Page 75 of Kane
What really threw him was the look of betrayal on his brother’s face a minute ago. No one could make him mad the way Scott could. For fuck’s sake, he’d been ready to deck the guy less than an hour ago. Still, he had no doubt his brother loved him. But Scott wanted a blind kind of devotion he couldn’t give. Loving someone didn’t mean you agreed on everything.
For Scott, though, love meant loyalty and unflinching faith. At the end of the day, he knew it was the root of his dislike for Mandy. Scott was jealous. It was one thing to share his brother with the club, but with a woman? No way.
It hadn’t been an issue for a long time.
He closed his eyes for what could have been a few seconds, a few minutes, or an hour before a deep voice prompted him to open them again.
“A ballsy move in there, brother.” Cue Ball’s big black shit-kickers took up his entire field of vision. “You’re lucky you’re still in one piece.”
He took the man’s proffered hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. The world spun momentarily around him. “I was only trying to protect the club.”
His friend ran a hand over his bald head. “I understand, but it’s not how things work here, and you know it.” Cue sighed. “You look like shit. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
He staggered toward the house, his mind moving faster than his bruised body. Tonight made it very clear his club would not see reason. If they kept blindly following his brother, it would be a disaster for everyone.
He knew what he had to do.
***
Amanda
The ride back to her condo gave Amanda plenty of opportunity for reflection. Her thoughts mostly centered on the almost-sex she had this morning and the view of Kane in all his naked glory afterward.
He could be hers again. He might be already.
She was still reliving it all when she pulled into her garage and found her father leaning against the trunk of his BMW, arms folded and crossed over his chest.
He stood up straight. “Where have you been?”
She sighed. “None of your business, Dad.” Walking past him, she headed toward her building.
He followed a half-step behind but didn’t speak again until they were inside her condo. “I saw Nathan this morning. He looks like he was hit by a truck.”
“Good.” She eyed the bathroom door. A shower sounded like heaven. Her feet had to be disgusting after walking around barefoot all morning.
His eyes widened. “Good? Are you stupid? He’s out for blood. Yours and mine, thanks to your knight in shining armor.”
She wasn’t sure how she still managed to be surprised by her father’s lack of interest in her well-being. “Sorry I wasn’t thinking about your run for governor while he was trying to choke me to death, Dad. I’ve always been selfish when it comes to breathing and everything.” With another longing look toward the shower, she then turned her attention to the kitchen. She hadn’t eaten in twenty-four hours.
“Always so dramatic. Nathan was not trying to kill you.”
With a dull laugh, Amanda unwound the scarf of Kane’s she’d donned in the car. The evidence of Nathan’s attack was an unmistakable palate of purple and black bruises around her neck. “Dramatic?” she deadpanned. “Get out, Dad.”
He froze for a fraction of a second, staring at her battered skin. Then, he continued his rant. “He says you were unfaithful to him while you were together. You couldn’t just keep your legs closed for a few months?” He paced the room. “He said you were slumming with one of the men on your crew.” He stopped, realization dawning in his eyes. “Kane Hale.”
She pulled a loaf of bread from the top of the refrigerator and started assembling a roast beef sandwich. No chance she was going to hash out her relationship with her father for the umpteenth time.
She got as far as spreading the mayo when her dad stepped into her space. “What is it about a piece of garbage like him you get so enthralled over? Tell me. There are hundreds of white-trash, blue-collar fortune hunters out there. Why this one? And for God’s sake, why now?”
She tossed the butter knife in the sink and lifted her chin. “Fortune hunter? You really think so? Kane doesn’t give a good goddamn about your money. He never has.”
“Of course not. He only wants you for you.” Her father’s voice dripped with derision. “Why else would he latch onto a woman he has absolutely nothing in common with?”
“Nice to know you think my connections are the only reason a man could want me.” She piled the deli meat onto the bread and took a savage bite.
“I’m sure your loose morals didn’t hurt either,” he sneered.
She forced herself to swallow before she choked. “I am a grown woman. Who I sleep with is none of your concern. I don’t ask where you stick your dick, Dad, and frankly, I don’t want to know.”