Chapter 20
Jackson
After the afternoon I spent with Kiera and Billie, I’d made a decision.
I was going to back away from her.
Go back to pretending she didn’t exist, and get on with my life.
I didn’t know how it had happened, but she’d taken a sledgehammer to the walls I’d spent years erecting around my heart. And I didn’t like it. Not one little bit.
My plan to keep away from her was easy to start with.
A contract came through, resulting in James and me taking a trip to Miami to deal with a target.
What should have been a quick turnaround ended up taking longer, thanks to the target’s last minute change of plans, but instead of spending the time brooding over Kiera while we waited for the perfect opportunity to strike, James kept me busy.
It seemed my best friend had gone from vowing to never love his wife, to becoming somewhat obsessed with her, and had decided he wanted to find out about her past—something she had no memory of.
I’d never seen my best friend lose his mind the way he was over his wife, so when he begged me to help him, of course I wasn’t going to say no. Besides, helping him was a much better use of my time than fretting over his sister.
When the opportunity presented itself to kill our target, James took it. The guy wasn’t even cold before James was heading back to his wife. Needing more space from Kiera, I told him I was staying put in Miami to watch Brody in an underground fight.
I tried to occupy myself with spending time with the twins, busying myself with work for Smarttech, and doing everything in my power not to think about the woman who was constantly lingering in the back of my head.
To make matters worse, the Little General still had no interest in anyone else, as proven when a scantily clad woman rubbed herself all over me during Brody’s fight, licking my ear as she whispered something about sneaking off to the nearest bathroom.
My cock didn’t stir until the memory of fisting Kiera popped into my head.
I couldn’t stay away forever, though, and when news reached me that James and Kiera’s mom had died, I headed home, only to discover Kiera had been forbidden to go to the funeral.
I repeatedly told myself that I didn’t care, so imagine my surprise when I was driving home after the wake, only to end up at Kiera’s.
Sated after fucking her, with her asleep in my arms, her tits on display, and covered in my bite marks. I stared down at her, remembering the moment I gave in to every carnal urge and slammed my mouth against hers.
For several moments, I was in Heaven. For several moments, the only thought going through my mind was that Kiera was mine, and I never wanted to stop kissing her.
Kissing her was my undoing to forget the past, and after I’d buried myself deep inside her, and painted her womb with my come, I’d lost myself to the voice in my head telling me that Kiera was exactly where she was meant to be.
With me.
But when I lifted my eyes away from her, they landed on a photo frame on the fireplace, holding a picture of Kiera, Alec, and Billie, the three of them caught in a moment of happiness.
Bitterness flowed through me, erasing the contentment that had settled in my bones and leaving one startingly obvious question behind.
What the fuck was I doing here?
Kiera was engaged to Alec; it wasn’t like I expected her to leave him for me. And even if she did, I couldn’t ignore the question that had been continuously churning in my head for the last few days.
Could I forgive her for her betrayal?
The honest answer was no. Perhaps I could have done if we’d been reacquainted and she’d been single. With time, maybe I could have moved on with her. Maybe I could have rebuilt the trust. We were just kids back when she cheated on me; people made mistakes. Fuck, it wasn’t as if I was perfect.
But I couldn’t ignore how she’d come to be in my life once more. She’d been planning on cheating on Alec. Wasn’t there a saying that a leopard never changed its spots?
Even if Kiera left Alec to be with me, I would never trust her.
And the realization of that was the kick I needed to gently lift her from my lap and slip out into the night.
The world of Legion as I knew it was plunged into chaos when James discovered the secrets his father was hiding, and the repercussions would be felt for years to come, especially when James took his place as the head of Legion.
Driving James to his father’s, he was silent for the duration of the journey, only speaking when we reached his childhood home. I offered to take his place in doing what needed to be done, but James was adamant he would be the one to kill his father.
I wanted to argue. James may have hated his father, but to murder his own flesh and blood would undoubtedly take its toll on him. But once his mind was made up, there was no changing it.
Asking me for a favor before he disappeared inside, acid roiled in my stomach. What he was asking for was only going to add to the damage he was about to cause, and there would be no one there to help him through it.
Because the idiot had made plans to free Willow from his clutches.
I pulled the car away, stopping only a few hundred yards away from the house in a rest stop, and waiting. I didn’t want to go far in case something went wrong at the house, or James changed his mind and wanted me to be the one to end his father’s life.
The call came quicker than I expected. My phone barely had a chance to ring once before I answered it. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” James replied, his tone stoic as if he’d just executed another target rather than the man who raised him. “It’s done.”
As simple as that.
“What do you need?”
“Nothing. I’ll get the crew in to clean up.”
“Need me to contact Higgins and get him to file a report? I’ll get him to list home invasion as the cause of death,” I said, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, knowing the local police chief was a member of Legion.
“No, I’ll do it.”
“Okay. Let me know when you’re done, and I’ll come pick you up.”
I didn’t like the idea of him dealing with the aftermath of his father’s death, but I knew James. He’d use it as an excuse not to go home and see Willow. He was buying himself time so he didn’t change his mind about releasing her.
“Actually, there is something you can do for me.”
I straightened my spine, ready to spring into action. “Anything, man. You know that.”
“I know you don’t get on with my sister,” he started, causing my heart to plummet to my stomach. “But she needs to know he’s dead, and I can’t bring myself to see her just yet. Can you go and tell her?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, internally cursing. Of all the things he could have asked from me, that was what he wanted. “Yeah, course,” I replied, forcing the words out.
“Thanks. I’ll text you her address.”
Managing to stop myself from telling him there was no need, and that I was well acquainted with where she lived, I muttered my agreement and hung up, exhaling heavily.
So much for staying away from her.