Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
K aine hadn’t expected such a chaotic start to his morning, especially with the way last night ended. He’d hoped to spend the rest of the day with his mate, finally talking and getting to know her. There hadn’t been any time for that over the weekend.
Well…
There had been time, the two of them just hadn’t taken it.
Instead, they’d fucked like the world was ending and it would be their last taste of each other.
Not that he was complaining. Shit, he would do it all over again.
His tiger had made sure they’d left enough marks on the woman that any male she encountered over the next few days would know she belonged to someone else.
He stepped out of the shower and leaned over his bathroom mirror, smiling at the scratches and hickeys that littered his chest. His mate had done the same.
Some of the scratches were deep enough for him to be wearing them for weeks.
That satisfied his tiger on a deep level.
Her cat had meant business with each and every swipe, so the woman would have no choice but to acknowledge the animal’s pick.
A smug smile graced his lips as he sauntered into his bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. Now that business was taken care of, he needed to get dressed for church.
He looked around the masculine room and wondered what changes his mate would make to the place.
Would Lucky adjust to living on the compound?
He needed to learn everything there was to know about his baby outside of what his background check told him.
His phone beeped and he picked it up, seeing the missed messages from the security team he sent home with his mate. He called them to get an update.
“Talk to me,” he ordered.
“She made it to Eastfield safely. We sticking around?”
“I bought the building where she lives. When she’s home, go to the leasing office, they’ll have keys there waiting for you. I don’t have to tell you how important your job is.”
“We got her, boss. She’s over by Edwards, how you want us to handle that?” Hakeem asked.
He sighed, already knowing which Edwards she frequented.
The information he had on his mate had peripheral information on her cousin Keisha, who was Devon Edwards’s mate.
He hadn’t had any dealings with the wolf, but his brother Declan was now in charge of the guild’s accounts.
Because of that, he’d done a thorough background check on both brothers.
According to what he’d found, Devon wasn’t a stranger to the underbelly of their world, but it seemed once he’d left prison, the wolf was on the straight and narrow for the most part.
For the sake of peace, he hoped he and the wolf wouldn’t have any issues.
“Hang back and pick her up when she leaves there,” he ordered Hakeem.
He couldn’t risk Devon taking out his men over a miscommunication. Going to his email, he filtered through the information he had about his mate, copying the phone number he had for Devon Edwards.
“A blocked number. Kaine, I take it?” Devon answered.
“Edwards,” he greeted. “I’m just giving you a heads-up I got security on my mate, navy SUV, two men. Don’t shoot them.”
Devon snorted in amusement. “Mate, huh?”
“Don’t bother with the warning, Edwards. I’m sure you’ve heard how I come behind mine.”
Getting into it with Lucky’s family wouldn’t be a great start to their relationship, so Kaine kept his tone respectful.
Devon grunted. “Congratulations. The family is tight, so it’s not my warning you’ll have to worry about.”
The wolf ended the call and Kaine frowned. What did he mean by that? Shaking it from his head, he gave his security the heads-up. He got dressed for church in a simple pair of slacks and a button-up shirt, the vest matching his pants on top.
His sister Eve was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. She was the secondborn of the triplets his mother had. She was almost as tall as Kaine, her five foot eleven frame draped in designer, her hair back in a tasteful chignon. In the heels on her feet, she reached her brother’s chin.
The triplets had the same features, though the they were softened on his sister.
She’d tamed her thick eyebrows, and her upturned almond-shaped eyes were dark, framed by lush eyelashes.
Their shared high cheekbones and a chiseled jaw gave Eve a striking look that had Kaine and their brother Ezekial beating ass behind their sister.
Nuzzling under his chin in greeting, her eyes narrowed as she leaned back. “You smell like a panther.”
Kaine kissed the top of her head. “Mind your business.”
“Oooh, Ezra, your mama is going to be furious. I can’t wait,” Eve snickered.
He headed to the SUV idling in their circular driveway. Griff was waiting at the back door, nodding at Eve as he helped her inside. Kaine’s phone beeped as he slid in and he smiled at the message from Lucky.
my love: Made it home .
Kaine: Not home exactly.
The men he had on her hadn’t updated him on her location, which meant she was still at her cousin’s house.
My love: You tracking my movements?
Kaine: Making sure my mate makes it home safely, you mean?
Three dots hovered and then disappeared and he couldn’t help his chuckle.
My love: Is that how you’re framing it?
Kaine: Call me tonight. I want to hear your voice before I go to sleep.
My love: I knew you were gonna be bossy.
The way his smile widened had his sister’s eyes stretching as she watched him.
“Is that the panther?” Curiosity lit her gaze.
“None of your business,” he answered, tucking his phone in his pants pocket.
“Oh my God, Ezra! I’ve never seen you like this?” Eve said, leaning back to study him.
“Like what? I’m just sitting here,” he said gruffly.
“Yeah, but your tiger is lighter, your face is less tense and growly,” she pointed out, waving over his form.
“Drop it, sister,” he grumbled.
“For now,” she said smugly, pulling out her phone.
He tried to snatch it from her, but she turned her back. “Do not tell Easy anything.”
Eve snorted. “‘Ezra has a woman making him smile’,” she read aloud as she typed the text, and Kaine could only roll his eyes at her antics.
Griff chuckled in the front seat, but said nothing to either sibling.
Kaine sighed as they pulled up to the front of the megachurch his father owned, rolling his shoulders in preparation of the aggravation.
He grabbed the worn bible seated between him and his sister and got out.
The two of them were escorted to the front and the row of seating reserved for their family.
Their mother was already there, sending them both her customary fake smile.
Eve sat next to their mother and he was thankful.
He didn’t want to hear her mouth. For an hour, Kaine bowed his head at the right moments and stood when prodded, the whole while his mind on his own commune with God.
His father’s performance was great as usual, fired up at all the right beats, humble and quiet in the others.
The whole thing was a farce, but it didn’t stop Kaine from opening the worn bible and reading the scriptures that called to him in this moment.
He’d seen his first murder at a young age, and it had changed something in him.
This bible had become refuge for a boy confused by the way his world had flipped.
He’d been eleven, his grandfather showing him firsthand how his family made their money.
Henry had been proud, explaining to a traumatized child that sometimes killing was necessary.
Up until that point, Kaine had been a quiet kid, his head in the clouds, a camera his sister had given him the year prior clutched in his hand at all times.
His grandfather had seen the direction he thought Kaine was going in and had decided in that moment that it was time to start shaping the future of the Ace of Spades.
He’d lost track of the bodies after that, clutching onto this weathered piece of leather and worn pages like a lodestone for when it all got too much.
Proverbs 3:5-6 was his current read: Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.
Letting the words settle in his heart, he closed the book, his tiger settling. Though his prayers likely didn’t make it past the roof of this church, he still murmured a small one of gratitude. His mind then drifted to Lucky.
He’d found his mate.
He took a moment to sit with the miracle of that.
Time would tell how they would get along, but the first strings of their bond were set and he looked forward to getting to know her.
The third to their triplet slid into the pew next to him as their father’s choir got started with their last set of the morning.
“And where the hell you been?” Kaine asked.
“Long night of drinking.” His brother smiled, showing the gold teeth in his mouth.
Though Eve and Ezra made it a point to show up as their mother demanded, Ezekial did it under duress and had no problem showing their parents his displeasure every time he had to do it.
“Drinking what? Our metabolism is too high for you to get drunk.” Kaine frowned at his brother.
It was dangerous for his brother to be somewhere inebriated. He kept security on both his siblings when they weren’t doing work for the Aces, so Easy would’ve been safe. Still…
More than likely, he’d been out with their cousins on Jeffrey’s side of the family.
Their father had tried to lessen Henry’s influence over his children’s lives by sending Kaine and his siblings to his family over the summers.
All that had done was reinforce the wildness of their animals.
The Kaines never bothered to tether their tigers.
Their country cousins were wild as hell, and once Henry had found that out, their training had intensified.