Chapter 7
Kane wasn’t as bad as I thought he would be, and it had me rethinking this whole thing.
I’d come for answers, but I found myself attracted to Kane, especially after we had a chance to really have a conversation.
I still didn’t trust him, because I knew he was messing with multiple women.
He didn’t really talk to women while I was around, but I still got dirty looks from some of them.
Drizzle was the main one. She hadn’t said anything to me, but one of the guys was usually around, so I figured that was why.
I was surprised she wasn’t waiting for Kane the night he and I had a couple of drinks.
Every so often, our hands would touch as we talked. At one point, we had gotten closer to each other, and it made my stomach flutter. Kane would lick his lips as he stared at mine. I couldn’t help but watch the way he moved the straw around his mouth. I noticed he did that often and wondered why.
It was the middle of the day, and I was at the clubhouse working. Isis and Carmen were there, but they were in their offices. Surprisingly, none of my usual babysitters were there. I hadn’t seen Beast since the day I met him, and if I never saw him again, it would be too soon.
The atmosphere was pretty chill, but I witnessed firsthand how fast that could change.
I heard the door open, and women’s laughter floated inside. As soon as I spotted who it was, I rolled my eyes and checked on the few people sitting at the bar.
“Can we get some shots over?” Drizzle asked with way too much attitude.
“Yeah, if you ask nicely.”
She sucked her teeth and looked at her friends. “Look at little miss four eyes trying to puff up her chest.” She and her friends cackled.
“Do you want the drinks or not?”
I immediately went on high alert when she stood from the stool. I didn’t know what she would do. I knew chicks that liked to act tough when they were with their friends.
“Bi—”
I grabbed her head and slammed it down on the bar before she could finish her word.
“Oh shit!” I heard from somewhere in the room.
“Oh my God. Are you crazy?” Drizzle stood, holding her nose.
Her shit was leaking, and I didn’t feel bad about it. She should have left me alone.
Carmen and Isis came from the back and noticed what was happening.
“Raina, you good? What happened?” Isis asked.
“What do you mean is she good? She did this to me!” Drizzle stomped her foot and grabbed some napkins.
Meanwhile, her friends just looked on like they didn’t know what to do.
“I think you need to leave,” Carmen said.
Drizzle had a smirk on her face until she realized she wasn’t talking to me.
One of her friends helped her out because they knew not to argue with Carmen or Isis. They typically didn’t get involved with too much, but they had the authority to kick people out when the guys weren’t around.
“What was that about?” Carmen asked when they were gone.
I told them exactly what happened and how Drizzle had been acting since I started there.
“Girl, fuck her. You did the right thing,” Isis said when I was done. “She thinks Kane is going to wife her; ain’t nobody trying to wife her trout ass.”
“I’m the last person she needs to be worrying about.”
The two of them shared a look that I couldn’t decipher.
“What?”
They both shrugged.
“Nothing,” Carmen said with a smirk. “Anyway, we came to tell you that we are getting ready to leave. You gonna be good?”
“I sure am. I want to clean out my brother’s locker so I can use it.”
I was finally ready to go through my brother’s locker.
“Okay, girl.” Isis put her hand on top of mine. “If you need one of us, don’t hesitate to call.”
I assured them I would be fine. Once they left, I got back to my customers.
Once I was done with my shift, I went to the locker room to retrieve whatever my brother had in there. It wasn’t much, so I put it in a bag to go through it once I got home.
When I got home, I took a shower and changed my clothes, then went into my room.
My parents were out somewhere, so I had the house to myself.
I sat on the bed with my feet crossed as music played from my phone.
I should have gotten myself something to eat, but I was anxious to see what my brother had left behind.
I hoped it was something that could give me some insight into what happened.
I emptied the contents on my bed and went through each item. Most of it was stuff that could go in the garbage. Condoms, phone numbers, and some other stuff I didn’t care about. There was a picture of him and me from when we were younger, so I pushed that to the side to keep.
“What is this?” I picked up the small velvet bag and opened it. I stuck my hand inside and pulled out a flash drive. I quickly got up and grabbed my computer. I was thankful that the computer I had was old, and it still had a slot to put the flash drive in.
I pushed the flash drive and chewed my bottom lip to see what it was.
Once it loaded, a video of my brother popped up. Instantly, tears streamed down my face when I saw him. He looked around a few times before he leaned forward. He looked stressed and scared. I’d never seen him look the way he looked.
“If you are seeing this, then more than likely, something has happened to me. I’m not sure what is going on, but some shady shit is going on with the higher-ups in this club. People are being disloyal, and if word gets out of what I overheard, it’s going to be a blood bath in the streets.”
Someone called his name, and the video stopped.
I tried to watch it again, to listen to the voice that called him, but I couldn’t figure out who it was.
It didn’t sound like anyone I’d met. More tears fell from my eyes, and I was a little scared because I was right in the middle of things, and if what my brother said was true, I could be in trouble.
I didn’t know who to tell, or if I should tell anyone.
I didn’t want to worry my parents, or even Candace, especially since I didn’t have concrete evidence.
I couldn’t tell Kane because he could have been who my brother was talking about.
For some reason, I didn’t want to believe he was, though.
For the moment, I would keep it to myself.
I started the video again and jumped when I heard my phone ring. Looking at the screen, my stomach tightened when I saw Kane’s name going across it.
I took a deep breath and answered on the third ring.
“Hello.” I tried my best to act like everything was normal.
My heart raced in my chest because my paranoia told me he knew I found the flash drive. I didn’t know how he would be able to tell, but I still was nervous.
“You good, Munch?” The huskiness in his voice made me close my eyes.
I wanted to tell him so bad but couldn’t, at least not yet.
“Yeah. I’m okay. Was just thinking about my brother.” That wasn’t a complete lie.
“Damn, I’m sorry. Have you eaten dinner yet?”
On cue, my stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since lunch. Since my parents weren’t home, my mom hadn’t cooked, and I hadn’t had time to.
“No, not yet.”
“Come fuck wit me.”
The way he said it left me no room to say no, so I climbed off my bed and grabbed a hoodie from the closet.
“Where are you?”
“At my tattoo shop. I’ll send you the address. We can figure out what we are going to eat when you get here.”
I pulled the phone away from my ear when I felt it vibrate. It was the address to his tattoo shop, and I put it in my GPS and saw it wasn’t too far from my house.
“Okay.” I put my hoodie on, then headed downstairs.
I didn’t want my parents to worry, so I left them a note to let them know I would be out for a while.
Kane told me he would be waiting for me, and I hung up. I made sure my location was shared with Candace before I left, just in case. I didn’t want to tell her where I was going, but I knew if something happened to me, she would know where I was.
I locked up the house and headed to my car.
My fingers stayed on the necklace around my neck as I drove. I was filled with anxiety, and I needed to relax before I made it to Kane, and he picked up on my mood.
It didn’t take long for me to arrive at the shop, and there was a parking spot right in the front.
Loud music and the sound of tattoo guns greeted my ears as soon as I entered.
“I see you made it in one piece.” Kane walked toward me but stopped before he got too close. “You been crying, Munch?” As usual, he had a toothpick in his mouth.
Initially, I hated the name, but it grew on me.
“I was, but I’m okay now. Are you going to show me around?” I tried to quickly take the attention off me.
“I can.”
I was surprised when he reached for my hand.
We walked past a desk that had multiple books on it and pictures of a family.
I assumed it was the family of whoever he had as a receptionist. We walked past a couple of rooms, and he quickly introduced me to a guy named Deuce, who was in the middle of tattooing someone.
Past that room was another room, and he introduced me to a chick named Sasha, and she was also in the middle of tattooing.
He showed me the room for the piercer, then we reached his private suite.
The other rooms were a decent size, but Kane’s was the largest. He had a couch in there and a comfortable looking tattoo chair.
Different pictures of people with fresh tattoos were on the wall.
“You did all of these?” I asked as I walked around the room and admired his work.
“I did. You got any ink?” He leaned against the wall as I continued looking at the pictures.
Some people had small tattoos, some had ones that covered their entire backs or legs. It was quite impressive.
“No. I would like to one day. Maybe get something in memory of my brother.”
Kane pushed himself off the wall and strolled toward me. He looked relaxed in gray sweatpants that didn’t hide his print, with a hoodie to match.