Ryder Read online

  I tossed the backpack I’d taken from Taylor into the backseat of the car, and she slid in after. I was already in the driver’s seat and ready to go by the time she got her seatbelt adjusted, and we sped off.

  Though I knew right where we were going, and it was relatively easy to get there, I couldn’t help but keep glancing in the rearview mirror the entire way. I had to get them there safe, and I felt exposed in the car without backup.

  The boys were around. I knew they would be in the area and not too far off in the event something were to happen. But, this mission was meant to be as quiet and quick as possible. No one wanted to attract too much attention, and considering the fact we were taking the president of the Death’s Door MC’s wife and daughter somewhere safe, I knew it wasn’t too far off the mark to think someone could try something.

  But, a quick glance into the backseat gave the sight of Taylor still looking as terrified as she had been from the beginning. For a brief moment, anger ran through me, and I felt a new surge of protection course through my veins.

  I didn’t care what I had to face to make sure these two women were safe – I would do it. That was what this entire mission was about, and putting my life on the line for the good of the club was the name of the game. I knew from the beginning what I was signing up for, and this wasn’t any exception to the rule.

  If I had to get in fight of any kind I would do it for the sake of Taylor. I’d not yet shot anyone, but I was willing to if I had to do it to keep her safe. The day was likely coming when I would have to do that anyway, so why not do it when I was saving the girl I liked most of all?

  I didn’t care if I had to fight Bud himself. I wasn’t going to let him lay a finger on Taylor or Katherine again. This might be the only time I was in the position to take care of them like I was right now, but that didn’t lessen my motivation. I would still do what I had to do to keep them safe regardless of the danger I encountered along the way.

  No one would come near either one of them – not without getting through me first.

  And, I was a force to be reckoned with.

  Chapter 3 – Present Day

  Taylor

  I sat at one of the tables near the back of the bar, counting my tips for the night. I was paid hourly, but that didn’t compare to the money I took home with me in tips every night I worked.

  Of course, even that wasn’t much, but since I could add it to the money I brought home in a paycheck, it did make my life livable.

  Every night, after my shift, I’d sit down and count my tips. I’d put them in two piles – one pile went in one pocket of my jeans. That was the money I would use for the bills I had and any other living expense that suddenly cropped up.

  Then, there was the other pile. That was the money I set aside every night for the future. It wasn’t much, really. Sometimes as little as five or ten dollars. But, it was something, and I knew little by little, I was going to get myself out of here.

  I knew it would take me a long time to get as much money as I would need to get out of here, but that didn’t matter to me. I didn’t care if it took years. I had to get out of there, that was for damn sure.

  Of course, I knew it would be hard. It wasn’t as though I could just pack up and get the Hell out of Dodge without a lot of careful planning. But, I knew with persistence, I would be able to finally make that move and get on with my life.

  This might be the place I had called home for so long, but I was done with that. I was fed up with each and every MC I happened to cross paths with. It didn’t matter who the men belonged to. And, I really didn’t care what rank they held.

  The fact of the matter was that I hated anything that had to do with the MC, and I wasn’t afraid to show it. I might’ve ended up stuck in Fallen Hills for much longer than I would have personally chosen for myself, but now I was making a change.

  I’d been living practically on my own for the past ten years. It all came down to that night when we were taken into protective custody by the Steel Wings MC, and my life hadn’t been the same ever since.

  At the time, I thought I would be staying with my mother. I thought the two of us were going to be taken into protective hiding together. I thought we would finally be getting away from my father for good, and nothing in his power could bring us back to him or under his control again.

  I had been so sure of it, in fact, I almost dared to relax and let myself believe I was finally safe.

  But, that was before.

  I quickly found out my mother wasn’t going to be staying long, and we would soon be separated. Though I was sure my father hated both of us, the MC felt that it was my mother he was after, and I was nothing more than a pawn in the grand scheme of things.

  I was just part of the game between her and my father, and if she were removed from the equation, then things would get a lot better for me. Of course, I had been given the promise of seeing her again – and soon. I was told to just relax and stay with Ryder, letting the other men who soon joined us at that hotel take care of what my mother needed.

  What I didn’t know was that they were going to take her away, and I would be left alone. Hell, I would be practically given back to my father! They were so sure he didn’t want to hurt me, they didn’t mind just handing me back to him as soon as my mother was out of the way.

  At first, I had been terrified. I didn’t want to ever see that man again. And, I was sure after we had been packed up and rushed into safety, it was just a matter of time before he lost his temper toward me and had me killed. As much as I wanted to believe he wouldn’t do that to his own daughter, I couldn’t ever bring myself to trust him fully.

  In short, I couldn’t believe they were giving me back to that man.

  But, once I was back – essentially back under his control – I quickly realized things were going to be different. I no longer lived with him. I was old enough to take care of myself, and I found enough food and a roof over my head by drifting from friend to friend.

  It didn’t take long for me to understand that my father was after my mother, and I really was the pawn trapped in the middle. He didn’t give a damn about me, and I questioned whether he ever did.

  No, he cared only about himself, and he soon became obsessed with tracking my mother down to find her. Day and night, he searched, but the days turned into weeks, which then turned into months then turned into years, and she never turned up.

  Without her around to take care of me, I soon learned my dad couldn’t be bothered with my existence. He was far too concerned with where my mom had gone, and more than that, he cared about how he could get more power as President of his MC.

  I was pushed to the wayside, where I was more than happy to go, and that was all but the end of my relationship with him.

  So, my life became one of a drifter. I couldn’t leave town. Not because my father cared about me, but because of the fact I didn’t have the money to go anywhere. I pushed to get myself the rest of the way through high school, and then I found work.

  I looked for love and acceptance in all the wrong places, but it never led to anything. Of course, I knew the truth was that I wanted to get out of that place, and one of the only ways I could see that happening was to be swept off my feet by someone who was willing to take me along for the right.

  But, once someone found out the truth of my past – the real me, really – they would forget all about me. They didn’t want to get caught up with someone who lived such a dangerous life, even if it wasn’t by her own choice. So, time after time I thought I would finally break out of the small town and flee into a life of my own, I realized I wasn’t ever going to find a man to love me or save me.

  That only bred in me the greater need to take care of myself. I had relied for too long on the rest of the world. I’d thought other people would be there to take care of me, but at a young age, I learned I couldn’t trust my father, then my mother just vanished practically into thin air.

  Through the years, I managed to get job aft
er job, and eventually managed to get my own place, but that didn’t change the resentment I had toward the situation. It wasn’t that I was angry with my mother in particular, but the fact she had all but ditched me that night when we had been taken by the MC hurt.

  I’d always thought she would let me know where she was – or at the very least, reach out to me and let me know that she was okay. I didn’t think she would just drop off the face of the earth from me as she did with my father and everyone else in her life.

  It was easier for me to ignore the resentment I felt toward her and just focus on my own life. I had my own plans, and I meant to act on those plans sooner, rather than later. I didn’t have to live in this shitty town where everyone was afraid of the MC.

  I didn’t have to waste my life always wondering what my father was going to do next, or what would happen if he were to find my mother. I didn’t have to waste any more of my energy running from him – or my past, for that matter. No, I wasn’t going to keep wasting my life in this place.

  I wanted to go bigger and better, and that’s fully what I planned to do. I wanted to make more of myself than being a bartender at Clarence’s. I wanted to be more than the person I was in Fallen Hills.

  And, the way to do that would be to save up enough money to get the Hell out of Dodge. It had already been a long time, but my savings was growing, and I knew each and every dollar I put toward the goal I had would get me that much closer to getting out of here for good.

  I didn’t care what I was leaving behind. I didn’t want anything to do with this life, and I wasn’t afraid to say so. I would be fine on my own. I always had been fine on my own. I separated myself from the MC as much as I could, and that’s just the way my life was now.

  I would continue to fight to get out of this place. And, when I finally made it to the other side, I would do everything in my power to forget about everything. That’s what I really wanted. To just move on with my life and not even think about what it had been before.

  It hadn’t been easy before, and it was still a long road that stretched out in front of me, but that didn’t change my attitude. I was determined. I was fierce. I would get out of here, and I would rise above the life I’d been born into.

  And, it would happen with the tips I made at this shitty little bar. It might not be much, but it would add up. It would all come together and it would matter. Just like my own life.

  Just like I would someday.

  I was damn sure of that.

  Chapter 4

  Ryder

  “Sign here, and sign here, then you’re free to go,” the booking officer instructed as he pointed to two lines on two sheets of paper, and I scrawled my signature across both. It felt good, signing the sheets to my release papers. It always felt good to be getting out of jail and back to my real life, even if it was always a pain in the ass to get back on my feet after a stint behind bars.

  Of course, it was the same old crap that I’d gotten in trouble for before. It seemed I couldn’t break the cycle, and as annoying as it was, I was doomed to spending a life drifting in and out of jail. I could tell myself that I wanted a new life. I could tell myself I would do better in the future and this was the last time I’d have to deal with any of this…but I knew the truth.

  And the truth was that I spent my life living the life I wanted. I wasn’t bound to the rules of society. I wasn’t bound to what many people would call their social norms. I wasn’t about to give up doing what I felt was right for me to conform to some rules society tried to put on me.

  And, that tended to lead to a lot of run-ins with the law.

  Of course, being part of the MC as I was, it didn’t come as a surprise to me to deal with the law from time to time. We knew doing the illegal things we did attracted the attention of the authorities, and they would come down on us every chance they got.

  Sure, there were times when it seemed to others in the MC the cops were looking in the other direction, but I didn’t find that to be the case. It seemed to me that I was targeted by those in uniform, and they were always on the lookout for the next time I’d fuck things up and they could come after me again.

  It might be something someone else would complain about. It might be something that would get annoying for those who were trying to straighten out their lives, but for me, it wasn’t anything new.

  I didn’t care if I had to sit behind bars or not. There wasn’t anything waiting for me on the outside, so what did it matter if I wasn’t out there?

  Sure, there were my brothers in the MC, but they were all accustomed to this life. They were in and out of jail themselves on a regular basis, and we all knew it was just a matter of time before more of our guys were behind bars again.

  Overall, it didn’t make much of a difference to any of us. It might make certain things more difficult for those of us who were still on the outs and had to take care of things for the one locked up, but it didn’t change what we were doing in the grand scheme of things. Like always, we’d just wait out the sentence for whoever it was who got themselves locked up to be released, then we would move on with our lives.

  In fact, there was some benefit to being on the inside. That was a great place to get information and gossip that was circulating over the streets, and I loved to carry some good information back to our president.

  After I signed the papers, I tucked my copies into the pocket of my jacket and grabbed the bag of my belongings. There wasn’t much. I’d planned on facing the judge and going to jail that day, so I couldn’t say I was surprised when it happened.

  I’d packed only a few things, not wanting to have a lot I had to deal with when I got out.

  Now, I was glad for my freedom, and I was eager to head out and find some of the guys. I wasn’t able to speak with Jett much when I was locked up on the inside. There was too much information that could be overheard – and we didn’t want either the cops or any of the other inmates to know what we were up to.

  As difficult as it was for me to wait that side of things out, I trusted the guys on the outside would have things taken care of. At least, taken care of enough I would have a place and a position within the club to get back to when I got back out.

  I had all the information I’d gathered floating around in the back of my mind as I walked out the door and headed for the parking lot. If I knew Jett, either he would have brought my bike to the jail and left it for me himself, or he would have found someone who would have.

  Jett was the best president the club could have asked for. Really, he knew how to take care of his men, and we all appreciated him. We knew he had things under control – always.

  If he wasn’t the one taking charge and doing things himself, he got it done through someone else in the club. It was inspiring, and though I knew I myself wasn’t ever going to be president, I was determined to make him proud of the work I was doing.

  I’d worked hard to be in the MC in the first place. I’d gone through hell more than once for those men and the sake of the club, and I would do it again. Hell, I would go back to jail if that’s what I had to do. As long as the good of the club came first, then that’s what I would do.

  I wasn’t afraid to stick my neck out for those men. They were my brothers, and I would stand by them no matter what. It’s what I was meant to do.

  Sure enough, my bike was waiting for me outside in the parking lot, just as I suspected it would be. There wasn’t anyone in sight, but that was fine. I knew where to find the others, and that’s exactly where I was heading.

  After a few weeks in the slammer, I was more than a little thirsty for something real to drink. And what better than an ice cold beer.

  With my legal issues behind me, I got on the back of the bike and started the engine. It felt good, the coursing of the power through my veins. My heart hummed with the power, and the shiver of excitement ran through me. This is what it felt like to be in control, that was for sure.

  Nothing could compare to the feeling of freedom at t
hat moment, and I was more than a little eager to get down to the bar. My Harley shuddered under my touch, and I smiled as I pulled my feet from the pavement and grasped the handles.

  I sped off in the direction of Echo Mori. It was the bar serving as the clubhouse for the MC, and though I couldn’t say how many of the members would be there, I knew without a doubt there would be at least a few of us. That’s just how it was for the Steel Wings.

  Whenever I wanted to find any of the boys, Echo Mori was the place to go. And, as I pulled into the parking lot, I grinned when I saw the bikes lined up on the far side. They were here, alright, and I was eager to see them.

  I got off the bike, and with a bit of a skip in my step, headed straight inside. A cheer met me as I walked through the door, and I gave a small bow.

  “There he is!” Blade held up his beer, and Jett walked over to clap me on the back. The President and his Vice President were both happy to see me, but I was even happier to see that Rocco, Roman, Harley, and Trak were all there, as well.

  They were my closest friends in the MC, and it felt good to have them around me.

  “Grab a beer and tell us what there is to know.” Jett held up a glass, and I took it before draining it in only a few gulps.

  “Slow down, man, we want to know what you have to say,” Blade said with a laugh, pouring me another.

  “Can’t help it.” I took a long swig of the next beer before sitting down at the table with the rest of the guys. Everyone was talking at once, but I still couldn’t help but notice the fact I felt right at home. It was as though I’d never left, really, and that felt better than I could even say.

  I cared for each of them like they were my blood brothers, and I knew they all felt the same toward me. Though I’d been gone for nearly two months, it was as though nothing had changed, at all. We were laughing and talking and catching up on old times, as well as them filling me in on the new.