Chapter Ninety-One
The clicking noises must have drawn more attention than Kelley thought they would because the next moment Milana stood in the doorway with big eyes. He knew exactly how it looked. He had a safe full of legal and illegal weapons, ammunition and knives. The anger was rolling off of him in waves and his movements were all determined and precise.
Kelley stood in his study with the built-in safe wide open and took off his jacket and shirt. He strapped the bulletproof vest tight against his body as she watched him. He'd kept his t-shirt on to avoid the bulletproof vest chafing him. He could feel Milana's eyes boring into him.
“What’s going on?”
Kelley grabbed his button-up shirt and pulled it on, tying his tie around his neck and shrugging his jacket on. He looked a little bulkier but ultimately the vest was undetectable. Kelley took a rifle off the hooks in the safe and checked the magazine.
“Go back to bed, Milana.”
She rubbed her hands over her arms and Kelley couldn’t look at her. If he did he’d change his mind, drag her to his room and make her confess all the horrible things that had been done to her. His rage was increasing the longer she stood there because he had just added to her pain. His conversation with Jesse had been another eye-opener for him. It was only Jesse that could bring out the guilt in him over not knowing anything about her.
“Did something happen?”
“Were you hurt by The Club?” Kelley searched her eyes and saw the shock, the fleeting pain and the surprise there.
“Please don’t send me there,” Milana whispered and Kelley wanted to hurt them so much.
“Milana, my sole mission in life is to take those bastards down. How could you ever think I’d associate with them?”
“My uncle told me if I didn’t please you in bed, didn’t do everything you asked that you would send me there. He told me that you’re a long-standing member of The Club.”
Kelley closed his eyes briefly and without meaning to, he pulled Milana into his arms and held her against him. “Did Ernesto ever hurt you?”
“I thought you were …”
“It doesn’t matter what you thought. Go back to bed and pretend that you didn’t see the contents of this safe. I’ll be back in the morning.”
“So everything he told me was a lie?”
Kelley strapped two guns into the shoulder holsters he wore and two more on holsters on his belt. He took the rifle he’d checked earlier and placed it on the glass coffee table. “We’ll talk about all that when I come back. We were both played from the beginning.”
“Kelley, I’m sorry …”
“Don’t ever say sorry to me. I should’ve realized sooner.”
“How did you know?”
“When you crawled towards me.”
Kelley placed his cell phone on his desk, clicked the safety of the rifle off and walked out of the study. Milana followed him down the hall to the top of the stairs where Kelley stopped and turned to face her.
“Go back to bed. I will come back.”
Milana stood there and watched Kelley as he moved quietly down the stairs, across the foyer and out of the front door. She ran to the window in her bedroom and watched as he drove away from the house and her heart sank. She had a sickening feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
Kelley drove with steeled resolve and he focused on the road to Meadow Lake. One way or another someone was going to pay. Another car came speeding up behind him, blinding him with his lights. Kelley kept going and then the car passed him and slowed down in front of him.
“Asshole,” Kelley said out loud.
He tried to pass but the car moved with him and slowed down the whole time. Kelley pulled off to the side of the road and opened his door. He swore under his breath as Connor climbed out of the car and strode purposefully towards him. He could see the anger in each footfall and it triggered his own release of fury.
“Are you insane?”
“Are you, Kelley?”
“Get out of my way, Connor!”
Connor took a breath, swore under his breath and then he clocked Kelley on the point of his jaw, making him stumble backward as he held the side of his face. Connor shook his fist and looked at Kelley, ready to go again.
“You go in blind with anger like this you’ll make a mistake or get yourself shot.”
“You have no idea what’s going on inside my head.”
Connor relaxed his arms as Kelley raked a hand through his hair. “I’ll go to war with you, Kelley, but not a fool’s war. Let’s go back to the house and plan like we always do.”
“I have so much anger in me, Connor.”
Connor's eyes softened and his stance relaxed. “Then go down to the gym and punch some leather. Getting yourself killed like this isn’t worth it.”
Kelley nodded his head and walked back to the non-descript SUV he’d taken from the fleet of cars at the house. Connor had climbed into another SUV and watched Kelley as he pulled up next to him, half on the shoulder and half on the road.
Connor smiled at him and Kelley lowered his window. “I’ll follow you home, Kelley.”
“I’m no fool, Connor.” Kelley fired two quick shots at the front and back tires of Connor’s SUV and sped away as Connor jumped from the front seat and Kelley knew he was swearing loudly. He picked up speed and headed to Meadow Lake, knowing that Connor would be following him sooner rather than later.
Kelley felt his breath catch in his throat when he neared the house. Ernesto’s estate was set amongst sprawling landscapes nestled in a valley. The stone walls were more decorative than for protection. Usually, Kelley worked with a plan but he felt the first lick of adrenaline as he scaled the wall on the far side and crouched next to a cluster of bushes.
