Page 31 of Kaz (Salvation Kings MC: New Freedom Chapter #2)

Kaz

HE WAS prepared for the fist coming at his face. He wasn’t prepared for the knee to his balls. Pain reverberated through his groin like fucking wildfire. He hunched over with a wheezing sound and grasped the back of the couch to keep from keeling over completely.

“The fuck did you do, you asshole?” Emma snapped at him.

She’d given him an hour before she came looking for him.

He’d been eyeing a bottle of whiskey, feeling nothing but empty inside.

It was as if Miles had torn his heart out and taken it with him when he left.

He didn’t know what the hell to think or feel.

The only thing grounding him right now was the pain in his groin. It hurt like a motherfucker.

“Fuck’s sake, Em,” he forced out through gritted teeth. “I don’t know.”

“What the hell do you mean?”

He straightened, biting back a groan of pain, and met Emma’s brown gaze. Her eyes weren’t as light amber as her brother’s, but the same anger blazed in them.

“I asked him to be my old man,” he said, his voice tight with anguish.

Emma blinked, and her nose scrunched up.

“Why would that make him leave?”

Kaz sighed and turned to rest his ass against the back of the couch. He dropped his head forward, Miles’s words rushing through his head. We need trust and honesty. We don’t have that. You made sure of it.

It hurt more than Emma’s knee to his balls. A lot more.

“He wanted to know club business,” he muttered.

At Emma’s silence, he raised his head, gaze finding nothing but fury on her face.

“You threw away the best thing that’s ever happened to you because he wanted to know what’s going on?”

“I tried to explain―”

“Bullshit.”

He stared at her, his mouth dropping open in disbelief.

He noticed how the few people still present were making a quick exit. They respected him, but clearly, they feared Emma more. He couldn’t say he blamed them.

“You let him go.”

He straightened, his words clipped as he said, “No. He left . Again.”

Emma’s glare had him stumbling back a step, cursing when he bumped into the couch.

“That’s it, isn’t it? Everybody leaves you, huh? Is that what you tell yourself to feel better?” Emma shook her head with a humorless laugh. “It’s not hard to leave if you drive them away. Do you even know why he wants to know? Why he fucking need to?”

“No,” he croaked out, her words hitting harder than he wanted to let on.

That was his fear, wasn’t it? That he wasn’t worth people sticking around for. That he wasn’t worth Miles staying. He’d tried so fucking hard, and he’d still lost him. He would never be enough. How could he be?

“Oh, Kaz.” Emma’s eyes softened as she stepped closer. “He saw our parents’ murder. He’s fucking terrified something’s going to happen to the people he loves. Especially you, because he knows how fucking reckless you are.”

“I would tell him if I thought he was in danger―”

“He doesn’t give a shit about that. It’s you he’s worried about. He’s terrified of losing you, and the only way he could shield his heart was to walk away. And you let him.”

He snapped his mouth shut, clenching his teeth hard, because she wasn’t wrong. He had let Miles walk away. He’d thought it was the right thing to do. To let Miles decide. Maybe he’d made the decision for Miles by not stopping him or, at the very least, trying to.

“I need to go,” he said under his breath, glancing around even though he had no clue what he was looking for.

“No, you need to listen,” Emma started, grabbing him by the arm when he tried to walk off. He snapped his gaze onto her, that determination flashing through golden eyes, making his breath catch for a moment.

“Em, I need to go―” She opened her mouth to cut him off, so he put a hand over her mouth to stop her. “I’m going after him.”

Emma blinked, her shoulders dropping as tension left her body, and when he removed his hand, she merely sighed and watched him with her brows furrowed.

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I’m not gonna let anything get between us. Especially not this, because,” he paused, throwing his arms wide, “ this is worth nothing without him.”

Emma pressed her lips together, gaze running over his face.

“What the hell are you waiting for, then?”

A smile flittered across his lips, and he pulled her in for a quick hug, uncaring that she merely cursed him the whole time.

He let go of her, giving her a nod and receiving one of encouragement back.

He dug his keys out of his pocket and took off toward his bike.

It didn’t matter what it took to prove he wanted this relationship.

He’d made himself and Miles that promise, and he intended to keep it.

Even if he had to give up the club. He wasn’t spending another decade without Miles by his side. Life wasn’t worth living without him.