Page 16 of All Our Ghosts

"Not so scared anymore when you've got O'Neil here, huh?" He taunts. "Who is she, Cole? Some new bitch for the club?"

Cole steps forward, shoving Holden back. "You're fuckin' drunk again aren't you?" He seethes, continuing to push him backward. "I asked you for one thing today and you couldn't even do that. Now you're here? Drunk off your ass andintimidating a woman? What the fuck is wrong with you?" He shoves him once more before Holden finally shoves back.

"Get off me, man. She fuckin' started it." His hand flies out pointing towards me.

The sudden movement makes me flinch but I try to hide it and cross my arms over my chest. The veins in his arm pop as he pushes towards Cole again. My heart is hammering in my chest and I'm trying my best to put on the bravest face I can manage even though I'm biting down on the inside of my cheek to keep the tears from falling. I haven't felt like this in a while and it makes me want to run again.

Cole steps back, shaking his head. "Get out Nash. Go home and sleep off whatever you drank today."

Holden scoffs, stumbling backward. "Fine." He goes to turn as Cole opens his mouth.

"Apologize." Holden scrunches his face like a child when they don't get their way and shakes his head. "Kadence is the new office girl. She's taking over for Becca, soapologize," Cole grits through clenched teeth.

I watch Holden's body tense at the new name, his face going pale, and it looks like he wants to throw up. Cole crosses his arms. I get the feeling that this happens more often than not and the worry returns as a heavy pit in my stomach. Just like that, Cole's promise of keeping me safe feels weak and fragile.

I watch as his face turns back into a snarl and he stumbles out of the room. "Fuck you, O'Neil," he slurs slamming the door behind him.

Cole stares at the door for a moment listening to the sound of Holden's large frame bouncing down the metal stairs before turning to me. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, I just--wasn't expecting that to happen." I chuckle to break the tension that now invades my space, and even thoughthe laugh is hollow, it makes me feel slightly better as he leads me over to the edge of the bed.

"Holden is... going through something right now." He runs a hand over his face. "Not that it's an excuse for his behavior." He sighs, "It's just complicated."

I laugh. Really laugh, and Cole looks at me like I'm fucking crazy. "I can understand complicated, Cole." If he only knew. "But that was something else." He glances over at me, a tired look washing over him.

Cole fixes his vest. "Get some rest, Kadence. I'll see you in the morning." He turns and heads out of the apartment.

It takes everything I have not to pack up my shit and just leave, but the car means too much to me and a small part of me is tired of running every time I get scared. Instead, I crawl back into bed. My mind starts to wander back to the darkened blue eyes that I can't seem to get out of my head. I recognized the look he had when he stepped towards me, madder than sin and locked on me. But when I recoiled, he looked almost terrified, like the idea that he was going to hurt me physically pained him, and that's the thing that makes me curious.

KADENCE

The sun shines through the window across from the bed, bringing light to the fact that I haven’t slept a wink after Cole left. I can’t get my mind off of Holden and the unmistakable sadness in his eyes that he tries to hide with anger and alcohol; not to mention the fact that they’re the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen on man.

Around 7am I roll out of bed, dragging my exhausted body to the shower. Cole sent me a text earlier letting me know that there’s coffee and plenty of “breakfast shit” in the clubhouse if I wanted to join. A pit of anxiety brews in my stomach when I think about getting close to a motorcycle gang, and it only reminds me of his comment last night about some of the men being too much. For the moment I push the feeling aside, turning on the shower and getting it to the right temperature before undressing and climbing in. A thousand questions run through my mind about the events of last night, all of them landing on one man I shouldn’t feel this need to get to know.

Embarrassment floods me when I remember cowering in front of Holden. Everything happened so fast that I hadn’t realizedthat he wasn’t trying to hurt me. But I remember that look of darkness. I’ve seen it before, just not weaved with the sadness I’d felt seeping from Holden as Cole pulled me up off the floor. I know Cole is going to have questions too; he has to.

I don’t realize that I’ve made it through the motions of my shower routine until the water starts to run cold, bringing me back from the depths of my mind’s own picture show of the night before.

I step out of the shower, dry off and get ready for the day. I brush my hair, letting the wet locks flow down my back, which create little damp spots on the back of my black tank top, and slip into a pair of shorts. If today was anything like yesterday it was going to be hot and if I’m going to be in the cramped office all day, I want to be somewhat comfortable.

I take one look around, grab my phone, and shove it into my back pocket before leaving the apartment. It’s still early enough that the garage hasn’t opened yet, the big bay doors are still closed and the lot looks like a ghost town.

The row of motorcycles is gone, leaving only a few stragglers and one that I don’t remember seeing from the day before. I don’t really think anything of it as I head over to the clubhouse. As I pull the door open, a waft of stale alcohol and cigarette smoke floods my nostrils. I take a few steps down the hallway, where the room opens up into a large lounge area. To my left is a corner of couches and pool tables. A few men wearing cuts are curled up on the sofas; no doubt sleeping off last night.

I glance to my right, seeing a fully stocked bar, the counter a polished dark wood with dark green stools set underneath it. Behind the bar is another mural of the wolf, this time the words Hell Hounds are painted on either side of it. It’s not howling this time. The wolf sits, its tail wrapped around his hind legs with bright glowing blue eyes that feel familiar to me.

“Mornin’.” Cole’s voice rasps from behind me, still littered with sleep.

I jump slightly at the sound, spinning around with my hand on my chest, laughing nervously. Cole raises a brow for a moment before chuckling.

“Morning.” I respond.

“Are you usually this skittish?” He asks, taking a sip from the black coffee mug in his hand. He’s leaning against the frame of what looks to be a small kitchen behind him. One arm is tucked across his chest, the fabric of his shirt pulling and stretching against his biceps. The fact the shirt is still clinging to his body surprises me.

I frown. “Are you usually this sneaky?” I quip back.

“Yes,” he fires back, taking another sip, hiding the grin spread across his face.

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