Page 11
Jake
I watch as Flash pulls up in front of my family home. It’s the house I grew up in and now technically share with all three of my brothers. It’s massive, and even though the four of us share it, we’re not exactly living on top of each other. We all have our own wings inside the house that are the size of most people’s houses. We had the place redone when our parents moved away. We still wanted to live close to each other but didn’t want to be living on top of one another. Having separate wings for each of us, with the common areas we share, has been the best decision we have ever made. We’re still close, but we have our own space when we need it. There are times when we all just need some time to ourselves, whether it’s because of a case one of my brothers has been working on, and they just need to decompress, or just because, like the siblings we are, we’ve driven each other mad.
Until I was injured, I wasn’t living in my section of the house; I was staying at The Clubhouse. I thought it was the best course of action with me being a Prospect and wanting to forge the needed connections with the other prospects and patched members. I never regretted that choice either; I enjoyed staying at The Clubhouse and getting to know all the different brothers, even if most of what I learned was by keeping quiet and watching. I’ve always felt like you learn more about people that way, and I’ve never gone wrong by using my observation skills to learn about people. You see more and hear more when people don’t realize they’re being watched. It doesn’t mean I didn’t miss being around my brothers, though. We hadn’t lived apart until that point, and it was a big adjustment for me. Probably why I was even quieter than I normally would be. Not like anyone seemed to mind that I didn’t speak much.
Being injured as badly as I was meant I moved back to my family home to recover. The Clubhouse might be great under normal circumstances, but it doesn’t exactly have the right environment for someone recovering from an almost life-ending injury. There’s always something going on in The Clubhouse with so many people living there; it tends to be loud and rambunctious, and well, as much as I normally enjoy watching all that take place, it’s not what I needed at the time. I needed calm and quiet, which I knew I’d get here at home, even with all three of my brothers here with me, fussing over me.
Flash actually moved into my wing of the house with me during my recovery. I can still see his reaction in my mind the first time he saw the sheer size of the house; it was pretty comical if I’m being honest. His perfectly squared jaw dropped open, and his green eyes grew so wide I was actually worried they might pop straight out of his head. That was the moment I first really paid attention to just how attractive Flash really is. It came upon me out of nowhere, smacked me right in the face, and I haven’t been able to not take notice of him since then.
Before that moment, I was more than a little bit oblivious. At the hospital, my main priority and focus was my own recovery and finding a way to handle the amount of pain I was in; even hopped up to the gills on pain relief, I was in pure agony. Before that, I didn’t have much interaction with Flash; I only saw him in passing a couple of times around The Clubhouse. I never looked closely at him; I had no reason to. My entire focus was on proving myself to the members of Devil’s Inferno so that I could earn my patch.
For some reason, that moment outside my home, that all changed. I couldn’t help but notice how handsome he is, and I’ve been struggling with my budding feelings ever since. The more time I’ve spent with him, the more I’ve gotten to know him, the more my feelings have grown and changed. The way he went from being pretty much totally closed off to opening up to me about his past with Wyatt and why he acted the way he did with people just tugged on my heart. He was trusting me with some of the most painful things from his past; he was being honest and open about it all. He never needed to do that, but for some reason he did, and it meant a lot to me.
I’m not certain if his feelings are changing the way mine have, but sometimes I swear I see more than a little glimpse of want and heat in his eyes when he looks at me. Especially since I’ve been back on my feet and come out of the other side of my recovery. I know the time is coming where I’m going to need to talk to him about all of this; I need to figure out where I stand and whether or not we’re ever going to be anything more than friends, but I guess it’s going to have to wait just a little bit longer until we’ve figured all this stuff with Micah out. This is far more important right now than figuring out if there could be something romantic between us.
As Flash pulls off his helmet, he gives me a small smile, which isn’t even close to reaching his eyes. It’s clear to me he’s struggling more than a small amount with all this to do with Micah. I can’t even begin to imagine the shock he must have felt when he saw the spitting image of Wyatt standing outside of The Compound Gates, especially when I know how much he misses and worries about Wyatt on a daily basis. Talk about a kick in the gut there; I seriously hope speaking to Megan will garner some sort of answers for him. I’m not sure that will happen, though; this is Megan we’re talking about. She isn’t exactly known for being open and honest. Lying and manipulating those around her? Sure, she’s the fucking master at that shit, but being a trustworthy, honest person? Yeah, not so much.
“You doing okay?” I ask as he walks towards me, running his hand through his brown hair. I’m pretty sure he’s trying to make sure he hasn’t got helmet hair, which he does tend to have a problem with sometimes with the longer length of his hair on top. Honestly, I can’t say I mind much when I see him like that; I like it when he doesn’t look so put together; it certainly gives me an idea of what he’d look like after other activities that involve a lot less clothes. I need to shut these thoughts down this instant; Flash needs my attention in the here and now, not stuck in the clouds of my imagination.
“My head is fucked, J. I know deep down that I’m not going to like any answers I end up getting, but I can’t just let this go. I need to know the truth even if it does end up changing everything I thought I knew.” He says, and I can hear the pain in his voice. I fucking loathe that all this is hurting him right now, and there’s fuck all I can do to make it better.
Yeah, that’s another thing. He gave me a nickname once he moved into the house with me. It happened out of nowhere, and he’s literally the only person on the planet to ever do it. My name is short; no one has ever felt the need to shorten it even more before him. It makes me feel like it’s something special, something just between us.
“Whatever answers we find out, we’ll deal with it together. You were there for me when I needed it most; now it’s my turn.” I reassure him.
“What did I ever do without you, J?” He asks sincerely.
“I don’t know, but you’re stuck with me now.” I say lightheartedly, hoping to break some of the tension in the air that’s lingering because we both know what’s about to happen will be world-changing. Well, it will if Megan actually gives us the information we need. If she doesn’t, then we’re going to have to rely on those around us to do some digging online. Either way, before we know it, we will have answers, no matter where they come from.
“Good.” He replies seriously, eyes once again flashing with want momentarily before he quickly blinks it away.
I’m not quite sure what to say back to that, so I don’t say anything. Instead, I start heading towards The Khaos Holding Facility located on the grounds. It’s practically in our backyard, but I’ve never felt the need to complain about that. I know it’s more than a little convenient for my brothers having the building they tend to work out of so close to home, and it was handy for our parents when we were growing up; they never had to leave for longer periods of time than were absolutely necessary, meaning they were always there for us kids when we needed them.
It doesn’t take us long to reach the building in question, and other than the palm scanner on the outside, nothing gives away what the building really is. I press my hand on the scanner and listen for the beep to indicate it’s been unlocked. As soon as I hear it, I pull the door open, hold it, and signal for Flash to enter first. I step through behind him and make sure I hear the lock re-engaging. You can never be too careful, especially with the types of people that end up being held here. It’s not them getting out that is the worry, but people trying to get in here to release them. There have been a few attempts at that in the past, so everyone takes security pretty seriously around here.
Those attempts never ended well for the people trying to gain entry to the facility, but still being cautious is always the best option. It only takes a split second for someone to take advantage of someone not paying as much attention as they should before there’s a whole new situation to be dealt with.
Waiting for us inside isn’t any of my brothers like I expected but a young man who, if looks could kill, I’d be dead. Can’t really blame him for not being happy to see me; I did throat chop him and punch him in his stomach, but in my own defense, I asked him to move from the door I suspected had Wreck behind it, and he didn’t listen. I wasn’t going to stand there and argue with him. Time was of the essence.
“The woman has been moved to interview room three. The bosses are waiting for you down there.” He informs us, voice tight. It’s clear to me he’d rather be anywhere other than here talking to me. Oh well, that’s his problem. I don’t for a moment regret my actions from the day I found Wreck. He needs to get over it and move on like everyone else is trying to.
“Thank you.” I reply politely before taking the lead and heading in the direction we need to go. I might not work for The Khaos Group, but I’ve spent more than enough time inside this building. I know it like the back of my hand.
“I want you to remember that just because Megan says something, it doesn’t mean it’s true. We’re going to verify all the information she gives us.” I say as we’re walking towards our destination.
“That’s a good plan; she’s more than proved she’s willing to lie about anything and everything.” Flash says angrily, and I know it’s because he’s remembering everything this woman has done.
We reach the corridor containing interview room three and find Rex, Austin, and Seth all waiting for us. I’m not shocked that they’re here; each of them has spent more than enough time around Flash during my recovery for them all to have forged their own friendships with him. Their presence here does make me love and appreciate them all the more. They all know what’s going on and are here to show Flash he has their support on top of the support he already has from Devil’s Inferno.