Page 19 of Sinful Need
I burst through the back door an hour later than I planned to arrive. My hair is tied up in a messy bun and my makeup is working overtime to hide the rings under my eyes. I toss my bag in the safe and head out to the main floor where I find Abby pulling chairs down from the table tops.
“Look who the cat dragged in.” Abby jokes.
“Yeah sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to disappear on you but I had something to take care of.”
“Let me guess, about six foot tall, two hundred pounds of solid muscle and a black leather jacket.” There’s an undercurrent to her tone I can’t put my finger on.
Abby has been with me since I opened the bar. She’s not just a good bartender but has become my only friend. I’ve led a lonely life, part by design. If I don’t let people in, they can’t hurt me. Pain and heartache is all I’ve ever known. It took a lot for me to open up to her over the years but there are things I can’t share with her. Jase is one of those things. He’s a secret that I intend to keep all to myself. This way there’s no chance Hawk can find out about him.
“Try three feet tall, thirty pounds and a hundred and one degree fever.” I drag down a chair and set it on its legs, pushing it under the table.
“You should have said so. Is everything all right now?”
“Just a bug, I think. I’ll finish this if you want to prep the bar.” I continue lowering chairs and sliding tables around to make up for the empty space on the floor where the broken table was. ‘Who cleaned this up?”
“The same guys who broke it. Well the ones who stayed behind that is. Your white knight disappeared around the same time you did.”
I freeze, suddenly feeling uneasy with being grilled, “I told you where I went Abby.”
“Where’d you go?” Storm's voice breaks up the tension hanging between Abby and I.
I turn around to greet Storm as he takes large strides across the room toward me. I wrap my arms around him in a hug even though I’m faking everything about it. We’ve found our footing after several years of distrust. Finding out your best friend killed the boy you loved, will do that to a relationship. Even lifelong ones like ours.
“Never mind.” I dismiss the question wanting to end this conversation and start a new one. I just don’t know how to bring it up. I still can’t be sure I can trust him with this secret. What if Jase is wrong about him? What if I’m wrong about him?
“What was with the candid messages last night? What’s going on?” Storm slides into one of the chairs I just set up, “Sit and talk with me.”
I glance over to Abby who is ignoring us and going about her business prepping the bar for service. We open soon, so if I’m doing this, it has to be now. In less than thirty minutes there’ll be prying eyes and ears to report back to Hawk. I takea seat next to Storm, twiddling my thumbs nervously. “Tell me about that night again. The night Jase died.”
Storm pushes back in the chair lifting the front legs off the ground, “Does this have something to do with those ghosts you were talking about? Spill it, Rayne.”
My heart is throbbing in my chest, remembering the pain I felt when I lost him. I can’t risk making a mistake here. I can’t be wrong. I swallow the lump in my throat and spit it out like a bad taste in my mouth, “Jase isn’t dead and I want to know why you lied.”
The legs of the chair slam back down on the floor, making me jump. It’s too late to take it back now. If Jase was wrong about Storm and he has fallen under Hawk’s control, I opened the door to trouble. “Why would you say that?”
“Because I’m standing right here.” My head snaps up to where Jase is standing behind Storm.
In an instant Storm is out of his chair, shoving Jase backwards. The man standing next to Jase, wearing the Krymson Destroyers President patch, lunges forward but Jase throws his arm up stopping him. “Get it out of your system so we can talk.”
“I told you never to come back here or we’re both dead and now you’ve dragged her into this?” The anger in his eyes takes me by surprise. Has he been lying all this time to protect me? To think how shitty I have treated him makes my heart tight. Once upon a time the three of us were best friends and because of Hawk that all fell apart. I had never felt as lonely or heartbroken as I have these last few years thinking everything I was told was true. I should have known better but how could I? I have watched Storm change as he’s progressed through the ranks of the Viper’s Den, acting more and more like them as time passed. “What the fuck man?” Storm swings a right hook and my heartskips a beat. I yelp as Jase side steps the hit and shoves Storm backwards.
“Stop.” It’s not the smartest move I’ve ever made but I step between them. “The two of you used to be friends. I brought you two together to fix this.”
“How do you expect us to do that? We can’t be seen with him or Hawk will kill us.” Storm scolds me.
“Not if we kill him first.” Jase states like he’s ordering a drink from the bar not propositioning a member of the same club of the man he wants to kill.
“Same question applies. How do you expect us to do that?” Storm hisses.
“Before I tell you that, I have a question for you. Why are those mother fuckers still breathing?”
Storm drags his hand through his hair, “My position hasn’t changed but it’s taken me years to get close enough to him to make a move. I don’t have the numbers to pull it off unless I want to end up dead.”
“Then I have a proposition to make.”
Storm motions to the table and rights his chair. Jase and the President of his club take a seat.
“I’m the SAA of the Krymson Destroyers out of Pennsylvania, I go by Fuel now.” Jase points to the patch on his leathers. “This is my President, Chainz.”
