Deceit in Bloom (The Love Unauthorized Series Book 1) Read online

  The now-empty storage garage echoes when I slam the door closed. The lowlife is shirtless and tied to a chair by both his wrists and ankles. Kai circles him like a caged lion, and the guy looks like he’s already shit his pants in fear. Seems he isn’t so tough without his dolls to hide behind. The first thing I do before anything else is rear back and punch the fucker square in his jaw. It’s the least he deserves. His head snaps back upon impact, and he lets out a noise that sounds animalistic, which is loud enough to vibrate the walls. Taking out my aggression on him is a distraction before I play judge, jury, and executioner.

  I turn to Kai. “What do you know?”

  “Bartender down at Vincenzo’s said he heard this guy bragging to his buddies about the garage job, told them he fucked our shit up, and that soon we’d be out of business permanently once he ‘takes care of us.’ Said he didn’t know much about the guy. He’s seen him around a few times and his name is Anthony Carmichael.” Kai looks pointedly to the man I just smashed my fist into. “I believe you just met said Anthony Carmichael. Anyway, I asked around and found out he works at Gumby’s Auto. It was perfect luck that Anthony was working today. I waited till I saw him leave, followed him home, then grabbed him, and brought him back here. He’s been pretty silent. He doesn’t seem to have much motivation to answer my questions.”

  That won’t work. We need to know if he’s working alone and what his motives are. I need to make sure Teagan will be safe. “I think I can motivate him.” I crack my knuckles and rotate my shoulders before I turn away from Kai to face Anthony once again. The dude looks like he’s already taken a few punches from Kai. His left eye is swollen and his bottom lip is busted. He has straggly long blond hair, and grease still coats his skin from working in the auto shop. I’d guess he’s in his early forties. His chest and arms are covered in poorly done black-and-gray tattoos, which look like prison ink.

  There is determination gleaming in his eyes, which tells me it’s going to take some work to get him to spill. I have time. From the holster on the back of my jeans, I retrieve my gun and then pull the rather large pocket knife from my pants. This guy is going to talk even if I have to torment him for hours to get it out of him. Today, I’ll be crossing a line from brutal to lethal without a second thought. You can fuck with my livelihood and probably live through it, but you can’t survive threatening my sister.

  “Why would you break into our garage and steal nothing? This place was filled with shit worth a fortune. Why destroy it all? What was the point?” He remains silent while looking me dead in the eyes. Time for some motivation. I hand my gun to Kai then open the blade in my hand. Slowly, I make a wound on his cheek that is deep enough to hurt like fuck but not enough to cause any real damage. He clenches his teeth while the jagged teeth of the knife cut his skin, proving his conviction by holding in the noise that screams with pain. I pull away and don’t waste time.

  “Are you working alone or did you have help?” Once again, his response is nonexistent. The longer he’s wordless, the more I want to kill him. He’s making any chance of my having remorse evaporate. With quick movements, I ram my knife into the top of his thigh until I can’t push any farther. He screams in agony this time. I let go of my weapon, leaving it lodged in his leg. “You need to start talking or this will keep getting worse.”

  Bracing my hand back around the handle of the knife, I rotate the blade and move it about with the sharp end still embedded in his bone. He cries out. Pain is etched across his bleeding face. His eyes are watery with held back tears. I dislodge the knife, then plunge it quickly back into his leg only inches from the first wound.

  “FUCK! All right . . .”

  Anthony is breathing hard. His jaw works back and forth, his teeth grinding together. Blood drips to the floor from his wounds. A crimson puddle pools beneath him. Kai, who has been watching from a chair a few feet away, sits up in anticipation. “I’m working alone, but I’m not without conspirators. The two of you have many enemies. People are tired of your reign over the streets you don’t even live on and your control of their dealings. You can mow one down, but three more will pop up.”

  With malice in his eyes, he rears back and spits in my direction, narrowly missing my boots. Now that he’s talking, the words spill from his mouth. Kai moves to stand beside me as we wait for what else this man will tell us. “I fucked your garage up because you two need to be taught a lesson. I don’t care about your money or your flashy merchandise. My purpose was a forewarning of the fate inevitable to you. Your arrogance will be your downfall, and you’ll take that slut of a sister down with you. My only regret is I didn’t get my hands on that piece of ass before you nabbed me. I would have loved to hear her screaming my name while I was inside that pussy.”

  Kai loses it. He whales on him, raining down blow after blow to the guy’s face. Blood splatters and the sound of pounding flesh echoes throughout the space of our barren garage. I let him continue with a few more punches but then stop him by physically pulling him off. Kai fights against me, trying to continue the beating Anthony all but asked for. While I want to see him pay for talking about my sister like that, I don’t know if there is any more information we need from him. “Kai, calm down. We can’t kill him before it’s time.”

  Anthony is nearly unrecognizable. The blood and swelling deform his face. He turns his head to the side and coughs blood out of his mouth and throat. It seems hard for him to hold up his head.

  “Here is your last chance to tell us everything.”

  Anthony laughs in response, and the sound is haunting. “There is nothing more you need to know. I worked alone, and my motive was simple: it’s time someone dethrones you. I may not be the one that gets to do it, but it’ll happen. I’m going to die with honor for a good cause. I’m a sacrifice for the greater good of this city and its people. I’ll die today with dignity.”

  Without another thought, I retrieve my gun from where Kai left it on the chair and shoot a bullet directly in the center of his forehead. I sometimes wondered what crossing the line would be like, but I don’t think this is a normal situation to access my thoughts on killing a man. In another circumstance, I might have guilt or remorse and maybe even wonder if this man has a family. In this situation there is none of that. I’m not a monster. It isn’t because the guy smashed my expensive toys. It’s because he threatened Teagan and talked about her in a way I’d not allow anyone to even think of her. I’m secure in what I’ve done, because it means Teagan is safe. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her.

  I turn back to Kai, who’s still visibly angry, shaking with the urge to continue torturing the man who lies dead at our feet. “What do we do with the body?” My words seem to shake Kai out of his altered state. He looks away from Anthony and back at me.

  “You clean up. I have a tarp and cleaning products in my trunk. I’ll take care of the body.” I set to work on the mess left by the man I murdered. In cold blood. Without remorse. For the safety of our family.

  Paisley

  Braelyn is still missing in action the next morning. Her bed hasn’t been slept in, and her car is still absent from its parking spot. She finally returns to the apartment late in the day, but she still doesn’t bring up the Burke conversation again, and I certainly don’t either. She locked herself in our room and I took the couch.

  Now, I’m working my normal morning shift at the diner. I’m so not in the mood to play happy-to-help waitress and have already messed up three orders, dropped two plates, and even spilled an entire glass of orange juice on a rather bossy business lady in a pants suit. It so wasn’t on purpose . . . this time. I swear it. Screwing up orders and overall clumsiness is not normal for me. Usually, I rock this job with my hands tied behind my back, but today, my feet hurt and I’m counting the minutes until my shift is over.

  While I’m bidding adieu to my last remaining table, the front door opens. I wish with all my might that whoever it is takes a seat in the other server’s section. If I don’t get anothe
r table, I could probably be done and out of here in twenty minutes. It’s my luck that my new, least favorite person in the world sits in my section. They’re out of my range of sight, but I’m already groaning and visualizing cursing them out with the most colorful words imaginable. However, that’s something to be only daydreamed about if I want to keep my job. Sighing and then molding my face into something that resembles pleasantness—it’s the best I can do—I go off to greet the table.

  “Hello . . .” I trail off upon noticing who sits alone in front of me. “Oh, hey. I didn’t see it was you.” My smile transforms into something more natural, but I’m also anxious to see if my new guest will have any more joiners to the party of one. Teagan beams, showcasing a grin so wide that if I tried to wear it, I might look deranged, but it’s natural and inviting on her. Her dimples flash at me, saying hello before she does.

  “Hi, Paisley!” Her voice holds a hint of mischief, and while I can’t imagine Teagan causing any trouble, it does substantiate she shares blood with the overwhelming disturbance who has taken hostage over my thoughts all week. I return the gesture of a smile, but mine contains a small amount of hesitation.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” I don’t know what else to say.

  “Just a coffee please.”

  While I’m preparing Teagan’s coffee, Carly approaches me from behind. She’s a waitress who’s more about working hard at pretending to work rather than actually working. She’s young, probably just out of high school. She doesn’t strike me as someone who depends on this job, so maybe in a few years, her work ethic will improve.

  “You were basically done for the day before that new table came in. Do you want me to take it?” It must have been more than apparent I struggled through this shift. Carly barely wants her own tables. I’ve never heard of her offering to take tables for someone else.

  “No, it’s okay. I know her.”

  Carly continues to linger behind me.

  “You know Teagan Hensley? Is she a friend? Did she come to see you? Do you know her brother?”

  Carly wears the facial expression I saw many wear during that party at Burke’s house. This is that rock star mentality thing that seems to turn reasonable people into gawking groupies. “Carly, if you want to talk to her, then do it. Thanks for offering to take the table, but I got it.”

  I finish setting up Teagan’s coffee while Carly stomps off, exiting like a toddler not getting her way. You know, standard adult behavior.

  Once I go back into the dining room, it becomes clear Carly has taken matters into her own hands and is sitting down at Teagan’s table. She is talking animatedly with her hands wildly gesturing. I overhear her telling a story about one time she was standing behind Burke in line at a gas station. Teagan looks bored, as if she often has to endure stuff like this. How’s standing near someone in a gas station ever a remotely interesting story?

  I interrupt. “Hey, Carly, I think table twenty-nine is looking for you.”

  Carly stops mid-sentence. Her face looks like I kicked her puppy. Sorry, Carly. Once again she goes storming off, headed in the direction of the offending table with the invented needs.

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Can I get you something to eat?”

  “Um . . . no, thanks. I’m actually here for you. I wanted to see if you want to do something later?” Teagan seems nervous. I wonder if this is the cause of her mischievous tone from earlier.

  “You came to see if I wanted to hang out?”

  My voice sounds overly skeptical, even to my own ears.

  “I’m going to be honest with you. In my life, more often than not, people use me to try to get closer to Burke and Kai. You saw the way that girl behaved. Not to mention my whole high school experience was girl after girl pretending to be my friend, only to forget I existed the second they entered my house and had access to those two jokers.” Her eyes move toward Carly who is now talking with the customers at her table. “I don’t like being used, so I don’t want to ever do that to someone else. I want you to be my friend for a number of reasons, and some of them involve my own personal agenda.”

  Teagan holds up her fingers to tick off her points.

  “First, you seem like a really cool girl who isn’t fazed or intrigued by the lifestyle my family lives, so I don’t think you’ll be using me to get to them. Second, my brother and Kai scare almost everyone away, making it impossible for me to keep friends, and we’ve already seen you’re not intimidated by them.” Teagan pauses and that mischievous smile lights up her face. “Third, Burke has been a real pain in my ass lately, and I think befriending you will annoy him. So this last one is my own selfish motivation.”

  She still has three fingers pointed out with her other hand wrapped around them, resting on the table, tugging lightly. This is like two elementary school kids making their first friend. I guess neither of us has had much practice in the art of friendship building. “You think us being friends will annoy Burke?”

  “Honestly? Yes.”

  “Then I’m in.”

  Teagan reveals her signature smile, and I return one, feeling a bit adolescent.

  Hours later, Teagan and I are at our third bar and having a blast. Earlier she drove me home from work and hung around my apartment while I showered and got ready for our night out. I was glad when we pulled up to see Braelyn wasn’t home. She’d sworn me away from Burke, and I figured things wouldn’t go well if I showed up at the house with his sister.

  Having someone at my apartment, in my space, was a little nerve-racking, especially considering the gigantic place Teagan lives. Brae and I share a bedroom in a tiny apartment. It’s a long way from where we started. It’s comfy and safe, besides the danger Brae brings to our doorstep. Teagan looked around, asked questions about my life my relationship with Braelyn, and made herself at home while she waited. She told me she lived in this area for a few years when she was a child. I’d learned her parents were deceased and Burke became her legal guardian when she was ten. Not only her story but also Burke’s fascinated me.

  Teagan grabs my hand to take me out onto the small makeshift dance floor in the center of this hole-in-the-wall bar. I struggle to escape her grasp. I’m not a dancer, although I’ve never tried, but she’s surprisingly strong and also determined. “Grow up in a house with Burke and Kai, and you learn how to protect yourself. Strength training is a part of that, and tonight it comes in handy to get your ass on this dance floor!”

  I laugh at her spunk.

  “Remind me there is another reason why I’d love to strangle your brother,” I yell over the loud music blaring from the speakers strategically placed around the dive bar.

  “Is ‘strangle’ a euphemism or are you into kink?” Teagan throws her head back in laughter. I’m not sure if that’s the shots she’s taken talking or or if maybe I’m not as smooth as I like to believe. Is it that obvious I am completely infatuated with him? The lust painted on my face, clear for all to see? Apparently it is, because Braelyn and Teagan both saw it so easily.

  “Relax, I can see you overthinking. You’re only that obvious to women. Men are idiots. He has no idea what’s going on in your head.”

  I let out a strong release of air as relief hits me hard.

  “Why did you want to be my friend then? You say people use you to get to Burke, but before today, you obviously knew I’d been lusting after your brother. So, why befriend me?”

  “There are a lot of reasons you’re not like the others. You’re not lusting after him because you’re after something. It’s natural for you. If anything, that’s more reason to befriend you. You’re going to be around more, so it makes sense. Plus, my brother has always looked out for me, and maybe it’s my turn to look out for him. So, while I do want to be your friend, I may also have been investigating the situation too.”

  “What do you mean I’m going to be around more? I respect everything else you said, but that has me totally confused.” Did she know I already kissed hi
m? Is she reading more into the kiss than the little game Burke and I have going on?

  “I’m good at reading situations, and I’m going to trust my gut on this one. There is something between you and him.”

  “No offense, Teagan, but Burke doesn’t strike me as someone who keeps girls around for long, and honestly, I’m not real big on the commitment thing either.” I shrug my shoulders, and Teagan stops dancing. She pulls me back to our table and faces me as we take our seats.

  “Burke is an asshole to almost everyone. The list of people he cares about is very short, consisting of two people. It’s only ever been the three of us. Even when my parents were alive, they weren’t involved in our lives. Burke can be an asshole.” She sighs, as if she’s frustrated with the reputation the man she adores so much has gained. “That’s not who he is. It’s who he has to be. He will do anything to protect me and to make sure I live a good life, and I think that speaks louder than that he’s socially inept, demanding, and hot tempered.”

  I don’t have much to say to that. I stew in my thoughts and this new information. Teagan drops the subject too. Burke toyed with me as if I were a conquest the last time I saw him, but was there more to it? Did I want there to be more to it? I saw any time spent with Burke as some excitement in the life I seemed to have put on hold. I can’t imagine it being anything more. Teagan doesn’t leave me to dwell on my thoughts for long as she has plans for more shots, drinks, and lighter conversation.

  When I go out with Brae, things are never like this. We don’t talk, laugh, and dance. Mainly when we spend time together, we’re only there physically with one another. Brae is always on the hunt for an opportunity or a scheme, and we inevitably go our separate ways. Being left alone doesn’t bother me, but hanging out with Teagan tonight and actually interacting is new and enjoyable. I’m having fun.