Kasen always did have flawless timing. I follow along behind them, ready to defuse the situation before it gets out of hand. Why do I feel like she’s going to be our downfall? Nope, scrap that, Iknowshe will be, just by the pathetic way Kasen is drooling over her. He’s obsessed, always has been. It damn well nearly destroyed him when she disappeared. It nearly tore all of us apart, and I won’t go through it again. I’m not sure my best mate would survive this time. If she’s staying, things will be different now. Insurances made to make sure she can’t cause the same damage twice.
With the kind of intimidation Kasen lives by, he convinces her to sit in a linen high-back chair at the dining table that looks out over the view of the ocean.
Her eyes widen when she sees the assortment of breakfast dishes laid out in front of her. “I’m not hungry.” She crosses her arms over her chest like a brat and stares out into space. Her vacant, dead gaze sends a chill down my spine. What the fuck happened to her? I shouldn’t care, she took off without a word, so good riddance and all that, but there is something in the way she fights back, the way she won’t take shit from us when the rest of this town falls at our feet, that has me slightly intrigued. She grew balls while she was away, and I want to know why.
Kasen glances back at me, giving me a look likecan you hear this shit?I’m not sure what he expects me to do. He’s the one who thought it was a good idea to bring a stray home, not me.
I shrug. It’s no skin off my nose if she refuses to eat. That’s on her, when she’s clearly in need of a decent meal with how malnourished she is.
He places a hand on the table in front of her, a bang as his hand slaps down. His furious eyes lock with hers, and I know at least part of that frustration is directed toward me. “Eat something, then I can give you pain meds.” He forces the words through clenched teeth. He’s on edge, he has been since we found out Keller had a massive heart attack and died on his way to the hospital last week. But today, he’s extra heightened, like one wrong move could see us all with a bullet in the head. It’s an energy I enjoy on him, some of his power creeping back in. The influence she has on him. Maybe her being back won’t be the worst thing ever. If my brother can pull his shit together and start acting like our boss again, I might just let her stick around after all.
Rolling her eyes, she sucks in a breath, then winces. I bet those broken ribs are giving her trouble and she’s about desperate for some relief. With a heavy sigh, she picks up a croissant and nibbles at the side of it. “Happy?” She smirks at him.
“I won’t be happy until you don’t look like Skeletor anymore,” he snaps back. Yeah, K is more himself today. Our leader, ready to take his rightful place at the helm.
She throws him a bitchy-as-hell look. “You really shouldn’t be judging my appearance. Skinny shaming is just as bad as fat shaming, you know,” she sasses.
He runs a hand through his short hair, tugging on the ends. “We both know that’s not what this is.” He hands her the pain meds she’s after, and she throws them back with a glass of apple juice.
“Seems like it to me,” she mutters under her breath before taking another bite, more aggressively this time.
I move into the kitchen, making myself a black coffee, anything to get rid of the fresh headache I’m now put in charge of dealing with. But it could all be worth it if I get my brother back. Dove already has him dishing out orders and acting like the boss we all know he can be. Now that Keller is gone, all the preparation he’s given us over the years needs to come into play. The sharks are circling to see how we handle business without him. They have been under his thumb so long, I just know there are a few looking to escape the clutches of Throne Developments and go it alone, or worse, come at us and try and take what we have built right from our hands. They won’t succeed, we have way too many insurance policies in place to make sure we are the only ones with the power to control this town. But those who don’t understand the system will try, and when they do, I need K sharp and on his game.
What happened last night can’t happen again, because I’m not running this company without him by my side. I know his mental health is teetering on the edge. He has been slowly getting worse for years now, but his brother Jayden taking off was the last straw. He thought we didn’t notice, thought he was masking the torment going on in his head with booze and girls, but River and I grew up with him, and we could see what was really going on. The insomnia, the slow decline of his excitement for anything. Just last week, River found a new girl for us, a pretty little thing he thought would be a perfect fit for our crew. I was willing to give it a try, why not, it’s not often you find someone willing to deal with all of us, but K took one look at her and disappeared for hours. Came back drenched from the rain at dawn. It was then I knew he’d given up.
Dove draws my attention back to her. I can’t help but watch her as she eats the rest of her croissant like an animal, followed by a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. Her waist might be tiny, but her massive tits are clearly spilling out of her bra even under K’s shirt. It’s difficult not to notice. Subtly I adjust my now-hard cock. Yeah, the girl might just pull all of us out of the slump we are currently wallowing in. Only question is, can she handle all of us? The sweet, innocent girl we knew, absolutely not. But this version… she’s different.
She raises her eyes, locking them with mine as she licks a crumb from her bottom lip, mischief dancing on her features. Yeah, she’s different. Damn. That kiss should never have happened. Not yet anyway, it’s too soon. But her plump lips were taunting me in a way I couldn’t resist.
Give her a couple of days to recover and her bruises to fade and I will work out my next move. K was always infatuated, and River will be just as obsessed when he lays eyes on her again. Probably worse, because where K has control, River takes what he wants all in the nameof fun. We have had some good times together over the years. But now it’s time for something different. This lost girl might just be it.
Taking my fresh mug over to the table, I plonk down onto one of the seats beside her, popping my tailored boots up on a spare seat, my glare raking over her. K’s not going to be happy unless he knows she’s safe, someplace he can still keep an eye on her, and we have plenty of room here. The only question is how do we get her to stay when she clearly wants to leave? She said she loved us all once; was that a lie? Or the perfect way to keep her here.
Her eyes run down my body, a small smirk playing on her lips. She pushes back from the table and brushes off her hands on her denim cut-offs. “Well, thanks for the hospitality, boys, but I have shit to do,” she announces.
Kasen’s hand lands on her wrist before she has time to take off. “Not so fast, birdie. You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do before you go anywhere.”
I grin. That’s it, K, put her in her place.
Her brow rises, a bitchy scowl landing on her face as she gapes back at him. “Like you have any choice where I go,” she snaps like the brat she is.
Kasen’s lips twist in that cruel way he does so well, that tells whoever his attention is focused on not to mess with him. “What shit are you caught up in?” he demands.
She nibbles her bottom lip as she scans over him, then me, looking for help she’s not going to get. The confidence is an act, that’s for sure. Our introverted friend is still in there; she’s just found a way to hide the real her under a layer of make-up and attitude. She straightens her shoulders and glares back at him. “None of your business, Kasen Throne.”
I move to stand by Kasen, backing him up. “You made it our business, Dove Dawson, when we had to deal with the two dead bikers you brought into our town,” I snip, not appreciating her tone when we have done nothing but help the ungrateful brat.
Her eyes dart around the room like a skittish animal, wide and frightened. My guess, she’s looking for an escape, but she won’t find one, not unless we let her. This place is locked up tight.
She pulls her wrist free from Kasen’s grip, her long silver hair fanning out behind her as she stalks her way toward the front door.
Kasen gives me the nod to go after her. The two of us do make a perfect team. Bad cop and bad cop has always worked for us.
I close in on her before she has a chance to turn the handle. Not that trying would have done her any good, it’s security locked and only opens from either side with a fingerprint from myself, K, or River. Her back hits the door, and she peers up at me, fresh anger radiating through her pretty features. She’s a goddess, there is no denying it, even covered in bruises.
“Out of my way, Slater.” Her glare turns icy, but the way her bottom lip trembles gives her away. She’s scared of me, and she should be. I’m unpredictable. Calm on the surface, calculating beneath. Scanning and disarming threats before others even know they exist. That’s why the Thrones kept me around when my own family fucked off. Keller saw something in me. Someone that would fit into this world all too easily, a quietly terrifying competence he could put to good use. And did. I become his intellectual enforcer quickly. It helps when you’re six-six and have a140 IQ. Not many try to challenge you.
My lips twitch up at the sides because this is my kind of entertainment. This is where you really get to know a person, see how they react under pressure and fear. “Sorry, sunshine, you didn’t say the magic words,” I taunt.
