Indulgence (277 page)

He dipped his face towards mine and said, “Your hands on me…
feels good. Been too fuckin’ long.”

God, why do you hate me?

Why do you send temptation my way when you know it will
only lead to more heartbreak?

I dropped my hands and tried to harden my gaze. I needed to
show him I had no intention of going there with him again. “And it won’t happen
again,” I snapped. “Now let me through.”

His brows raised but he stepped aside, and I finally entered
the kitchen to find my mother busy at the sink washing up. Tupperware
containers surrounded her, confusing the hell out of me.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She kept washing but turned her head to look at me. Smiling,
she said, “Kick dropped by to say hello and I’m thankful he did because I got
him to change the washer on the tap. It had been leaking for ages, driving me
crazy.”

“You should have asked me to do it, Mum.”

She frowned. “You know how to do that?”

Kick chuckled from behind me and muttered, “Yeah she does,
‘cause I taught her.”

I paid no attention to him and did my best to ignore the
memories flashing in my mind of the hot summer day Kick and I had sex on the
kitchen floor of his house after he showed me how to change the washer on the
tap in that kitchen. “What’s with the Tupperware, Mum?” She must have had every
single piece she owned on the kitchen bench.

She stopped washing up, turned her body to face me and gave
me her full attention, a look of humour crossing her face. “I had a bloody
spider in the kitchen and the Tupperware cupboard was open. This was before
Kick arrived. Anyway, the damn spider crawled in that cupboard and you know how
much I hate spiders… I started madly pulling Tupperware out and onto the floor
until I could see the spider. When I saw it, I shut the cupboard to trap it. I
was gonna call you to come get it out, but Kick showed up and found it for me.”

I spun around to face him. “Did you kill it?”

His face softened and he murmured, “No, Evie, I didn’t kill
it. I remember.”

“I wanted him to, but he reminded me how much you hate that
so he took it outside for me. Goodness gracious, I have no idea why you won’t
just let us kill them,” my mother said.

Undeniable warmth spread through me that he’d done that.

For me.

And that he’d remembered.

I was still facing Kick and he whispered, “I get it, baby.”

My breathing picked up at his words. More memories flashed
in my mind - Kick and I at about sixteen, telling each other our deepest fears
and heartaches. He was the only one who got it, who knew why I was so against
killing spiders.

Shelly loved spiders.

I stared up at him, lost in the memories, and then I took a
deep breath and turned back to face mum. Brushing off what she’d said, I
changed the subject. “I can’t stay long
,
but do you need me to do
anything or pick anything up at the store for you?”

“No, I stopped at the supermarket on my way home from work
yesterday and picked up some groceries.”

I smiled at her. “That’s good, Mum.”

She returned my smile. “I’m trying, Evie, I promise.”

I reached out and squeezed her hand. “I know.”

Her face turned sombre. “How are you doing? After the funeral?”

“I can’t believe he’s gone.” My voice choked up as Jeremy’s
face flashed through my mind. For a moment there I’d had a reprieve from the
memories.

I watched as she swallowed hard and realised this would be
stirring her memories and regrets up, too. She nodded quickly and then turned
back to the sink and busied herself with dishes again. Mum wasn’t the kind of
woman who ever liked to talk about her daughter’s death, in fact I could hardly
recall having any real conversations of substance about it with her. I waited
to see if she would say anything further but she didn’t, and I let her have
that. It was probably not the best choice but I’d never pushed her to talk.

Turning, I looked up at Kick. “Thanks for helping Mum.”

He nodded, his intense gaze never leaving mine. “Anytime.”

When he didn’t move to let me out of the kitchen, I widened
my eyes and nodded at the entry in a let-me-out-of-here gesture. He took his
time but he finally stepped aside, and I brushed past him. Without a backwards
glance I left the house and hurried to my car. My mind and body were tangled
with desire and confusion, and the sooner I got out of Kick’s space, the
better.

As I opened my car door, a hand grasped my arm and stopped
me. I turned in surprise to find Kick behind me.

Shit.

“What?” I demanded.

“Your mum’s doing well.”

“You came after me to tell me
that
?”

With a shake of his head, he said, “No.”

We stood watching each other, not saying a word. I truly
didn’t know what he wanted after all this time. “Yeah, she’s doing okay at the
moment. I got her to see someone and start working through all her shit.
Finally. Only took nineteen years, but she’s getting to the point where she’s
leaving the house more and more.”

“That’s good. I hated watching her shut herself away like
that.”

“Yeah,” I said softly, and then asked, “What do you want,
Kick?”

“You.”

Unmistakable heat flowed between us at his statement and I
sucked in a breath. We’d been here before and Kick did not want me. He only
thought he did. “No, you don’t. You want what you think we can be, but as soon
as you can have that, you’ll pull away, so why bother starting something we
both know will only end badly?”

“That’s the past, Evie. I’ve changed and realised I want you
in my life. Give me a chance, baby.”

Everything in me screamed to say yes, but my head knew
better. “No.”

I didn’t wait for him to say anything further before getting
in the car and shutting the door. I turned the key in the ignition and
attempted to ignore him, but he tapped on the window until I finally put it down.

He leant his head in the car and said, “I was wrong, Evie.”

“When?”

“Three years ago when I told you I didn’t want you in my
world.” His eyes held the truth in his statement; I saw regret, but I couldn’t
let that sway me. Just because he regretted his choice didn’t mean he’d end up
making a different one this time if I let him back in.

“Well, it’s too late now,” I dismissed him.

He shook his head. “Life’s too short to say shit like that.
And it’s too fuckin’ short not to go after what you want. And I’m telling you
now, baby, I want you, and I’m gonna get what I want.” And there was Kick’s
trademark stubbornness. I could tell from the way his eyes bore into mine that
he was trying to force me to go along with what
he
wanted.

I stared at him, unsure of what to say to that. And when he
moved his hand to cradle my face and rub my lips with his thumb, I sat there
and let him do it. He’d taken me completely by surprise.

He let me go and straightened. Tapping the top of my car, he
said, “I’ll see you soon.” And then I watched him walk back into my mother’s
house, my eyes hardly able to shift from his ass.

Fuck.

Kick

I sat at the bar of the clubhouse and stared at Nitro as he
told me about the bike engine he was rebuilding. His words drifted in and out
as my concentration bounced between him and thoughts of Evie. It had been a
week since I’d seen her at her Mum’s. I’d purposely left her alone, because if
there was one thing I knew about her, it was how much she hated being pushed
into doing something. After all these years, I knew when to push and when to
back off.

“Kick, are you fucking listening to me?” Nitro broke through
my thoughts.

I took a swig of my beer before answering him. “Sorry,
brother.”

He finished his beer and motioned to Brittany to bring him
another. “All good, man, I know you’ve been through some shit the last week.
But you should drop by my house one day and take a look at the engine. Could do
with some help, ‘cause I’ve heard you know your shit around engines.”

Nitro and I weren’t close but I’d recently realised how much
we had in common and maybe helping him with his engine would stop me fucking
thinking about Jeremy and Evie so much. “Yeah, I will.”

Brittany brought Nitro his drink and leant across the bar,
flashing her huge tits at him. I didn’t have much respect for her but she was
the best bar bitch we had. “You think you could convince King to let me
redecorate the bar?” she asked us, eager eyes flicking between the two of us.

Nitro grinned at her. He often used her when he wanted a
quick lay and I knew they had an easy friendship. “Darlin’, I could try and
convince King of anything if you let me fuck you the way I want,” he said with
a wink. He reached across the bar and traced her cleavage with his finger,
which caused her to close her eyes and moan.

“Fuck, you two, get a fuckin’ room,” I snapped, and gulped
the rest of my beer down.

Nitro slipped his hand into her top. Eyeing me he said, “I
would if she’d play the way I want to, but she never does.”

She slapped his hand away. “I told you I’m not interested in
that, Nitro. You’ll have to find some other slut to let you do that.”

He shrugged. “You’ll have to find someone else to convince
King then, babe, ‘cause no play means no help from me. Besides, I don’t think
any of us could give a fuck about paint and furniture and shit like that.”

Brittany cast an unconvinced gaze around the room. “So you
don’t care about the ugly cream paint that is peeling in some parts, or the
out-dated wood tables and chairs, or the fact the couches in here obviously
have seen better days and too much cum? I hate sitting on those couches because
I know that nearly all of you boys have each fucked more than a handful of
bitches on them and spread your germs everywhere. And what about the plants
that are dying in here because whoever picked them chose the wrong plants for
inside and no one ever waters them besides me? Oh, and your Storm logo on the
wall behind the bar needs to be redone because it’s all worn and shit.”

I raised my brows at her. “I see you’ve put a lot of thought
into this, but, personally, I couldn’t give a shit and I doubt King does,
either.”

“Give a shit about what?” King’s voice sounded behind me.

I jerked my chin at Brittany. “She wants to redecorate. Says
it’s old and ugly in here. And she hates the cum on the couches.”

King laughed. “You want new couches, sweetheart? You and I
could christen them.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, I get it. You don’t care what
your clubhouse looks like.”

King stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes on her. “Tell
you what. You figure out a cost for me and I’ll think about it, but I want
something from you in return.”

Fear flickered in her eyes, and she didn’t respond. No one
ever wanted to owe King anything, especially not a female. I’d heard the
stories about what he demanded from women and I didn’t blame her for her
hesitation.

“Well?” he barked, waiting for her answer.

“I think it’ll cost too much,” she said, her voice holding
no trace of her previous confidence.

He gave her a long, hard look before finally nodding. “Yeah,
I thought it might,” he said darkly.

I watched her walk away from us and head towards the other
end of the bar. It was fairly clear she couldn’t get there fast enough.

Nitro stood. “Gotta hit the head. I’ll catch you later.”

After he’d left, King asked, “You heard anything around the
traps about Silver Hell?”

Had I heard whether they knew it was Storm who’d killed
two of their guys?

“Haven’t heard a thing.”

“Yeah, me either. We need to try and find out more. You able
to do that?”

I nodded. “I’ve got some contacts. I’ll follow it up for
you.”

He slapped me on the back. “Good.” His gaze shifted from me
to track Brittany’s moves and he leant on the bar in what seemed like an effort
to get a better view. Once he’d had his fill, he looked back at me. “I’ve got a
job for you today. Need you to collect some of our hard-earned cash.”

“Who from?”

His gaze had shifted back to Brittany for a moment, but his
eyes came straight back to me. “Our coke-loving friend who never fucking wants
to pay up. Sort him the fuck out, Kick, ‘cause I’m sick of his fucking shit. In
fact, if I never have to deal with him again, I would be a very happy man.”

King speak –Take him out or ensure he never comes
knocking on our door again.

I stood and watched as he continued to track Brittany’s
moves. That bitch had zero chance of avoiding him now. She’d well and truly
caught his attention today. “Consider it done,” I said.

He glanced at me. “Good.” That was King’s signature word to
convey his pleasure at his directions being carried out. You never got much
more than that from him.

I left him to it, figuring Brittany now had less than
fifteen minutes before her shift at the bar ended.

I also figured we’d be getting new paint in here soon.

*****

I cut the engine of my bike and assessed the street. I’d
never come to Bruno’s house to collect before. Usually, I visited the bar he
frequented, but I’d gone there earlier and hadn’t found him so figured I’d give
his home a shot. Bruno lived on a quiet street which was a good thing for me,
and even more so today because there was no one around. Not that I really gave
a fuck but it did make things easier when there were less witnesses to take
care of.

I left my bike and headed to the back door. I’d almost
expected him to have a dog to harass me but he didn’t. His yard was a fucking
mess of overgrown grass and rubbish that had just been dumped out the back.
Filthy, junkie pig.