Chapter 5
Storm
It wasn’t just about the sex. That wasn’t what I was thinking.
It was more about her safety than anything else.
If she’s hellbent on taking them out, like I think she is, she isn’t doing it alone.
I saw the look in her eyes, and I know the pain of losing someone you love.
I’ve been there, and I’ve felt that. That’s not a pain that goes away.
She starts to walk past me when I slap a hand on her bikini-covered ass. She yelps and spins to face me, eyeing me like I’m in the wrong. Hell, she just agreed to this shit with me.
“You’re not going to be doing that. My uncle will see you,” she hisses at me.
“And? You think I give a shit about your uncle?”
“You should. He’s your brother.”
“Yeah, but he isn’t part of the deal, now is he?
” I wink at her. I know I’m getting under her skin.
I can see the look in her eyes. She didn’t want to take this deal to begin with, but she had no choice, or I’d have told her uncle.
Now that I think about it? I probably wouldn’t have because I don’t know her enough to give a shit.
I remember her from when we were younger.
I remember her dad, too. He was a good man who didn’t deserve to die the way he did.
What they did to him was unthinkable, but it was when they left him for her to find?
That’s what the fucked up part was. Kenzee didn’t find him, thankfully.
I did. And that moment, that little piece of time, has lingered in my goddamn head since the day I saw it.
There are some things that you can never escape, never get away from, and that’s one of them.
“So you want to make this public?” She asks, resting her hands on her hips as she glares at me.
“No. Not really, anyway. I don’t need your uncle jumpin’ all over my ass over you but I wouldn’t be against it.”
“Then how does this work?”
“You have a place, yeah? We don’t need to be seen at the clubhouse.” I see her swallow hard as she averts her eyes from me. I narrow my eyes and step in closer, lifting her chin with my fingers and forcing her to look at me. “What’s that look?”
“I’ve…there’s never been a man in my new place. It’s my place. Not somewhere I bring people.”
“You don’t live in the same house do you?” I ask, needing to hear what she has to say.
“No. I couldn’t stay there. In fact, not long after you went to prison, I burned it down.” Fuck, I hadn’t known that.
“That’s what needed to happen, yeah?” She nods her head, stepping back so that my hand leaves her face.
“I couldn’t be there. I couldn’t see it anymore.”
“You lit the match?”
Now, a dark smirk crosses her face.
“Of course I did. It was my past, my trauma. I needed it gone one way or another. My uncle wanted to sell the fucking place, but I couldn’t see letting someone else live there after what happened.” I nod my head.
“That makes sense.”
“Anyway, I got a new place. I don’t take people there, not even my uncle has been there,” she adds.
“So I guess you’re sneakin’ in and out of my room at the clubhouse.”
“Like a teenager?” She asks, nearly rolling her eyes like one. I chuckle and nod my head.
“Or the walk of shame. Your choice.”
“I’m not doing that. I’ll have to make a fucking exception to my no house guests rule.”
“Don’t do me any favors. I couldn’t care less if your uncle knew I was fuckin’ the club princess or not,” I remind her.
“Well, I care. And we’re not fucking at the clubhouse.”
“It’s not all about fuckin’, you know that right?”
Now she cocks her head to the side and stares at me.
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t know, Kenz. There’s always been somethin’ about you that I could never place. Even when we were kids.”
“There’s never been anything about me. You’re a fucking horny man who just got released from prison. That’s all this is.”
“Not true, but you can think what you want.” With that, I walk past her, slapping her ass once more.
“Stop doing that!”
“Nah, I like the sound of my hand on your ass.”
“When do we start training?”
“When I say we do,” I call out over my shoulder.
I hear her huff but I don’t stop to ask what her problem is.
Instead, I walk over to the bar and grab a beer when the others start walking back.
I see Kenzee pull her t-shirt over her head, covering most of her body, and it pisses me off. She has a nice fucking body to look at.
“She okay?” Jenson asks as he catches my gaze.
“She’s a loner, just like you said.”
“That she is. Ever since her dad died, she’s had no interest in bein’ around other people.”
“Sad life to live.”
“Yeah, but it’s hers, and I respect that. I don’t want to push her into anything that she doesn’t want.”
“That’s good of you. From what I can tell, you raised her right,” I add. Now a smile curls his lips, and he nods his head.
“I did the best I could with her. She isn’t much of a girl anymore,” he adds.
“She’s fine, brother. You did a great job.”
“Some days I wonder. I see the darkness in her eyes, and I think I raised a fuckin’ killer,” he tells me. He isn’t wrong. She wants revenge, and she wants to be the one to do it. Not that I blame her. If that were my father, I would want the same.
“You did good. Don’t doubt yourself, Jenson.
” He nods his head and walks away, heading toward Kenzee.
I watch the smile that crosses her face, and I can tell that she loves her uncle and even more respects him.
I grab a beer and walk out toward the beach, dropping into the sand and looking out at the water. It’s nice here, peaceful.
I bring the bottle to my lips and take a long pull, just enjoying myself out here. After a while, I can sense someone coming up behind me, but I don’t look to see who it is. Kenz sits down, passing me a plate of food. I look up at her when she nods at the plate, which I take.
“Thanks.”
“Figured you’d be hungry.” I nod, and we both sit here eating in silence until she looks over at me. I glance back at her.
“What?”
“I’m just curious,” she says.
“About what?”
“What makes you tick.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you like to do, what makes you want to be alive?” she asks.
“This club.”
“That’s it?” she asks, scrunching up her nose.
“That’s it.”
“That can’t be it. You have to have something you love to do.”
“I don’t. I don’t have a family aside from this club. My dad died when I was younger, never knew my mom. Didn’t have any grandparents that I know of,” I tell her.
“No siblings?” I shake my head.
“No.”
“Sad life.”
“Says the girl that doesn’t have any friends,” I smart off.
“I have friends.”
“Do you? Like real friends? Someone who knows all your deep, dark secrets?” I ask, looking her in the eye.
Kenz quickly looks away from me and back out at the water.
I grunt my response. I knew she didn’t have anyone that close.
There’s no way a girl like her would let anyone know what she harbors deep inside. I would know, I’m a little like her.
“It’s not a big deal, Kenzee. Sometimes we don’t need others in our business or our lives.”
“How would you know?” She asks softly.
“We’re a little alike. After I went to prison, I felt like that. No one there really knew me, and that’s why I kept to myself.”
“That had to be hard.”
“For you too. You lived through somethin’ that not many could.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Kenz.” With that, we both stop talking, and I turn back to watch the waves as they crash against the shore.