Kade
Elizabeth Knox
Contents
Keep In contact with Elizabeth
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Playlist
Trigger Warning
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Author’s Note
Next Release
Kade
Reapers MC #5
Elizabeth Knox
Available Now From
Elizabeth Knox
Series: Skulls Renegade
Reign
Redemption
Revenge
Relentless
Reckoning
Reclaimed
Regret
Reckless
Reclusive
Retribution
First Generation: A Skulls Renegade MC Boxset
Series: The Clans
Promised
The Trade
Cherished
Deceit
Love is War
Series: Steele Bros.
Tough as Steele
Stripping a Steele
Series: Reapers MC
Scarred
Blackjack
Here Kitty, Kitty
Booger
Widow
Sin City Fets with Linny Lawless
Switched
Full Throttle with Erin Trejo
Against All Odds
Coming Soon From
Elizabeth Knox
Defiant with Iris Sweetwater
(The Clans #6)
Protecting a Steele
(Steele Bros #3)
Hawk
(Reapers MC #6)
Bull
(Reapers MC #7)
Forbidden Love
(Mackenzies #1)
Tempt Me
(Crave #1)
Kade
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, organizations, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Kade. Copyright © 2019 by Elizabeth Knox. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in articles or reviews. For information, contact E. Knox.
https://www.facebook.com/elizabethknoxbooks
Publisher Link: www.knoxpub.com
Cover design by Clarise Tan, CT Cover Creations
Editing by Courtney Lynn Rose, Knox Publishing
Formatting by E.C. Land, Knox Publishing
Proofreading by Jackie Ziegler, Knox Publishing
Created with Vellum
Keep In contact with Elizabeth
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Acknowledgments
My Author Tribe: Linny Lawless, Erin Trejo, Iris Sweetwater, & Gianna Gabriela — Thank you all for sticking by me when it came to writing this story. You’ve all listened to the crazy moments of doubt, the stress and the tears. We may fight sometimes, but you four are like my sisters and I love you dearly. It’s so hard to find genuine people in this world and I count myself lucky to have the group of you.
My Beta Bitchaz — Y’all, I remember how much you wanted to strangle certain characters in this book. I don’t know if I’ve ever said this, but you’re all my first test in the water when my ideas are so close to becoming a reality. Knowing that my words can evoke such emotional reactions to where you want to reach through the screen and choke out characters makes me a giddy as a little girl going out for ice cream after school. Thank you for always keeping it real!
My Bloggers — You all are the absolute greatest. I know I’ve said this multiple times, but I couldn’t do this without any of you. My appreciation runs deeply for all of you, and I’m so thankful you’ve stuck with me from the get-go. You all know how to make a woman truly feel special.
My Editor, Courtney Lynn Rose – Thank you for picking this series up in the middle of its chaos. I know we ran into a few bumps along the road since this was smack dab in the craziest part of the series. I appreciate all of your insight through creating this book and transforming it into the novel it is today.
Clarise, My Magical Unicorn — We’ve done it yet again and have created another beautiful cover. It’s glorious, magical to the point of where I never anticipated it would be. Thank you so much for sticking by me since I was a newborn author. Two and a half years later and here we are!
KBB, My Babes! — Y’all… I don’t know if you’re ready for this one. It’s darker in ways I never anticipated and is true to the characters you’ve all grown to love. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for appreciating the flawed characteristics in these fictional characters.
Dedication
Dedicated to Katie Marie
I’ve never really had a “muse” before, as a writer. I’ve seen many of my peers find their muses for multiple projects however I was never really like that. I’d spent over a year trying to find the perfect woman to embody everything that Ivy’s character is. Countless minutes, hours and even days of searching through gallery after gallery —until I saw your photo. Not many people know this, not even you, but I was suffering from the worst writer’s block when it came to this story. I tried writing it multiple times and nothing ever seemed to work. It’s like the creative part of my brain hit a dead end, literally. After the cover design was complete, the words started running and I mean running through my mind. Ivy finally decided to start talking to me again, and I appreciate you being on this cover more than you know. Not just as my “muse” as we call it, but as one of my dearest friends. Your friendship truly means the world to me and I’m so thankful that we were introduced to one another in this crazy, insane bookworld.
Playlist
My Tomorrow — Dead by April
Great Love — Flyleaf
Hollywood Whore — Machine Gun Kelly
11 Minutes — Yungblud & Halsey ft. Travis Barker
Mother’s Daughter — Miley Cyrus
Goodbyes — Post Malone ft. Young Thug
Venom – Eminem
Trigger Warning
This book is intended for mature audiences only. If darker books are not for you, please do not move forward. After re-adjusting my trigger warning system, I will not be giving any spoilers. Please understand that this is not your run of the mill romance and tough subjects will be spoken about in this storyline.
Prologue
Know your worth and love yourself, so that these weak men won’t be able to sell you nightmares disguised as love.
R. H. Sin
Ivy
That awful
night . . .
The air is thick as I breathe it in, or maybe it’s the way my heart beats a mile a minute. I’m back in the one place I tried so desperately to stay away from— home. It’s ironic because I should want to be here, but I don’t. When you have a family like mine, that treats you in the vilest ways possible, the only thing you want to do is run.
So, I ran.
I prepared for months, saved up every bit of money I could to rent a small, shitty apartment in Billings, Montana. It wasn’t too far away from my father’s territory, but it was out of the way just enough to where he wouldn’t go looking. Plus, he wouldn’t ever expect me to hide in the Reapers territory.
The Reapers aren’t just any club— they’re my father’s arch nemesis. It was a risk to go there because I knew how much they hated my family. Shit, maybe it wasn’t a risk. Maybe it was a death sentence. Moving past my fear, I continued and landed a job at a dinky bar on the edge of town. It was nothing special, but I didn’t need special. I needed something that would pay the bills and keep food in my belly.
A boot comes crashing down onto my hand, bringing me out of the confines of my mind. I look up and my brother, Connor, sneers down at me. “Bet you feel pretty fuckin’ stupid for doin’ everything now.”
He’s wrong. I don’t feel stupid whatsoever. In all honesty, I was set free from the prison that was my life. Leaving my family and the Bears MC wasn’t a mistake. It was the best moment of my life. For the first time, I made a decision based on my needs. I have a nasty habit of putting everyone else’s needs above my own.
“Quite the contrary, brother,” I state, my eyes not wavering from his. If he wants to try and intimidate me, he’ll have to try harder. I’m not the same naïve, weak little girl that ran away.
Suddenly, that same boot comes toward my face. Through the years, I’ve learned not to tense up. It only makes everything worse. I breathe through my nose and don’t fear the impact. The bottom of his rubber boot aligns with my cheek and the bone crunches under the force. Pain sears through my face and I wonder if it’s broken.
I move my tongue around my mouth to make sure no teeth are broken. I don’t feel anything wiggling or loose, counting myself lucky this time. Connor has been screaming profanities at me, but I don’t hear everything. I’m more concerned about keeping myself sane than listening to whatever is spewing out of his mouth. I’ve heard it all before, so he must be keeping up the theme— reiterating how I’m worthless, that I’m just like our mother, a whore.
I think about our mother, remembering how my father would grab me by the hair and shove me against the wall in the clubhouse where a piece of metal stuck out. He’d slam me against it to make me bleed, telling me I’d better never act like my slut of a mother.
I close my eyes, imagining her. She was as trapped as I was and one day, she just vanished, like a ghost in thin air. Only I was still there, and that was even more terrifying. She took the brunt of my father’s wrath. My brother didn’t turn into his protégé until after she left, raising his fist to me, making me feel weak in whatever way he could. She’s been gone for a couple of years now, each day getting progressively worse.
The flick of a lighter brings me back to my present. I know the sound of metal rubbing together to spark a small flame. His grimy hands grab my face, yanking me forward. A popping sensation flows through my neck and I know it isn’t good. I’ve just pulled something, but there’s no way to tell what it is. My father kneels down to my eye level and speaks to me, “Tsk. What trouble you’ve caused us, Ivy.”
His black eyes glower down at me, darker than I remember. He yanks the rope he put around my neck a few days ago, right before he sent that video to Kade. It makes me sick to even think about it. How he’s using his own daughter to bait the Reapers into a trap. I look down for a second, the word ‘traitor’ marking my skin.
I remain kneeling in front of him, keeping my silence. “If you were a smart girl, you might apologize for what you’ve done. After all, you fucked up.”
I shake my head to the left and the right with no intention of ever apologizing to him again. “I won’t apologize because I’ve done nothing wrong.” Before I even spit out my enraged words, he shoves the lighter against the top of my shoulder, causing me to scream out in agony. I’m surrounded by the stench of my flesh burning, dying with every moment the flame is pressed against my skin.
“Now, tell me that again. How have you done nothing wrong, girl? You’ve broken every rule I’ve set for you. You fuckin’ left your family. Meanwhile, you didn’t just leave. You’ve been shackin’ up with one of the Reapers!” The quick slap of a hand against my face rocks me. It makes me realize at that moment, the only thing I’ve ever felt from him is pain.
Agony. Despair. Misery. Torment. These are all things that my father has caused me. Each and every one of them is all too familiar.
“Our home is a prison, one I’ve been trapped behind the gates of!” I scream at him, not backing down from my truth. He moves the flame a bit lower, burning unharmed skin. I clench my teeth and try to not show him how he is affecting me, but it’s no use. He wants to harm me. In fact, he’s always wanted to harm me.
“Prez. Our scouts are telling us that the Reapers are on the way. You and Connor should get out of here before shit goes down,” one of my father’s minions shouts. I hold my scoff in, of course, they’d want to protect their cult leader and my lovely brother.
My father turns his head over his shoulder, “I need ten minutes. Keep them away until then. Can you do that?”
I can’t see the body of whomever he’s speaking to. There are so many of them these days, I can’t keep track.
Turning his head back in my direction, he looks to my brother. “Connor, give me your knife. We won’t let your sister ever forget what she is.”
He takes the lighter from my skin and tosses it on the floor below him. Connor hands him his hunting knife. I take a good look at it, knowing it’s the same one that he uses to skin the hides of elk that he kills.
Before I even realize what is happening, the blade is in my skin, being directed downward. I think my father is done with his cut when it happens again. It’s as if I am being ripped apart. My skin is being separated, and blood oozes down the rest of my arm. I make the mistake of glancing down, the crimson red color reaching the bottom of my fingertips.
I don’t notice my brother on my opposite side until the same agonizing pain floods through the left side of my body. Blades slice me apart and I’m not quite sure what their prerogative is, other than to cause me even more pain. The rope tightens around my neck, and my worst fears become a reality. Are they trying to kill me?
I focus my breathing in and out, clenching my hand into a fist trying my best to distract myself. I don’t want to give these two the satisfaction of seeing me pass out. I know it’s what they want, and no matter how hard I try . . . none of it matters as my body decides to call a time out and everything goes black.
* * *
“Ivy?”
It’s Kade’s voice, but I know I have to be mistaken. There’s no way I’m hearing him. I’m in the Bears clubhouse . . . or was it all a dream? Cool liquid rushes over my face, causing me to cough. I stretch my arm out, reaching for him but as I do an indescribable pain floods over me. A scream unlike any other that has passed my lips comes rushing out.
Fluttering my eyes, I open them to Kade kneeling beside me. His hand is on the top of my forehead, a worry-stricken look crossing his face. If I’m not losing my mind, he may even have tears sliding from the corner of his eyes. “Thank fuck, you’re s-still alive,” he mutters, choking mid-way through his sentence.
An older man with a long beard is standing behind him, looking nothing but disappointed. This must be Fist, and fuck my life for having to meet him this way. The way he’s looking at me doesn’t make me feel like he sees a woman who’s been through hell. No, instead . . . he sees the enemy. This was my worst fear when we started dating, that I’d be viewed as
the enemy and nothing more.
“Where’s that fuckin’ first aid kit?” Kade roars out.
Turning my head to the right, more of the Reapers come in. A bulky, built man approaches. He has dark eyes with a thick black beard. He opens the kit and I watch as the two of them make a concerned face.
The bearded man pulls out a small bottle of alcohol and a tiny pack of wipes. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to disinfect every cut on her body with this.”
Now, I muster up the courage to glance down, and nothing but dried blood mixed with fresh. From my shoulder to the top of my foot, I am carved like a pumpkin. “Jesus . . .” I gasp out, trying to hold back my tears.
Kade grabs my hand, giving me a good squeeze. I’m silently thanking God that he didn’t grab the hand Connor stepped on. Thinking of that, I bring my left hand to my face and it’s covered in purple and blue.
“We need more disinfectant, Dad,” Kade tells Fist. “I can’t leave her.”
He nods once. “Understood. There has to be some alcohol in this joint. Brandy. Vodka. Somethin’?”
“Check in the bar. They hide the good stuff in a compartment under the fridge,” I say, closing my eyes. My entire body feels as if I’ve been put inside a food processor.
Kade Page 1
