18: END GAME

She has strength that she doesn’t realize she has. I’ve watched Nova closely in the three weeks since the shooting, and while I’m protective as fuck over her, always will be, I know that she’s going to be okay. There have been times since she re-entered my life that I wanted to handle her delicately, but I know she wants me to see her as strong.

She’s not the same kid that she was when we first met, battling depression and struggling with abandonment. Nova is so much more than that, and I see it. Yet, I will always be who I am. Always protective as fuck over her because I know the ugly side of this world; I’m a part of it.

They say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. The only ones I want in my circle are my brothers and Nova. It may be a hard lesson for her to learn because her heart is so open and beautiful, but she’ll have to keep her circle small, too. She’s too trusting and too open to see everyone as a potential friend, including psychopathic employees.

Anthony Carter was employed by Falcon for two years and never had any problems until Clark relocated to our area. Anthony was a computer genius, one of the best in the company, according to Falcon. He was able to cover his tracks, but Falcon eventually placed a bot in the system to track who logged in or out of it, shadow their movements and trigger a hidden camera to record images of the person logging in.

After we failed to capture the person at the house on the day of the fire and shooting, Falcon pulled the data to find out who had been accessing the system. Once he learned that it was Anthony, he performed a deep scrub of all of Anthony’s personal devices, including his cell phone. That’s how we knew Anthony wasn’t behind the odd gifts, but someone else was.

Falcon, Terminator, and Bullet took Anthony from his home immediately and brought him to the dungeon.

When Nova and I returned to the compound after the shooting, I met with Whiz later that night. He’d uncovered disturbing news where Clark Stewart was concerned.

He was able to ascertain that Clark’s real name was Jared Strong, and he had worked in multiple bookstores across the country. He would fixate on women who appeared lonely, looking for a love like the ones she read about in romance books.

Preying on these women, he would cultivate friendships with them and pretend he was the perfect man for them. No sooner than they welcomed him into their lives, he became controlling, dominating, and abusive until the women broke up with him.

That’s when he would begin to stalk them. He would assault and kill these women and move on to another state, another urban bookstore, and another unsuspecting victim.

According to Whiz, the police in all these towns had open investigations into these murders.

Jared moved to Smokey Ridge from Washington State when he heard a new bookstore was coming to town. The town was the perfect size, like many of the stores he’d targeted before.

The only difference between this time and his prior behavior was that Clark fixed his attention on Nova before he fixated on a customer. Nova hired her staff prior to opening the bookstore, and she had worked extensively with Clark on setting up the store and his champagne bar, building a friendship with him before the store opened.

According to Anthony, his cousin Jared relocated to our area because he was growing serious about the woman that he’d been dating long distance, Nova. Anthony hadn’t been aware of his cousin’s movements prior to moving to Smokey Ridge.

Initially, Clark told Anthony that he needed to get into Nova’s house because he wanted to surprise her for her birthday, but that she’d recently had a security system installed. When Jared hedged, Clark promised that it wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass. The next time he needed access, Anthony, who had growing gambling debt, capitulated when Clark paid him two grand.

“Where is he?” Nova asks, turning in the bed to face me.

“Who?”

“Anthony Carter.”

I smooth the lines from her forehead and press a kiss there. “Thought I told you not to worry about it.”

“Yeah, well, it’s kind of hard when I don’t know if he might pop up behind me one day or sneak into my window.”

“Hey,” I say, cupping her face and turning her to face me. “I told you that I took care of him. Both Clark and Anthony are no longer your problems. You know that I shot Clark. I know you didn’t look at him after that happened, but trust me...he wasn’t breathing when I finished him.”

“Anthony?”

“He’s no longer breathing.”

“Where did you bury him?”

I hate that she’s plagued by paranoia now. I sigh and roll onto my back, propping my head on my arm.

“Why?”

“I don’t know...I just need to see...”

“No. You don’t. There are some things that I can’t show you or tell you, but trust me like you’ve never trusted me before, that they’re no longer breathing. I tortured the shit out of Anthony Carter before he left the earth. Only wished I could’ve done the same with Clark. I promise neither of them can come back to haunt you. Raider had a crew come in and clean up your store, take care of the body and all that. When you returned the next morning, there wasn’t a trace of what happened. Was there?”

“No.”

“It’s the same with Anthony. I wouldn’t lie to you, Nova.”

I rub my thumb over her soft, plump lips. “You trust me?”

She smiles and nods, and I see the truth in her gaze. “I do.”

“Good,” I whisper, leaning in and kissing her.

“I’ve never asked you about the night of the incident.”

She always calls it “the incident.”

“What about it?”

“How did you know that something was wrong?”

“The minute Anthony told us that his cousin was your champagne bar attendant, I knew there was a problem. He’d always been hanging out there with you most nights, so I knew he was probably still there. When I got there, I didn’t see a car other than yours.”

“His car was in the shop. He’d been riding the bus.”

“When you didn’t answer my text or my tapping at the front door, I went around back to the service door.”

“I never heard you knock.”

“Guess not. You were probably focused on trying to stay alive with that asshole. I picked the lock on the service door at the coffee shop, and I heard a lot of commotion, running and some other noise that I later realized was shit being knocked down. None of that mattered when I heard you screaming.”

“I just knew that if he got me again, he’d kill me this time. I just knew he would...”

She closes her eyes, and I know she’s recalling the moment he had that knife pressed against her neck. I couldn’t see it from my angle when I ran up behind them.

All I fucking knew was that that psychopath was chasing her. Crazy people are strong and unpredictable. I wasn’t sure what he’d do to her, but I wasn’t taking any risks on what he might or might not do. The moment that I had the perfect angle, I took the kill shot.

“But he didn’t,” I say, pulling her closer.

I don’t tell her how scared I was when I learned who her stalker was, nor when she didn’t answer my text, nor when my tapping on the door went unanswered. Instead, I tell her what I feel now.

“I’m just grateful that, for whatever reason, you came back into my world. I’m not about to let shit screw that up, even a dumbass psychopath like Clark. He’d have to be a dumbass to fuck with a Fiery Disciples’ girl.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Would that have anything to do with the tattoos that some of the women around here wear?”

Lifting my head slightly to stare into her face, a slow smirk creeps upon mine. “You tryna be claimed, Nova?”

“Are you trying to claim me, End Game?”

Laughing, I brush my lips against hers and place my hand between her thighs.

“Don’t know nothing ‘bout you calling me that.”

“Well, I prefer Kai, but I wanted to see how that felt on my lips.”

“I’ve got something you can feel on your lips,” I reply, stroking her flesh.

She arches her hips and says, “Then let me.”

Reaching into my underwear, I pull my dick free. I sit up and move to the top of the bed kneeling beside her and rubbing the tip of my dick against her lips. She opens her mouth and slowly sucks me in, never breaking eye contact. I scissor my fingers inside her, and she gyrates slowly, moaning her pleasure around my width.

Slowly, I began pumping in and out of her mouth, working myself further and deeper into her warm heat. My eyes close in surrender when she twirls her tongue around me and prods the slit in my head.

“Fuck!” I growl, adding another finger inside of her.

Nova works my fingers, clamping her legs tightly around them and riding them hard as I increase the speed of my thrusts in her mouth.

I can’t control it, and as much as I want to get inside of her, it will have to wait because right now, all I want is to let go inside of her mouth. When she starts humming on my shit, it’s the end of the line for me. I’ve got to hop off this train.

Like a rocket catapulting into space, my nut bursts through my dick and shoots straight down her throat. Her eyes widen as she works to keep up with my release and not choke. I become one erect muscle from head to toe, filled with the tension of my orgasm.

I only realize that Nova has cum, too, when I finally return to my senses and feel my hand cramping. Looking down, I notice she’s squeezing my fingers inside of her, and her breathing is just returning to normal.

“Sorry, I couldn’t wait,” I apologize.

I climb onto the bed with her, and she says, “We’ve got all the time in the world to do it as many times as it takes to get us where we need. However. Whenever. We want.” She punctuates her last words with kisses.

“So, about that claiming thing,” she says, smiling at me.

“Yeah, about that. You ready to get branded?”

Laughing, she hits me on the chest. “What am I? Cattle?”

“Well, I’m getting branded too,” I point out.

“Where?” she asks.

“Where you want me to?” I reply, pulling her on top of me.

She rubs my cock and says, “How about here...mm, never mind. Don’t want nobody else touching or looking at what’s mine.”

“Oh, it’s yours?” I tease, lifting my eyebrows.

“I need to prove it to you?”

“Maybe we could work something...” My phone buzzes with the special alert assigned to council members.

We have to be on call whenever any of the council calls or texts us. Rolling over, I lift my phone from the nightstand. She rubs my back as I unlock my phone.

––––––––

RAIDER: Anarchy’s been shot. Get to the Bay.

I swear it feels like my heart stops. I hold my breath for several seconds. Then I remember to breathe. A bowling ball rolls around inside of my head, and I remember to respond.

END GAME: WTF? Is he gonna be ok?

RAIDER: Don’t know. Everyone’s en route. Get there now!

I feel sick. What the hell does he mean he doesn’t know? How could he not know whether Anarchy’s okay or not? Is that his way of telling me that he wasn’t?

Maybe he didn’t want to give us that news over the phone, knowing we’d all have to ride out. Maybe he’s trying to make sure everyone is safe.

Who the fuck would shoot Anarchy?

Then it comes to me. Anarchy, Cannon, and Phantom went to meet with Aiello today. We weren’t told the time or the place, just that they were going.

My mind is spiraling, and my head is thundering with rage, revenge, and disbelief. One of the only fuckers on this Earth that I know gives a shit about me could be dying!

I shake my head. There’s no way that’s true. Anarchy’s the toughest motherfucker I know.

Another wave of nausea rolls over me, and I know it’s related to the guilt I feel. I’ve been so pissed at him on how he handled shit with Nova’s situation that I’ve been carrying a grudge.

Phantom always warned us against carrying negative energy. Always warned that it only attracted more.

I didn’t listen to that bullshit, but now I’m regretting that I didn’t.

Anarchy took me under his wing when I first came into the MC. The disrespect I’ve shown him lately by not obeying his orders has all been directly related to Nova. Before her, I’d never questioned his orders. But that’s all I’ve been doing lately.

What if I don’t get a chance to tell my Prez I fucked up. That maybe there was a better way of doing shit? That nausea rolls in my belly again, along with the clanging of cymbals in my goddamned head.

“Fuck!” I snarl, jumping up from the bed.

“What? Kai, what’s wrong?” Nova asks when I grab my pants and slip into them without my underwear.

“Kai! You’re scaring me!” she cries out as I continue dressing without answering.

It’s not her fault. She didn’t do any of this. It’s not even her fault that I disobeyed direct orders. So, there’s no reason to take it out on her.

Returning to bed, I cup her soft caramel-colored face in my hands.

Through a choked voice that hints of tears if I were capable of those motherfuckers, I say, “Anarchy’s been shot, babe.”

“What? How did that happen?”

“I don’t know. We’ve been summoned. You stay here and don’t leave for anything.”

“Kai, am I safe here?”

I see the fear in her eyes, and I know the paranoia she’s battling. I need to make her feel safe, but I don’t know how to convey to her my confidence that she’s safe. I just need her to trust me.

I inhale deeply, close my eyes and reopen them.

“How do I get you to trust me unconditionally, Nova?”

“I do.”

“What do you see when you look at me, baby? Right now.”

“Mixed with the pain in those blue depths? I see love. Your love for me is so brilliant and strong that it strangles the worry out of me.”

I nod. “Baby, I know that shit happens. And I know you’re probably thinking about our past right now, but I swear that I won’t ever take myself out of your life again. The only thing I’m going to do right now is check on Anarchy and see what’s going on with him. Then it’s right back to you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“And I’m safe here?”

“Anarchy was on a mission. He wasn’t here at this compound. There is no safer place in this world for you to be right now than here. You got that?”

She nods, and I swipe her tears away with my thumbpads.

“Don’t cry, darling. If you want to, you can call Roxie, and she’ll come right over. The Ol’ Ladies are probably gathering at Marlo’s now. I’ll be back for you. And when I return, I promise I’ll work on building those happily ever afters you read about in those books of yours. I swear.”

“I know you will,” she says sweetly with half a smile.

I brush my lips against hers, press my forehead against hers and say, “I love you, Nova.”

“I love you, too, Kai.”