Page 14 of Oz (Marked Skulls MC 4)
I crushed the cigarette in my fist before I’d even lit it.
“I fucking knew it! How did this happen?” I growled and Dash breathed in deeply.
“There were a couple of them who hadn’t gone to the shootout. Our headcount was clearly wrong. They went into hiding and laid low till they could regroup.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew he was only the messenger, but I couldn’t help but take out my anger on him.
“And now they have? And looking for revenge?” I growled.
Dash looked apologetic. Like it was somehow his fault. I knew all he wanted to do was help the MC, prove himself to us.
“That is what my sources seem to think,” he said.
“Do your sources know what their plan is?”
Dash shrugged.
“Not yet, but we’re working on it.”
“Hopefully you guys figure it out before they strike. We need to be fucking prepared.”
He was nodding his head in agreement.
“Do you know how many there are? What the strength of the Dark Legion is, now?” I asked him and he shook his head.
“Fuck!” I growled and kicked my bike in anger.
Dash was watching me in silence. Letting me play out my rage.
I growled and grunted for several minutes till with heaving shoulders, I was finally able to calm myself.
“I’ll have to tell the rest of the MC. At least Lewis, Girth and Abe. We need to start formulating a plan for this shit,” I hissed and Dash nodded again.
“We’re going to try our best to find out the details as soon as possible.”
I was running my hand through my hair in frustration. Eventually Dash gave me another cigarette and I sat down on a broken-down portion of a wall of the building and lit it this time.
“Shit’s going to hit the fan once Lewis finds out that we didn’t get all the Dark Legion the last time,” I said. Dash stood over me, pinching his cigarette with his fingers as he smoked.
“If we destroyed them once, we can do it again,” he said and we looked at each other and smirked.
I sat there in silence for some time, thinking.
“What’s going on with you and that chick from the diner?” Dash asked.
I looked up at him with a jerk.
I hadn’t told anyone about Kaya. I’d taken care not to let anyone see us together either. I was extra careful whenever she came over to T-Bone. It would always be either after her shift ended or right before it began, and I would take her right in the supply closet. After our first time in there, it somehow became our thing.
“You know about her?” I asked and there was a smirk on his face. He shrugged.
“I’m digging for intel remember? Yeah, I heard,” he said.
“What did you hear?”
“That there’s something going on with you and some waitress from the diner. I don’t know who she is, I wouldn’t recognize her face,” he told me.
I took another long drag of my cigarette.
This shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did. It was worrying to realize that Dash had heard about Kaya and me. It meant that others could probably dig up this information as well. If the Dark Legion wanted and if they knew where to look, they might just discover my weak link.
“There’s nothing going on between us,” I told him.
I looked away from Dash guiltily. Even though he was a prospect and I was his mentor…he was watching me in the way that said he could figure me out.
“What?” I snapped at him, flicking the burning cigarette to the dusty ground. He shrugged his shoulders.
“You seem bothered by it. I just wanted to let you know what I’ve heard so you can be careful if you need to be,” he said.
I clenched my jaw, and I could feel a rage rising up in me. I was pissed off because my private life was out now. At the same time, I knew that Dash meant well. Secretly, I was a little glad that he knew.
“Okay, thanks man,” I mumbled and ran a hand through my hair.
He didn’t ask any more questions because he didn’t want to push me—which was definitely for the best.
But now it was me who felt like saying something.
“Her name’s Kaya, and she’s a beautiful new blonde who waitresses there,” I said. Dash was looking at me intently. He still didn’t want to ask too many questions and spook me.
“She’s come here from Perry. Perry, man. Shit! She practically ran away from home. She’s like a delicate little thing, the baby of the family. Pampered and well looked after. But she’s sweet and kind and I don’t know…”
My voice trailed. I shouldn’t even have been talking about Kaya this way. Under any other circumstance, I would have felt self-conscious and embarrassed. But somehow, I felt comfortable talking about this to Dash.
“You really like her?” he asked.
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I couldn’t say it aloud. The last time I thought I had feelings for a girl was when I was a teenager, and it was nothing. It meant nothing.
“She’s cool,” was all I could say.
And that was all Dash needed to hear to understand.
“That’s cool,” he added and I gritted my teeth.
“But this isn’t a good time,” I replied and Dash nodded, pushing his hands into his pockets.
“With the Dark Legion rumbling and making trouble, the last thing I want is to get a girl like Kaya involved in my shit.”
“She doesn’t have to be involved. Not yet, anyway,” he said and I shook my head.
“If they find out that I’m interested in her, they could use that to their advantage. They know they can’t get to the other women in the MC. Lila, Jordan, Alexis—they all live with their men. They’re protected.”
“Kaya is the only one who lives by herself, and doesn’t have the MC’s protection,” he added and I grunted.
“What are you going to do, man?” he asked and I shrugged.
“I don’t want to tell her and scare her. Maybe I just lie low,” I said.
“What? Like, ignore her?”
I said nothing.
Ignoring Kaya after all the time we spent together would be cruel. I brought her to my place. We had breakfast together. She was expecting to hear from me soon. If I didn’t show up, or didn’t get in touch with her soon, she’d think I wasn’t interested anymore.
She would end up feeling like all the other women who were ever associated with me. Women who I needed for one purpose alone.
And Kaya was so much more than that. She deserved better.
“I don’t have any other option. I need to stay away from her to keep her safe.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Four days ago.”
Dash said nothing. He was thinking the same thing I was. That if I let too much time go by, she might move on. She might start despising me. How often do you get to feel the way I did about Kaya?
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, man,” Dash said and I nodded.
Standing up, I shook his hand.
“Thanks for being honest with me and letting me know. The other prospects wouldn’t have the balls,” I told him.
Dash smirked and gave me a mock-salute.
“I’ll keep you updated,” he said, as I jumped up on my bike again.
I was itching to go see Kaya. I wanted to hear her voice, feel her presence in my apartment. But I didn’t want to lead the Dark Legions to her.
Chapter 20
Kaya
Fixing a smile on my face, I walked over to the booth where the four guys were seated. They were looking at me like they knew me, and I couldn’t but wonder how much Oz had actually told them about me.
I decided to play it cool. If this was the way he wanted me to get to know his world and his friends—I was willing to play along. I had butterflies in my stomach. I was excited about the fact that Oz liked me enough to try and get me involved in his life.
“Good morning, boys,” I said, in my u
