Alicia’s Vengeance by Lila Fox
Chapter Four
Later that night, Stone watched her sleep for the longest time. There was something bothering him about her from the beginning, and he hadn’t been able to figure it out until then. He was amazed at the fight in her and the fact she wanted to kill the people who murdered her sister, but the thing that bothered him was that she looked like a fucking angel, and he could tell this wasn’t natural for her. It was eating at her soul, but her anger was making her do these things she would never have thought she was capable of a few weeks ago when her sister was still alive, and he knew she’d regret it later.
It was really late when he finally closed his eyes and went to sleep. Before he slept, he reached out and set his hand on her arm. It was his way of making sure she couldn’t get away even though he had a guy outside the room all night.
He woke up early the following day to find her sitting on the edge of his bed. Her shoulders were hunched, and she gripped her hands tightly in her lap.
“Hey,” he said and then cleared his throat when he thought she didn’t hear him.
She jerked around to look at him, and he could still see the exhaustion on her face.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Better than I have in the last few weeks.”
He nodded. “I don’t think you want to wear your dirty clothes, so I’m going to ask K if you can borrow some.”
“Who’s Kay?”
“Her name is Kristina, but I’ve always called her K. She’s Striker’s old lady. She’s a sweetheart. She’ll loan you what you need until we can get some of your things.”
“I don’t need anything.”
“Is everything still at your house?”
“Yes. I left it after the funeral, and I haven’t been back.”
Jesus, what would it be like for someone to love you that much? He’d never had anyone come close. He knew his brothers would be sad for a short while if he died, but then he’d become a distant memory. It hadn’t bothered him before, but now, he wanted to have someone care about him.
“We’ll check it out later. Let’s eat, and then we’ll have our talk.”
Stone threw the covers back and stood. He turned back when he heard her gasp. Her eyes were wide as her gaze ran over his body. He tried to be a nice guy by keeping his boxers on before climbing into bed, but they weren’t much and hung low on his hips.
Her gaze skimmed over him, and he physically felt it, and he didn’t understand how. He looked down at himself and tried to see himself through her eyes. He was six-one and over two hundred pounds of pure muscle. He had to stay in shape. They all did because they never knew when they would have to fight, and they weren’t only fighting for themselves but the club and their brothers.
He had no idea how many tattoos he had, but they covered his chest and stomach. They ran over his shoulders to his back, and a few were on his arms.
He smiled when she finally realized he was just letting her take her time. A soft blush covered her face before she jerked her gaze away.
“Hey, I don’t mind if you look. I like looking at you, too.”
Her gaze shot to his and then back to her lap.
He didn’t bother saying anything else before he turned and pulled on jeans, a t-shirt, socks, and his boots.
He held out his hand. “Let’s go.”
She hesitated for a moment before she stood and placed her hand in his.
He opened his door. “Hey, thanks, Taz.”
Taz stood from the chair he’d dragged out into the hallway to stand guard. He had a book in his hand. “No problem. I’m going to crash for a few hours.”
“I’ll tell Striker.” Stone pulled her along until they came to another door, and he knocked.
Striker opened the door as he was zipping his pants up.
“Hey, man. I wanted to ask K if Alicia could borrow some clothes until we can get hers.”
Striker looked over his shoulder and said something before he turned back. “Come on in. She’s dressed.”
****
Alicia tried to pull her hand from Stone’s, but he just tightened his grip. She looked around the guy’s room. It was a little larger than Stone’s and had its own bathroom, and it was very tidy, showing her a woman definitely lived there.
She sucked in a breath when Kristina came out of the bathroom.
Kristina’s eyes widened. “Alicia?”
“Hey. I would never have thought that the woman he’d talked about was you.”
Kristina grinned. “It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you about it later. It looks like you’ve got a story, too.”
Alicia bit down hard on her lip to hold back the tears, but Kristina saw them and came to her, pulling her into her arms.
“God, hun. What’s going on?”
“They killed my sister.” Just saying it out loud nauseated her.
“Oh, God. Who killed Kelly?”
“The Black Demons.”
Striker held up a hand. “Let’s get dressed, and we’ll talk about this down in the office, preferably after I’ve had some coffee.”
Kristina pulled her into her closet and put her in jeans that fit her pretty well, a smaller t-shirt, a bra that was too big, panties, and socks. It felt better to have clothes on, like she was more in control and could run now if she had to.
“Let’s go,” Striker said.
Stone picked up her hand again and led her out into the hallway.
“Can I get my shoes?”
“No, it would make it easier for you to take off,” Stone said.
He smirked when she growled at him.
“You’re a fucking jerk.”
“That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has called me. Thank you.”
He laughed outright when she tried to kick him. He caught her up in his arms. “You try to kick me again, and I’ll just carry you everywhere over my shoulder.” His hand came down on her ass when she used her teeth to grab hold of his chest.
“Jesus, woman. No fucking biting. The next time you do, I’ll bite back.”
She nodded when she really just wanted to deck him.
He released her enough to retake her hand and pulled her into the kitchen.
She’d deal with him later. Right now, she needed to plan her escape, which wouldn’t be easy at all.
