THE OUTLAW’S BRIDE Read online

  But I couldn’t get the nut up. I rode around for hours, staring at the black darkness. I’m still the president, I told myself. Even though it’s not gonna last, I’m here now, ain’t I?

  It was futile. No matter how frequently I reminded myself that I was still in power, I knew it would soon be drawing to a close. Soon, I wouldn’t have any kind of power. I’d have to start from the ground up to build a good life for Angel and Chuckie. I knew I could do it, but it was gonna be tough. After all, I’d sunk most of my twenties into the Skullbreakers. And now I didn’t know how I was going to live without my guys around me. I had a bond with them tighter than my bond with anyone else, except maybe Angel. And even though I loved Angel back then, she never got into those dark parts of my soul I let the guys in on. She never knew how much pleasure I could take from being an outlaw, never knew how good it felt to punish someone for doing the wrong thing. Angel would have recoiled from me if she had a snapshot of how my life had been since she’d been gone. She wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with me. I smirked as I imagined her with some dorky asshole who worked at the library. Sure, she’d be bored as hell, but she’d never have to think about her boyfriend scalping some renegade bikers for revenge. No, Angel wouldn’t like that at all.

  I cleared my throat. All of the guys were gathered around me and I felt a spike of nervousness. In all my years leading the Skullbreakers, I’d never imagined it would go down like this. I always thought I’d ride or die. That was what I’d signed up for when they patched me in. And now, leaving the club would mean I was giving up my support system, my brotherhood, in exchange for Angel’s freedom. If six months ago someone told me where I’d be today, I wouldn’t have believed them. But now, helping Angel and our son was all I could think about. There was literally no other option. I knew what I had to do, and I knew why I had to do it.

  “What’s going on?” Ram shifted from one leg to the other as he watched me. “What’s happening, man?”

  I blinked. “I need to talk to y’all,” I said, trying to keep my voice as calm and steady as I could. “It’s about the MC. I don’t think I can lead you guys anymore. I’m stepping down. I haven’t done a good job as president, and this part of my life is over.”

  Ram and the other guys stared at me. Eric, one of the guys I’d known the longest, was gaping. “What the fuck, man?” Eric asked softly. He stepped forward and gave me a hard look. “You in trouble or some shit? You need some help, man?”

  I was dying to say yes, but I knew I couldn’t reveal anything. I knew I had to play it off like I didn’t care, like this was just a normal day for me. “I’m fine,” I muttered. “But I can’t lead y’all anymore. I’ve got too much shit going on. Eric, you’ll be a good president.”

  Ram glared. I knew he’d been waiting for the spot forever, but I couldn’t let him usurp Eric. Even though Ram was my best friend, he was hotheaded and fiery. He wouldn’t be a good president. Not now, when these guys were going to be plunged into turmoil from my departure. I cursed Damien and the day we’d ever spoken as friends. I hated him. He was the worst bastard on the planet. He’d already stolen Angel and Chuckie from under my nose, and now he was making give up the club, too.

  “Man, can you tell us what’s going on?” Eric and Ram looked at me with concern. The other guys were standing around, muttering and kicking at the ground with their combat boots.

  I shrugged and tried hard to look casual. “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I just need to get away from the MC for a while and live my own goddamn life.” The guys were looking at me with hurt plain on their faces. I felt like shit for hurting them like this, but they had to realize that sooner or later, leadership would shift. This would have happened eventually. But it still hurt.

  “How can you do this to us?” Ram looked at me and I had to glance away. “You were just setting up plans for the future! And suddenly you don’t care anymore? What the fuck happened, man?”

  “It’s nothing,” I said, shrugging. “I’ve got to get going. You guys stay here. Figure it out.”

  I almost wanted one of them to catch up to me, but they didn’t. In a display that recalled what had happened at the hospital with Wolf, I reached into my pocket for a knife. The guys watched in horror as I slid the point of the knife under my patches and began to cut. When “President” and “Skullbreakers” were severed, I dropped them on the ground and walked away.

  Getting on my bike, I revved the engine and set off in the direction of the city limits. Damien and his MC controlled some abandoned warehouses out of town. Whipping out my phone, I called Damien.

  “It’s done,” I said shortly. “I stepped down. Now where are you? And where’s the girl and her son?”

  Damien laughed. “We’re at the warehouse. I assume you’ll be here soon.”

  “Damn straight.” I hung up and sped off in that direction.

  There was a bad feeling mounting in my stomach and I couldn’t shake it off, no matter how hard I tried. Don’t be a paranoid fuckwit, I told myself as I sped up and exited the highway. It was fully dark and I could barely see. This was a bad part of town, worse even than the part where Angel had lived. I shuddered as I thought about her trapped and scared. I desperately hoped they hadn’t hurt her, but I didn’t have a good feeling. Damien was a wild asshole, and his men were no better. They were animals, and Angel was a gorgeous woman. I clenched my hands into fists and gripped the handlebars of my bike. If any one of them had laid a finger on her, I’d break every bone in his body. He’d be screaming for mercy before I even really started to do some damage.

  I still had no idea what to do about the money. Part of me was hoping Damien would call it even. After all, I’d stepped down. That was what he’d wanted, and that was what he’d get. I had to hope I could bargain with him. Five million dollars was a lot of money, and I didn’t think I’d be able to get my hands on that kind of money. Not even with the help of the guys. Now that I’d stepped down, I didn’t think I could count on any of them to help me out. I shook my head and set my lips in a thin line. Damien was devious, and I knew he’d asked me to step down so the guys wouldn’t have my back. As President, they were obligated to help me. But now, I wasn’t so sure they’d have my back. They’d feel betrayed, and with good reason, too. After all, a sitting president of the Skullbreakers hadn’t ever left before. Sure, guys had gotten booted out for stealing. More presidents had died while leading the Angels than had been kicked out. And if you put my guys to a vote, I was almost positive they would have wanted the same outcome for me. There was no shame in a good death, but there was all too much shame in walking away from the tribe.

  As I approached the warehouses, the bad feeling in my stomach got even worse. The lights were out, which was strange. After all, they wouldn’t have left Angel and Chuckie alone, no matter how tight their bonds were. They would have left a couple of men — at least — to guard. But there was no one there. The sound of my bike’s engine revving echoed and bounced around the empty walls. When I dismounted, my boots clicked on the pavement. I felt like a man in a ghost town.

  “Damien? You better get your ass out here,” I called loudly. “I’m not fuckin’ around, man. Come out and get me, asshole!”

  There was no reply. The bad feeling got worse and I felt my heart start to pound in my chest. As I looked around, I’d never felt more alone. More than anything, I wished I’d brought one of the guys with me, temporarily forgetting I’d just stepped down and now the guys weren’t under any obligation to me whatsoever.

  Walking around, I ducked into one of the warehouses. It smelled foul, like rotten water, and I could tell no one had been here in months. I frowned. Where the fuck were they?

  He lied to you, a voice chimed in from the back of my head. He lied to you. They’re not here. You’ve been played, Trey, you son of a bitch.

  I shuddered. I didn’t want to believe Damien would have fucked me over so easily, but this didn’t bode well. I screamed Angel’s name. I screamed Chuckie’
s name. Over and over, I screamed for Damien.

  There was never a reply. It hit me with a sudden, cold certainty that they weren’t here. That I’d been lied to, and Damien had them somewhere else. And now I’d left my men at the mercy of Damien’s witness, and Angel and Chuckie at the mercy of the devil himself.

  Cursing loudly, I hopped back on my bike and sped towards the Skullbreakers clubhouse. Horrible, terrible thoughts were running through my head the whole time. Angel bound and gagged, stripped naked and prodded for the amusement of Damien and his savage men. Chuckie bound and gagged, forced to watch his mother cry tears of shame as my rival slid his greasy hand down her perfect body. The image that hurt most of all was that in my mind of Damien telling Chuckie whose son he really was.

  Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dialed Eric. He answered almost immediately. That was when I got the first surge of confidence I’d had since before speaking with Damien.

  “What’s up?” Eric’s voice was low and gravelly, like he knew something bad was going down.

  “There was a member of the Steel Demons watching us just now,” I said hastily. “Find him. You hear me? Fucking find him!”

  “Got it, man,” Eric said. I could tell he was dying to ask me a million questions, but to his credit, he stayed silent. “Where are you?”

  “I’ll be there soon,” I said through gritted teeth. “Just find that asshole and make sure he doesn’t get away.”

  Chapter 24

  Angel

  I couldn’t begin to say how much time had passed. The only thing I was aware of was the slow, even sound of Chuckie’s breathing. Poor kid was terrified out of his wits but somehow he was still asleep. I hadn’t moved a muscle — we were still cuddled up on the floor and I was absentmindedly stroking his hair with one hand. I was afraid that if I moved at all, he’d wake up and then we’d have that to deal with. Chuckie had no idea how much trouble we were really in, but I didn’t want him to be scared.

  I hated myself for letting this happen. I hated myself for falling for Trey. If we’d never met, this wouldn’t have gone down. It seemed ridiculous now. And furthermore, how did Damien’s guys know how to start stalking me at the library if Trey hadn’t even been aware of my existence?

  Maybe he knew you were here the whole time, a nasty voice chimed in the back of my head. Maybe he knew and he just didn’t want you. Maybe he never wanted to see you again. You’re lucky he saved you twice. It probably won’t happen again. You don’t deserve that, Angel.

  “Stop it,” I mumbled, unaware that I was talking to myself. “Shut the fuck up.”

  Chuckie stirred in my arms and my heart fluttered. “Mommy?” His voice in the darkness was scared and small, like that of a very young child.

  “Shhh, baby, it’s okay,” I told him as I pulled him closer and kept stroking his hair. “Go back to sleep. Do you think you can do that?”

  Chuckie wriggled on the concrete floor and I winced, knowing how uncomfortable he must be. Chuckie was practically all skin and bones — he’d finally hit his growth spurt — and the floor was hard on me, a mature woman with an ass. Poor kid. He didn’t deserve any of this. I wished I could take him away from Centerville and never return, but now I wasn’t even sure if we’d make it out of the basement alive.

  It had seemed like hours, and no one had come down for us. Occasionally, I’d heard footsteps and mumbling upstairs but no one had even put their hand on the knob of the door. Every time I heard someone walking, my pulse quickened out of anxiety. I began to dread the door opening, seeing a manly silhouette stomp down the stairs. But then when the footsteps would pass, I’d feel a stronger pulse of anxiety than before. Don’t leave me alone! I wanted to scream. Come back! Being ignored was infinitely worse than being in the company of those horrid men. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, but I didn’t like the thought of being alone here for the rest of the night.

  Where the hell was Trey? Surely he had to know something had happened by now. I didn’t know who had taken me, but it didn’t seem too far a stretch to imagine these guys were probably linked to Randy and Nick. But Randy and Nick were a couple of buffoons — what would they want with me? They didn’t have beef with Trey. Hell, I didn’t even think they knew Trey.

  But Centerville was only so big. And Trey rode with a big MC of at least ten guys. I’d never met most of those guys. I’d never even seen some of them before. So maybe Randy and Nick had a bigger network than I’d imagined. And maybe they’d had some of their stronger guys take me down and keep me waiting.

  I shuddered as I remembered the force with which Randy had grabbed my breasts that once. He was a savage, a brute, someone who could barely be called a man. And now I was at his mercy.

  “Mommy, what’s going to happen to us?” Chuckie looked up at me.

  In the darkness, I could see the angles and planes of his face reflected from the moonlight. There wasn’t a big window in the basement but I could see snatches of moon and dark from the outside world. I calculated it had to be after midnight by now. And here we were, alone, starving, and cold. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had something to eat. I’d been so broken up with the thought of leaving Trey’s that my appetite had completely vanished. But now even the bowl of stale bread was starting to look appetizing.

  “Baby, are you hungry?”

  Chuckie nodded. He wiped the back of his mouth with his hand and I saw he’d been drooling. I felt like the world’s worst mother as I climbed to my feet and walked over to the bowl of bread.

  “Let’s just eat a little bit of this right now,” I told Chuckie. “So we don’t get sick. Can you manage that?”

  Chuckie nodded. He picked up a piece of bread and crammed it into his mouth, trying to swallow whole. He grinned at me and for a moment, I had the sense he thought we were on this great adventure. Oh, kid, I wanted to say. You have no idea just what kind of adventure this really is.

  Suddenly, the door opened. Chuckie and I leapt apart. A masculine figure strode down the stairs. Like the guys who had caught me yesterday, he was a menacing figure. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but it was too dark in the basement to really look at his face.

  At that exact instant, the man flipped a switch and harsh light flooded the basement. I squinted, getting an instant headache from the bright white lights that had been mounted on the rafters. In light, the basement was even dingier than it had been in darkness. With unease, I saw there were various stains of shapes and sizes on the floor. I shuddered. They were all a darkish red-brown…blood?

  “I see you’re enjoying the refreshments,” the man cackled.

  I shivered as he stepped closer. Focusing on his features, I felt like someone had punched me hard in the gut. This man was someone I’d seen before. I struggled, racking my brain for his name. He was someone who used to pal around with Trey, someone I’d never really liked.

  “The name is Damien,” the man said, as if reading my mind. He stuck his hand out for a shake.

  I kept my fists balled into defiant clumps at my sides. There was no way I was going to touch this monster. The name brought back all kinds of memories. When Trey and I had started dating, they’d been best friends. They’d grown up together, on the wrong side of the tracks. Unlike the rest of Trey’s friends, Damien had always tried to charm me. But it hadn’t ever worked; I’d seen right through his slimy bullshit. We hadn’t been together for all that long before Trey and Damien stopped talking. I’d asked Trey for the truth so many times that he’d gotten irritated with me, but he’d never told me why they weren’t friends anymore. I had to suspect it was because Damien was pushing Trey to get into illegal activity and Trey had refused. Deep down, I always knew it was because of me. If Trey hadn’t been with me, he would have done anything in a heartbeat. But I was the center of his life then, and he’d been trying to get right just so we could be happy together. I’d always warned him that if he went to jail, I wouldn’t be there when he got back. And I thought he’d
taken that pretty seriously.

  “I remember you,” I said. My voice sounded shaky and high-pitched, like a little girl’s. “You used to be friends with Trey.”

  “Oh, you do have a good memory,” Damien said. He smiled at me and stepped closer with a leering grin on his face. He made no secret at all of staring straight at my breasts and I shuddered at his intense gaze. “It’s been years since we laid eyes on each other. You remember the last time?”