Blayd: A Bad Boy Biker Romance (The Reckless Riders MC Book 1)

by J. J. Baxter

  “You okay, Raider?” he asked, handing me a gun.

  I wrapped my fingers around its base firmly, nodding at him. “Ready as I can be. What’s going to happen if this doesn’t go according to plan?”

  He shook his head at me. “If things start to go south, we can always abort the mission, but I don’t think that’s going to be necessary this time. We’ve all been training for something like this for a while. Just be your badass self.” He snickered. “We’re going to make it out of this. Don’t forget, I’ve got your back.”

  “Will Scorpion be in there, do you think?” I asked, pointing to the warehouse sitting proudly in the middle of the desert under the harsh rays of the sun.

  “No, he doesn’t step foot in places like this unless it’s absolutely necessary. He has no idea what we’re about to do, we made sure of that. Now, we just have to follow the plan, shoot down as many of his men as we can, and leave at least one standing, so we can take him with us.”

  I nodded at him, taking a deep breath as we all moved in.

  Thrasher and Valkyrie took the lead, with a few other members of the Reckless Riders following them. Hammer, Wrecker, Blade, and some others.

  We stayed behind, keeping a close eye on our backs to ensure that there wouldn’t be any surprises waiting for us.

  I tucked my hair behind my ears, holding the gun Blayd gave me close to my chest, while we approached the back of the warehouse. I could hear the murmur of some of the Dawn Vultures members crowding around the front, and the nonchalant chatter, like they had absolutely nothing better to do than walk around aimlessly, waiting for another day to be over. Well, they were in for a fucking surprise. We were about to send a message to the Dawn Vultures and they were gonna hear us loud and clear. Scorpion was going to have a difficult time trying to pick up the pieces when we were done with him.

  I could smell the metallic scent of the warehouse doors as we made our way around the side. Thrasher, Valkyrie and Hammer silently took out the few men that were making their rounds, dragging them to the back, so they wouldn’t immediately be seen.

  Blayd looked back at me.

  With a simple nod, I followed close behind him, anxiously waiting for chaos to erupt. I could hear sounds coming from the warehouse, of men moving product with crates opening and closing while they were being stuffed onto the industrial shelves. I breathed in deeply.

  Thrasher fired off the first shot.

  Bullets started to fly.

  The Dawn Vultures members were scrambling to see where the bullets were coming from. They were too late, as we moved in.

  I felt the power behind the barrel of my gun, as I shot into every member I could until they were lying on the ground begging for their lives.

  Suddenly, a hand grabbed the back of my neck, lifting me clean off the ground.

  Blayd managed to intercept him at the very last second before the man had a chance to knock me out with the butt of his gun.

  I looked at him, desperately trying to catch my breath, as I mouthed, “Thanks!”

  “No problem,” he mouthed back.

  We split off in opposite directions, fighting our way to the main door.

  It wasn’t long before we opened the wide metal doors, while all of the Reckless Riders members funneled in, taking cover wherever they could as the Dawn Vultures members inside got ready for a fireworks show.

  I wondered briefly if the gun in my hands would run out of bullets before we could get this done. Then I spotted Valkyrie.

  He had been blasting through his enemies with a duffle bag slung across his shoulders, always prepared for whatever they had in store. He stopped behind some large metal containers to reload from his sling bag.

  I was amazed by how skilled they all were, how they never for a moment backed down. I turned my attention to Blayd, who threw himself directly into the line of fire, but still managed to evade oncoming bullets, while the Dawn Vultures tried to get a hit on him.

  “Looking for something, boys?” he asked, dangling his gun in front of them before he started firing bullets off into each of their kneecaps, watching them fall to the ground, while he finished them off before they could get back up.

  We moved further into the middle of the warehouse, while some of the Reckless Riders prospects started to go through the crates looking for the best products. We had to take something valuable, something to make Scorpion come out of hiding. They were tearing through them all without a sliver of hesitation. I was awestruck by the magnitude of power we had behind us, even though we were outnumbered, we were elusive enough to get the job done.

  “Find a good candidate, shoot him down, but don’t kill him. We need information,” Blayd commanded as he came up next to me.

  I nodded, glancing around the large room looking for someone who looked like they might have something to offer up. I had to find someone that wasn’t backing down from the fight. One who would do whatever it took to regain control of this warehouse. When I found my target, I went straight for him.

  He didn’t even see me coming, as he was far too preoccupied trying to deal with the fact that all of the Dawn Vultures precious product was being destroyed.

  I followed Blayd’s technique, shooting him down in both kneecaps until he collapsed. I motioned for Blayd to join me, so we could haul him out of here before anyone tried to save him.

  “Wait, I’ve got a better idea,” he said, helping me drag the Dawn Vultures member out towards the front doors, where the other Reckless Riders Prospects were waiting with the crates they’d stolen. “We can stick him in there. As long as he doesn’t bleed on too much of the product, it’ll keep him from moving around.”

  I didn’t think twice about it. I helped open up one of the crates, and we stuck him inside while he cried out for someone to rescue him, but when the lid was closed, it was nothing but a muffled noise.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Blayd urged.

  We waited until Valkyrie could take the van, making our way around to where our bikes were, heading out before the remainder of the Dawn Vultures could get onto the backs of theirs. However, that would do them no good as some of the prospects had disabled most of the cycles there, while we were inside fighting.

  A well-executed plan…all thought up by a man who was back in the city, healing up from his wounds. I could see why these men followed Scotch, he was smart, yet he had a heart. He’d earned their respect and now, he had mine for sure.

  Everything went down without a hitch, but I got a sinking feeling in my stomach that this would ignite something in Scorpion and the rest of the Dawn Vultures that would be a vicious payback. I also realized Scotch knew that and he would have a plan to counter it.

  15

  We Run the Road

  Damn, that was a hell of a ride. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt that fired up. I was both surprised and maybe not surprised that Angelina managed to hold her ground like that. I sure as hell couldn’t keep denying that my feelings for her weren’t growing by the day. I didn’t know what to do about it, but I knew I wanted to have her again. Once would never be enough.

  She and I were still running on adrenaline when we returned to the clubhouse, waiting patiently for the van to pull up with the stolen product and a Dawn Vultures member in the back. I saw the look on Angelina’s face. This was the kind of thing she was trained to do, get underneath someone’s skin, and make them talk, right before she put a bullet between their eyes.

  We watched as the other prospects began to haul the crates down into the basement. Angelina and I helped.

  We were going to let our hostage out, tie him up and hope that with enough time, he would eventually talk. I had no doubt that Angelina made the right choice in who to take with us, she had skills about this kind of thing.

  I couldn’t deny that I kept finding excuses to get close to her. I never thought that I would find myself actually lusting after her, but I had a feeling she had the very same thoughts. I saw the way she would take glances
at me when she thought I wasn’t looking, or how she’d nervously rub at the palm of her hand whenever I got a little too close. A spark existed between us that I never felt with anyone before. Though, there had to come a time where I snapped out of it for a little while to focus on the threat at hand, because the fight was far from over.

  We may have had a victorious strike this time, but once Scorpion learned of what we managed to do, and how much we were able to destroy, he would fight back with everything he had. I heard the calculated discernment in his voice on Angelina’s landline, preparing for whatever we were going to hit him with, but he always prided himself on being one step ahead.

  I guess we fucking lucked out this time, didn’t we, Scorpion?

  Angelina stood by my side, while we gathered around the basement door, after Thrasher took it upon himself to secure our Dawn Vultures hostage for the time being, telling us that he was still out cold, and it would be some time before he woke up.

  Whenever I thought about everything that happened and what Angelina’s part had been in all of this, I knew who had called the hit on Scotch in the first place.

  Scorpion was a smart, calculated man. He had tried to get under Angelina’s skin, telling her that he wanted her to give up her research, and he knew it would drive her straight to Scotch. I had a feeling that he was hoping he would’ve gotten to her before she got lumped in with the rest of us, but Scorpion had to know that the only way he would ever get Angelina on his side would be to take her by force. Now, all he would want to do was to kill her. I felt protective over her, feeling the connection between us and I refused to let Scorpion or any of the Dawn Vultures ruin that.

  I never imagined I would find someone who would make me want to turn things around, to keep working towards becoming the man I wanted to be for her, but that was the effect Angelina had on me.

  We all realized after about ten minutes that it might be some time before this guy woke up. “I’m sure that one of you can hold down the fort for a while, right? Angelina and I need to find out who her employer is. Though we all know who it is. We just need to get the proof.”

  Thrasher and Valkyrie nodded.

  “The moment we know who officially hired the hit on Scotch,” I said. “The closer we will get to using that to our advantage,”

  “I’ll stay, Valkyrie offered. “I have men out front and back. Hammer and Blade are leading them. Thrasher has other business to attend to, and you’re right. You two need to start tracking down the asshole behind this.”

  “I’ll check in with Scotch on my way back to the Lazy Pint,” Thrasher added. “I have a few new prospects that are in need of training, especially because we’re all waiting to see what Scorpion is going to do when he realizes we have the upper hand for now.”

  “We’ll call you if we find anything new, anything we haven’t already guessed to be true.” Angelina watched as Thrasher took off on the back of his bike. Then she turned her attention to me.

  I could feel the heat between us instantly, but I knew we couldn’t get wrapped up in each other right now. We had more important matters to focus on.

  I thought about all of the Dawn Vulture bikers I’d seen at the warehouse, and how they were all fighting without purpose, without care to protect their president. Most of them chose to run and hide, hoping that they were going to wait out the storm instead of facing the situation like men. It made me think that we were going to be able to come out on top. Scorpion and the rest of his club didn’t stand a chance, but maybe it would be foolish to think that way. Maybe Scorpion kept his most powerful and skilled members close to him. I got a feeling we were going to be meeting a few of them very soon. They would be out for blood and they would be out to grab Angelina. I refused to face how I would feel if they got to her.

  “You all right, Blayd?” she asked after I’d been silent for several minutes.

  “Yeah, I’m good. You ready to go?”

  “Not until you tell me what’s on your mind,” she said, pulling me aside, so we would be out of Valkyrie’s earshot.

  This was the first time she and I had to deal with anything of this magnitude and the idea of letting Scorpion run rampant throughout the town made me sick. He was exactly the kind of man I’d avoided up until now. Why I remained a loner and never really joined any clubs. I never wanted to get involved with those kinds of men, self-serving, ego driven, cutthroat, and bad to the core. Scotch was the complete opposite, trying to do what was best for everyone. The kind of president we all could admire, and right now he was down for the count, but that didn’t mean we weren’t going to do everything we could to make sure the Dawn Vultures paid for what they did. But would I pay if they got to Angelina? I never cared for anyone at this level before and I didn’t want to face something like that. Her hurt or worse…dead.

  When I didn’t reply, Angelina just guessed at it. “I’m worried too, Blayd. I’ve never been through anything like this before. But we kicked ass just now. We can’t be beaten so easily. We’re going to get to the bottom of who hired me and take Scorpion down. He can’t hide forever.

  “It’s not that, it’s just—”

  “What?” she asked, furrowing her brow at me.

  “It’s you, okay? It’s you, Angelina,” I admitted. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  She inched closer to me, caressing my cheek for a moment.

  I felt the heat emanate from her, as she was warm to the touch. Our eyes locked. Yeah, I just let her know she meant something to me. But I guess by now, I didn’t give a fuck if she knew. I heard the rustling of Valkyrie heading down into the basement, trying to stay out of our way. But at the same time, I had trouble giving into her. I’d been alone for so dammed long. Everything in me was telling me to shut her out, to forget this all happened and move on, but we were both in too deep.

  She gazed deep into my eyes and said nothing.

  I lifted her chin, kissing her fiercely. I felt her melt into my arms and just like that, she gave me her answer. After another breathless minute, I broke the kiss.

  She swallowed heavily then spoke, “You have to let me stand by you through all of this. I need to help. I can’t go hide and watch everyone go to war without me.”

  “But I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you,” I confessed.

  “I can say the same about you, Blayd. But if we want the Reckless Riders to live their lives freely, then we have to do whatever we can to make sure that happens. That’s what you told me, and even after you found out about me, you still chose to stick by me. I’ll be forever grateful for that.”

  I gave her a nod as I pushed her hair back from her face. “Even when all the evidence pointed to you, I knew you weren’t a threat. If we’re going to do this, we have to do it fast before Scorpion sends his filthy birds after us.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” she said. “We’ll start at my apartment. I have the contact information I last used stored on my laptop. It has to be Scorpion. It’s the only thing that makes sense. After all, they’ve been watching me from the moment I got into town. They already knew who I was.”

  Yeah, it had been obvious really from the start of this. “I’ve got a plan. You can get in touch with them and confirm that Scotch is dead. As long as they don’t have any information to call our bluff, it may be a way for you to collect payment, and then we can find out who they are. If they are Dawn Vultures, that little bit of information might lead us right to Scorpion’s doorstep.”

  We rode out to Angelina’s apartment complex, parking our cycles, and heading up to her floor. When the elevator finally opened, I felt a sudden change in the air, like something wasn’t right. We made our way down the hall to her apartment.

  The lock had been busted and the door hung slightly open.

  I wondered how long it’d been like that and how no one seemed to notice. I nudged her back, taking my gun out of its holster while I held it close to me, keeping her behind me in case we were walking into something. />
  We didn’t say a word to each other, because we were both thinking the same thing. Scorpion and the Dawn Vultures had been here.

  I opened the door slowly, taking a quick look around the room to make sure no one was hiding in any of the corners. When I felt sure the coast was clear, I ushered for her to come in and join me. The room had been completely ransacked, her furniture toppled, with broken glass everywhere. All of her files and information had been scattered across the floor, some stamped with the wet mud of dirty boots, leaving prints behind.

  “Those fuckers,” she said, bending down to pick up the picture of Scotch that I had questioned her about.

  “It looks like they got the message all right,” I said.

  “They were looking for the rest of the information I was gathering. Or anything that tied them in.”

  “They did a fucking number on this place, that’s for sure. None of this stuff is useable anymore.” I looked around at the mess.

  Angelina shook her head at me, heading straight for her bedroom.

  I followed her in, watching as she fumbled through the clothes in her closet.

  She paused at a long hoodie. Grabbing it, she came over to the bed. Then she unzipped the back and pulled out a laptop, setting it down on the bed. “It’s not too late to contact them, because if this somehow turns out to be someone else, we’re going to have bigger problems on our hands. I’m going to send them the message that Scotch is dead, and we’re going to wait to see if we get a reply. We have to stay alert, because even if they do reply and give me a location to collect payment, we have to assume that it’s the Dawn Vultures trying to lure me out.”