AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She jolts and half turns, like she’d forgotten the rest of them were in here with us.
“You brought this shit to our town,” Brute continues. “You can’t just leave us to clean it up.”
My lip curls, and I shoot him a glare. “Watch it,” I warn.
Brute meets my glare. “You letting a piece of ass you haven’t even tapped rile you up?”
I take a step forward. “I said fucking watch it. The dead fucker in the dirt didn’t put up much of a fight. Got a nice little warm-up.”
A grin full of violence splits his face, and he comes closer.
“It’s been a long time since we rumbled. Maybe we should fix that.” Brute grabs his cock. “After I kick your ass, I’ll get myself a taste of her and let you watch.”
Snarling, I charge past Kennedy and grab a defiant Brute by the shirt. My fire is scalding, ready and eager to turn into a blaze.
“Enough!” Reaper doesn’t raise his voice, but he does slap his palm on the desk. “You want to fight, do it outside. I’ll cut off both of your balls if you fuck up my office.”
Brute and I shove off each other and when I head back to my spot, I see Kennedy’s reaction, and it douses my rage. She isn’t watching, ready to warn me like she had before. She’s practically shaking. She’s gripping her hands so tight they’re white, her head bowed. A quick inhalation lets me scent the fears she’s clearly trying to hold back.
Grunting, I turn back to the president, glaring at Cinder, who’s watching me and Kennedy too close for my comfort.
Reaper’s pinching the bridge of his nose, his forehead screwed up with irritation. We wait for his response; none of us are stupid enough to say anything to break the silence. After a long moment, he lets out a harsh breath.
“This is what’s going to happen,” he says, and Kennedy looks up at him with a timid expression I hadn’t seen on her yet. I don’t like it. And I hate that I don’t like it. Reaper looks at me, then at her. “You take her back to The Styx. Kennedy, you’ll hole up there until Chainz figures out what’s so damn special about the car. Cinder, I want Knights out on the roads, keeping an eye out for any out-of-towners. I don’t want any of this blowing back on the town. I’ll get Stubs to dig up everything we can on the Santi Pastori. Until we know what we’re dealing with, I want Kennedy to be a ghost and eyes everywhere. Understood?”
A chorus of affirmatives come from the Knights. Kennedy doesn’t say anything but she nods, still not bringing her eyes up to meet Reaper’s.
Reaper gives us all one last look. “Good. Now get the fuck out of my office. I’m sick of looking at your ugly faces. Blaze, you and the girl stay a minute.”
Cinder and Brute head out, leaving us alone with Reaper, who leans back in his leather chair. It’s times like these I think he looks like the heir of Hades, presiding over the realm of the dead. He’s a cold motherfucker and not one to piss off. But he’s loyal and has shown every single one of us that there’s nothing he won’t do to keep us safe. So we’re just as loyal to him.
“You brought problems to my town, girl.” When Kennedy tries to say something, he silences her with a pointed look. “I don’t give a shit if you meant to or not. What’s done is done. Blaze, you took responsibility for her the moment you let her on your bike. Which means whatever happens from here on out is on you, too. You got that?”
I know better than to protest. I dip my head in acceptance.
Reaper’s cold aura thaws the slightest bit. He’ll never be warm and comforting, but Reaper isn’t evil.
“We don’t like men who put their hands on women,” he tells Kennedy, and I see the curiosity on her face. “I don’t blame you for killing your husband, and I’m sure as fuck not going to hand you over to them again. We’ll get them off your back, then figure out what comes next.”
“Thank you,” she says, her eyes shining with tears and sincere gratitude in her voice.
Reaper looks at me and jerks his head towards the door. I take it as the dismissal it is and press a hand to Kennedy’s lower back to guide her out. We’re quiet as we head back down the stairs, and I lead her down the hall to a different exit. The party’s over for both of us.
“You need to grab anything from Syd?” I ask as we walk towards the garage bay where we park our rides.
“No. She gave me a key just in case,” Kennedy answers.
Just in case, huh? Nothing gets by Sydney.
As we walk into the place, I grab the keys from the hook for my truck instead of my bike. It’s a big-ass workshop with a dozen bikes parked in one area, a couple trucks, and now the helo at the far end where I see Bones working away with headphones on. He raises his head and lifts his chin in greeting but goes back to whatever he’s doing on the helicopter.
Kennedy pauses as she takes in the sight of the truck. “We aren’t taking your bike?”
I slap the hood of my dark blue Silverado as I make my way to the passenger door. Opening the door for her, I answer, “Didn’t think you’d want to in that dress. If you wanna wrap your legs around me that badly, kitten, just ask. I never say no to a ride.”
Her cheeks burn red and she scowls. I almost expect her to take a swing as she walks by me, but she climbs into the tall truck without comment. It takes every bit of strength I have to not look at those creamy legs of hers and hope for a tease of what’s under that dress as she does. I close the door harder than necessary behind her before climbing into the driver’s seat.
She’s already buckled in and folding in on herself by the time I pull out of the garage and onto the dusty driveway that leads to the single-lane road into Devil’s Haven. When the lights of the clubhouse are in the distance, I take a look at her. She’s still got her arms wrapped around herself, her shoulders hunched in, and she’s looking out the window into the dark.
