10. BONES

10

BONES

I can’t lose her.

That’s the only thing I know for certain.

I can’t ever lose her.

By giving her the deal I was risking everything, but I’ve been reading people for a long time. Wynter wants me, even if she won’t admit it. I understand why. It’s simply going to take more than my usual charm to get her to trust me.

Now that I have her name she’s an open book ready to be spread beneath my fingers and appreciated with nothing less than my full attention.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. As much as I’d like to spend every minute with her, I can’t get the thought of her abusers out of my head. They’re starting to haunt me as much as they do her.

I’m about to get out of bed when Wynter’s thigh brushes against mine.

My cock’s already standing to attention, eager to get back inside her. Lifting her leg higher I give myself access to her pussy. Just one thrust and I’ll be home.

Then I remember the pain in her eyes when she woke up to me eating her out.

I can’t do that to her again.

She may be mine after I won the bet, but I have to be careful to not lose control and fuck her while she’s unconscious.

I don’t ever want her to think I’m the same as the old fucker that raped her before.

Waking up next to Wynter makes my soul feel lighter. Usually, my head crams with dark thoughts and memories to weigh me down for the rest of the day or until I wash them away with another substance. I’ve not wanted to touch anything since she got here. It helps that she’s kept me so busy.

As I slip out of bed she reaches out to where I was, spreading out on her front with one leg lifting up. I watch closely as she shows off her pretty pink pussy to me.

Just one taste.

That’s all I need.

One lick and I’ll stop.

I bend down so my face is just an inch from her pussy. She smells divine. My mouth waters as I see our come still shining on her curls.

Our time together is still vivid in my mind. She loves to resist me at first, but I’m quickly learning all the ways to make her break apart on me.

One taste.

I reach out my tongue and my cock throbs.

Fuck. I can’t.

I won’t be able to stop.

This need to have her on my cock, my mouth, my fingers, just fucking everywhere, is unbearable. I want her to use me as her own personal fucktoy and coat me in her come. To mark me as hers.

To put it simply, I’m obsessed with her. Maybe I am an addict. I’ve only ever joked about it before, but it seems that my new substance of choice is pussy.

There are worse things to be addicted to, I suppose. This one won’t even kill me. Or will it? Death by Wynter’s hand would be a divine way to go.

Pulling the blankets back over Wynter’s body, I press a kiss to her cheek and leave her alone.

Taking care not to wake her, I grab some fresh clothes and head to one of the guest rooms to have a shower.

I’m not sure when I decided to start being good. I’ve never thought about someone’s feelings like this before. Never put someone else first. Not since I was a kid.

Once I’m ready for the day I head to the kitchen to grab a coffee to take to my office.

Like I always do, I skirt around the rug in the middle of the room to get to my desk.

I must be some sort of masochist to still use this room or any of the house for that matter. It's been years of just me living with ghosts and dead memories. I’m used to it now.

Anytime I look at that spot on the floor I see their bodies. Hear my mom’s cries as the men abused her and see my sister's vacant eyes staring back at me.

Guilt weighs thick in the air like they’re judging me for what I’m doing to Wynter, but in reality the only person on that jury is me.

What I’m about to do next is either going to set my happy ending in stone or it’ll be the making of the headstone for my own grave after it all implodes on me.

I open up the computer program I used to hack my way into Tommaso’s security team’s system and repeat the process I’ve done every day this week. Hoping that this time I’ll find something new.

I’ve never been the best hacker, that’s usually Dean’s area of expertise. He does the technical shit while I add the personal touch to get what I need. This is simple enough work though. Just like every other time I’ve looked at it, everything's as he said. The company is a standard security team, completely legit and above board.

It explains how Tommaso's place was so easy to infiltrate.

There’s got to be more to it though. The man didn’t put a hit out on himself.

If Jax or Wynter could give me some goddamn answers then this would be so much easier.

Hopefully, I’ll get some today. Kai wants to meet. He texted me some cryptic message, basically telling me not to tell him anything via text and to meet him at the coordinates he sent.

It’s still relatively early so I grab another coffee and check on Wynter before I leave. She’s still passed out asleep in bed. I’m reluctant to leave her. I always am, but this is for her.

When I arrive at Kai’s coordinates I have to double check I’ve got it right.

Of all the places to meet, he chose a pet store.

Heading inside I scan the store for him, but the only person in here is the clerk behind the desk who hasn’t bothered to look up from his magazine. When I spot the sign for the reptile room I know that’s where Kai will be. The guy’s always loved his unusual pets.

There’s only one person in the dark room, bent over looking inside a tank. I recognize them as Kai straight away thanks to the baggy clothes and dirty blond hair with frosted tips.

“Did you know a group of tortoises is called a creep?” he asks without looking up. “I was listening to Radiohead last night and when Creep came on I knew I needed to buy one.”

“You need to buy a tortoise? I’ve had plenty of weird things I’ve needed to buy before, but a tortoise has never been one of them.”

Kai straightens up and stares at me like I’m the crazy one. His eyes are bloodshot, but I can’t be sure if it’s because he’s on something or if it’s because he spends so long staring at computer screens.

I swear the guy rarely leaves the house these days. The last time I went to see him was a couple months back to buy some pills. He had about eight different screens set up in his room, all playing surveillance footage of someone’s house. He’s been into tech since he was a little kid and made a name for himself in our world before he was even sixteen.

“I think she’ll like this one. I’m going to let her name him.”

“Who?”

“My girlfriend. She’s training to be a veterinarian.”

“You have a girlfriend? Good for you man.” I give him a friendly punch on the shoulder and he rubs it as he frowns. He’s a bit of a skinny kid, well I assume he is, it’s hard to tell when his clothes are four sizes too big.

“For a while now, but we’re not official since she doesn’t know I exist. Hence the tortoise.”

After everything that’s happened in my life recently, I’m not the slightest bit surprised by this revelation.

“Right,” I say slowly. “I’m sure she’ll love it.”

He gives me a shy smile as he ruffles his hair. “Yeah. I’m definitely getting this little guy. Oh, almost forgot. I’ve got these new pills in that give you the nicest trip. Seriously, just lie back and you’ll fucking ascend. They give you this whole out-of-body experience. Make you see all sorts of shit.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Kai laughs and reaches into his pocket. “Sure. I’d suggest one at a time because believe me you don’t want to take too many of these, but you’ll probably be able to handle more.”

He holds out a small pill bottle and I quickly take it in case someone walks in and sees us.

“Seriously, Kai, I don’t need them.” I try to give them back, but he ignores me.

“You overpaid me last time and I don’t like being in debt to anyone so you can have those for free.”

I did? It’s starting to dawn on me how much of my life I’ve missed by being constantly drunk or high. I stuff the pills into the inside pocket of my bomber jacket. I’ll get rid of them later. “I’m not actually here for that. I need a favor.”

Kai cocks his head as he ponders something. “So you’d be in debt to me?”

“Yeah, that’s how favors usually work.”

He nods slowly, his eyes back on the tortoise. “I may or may not need you in the future. Depends how everything goes.”

“Cryptic, but sure. Just get in touch when you’re ready. I need you to find out who placed the contract for the last job I took from Jax.”

“You know I don’t get involved in that stuff. My brother would kill me.”

“He’s back in the country?” I ask and Kai nods.

Last I heard Aaron was in Italy expanding his tech business.

“He doesn’t have to find out. Do this for me and I’ll help you with whatever you want.” I gesture towards the tortoise and he knows what I’m getting at. He’s clearly obsessing over this girl he thinks he has a relationship with, most likely stalking her knowing him.

And I thought my hobbies were niche.

Seems there’s something in the water here. First Dean, then myself, and now Kai. I wonder who else is hiding a dirty little obsession in this city. Luka? Nah, he’s far too uptight for that.

“Fine.” Kai holds his hand out for me to shake, but seems to think better of it and quickly stuffs both of them into his hoodie pocket.

With our deal secured, I leave him to his tortoise.

In the car, I turn the radio up so I can enjoy some music on the way home to my girl. Fuck, I can’t wait to see her again. Every second I’m out of the house is painful. And not just because my balls are aching to unload. No, she has my chest feeling tight and my stomach in knots. It’s a new feeling. An odd one.

As I make my way through the city, a call comes through from my father.

“For fuck’s sake,” I mumble. All I want to do is ignore him, but I have been avoiding him a lot recently.

“Yep?” I clip out as I put him on speaker.

“You’re late again.” I’m surprised it’s actually him on the phone and not his secretary.

“I’m busy.”

“Too busy to do your job?”

Rolling my eyes, I reply, “That isn’t my job.”

“If you want your inheritance it is. I don’t give you much to do here, so can you please try and show up on time when there’s a meeting?” He sounds exasperated. I know the feeling. Meetings suck the life out of me and not in a good way. They’re one of my few obligations to the family company. As long as I attend one a month and show up to any big events then I get to take over when my father steps down or dies. Knowing his work ethic it’ll be the latter.

He couldn’t do the decent thing and just give his only son his inheritance. No, I have to act like a corporate puppet for him as he drip-feeds it to me.

Little does he know, I don’t need the money. My other job gives me all that I need, but I can’t risk getting kicked out of the company. It’s rightfully mine. My parents built it from scratch and it’s my mother’s name on the front of each hotel. I can’t risk someone else taking over and renaming it, removing that last piece of her from the city.

“Fine. I’ll be there in twenty.”

The main office is only a few blocks over and with minimal traffic, I make it in time.

I ignore everyone as I head straight for the elevator up to the meeting room. I’m hardly dressed for business today. Expecting to only be seeing Kai, I opted for black tactical trousers and a faded band tee under my bomber jacket along with my usual heavy boots.

The elevator takes what feels like hours as it stops on every floor to let people on and off. A few people eye me curiously. The ones who recognize me purse their lips, no doubt eager to gossip about me to the next person they see.

When I reach my floor, Janine, my dad’s secretary, gives me a warm smile. She stands out against the stark white and gray decor with her fuzzy purple cardigan and pink hair. I remember thinking her hair was actual cotton candy when I was a kid. She’s worked for the family for years now. It hit her hard when Mom died, they were close friends, more like sisters.

“Afternoon, darling. You’re looking as sweet as ever. Would you believe I’m late? Me of all people?” I shoot her a grin and she rolls her eyes at me.

“If you checked your emails once in a while you wouldn’t miss anything. I have your father constantly pestering me, asking if I’m even sending them to the right address. He thinks I’m bloody senile or something.”

“I promise I’ll check them more often. Just for you.” I cross my heart and she tsks me, but I see the tiny smile on her lips.

“They’ve not started yet, I’ll let Gregory know you’re here so they’ll be ready for you.”

I let out a heavy sigh and rap my knuckles on the desk, gearing myself up to go in. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll see myself in. Remind me to give you a pay rise when you’re working for me.” I wink at her before heading to the double doors at the other end of the corridor.

All conversation hushes as I enter the room and I feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I ignore them to seek my father out. He’s stood at the head of the table and gives me a brisk nod as I sit down opposite him. We’ve never had the warm embrace kind of relationship so this is nothing new.

“Now that we’re all here…” he starts.

“Finally,” one of the younger guys mumbles to the guy sitting next to him. “Some of us actually have work to do after this.”

This is one of the many reasons I hate these meetings, it’s like high school all over again except I can’t beat the shit out of the bullies here.

“Be grateful that you do,” I say loud enough for them to hear. The two men look my way, one gives me an apologetic smile while the one that was talking shit glares at me. I don’t know their names. Don’t care to.

“Is there a problem?” my father asks, looking straight at me. It wasn’t even me that started it.

“Not at all. Just thinking about who’s done enough to secure their position here when it’s me standing up where you are.” I smile smugly as I get comfortable in my chair, propping my boot up on my knee.

“Well if you’re done planning for the future, I’ll get straight to why we need this meeting today. As you should all be aware stocks have been down and we’ve had to sell a few of our smaller locations, but you don’t need to worry anymore. I’ve been talking with someone for a while now and they’re willing to invest in our company.” He looks straight at me and there’s something in his eyes, like he’s apologizing to me for what he’s done. I sit a little straighter in my chair.

“I can assure you he’s eager to help the company. What he’s offering will get us back on our feet. It does make him a majority shareholder—”

There’s a loud murmur as half the people in the room start to protest this mystery man’s deal. I’m with them, but I keep my mouth shut and focus my energy on staring my father down. To my surprise, he actually shrinks under my gaze. The company must be in some serious trouble if he’s this worried about bringing someone new in.

I just wish he’d told me.

He looks different. Older somehow. His dark hair has more grey in and the lines around his eyes are deeper. I don’t remember when exactly I saw him last, but I didn’t think it had been that long. He looks like he’s lost weight and there are dark circles under his eyes.

Maybe we’re in worse trouble than he’s making out?

The rest of the meeting is tense. No one’s happy about the latest mystery addition to the team and we can’t get through a single topic without someone arguing over logistics.

When things finally wrap up, I stay behind to talk to my father.

“Noah,” he sighs. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but I can’t answer anything now. Nothing’s been signed yet. This is what we need though and it’s not like you’ve ever cared about any decisions I’ve made here before.”

“This is different and you know that,” I raise my voice at him.

“Noah, please. Just let me do what my company needs.” He slumps down in one of the office chairs. I’ve not seen him look this defeated in a long time.

“Your company? It’s my name on the paperwork as well.”

“Yes, and once you actually invest some energy into it then you can call it yours. Noah…you think I want to be doing this forever? I’m tired. I thought by now I’d have you working alongside me, but I rarely see you anymore.” My father’s brow creases like he actually cares. He’s never mentioned any of this before.

“What do I need to do? I can invest whatever this guy is offering, probably more.”

“I wish it were that simple. The best thing you can do is show up and pay attention." Pushing off his knees, he gets up and lets out a tired groan. He places his hand on my shoulder and squeezes softly as he says, "You’ve always been smart, you’ve just made some bad decisions in your life. Now is as good a time as any to start making the right ones.”

“Does the board agree with your decision?” I ask pointedly.

“It took some persuading, but yes, I have the majority shareholders onside. This new investor will be on the same level as them, but he’s told me he’s happy to sit back and let us keep doing what we’ve been doing. He has a few requests, but nothing I can’t handle.” When he starts heading for the door, I follow after him.

“And my inheritance?”

His posture tightens and he stops, turning to me. “Is that really all you care about?”

“No. I don’t care about the money, I’m talking about the company. About fucking Chiyo .”

He looks like I’ve just slapped him. In a way I have, bringing Mom’s name into it like that.

“The company will be yours as long as you do what I’ve stipulated. I’ve never kept it from you, I just want you to be prepared for what’s involved.” Giving me a tired smile, he pats my shoulder and heads into his office.

I watch as he closes himself away.

“You need to tell me everything I’ve missed,” I say to Janine.

“That’s quite a bit,” she raises one pink eyebrow at me.

“Then send me everything. Every file, every bank statement, anything you think will help. I need to know what’s been going on with my father.”

She scans the room before beckoning me closer. “I’ll send you what you need, but take it easy on him. He’s going through a lot, he comes in exhausted each day. Whatever it is seems to be eating away at him.”

It’s been that bad here? I’m disappointed in myself for not doing anything to help, but how was I to know when no one told me anything?

I’m frustrated and pissed off. Usually, I’d go get drunk with someone if I felt like this. Now I have a new urge. For once, I don’t need to go drown my frustrations at the nearest bar. I can head home and work on pulling that rage out of my little viper.