Craving Lily

  Craving Lily

  The Aces’ Sons

  By Nicole Jacquelyn

  Craving Lily

  Copyright © 2017 by Nicole Jacquelyn

  Kindle Edition

  All Rights Reserved

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  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Dedication

  For the human I’m growing.

  Without you, this book would have been finished two months earlier.

  I love you already.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Part 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Part 2

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  Lily

  I used to be blind. That’s not a metaphorical statement. I was literally and legally blind for six years. There was no real explanation. The doctors called it conversion disorder. My parents called it hysterical blindness. All I know is that one day during a family party, I was shoved to the ground and covered by both of my grandmas, their perfume mixing with the scent of the grass beneath me as they shielded me from a spray of bullets. I’d squeezed my eyes shut as they whispered that everything was going to be okay even as their bodies jerked and went still.

  When it was over and my dad pulled their dead bodies off me, I opened my eyes and I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t see anything.

  Over time, my other senses sharpened to make up for the missing sight, and life went on. It was different, sure. For a long time, I’d been afraid to walk, or be left alone, or even eat. What if there was a bug in my food and I had no idea? What if I tripped and lost what little sense of direction I had? What if something happened when I was all alone and I wasn’t able to react because I couldn’t see the threat? I’d even refused to sleep if I couldn’t hear my dad snoring down the hall. Eventually, though, it became my new normal. Kids are resilient, and I was no different.

  My sight came back in increments so small that they were barely noticeable. The night my sister packed her bags and headed to Southern California, begging me to wait until morning to tell my parents she was gone, I remember wondering why she hadn’t turned the light off after she tucked me into her bed and left. I knew the bedroom was bright, but I didn’t really comprehend that until later, when my cousin Rose questioned why I began automatically turning on the light when I walked into a room.

  For months, I only saw light and shadows, like I was trying to see through a white sheet, and then suddenly, as if it had never gone away, my sight was back. Just like that.

  I thought about those sightless years as the man in front of me paced slowly back and forth, his hair standing straight up from the many times he’d run his fingers through it. He was well dressed. Russian. Younger than I’d first believed, but more powerful, too. His partner was less intimidating. Larger, but warmer. The two of them had been discussing something in Russian for the past twenty minutes, and I had no idea what they were saying.

  I also had no idea how they’d gotten onto the property. Cam and Trix’s property was gated, fenced, and within walking distance of the Aces Motorcycle Club’s compound. Once upon a time, the house had belonged to my grandparents, and had been built to withstand an attack. My grandpa had been the president of the club, so he’d even built a panic room in the home office. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had time to get there after the men pushed their way into the house. I had, however, been able to gesture to my nephews, who were out of view. God, I hoped they’d understood what I’d wanted them to do.

  “Your name?” the younger one asked me for the tenth time.

  I didn’t answer. I had no idea what they were planning, but if they had any information on the club all the men in my family belonged to, my name would put a bulls-eye in the middle of my forehead, for sure.

  “What’s your name?” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest. I was getting cocky, and I knew it, but I couldn’t seem to curb the impulse. After shoving me into a chair when they’d pushed their way into the house, neither man had touched me. I got the impression that they’d stop me if I tried to leave, but otherwise, they seemed unwilling to harm me. I just needed to keep their attention focused on me so they didn’t go poking around the house.

  The bigger guy glanced toward the front door and mumbled something ominously, causing the young one to become even more twitchy. They were waiting for something, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

  “You know, you should probably get out of here,” I said, watching the guy fidget. “If someone realizes you’re here, you’re dead.”

  “Shut up, bitch,” the bigger one said in words so accented it took me a minute to translate. “Just shut up.”

  “I’m not kidding. You guys are fucked,” I continued as I watched the young one pace. “Just leave and I don’t even have to tell—”

  The big one must have been pissed that I’d ignored his warning, because a meaty fist hit the side of my head and everything went black.

  When I woke up sometime later, I thought for a moment that the blindness had come back. I couldn’t see anything, not a single shape or light. It wasn’t until my eyes started to sting that I realized I wasn’t blind. Then I began to cough as the smoke surrounded me.

  Part 1

  Chapter 1

  Leo

  “You wanna go to that party up at the culvert tonight?” Cecilia asked as I dropped down beside her on the couch. I was tired as fuck, but I’d promised her that I’d stop by, so I’d dragged my ass to her parents’ house. It was weird as shit being there. I hated it.

  It had only been a little over a year since the party where I’d been shot in the fucking face in their backyard, but I’d never let anyone know how uneasy it made me to step inside that house. I’d never hear the end of it.

  “Nah, not tonight,” I groaned, dropping my head back against the couch. “I’m wiped.”

  “Hi, Leo,” a sweet voice called out,
and I watched as Cecilia’s little sister Lily came into the room, followed by their cousin Rose. She wasn’t moving fast, but there also wasn’t any hesitation in her steps as she came forward and knelt on the carpet in front of us.

  “Can’t you do that somewhere else, Lil?” Cecilia bitched as Lily set a book down on the coffee table.

  “No,” Lilly muttered. “Mom said to do it down here. It’s not like I can see you, so do whatever you want.”

  “Uh, no. Don’t,” Rose grumbled. “I can still see you.”

  “Just ignore them,” Lily replied easily. “I do.”

  “Aw, Dandelion,” I teased, grinning at her smart mouth. “You know you can’t ignore me.”

  “I do my best,” she shot back, waving her hand in a shooing motion. She opened up her book and I leaned forward a little to catch a glimpse of a really simple children’s story written in braille and text.

  “Ready?” Rose asked, turning a little so she faced away from me and Cecilia.

  “I guess.” Lily’s face grew serious as her finger touched the first page and slid along the edge until she found the little bumps. Her lips moved as she slowly ran the pad of her finger over the braille. “There,” she sounded out slowly, “was…”

  “Oh, shit. You haven’t seen this yet,” Cecilia whispered, grabbing a pen off the sidetable. “Watch.”

  Before I could stop her, she threw the pen straight at Lily.

  Anger rose so quickly that before she’d even dropped her arm, I had her wrist gripped tightly in my fist.

  My mouth fell open in surprise as Lily fucking dodged the pen, smacking it out of the air like she’d seen it coming.

  “What the fuck, Cecilia?” she said, her face turning red.

  “Watch your mouth,” Cecilia snapped back, yanking her arm away from my hand. “You know you’re not supposed to talk like that.”

  “Fuck you!” Lily seethed. She slammed her fists against the coffee table, making the entire thing rattle.

  “You’re such assholes,” Rose hissed, glaring at us.

  “I knew you’d catch it,” Cecilia argued, glancing at me before looking at her sister again. “You always catch them.”

  “Not if I’m doing something else!” Lily screamed back, obviously embarrassed. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you do that?” She climbed to her feet and almost tipped sideways as her foot slid on the pen.

  My heart pounded and my stomach churned as tears filled Lily’s eyes. Jesus Christ. I hadn’t been in on Cecilia’s little demonstration, and I still felt guilty as fuck.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Farrah asked as she came jogging into the room.

  Lily lifted her chin and didn’t say a word as her mom took a few steps forward.

  “Well?” Farrah glanced around at our faces, finally stopping on Rose’s. “What happened?”

  When Rose refused to answer, Farrah looked at Lily. “You wanna tell me why I could hear you yelling obscenities all the way upstairs?”

  “Snitches get stitches,” Lily mumbled back, her face dark. Then she lifted her fist in Rose’s direction and waited for her to tap it with her knuckles.

  “Christ, you’ve been spending too much time at the club,” Farrah scoffed. “You have, too.” She pointed at Rose, then glanced down at where Lily was trying to hide the pen with her foot.

  “Cecilia,” Farrah said flatly, her eyes rising to us. “Tell me you didn’t throw a fucking pen at your sister.”

  “She always catches it!” Ceecee replied, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s not like I thought it would hit her.”

  Farrah glanced at me and then back at Lily before she spoke again. “They’ve been spending too much time at the club,” she waved at Rose and Lily. “But you’ve clearly not been spending enough. Learn some fucking loyalty, Cecilia. Your sister isn’t a goddamn circus act.”

  Ceecee’s chin trembled and she glanced at me before jumping to her feet and running out of the room.

  “Seems like you’d know better,” Farrah said derisively in my direction before Rose cut her off.

  “He tried to stop her, Aunt Farrah,” Rose said quietly. “Actually, you might want to let Uncle Casper know so he doesn’t kill Leo tomorrow when he sees the bruise on Ceecee’s wrist.”

  “I didn’t know what she was doing,” I said, directing my words to Lily, who was standing there awkwardly silent. “When I realized she was going to throw it, I just tried to grab her arm before she let it go.”

  “I’m sure Cecilia’s fine,” Farrah said with a wave of her hand. “Rose, it’s time to take you home, kiddo. Go get your stuff.”

  “Can I stay the night at her house?” Lily asked quickly, giving her mom a cheesy grin.

  “Nope,” Farrah replied. “You guys have been together for two weeks straight. You can handle being apart for one night.”

  “Aw, man,” Rose complained, sulking as she left the room.

  “You riding with us, Lilypad?” Farrah asked as she picked up her purse and slid her feet into shoes.

  “No.”

  “Stop pouting. Your face is going to stay like that.”

  “Fine with me, it’s not like I can see it.”

  “Well, at least have a little compassion for your mother and don’t make her look at it,” Farrah said dryly. “Let’s go, Rose!”

  I watched it all play out, but I didn’t move from the couch as Farrah ushered Rose outside and closed the door behind them. I wanted to leave, but I knew if I did, Cecilia would blow up my phone once she came downstairs and realized I was gone. I wasn’t even sure why I put up with her shit anymore. I guessed it was just easier to let her play her games than to deal with the bullshit I’d land in if I dropped her ass.

  “You can go upstairs, you know,” Lily muttered as she reached down and picked up her book. “No one’s here to stop you.”

  “I’m good,” I replied.

  She took two steps to the side and reached out toward the recliner in the corner of the room, running her hand down the arm until she was sure of her positioning. Then she dropped into it with a sigh.

  “She loves me, you know,” Lily said after a few minutes of quiet. “She was just showing off.”

  “It was an asshole move.”

  “It wasn’t a big deal,” she argued, shaking her head. “Shit like that happens all the time at school.”

  “People been giving you trouble?” I asked darkly, leaning forward in my seat. The idea of anyone messing with the little girl in front of me made me want to go kick middle school asses.

  “Oh, knock it off,” she chirped, throwing her hands in the air. “I can take care of myself, and anyone I can’t handle, Rose takes care of.”

  “That’s fucked. Nobody should be messing with you at all.”

  “It’s fine. If I was a boy, you’d tell me to handle it myself. I don’t need anyone’s help.”

  “No, I wouldn’t. If one of the boys had a problem, I’d take care of it.”

  “You mean, if one of the boys was blind and had a problem,” she replied knowingly, shaking her head. “School is fine. I just meant that you shouldn’t think Cecilia is some horrible person. She’s not. She was just trying to show off.”

  “Known Ceecee since we were babies, Dandelion. I think I’ve got her measure by now.” It was the truth. Also the truth? Most of the time, Cecilia acted like a spoiled brat. I wasn’t about to say that to her baby sister, though. “Now, tell me what the kids at school’ve been doin’.”

  “God! Nothing,” she replied. “Did kids at school fuck with you when you got your face messed up?”

  “Damn, Dandelion.” I grimaced. Most people didn’t mention my face. They tiptoed around it or acted like they didn’t notice, which was stupid as hell. Of course they could see the scar running along my cheek from my jaw to the corner of my eye. Not like I was trying to hide it. “Nah, no one messed with me. They know better.”

  “Is it bad?” she asked, turning her face in my direction. “Your sca
r?”

  “Not great,” I mumbled reaching up to run my finger along the skin I couldn’t feel anymore.

  “Can I feel it?”

  “What?”

  “Can I feel your scar? Nobody wants to describe it, even when I ask.”

  I stared at her wide eyes for almost a full minute. Lily was a sweet kid. Pretty in a way that you knew she’d be a knockout when she was grown, but still so innocent looking that it made your teeth ache. She had her mom’s bone structure and her dad’s dark hair and tan skin. The best of both parents, though I’d never tell Cecilia that, with her blonde hair and fair skin. Lily didn’t have a mean bone in her body, and no way would she say something about my scar unless she’d been thinking on it for a while.

  “Uh, sure,” I finally answered, clearing my throat.

  She hopped off the chair before I could move from the couch and carefully came around the coffee table, making sure not to bump into anything. As soon as I’d leaned forward in my seat, she was in front of me, her hands raised in front of her chest.

  “Which side?” she asked, tilting her head. “Show me where it is.”

  My heart thumped hard and I took a deep breath as I grabbed one of her hands and brought it to my face. No one had touched the scar except me and the doctor who’d sewn me up. Even Cecilia was banned from putting her hands on my face. It felt too fucking weird when the numb skin was touched. That shit made me nauseous.

  It was also ugly as fuck. I was still coming to terms with that, no joke. Before I’d been shot, I’d been swimming in pussy, even though I’d rarely partaken. After? Only the freaks with fetishes and daddy issues came calling.

  And Cecilia. But I swear to Christ, the bitch always sat on the opposite side of my scar so she didn’t have to look at it.

  “It’s…” Lily paused as she lifted her other hand and ran her fingers down both sides of my face. Then she ran just one down the jagged line of the still slightly raised skin. “It’s barely anything!” she said in annoyance. “You act like you’re the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and this is all there is?”