CILLIAN
Kill watched the sexy little brunette fidget around her office as if she was too afraid to leave him alone in her space. He didn’t blame her. There were a lot of people who didn’t trust him and he’d just add her onto that very long list.
He finished filling out the paperwork and realized he didn’t know his new boss’ name. “Sorry,” he said, startling her from her work. “I don’t know your name.”
“I’m Vivian Ward,” she offered. “Usually, the kids who work for me just call me boss but you can call me Viv.” He stood and held out his hand and she hesitantly took it.
“It’s good to meet you, Viv,” he said. “You won’t be sorry you gave me a chance here.”
“I don’t know.” Kill worried that she had already changed her mind and he set the papers down on her desk. “With a nickname like ‘Kill’, I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew.” The thought of his hot new boss biting anywhere on his body flashed through his mind. He needed to remind his unruly cock that wasn’t going to happen—not with her now that he was her employee. At least, he hoped he was still employed.
“Listen, if you’re having second thoughts, I understand,” he lied. He didn’t understand any of what he had been put through this past week since getting out of prison. He had been treated like shit and all he was asking for was a chance to prove that he wasn’t that same stupid kid who desperately wanted to be a part of something.
“How about you tell me how you got your nickname and I’ll reserve my final decision until you are done sharing your story?” He hated having to recap any of his time in prison but if that was the only way he was going to get a job, he’d do it. Still, it felt wrong telling someone who seemed as innocent as Vivian Ward about something so personal and dirty from his past.
“I got it from my cellmate, in prison,” he whispered. “I was thrown into general population and I had to survive.”
Viv gasped and covered her mouth with her shaking hand. He almost regretted telling her anything. “And you had to kill someone to stay alive?” she guessed.
“Yes and no,” he admitted. “I didn’t kill anyone but everyone believed that I had, so I let them think the worst of me.”
“Why would you let them believe you killed a man?” Viv asked. He didn’t expect her to understand. Prison changed a person and when you were in there, you learned to do whatever it took to make it out alive.
“We were in the yard—you know having some free time and I was approached by a man they called Capone who was in charge, so to speak, of the prisoners. He had ties to the mafia and was from a rival club on the outside. Even though I had been thrown in prison before becoming a member of the Dragons, he considered me an enemy.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” she asked. He chuckled at the idea of telling someone what was going on in that yard. Hell, he’d be labeled a snitch and they got a hell of a lot more than stitches in that prison. They ended up in the infirmary if they were lucky and in the morgue if they weren’t.
“Who was I to tell? If I reported every illegal activity going on in that place to the warden, I’d end up in the morgue. I tried to talk to some of the gang members—you know the ones who set me up? Like my new friend, Capone, they didn’t consider me to be a part of their club. They had heard what happened to me on the outside and told me I was on my own.”
“What happened next?” Viv asked. She sat in front of him, on the edge of her desk and it took all his restraint not to reach out and pull her onto his lap. Feck, she was sexy and he was going to have to work damn hard to remind himself that she was off-limits. He had to admit the way she seemed to take an interest in him turned him inside out. It had been over ten years since he was with a woman. Hell, he’d been out for a week and the first thing he wanted to do was find a willing woman and spend a night losing himself in her, but he didn’t. That would have been his way of falling back into his old habits and he couldn’t let that happen. It was the strait and narrow for him and that meant no gangs, no drugs, and no hookers, no matter how much his dick screamed for attention.
“When Capone heard that I was on my own, left for dead by my own supposed club, he did something that completely surprised me—asked me to join his prison club. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking him up on his offer. When the rival gang came after him for taking me in, a guy got killed. Capone was the one who shanked him but gave me the credit. He knew that with a rumor like that going around, that I killed a guy, I’d be safe while serving my time. Capone took the blame and had time added onto his sentence and I got the nickname ‘Kill’,” he said.
“Wow,” she breathed.
Wow is an understatement,” he admitted. "Hell, if I hadn’t taken his offer, I’d be dead now. He taught me the ropes and kept me safe,” Kill said. He thought about his friend still sitting in that prison and felt an unexplainable sadness that he had gotten out.
“Aw—a bad guy with a heart of gold,” Viv said, interrupting his thoughts.
“Yeah, you could say that about a lot of the guys on the inside. I know this might sound crazy but I’m going to miss that camaraderie,” he admitted. As soon as he got out, he met with his probation officer who informed him that meeting with any type of club or gang would land him back in prison and he would do anything not to have that happen.
“Why can’t you join a club out here?” Viv asked.
“It goes against my parole. It would be considered a violation since trying to join a motorcycle club was what landed me behind bars, to begin with,” he said.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She reached out and placed her small hand over his forearm and his skin felt strange—almost like pins and needles. Yeah, he was going to have to find a woman and let off some steam if just a simple touch from his new boss set his skin tingling.
He pulled his arm free from her hand and pretended to stretch to cover his retreat. “No,” he said. “It’s just a part of what I have to do to stay on the outside— you know, find a job and a place to live and keep my nose clean.”
“How long have you been out?” she asked.
“About a week,” he whispered.
“Do you have everything you need?” Viv looked him up and down and damn if she didn’t look just as turned on as he felt. She cleared her throat, “I mean, did you find a place to live and all that?”
“I’m working on the job part first and staying in a motel that’s a shit hole, but the owner lets me rent by the week. I figure getting a job trumps a place to live if I can’t pay the rent. My friend said I could bunk at his place but he’s got a family and a new kid. The last thing he needed was an ex-con hanging around. After a few nights with his family, I felt like a nuisance. I made some apologies and came up with an excuse as to why I had to leave. It was just too much for me—going from a small prison cell with one roommate to a house full of people. I think Savage understood. At least, I hope he’s not pissed that I turned down his generosity and opted for my shithole apartment.”
Viv nodded. “You have a friend named Savage?” she asked.