Page 39 of Storm

“He’s…he’s alive?”

“As far as I’m concerned, he is.”

“So he might not be?”

“Listen, Kenz. We do a lot of bad shit. You know this. But we aren’t takin’ a dead body along for the ride, so I can only assume that he’s not dead. And if that’s the case, we’re gonna find him.” I sniffle but I don’t know how much I believe him. He could be saying that to calm me down. He could be lying right now.

I take one last look over at the blood stain on the floor before he drags me out of the house. I see cops everywhere, but my uncle doesn’t seem to care that they’re all here. I’m placed inside the van, and Tide jumps in the driver's seat, taking off before I can ask any more questions.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“You didn’t do anything, Kenzee.”

“Tide?”

“Yeah?”

“You’ll find them, right? You’ll make them all pay?” I ask through the sobs that break me in half.

“Yeah, darlin’. We’re gonna make them all pay for what they’ve done.”

I don’t speak the rest of the ride back to the clubhouse. I keep to myself and stare out the window, wiping my cheeks multiple times to clear away the tears that refuse to stop falling.

My heart's broken. My head's broken. I don’t think there’s a part of me that isn’t broken. I feel like I’ve messed up more times than I can count. This is the end result. This is how it all ends.

How can they look at me again? How can they accept me after what I’ve done? That’s two of their men. Two that are dead. One that I know is my fault.

“I don’t know what’s goin’ on in your head, Kenzee, but you better stop.” I look over at Tide as we pull into the clubhouse parking lot.

“I jumped her. That guy's old lady. I fucked her up, and this is what happened because of it, Tide.”

“You were doin’ what you thought was right, Kenzee. You wanted payback, we all do. Whether it was you or one of us, this shit was gonna happen regardless. We planned on goin’ after them.”

“But not like this! Not losing Storm!” I scream before I break down once more. Tide reaches for me, pulling me up next to him and tucking me into his side.

“Storm’s a tough motherfucker. He went to prison for what he did, Kenzee. He can handle these assholes.”

“He was shot,” I cry harder now.

“Doesn’t mean he’s dead. Just means he’s injured. He’s gonna be okay, Kenzee. We’re gonna find him, and we’re gonna handle the motherfuckers that did this to them. For Storm and your dad.”

Chapter 15

Storm

“You know if she was in there, she’s dead now. We lit that place up,” the asshole tells me as he shoves his finger into the hole in my leg. I scream from the pain as he laughs in my face. If they did set her house on fire, I didn’t see them do it. Not that I could have with that hood over my head.

“You’re all dead,” I hiss. He laughs and goes about his torture. He pours salt into every fucking wound I have, and I scream every single time. After a while, though, I passed out.

When I do wake up, I’m covered in sweat and alone in the dark, my wrist chained to a pole. I don’t know where the fuck I am, but I know I’m in a basement.

My mind doesn’t focus on the here and now. It focuses on Kenzee. If they did set her house on fire, did the guys make it there in time? Did they get to her before it burned? I can’t imagine her being locked in that chest and burning alive. I know these assholes didn’t find her. I heard them bitching about it, too. They wanted her, and I have no doubts that they will go after her again if she’s alive.

If she isn’t, the only thing comforting me is that she’s with her dad, and now he’s holding her in his arms just like when she was a kid.

I let my mind drift to places it shouldn’t. Places that could never be. Like Kenzee and me in the future, if there ever was one for us. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking. I doubt that there would be a future for us. This life isn’t for her. When she said she didn’t want a man in the club life, she was right. She doesn’t need this shit. She doesn’t need this fear in life every day. She doesn’t need the worry of what might happen.

I shake my head as sweat drips down my temples. The heat down here is ridiculous. The assholes haven’t said what the fuck they want, but I know who they are. It was the same asshole that I pulled the gun on when Kenzee beat his old lady’s ass. I know what this is about, but I wonder if they know just how deep this runs. I’m guessing not. Or maybe they do. Who the fuck really knows at this point?