.”
“Leaving behind a calling card definitely makes it personal. You said it’s a willow branch?”
“That’s what it looks like to me. My guys have reverse image searched it, everything says it’s a willow.”
“Send me a photo, I’ll see what I can do. Gonna need some time on this one.”
“I understand. I appreciate you.”
Wes disconnects the call, and I toss my phone back down on the table.
“You didn’t want to maybe also have him look into Saige? Do you even have a last name?”
The thought had occurred to me, but I’m not going to invade her privacy like that.
I want this vixen to open up to me on her own.
I may not know the first thing about relationships, but I’m smart enough to know I don’t want to start one based on lies and hidden agendas.
She’s gonna communicate with me, it just may take her some time.
And until I can trust her, she’ll just have to stay put.
“Nah, she’ll talk.”
“You sure about that, Prez? Her will seems stronger than yours.”
“I’m sure.”
“What’s the plan for getting her to fall for you? ’Cause I’ve got some ideas.”
“When did you become a romantic?” I ask Sin in return.
“He’s not. I am. He’s a big, ugly oof who has to fuck his fist, even the patch bunnies don’t want to touch him!
I think it’s the red hair. Scares them. Hey, is it also red down there .
. . you know, downstairs?” Malice rambles as he reaches for Sin’s crotch.
Sin bats his hand away with force. “I’ll tell you what to do, first you’re going to make her swoon with your masculine wiles, then you’re going to make her come to you, make her want you, give her just enough of yourself so she knows you’re there for her, and not yourself.
Give her what she wants, let her feel powerful, don’t be a selfish dick. Can you remember that?”
“Not to be a selfish dick?”
“Yeah, I think that’s what I said. Isn’t that what I said, Sin? Hey! Hey!” Malice snaps his fingers in front of Sin’s face. “Are you listening? Listen! You could learn a thing or two!”
Rogue walks into the room, not a moment too soon, a headache starting at the base of my neck. He nods to me, letting me know they’re done. I’m up and out of my seat, moving in her direction faster than I realize. Not having eyes on her made my skin crawl. I need to see her.
“Fuck, who are you?” Rogue asks as I catch up to him. “Haven’t seen the human side of you in about a decade, brother.”
His words hit their mark, causing my steps to falter.
I turn to face him, the man I’ve known since I was in my early twenties.
He watched me become president way too young, our siblings died together, and we’ve been through more ups and downs than most. He’s my brother in every sense of the word.
So, when he says things, they mean something to me.
“What?”
“You heard me, Camden.” The use of my legal name makes me crack my neck to the side, even though that’s all Saige has been calling me.
“What we went through, seeing our own flesh and blood hurt and murdered? We both died that day, right next to the two of ’em.
Kins brought me back. It seems like Saige has the potential to do the same for you. ”
“I just met her,” I say, repeating Saige’s words.
“That doesn’t mean shit. You felt it.”
The moment she stepped off her bike. Hell, the moment I was being chased, if I’m being honest. There was part of me that felt a shift in the air, something calling me to her, even if I didn’t realize it at the time.
I assumed it was adrenaline from the chase, but I was impressed, interested, consumed. . .
“Yeah. You know I’m right.”
“It doesn’t matter. The club comes first, and she’s a threat to everything that means anything to us.”
“So go in there and get to the bottom of it, then you can move on.”
“I can’t have distractions. You know I can’t. Having a woman, an old lady . . . fuck, Reid, I can’t let my focus slip.”
“Sounds like an excuse to me, brother. We’re a team, we’ve all got this, together. Just ’cause you’re the president doesn’t mean it all falls on you.”
“You gonna move back in and make it easier on me then?” I deadpan. Rogue throws his arms out to the sides and laughs.
“You know I can’t. Kinsey won’t leave Aspen Ridge; part of our life is there. You really want her brothers stomping over everything here? We’re not gonna raise kids here when her family wants to be in their lives every day.”
“Kids already, huh? Has barely been a year.”
“Ya never know what the future will bring. Love being inside her too much to care about the consequences of our actions. If it happens, it happens.”
“She feel that way, too?”
“I wouldn’t be doing it if she didn’t. Get in there and figure your shit out. And good luck, she hates you.”
“Ha. You could tell?”
“Brother, that is one fierce woman. You’re gonna have your hands full if she falls for you.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Rogue and I walk to the back of the clubhouse until we get to my room, our heavy steps echoing down the hallway, announcing our approach.
Kinsey opens the door right before we get there, her face lighting up like she hadn’t just seen him a few minutes ago.
Fuck, I want Saige to look at me like that.
“Thanks, Kinsey. I owe ya one,” I tell her.
“I’m happy to give back where I can, Camden. It’s nothing.”
“Did she, uh, did she open up to you?”
“Nope. But I did to her, and it made her contemplative, quiet. So maybe it helped some.”
“Appreciate you.”
“Call if you need anything, brother,” Rogue tells me as he slaps the back of my thick leather cut.