Page 91 of Deadly Aloha
“And lastly, we have a horse shaver. Personally, I am looking forward to trying this one the most. Iama Hawai‘ian cowboy, after all.” I tipped my hat at him. “Now, let’s get started. According to my research, the longest time anyone’s been recorded surviving being skinned alive was three days, and it was hypothermia that killed them in the end.” I tapped the carrot peeler against his other collarbone. “Let’s see if we can break that record, ?ae? Oh, and Mr. Jones,” I smiled down at him, “don’t forget to scream.”
Three Months Later
I rubbed my hand over Lu’s baby bump where my son was growing. We got confirmation a few weeks ago that wewerehaving a boy, and I was taking great joy in telling Lu that I was right. My boy was being very active today and was nearly two pounds already. I was extremely proud of my balls since hearingthatnews.
Some changes had come to the club since we returned from the Mainland. Some of it had been determined by Lu and Holly, of all people, and others had been voted on in Church. The bunkhouse’s construction was now finished and my house was completely demolished. Rather than building a new house, though, Lu and Holly had determined that we, Lu, me, and our baby, would move into Bacon’s house. Bacon was as blindsided by this news as I was, but he was also as pussy whipped as me. He would do anything to make Holly smile, and this was what Holly wanted.
Only, it wasn’t just Lu and me. Theentireclub had now moved into the McMansion. The Prospects were now living in the bunkhouse, which had become our party, torture center, and new porn studio. Club members now lived in the giant house. Some were doubled up, but there were now plans to expand the building. This time, I was pitching in with the insurance money I’d been given for my house. It wasn’t much, but it was more than nothing.
And Bacon was a sucker when it came to putting a smile on Holly’s face.
There were two major rules that he implemented:nodrugs of any kind in the house and the sex dungeon was off-limits.
Our baby wasn’t going to be the only kid in residence either. We were still trying to determine the truth about Caroline and Samantha. DNA proved that Samantha was not Caroline’s, as we suspected, but Caroline was her mother in every other way. And despite her young age, she was a good mom from what we could see. Tangaloa was keeping a close eye on both of them, and had even gone as far as to give up his room in the McMansion and had been sleeping either in the bunkhouse with the Prospects or on one of the couches in the living room. Neo was doing their damnedest to figure out who Caroline’s family was. Anytime one of us asked, even one of the women, she had a panic attack.
It might be one of those things that went unanswered.
Kalea had not been back, but I was keeping a close eye on her and Pualani. She was another mystery I was going to solve. Just not today.
Today, the house was quiet for once. The others were out for a ride. Lu had been horny as fuck, so we’d stayed behind. Maybe it was wrong for the President of a Motorcycle Club to skip a club run, but I didn’t give a fuck. Actually, Ididgive a fuck. That was kind of the point.
Lu and I were now relaxing. The windows and doors were open, the waves were crashing in the background, and we justwere.
Until heavy footsteps came stomping into the room. Both of us cracked an eye open to see Tangaloa, who was fuming so badly I was surprised smoke wasn’t coming out of his ears. Things had been tense, to say the least, between the two of us. Lu’s ultimatum hadn’t said I couldn’t still be pissed at him.
In our defense, I was busy with Lu and the pregnancy and he’d been keeping pretty busy with Samantha and Caroline. And we’d get over it. Eventually. We didn’t have to talk it out like Lu kept insisting we needed to.
“Who pissed in your Cheerios?” I asked. Lu and I were naked, though we had a throw tossed casually over us. We hadn’t been expecting anyone back for a while, which also begged the question why Tangaloa was back so soon. Were the others too?
“Caroline!”
Both Lu and I sat up a little more, though I had to help her a bit. “What about her?” Lu asked. But Tangaloa just shook his head. He was pacing like a wild cat caught in a cage. “Is she hurt?”
“What?” Tangaloa stopped. “No, of course not. She’s fine. That’s the problem!”
Lu wasn’t understanding but I was. My eyes narrowed on my ex-brother-in-law. “Tangaloa,” I warned, my voice low and dangerous. He better not be saying what it was I think he was saying.
He flinched, and I knew in that moment that I was right. “Look, something,” he cringed, “something happened. It was consensual, I swear. I just…” He shook his head. “I need to go before something happens again.”
My eyebrows flew up. “She’s a seventeen-year-old trafficking victim, you sick fuck!” I didn’t care that sixteen was the age of consent, he had no right!
“You think I don’t know that?” he roared back at me. “You think I haven’t called myself worse over the past few months! And now…?” he shook his head, his face tormented with guilt. “I can’t get her out of my head, Aloiki! That’s why I need to go. I need to leave. She’s a temptation I’m not strong enough to resist.”
I went to stand up, but Lu stopped me. She narrowed her eyes on Tangaloa. “Look at me,” she snapped. Tangaloa paused and did as ordered. “Do you have feelings for her? Real feelings? You answer that, and I believe you, and I’ll let you leave. If not, if you’re just fucking around with her and her feelings, I’ll string you up myself on Tommy’s boat.”
Tangaloa stared at Lu for a long time, but there was something on his face even I couldn’t describe. It was like longing mixed with self-loathing. “I wouldn’t be in this much agony if I was just fucking around with her.”
Lu nodded slowly. She looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes sad. “I believe him.”
I did too, the rat bastard. “Go,” I ordered. He started towards the door like I’d lit a fire under his ass. “And Tangaloa?” He paused, looking back at me. “Don’t come back here.” Lu gasped, but didn’t voice an argument. “Not until you get your shit together,” I amended for her sake. “I swore to protect those girls, and I’ll do that, even from you.”
Tangaloa wasn’t pissed, which made me wonder how long he’d been struggling with feelings for Caroline. “Mahalo,” he said softly, and then raced out the door.
Lu tried to twist herself around to face me, but her body didn’t bend so well these days. “Help me,” she pleaded. I chuckled and shifted her so she was sitting sideways on my lap instead of lounging back between my legs. “You can’t keep him from property. He lives here?—”
“Not if he’s having feelings for an underage girl that’s under my protection,” I argued. When she opened her mouth to say something else, I kissed her instead. “Enough. It’s not today’s problem. Today is forus. We have this entire house to ourselves.” I dragged my hand up her bare leg, raising goosebumps as I did. “Just you and me, wife.” I bit her lip.
Though she still looked worried, heat rose in her eyes. “I’m not your wife yet.”
