The Fall Guy (Eastward Prison Story)

1. Kaden

CHAPTER 1

KADEN

After my phone rings for the twentieth time, I realise my ringtone is annoying as fuck. The constant jingling is nauseating, and the smug smile on the screen is just as bad. I should just switch the damn thing off.

I take a swig of my beer while staring at my phone on the makeshift coffee table. It’s a bunch of pallets my roommate took from his work. We painted them light blue to go with the faux red leather sofas we stole from a house clearance.

“Technology may be improving, but they still don’t answer themselves,” Brad says, then gulps his drink.

The skinny blonde on his knee nuzzles into his neck, and he sits back, making the couch squeak. I look away. PDA is almost as sickening as my phone noise.

“I don’t want to talk to the person who’s calling,” I say, switching the ringer to silent.

“Is it an ex-girlfriend?” the blonde says. Her tits are spilling out of her top. I love my roommate, but I wish his women were more modest.

Brad laughs. “Kaden doesn’t do girlfriends.”

“A lover then?” she says, pouting her lips.

None of the Cyclones have regular partners; it’s safer for everyone that way. A couple of months ago, Crow took a bullet while out collecting a debt. He got the money but had to be patched up and was out of action for a month. Everyone knows the risks of living this life. That said, we don’t bring people we care about into it.

“Kaden’s hand gets more action than anyone else,” Brad says with another chuckle.

“Fuck off.” I flip him the bird.

He thinks he’s so funny, but he’s forgetting the blonde is a sure thing. He doesn’t need to show he has a sense of humour to get her to spread her legs. So what if I’ve been celibate for a while? I’ve just not been feeling it.

“You’re irritable tonight. Maybe you should just get some. Callie does this thing with her tongue. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind showing you.” Brad pushes her to the edge of his knee, and she smiles eagerly.

My dick would soften further if it were possible. I’m a twenty-five-year-old red-blooded Englishman, but that doesn’t mean I’ll sink into any hole offered to me. Lately, no women seem to be doing it for me. Maybe I need a break from all the bullshit around me. Our house can sometimes get crowded, and finding peace can be challenging.

Averting my gaze, I grab my phone off the table and head down the hall and up the stairs to my bedroom. The device vibrates in my hand and against my better judgement, I connect the call holding it up in front of me.

“What?” I ask, with venom laced in my voice.

“Not the best way to greet your older brother,” Kai says as his face appears on the screen.

“Ten minutes hardly counts. What do you want?” My tone softens slightly, but only enough that my twin would notice. We haven’t seen each other for a while but he still understands me better than anyone else. He’s my biggest critic and a pain in my ass.

“Okay, we don’t need to play nice. You said you’d show up for Mum’s birthday. We’ve been sat waiting for you to arrive for thirty minutes. I told her you wouldn’t come, but you made a promise. I’m sick of listening to how much she misses you and your bullshit excuses. Everyone has problems, Kaden. You aren’t any different. Now get your ass over here.” The vein in his head pulses.

Calmly, I take another sip of my beer, savouring the bitter taste.

“Fine.”

Before he can whine anymore, I hang up.

It was a few weeks ago when he initially asked me. He caught me off guard when I agreed to a family dinner. Guilt isn’t something I usually buy into. Now, I’m paying for my moment of weakness. I hate sit-down meals and family gatherings, but I’ll have to get this one over with. Throwing my phone down on the bed, I pull on my combat boots before shoving a few paper notes and my keys into my back pocket.

“I’m heading out,” I shout to Brad on my way through the house.

He’s getting his fix of the blonde and doesn’t even look up. Ignoring the sexual activity going on in my living room, I go outside toward the garage.

Starting my motorbike, I pull onto the main road, letting my need for speed take over my thoughts. The wind blows through my hair as the streets blur. It’s a thirty-minute drive to the place where I grew up.

The spray paint, broken windows, and boarded-up pubs fade as the big country houses come into my field of vision. To most people, the view would be beautiful, but it makes me itchy to turn back around so I can leave.

A few curtains twitch as I park up on my mum’s drive. The old bats probably think they need to lock their daughters up to protect their ovaries. They’d be wrong. I’m not interested in corrupting any posh tarts.

My four-year-old nephew, Jacob, comes barrelling out of the house, holding his tiny arms toward me. His mum, my brother’s wife, Sonia, trails behind him. Her eyes linger on my tattoos for longer than necessary. Even though she’s fighting a scowl, I see it.

My ink is the main physical difference between my brother and me. We both have thick dark brown hair, deep brown eyes, and a muscular physique. I was the first to get my nipple pierced but my brother couldn’t resist copying that feature. He’d probably have a few tattoos if Sonia hadn’t hated them so much. I’m not pussy whipped, thankfully, so I don’t have anyone telling me what to do.

“Uncle Kaden!” Jacob says with the biggest smile.

He looks like a mini version of my brother, of me, and if he wasn’t so sweet, it might freak me out. He’s the closest I’ll come to having my own child. I made my choice not to have kids when I joined the Cyclones, and even his cuteness won’t change that.

“Hey buddy,” I say, swinging my leg over my bike and climbing off.

The gravel crunches underneath my feet as I make my way up to the house. He dances around my feet with excitable energy. At least someone’s happy to see me . I pat his back, then kiss his mum on the cheek. She may not like my tattoos, but we always play nice like one big dysfunctional family.

My brother appears in the doorway with a frown. “You’ve been drinking,” he grumbles.

Like him, my cheeks flush when I’ve had alcohol. He’s a hypocrite because his face is just as red as mine. It’s not a question, so I don’t answer. Fuck him. I’m here for our mother, not his judgement.

Passing them all, I make my way into the living room, where I find Mum already shovelling food for me onto a plate. “Happy birthday,” I say, kissing her on the corner of her mouth.

“Thanks, baby. My growing lad needs some food to fill his belly.” She tries to entice me by waggling the plate. Luckily, it’s obvious the rest of the family have already taken their share, so I won’t be forced to sit down with them.

I take the food but quickly put it down so I can pull her into a hug. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You’ve made it. That’s what counts.” She beams with a bright smile.

I glance at my dad’s picture on the wall. My brother, the better son, is still scoring points with my old man even though he’s not here to see. I’m easily forgiven when it comes to my mum.

My parents were in their forties when they had us. After years of trying to conceive naturally, they forked out the money to have IVF. Mum calls us her miracle babies, which means I can get away with almost anything, especially when Kai tries to be the perfect poster child.

My brother and his family eventually catch up with us in the living room. I don’t miss Kai’s condescending stare when he hears my mum’s words. Silence falls over the room, which I don’t bother to fill. Instead, I turn to my father’s old liquor cabinet, I find some of his best whiskey and pour some into a glass.

“You have no shame,” Kai says, knitting his eyebrows together. He doesn’t like me touching Dad’s things, but he isn’t the only one who lost him.

“It’s not like he’s coming back to claim it,” I say before knocking it back.

My mum gasps, causing a twinge of guilt to fizz in my black heart. Trying to appease her, I lay off drinking anymore of my belated dad’s alcohol and sit at the table. Mum talks about old times, and I try to nod in all the right places while picking at the food she put out for me.

An hour flies by. Luckily, it’s past Jacob’s bedtime, and Sonia wants to leave. We say our goodbyes before leaving my mum to watch her favourite TV show.

Kai tugs on my arm, forcing me to follow him off to one side of the garden.

“I made a mistake dragging you here tonight. I thought for once you could try and be a decent human being for our mother’s sake.” He spits his words out.

“Just because I look like you, doesn’t mean we have anything in common. I decide how to navigate my moral compass.” It was broken long ago and bad decisions don’t keep me up at night.

He’s the dependable one. Everything I’m not, and it’s time he finally let go of the notion I’m going through a phase. I belong to the Cyclones; their mark is branded onto my neck. They are my brothers and the only ones with my loyalty.

He brushes his hand over his face. “We stopped looking alike years ago. Your features are harder, your cuts are deeper, and your ink only paints a war you never had to fight. Let’s hope you never need me to bail you out because I won’t be there for you.”

If he intended his words to hurt, he missed the mark. I haven’t needed him since the day our father died.