Page 19 of Scorched King

And yet, I was more self-conscious than ever before.

I warred over whether to follow him to the kitchen or go change first. If I was honest with myself, it wasn’t the lack of a bra that frightened me. My arms, especially my right one, were a criss cross of burn scars and while I couldn’t see my back, I knew exactly what it looked like back there. A mangled mess. The worst of the damage had occurred there, and this was the first time he’d seen it.

Taking a deep breath, I hastily chose to follow him. I was going to have to get used to this. I couldn’t hide them forever and there was no better time to start dealing with it than now. I inwardly rolled my eyes. I’d just repeated that hospital counselor’s idiotic words in my head verbatim. Someone kill me now.

The snug t-shirt JD wore, emphasized the fact he had shoulders that seemed as wide as doors. And the muscles of his arms stood out as well, but it was the line of his back tapering down to his narrow waist and an ass I could probably bounce quarters off of that continued to draw my attention. It made me wonder how upset he would get if I just tackled him from behind and took a juicy bite.

I bit my lip at the image of me sprawled against him, preferably without clothes. I got so lost in that thought I barely noticed when he turned around and his eyes narrowed when he met my gaze. “You okay?” he asked.

Oh sure. Just fantasizing about our naked bodies writhing on the floor together is all.

My head jerked up from where I’d zeroed in on what I knew were tight abs and an impressive package, swallowing hard as I met his gaze. I could feel the heat of the blush rising up my throat,but that was the least of my worries when I realized how aroused I’d gotten. I was going to need a cold shower and fresh panties as soon as possible.

“Fine,” I croaked out, averting my gaze before he figured out exactly what I was thinking. I swear the man had a sixth sense when it came to that.

“Here,” he shoved a tray in my direction, which I blindly took. “Eat something while I check on dinner. And next time, bring your cute ass in here and eat when I’m working. I don’t give a shit about who’s kitchen it is. Or call the clubhouse. Whichever you want. You need to take care of yourself and not half ass your recovery,” his brusque tone pulled me out of my stupor.

I had to bite back the desire to tell him he wasn’t the boss of me, because he actually was. And it sounded ungrateful, especially considering he’d just handed me a tray of veggies, cheese and dip that looked amazing. Admittedly, now that he’d brought up food I was actually starving.

“Okay,” I said, dropping down into one of the chairs at his tiny in-kitchen dining set. There was also the fact that his bossiness turned me on. Although I was going to do my best to ignore the way my nipples had puckered against the thin material of my tank and the fact a deep ache had flared to life between my legs.

Nor did I intend to dwell on the fact that until I met JD Monroe, not a single soul had ever tried to take care of me. Every foster I had ever gone to saw me as a household slave or a live-in babysitter for their real children. They didn’t care if I was sick, or hungry, or sad… Dammit. My big plan to fight the pull that led me to a man who didn’t feel the same way was about to crash and burn.

Pun fucking intended.

CHAPTER TEN

The Traitor

Watching Sasha get out of Axel’s truck yesterday and head inside JD’s cabin had turned my life into an even bigger nightmare. The last time I’d seen her, the flames of the explosion at the club casino had nearly engulfed her and a paramedic had been trying to save her. She shouldn’t have survived the night let alone make a recovery.

Everything I’d worked for and tried to protect was at risk. My position, the respect, the easy money—she could end it all.

Her memory of what happened, of who she might have seen, was a loose end I couldn’t afford. From now on, every time she looked in my direction, I’d wonder what she knew. If that day would be the one when everything fell apart.

The weight of keeping secrets pressed down on me like a heavy stone. I’d covered my tracks well, made sure nothing led back to me when Mazzeo went down. But one little word from her, and it would all be over. The club would know what I’d done.

It had happened so fast, I couldn’t have stopped it if I wanted to. Whether I wanted to stop it was another matter entirely. When I’d set those explosives for that mafia fucker, the poker club was supposed to be empty for hours. It should have been a simple, clean burn with no complications.

Every night I relived it. The explosion. The fire. The screams. What was done was done. I couldn’t change it now. But having her here, reminding me day in and day out…

I couldn’t crack, I reminded myself. It would mean death, and I wasn’t ready to die over this.

No club bitches should have been on site, and I sure as hell hadn’t planned on the Governor’s assistant being inside too. What the fuck?

Of course JD’s little secret investigation wasn’t helping my nerves either. He was convinced there was a traitor among us, and he wasn’t giving up. Every time he called a new meeting, my heart nearly stopped. Every time he looked my way, I wondered if he knew.

I could have disappeared when Mazzeo went down. But where the fuck would I go? The club would hunt me down. And they had eyes everywhere thanks to Tel, and a rat on the run wouldn’t last long.

I fished a cigarette from the packet in my back pocket. After quitting a year ago, here I was, right back where I’d fucking started. Chain smoking my way through my stress as I scrambled for an idea of how to control this shit storm.

All of this would have been a lot simpler if she’d just died alongside the Governor’s assistant. Fuck.

I was a lot of things, and at this point, even being a stone-cold killer was up for debate. I’d killed plenty of men over the years, but every single one of them had deserved it for one reason or another. And most of those were part of club sanctioned business.

Now I had to worry about who saw what and whether I was about to get myself killed because of it. If JD or anyone else suspected me I wouldn’t have time to get out before they were on me.

Going against my club would come with severe consequences if I got caught. But I’d taken extreme precautions, and if I had any say in my future, nothing would change. I’d sacrificed a lot for this club and I didn’t deserve their wrath.

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