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“Ha ha.”
Suddenly, it’s important to me that this girl takes me seriously. “No, for real though, it’s about this poor student who decides he’s going to kill this evil bitch pawn broker and take her money. He tells himself he deserves the money more than she does, because she’s a bitch, and he’ll take it and go on to do great things with it that he couldn’t do if he remained poor.”
Aurora’s eyes widened. “So what happens?”
“I’m not gonna tell you that. You’ll have to read it.”
“I’m impressed.” She blinked. “Really.”
Something in the tone of her voice pissed me off. Of course, I knew deep down I was telling her about the book to impress her. But still, having her say it was like she was bestowing some sort of honor on me or something. I didn’t know how to react to it.
“I’ve read another Russian author, though,” she offered. “Leo Tolstoy.Anna Karenina.”
Part of me wanted to sit down and ask her about that book. Ask her what she liked about it. But then, there was the part of me that reminded myself that I wasthe help. We were classmates, Aurora and me. But we sure as hell weren’t equals when we were on her father’s property.
“Cool,” I tossed out. Tossing the trimmers on the lawn, I walked past her, effectively ending the conversation. As I stalked down the driveway to the van, my eyes felt blinded by a brightness that had nothing to do with the sun.
That girl was something. I didn’t like the way my body reacted to her. I didn’t like the uneasy feeling that maybe I might care a little bit what she thought of me.
It was the first time I ran into Aurora that summer, but definitely not the last. Later, I figured out her parents were almost never home. Her dad was a bigwig CEO at this big real estate investment firm. He kept long hours, either at the office or at the country club, golfing-slash-networking.
Aurora’s mom, Susan, was one of the Ladies Who Lunched. She was gone a lot, too. So Baby Wilkins was left alone on the sprawling Wilkins property for most of that summer. I would have expected her to have her popular-crowd friends over to party by the pool every afternoon. But contrary to expectations, Aurora seemed to keep mostly to herself. She hung out at the pool solo the majority of the time, her only company an ever-growing pile of books.
And the next time I saw her out there,Crime and Punishmentwas at the top of the pile.
It was weird. Intriguing. I couldn’t quite get a bead on her.
That summer would change everything for me. Before I knew it, Aurora Wilkins would become my everything.
And eventually, I would wish like hell I’d never met her.
“Hey,you up for another game, Rogue?”
Matthias’s voice breaks into my thoughts. I look around the table, realize I’ve been playing on autopilot for the last five minutes.
“Nah.” I push my chair back, stand up. “I’m gonna head out”
“You goin’ home to wifey, then?” Matthias smirks at me.
“Oooh, fuck…” Mal mutters under his breath.
“Fuck you,” I spit, clenching my fists. “That bitch means nothing to me. Sooner she leaves town, the better.”
Matthias’s smile melts off his damn face, like he’s figured out pissing me off ain’t gonna end well for him. I turn on my booted heel and leave the bar, before I get riled up to start picking a fight. I’ve got one hell of a taste to throw hands right now, and if I start, I know I’m not gonna stop. Last thing I need is to start a goddamn brawl with one of my club brothers.
Instead, I decide to rely on the truth of an old saying. Best way to get over someone is to get someone else under you. I ain’t gonna go lookin’ for that here. But I know where to find it.
6
ROGUE
The new clubhouse is almost done on the inside. Not that I’m glad the old one burned down, but this one is a damn sight better, that’s for sure. We bought our old clubhouse for a song off a guy who was selling his car parts business and a failing auto repair shop. The old brick and cement structure with a corrugated metal roof was hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and had acoustics like being trapped inside of a soup can.
Out here in the country, we’ve got more room to make the new clubhouse what we want. We’ve got more square footage, a more expansive, open layout in the main clubhouse, and customized better for the way the Lords need to use the space. We managed to salvage some of the shit from our old place — the pool tables, a bunch of the equipment from the weight room, and best of all the large, solid oak meeting table that was in our old chapel. The new clubhouse wouldn’t feel the same without the table we’d been holding church around for years. It sustained a little fire damage, but the thing was too solid to burn fast, so it survived intact. It’s like the soul of the Lords of Carnage is contained in that thing. In the face of danger, we are indestructible. No matter what comes at us, we always come back, stronger than ever.
The new clubhouse design includes more apartments for the officers and the men who want to live here part- or full-time. I opted not to have an apartment designated for me, since I’m building a house for myself on the property. In case of an extreme lockdown, I’d stay in one of the spare ones we keep for members and guests of the club. There’s plenty of room for the club and all our brothers and their families. Axel and Rourke made sure of that.
But the best part of the new clubhouse, in my opinion, is the bar. And that’s where I head after I leave the Viking.
