Chapter 4
Kenzee
The salty ocean water burns my wound, but I couldn’t care less. I lay back on the sand and let the waves rush around me with my eyes closed. Something about being here, in this moment, feels serene. It’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, if only for a while.
“You look comfortable,” I hear my uncle say. A shadow passes over me, so I open my eyes and look up to see him standing there.
“I am. This is the most peace that I’ve felt in a long time,” I admit to him.
“Good. I’m glad. You deserve that, Kenz.”
“Thanks. I know it won’t last but at least for a while, yeah?” I ask him. He nods his head and holds out his hand to me. I reach up and let him pull me out of my comfort zone. I can tell by the look in his eyes that he has something to say.
“We need to talk,” he says softly. I know whatever it is he doesn’t really want to tell me, but he also has to.
“What’s going on?” I ask as he keeps my hand in his as we walk back up the beach.
“You’re not gonna like this.”
“What is it?” He sighs and keeps his hand wrapped tightly around mine before he turns to me, and I can see the dread in his eyes.
“The MC, the one that killed your dad, they’re back.”
“What do you mean they’re back?”
“We have it on good word that they’re back. Not in Savannah, but close.”
“And what the fuck are we going to do about it?” I snap at him, trying to pull my hand away from his. He doesn’t allow it, and I start to feel annoyed.
“Nothin’ as of now.”
“What the fuck do you mean? We have to do something!”
“We will, Kenzee, but not right now. They have new members and we didn’t plan on that.”
“How many more?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.
“A lot more, as far as we know. We need time to plan an attack. We need time to figure things out,” he says. I know what he means, and I understand it, but this has been years I’ve dreamed about this. Dreamed about the motherfuckers that took my father’s life to come back into the picture.
When everything happened, they ran. They killed him, and as far as anyone knew, they disbanded and went on their way. And now, he’s telling me that they’re back? Anger surges inside of me, and the thought of getting my hands on them sets my nerves on edge.
“And you want me to sit back and wait that out?”
“You don’t have a choice, Kenzee. This is what we have to do.” I take a deep breath and sigh, nodding my head. I know that he’s right. I know that things have to be done a certain way. I’ve lived this life long enough to know that much.
“Okay. Just promise me I’ll be a part of it.”
“Kenz, come on. You’re a princess, not a killer.”
“Don’t do that, Jenson. Don’t fucking do that to me! You know as well as I do that I can handle it.”
“Your dad wouldn’t want that.”
“My dad is gone! He isn’t here anymore, and if it’s the last fucking thing that I do, I’ll be a part of taking out the assholes that took him from me.” With that, I rip my arm away from him and storm off down the beach. I stop long enough to grab my towel and keep going.
I stomp back toward the beach house and around the side of the pool when I see Storm. He’s practicing again. I walk over to the closest table and drop down, shoving my glasses on my face so that he can’t see me watching him. I take him in, the way he moves, the way his muscles work as he moves.
He can’t see that I’m watching him with as dark as my glasses are, but he turns and looks at me as if he can. I ignore him until he starts walking toward me. I shove out of the chair and walk away before he gets close to me.
When he isn’t behind me any longer, I try some of the moves that he was doing. I can fight, but not like that.
“Don’t drop your hands,” I hear his voice. I startle slightly before turning to face him.
“What?”
“You’re droppin’ your hands. If you drop your hands, you’re givin’ them access to your face.”
“Why are you watching me?”
“Why are you watchin’ me?” He questions back.
I shrug my shoulders before pulling my glasses off so I can look at him.
“I know how to fight, but not like that.”
“Why do you need to know how to fight like me?”
“Just curious.”
“No, that’s not it. What are you up to?”
“If I told you, you would run to my uncle.” I cross my arms over my chest and watch as he looks at me intently.
“Not if you asked me not to.”
“Why do you care?”
“You know what? I don’t. Fuck this,” he snaps before turning and starting to walk away. Fuck. Maybe he could show me some more moves.
“The MC that killed my dad is back.” Storm stops walking now and turns to face me. I can see the anger in his eyes as he walks back toward me.
“I didn’t hear that.”
“Yeah, I don’t think he was telling everyone just yet.”
“And you’re afraid that they’ll come after you?” he asks. I shake my head. I’m not afraid. Never have been, never would be. Things like that don’t scare me.
“Not exactly.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Would you teach me?”
“What?”
“To fight like you.”
“Why do you need to know?”
“I just told you. The MC is back,” I remind him.
“That has nothin’ to do with you.”
“Doesn’t it?” I ask, cocking my head to the side and staring at him. He doesn’t get it. He wasn’t there, so he’ll never understand why I need to do what I need to do. “For fuck’s sake, Storm! I’m going after them!”
He laughs now, but it’s a dark, sick laugh.
“Alone?”
“A few of them. I know I can’t take them all on, but I can take some.” He nods.
“And you think your uncle is gonna let that slide?”
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“He’ll lose his shit, Princess.” I nod my head and run my hand through my hair.
“Which is why I’m not telling him. Are you going to help me or not?
” Storm runs his hand over his face as if he’s thinking about it.
I don’t need him. I can find a fucking gym to teach me, but he seems to know what he’s doing, and my uncle wouldn’t get any ideas if I were hanging out with Storm. If I go to the gym, he will.
“I have conditions.”
“Which are?”
“You don’t go out alone. When the time comes, I’m goin’ with you.”
“No. This is about my dad.”
“And my brother. We’re both members of the club,” he reminds me.
“It’s not the same, and you know it,” I hiss at him.
“That’s one of my conditions.”
“And the other?” Now I see the dark look in his eyes, and I wonder if I want to know. Storm licks his lips and steps closer to me, raising his hand to play with a strand of hair that fell from the bun I have it in.
“I think you know what I want, Kenzee.”
“Not happening. I’m not sleeping with you.”
“Why not? I’m not a bad fuck.”
“You’ve also fucked half the whores at the clubhouse,” I remind him.
“I’ve been in prison, Kenzee. I haven’t even seen half the whores at the clubhouse,” he says.
“Well I don’t know what the fuck you were doing in prison!”
“Jerkin’ off, darlin’. That’s all I was doin’. I’m clean, Kenzee.”
“And I have my own rules, Storm. I’m not getting with anyone in a club.”
“We’re not gettin’ together. Just while we train. Then it ends,” he says. I chew my lip. What would it hurt to let him fuck me while he trained me?
“Or I could go to your uncle.”
“Blackmail? That’s how you want to do this?” I growl at him. He smirks.
“You’re sexy as fuck when you’re pissed, Kenz.”
“You’re an asshole. You know that? I could just as easily go to a gym and sign up.”
“And have your uncle find out? You wouldn’t want that would you?”
“And you’d tell, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course I would. Now do we have a deal?” he asks, letting go of my hair and stepping back. He holds his hand out to me, and I hesitate to take it. It’s just sex. Not like it means anything.
“Deal.”