Locke 2 (Blackwater Boys #4)

Thirty-Five

Kali

C onor handed Locke an outfit fresh out of his closet that he managed to rummage up. He called it the ultimate small-town outfit. To my astonishment, Locke changed out of his crisp black suit and into a flannel red shirt and jeans.

“You need a hat,” Conor then said, handing him a baseball cap. “You gotta hide those beautiful black locks.”

“No,” Locke barked back.

“Kali,” Jem called out, needing my assistance.

I was already in a small dress when I approached Locke in the lounge room downstairs. The idea of him out of his suit made me laugh, but then I saw him, and there was nothing amusing about the way he looked.

My cheeks burned as I looked him over. Yes, he was dressed casually. He should be able to blend in. But Locke was enormous. He filled the shirt out to the brim, looking solid. His ass in those jeans were impossible to ignore. He was just…

“You’re gorgeous,” I stated, and while that sounded like a compliment, I frowned at him. “You’re going to draw everyone’s attention. Women are going to want to know you, and the men are going to want to fight you for stealing the light from them. Take the hat, Locke.”

Locke’s eyes were ice, but he ripped the cap out of Conor’s hand, and Conor stifled a laugh as Locke fitted it over his head. “Fine,” he growled. “It’s on. Let’s get this over with.”

He stormed out of the room, looking completely out of his comfort zone. I’d never seen Locke this way. I didn’t realize his suits made him feel like he was wearing armour. I could see why. They were part of him, the same way that broken watch he loved to wear was. They were part of his transformation from young boy to this magnificent and terrifying man before us now.

“You’re good,” whispered Jem from next to me. “You’re not afraid to order him around.”

“Someone needs to,” Conor butted in, looking tired. “It’s about time he listens to someone beyond himself.”

Jem nodded. “You’re okay with that? Having that affect on him?”

I looked up at Jem, catching his curious eyes as he looked at me closely. “I won’t use it to my advantage…” I paused. “Well, sometimes I will, but you guys won’t know about it.”

Jem broke out in a laugh while Conor shook his head.

“We’re leaving,” Locke called out, and I could tell from the annoyance in his voice that he’d heard everything.

We gathered our things and left.

◆◆◆

Calling the club seedy was the world’s biggest understatement. The fact this place even existed in this cute little town was further proof there was more shady shit happening on that Georgewel led on.

But we managed to get inside with no problems. Locke’s cap was pulled down over his face, hiding most of his beautiful features. Jem was scoping the perimeters of the club, just in case Keenan found a way to leave, and Conor was paying Aunt Linda a visit.

The thought of Conor seeing Lenny’s aunt made me uneasy. He was intimidating. I couldn’t see how he could mine any information out of her. She had never called me back, and while we’d dug into her, she didn’t seem anything more than a concerned aunt that the police didn’t care for.

Jem had assured me that Conor had his ways with older women. “They melt before him like butter,” he explained. “Trust me, she won’t be scared of him.”

I let those words sink in as I pushed through the crowd. I hadn’t been to a club since Blackwater, and that was how I met Locke. Hiding in a toilet stall while he blew a man away. Definitely not the beginning of a romantic story. We’d need to change it up when people asked us how we met.

The fact I was thinking about this made my cheeks flush with yearning.

I looked over my shoulder, making sure Locke was nearby.

I found him straightaway. This giant man was hard to miss. I couldn’t see his face, but I could feel his eyes on me. I wanted to keep my eyes on him, too, because women were already sniffing him out. He didn’t need the suit or a clean-shaven face.

Max Locke was walking sex.

It irked me a little. I didn’t want his eyes on anyone else. My jealousy burned inside me. I had to remind myself to focus. I returned my attention to the people around me. I knew what Keenan looked like. He wasn’t unfortunate, but what I knew about him made him gross. Dude was a drug dealer, and he liked to be loud and obnoxious. I sort of had an idea what he would be like given I’d grown up around boys like him.

I found him within minutes. He was wearing a red track suit, and he was sitting at a table wotj a couple of his buddies. He was yammering away on a phone, puffing away at a cigar, looking like some kind of warlord.

It was sort of embarrassing.

To look like that, to actually believe that he was scary…when the real scary men were lingering close by, and he didn’t even know it. Locke would have eaten him up with just one look. Jem would have played morbid head games with him. He’d already let me in on some of the ways he got people to talk on the ride over. Jem was not the man to be trifled with. None of the Blackwater boys were, and yet in such a short amount of time, they had warmed to me, knowing that I meant something to Locke. It filled me with a feeling I’d never felt before.

I moved to Keenan, rocking my hips from side to side. I made sure I was directly in front of him. I danced, pretending to look all whimsical and shit even though the music was awful. After a few minutes, I looked back at Keenan and my stomach twisted.

His eyes were hard on mine.

They didn’t move away, either.

He smiled when our eyes connected. He put his phone down, watching me intently as I moved in my little dress. I didn’t once look back at Locke. I didn’t want to see the rage in his eyes. I also didn’t want Keenan to spot him.

Yes, yes, keep looking , I thought. Now invite me over.

As expected, Keenen pointed a finger at me. I stilled, pretending to act surprised as I pointed to my chest. He smiled like he was hot shit and then motioned me over.

It took everything not to roll my eyes as I moved to him, all doe-eyed.

“You are fucking hot,” he said as I stopped in front of him. “What the fuck is your name?”

“Kari,” I said, shyly.

“Kari,” he repeated, mocking my tiny voice. He let out a laugh and whispered to the guys near him. They laughed too.

My smile felt stiff. I had to be dazzled by this douchebag when I wanted nothing more than to kick him in the balls when I caught some of the words he said. “What’s yours?”

“Mine?” He looked affronted. “Baby doll, I’m Keenan. You should know that already.”

“I’m new,” I said sheepishly.

“Oh yeah? Where are you from?”

“Oh, you know, all over.”

He didn’t bother asking more. They fucking never did. “You want company tonight?”

I nodded, trying to blush, but I was really depending on my make up to do that for me. “Uh-huh.”

“Sit in my lap.”

Locke would kill him. He was very strict about this man not touching me. I twisted back and forth, glancing at his loser buddies. “In public?”

Now Keenan laughed obnoxiously, and it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. “Oh, you’re fucking sweet, ain’t you? You want to go somewhere quiet, angel?”

I nodded and bit my lip. They liked that shit. Biting my lip all lustfully and innocently though was harder than it sounded.

He got up from his seat like a fucking king leaving his throne. His arm wrapped around my shoulders. It felt like a noodle, it was so thin. In fact, this man was a twig. My smile was tight. When he placed a long kiss on my forehead, I felt every inch of me burn with disgust.

“Let’s go somewhere quiet,” he said as he led me away.