Ace (Reckless Souls MC 2)

“Good night, Mark. Thanks for a good—no—a wonderful night.”

“My pleasure,” he practically growls and walks toward his bike, straddling the seat and watching me. “Get inside, Kenna.”

“I’m going,” I assure him while ignoring the way my heart races inside my chest at just the sight of him. Mark isn’t the kind of man I should be with. I know it as much as I know anything, including the fact that the pull between us is too strong to ignore.

“I’ll have one of my guys drop off your ride once we fix the tires.” His bike idles at the foot of the driveway, and I make my way to the door, nodding at his unnecessary reminder that someone slashed three of the four tires on my Audi. I wave and turn to face the door, unlocking it and pushing inside.

The house is completely quiet, which means Daddy isn’t home, or he’s asleep. I’ll take either. Mom is still in New York, even after everything that happened with Kelsey, and she probably isn’t returning home anytime soon. So, it’s just me. Again.

A quick knock on the door startles a gasp out of me. I almost pull open the door without looking at the camera on the hidden mount on the wall because I’m sure it’s Mark, back for another kiss or another round of sex.

Instead of Mark’s big body and dark gaze, it’s my sister.

“Kelsey. What are you doing here? It’s two o’clock in the morning. Is everything okay?”

Kelsey stands in the doorway, looking entirely too thin but not as pale or sickly as she did when I last saw her. Her expression isn’t quite blank, but it’s stoic, giving nothing away.

“I’m here to make sure you’re all right. You sounded a bit tipsy at the bar, and I was worried.”

I let out a huff of laughter. “You were worried about me?”

“Of course,” she growls and glances at the dark house behind me. “I was waiting in my car outside. Are the parents here?”

“I don’t think so. Unless Daddy is sleeping. You want to come in?”

“Yes. I wanted to wait until Ace was gone before I showed my face.”

I froze as her words sink into my brain. If she saw Mark drop me off, then she saw everything. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” she smirks. “Oh.”

“That was just…Mark is an all-right guy.” All right is an understatement, and I know I’m not fooling my sister. “He’s not the guy I thought he was.”

“None of them are who you think they are, except bikers. And you call him Mark.”

She smirks again, and I drop my head in annoyance. It really sucks when your little sister catches you doing the exact thing you slapped her down for and almost ruined your relationship in the process.

“That’s his name,” I insist with a bit more innocence than I should.

“It is, but no one calls him that, not even Coop. Seems like something is going on with you two.” She folds her arms, looking thoroughly uncomfortable in the home she lived in until a few months ago.

“Are you going to say I told you so?”

“No, I don’t judge people.”

“How very big of you, Kels.”

Instead of taking the bait, she smiles. “I know, right? Anyway, you and Ace?”

I sigh because without Grace, who can I talk to about these things? My friends from the Slice of Life wouldn’t understand, but Kelsey, she does. “We are close but only for now because we’re working together to figure out who murdered Grace.”

My sister blinks rapidly as if my words have broken her control panel. “You’re doing what?”

“You heard me. We’re working together, and while that happens, we’re getting close. But only for now.”

I shake my head because I can’t go down Kelsey’s route and fall for a biker. “Dad would have a conniption fit.”

“Unless you choose to marry one of his crony’s sons, he will.” Kelsey smiles and lays a hand on my shoulder. “I’m not pressuring you either way, Kenna. Just know that if you fall in love with a guy who went to college on a scholarship, a mechanic, an actor…none of them will be good enough because they aren’t from the ‘good families’ he knows and does business with.”

She’s right, but Mark isn’t any of those. He’s a full-fledged biker. The President, no less. “I’m not in love with Mark.”

“Not yet, but from what I saw, you’re about halfway there. You’ve slept with him.”

My eyes widen in shock. “How do you know?”

“Because you let him touch you, and you were flirting with him. You never flirt with anyone. Ever.”

“Flirting is an unnecessary charade.” Flirting is fun, but men lie, and charming men lie the most. “And yeah, I slept with him. More than once, and it was amazing. I’ll do it again as soon as possible.”

She smiles and looks almost proud. “Good for you, Kenna.”