Chapter 11 Killian
ELEVEN
KILLIAN
Was it possible to fuck up literally every single thing within a twenty-four-hour span?
First fuck-up—Watching Laura with Kip last night.
Second fuck-up—following Laura. Although, I was glad I did because that idiot, Kip, was being rough with her. But seeing him rough with her was what caused me to do the next stupid thing.
Third fuck-up, and this one truly is the worst—Sleep next to her.
Then this morning, I had to touch her. She was just too fucking tempting…but it was more than that. It was watching the way the golden rays of morning had collided with the strands of her hair and the way her mouth parted as she slept.
Something in my chest shifted as I lay there, just watching her and wondering what it would be like…
The pondering of a domesticated life with her is what had me texting Giles to go and get us coffee and scones.
All because I knew she liked them.
This was becoming a problem, and I needed less problems in my life, not more.
Now she was in my house, and Giles was here and something in my chest was growing claws and teeth, desperate to tear through bone and skin.
I thought I had fixed this issue with Laura when I had lowered my walls and let her inside.
I had tried to kick her out just as fast, but then I’d fucked up and now she was like a stain on my conscience I couldn’t seem to erase.
Three months of silence, of pushing her out of my mind and away from me, and now she was in my space.
And another member was here, seeing her and I wanted him to stop seeing her.
I wanted him gone, and I generally liked Giles.
I liked him enough to make him my Vice President, but fuck, he couldn’t be here with her.
Not with those easy smiles she offered him, or the way he looked at her. I wanted to kill him.
The sound of motorcycles rumbling down the drive reverberated through the house, and that would lead us to fuck-up number four.
“He’s early.” Giles winced.
My gaze traveled back to where Laura had been standing. She was safe upstairs for now, and that was all that mattered. She’d been around the club long enough to know club affairs were private, and I didn’t think she would wander down to check it out.
Giles’ cousin wanted a meeting. Took us three months to finally get this set up, and it was supposed to be a peaceful one, so I shouldn’t worry.
But I’d been in this life long enough to know how quick things could turn to shit.
I needed Wes here. I pulled my phone out and saw that he’d already texted.
Wes: I’m on the way, try and stall him. I don’t want you meeting with him without backup and Giles isn’t enough.
He was right. I needed to think clearly on this.
I decided to go in through the back of the club, so I wouldn’t draw attention to this place. The gate slammed shut behind me as I jogged over to the back door of the club and slipped inside.
Natty was already prepping breakfast in the kitchen; she gave me a warm smile as I passed.
I gave her a quick nod before moving upstairs, but at the last second, I paused.
“Natty,” I called to her until she was walking over, “Chaos Kings are on their way in. Just in case you have past shit with them.”
I didn’t wait to hear her response. I had a room in the club, although I hardly used it. Once in my room, I closed the door. Dragging the top drawer of my dresser open, I pulled out the Glock. I ensured it was loaded then slammed the clip back into place before tucking it into the back of my jeans.
I heard some yelling from below. I turned for the stairs and hoped this meeting would go as well as I needed it to.
Wes stood on my left, with his arms crossed, and Giles was on my right in a similar stance. Hamish, Brooks and Rune were behind us.
In front of us, Jameson King stood next to his bike, while four of his members flanked him. I noticed his vice president, Luke, was absent, which was odd.
Giles glanced over to me first and after I nodded, he walked over and gave his cousin a quick hug.
I was still surprised by what was revealed a few months back when we were looking for allies.
Giles had exposed that his cousin was the leader of the Chaos Kings, and not only that, in a rare turn of events, the two of them actually got along and didn’t have any bad blood.
That almost never happened with two different club affiliations.
Giles was the entire reason we were even able to set this up.
The two cousins smiled, exchanging greetings before Giles walked back over and Jameson walked with him. That made me feel a bit more at ease; it seemed their intent for a peaceful meeting was genuine. Next to each other, the two could be mistaken for brothers.
Jameson was a few inches taller, and I couldn’t see his ink because of his leather jacket, but they shared the same sharp jaw, the same brown eyes, the same wheat colored hair, although Jameson’s was longer and slicked to the side with product.
He was young, about Wesley’s age, but he’d been leading for a lot longer.
He’d taken over his father’s club when he was just nineteen, now at twenty-nine or thirty, he was feared by every club in Virginia.
An alliance with him would be a powerful move.
“Killian.” He gave me a nod, then looked over to my left. “Wes. Wanted to say congrats on the transition, and I heard you got married to Stone’s daughter.”
Wes didn’t move; he just glared at Jameson.
The leader of Chaos Kings laughed. “Just wanted to congratulate you...I’m here in good faith. I’m hoping we can become allies, especially now that leadership has shifted over with the Death Raiders, and now you. Shit is fluctuating, and if we’re not ready, it’s going to put us on our asses.”
“Thanks.” I put my hand out, seeing Wes still wasn’t moving to do shit. I knew it was because Jameson brought up Callie. He didn’t trust anyone knowing about her, especially now that she was pregnant.
“Let’s head inside, I need some breakfast.”
Jameson walked in behind me, while my men brought up the rear.
Red was behind the bar, and Natty must have decided it was safe to stay. Still, she settled behind Red, and tucked farther into the kitchen. Then I did a double take when I saw another head pop up from the back.
Laura.
My heart raced, but I cooled my expression to ensure no one saw my reaction to her being here.
“I have eggs, bacon and pancakes started,” Red said, tossing a rag over her shoulder. She caught my eye. I nodded to ensure she knew I was okay with feeding them.
“Sounds good to me,” Jameson said, sliding onto a stool.
I was extremely aware of Jameson’s eyes and how he was inspecting who was in the kitchen behind us.
Natty came forward and started placing plates in front of everyone, one by one. When she got to Jameson, his eyes were trained on her and a smile slid into place.
“You’re Natty, right?” he asked, and she completely froze.
“Or do you go by Natalie, I wasn’t sure...”
Oh shit.
Natty’s eyes stayed trained on his face, and she even smiled, but I could see how her nose flared and her grip on the plates tightened.
I caught Wes’s glare and knew he was about to lose it. Turning off being president was likely just as difficult as turning it on.
“It’s Na—”
“You don’t get to speak to her,” I cut in.
Jameson lowered his gaze to the counter. “Didn’t mean any disrespect.”
Natty cleared her throat. “It’s okay…and yes, it’s Natty, how did you um…how did you know about me?”
She glanced around the room, and I saw that Laura was making her way to the front, still behind Red, but watching what was going on, likely getting protective of Natty. I gave her a warning glare, but she wasn’t looking at me.
“Actually, you’re the reason I wanted this meeting.”
Aw fuck.
Wes was going to lose his shit, and I was already on the cusp of losing it too. Then Red and Laura both walked forward and were suddenly at Natty’s elbows in a protective stance. A sliver of pride surged in me because Laura instinctually was club, even if she didn’t realize she was.
“This is something you should have run by me; you don’t just come in and start saying shit to my members.” I practically growled.
Jameson clenched his jaw. His men glanced back and forth at one another.
“I think every club has heard of the deal Simon Stone made for you, Natty. The one where he literally stole you from—”
The sound of the plate smashing at Natty’s feet cut Jameson off. Natty’s eyes were pinned shut, then her face flushed.
“Oh shoot. Sorry about that.” She bent to pick up the pieces, when Laura moved to help her. Natty’s grip hadn’t been slack on that plate…she stopped him from continuing on purpose. I just wasn’t sure why.
Laura stood with a few pieces of broken plate in her hand when Jameson suddenly seemed to notice her.
She was pulling back, about to leave, when his gaze narrowed and one of his men cleared their throats, and the other leaned in to whisper something.
I felt ice slide down my spine as they all stared, and it wasn’t lust on their faces.
It was curiosity…surprise as if they were shocked to see her here.
“You seem to have an interesting collection of members, Killian.” Jameson shook his head and began eating the food Red started dishing out.
Laura and Natty slid back into the kitchen, and everyone seemed to move on from the conversation and even started talking shop about bikes and Wesley’s repair show.
I didn’t miss the way Wes kept glancing at me, or the tension in his jaw.
“King, we need to talk.” I pushed off the counter, giving a nod to Wes and Giles.