Which was the right thing to do because Dirty was head over heels for Chloe. Neo loved her, but not like that. He loved her because his buddy did, and because she was sweeter than the cakes she baked. Platonic love, nothing more incendiary.
Neo piled his plate high with chicken, knowing how good it was going to be when he bit into it. Fortunately, Chloe had made a shit ton of food. She knew who she was dealing with when it came to this crowd.
Neo was perched at a table and biting back a moan over the buttery biscuits when Kayla appeared beside him. She held a plate and a drink and she looked uncertain of herself. Ana was asleep in her stroller at another table, watched over by Bailey.
“How are you, Zach?”
Neo swallowed a bite of biscuit and worked at keeping his dick under control. “Fine. How about you?”
“I’m okay.”
He’d found the only table in the yard that was small and had two chairs. He glanced at the empty one. “Did you want to sit?”
“I, um….” Kayla nibbled the inside of her lip. His balls tightened. “For a second, I guess.”
He stood and pulled the chair out and Kayla sank down on it, keeping her eyes from meeting his. She tore off a piece of chicken and popped it in her mouth.
“Good, huh?” Neo asked.
“Oh yes. Chloe knows how to cook.”
“She sure does. Dirty is a lucky bastard.”
Kayla swallowed and nodded. “He is. Nobody in our house cooks like this.”
He knew she meant the house where she lived with Camel and Bailey. She was in the in-law apartment that was an addition the previous owner had built. It had a separate entrance from Camel and Bailey’s house, as well as its own kitchen, living, bed, and bath. They’d bought the house with Kayla in mind, but they also knew they could rent the apartment if she ever moved out.
He’d been inside the apartment a couple of times. The night they’d spent together had been at his place though. He still thought of her every time he climbed into his bed. It was torture to remember the way she’d felt beneath him. Her silken heat gloving his dick, her perfect little tits in his hands and mouth, her tongue sucking his like she couldn’t get enough.
Fuck. Stop, dude.
He was going to embarrass himself right here in the middle of the damned party with a hard-on that wouldn’t go away if he didn’t rid his mind of those images.
Kayla didn’t say anything. Neo didn’t either. He was too busy thinking unsexy thoughts. He ate in silence, wondering what she wanted and getting pissed that she didn’t speak. Maybe she didn’t want anything.
Except to torture him.
“How’s your sister?” Kayla finally asked.
“She’s fine, thanks. The kids are doing well, and she’s got a new boyfriend.” Maybe this one would stick. He hoped so. He hoped this guy was a good one.
“That’s good, right?”
“I think so. I hope it is.”
He’d told Kayla about Lesley and the husband who’d abandoned her and the kids. He wasn’t in a motorcycle gang or doing anything illegal, but he wasn’t a prince either. Neo had thought Kayla needed to hear about someone raising her kids alone when he’d told her about Lesley. His sister was doing the best she could. Neo sent gifts for the kids. He’d tried to send money, but Lesley wouldn’t take it. She was too proud, his little sis. She wanted to do everything herself. He had no choice but to let her, but he hated watching her struggle. If she’d ask for his help, he’d be there in an instant.
He’d left home to join the military when she was still in high school, and that’s when everything went to hell. Their parents divorced, and Lesley got stuck with their narcissist of a mother. She’d gone a little wild, and then she’d gotten pregnant. She’d married the father, but teenage parents didn’t stand the best chance of making it work.
“Zach, I…” Kayla set her fork down and clasped her hands in her lap. He waited. She shook her head and scrambled to her feet, grabbing the plate. “I’d better get back to Ana. It was nice to talk to you.”
Neo watched her go, his gut hollowing out with disappointment as she reached her sister and dropped into a chair beside her. Dirty was at the next table over. He met Neo’s gaze, eyebrow lifted.
Neo shrugged, though he felt anything but unaffected. Why did Kayla Jones twist his guts the way she did?
“Join us, Neo,” Dirty called. “There’s room. Drag that chair over here.”
He started to say no. But why? He’d have plenty of time to brood over Kayla and her hot and cold reactions to him tonight when he was alone. He joined the group at the picnic table and did his best not to think about Kayla’s perfect ass in his hands as he slammed into her hot little pussy and made her beg him for release.
Kayla sat in her car outside of Zach’s house and gripped the wheel, thinking hard. The party had broken up a little while ago. Bailey and Alexei had taken Ana home earlier when Ana started to fuss. Kayla had insisted she could do it, but Bailey said, “It’s okay, honey. Stay with Avery and Chloe and have fun. Alexei and I will put Ana down in the guest room tonight, so take your time.”
Kayla let them do it because she needed to talk to Zach. She’d told no one about the phone call she’d gotten two days ago. She’d blocked the number. It didn’t matter, though. The man knew where to find her which meant she’d been living in fear every moment since. He might have been the one in the car, though she didn’t know for certain. The one in the car had gotten angry fast. The one on the phone had been cooler. More calculating. That’s why she feared there was more than one of them.
And they were watching her. She didn’t really think they wanted Ana as payment, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She couldn’t.
Kayla stared at Zach’s place as if looking for a sign. An idea had begun to form itself in her head this afternoon at the party and she couldn’t shake it. It was an outrageous idea, and yet outrageous was what she needed right now.
She didn’t know who the man on the phone was, but he was one of the Kings of Doom. He had to know that she was responsible for the raid on their operation. They’d been scattered and broken up, but clearly not all of them had gone to prison.
What she didn’t understand was why he’d called her. Why not just kill her? It’s how the Kings had always operated. Revenge was sacrosanct in their world.
Settling scores. Sending messages. Nobody betrayed the club and got away with it.
So why let her know they knew where she was? Why not attack when she least expected it?
Kayla bit the inside of her cheek. They didn’t come for her yet because someone wanted her to suffer. They wanted her scared. Or someone did anyway.
James? He was in prison, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t find thugs to do his bidding. He would know how to contact her.
Maybe she should tell Bailey and Alexei about the call. Just tell them and let them deal with it.
But how could she do that? It’d been months since the SEALs had raided the Kings of Doom compound and rescued Bailey. Months in which Bailey had gotten over the trauma, gone back to school, and gotten engaged. She was planning a wedding next month, and she was happier than Kayla had ever seen her.