Chapter 27 – Kaia
Not trusting Axel, Kaia hung out in the gathering area near the bedroom he shared with the kid. His head was shaved, which hurt because he considered his hair the best part of his physical appearance.
Leaning back on the sofa, he stared at the ceiling, brooding, wishing for a cigarette, but not feeling like playing twenty questions with Axel. No matter how much he wanted to be a man, he was a kid. The staff was gone, so Axel needed to know Kaia was still there, just outside smoking.
Again—twenty questions.
Jana crossed his mind and he cursed. He was spending entirely too much fucking time thinking about her since their text exchange. Outrage still pounded through him for so many different reasons. He liked Jana, thought she was very pretty and deserved so much better than Diesel.
But it wasn’t his place to push the issue. They’d become friends. Besides, she wouldn’t listen anyway. She had one objective—to please that motherfucker.
Who thought Kaia was nothing but trash, unworthy to breathe the same air as any of them. He’d crash the fuck out if he knew about Kaia and Jana’s friendship.
Kaia smiled, visions of Diesel discovering that information dancing in his head. He didn’t want to get Jana in trouble anyway. Or himself. Undoubtedly, Diesel would kill him, no matter who said he couldn’t. He’d find a way. Maybe, get one of his overgrown, psycho friends to do the job.
The sudden burst of Rebel’s laughter, followed by Meggie’s, shocked him and he sat up. He hadn’t heard them come inside. But the house was so huge, it wasn’t even a house. It was an estate. Much like the treehouse Rebel offered him wasn’t actually a fucking treehouse.
What the fuck was he doing? When he met CJ and Ryan, eager to join the team.
He’d heard about the Caldwell boys and all their cousins, heard there were three girls associated with them.
Rumors swirled about their wealth and the identity of their fathers.
Kaia didn’t give it much thought, even after he began hanging out with them after games at pizza joints and burger places with CJ, and was sometimes joined by Diesel, Outlaw, Mortician, and some of the other guys, especially if they were celebrating a win, confirming their affiliation hadn’t mattered.
He wanted to go to the club because he’d always been interested in Harleys and MCs.
CJ never invited him. Despite rumors that CJ was a “rich boy”, Kaia dismissed it.
Some biker clubs had wealth circulating because they were infamous and well-connected.
They had pipelines going in all directions.
Drugs, money, women, and guns went out and big money flowed in.
It was the bread-and-butter of most clubs, but the big, wealthy ones, had entire territories locked down and then pushed beyond those boundaries.
He never realized the Death Dwellers fell under that umbrella.
That when CJ was called a “rich boy”, he was rich.
Very. Substantially. He was also close to the Harringtons, a philanthropic family of businessmen, attorneys, and politicians.
He didn’t understand all the family connections, since Knox was an only child.
Not that it mattered. They were worth billions.
CJ was also close to Mortician, whose house—estate—Kaia was currently in.
He tipped his hand back to stare at the pristine white ceiling.
Footsteps rushed up the stairs. Clasping his hands, he glanced over his shoulder. Rebel bound into view and walked to him, confident and knowing she owned the world. Proud of it, as a matter of fact.
“Hey,” she greeted.
“I thought I heard you and your mom laughing a few minutes ago.
She nodded, her short dress and high heels making her legs look endless. She wore makeup, which made her look so much older. Her jewelry sparkled.
“Real?”
She frowned. “What?”
“The diamonds.”
“Oh.” Her lips curved into a smile and she giggled. Her eyes were bright and happy. “Yeah, they are.”
“You look older,” he said, unsure how to respond to her admission.
“Legal?”
“Exactly. A dream and a nightmare rolled into one.”
Laughing, she came and plopped next to him, then laid her head on his shoulder. Expensive perfume teased him, her silky golden hair brushing his forearm. Alcohol wafted from her.
“You’ve been drinking?”
She lifted her head. “Yep,” she said happily, then lowered her voice. “Momma got a fake ID for me.” Nudging him, she placed a finger over her lips. “Our secret. You can’t tell anyone.”
“Your secret’s safe with me, babe.”
Her beautiful lips tempted him. She seemed to like kissing. He could teach her. Now. Tonight. While she looked so much older. Of course, Rebel looked older most of the time. It was the way she carried herself.
He turned slightly. “Is your mom still in the kitchen?”
“No. This would be the long way to the master bedroom. She probably took the elevator up.”
Kaia choked. Rebel didn’t notice because she moved on.
Urging him back, she curled against him. “Momma told me about college.”
The moment of truth. “What do you think, babe? I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
“I want you to stay,” she said, the words both disappointing him and relieving him. She sighed then sat up again and scooted slightly away. “But I know you have to go.”
“I don’t have to—”
“You do, Kaia. As much as I want to beg you to stay, if you’re accepted to wherever, you have to take the opportunity.” Tears pooled in her eyes and she bowed her head. “I want…” She sniffled. “I wish it was different.”
“Me, too.”
Her mascara didn’t run. She swiped her cheeks. “What did you do?”
“Uh, what…? I don’t know—”
“You did something. Momma wouldn’t send you away when she knows how much you mean to me. If you wanted to go to college, she’d find you a good program nearby. What did you do?”
Kaia’s blood ran cold. If Rebel ever found out he slept with Fia again… For now, he’d pretend ignorance. “I don’t know.”
“Did you ruin more of her clothes? I offered to pay out of my allowance. I’d be without one for three or four months, but I wouldn’t care. I’d have my Chi.”
“Reb—”
“I had every intention of coming home to beg you to undo the damage, whatever it is, but on the way back, I realized how selfish that was. Momma says if we’re meant to be together, we will be.”
“She’s right.”
“Would you be willing to have a long-distance relationship?”
He’d be thousands of miles away. If he cultivated a friendship with a chick mainly for sex, Rebel would never know.
“Your silence means ‘no’.”
She was so impatient. “No, babe, it doesn’t.”
Rebel met his gaze. “You don’t really want that, Kaia.”
He didn’t want to be locked down and feel guilty every time he had sex. He didn’t want his insecurities to catch up to him and make him question what she might be doing. It would be nothing that Outlaw, Diesel, and CJ didn’t approve of. They kept her on a short leash.
Her shoulders slumped and her light dimmed. “We can break up now,” she said quietly.
“I don’t want to break up with you.” That was the truth. “The more time I spend with you, the more I feel for you.”
“Me, too, with you. But it wouldn’t be fair. I…” She tried to blink her tears away. “I couldn’t handle you cheating, so I don’t want to put you in that position.”
He flushed.
“I’d prefer us to be friends. When I’m eighteen, if you’re still there and you haven’t met another girl, we can get back together.”
“I’ll still be there and you’ll be here.”
“Yeah, but I’ll be able to fly out to see you every other month.”
Fuck, she’d do that to be with him? Relief and happiness settled into Kaia. “Deal.”
She gave him a half smile, then got to her feet.
Kaia caught her hand. “We can still be together until I leave. And I might not leave. Or go to London. I might be accepted into an art school in New York or LA.”
“Closer but still long-distance,” she said morosely.
“Babe—”
“It’s okay, Kaia. Part of the reason I want you to stay is so selfish,” she admitted.
“And that is?”
“I don’t want to be alone again with only Mattie as my friend. Maybe Harley, I don’t know yet. They even stopped Bishop from talking to me for a little while. We’re friendly again, but it isn’t the same. CJ has girlfriends. He’s been on dates. He’s even had a blowjob.”
True, but it still shocked Kaia that she knew about that.
“Momma wants me to go to college, too. She says there’s more to life than the club and dating.”
“There is, but in college you’ll also be away from your dad and brothers.”
Rebel snapped her brows together and plopped down again, seemingly overwhelmed by his words. “I didn’t think of that.”
“If you choose a school on the other side of the country, you’ll have no interference with dating or clubbing—a different type than the MC—or anything you want to experience. You could spread your wings freely.”
“I’ll just have two years to live in my prison, watching as the boys do whatever they wanted while I’m cloistered away.”
Kaia grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. “So are you still my Huahua?”
Rebel smiled. “Yes, Kaia. I am.” She kissed his cheek, got to her feet, and went to her room without looking back.