Capturing a Renegade's Heart

by Nicola Jane

  “Are you ready for the trouble he’s going to cause us now that he knows?”

  “Oh, I’m ready baby, I’ve had five years to get ready for Finnegan Lawrence.”

  ***

  They managed to get Harlee into her own bed without much fuss. She’d insisted on Ryder taking her and reading her a story, she snuggled down soon after which meant she was still feeling quite poorly because she always fought at bedtimes. Neve hadn’t asked Ryder to stay over, she wasn’t sure what was going on between them, so she set about getting ready for bed and left it up to him. She wanted him to stay over but she didn’t want to appear pushy or clingy. When Ryder entered her bathroom and began undressing and turning the shower on, she smiled to herself, guessing that it meant he was staying.

  “What are you smiling about?” he asked, stepping under the hot spray.

  “Are you stopping over?” she asked casually.

  “Stopping over?” he repeated frowning, “I’m always gonna sleep wherever you are Siren. Whether that be here, the club, a hotel. Always together.”

  Neve nodded, trying hard to hide the smile as she rushed back into her bedroom to do the happy dance. It was short lived because her cell vibrated across her bedside table, Finns name lighting up. She connected the call and Finn’s face filled her screen. He had a small cut to the bridge of his nose, and it was swollen.

  “You’ll pay for today’s stunt,” he threatened.

  “You aren’t having Harlee unsupervised again Finn,” she said clearly, “She needs to be cared for and you simply take her to piss me off. I can’t trust you with her.”

  “Is that what you want me to do Neve, are you pushing me to take custody of her?” he growled.

  “I’ll show the judge what you did to her, the school have it on record,” argued Neve.

  Finn laughed, “You think the judge will care? They work under me Neve, If I want my girl then I’ll take her. No judge or small-time gang member will stop that do you hear me?” he yelled, “Are you alone?” Ryder appeared behind Neve, dripping and topless from his shower. He gave Finn a small wave.

  “She’s never alone Finn, you know how many times I’ve been here when you’ve thought she was alone. Remind me again why you gave up this?” he asked, “Not that I’m complaining, but man you fucked up. In case I’m not being clear, she’s mine Finn, her and Harlee belong to me and that means they have the protection of my club.”

  Finn smirked, “If I remember right Ryder, you owe me a woman, I’m taking mine back and I’ll return her broken and messed up along with that little brat. I have a special place just for them, mother and daughter, I might even mention that to the judge, you know how these guys work right? The right offer at the right time…” he trailed off and Neve glanced at Ryder to see if he knew what the hell Finn was ranting about because she hadn’t a clue. Ryder looked fit to burst, his face red and angry. He took the phone from her and cut the call off. He chucked the phone on the bed and stood abruptly.

  “We have to stay at the club Neve, get some shit together,” he snapped. Neve laughed, surely, he was kidding. She had work in the morning and the club was further for her to walk. As if reading her mind, he muttered, “And forget about that crap job, you ain’t going back.” Neve stood, she had to draw the line here because she’d been here before, with Finn, back then she’d fell for it because she thought he loved her, she wasn’t changing her life again, she’d come too far.

  “No, I don’t know what the hell Finn said to spook you but no. We stay here and I go to work as normal.” Ryder stepped closer, his face inches from hers.

  “Neve, Finn is so much worse than you know, and he’s just directly threatened you and Harlee. I can’t protect you if you don’t listen to me. Trust me when I tell you this is bad enough for me to worry.” She felt the force in his voice, he wasn’t kidding, Finn wanted to hurt her and not just her but Harlee as well. Without another word she pulled a large bag from under her bed and packed a few days’ worth of clothes for herself before adding some things for Harlee. Once she had everything she needed, Ryder called for Griff to bring his car out front and they loaded it up and headed for the club house.

  Neve nervously glanced at Ryder. He squeezed her hand in reassurance. “Don’t look so worried, it’ll be fine.”

  “What if they hate me?” she asked.

  He laughed. “Then they wouldn’t dare tell anyone because they know I’d kick their ass.”

  Harlee managed to stay asleep during the journey and even as Ryder lifted her from the car and into his arms she hardly stirred, instead she snuggled into his chest and he smiled proudly. Leading the way inside, Neve followed nervously. She’d heard stories about the wild parties from Griff, but she was relieved to see the large abandoned factory practically empty. The front was made up of closed metal shutters, the middle one was pushed up so that they could wander inside. There was a bar area to the left. An elderly looking man sat behind it on a stool looking up at a small television that was hung on the wall. “Whisky, this is Neve,” said Griff and the elderly man gave a nod in Neve’s direction.

  “She’s under my protection Whisky, you spread that around for me,” added Ryder and the old guy gave a salute in acknowledgment. Ryder turned to Neve and lowered his voice, “Whisky don’t talk, he had his tongue cut out when he was a kid, so don’t expect much from him. He’s a great guy and will look after you, you need anything, you see him.” The area in front of the bar were lots of round wooden tables, each with four stools placed carefully underneath.

  “Whisky has a serious case of OCD, if you see a stool outta place or missing, put that shit back. He’s smashed up the joint before now just because some crazy bastard stole a stool,” laughed Griff.

  Beyond the tables and stools there were couches, six spread out that could easily fit six people. They all pointed towards a large screen television that was hung high on the wall. Laying on one of the couches was a large man with crazy ginger hair and a large bushy ginger beard.

  “Bear, this is my woman, Neve,” said Ryder and the guy sat up and smiled.

  “Aww she’s a wee pretty little thing,” he said with a hint of a Scottish accent, “Is she your little one?” he asked looking from Harlee to Neve. Neve gave a nod.

  “She sure is, Harlee. She’s five.”

  “Great name,” he winked.

  Moving beyond the couches there were three snooker tables. Two guys playing on one of them Neve recognised the first as Knox, a guy from Griff’s party. Mya had taken a shine to him. The other was introduced to her as Smokey. She’d seen him around Griff’s but hadn’t really spoken to him. So far, everyone seemed nice and friendly, Neve began to relax. There were three doors at the back of the room. One was Ryders office, it had a clear sign on the front saying DO NOT DISTURB. Next to that was something Griff referred to as their ‘church’ which Ryder then explained was what they called their meetings in the biker world. The final door led to the stairs. The clubhouse had three stories, but Ryder took her straight to the first floor. The passage way had six doors and Ryder opened the second to last one.

  “We’ll get some things tomorrow to make it more like home for Harlee, this room’s right next to ours and has a connecting door, see…” he demonstrated the door which led between two rooms. “We can leave the door open tonight in case she wakes and wonders where the hell she is,” he suggested, laying Harlee on the white cotton sheets and pulling the blanket over her sleeping form.

  Propping the door open he led Neve into another room. It was all dark woods and black sheets. Neve felt quite depressed looking at it. “I know it’s not great, I haven’t had a chance to decorate since I came home,” he said shifting from one foot to the other like a nervous teenager.

  “It’s great Ryder, it’ll do just fine,” she smiled, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Ryder woke suddenly, the noise of thunder and the flashes of lightening disturbing his dreams. Neve was curled into a
ball with the blankets crumpled by her feet. He pulled them over her, and she stirred before settling again. Ryder pulled on some jeans and headed down to his office. It was three in the morning but there’s no way he’d get back to sleep now, he had too much going on in his head. He needed to work out what to do about Finn and his threats towards Neve and Harlee. Neve also pointed out that he was likely to apply to the courts to take custody of Harlee. He couldn’t let that happen.

  “The storm wake you up too?” Ryder spotted Griff standing outside of his office.

  “Yeah, thought I’d go over the paperwork for the gym while it’s quiet. You okay?” He hadn’t sat Griff down yet to talk about his life choices, they’d just seemed to slot back into club life and avoided being alone long enough to talk about it. Griff sat down on the other side of the desk.

  “You must have questions,” he said.

  Ryder placed his pen down on top of the papers and leant back in his chair. “I guess.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to add to your stress.”

  “Or you were scared of my reaction?”

  Griff laughed and gave a nod, “That too. You’re my big brother, what you think matters and I couldn’t bear the thought of you being disappointed in me like Dad always seemed to be.”

  “That bastard was disappointed in the whole damn world.” Ryder took two glasses from his desk drawer followed by a bottle of whiskey. “When did you know?”

  “I’ve always known Ryder, right from being a kid and not understanding your fascination with girls. But I knew for sure around eleven when I fancied the gym teacher, Mr Hale.” Griff grinned when Ryder screwed his face up at the memory of Mr Hale. He was a young teacher but nothing special to look at.

  “And it’s always been men?”

  “Not always. I’ve fancied women and slept with a few but I’m more into men than women.”

  “You just don’t seem…” Ryder trailed off unable to find the right words without upsetting his little brother.

  “Gay?” Griff laughed, “Not all Gay men walk around swaying their hips and talking in a high-pitched voice. I’m the same as I’ve always been Ethan, I’m still Eric and I always will be.”

  “And you have a boyfriend?” Ryder winced as he said the words. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to his brother being gay.

  “No, I have hook ups but nothing serious and no one permanent although Corey hangs around a lot. Speaking of permanent, You and Neve?”

  Ryders smile filled his face, “She’s it man, it’s happened fast but I can’t not be around her. Besides, Finn knows now which means she’s a target. We need to come up with a way to get rid of that bastard and keep Neve and Harlee safe.”

  “It’s done brother, we’ll protect them both. Announce it to the club tomorrow, they need to know you’ve taken an ol’lady.” Ryder loved the sound of that, Neve being his old lady meant so much to him.

  ***

  Neve stretched out and turned to find Ryder’s side of the bed empty. She sat up and pulled the sheet around her naked form. The door between her and Harlee slowly opened and Harlee poked her head in. “Good morning Popple. Did you sleep good?” Neve patted an empty spot on the bed and smiled when Harlee ran over and climbed up.

  “Yes. Where are we and are we going to school still?” Neve hadn’t thought about school. She knew that Ryder wasn’t keen on her going to work today but she didn’t ask about Harlee. Thinking it was best to keep their routine as normal as possible she nodded.

  “Yes, baby girl you’re going to school after breakfast. We’re staying with Ryder for a while if that’s okay?”

  Harlee gave a toothy grin and nodded, her bouncy curls flopping around. “Breakfast,” she added, throwing herself in to Neve’s arms.

  They went down the stairs and through to the kitchen. The large table in the centre of the room could easily seat sixteen people comfortably but currently there were just five guys sat around it eating breakfast and chatting amongst themselves. Ryder sat at the head of the table, he noticed the girls walk in and smiled as they approached. Harlee held her hands out to him so that Neve would pass her over. He took her and sat her on the table in front of him.

  “I was thinking that today we could choose the paint for your new room?” he said brightly.

  Harlee squealed excitedly. “After school of course,” smiled Neve.

  “School?” repeated Ryder, “She can’t go to school today.”

  “I can’t let him change our life Ryder. Harlee needs to be in school, we need to keep the same routine.” Griff shot her a worried look and Ryder stood, passing Harlee over to Griff.

  “Office now,” he growled, and Neve sighed. She always seemed to say the wrong thing.

  Once inside he turned to her, “Do you know how serious this is?” He wasn’t sure how much Neve knew of Finnegan’s business dealings, but he was almost certain it wasn’t much.

  “Yes, but I’ve lived with the threat of Finn for years. He won’t hurt Harlee.”

  “He’ll take her Neve. He has too many big people on his side. You said yourself he would take her just to destroy you and now he knows about us we’ve given him the perfect opportunity.”

  “What do you want us to do? Hide away here forever?” She laughed but Ryder remained serious.

  “Finnegan Lawrence is a monster. Not the kind that you can afford to ignore hoping he’ll get bored. I can drive you around the streets today and take you to girls that will run and hide if you mention his name to them. I can point out all the whore houses that he run’s illegally and not one girl will speak out against him in fear that he’ll kill them.”

  Neve frowned in confusion. She knew Finn was bad news but seriously, people fear him, Neve couldn’t imagine that he’d kill someone. “All that might be true, but he still wouldn’t hurt Harlee.”

  “Neve he doesn’t give a shit about Harlee, if someone offered a good price for her, he’d sell her, and you’d never see her again.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, that’s his daughter and I know he’s a lot of things, but he wouldn’t sell his own daughter.”

  “He’s a rapist. He instils fear into weak women and then controls them to do what he wants. He makes money from foreign girls that he’s arranged to bring over to this country, by selling them to pimps and forcing them into his whore houses. I can almost guarantee that he rubbed his dirty hands together when you gave birth to a girl!”

  “Stop, he wouldn’t do anything bad to Harlee,” Neve almost screeched.

  “Please just listen to me Neve, I ain’t making this shit up. I’ll make sure that Harlee doesn’t miss out on her schooling but until I can figure out what to do, I need you to listen and stay here. Neither of you are safe outside of this clubhouse.”

  Neve’s phone buzzed to life causing her to jump in fright. She looked down to the screen and then held it up for Ryder to see. “Answer it,” he growled.

  She pressed to accept the call and placed it to her ear, “Finn.”

  “Have you seen sense yet?” His voice was cold and distant.

  “Why are you calling me?”

  “Do you know how mad I was finding out you’re fucking a dirty gang leader. It makes me sick to know you’re letting him touch you. He’s a dog yah know, he’ll use you and break your heart.”

  “If you haven’t called for any specific reason then I’m hanging up.”

  “Don’t you dare fucking hang up on me. Did he tell you that just the other night he was having sex with one of my girls. He paid for a private dance, there’s no limits in those private rooms and he likes a bit of kinky fuckery.” Neve stayed quiet. She knew it was lies but somewhere deep inside there was a niggling doubt. “He’ll lie of course, but you always do fall for the liars and cheats. Jesus, when you believed everything, I told you I wanted to slap you for being so dumb.”

  “You did slap me, several times. I have to go.”

  “You’re running late for school get a move on.”

>   “Unless you need to speak to me about Harlee then please don’t call me.”

  “Is that your boyfriend’s rules? You let him know from me that I make the damn rules especially when it comes to you and my daughter. I’ll see you in court. Pack Harlees clothes, I’m taking her.”

  Ryder moved towards Neve, taking the cell from her and disconnecting the call. “What’s he say?”

  “Nothing important.” She didn’t feel the need to mention what Finn had said because she trusted Ryder and asking him would make it look like she doubted him.

  ***

  It had been a strange day. Hanging out at the clubhouse all day wasn’t as boring as she thought it’d be. She’d met a few other women that were old ladies to some of the club members. She’d warmed to Kit and Sia straight away who belonged to Knox and Smokey. Sia and Smokey also had a daughter aged six and so her and Neve had a lot in common.

  For the last hour Neve had been sat at the bar playing cards with Whiskey. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to sign Whiskey?” she asked, and he shook his head no. It made no sense seeing as he’d lost his tongue as a child. He’d spent his whole life struggling to communicate when there was a simple solution. “I know some, can I teach you?” He eyed her for a moment and then smiled and nodded yes. She clapped her hands together happily and then placed the cards down to show him a couple of signs.

  Neve noticed Ryder pass them to go outside and after a few minutes he returned with Miss Hind. Neve watched them approach her, trying to keep her heart from beating out of her chest. Seeing Ryders ex in his clubhouse made Neve feel uncomfortable and out of place, even if she was Harlee’s head teacher. “Siren, I got Harlee some extra tuition.” Ryder said with a smile. He could tell by Neve’s false smile that she wasn’t happy.

  “Oh my god, tell me that’s not Sass,” came a loud voice. Neve watched as a large burly man picked Sarah up by the waist and swung her around. Sassy smile which surprised Neve because she’d never seen her smile before.

  “Hey Bear, long time no see. How’s the kids?”