Page 2 of Killer (The Skulls #5)

“I’ve been a biker and a killer for a long time. Don’t fucking start with me. Leave her out of tonight.”

“I know. I know. I know. You’re way older and all that shit. It doesn’t mean fuck all to me. We’re the same.”

Steven kept his gaze on the road.

“We’re not the same. You don’t have a woman waiting for you, and you’ve not just found out the woman you were wanting belongs to someone else.”

Killer slammed his fist on the dash in the hope of relieving some of his anger. What the fuck was he supposed to do?

“Hey, don’t go taking your anger out on my fucking car. You got an issue with your woman then stop being a fucking pussy,”

Steven said, yelling. The car came to a sudden stop, and Steven turned to glare at him.

“What the fuck did you call me?”

Killer asked.

“A pussy. If another guy has gotten your girl then man up, and then go and claim her. You’ve got the whole club behind you. They’re pissed, royally pissed. You’re one of us, and we’ll help you. Stop taking your anger out on my car.”

Steven pulled off again.

Sitting back, Killer thought about what the other man said. Nothing could stop him from going after Kelsey, but first, he needed to get completely fucking smashed.

****

“Why are you here?”

Kelsey asked, storming back into her apartment. She’d tried to catch up with Killer, but he clearly didn’t want to talk to her. Running after a bike hadn’t been her brightest idea at all. She wasn’t into running and was already panting for breath. Michael shouldn’t be here at all. He never bothered her. That was their deal.

“I could have the limo chase after him if you wish,”

Michael said, pointing toward his expensive mode of transportation. She charged past him heading toward her apartment, and now she was waiting for him to answer her question.

Michael closed the door, smoothing down his Italian designed business suit. She imagined everything he wore cost a good fortune. When they first met she’d hated him on sight. Her feelings hadn’t changed in the short meetings they had together.

“Why would I need a reason to visit my wife?”

She cringed at the title. They’d been married since she was eighteen and he was twenty-eight. The ten year age gap hadn’t bothered her at the time. Nothing had bothered her about Michael. Kelsey hadn’t wanted anything from him other than the promise he would leave her alone. All he wanted from her was her name on a marriage certificate. At the time, she couldn’t say no as she’d needed what he offered far more than he needed her. Their ceremony had taken place in a small lawyer’s office with a priest to bless their wedded life.

“I’m not your wife, Michael. You’re not my husband, not really.”

She walked into her kitchen and put the kettle on. The day at the dentist had been a long one. All of their clients had something to say about The Skulls, the local ruling biker club. She had done nothing but think about Killer, the one man who got to her in ways no other man ever had.

“A lot of people would say differently. You’re given an allowance, Kelsey, so why are you living in squalor?”

Michael changed the subject, irritating her.

Closing her eyes she counted to ten. She loved her apartment, and with no intention of being with another man she hadn’t thought about finding something bigger. When she’d agreed to marry Michael, he’d paid her a lump sum of money and gave her a monthly allowance. The amount was bigger than anything she ever earned as a dental nurse.

The initial payment she had used to help with her parents’ medical bills. She’d not seen her family in a long time, but she knew they were grateful for the money she gave them to leave them living in peace. Kelsey had lied to Tate the first time they met. Her family life had never been perfect at all, far from it.

“I’m not living in squalor.”

She gritted her teeth as he checked out her books.

“I know you used the money I gave you to pay for your parents’ health bills. Since then you’ve been putting the money back. Why?”

He turned toward her, holding one of her cookbooks. Michael had sent it to her when they first got married. She’d refused to go on a honeymoon, and they’d never had sex. In fact, they’d never even kissed either. He’d offered to give her the honeymoon, the wedding package. She didn’t want anything from him at all. There was no attraction between them. He didn’t need her for sex as he was more than satisfied in that area. That’s what he had told her all those years ago.

“I married you because you needed me, and I needed a way out from my parents’ debts, Michael. Stop trying to make out we were more than that,” she said.

Ten years ago Michael had been about to take her parents’ home from them. She recalled begging him, offering to do anything. He refused to listen to her. One week into their packing about to leave, Michael appeared once again, offering her a lifeline she didn’t think she’d ever take. If she agreed to be his wife, he’d pay for the house and make sure the deeds were in her parents’ names, and he’d also provide her with enough money to give her a brilliant life. At the time she hadn’t known Killer at all, and no other man was in the picture. With her weight issues she never intended to settle down with any man. They all wanted slender women whereas she had always been big. She didn’t see anything changing in her life. Kelsey had been pretty set in her ways from a young age.

“I was more than willing to make it more. To give you what all girls want.”

He shrugged, clearly not caring.

“You were the one who wanted nothing to do with me.”

He walked up to her where she stood in the kitchen.

“When I found out you were no longer living with your parents I was concerned.”

“And it has taken you over five years to come and find out. What do you really want? You made sure I understood you had plenty of women to deal with your needs.”

She wasn’t a fool. Michael was a bastard through and through. Kelsey didn’t trust him at all. If it wasn’t for him suddenly wanting a wife, he’d have taken her family home away from her. She didn’t know why the sudden need had arisen, only that Michael needed her. Kelsey hadn’t asked as she was never interested in finding out the truth.

“Why do I have to want something?” he asked.

She felt pushed to her limit. Seeing the hurt on Killer’s face would stay with her forever. Kelsey had fucked up bad, and she’d be lucky if he even talked to her again. Pushing hair off her face she glared at him.

“Are you seriously asking me that?”

Michael raised a brow, staring at her waiting.

Growing annoyed, she faced him completely, folding her arms under her breasts.

“Fine, you want to go all quiet on me then I’ll spell it out to you.

In the last eight years of our marriage you haven’t called on me once.

I left my family when I was twenty to live my own life.

Not once have you pretended to care. Why now? What the hell is going on?”

He took a step closer until nothing separated them.

She felt the heat radiating off his clothing.

Her thoughts whirled around wondering what the hell she’d stepped into.

Michael reached out, pushing a strand of hair off her face.

Kelsey tensed, pulling away.

He caught her, stopping her from moving.

There was something dangerous about him.

“I’ve got business close by.

I thought I’d stop by and see you as I’ve heard a lot of rumors lately.

Let’s just say I like being married, Kelsey, and I heard news that may not be the case for much longer, your involvement in The Skulls being one of the reasons why.”

“What?”

She couldn’t even think straight.

Killer was out there.

The one man who made her feel like a sexy woman and she’d hurt him deeply by keeping her married state a secret.

There was no way Killer was ever going to forgive her.

She tried to pull away from him, but he kept coming back making it hard for her to forget about him. Kelsey loved him. How was she ever going to mend the damage she caused?

“The Skulls are popular, and so is your man, the one lurking about outside. I heard about what was going on down here. For so long you’ve lived the quiet life of a dental nurse. Your excitement level is nil. Then I heard about Killer and your budding relationship. I hate to be ignored, Kelsey. We’ve got a deal, and I expect you to live up to it.”

He cupped her cheek, and she pulled away from him and his touch.

“This is why you’ve come? To make sure I don’t find another man to fall for?”

Kelsey left the kitchen trying to put as much space between them as possible.

Michael simply followed her, and she wished she’d bought a bigger house. She didn’t know the first clue about the man she married, and she didn’t care about him either. Love or any kind of feeling hadn’t entered their equation.

“I’ve kept an eye on you for a long time, Kelsey. Regardless of what you think I do care about you, in my own way, even if you were a means to an end.”

Shaking her head, she stared at him as he leaned against the wall.

“You mean I let you screw whatever you want without causing problems?”

“You were not in any position to cause problems. This is a matter of business, Kelsey. You’ll stay my wife and stick to our contract. I don’t give a fuck about the man in your life, but you won’t be together,”

Michael said.

His response angered her.

“What do you know about The Skulls? Why are you here?”

“You’re not wearing your ring,”

he said, pointing at her hand.

“I never wear it.”

Fisting her palm, she thought about the last time she had worn the wedding band. They’d gotten married and he offered to take her away on a honeymoon, which she declined. When she got home, she stored the ring away in her jewelry box. She’d not taken it out since, not even to sell the damn thing.

Michael lifted his hand up, showing her clearly the gold band she paid for glinting on his finger.

“So, you finally put it on. It doesn’t mean anything.”

He stepped close once again, removing the band from his finger.

“Actually, I wear it all the time.”

She saw from the lack of tan along with the ring mark that he indeed wore it all the time.

“You screw everything,” she said.

“So, what man wouldn’t?”

Michael was not for her. He may wear the wedding band she gave him, but they would never be anything other than on paper. She didn’t care about the women he was with and never would.

Heart racing she stared at the band then at him.

“I know nothing about you.”

“We’re married, and I’m not going to let you be taken from me, Kelsey.”

Again he pushed some hair off her face. Every move he made seemed precise. She didn’t trust him one bit.

“I know enough about The Skulls and about your man to know I’ve got a fight. I’m not going to let you leave me, and I’ve never backed down from a fight.”

Before she could stop him, Michael leaned down, claiming her lips. She froze. His lips were hard and unyielding. Her body didn’t respond either to his kiss or to his closeness. She’d never liked him. Michael wasn’t even trying. She saw through his act.

Killer.

He broke the kiss first.

“I see I’m going to have to pick my game up.”

“Leave Fort Wills,”

she said, wanting him gone.

“No, you promised me a lifetime of marriage. You signed the document my lawyers drafted.”

Kelsey frowned, watching him walk toward the front door.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

She hated swearing and rarely did, but Michael’s words confused her.

“When you signed the pre-nuptial agreement you didn’t read it, did you?”

She’d read it, hadn’t understood a word and figured there was nothing there to hurt her. At the time she hadn’t been able to afford a lawyer to help her.

“No, I didn’t read it at all.”

Michael chuckled.

“Honey, you should have read it. You agreed to be my wife until either you or I die.”

“Nothing like that can be written down.”

“Really? I got it down, and you agreed with it. You divorce me, Kelsey, and I will make yours and your man’s life hard. He’s a wanted criminal, you know. Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’ll be at the hotel just outside of town if you want to talk more.”

Michael closed the door behind him, leaving the bomb with her.