Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

“I can’t believe you went on that job. That was why I didn’t hear from you fucks for three days? That’s why? You went behind my back?” I created this group. If it wasn’t for me, none of us would be together right now, and the fact that they went rogue really pissed me off.

“We didn’t want you to worry about it. You have other things on your plate. More important things. This job, it wasn’t even the best one we have been on. Remember, we didn’t even keep the money. Our little friend from prison is dead too. Owen took care of that.”

I was still pissed, but I understand why they did it. “Find another job. I want to be apart of it next time.” I inhaled through my nose and out through my mouth. “But I can understand why you did it.”

“We all like Quinn. We are scared for you, Jaxon. She’s a cool chick. Bad-fucking-ass too if you ask me. Not many women would be okay with everything that’s going on under this roof, but she was.”

“Not this Quinn. This Quinn doesn’t know about Brian or what we do yet.”

“I had a feeling she wouldn’t care. If she believed you about everything else, what makes you think she won’t believe you about Brian?” Sebastian made a great point, but there was a part of me that was still burned about how she turned her back on me all those years ago. She didn’t believe in me once, what was stopping her from doing it again?

“Jaxon! You must come do this. It’s so much fun.” I watched Owen punch a hole in a can for her and show her how to shotgun a beer.

“Hey, woah, no!” but it was too late; she was downing the beer like a sorority girl at a frat party. There was no stopping her. “She’s on medication, Owen!”

“One beer isn’t going to kill her.”

“Don’t,” I warned him. I didn’t want to hear the words ‘kill her’ for as long as I lived.

“I’m fine, Jaxon,” Quinn said as she somehow managed to push herself off the couch and wobble on her leg. “I’m capable of realizing when I need to stop. I’m a grown woman.”

I was not in the mood for this. “There is no arguing. No alcohol. End of story. Do you understand?”

She hobbled around the couch, using it for balance as she walked to the game room entrance. “Last time I checked, you were not in control of me. I controlled me. And the more you try, the more I will rebel.” She swayed, and Heaven hurried over to her to catch her, but she slapped his hands away. “I got it. Leave me alone. Except Owen. Owen is cool.”

“You can’t stand Owen, baby,” I said, exasperated.

“Well, I like him now!”

“Yeah, she likes me now,” Owen agreed, sounding a bit hurt that Quinn didn’t like him before. Owen was an asshole, and that was on a good day.

“Can we talk about this?”

“Oh, now you want to talk about its Jaxon?” Quinn lifted her chin and stepped through the door into the living room. “Forget it. You had your chance to talk, and instead, you made a decision for me.”

“Because I know what is best for you,” I said, taking a step closer, but she dragged her casted leg back and away from me.

“Only I know what is best for me. You’re being a controlling alpha A-hole right now. I need some time to myself.”

The words felt like spears stabbing my heart on repeat. It was just like when she got here and wanted time away from me, but we had spent ten years apart. That was enough time, in my opinion.

She started to wobble away, her cast sounding like a pirate’s peg leg every time it thudded against the floor, and Heaven was doing his best not to laugh. Sebastian reached out to help her, and she jabbed a finger in his chest with every word she spoke, “I. Got. It.”

“Okay, Quinn,” Sebastian met my gaze, and he was hiding a damn smug smirk because he knew she was testing my damn patience.

Quinn shut the doors behind her, and I listened to the bang of her leg get further away.

“Man, you’re in for a real treat with her. She’s feisty when she has no memories.”

Owen, Grayson, Sebastian, and I groaned at the same time at Heaven. “Shut up, Heaven.”

I was worried that if she never got her memory back, I’d be tested beyond measure. Sexually and mentally.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Quinn

I had no idea where I was going. I felt along the wall, and while everything was new, it somehow still felt the same. It felt like muscle memory. I followed where I thought I should go. My instincts pulled me forward. I ran my hands along the walls to help me, and by the time I got to the first door, I was exhausted. Sweat dripped down my face and stung my eyes. My good leg felt like jello, and all I wanted to do was lay down.