River snorted and strolled past me toward Destiny. They both walked out of the clubhouse, and I followed them to my truck. River got in the middle, while Destiny took the passenger seat. It was a tight squeeze, which meant River’s warm body was pressed against my side. I couldn’t complain about that. His musky scent teased my nose, and I wanted to lean over and breathe him in. Now that I’d had a taste of him I wanted more.
Destiny gave me the directions to his and Hayden’s apartment, and when we’d parked outside, he hopped out and clapped his hands like he was trying to make us hurry. Before River could get out, I grasped his arm and turned him toward me.
“I’m sorry. You’re right, I am jealous. I don’t like knowing that you and he have a history.”
“Sir, I have a history with a lot of men. I’m sure you do too.” River narrowed his eyes, the lines around his mouth becoming more prominent. “But I have a feeling this is more about King than other men.”
“It’s just….” I stared at Destiny through the windshield and how he sparkled in the moonlight, like a beacon on a dark night. He certainly seemed to be that for Hayden. “You respect him, and I want that respect from you, and I know you’ve known him for longer than me, but it annoys me. Then there’s Hayden.”
“Ah.” River cupped my face and pulled me in for a kiss. I slid my tongue over his bottom lip and slipped it inside his mouth. We stayed there kissing until Destiny pounded his fist on my hood. He had the audacity to smile innocently when I sent him a glare. “This is about your brother, too.”
“I suppose so.” I shrugged. “I’ve always been the one he looked up to.”
“Then you left, Sir, and he had no one. I can’t speak for Bishop, but King’s got that big-brother vibe. He cares about his club brothers. The Kings are family, and I wouldn’t blame Bishop for searching for that after you left.”
It was a harsh truth that I needed to hear, but I cringed away from him anyway. River grabbed my face and turned me toward him, settling his hands at the dip where my neck met my shoulders.
“I’m not trying to hurt you, but you’re judging King too quickly. I know you’re a cop, Sir, and he’s anallegedcriminal, but he does good for this city. You need to trust him to do what’s best for New Gothenburg. The Kings and Harlots have standards.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that, but I didn’t want to argue with him anymore. I shoved open my door and held out my hand to him. He rolled his eyes but linked his fingers with mine and let me help him out of the driver’s side.
Destiny huffed. “About time, honey. Destiny doesn’t have all night. Hayden will be wondering where I am.” He crooked a finger toward us and bounced toward the glass front door of the apartment building.
We followed, River’s hand gripped in mine as he walked through the front and up a pair of U-shaped stairs. Destiny already had a key in the door by the time we made it along the hallway to reach him, and he threw it open. I waited for it to bounce off the wall, but there must have been a stopper behind it. I closed the door behind us as we made our way inside and immediately noticed the smell of lemons wafting around the room like everything had been scrubbed not long ago.
“Honey, I’m home,” Destiny sang out, gliding into the apartment more elegantly than I would have expected. “I have a present for you.”
“What is it?” came Hayden’s rough voice from a hallway. Heavy footfalls sounded through the small space until he came into view, wearing jeans, a white T-shirt, and brown boots that I expected he either worked or rode in. He stopped abruptly when he saw me, eyes narrowed and jaw tight. “What’s he doing here?”
Hayden had always been a hothead, but so had I until I’d learned to calm myself and listen in the marines. I’d had no choice but to follow orders and trust and respect my superiors.
“I came to talk to you. Give me a chance, yeah?” I said.
“Why should I?” He shook his head and crossed his arms over his massive chest. He didn’t have tattoos like most of the other Kings, but he’d put on a lot of muscle since he was a teen. I should have expected that attitude. “You didn’t give me a chance to talk to you before you upped and left. I had to find out from Dad where you’d gone.”
“I knew you’d try to talk me out of it or ask to come with me.” I glanced around the clean room with shiny wooden floors until my gaze landed on a two-seater couch. There was a German shepherd thumping his tail happily against the wall as he stared at me with big eyes from the far corner of the room. I walked over to the couch without asking, half expecting to be barked at by either Hayden or his dog, and fell onto one of the seats.
Destiny grabbed River’s arm and tugged on it, and River went without complaint. They headed toward the kitchen I could see past a breakfast bar on the right hand side of the room, and I heard Destiny say something about drinks. Hayden watched them go before he sighed and trudged over to the other side of the couch, dropping onto it. Beside me, he was even bigger than I’d originally thought. His shoulder bumped into mine and he made a noise of irritation.
“You should have told me you were going,” he said, although it sounded more like a grumble of words.
“I know.” I leaned back against the couch and sighed, crossing my ankles and studying my boots. It was easier to stare there than at the hurt in his face. “I thought I was doing the right thing for you at the time. I’m sorry.”
“How was that doing the right thing for me? It was fucked, that’s what it bloody well was, Jayce.” His hands curled into fists on his knees and his jaw tightened again. “I’d been abandoned enough in my life by Dad and Mum, I didn’t need you to do it too.”
“I didn’t abandon you,” I argued, but stopped abruptly because that’s exactly what I’d done. I’d left him without a goodbye, and I hadn’t even written him a letter while on tour. Trying to explain to him that I’d thought he’d be better off without me wasn’t going to work, though. We’d had too much happen in the time apart. “Actually, you’re right. I did. I’m sorry.”
“Bit late, ain’t it?” He relaxed and uncurled his hands. “Want to tell me why you thought to leave without me? Why did you get to escape Dad, but I didn’t?”
“What?” I frowned at him. “It wasn’t about escaping Dad. It was about protecting you. Fuck, Hayden, I was a bad influence on you. I was the reason we got nabbed by the bobbies so many times in Manchester. If I’d just left you at home, Mum wouldn’t have shipped you off too. It was my fault that you kept getting into trouble. I thought if I left you alone in Miami you’d grow up a decent human being and go to college. Do the normal shit kids our age did.”
“Well you fucked up there because I didn’t go to college. I left as soon as I turned eighteen and traveled around the States until I landed here.” He shrugged. “Met a guy named Casper. He vouched for me with the Kings. Became a prospect.”
“Why, though?” I shook my head. “You were never interested in motorbikes before.”
“I got interested in them. The boys became my family. The only one I had since you left.” He glared at me, and I sighed.
“I came back looking for you after I finished my last tour. Dad didn’t know where you’d gone. I… got married.”
