Chapter Five
The dream always started with happiness.
He said all the pretty things she wanted to hear.
Made her believe in happily ever after. That she was the princess in their love story.
Until he revealed his true intention. Crushing her youthful hopes and dreams into dust. Her happiness morphed into despair, and pulled her into the ebony darkness of fear and unimaginable pain.
So much pain.
Helpless as men ravaged her body. Each atrocity stealing a piece of her soul. Why couldn’t she have died? Death was preferable to this never-ending nightmare where the specter of self-harm waited patiently.
Kira sat up, drenched in sweat and tears.
Perhaps they were one and the same. It took a moment to extradite herself from the horrors of her mind.
Unfortunately, they lingered on the fringe, dancing upon the sharpened edge of the Grim Reaper’s scythe.
Ready to slay her once more the next time she fell asleep.
God, she hated the night.
Knowing she’d never get back to sleep, she rose and headed to her balcony.
Grabbing a throw blanket along the way to wrap around her shoulders before settling on a cheap deck chair.
That time of night, or perhaps early morning, there wasn’t much to see.
Still, it was better than closing her eyes.
Or remembering. The cool air iced away the fever of her cutthroat memories.
Her torment held back only long enough to grant her three hours of sleep.
Impressive. That’s the most she’d gotten consecutively in several weeks.
Cocooned in the blanket, she glanced at the small table where a bottle of whiskey, an unopened baggie with white pills, and a joint rested upon it.
An altar of promised forgetfulness, the temptation beckoned, waiting to see if she would slip and slide back into the terrifying past. She longed to lose herself in any of the vices, and had to remind herself how hard she had worked to get away from that shit.
They stood as a reminder of the wagon she’d fall off if her memories became nooses.
In the stillness of the morning, she allowed the tears to fall for the life she lost and the future that held nothing. It shouldn’t be this hard, and while crying released the bitterness that helped her confront one more day, the poison continued to burn.
Eventually, the tears dried up. As she recovered from her emotional distress, a prickling sensation rippled across her skin, causing goose bumps to raise the hair on her arms. Standing, she walked to the balcony and searched but saw nothing.
As she stepped inside her apartment, she heard the distant rumble of a motorcycle coming to life before speeding away.
****
“You look like shit,” her boss, Joe, said as she stepped through the back door of the diner.
He had cooked in the Navy and even resembled an older Popeye, complete with one eye half shut.
When she showed up for a job two years ago, he hadn’t even asked if she knew how to wait tables.
He’d taken one look at her threadbare clothes and hired her immediately.
She would be forever grateful for him taking a chance on her.
“Thanks,” she replied dryly. “I’m trying this new thing out called ‘I can’t pay for shit so viola.’”
“Didn’t sleep again?”
She sighed as she put her personal items in her locker. “Three hours. Best this week.”
“That why you came in on your day off?”
“I have days off? When did this happen?”
Joe ignored her sarcasm. “Well, I guess it’s best because Little Miss I Want To Go To Europe didn’t show. I called in Syliva to cover, but she can’t work the hours like you can.”
Kira grimaced. “Oh, yeah, Christine. About that...”
“What did you do?”
“Why do you think I did something?”
He raised an eyebrow and leveled a direct stare.
“Okay, fine. I did something. She was about to get in trouble with the Sons of Sin, so I diffused the situation but she was mad at me and tried to get her skanky boyfriend to beat me up.”
Joe crossed his muscular arms across his even more muscular chest. When the dude wasn’t cooking, he was pumping iron.
“Do I gotta teach him a lesson?”
“I took care of it,” she replied. “I introduced him to Batman. Oh, and I broke Christine’s nose and fired her ass.”
He snorted, and amusement danced in his one good eye. “Good girl. Speaking of which, we’ll spar outside when you get lunch. It’ll be a refresher course.”
“But my knuckles are bruised.”
“No excuse.”
“What if I want to eat instead?”
“Which you won’t because you’ll end up rolling silverware or wiping down menus.”
“Maybe I’ll fill up the saltshakers instead. Change it up a bit.”
He pointed toward the door with his thumb. “Noon.”
Kira stuck her tongue out at him and then clocked in. Early morning didn’t give a lot of customers. Usually just truckers that needed something hot and fast, edible or not. Interstates 80 and 25 saw a lot of long-haulers so the diner’s busy time was usually at lunch and late evening.
When Sinn walked through the door, it didn’t surprise her. It did, however, piss her off because she thought they would at least honor their agreement. Maybe she should’ve kept the money and bought herself a new identity. Oh, well.
“Hello, darlin’,” he said with a sunny smile. “I’m back.”
“Yeah, I see that,” she snapped. “Makes the door easier to find when you get the hell out of here.”
His smile slowly died as his brows furrowed in confusion. “I feel like I did something wrong.”
“Yeah, you lied.”
“I’ve known you for twenty-four hours, so not sure what I lied about.”
“You said there wouldn’t be any retaliation.”
He studied her face for a moment. “There wasn’t.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “Then why were you, or one of your men, outside my apartment this morning?”
He was silent for a moment, studying her. “Are you saying someone was watching you?”
“Yes. Don’t deny it, I heard the motorcycle roar away.”
“Kira, I can promise you, none of us were outside your apartment. Besides, lots of people own motorcycles.”
Unease slithered down her spine. “Are you fucking with me?”
He shook his head. “I realize we’ve known each other only a minute, and you have no reason to believe me, but none of us were watching you.”
She stared into his eyes, and if he was lying, he should get an Oscar for it. “Swear it on your patch.”
Without hesitation, he slammed his palm on his chest, right on top of the title VP, his name, and the Sons of Sin logo. “I swear it.”
“Maybe I was imagining things,” she whispered, the anger draining away.
She believed him, because a patched member would rather die than betray it.
However, she didn’t believe it was a coincidence.
So, if it wasn’t the Sons, who had been outside her apartment?
“Thanks for keeping to the agreement. Are you going to order something?”
“Eggs over easy, sausage, buttered toast, and...” He looked around as if making sure no one heard then bent his head a little closer to her to whisper, “Hot tea.”
She bent closer as well to return the whisper. “Herbal or black?”
“Chamomile if you have it.”
“Coming right up.”
She turned to put in his order and fix his tea, placing it in a to-go cup in order to safeguard his rep. When she placed it in front of him, his eyes widened in surprise. Laugh lines radiated out like sunbeams.
“You know, chamomile has many health benefits,” he said as he took a sip. “Helps anxiety. Reduces stress. You can sleep better. Do you drink it?”
“No, I’ve never tried it.”
“You should. You look tired.”
“Yeah, well, that’s because I don’t like sleeping.”
He cocked his head. “Why not?”
She kicked herself for saying that. Just then Joe called for order and Kira thankfully turned away. He asked a question she had no intention of answering. She grabbed the plate and served him his food.
“Enjoy,” she said, then moved away to check on her other customers.
She was acutely aware of Sinn watching her as she worked.
When he was finished with his meal, he ordered another tea and then sat back like he was at home.
He even pulled out his phone and scrolled on it.
Kira came by and slapped his bill down, and he didn’t even blink as he pulled out his wallet and laid down some bills. Again, giving far too much.
Sylvia came in at noon to split the day. Sharing a high five with her, Kira headed to her break. Joe was already outside taping up his knuckles.
“Oh, we’re having one of those lessons,” she said.
“Got a problem with these lessons?”
“Of course not,” she replied. “But I’m wearing a uniform dress.”
“Were you wearing a dress when you went to beat up Mr. Prick?”
She blinked. “Was that really his name?”
“How the hell should I know? He will, however, be forever known as Mr. Prick. I was trying to point out that sometimes you might be wearing a dress when someone attacks you.”
“You know how many dresses I own? That was rhetorical. It’s one. This one.”
“You’re such a whiney brat. Put your fists up.”
She did as instructed, and he put her through her paces.
Showing her some quick moves, how to punch a man where it counted.
How to stand, how to weave. About ten minutes later, he had her turn around and wrapped his arms around her.
She struggled, growling as she wasn’t able to initially break through.
Then, all of a sudden, Joe was pulled off her and a fist came flying to land on his cheek.
Kira stumbled since she had been held up by Joe.
When she spun, she saw Sinn ready to punch again.
“Fucking asshole!” Sinn hissed. “You touch her again and I will end you.”
“Sinn!” she cried. “He was teaching me.”
When he turned his head to look at her, Joe came back with his own punch. Sinn barely acknowledged it. Kira rushed forward and inserted herself between them.
“Stop it!” she snapped.
Sinn dropped his fist and stepped back, bringing her with him. “Don’t ever get between two men fighting, darlin’.”
“What are you doing?” she demanded, easily breaking his hold on her. “Why are you out here?”
“You didn’t come back, so I went searching. Found this asshat trying to kidnap you.”
That was actually a sweet gesture, but never in a million years would she admit it.
“This asshat is her boss,” Joe said dryly, pointing to himself.
Sinn smiled, his sunny disposition immediately back in full force. “Awesome! The name is Sinn and you might be seeing me around regularly.”
“What? Why?” she asked. She didn’t want him around. She didn’t want any man around, but especially not this one.
Instead of answering her, he turned to Joe. “Would you mind if I talked to her privately? I promise I’m not here to hurt her. Or kidnap her.”
“Hello! Standing right here. You don’t need to ask my boss for permission.”
“Sure,” Joe said, as if she’d said nothing.
Kira threw up her hands. Sinn grinned at her as Joe marched back into the diner via the back door.
“If you want to learn how to defend yourself, I volunteer as tribute.”
She stuck a hand on her hip. “I ask again. Why are you still here?”
“Because we owe you,” he said. “Duh.”
“You and your club owe me nothing.” She unwrapped her knuckles. “Believe me, we’re square.”
“How can you resist this pretty face?” he asked, framing himself like he was in a picture.
“Wow. Inflated ego?”
He shrugged. “Confident.”
She shook her head as she found herself bemused by him. “Listen, Sinn, I appreciate your defense of my honor, but I can handle myself.”
“I see that,” he said. “I’m a gentleman.”
“Right,” she snorted. “And I’m the Mona Lisa. Goodbye, Sinn.”
She didn’t wait for him to say the same. Simply turned on her heel and marched back into the diner.
Stupid, stupid men.