Cara
“So, who is he? The GSW victim,” Jules asked. “You said you knew him?”
We were sitting in a booth at Zero's – our usual haunt after a night shift. It was dimly lit and quiet – both things I treasured after a day of the hustle and bustle under the harsh fluorescent lighting of the ER. Being able to sit back, relax, and have a conversation was nice and was always a great way to decompress after a hectic day.
I shrugged. “A guy I knew back in high school,” I replied. “I wouldn't say that I knew him, really.”
She smiled. “When I went in to check on him, he was asking all kinds of questions about you.”
I felt a spike of fear-fueled adrenaline shoot through me. Damian was a member of a brutal, vicious motorcycle gang. He'd just been brought in with four bullet holes in him. He'd obviously been doing something very illegal – the kind of thing I wanted no part of.
“What kind of questions?” I asked.
Jules cocked her head. “Why do you look like somebody just stepped over your grave?”
“Did you see his kutte, Jules?” I hissed. “He's one of the Kings of Chaos. What kind of questions was he asking?”
“Nothing major, hon,” she said. “He was just asking if you were single and stuff like that. He's obviously really interested in you.”
I clutched my stomach as the knot inside of it constricted painfully. I felt like I was going to be sick. I had worked so hard to keep my life drama – and crime – free. I'd cut my mother out of my life, not to mention quite a few friends along the way. I didn't want Austin around any of that garbage. I wanted to protect him from all of it.
But the fact that somebody like Damian was asking around after me – it instilled a fear that was deep and abiding. He wasn't somebody I wanted in my life – or anywhere around my life for that matter. And I sure as hell didn't want him anywhere near my son.
“What did you tell him?” I asked, feeling almost panicked. “You didn't tell him anything about me, did you, Jules?”
She shook her head. “Of course not. I'm a little bit smarter than that.”
I sighed, a wave of relief rushing through me. “I'm sorry. I just – I don't want people like that in my life or around Austin.”
She reached across the table and squeezed my hand gently. “I know you don't, hon. And I can't say that I blame you. Although – no, never mind.”
I cocked my head. “Although what?”
She shrugged and took a sip of her Manhattan before speaking. “There just seems to be something different about him. Something – decent. We've had to treat some of the Kings before, and he doesn't seem like most of those guys. He's a little rough around the edges, sure, but he just seems… different.”
I didn't know how he seemed any different. To me, if you were wearing a Kings kutte, it meant you were a certain type of person. And ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time, you weren't the type of person I wanted to associate with. The type of person I'd ruthlessly cut out of my world.
“Decent?” I asked. “How do you figure?”
She shrugged again. “Hard to put into words,” she said. “He just seems a little more… thoughtful. And a lot more well-spoken, that's for sure. Instead of asking inappropriate questions like those guys tend to do, he was asking more about you as a person.”
I took a sip of my drink and leaned back in my seat. Despite how she had a point – most guys like the Kings were more interested in what I wore to bed or what my favorite position was than what I enjoyed reading or my favorite movies – that didn't necessarily make Damian any different. Maybe he was just a bit more of a slick operator than they were. Pretend to be interested in me as a person when the whole time, all he was really interested in what was between my thighs.
I'd dealt with enough creeps like that in my time.
“Yeah well, it doesn't really matter,” I said. “He's not the kind of guy I want in my life. Or Austin's.”
She smiled. “Maybe not. But he's really hot, isn't he?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Don't let your new man hear you say things like that. You might make him jealous.”
Julia laughed and finished off her drink. “Speaking of which, I'm supposed to meet him.”
“I see how it is. Cast aside the friend when the promise of some nookie rolls around.”
She playfully slapped my hand. “Yeah well, at least it's really good nookie.”
We paid our tab and left the bar. In the parking lot, she gave me a hug, and I watched her get into her car and drive off. As I walked back to my own car, I was caught up in my thoughts. I had no idea why – despite my best efforts to divert my thinking – Damian Hawke was featuring in them prominently.
Julia was right about one thing – he was hot. But he always had been. Even back in high school. The problem with him was that he knew it. And he always used his looks to his advantage. He'd certainly used those looks and his bad boy reputation to charm his way into the panties of more than a few cheerleaders back then.
I'd never really thought very highly of him. We ran in some of the same circles and had some mutual friends, but he was never somebody I wanted to hang out with. I knew what he wanted, and there was no way in hell I was going to give it to him. Damian had always been arrogant and crude. And he was most definitely really into himself. I liked to have a good time, but I was serious about doing well in school. Damian? Not so much. His life was football, girls, beer, and – well – girls.
I'd heard that he'd joined the Marines after graduation. It had given me some hope that he'd finally gotten his life together and was doing something to better himself. But to be honest, I'd never really given him much thought after leaving high school. I had priorities and things I wanted to achieve. The past, I'd always figured, was better left in the past.
But now the past was right there in my face again. And I had to admit that I was a little bit disappointed to see that he was a member of the Kings. The VP according to the flash on his kutte. Disappointed, but not entirely surprised. Being in an outlaw MC seemed to suit him. And it drew a definitive line in the sand for me.
So, why was it that I couldn't stop thinking about him?