Chapter Eight
Kyle
I lay stretched out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and cursing myself and my own stupidity.
The muffled thrum of music seeps through the walls, blended with laughter and distant chatter.
A constant reminder of the party happening on the rooftop terrace.
The club holds a cookout every last Sunday of the month and despite not being a fully pledged member, I’ve always been welcomed to attend.
I haven’t missed a single one in two years.
I skipped this one.
On that terrace, along with all the club members and their spouses, is the girl I’m madly in love with. I want nothing more in this world than to hold her, kiss her lips and enjoy the view of the city and Lake Michigan along with her. But I can’t do that, not until I get her brother’s blessing.
“Fuck!” I run a hand through my hair in frustration. She must think I abandoned her, and I’ll admit, not staying by her side while she met her brother was a dick move on my part. I should have stayed but then…everyone would have seen. On my face. In my eyes and body language. They would have known.
I want her.
And I didn’t want to get in the way of their reunion, so I stayed back. Knox would have kicked my ass for breaking his trust and seducing his sister. Christ, what it would have done to Viv—to watch two men she cares about get into a fight on her first day home.
It broke my heart, but I had to leave.
And now, I have to stay away until I get a moment alone with Knox. I bet it’s not going to happen today either, seeing how he’s occupied with the return of his sister and the cookout. Surely I can wait a couple more days. That is, if Viv doesn’t hate me by then.
My eyes drift to the open window where the city lights twinkle like distant stars.
This room doesn’t provide the view the hotel back in Denver did, but it still draws me in.
The thought of a walk, a solitary exploration of the night, starts to grow in my mind.
I imagine the cool air and the busy streets will at least offer some reprieve from the ache in my stomach.
Fuck, I miss her.
It’s only been a day since I last saw her, but I miss her so fucking bad.
With a deep breath, I push myself up to slide on a hoodie and walk to the front door. A walk might just be the thing to take my mind off Vivienne. Even if it’s for a little while.
I pull the door open, ready to step into the hallway, and I freeze.
Standing there, bathed in the dim light of the corridor, is Knox.
His fist is raised, poised in midair, ready to knock.
He appears surprised, but his face quickly morphs into a grin.
“Well, looks like I just caught you. Are you headed up? To the party?”
I shake my head. “No, I was thinking of going out for a walk. I’m not feeling too good.”
He raises a thick brow and some emotion I don’t understand crosses his expression, but it’s gone before I can make sense of it. “There must be something in the air with the number of people feeling unwell tonight.”
My brows knit. “Is someone else sick?”
Knox smirks and ignores my question. “I came to talk to you about something.”
Oh shit, does he know about me and Viv? “What’s up?”
“Aren’t you going to let me in?”
Fuck, he probably means to fight. Fine, if it’s a fight he wants, then it’s only right that I oblige him. Besides, the sooner I tell him about my feelings for Viv, the faster I get to see her again.
I move to the side and let Knox enter my apartment, closing the door behind him and following him to the living room as he limps over to the couch. “Do you want something to drink?” I offer.
“No, thanks. I don’t plan on staying long anyway.” Here we go. “Congratulations, Kyle.”
What?
I blink at Knox, confused, until he raises the hand I didn’t notice he was hiding behind his back and I see the black leather jacket.
But it’s no ordinary leather jacket. This is the jacket members get when they join the Steel Rebels.
It has the club’s patches and insignia on the back and arm sleeves.
My breath catches when he turns the jacket to show the name on the back in bold.
“Maverick?”
“I personally picked your MC name—Maverick. I think it suits you perfectly,” he says, his eyes dropping to the jacket.
“You’ve more than earned your full membership status with the Steel Rebels.
” He lifts his eyes to mine and I can’t help but notice how similar they are to Viv’s, albeit a little harder and darker.
“You’ve proved yourself in the last two years, but what you did for my sister, getting her across the country safely, and then in that cabin in Omaha… I am forever in your debt.”
I stare at the jacket in his hands, smiling when he extends it for me to take, but I know my smile doesn’t reach my eyes. It’s bittersweet.
Christ, I’ve dreamed of this very moment for years.
Way before my parents were murdered, I always thought my Uncle Kyle was the coolest. I was named after him, and I always felt proud when I told my friends that my namesake uncle belonged to a motorcycle club.
Sometimes, he would pick me up in his Harley, and I wanted so badly to follow in his footsteps.
I wanted to become a Rebel. An enforcer, like my uncle.
The dream was cemented when I lost my parents, and I was more convinced than ever that this was the path for me.
I would protect other people’s parents from dirt like the Vipers.
As I stare at the jacket, all the memories of how hard I’ve worked flash through my mind. I’ve earned this. It’s mine for the taking. After so many years of hoping and patiently waiting, it’s mine and yet…
“I can’t accept this,” I tell Knox, noting the surprise that flashes on his face.
“What?”
“I’m sorry, VP, but I can’t accept the Jacket.
I can’t join the Rebels.” It hurts more than I can ever explain to say those words, but I know I need to say them.
“Something…someone has become more important to me than becoming a patched member of the club. I know I can’t have both, so I choose her. ”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Vivienne,” I say, and I watch his expression darken but I meet his hard gaze head-on.
Even with Knox’s injuries, I’m not sure I could get very far in a fight against him.
The man has at least a decade on me and years of experience fighting, but I don’t intend to back down.
“I’m in love with your sister, Knox. I understand this might not be what you want to hear right now, but it’s the truth.
I want her, and if I need to choose between her and the club, then I’ll choose her. ”
His eyes narrow. “You’re willing to toss away all your hard work and your chance with the Rebels for a girl?”
“For this girl, yes.”
There’s a long beat of silence.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Knox says, and I watch with surprise as he throws his head back and breaks into laughter, the sound booming and echoing through the walls.
“You’ve got to have balls of steel to face me like that.
I always knew I liked something about you, from the moment you showed up here with your uncle, rest his soul. ”
Wait, what?
“We’re not fighting?”
He laughs again. “Were you hoping for a fight?”
“Well, I was expecting one,” I say, unsure what to do with myself now. “I figured you’d be angry.”
He shakes his head and walks to the couch before lowering himself down. “I’ve known you for over ten years, Kyle,” he says. “Your uncle helped mentor me when I was your age. He and a bunch of the older Rebels practically raised me.”
He starts to tap the arm of the couch, his eyes moving to the window.
“I don’t know how much of our past Vivienne has told you, but my family used to owe money to the Rebels.
We lived on one of their properties and hadn’t paid rent for months.
I agreed to work so I could pay off that debt and take care of my sister.
I had no idea my mother was borrowing money from other gangs and putting her and my sister’s lives in danger.
It was another gang that made her run to LA with Vivi, but my mother convinced my sister that it was the Rebels.
She hated how much I loved the Rebels and wanted them to be my family. ”
He shakes his head as if he hadn’t meant to share quite so much. “My point is, I knew your uncle. Respected him. I watched him raise you and I know the kind of man you are. That’s why the news of you dating my sister doesn’t upset me.”
I’m floored.
“I had no idea,” I manage. “About my uncle and all that.”
“Haven’t you ever wondered why you’re the only prospect who lives in the clubhouse?”
“Because of my uncle?”
“We all respected your uncle and owe him a debt or two, but you’ve done enough on your own to prove yourself a worthy protégé.
You’re hardworking and mirror his principles.
” He stands up, easing his weight onto his good foot.
“You would have made a pledged member sooner if your uncle hadn’t insisted on the two years’ probation.
He wanted you to finish college, get a degree and be a prospect for two years so you’d be certain this is what you want to do. ”
“It is,” I say, smiling, bigger this time. My heart swells with emotions so overwhelming that I can barely make sense of them all. Heck, it’s so like Uncle Kyle to place so many hurdles on the path to achieving my dreams, but that’s what made him special. “I want this.”
“Well then, congratulations on becoming a member of the club.”
“Does this mean I have your blessing to be with Vivienne?”
“I’m not sure,” he murmurs. “My sister hasn’t been feeling so good since she arrived.
At first, I thought she was just tired, but then I realized it had something to do with you.
” His voice drops, tone turning threatening.
“If you don’t move your ass right now and fix things with my sister, I might change my mind about giving you my blessing.
And maybe you’ll get that fight after all. ”
“I’ll fix it,” I say quickly. I don’t care if I have to grovel; I’ll make things right with Vivienne. I’m about to leave to do just that when Knox tosses the jacket at me, nearly smacking me in the face. I grin, sliding it on, and Christ, it’s a perfect fit.
“Welcome to the club, Maverick,” Knox says, patting my shoulder.
“Thank you.”
“Now go and fix things with Vivienne. I need to head back to the party and find my own woman before she starts missing me.”
“Vivienne isn’t on the terrace?”
He chuckles. “I told you, you’re not the only one who’s ‘not feeling too good’ tonight and tried to get out of coming to the party.”
And with that, he’s gone.