10: END GAME

Everyone’s been on pins and needles, wondering when we’ll hear from Aiello and what his demands will be. It’s been almost three months, and still no word. Anarchy suspects that he’s waiting for us to let our guard down before he makes a move.

As a result, the women are on lockdown at the compound, Ol’ Ladies and Roses included. They’re getting antsy, as you might expect, but Anarchy’s not budging on this shit.

We’ve got brothers manning the gates with the Prospects, and we’ve got eight instead of the usual four. Everyone’s hunkering down, waiting for some unexpected attack.

I’m in my office at the dispensary going over ideas about the casino with Phantom when John, one of my employees, pokes his head inside.

“Someone’s here to see you,” he says.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you,” he says before closing the door behind him.

When I step from my office and into the store, I stop dead in my tracks.

What the fuck is she doing here, and what does she want?

Glossy, dark curls that used to hang loosely to her waist have now been chopped to the middle of her back. It’s been three and a half months since I last saw her.

Golden skin holds that sun-kissed look from the summer months, so rich and luxurious you can’t help but touch her whenever she’s in the vicinity.

Ample hips swell down into curvy thighs, and a curvaceous ass fills out her jeans nicely. My dick swells in jealousy, wishing I was the one holding that ass, but I quickly push those feelings aside.

In their place rise confusion and hope. Her back is to me as she looks in one of the glass display cases that hold different vape pens.

I walk up behind her and say, “Meet me outside.”

Turning, I quickly make my way to the door and push it open, stepping out into the evening. I look up and see the clouds that are starting to form overhead.

She’s told me that I’m not good enough. She’s proved to me that we’re not the same kids we once were. So, why do I keep hoping that something will change?

“What’s up?” I say coolly when she stops before me.

“I need your help, Kai.”

“Need someone to commit a crime for you? Steal? Beat? Murder, maybe?”

Her face scrunches up, and she shakes her head. Nova looks as if she’s on the verge of tears.

“That’s unfair.”

“No, what’s unfair is that you were clear about not needing me in your life. I backed away and gave you the space you need, so I don’t get why you’re here now.”

“Okay, maybe I was wrong to come off so strong. Maybe I could have chosen a different way to say what needed to be said, but I wasn’t ready for you, Kai. Running into you again was one thing, but becoming involved again was something totally different.”

“So, you just what? Run away?”

“I’m not running, Kai.”

“Aren’t you? Because from where I’m sitting, you seem to be running away.”

Tears stream down her beautiful face just as the skies open and the rain starts to pour. I should have known the clouds’ appearance was an omen of things to come.

“I don’t have anyone else to turn to, Kai, and I need your help.”

“You know...I think I’m all out of favors, Nova.”

“Why’re you being mean?”

“I’m not being mean. I just don’t want to play these games with you. I may not be a doctor, lawyer, or some other fancy high society professional, but what I am is a man with feelings. I still have strong feelings for you after all these years, Nova. I thought maybe we were on the same page, but you quickly let me know we weren’t. I’m not into playing games. I’m either in your life or out. You don’t get to pick me up like a forgotten book when you grow bored again.”

“I’m not. I really need you, Kai. I’m scared.”

“Scared of what?” I huff.

“Someone’s playing tricks on me.”

“You tried calling the cops?”

Scoffing, she asks, “You’re really asking me that? Come on, you, of all people, don’t trust them.”

“Not for me,” I say, jerking my thumb at my chest. “But you’re different. We don’t walk in the same paths of life anymore. They’d come calling for you. Take care of any of your requests in a jiffy.”

“I don’t trust them any more than you do,” she says softly, shaking her head.

Turning away from me, she says, “I knew this was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here.”

I watch as she climbs into her car and speeds out of the parking lot.

Yet, as I go on with my day, I can’t help but think I hope that I don’t regret the decision to let her get away.

***

It’s a quarter til ten, and I’m walking up the cobblestone path to her front door when the lights go on all over the yard. A high-pitched alarm goes off, one that has dogs throughout the neighborhood barking.

What the fuck?

Instantly, I see lights flicker on at the front of the house, and I can see Nova moving quickly to the door. I reach into my pocket and grab my phone to call her so that she can know that I’m here. By the time I’ve grabbed my phone, the front door is open, and she stands aiming a gun at me, looking wild-eyed with her curls tousled around her head.

“What the fuck?”

“Kai?”

“Yes, would you please lower that thing?” I say with my hands raised, still clutching my phone.

“It’s just you?”

“Nova, no one is out here but me. I swear. I was getting my phone to call you and let you know it was me. There’s my bike right there,” I say, pointing at the middle of the driveway where my bike is parked behind her car.

She peers behind me and finally, begrudgingly lowers the gun. I walk the rest of the way up the sidewalk, and as soon as I step into the doorway, I grab the muzzle of the gun and snatch it from her.

“Don’t you ever point a gun at me in your fucking life!” I growl.

“I didn’t...Kai, I didn’t know it was you.”

“You told me to come by.”

“I thought you were someone else.”

“Who? One of the guys you wanted to make room for in your life?”

“No!”

“Then who? Who has you so scared that you’re pointing a gun at me?”

“Someone’s trying to make me think that I’m crazy, Kai.”

“Who would have a reason to do that and why?” I ask, looking down at a little Calico that’s nudging against her leg.

“I don’t know. That’s why I need your help.”

“Then maybe you should’ve gone to the cops. I’m no detective, Nova.”

“You’re the only one I trust. I don’t know anyone in this town, Kai. It could be someone who works for me or someone who lives beside me. Anyone from A to Z.”

Her kitchen is open to the living room, and I watch her through the opening as she grabs a canister marked “Tea” on the outside. “Would you like some?”

“Don’t drink tea.”

“I’m all out of coffee,” she says by way of apology.

“I’m fine.”

When she finishes with her tea, she returns to the living room and sits beside me.

“Thought you didn’t like animals,” I say when I see her lift the kitten onto her lap and start stroking its fur.

“I didn’t ever dislike them.”

“When we were kids, you hated animals.”

“That’s going a bit far,” she says, sipping her tea.

“No. You hated them.”

“Okay, I didn’t care for animals when we were younger. I got over it, though. I’m still not a fan, but...”

“But?”

“Raider is one of—”

“Raider?” I chuckle.

My VP would love that.

“What’s so funny?” she asks, looking offended. “I think it’s a cool name.”

“Yeah? So does my VP. Anyway, how did you end up with this little guy?” I press on, overlooking the confusion on her face.

“I caught him raiding my kitchen in the wee hours of the morning.”

“How’d he get in?”

“That’s the million-dollar question. So many things have happened since I arrived in Smokey Ridge, Kai. It started with the secret admirer gifts.”

Jealousy streaks through me, but I tamp it down.

“Secret admirer? What gifts?”

“Just before we reconnected, I was getting these little gifts with a note attached with little sweet messages. Things that seemed innocent enough at first. There was never a name signed. It started off as bouquets of flowers, always in my favorite color, orange. They started a couple of weeks before I opened the bookstore. Then there were other little things like a journal, a keychain with my zodiac sign, and other little random gifts.

“They transitioned to things like an autographed book that I’d lost in a house fire years ago that meant so much to me and escalated to panties and lingerie. These things coincided with other strange events like Raider’s appearance. I thought I heard a noise one night, so I got up, grabbed my gun much like I did tonight, and went into the kitchen. This little guy was there,” she says, lifting him and nuzzling her face against his body.

“How’d he get in?”

“The back door. It was open, and I’m certain that not only did I close it before bed, but I locked it too.”

“You call the cops?”

“No. I did a search of my house and found no one. I couldn’t see anyone out in the yard, although I didn’t go out because it was too dark. The next major incident didn’t happen until last Friday. Before that, I would come home and see little things like maybe a rock sitting on my porch swing when I knew a rock hadn’t been there before or my flower pot moved several inches from its original space. It was never anything serious, but things that I was aware of.”

“What was the major thing that happened Friday?”

“I’d spent the evening with some neighbors at a bonfire. When I returned home, all was well, but when I woke up in the middle of the night because of a noise, I found Raider at my bedroom door. I knew that I’d shut him in my office, but somehow, he made his way out. He was wet.”

“Think he’d gotten outside? It has rained the last few nights.”

“That wasn’t it. My kitchen window was wide open, and I always locked everything up before going to bed. Not to mention, my kitchen sink was full of water. Someone placed Raider in there and took him out.”

Anger fills me that someone would dare fuck with her this way. Despite the fact that I have personal issues with her, she still matters to me. I’m still as protective of her as I always was.

“Who knows you’re here aside from the people in this community?”

“You mean like friends and family?”

I nod.

“My best friend, Sandra.”

“What about your ex-husband?”

“Will? He knows I’m in California, but he could care less.”

“We have to rule out everyone, Nova. It’s easy to say that he could care less, but if you didn’t end on amicable terms—”

“Trust me, this isn’t his way. He’s a cheating bastard, not a romantic, deranged stalker. Besides, he doesn’t know where in California I am.”

I sigh, running my hands across my head. “This has been going on since you first arrived, and you never had any problems before?”

“No.”

“Who all do you know in this community?”

We spend the next ten minutes discussing those possibilities, and then I ask her, “If you got the security in place, why’d you call me? You told me that you’ve hired Elite. It’s owned by one of my brothers, Falcon. You couldn’t get better security than his men on you. So, why am I here?”

“With the security in place, someone was able to bypass the system.”

“That’s impossible. Not Falcon’s security.”

“Yes. Falcon’s security.”

Alarm bells go off in my head, and as soon as I gather all the facts, I’ll contact Falcon to see what the hell is going on.

“Did he leave something else?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know someone bypassed the system?”