AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You could say that.” I want to tell him more, but don’t.
“Did you take your SecondSkin layer off in the shower?”
I have to shake my head to catch up to what we’re talking about. “Um, yeah. It’s clean, but I’m short on moisturiser.” I look at him, pleased he didn’t push for more.
“Let's go grab some then. I need a bandage.”
“And then what?” I ask.
“Whatever you want. I don’t need to be back in a rush.”
The idea of just spending time with Kai is nice. There’ll be time for more questions later, but I push that aside and smile. “Neither do I.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
KAI
The ride back to San Antonio takes longer than it should, and that’s probably because I’ve gone out of my way to avoid the main freeways. I’ve just been trying to dodge the inevitable for a while longer because whatever this has been for a few days, it has to stop.
I felt it in myself this morning. Everything that should’ve been telling me to stay the hell away from her family kept being pushed to the back of my thoughts. I was all invested in fucking and getting to know her some more, regardless of the potential consequence. Still am now, as we ride the outskirts of the city and I keep going the long way round. Trouble is, no matter how much I might want her, and irrespective of how easily we fit, she’s the kind of woman that’s going to drag me straight back where I don’t want to go.
I don't even know what it is about her. The fire. The attitude. But behind all that, the loneliness, maybe. She hides it well, but it's still there regardless of her family around her. I know loneliness. It's been part of me my whole life. Dead parents, killed in a car crash when I was five. Zero interest from my grandparents or extended family. A state care system that barely gave a fuck about my survival. And the only kinda family I eventually did find was a bunch of thieves and assholes, none of which turned out to give a fuck about my survival, either.
My hand leaves her thigh, one final squeeze for memories, and I turn down towards Viper’s to get us both home. I keep scanning for her car on the journey in, and eventually find it parked up a side street before Viper’s place. She eases up off me as I make the turn for it, and, regardless of feeling that loss like a bitch, I pull up alongside the car.
Stand kicked down and we both get off as I cut the engine. She pulls her helmet off and swings her hair around, running her fingers through it with a smile on her face. It’s not going to be there much longer.
“So,” she says. “What now?”
I pull a long breath in and shove my hands in my back pockets. “Nothing now. I’m going back to work and you’re going back to wherever you came from.” She opens her mouth. “No, Mariana. Listen, we’re not discussing anything more about it. You know as well as I do that this isn’t anything other than what it’s been.”
Her eyes cast over the floor at our feet. “Because of who I am.”
“Yes. Blame your family for it if you want, but I’m not riding that road again. I can't.”
“You're running then?”
“Guess I am. You’re the last thing about your family I want to run from, though.”
She looks up at me and just stares. It’s a long damn stare and one that helps me get lost in soft eyes I could keep gazing at for hours. And then she looks over my shoulder. Everything in that second changes her attitude. I half turn to check out what’s going on. Doesn’t need much explanation because there’s a big ass guy in a dark suit leaning on a pillar and watching us from the gloom.
He blows out a cloud of smoke and flicks a cigarette on the ground, crushing it down as if it’s my head.
I look back at her. “Another brother?”
She nods. “Dante.”
“Am I gonna get my ass handed to me?”
“Possibly.” Doesn’t stop her walking around the back of me, though, as if she’s gonna try getting in his way about that.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, sharply. He doesn’t answer, and by the time I’ve sighed out a breath and turned to face him, it looks like he’s definitely thinking about killing me. “Dante, I’m a grown woman who can make her own damn decisions about where I go and who I do.” I wince at her declaration of what we’ve been up to and start preparing for a fight. “I took a few days out. For myself. I don’t need to be at your beck and call. And take that look off your face. You’re not hurting him.” Seems like that finally causes a reaction because his lips tip up in some kind of smile, and he snorts to himself.
“So this inbreed is what you wanted Viper for,” he grumbles, as he steps out of the gloom towards us. “Little Bella’s fucking street trash now, huh?”
“Dante!” she spits.
“You don’t think I’ve got enough to deal with with Abel being in New York?” He wanders closer, close enough that I can see the tats creeping out from under his shirt collar. “Yeah, he’s doing the real goddamn work so we can find the cunt who killed Elias, while you’re out here fucking any asshole who'll have you.” A sneer laces his face as he looks over her frame. “Maybe I should get you branded up so everyone can take a turn. Sure you’d make us a fortune if you learned some damn manners.”
