Page 72 of Wicked Ends
To be useful.It felt at that moment that everyone I’d ever loved had wanted something from me. Not my time or company, no… other things. My father wanted my good reputation and budding future to buy his. My brother wanted me to help lessen the load on his shoulders by getting my dad out. My mom wanted money,as often as she could get it. Coach wanted me to be coolheaded and untouchable, a goalie who never got riled or messed up. My team wanted the same—for me to be able to disconnect my heart from my mind, but that was getting harder all the time. My friends wanted me to be the joker, the one who held everyone together, the people pleaser who kept those prickly bastards palatable to the world.
Only one person didn’t want anything from me… in fact, she’d prefer to have nothing to do with me.
Maybe that was why I was so obsessed. Or maybe my obsession needed no explanation. It just was.
And the talk with Cole wasn’t the only unpleasant shit that’d happened the night before. Cash had been stabbed. My brother was moving the MC into new, dangerous territory, and I didn’t want to get involved, but that didn’t make it any easier not to care about the guys. I’d grown up around the Harbor Hounds, and many of them were like family. Sure, Cash’s wound was superficial, and he’d be fine, but was a stark reminder.
This life was dangerous. Seeing Misty holding her newborn, crying outside the emergency room, had been enough to keep me from returning to Ari, even for one night. She didn’t want me. Maybe I should respect that.
So after, I followed her request to leave her alone and even skipped her goddamn class. I’d fooled myself for an entire day that I could be a good guy and respect her decision, and ignore the connection between us, for the greater good. I’d been delusional.
This thing between us couldn’t be denied, by either of us.
Something inside my hard heart had cracked at seeing her sitting in the stands at practice. Worrying about me. Caring about me. Wanting nothing but to see that I was okay. That’s when I knew for sure.
This woman was mine, and God help anyone who came between us. I’d never asked for anything from anyone. I’d never been lucky or expected good things to happen to me. None of that would change, except I had a price for being the universe’s punching bag… and it was her. In return for the life I’d lived, I’d take her, and it would be worth it.
I navigated Ari’s old wreck of a car out of town, toward the woods. There was a strange grainy sound coming from the speakers. I fiddled with the controls with no results and banged on the dashboard to get it to unstick.
“You are enough. You are loved for just who you are,”a disembodied voice said from the speakers.“You don’t have to be anyone but you… the best you there is and will ever be.”
What the fuck was Ari listening to when she was driving? And why did the voice sound like a fun house carnival clown…? Also, why did the words tug at my twisted, black heart so much? I was all kinds of fucked-up lately. Maybe it had been a long time coming, and meeting Ari had only sped it up; I had no idea. Regardless, something was shifting inside me, and I couldn’t stop it, or control it, or force it to be silent. Not anymore.
I turned into the driveway of the cabin where I’d lived with Cole after the group home. For all intents and purposes, this was home. Not the shitty apartment in town where my mother had failed to come home one day… but here, the place in the woods my brother had bought and slowly restored. Cole was talentedwith his hands. Working with wood, or metal, he could make beautiful things. Just one of the bright futures that stepping into my father’s MC shoes had cost him.
I unlocked the door with one hand and pushed inside. The house was warm and inviting, lots of polished wood, high ceilings, and woven rugs. It wasn’t what people expected of bikers, but then, Cole wasn’t your average biker.
I kicked my shoes off and strode through the house to my bedroom at the back. Once inside, I shut the door and lay Ari down on the bed. She stirred slightly in her sleep as I pulled away, and I took the chance to linger and study her. Her face was slack in sleep, her long eyelashes resting on her cheeks, where a dusting of freckles begged to be mapped. I took my time removing her jacket and skirt. Her shirt came next. It was ill-fitting and all bunched up under her arms, leaving red marks on her soft skin. I set the clothes aside and got the fire going in the room. We felt the cold in the woods, with a bluff only a little ways off. Then I balled up Ari’s clothes in my hands, strode over to the fire, and tossed them in the flames
Good riddance.
As long as she was under my roof, she wouldn’t wear that awful shit. She dressed in that prim and proper BS, hiding her curves, to fit in and go unnoticed. It hadn’t worked for her like she’d planned… since the moment she’d walked into my bar, I’d noticed her, dowdy disguise or not.
She wasn’t the plain Jane she pretended to be. She was talented as hell, beautiful and stubborn, and oh-so fucking empathetic it hurt my heart.
I traced a finger over her synesthesia tattoo. Her mind had to be a fascinating place, and I wished I could crawl inside there and know what was going on. Instead, I could only observe and wonder.
She was still feeling the effects of the sedative and moved around in her sleep to get comfortable. If I were a different sort of person, I could get in next to her and hold her tight, be normal and sweet, lightness and fucking rainbows. But I was a Bailey, and this game between us was one I intended to win.
I reached under the bed and took out the chain I’d recently installed. I fit the cuff around her ankle and closed it, locking it in place, and then got up and placed the key far out of her reach. I couldn’t wait to see my girl’s reaction to my latest move.
Then I got completely naked and slid into bed beside her. I pulled her into my arms, regardless of the chain around her ankle… because that was who I was. And if I wanted to hold my birthday girl while she slept, no fucking chain was going to stop me or make me feel guilty.
I woke to the clinking sound of Ari fussing with the chain. Rolling onto my back, I put my hands behind my head and stretched. Dawn light filtered through the curtains, but despite the hour, I was immediately awake. I sat up, the sheets pooling in my lap, and took in the sight of Ari standing beside the bed, sexy as fuck in her bra and panties, chain in hand, and murderous expression.
“What the fuck, Marcus?” she demanded.
“Having trouble?” I mused, propping my upper body against the headboard and watching her. “Let me give you a hint… it can’t be picked.”
She snorted softly. “You think I was trying to pick the lock? Because I’m such a skilled criminal mastermind.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know a whole lot about you, Professor. Case in point, I’d never have expected that the prim-and-proper hockey fan who eats a burger and looks so fucking good doing it, other people would charge for the sight, was a thief.”
“I’m not a thief?—”
“Oh, I disagree… and I’m not talking about the money. You’ve fucking robbed me of my peace of mind, my fucking sanity… my predictable life.”
I reached out and grabbed the chain, nearly yanking her off her feet. She fell onto the bed with a cry, colliding into my chest.
