10. - Kayden -
Chapter ten
- Kayden -
K ayden really couldn’t say what it was about Corey that had him so fixated. Maybe it was the way he couldn’t hear the thoughts that were usually running a mile a minute through a woman’s mind, or the fact she hadn’t dropped to her knees for them instantly, as almost every woman did. Maybe it was the fight she was putting up, or how she bared her teeth like a savage animal. Or how she walked through their home like it was hers .
Maybe it was her body, languid in the sun, bronzed and lithe. Freckled and bruised. And naked. So, so naked out there every day. He’d had to rub one out too many times to count over it. Maybe it was the glint in her eye when he caught her watching him. Whatever it was, he was itching to get her alone.
He and Jase had been switching off who would stay in with her. Jase was cleaning up the mess that burning down Kovack’s house and killing all his men had caused. Kovack had been one of their bigger importers of opium. Alpha Moneta had diversified its sourcing enough that they had other contracts for quality opium, but they needed to ensure their other importers could meet the increased demand. And quickly .
Kovack had gotten too greedy, too comfortable in their arrangement, believing he could cut them out and take their place. He had fished them to his house, intending to torture information out of them. But that was not how it worked. The Haevens were not the middleman, as Kovack had believed, nor could they be eliminated as easily as Kovack had thought.
Though they bought from importers and sold to manufacturing facilities, making themselves millions and millions of dollars in the process, they were the ones with the connections to the manufacturers. They sourced to three large manufacturing companies, which then distributed the processed drugs—morphine, codeine, heroin and other experimental drugs—having secured multiple importers for very pure opium through their company Alpha Moneta.
Only one manufacturer they worked with was a legitimate pharmaceutical company, and they laundered everything through that, though they made the most money off the black market manufacturers. Maintaining their secrecy in who they sourced from and who they sold to had been what had kept them at the top of the food chain.
That, and their gift.
It was impossible to fuck the Haevens over. They would know immediately if there was disloyalty, as they had with Kovack. Hearing everyone’s thoughts also helped them immensely in negotiations.
Corey was correct when she had told them that drugs were a disease in their city. It did ruin lives. But it ruined the lives of rich and poor. Maybe not equally, but addicts were addicts, and it rarely ended well, regardless of income.
Kayden had felt some guilt over this in the beginning. He didn’t now.
He had no faith in society. No one had helped them when they needed it, and he was not willing to help society now. He would gladly burn it down for what people in power had done.
Kayden had taken the last few days “dog sitting,” as Jason was calling it, and he needed to get out of the house. He was used to spending a majority of his time inside, hiding from all the noise, and it was definitely made better by the little fox darting about their space, but he could really use a long ride.
Jason left the house again for a meeting after Corey had stomped off with her parting “fuck you.” He imagined she must be extremely bored by now, confined to the condo day after day. They hadn’t given her anything for entertainment, and she hadn’t asked for anything. She didn’t even have a phone. She roamed from the kitchen to the balcony and back to the guest bedroom with barely any words exchanged.
Kayden was already walking down the hall before he consciously realized where he was going. He was about to do something very fucking stupid.
He knocked on the guest bedroom door.
“What?” Corey called out.
Kayden pushed down on the door handle and opened the door. She hadn’t locked it. Interesting .
She lay sprawled across the bed, gazing out the windows at the cityscape. She looked over at him, lifting an eyebrow.
“Do you want to go on a motorcycle ride?”
“Are you offering?”
“Yes.” He grinned.
Corey narrowed her eyes at him. “Why?”
“Aren’t you bored?”
She just shrugged. “Tired of babysitting duty?”
“I think we could have a little bit of fun together.” Kayden winked at her.
“I guess the thrill of ogling me naked has worn out, then.” Corey smirked at him.
It was Kayden’s turn to shrug. “Hey, I like pretty things. Nothing wrong with that.”
“I’m not a thing,” Corey said defensively.
“Pretty things and pretty girls. ”
“Oh, yeah? Do you offer every pretty girl a motorcycle ride?”
Absolutely not. Kayden rode for the freedom, but also because it was a way for him to be outside in peace, without the noise, just the engine and the wind. Usually, someone else on the bike would ruin that. Not her, though, with her silent mind.
But he wasn’t about to tell her any of that.
“You want to be special, Corey?” he said instead.
“No, I want a new sweatshirt.” She smiled in fake politeness.
“All you had to do was ask.”
“Well, if that’s all I had to do… what else will you give me if I ask for it?”
Right now, he was willing to give her many things, but he wasn’t going to tell her that either. He tried to keep his gaze from dropping to her lips. She just stared him down with those big blue eyes. A challenge.
“Come for a ride.”
“Okay.” Her eyes crinkled as a smile finally broke free on her face. “But no leashes.”
“No leashes,” Kayden promised. “Ropes are Jason’s thing anyway. I’d tell you to behave, but I don’t expect you know how to.”
She winked at him. “You’ve been taking notes then.”
Now he was grinning back at her.
“Go shower. I’ll bring you some clean clothes.”
Kayden didn’t wait for a response. He left her room, almost running through the hallway in anticipation. He took the stairs to the second floor two at a time and went to his bedroom. He threw off his sweatpants, pulling on a pair of dark denim jeans and a long-sleeve cotton shirt that was on his bed.
Kayden rifled through the drawers in his closet, trying to find a pair of pants that may fit her, but he couldn’t find anything. Instead, he grabbed a clean pair of sweatpants with a drawstring and a fitted hoodie for her. It would have to do .
She was already dressed when Kayden returned with the clothes—or partially dressed, at least. She was standing in her leggings from the day they’d found her in the car and a green, lacey scrap of material that he supposed acted as a bra. It did nothing to hide her dark nipples peeking through the thin fabric.
Kayden looked her up and down.
Corey rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, my pants don’t smell anymore, if that’s what you’re worried about. I guess Belinda washed my clothes for me.”
“Belinda is a saint,” Kayden confirmed. He tossed Corey the sweatshirt and held up the sweatpants. “You can keep these too, if you want.”
Corey just motioned towards the bed, so Kayden left the sweatpants there while she pulled the sweatshirt over her head. He watched her pull her long hair out, the locks falling like licks of fire over her shoulders.
She caught him watching.
He smiled at her and was rewarded with a tentative smile back. After purposefully icing her out all week, starving her for attention, he took that as a win.
Kayden led her to the front hall. He put his boots on while she pulled on her ratty sneakers. Inside the front hall closet, Kayden used his fingerprint to open one of their weapons safes. He took out two pistols, already in their double armpit holster and a leather forearm sleeve with a retractable blade. He strapped them both on, as he always did before leaving the house.
Kayden pulled out a black toque and both helmets. He turned to Corey, who was eyeing the guns.
“A precaution.”
“Who are you?” Corey asked, still looking at the guns.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Actually, at this point, I’m not so sure I would like to know.”
He ate up the space between them. Her chin lifted as he approached, her full lips pressing together in wariness. He crowded her into the closet, liking her reaction to his closeness.
“Are you scared of guns?” he whispered.
Corey held his stare, not giving anything away. She bit her lip and Kayden’s eyes tracked it.
He felt her grip the handle of the gun. He let her take the pistol from the holster, and then let her press the barrel to his ribs.
“Aren’t you?” she said under her breath, still holding his stare. There was no fear in her eyes, but a shadow of a smile ghosted across her lips. He let her believe she’d won, just for a heartbeat. And then he pressed his sheathed forearm to her throat, featherlight, but enough pressure to activate the spring for his blade.
As the knife slid from its cover, the metal skimmed through the skin of her throat. Only a surface wound, like a paper cut. Barely enough to bleed.
Her eyes widened and there, that was a prickle of fear in them.
Kayden grinned at her. He stepped back and pulled the gun from her hand, her fingers falling from the handle without a fight. He re-holstered it. The blade on his arm slid back home.
“Lesson number one—as soon as you get the gun, you shoot. Waiting is a death sentence.”
“The safety was on.”
“Well then, I guess lesson number one is to take the safety off before you aim.”
“I wasn’t going to shoot you.”
“I know. And you weren’t going to steal our car.” Kayden brought his face to her neck. He pulled her head back by her hair and licked off the few drops of blood that had bubbled up through the split skin. It was divine—salty and sweet and hers .
But not enough. He backed away before he could act on his desire to tear through her skin with his teeth .
Corey’s hand came up to her neck. The shadow from her chin made the mark almost invisible.
“The helmet will be too big on you. It’s an old one. The hat should help.” Corey took the hat and the helmet without a word, one hand still on her neck. She looked a little dazed.
Kayden pulled out two leather jackets and slid his on.
“This is one of Jason’s,” he said, passing it to her.
“I don’t think he’d want me wearing his jacket.” Corey looked at it like the thing was going to bite her.
“Why not? You’ve been wearing his sweatshirt all week.”
“You’re a fan of passing off Jason’s clothes to me, eh? Don’t have enough of your own to share?”
“No, Little Fox, it was Jason who left his clothes on the bed for you.”
Corey’s brow furrowed, but she shook her head and took the coat.
She was a vision, standing there in Jason’s leathers and his sweatshirt.
He swiped his thumb to call the elevator, and they travelled down to the garage in silence.
Before Kayden opened the door to the underground parking lot, he turned to her. “Are you going to run when I open this door, Little Fox?”
“Well, it seems that’s a risk you’re willing to take, Kayden.” His name in her mouth hit him like aged whiskey. He ran his tongue over his teeth. His eyes locked on her in excitement, and he pressed his thumb on the reader, pushing the door open.
With a hand on her lower back, Kayden pushed her out into the garage, the smell of rubber and exhaust heavy in the air.