Page 26 of Property of Chux

“Until the threat is eliminated.” I take another bite.

She blinks as if in disbelief. “Can you tell me what the threat is?”

I lean back in the chair, legs splayed wide. “No.”

She drops her fork. “Seriously! This is ridiculous. You say I’m stuck here, you won’t tell me why. You say let’s chat. We are chatting. You don’t want to answer my questions. Therefore tell me, sir, what do you want to chat about since you hold all the cards anyway.”

I smile. I can’t help it she brings out this softer side to me. “Well, Alaina, the bakery is in honor of your grandmother. You were close, is my understanding. You wanted to share this part of her with everyone.”

Her eyes widen in shock. “How about we talk about you? Or this place. I don’t know where I am. I’ve never been somewhere without a single picture on the way or a shelf. There is nothing personal here. It’s like a short term rental or something. Except it magically had pants for you.”

I lift my hands up behind my head, lacing my fingers together, my abs flexing drawing her attention to my body. Yeah, keep admiring. This shit lasts too long, I’m going to be sure to show her just how much my body can work.

“Whatever you want to know, sweetheart. I’m an open book.”

She lets out a haughty laugh. “You’re anything but an open book, Chux.”

“I’ll start with this is my home. I usually stay at the clubhouse because it’s easier. But when I need to decompress, I come here. Only a few people even know where it is. For you, this is the safest place to be. Riot, he is my actual brother, knew it would make it easier for any of us to keep you protected being here.”

“Not exactly the house I expected for someone who goes by a name about shoes, Chux.”

Her saying my road name is cute, but I want my name on her lips before I’m balls deep in her body. “My name is Damian Joseph Masters.”

“Then why does your vest say Chux?”

It’s my turn to laugh. “I was prospecting and got in an accident. I was wearing an old school pair of Converse Chuck Taylor shoes. Classic red. Fuckin’ thrown from my bike, it was a total loss. My shoes came off. When I got up off the damn ground, I had a broken collar bone, but walked around yelling for my Chucks. They were ripped on the side of the right shoe. I still put them on, then promptly fell right back down until the ambulance came. Mellow thought that shit was funny as fuck. He sponsored me and when I patched in, Chux became my road name.”

“Mellow?” She questions. “Why can’t you just go by Damian and Mellow use his name because I’m assuming Mellow is not the name his mother gave him?”

I shrug. “Road names mean more than the name we’re born with. In the Kings that name is earned, sweetheart. Chux is who Iam before I’m Damian. Mellow, it’s his story to tell. Each brother breathes to be a King and whatever name it comes with.”

“Okay Chux,” she begins and I sit up in the chair leaning towards her.

“No. With you, here, I’m Damian. You got a lot on you, Alaina. Told you I’m an open book. You’re in my home. Here I’m Damian. With you, I’m Damian. When I have to be Chux, I am. When I’m with my club, I’m Chux. With you, right now, you get Damian.”

She raises an eyebrow not understanding.

“Ain’t gonna lie to you, sweetheart. I’m not a good man. Things I do in the name of family make normal men cry. Chux puts brothers above all others. I always will. But when someone matters to me they get every side of me, Damian and Chux.”

“Chux scares me,” she tells me honestly with her eyes firmly locked to mine.

I reach out and cup her chin. “I should scare you.” I lean back in the chair and let her take that in.

“Why do you do this? Pull me in, let me think maybe there is someone good under the leather and then rip it away the moment I relax.”

I pause wanting to be deliberate with my words. “You need not be afraid of me at any point in time, Alaina. I’ll never hurt you and I’ll never let anyone harm you.”

“Why? You don’t know me.”

“Fuckin’ see something I want, I take it. I don’t hold back, I don’t care what anyone thinks, I go in full throttle.”

“I’m not a possession.”

“No, sweetheart, you’re the total package.”

CHAPTER 10

ALAINA

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