by April Lust
“Shut up,” she said. “This is the only thing that’s going to keep Ozzy from being able to take his rightful place at the head of the MC. Once you’re gone, we can present the MC with its next heir.”
My eyes had followed her arm back down to the gun pointed at my stomach. I sat staring at the threat to my baby. If she pulled that trigger, everything was lost. Then, it hit me what she’d just said.
“Wait. Alice, are you telling me you’re…” I started to ask, but a gunshot rang out in the car.
I closed my eyes and screamed. My hands instinctively covered my belly, protecting my baby. I leaned forward, expecting to feel the searing pain of the bullet entering both of us. But there was no pain. I didn’t hurt, other than my ears ringing from the noise.
I opened my eyes slow in disbelief. I couldn’t imagine that there was any conceivable way I could have come away without being shot.
First, I saw Alice’s body slumped over in her seat, leaning slightly towards me. She wasn’t moving. She didn’t even seem to be breathing. There was blood everywhere, even spattered on me. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t force a scream out if I’d had to.
I looked up behind her to see Ozzy standing on the other side of her door with a shocked look on his face, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d done.
“Ozzy,” I barked, snapping him out of his little trance. He blinked and looked at me. The disbelief melted from his face and he put away his gun, rushing over to help me out of the car. I couldn’t help wondering if Alice’s suspicions were right in that moment and that he’d come to save me because of his infatuation with me.
I hated myself for having her voice stuck in my head because I also knew that most of what she’d said had been bullshit. She’d been trying to justify her actions by talking trash about Ozzy. There was no way Ozzy was more in love with me than he was with the MC.
Also, had she been pregnant? Did Ozzy know? Would anyone know? Was that part of her plan? She’d been my best friend for years, but I realized I hadn’t known her at all.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mark
“So, Mr. President, I guess I don’t have a job if I ever get out of here,” Alan said into the phone on the other side of the visitation booth. And he was actually smiling at me. I figured I must have been hallucinating. There was no way he was looking at me with pride in his eyes.
“What do you mean if?” I asked him. The if bothered me.
“It really doesn’t look like I’m getting out anytime soon, Mark,” he said, and he sounded a little down, as if he were actually disappointed to have to relay the news.
I wondered what had happened. He’d been keeping his head down and staying out of trouble, or at least he said he had been. It didn’t seem right that he would have been held in there longer. He must have seen the question on my face, because he answered it.
“Let’s just say your old man has been up to his old tricks,” he said with a wink.
“Come on, Pop, don’t you want to get out?” I asked him.
“Look, I’m handing you the president title, okay? You should be happy that I’m doing that. Besides, I’ve been in touch with some of the old-timers. They told me everything. You’ve earned it, kid. I’m going to hold things down on the inside for a while.” He sounded like he was talking about retirement instead of prison.
“So you do know about everything,” I repeated.
“Yes. I know about the Demons. I even hear the remaining guys have agreed to stick to their own territory.”
I smiled. “Yeah, and they’re going to be working with us instead of against us, to ensure that the supply chain isn’t interrupted,” I told him with a low voice.
He listened and nodded. “You’ve done well, son. You really have. I’m proud of you.”
I smiled and sat up a little straighter. My dad had never spoken to me like that. He’d certainly never told me he was proud of me. He had been busting my chops as far back as I could remember, taking every opportunity to belittle me and humiliate me. But not this time. This time he was praising me. My chest puffed out with pride.
“So how much longer are you going to be in for?” I asked him, not sure of what he’d done to get extra time.
“Only a few extra years. No big deal. I want to give you time to get things sorted,” he told me.
“What about your grandson?” I asked.
“Pictures? I don’t think he needs to visit his grandpa in jail, man.”
Me either, but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. I had come in to share the good news from the MC with him, not belittle him.
“Yeah, we’ll bring you pictures, Pop. Hey, I’ll even bring Nora in some time to meet you,” I told him.
“Yes, do that. I have to meet the woman bad enough to be my boy’s old lady.” He didn’t even laugh like he was cracking a joke. He spoke to me with a kind of admiration and genuine awe in his voice.
“She’s not my old lady,” I told him.
“Not yet, but it won’t be long, I’m sure,” he responded with a wink.
“You’re crazy, old man. Maybe I’ll wait to bring her by once that belly’s showing better so it’s like you get to meet her and our boy,” I told him.
“You already know it’s going to be a boy?” he asked.
“We just found out the other day,” I admitted to him. It had been a few weeks since the Demons confrontation, and we had gone in together on the last visit so her doctor could meet me.
That had been an experience. The doctor was a little put off at first to have a biker walk into his office, and he’d said as much. After we talked a bit, though, he realized that there was something special about Nora and me. She wasn’t like the club girls, who were often treated like pets or property. She was my girl, and I tried to treat her the same way anyone would have treated their girl.
“So, when’s the ceremony?” Alan asked me. “The senior members have assured me they’re going to go ahead name you the official president of the club. You’ve already got all the votes to take over. You’ve impressed everyone.”
“I’m not sure,” I said. I was a little caught off guard. No one else had said anything to me about taking over.
“Well, you should probably get back to the clubhouse and find out,” he said, looking down at his wrist like he was looking at a watch, though they didn’t allow him to have one on the inside. Jewelry of any kind wasn’t allowed.
“Yeah, I haven’t heard anything about a ceremony or meeting or anything like that,” I told him. “Hey, Pop, thanks,” I told him before I hung up the phone.
“Of course, son. Now go claim your MC. Go carry on my legacy. Shadow Reapers is ours,” he said with a smile on his face.
We hung up the phones and rose together on opposite sides of the glass. I felt like I stood a little taller as I turned to leave. I figured it was merely a side effect of how proud I felt as I walked away from my father.
I was still reeling from it when I showed back up at the clubhouse. Sure enough, a table had been set up in the main room, and the senior members sat on one side of it. The rest of the MC stood on either side of the room, leaving a space for me in the middle. I hadn’t expected a ceremony. I had only expected it to be a formality handled in the boardroom, with an announcement made to the rest of the MC later.
###
Nora
Ozzy and I stood in front of the table of senior members, waiting on Mark to approach. Ozzy had been nominated by the board to be the one presenting Mark as president to the rest of the MC. I had been asked to be there because of my position at his side.
“What is this?” Mark asked when he reached the table.
I nodded to Ozzy, standing behind him. He turned and faced his right-hand man. These two were old friends. They went back as far as anyone could remember. They might as well have been brothers.
“Old friend,” Ozzy said, “I have an announcement to make.”
He took Mark to stand dead center in the room, where every
one could see him. There were members, club girls, old ladies, and prospects hanging around, coming together in a circle. I caught myself searching for Alice. It had been several weeks, but I still found it odd whenever I realized she wasn’t around. It was a very strange sensation, but we were all better off, I knew.
“Members of the Reapers, and everyone else who is here, I have a very important announcement to make today,” Ozzy boomed. “We have been gathered here today by the board of senior members to appoint the MC’s new president. As we all know, the current president, Alan Stevens, is in prison for charges related to the last confrontation with the Asphalt Demons. The senior members have agreed to push him out of the way in favor of our new president.”
The room fell silent. I could almost hear everyone breathing as we all waited for Ozzy to make the formal announcement.
“So, my brothers, I present to you the new president of Shadow Reapers, Mark Stevens.” He raised Mark’s arm like he was announcing the winner of a boxing match, and the clubhouse erupted in cheers.
The MC members looked upon Mark with devotion. He’d done it. He’d managed to rally all of the members behind him. He raised both of his hands and brought them down to tell everyone to quiet down for him.
“Okay, for my first action as the official president of the MC, I have someone to acknowledge for his dedication to the club and his support for me. That’s my right-hand man, and my best friend, Ozzy Hayes,” Mark started.
There was more cheering, and I saw how much everyone else in the MC loved Ozzy as well.
“Now, I know my father never had a VP. He’d taken the MC as his own under very unorthodox circumstances and ran things pretty much by himself, rarely even consulting the board for advice, permission, or support. I don’t plan on being that leader,” he said. “I plan on using all the support I can get from the club, because this is all of us, not just me.”
There was a small amount of applause.
“That being said, I want to present you with our new VP. Ozzy Hayes, you are the new vice president of the MC, if you’ll accept the position. You have been my right-hand man since Alan went in. You’ve been by my side this whole time, and I can’t think of anyone better for the position of my second-in-command.”
Ozzy nodded. “I’m honored, Mark. I really am.”
“But that’s not all, brother.” Mark turned to his friend. “Would you also be the godfather to my son?”
Ozzy’s jaw dropped. He looked at me and looked back at Mark. “Absolutely,” he shouted. “Abso-fuckin-lutely.”
“Thank you,” Mark said to him, and then turned around. “Now, speaking of people at my side, where’s Nora?”
I was already on my way to him when he turned around to face me. He held a hand out to pull me to his side as I approached. I didn’t say anything.
I did feel like I queen standing by his side. Everyone looked at me as if I were an extension of him. I was sort of the MC’s first lady, if that was even a thing. I hadn’t heard anyone mention it, so I didn’t think it really was.
“I do have something else to say,” Mark said to the crowd around us. “It’s something I’ve been waiting to say, and I wasn’t even planning on saying it today, but since you guys surprised me with this, I think it’s appropriate to go ahead.”
They already knew about our kid. And I was sure they were going to know soon enough about the baby being a boy, if they didn’t all already know. It was hard to keep some secrets from the MC. I had no idea what he was going to say or do, or why Ozzy and I both had to be standing with him when he said it. Then, he turned to me.
“Nora, I know we didn’t start things off on the right foot. When we started this relationship, it was little more than a business arrangement, but I have grown to love you. You have taught me restraint. You have shown me that there is so much more to life than what I was allowing myself to experience before. You have also renewed my commitment to the MC.”
He got down on one knee and pulled out a small black box.
“Nora, I would be honored if you would be my old lady and continue to stand by my side to help me lead Shadow Reapers. Will you marry me?”
I had always thought it wasn’t a good move to put someone on the spot like that for a proposal, but as it was happening, it felt right. Our relationship had started for the MC. My pregnancy came about in the name of the MC. The MC had brought us together. It was only right for them to be present at the time he proposed to me.
With tears in my eyes and my heart pounding a million beats a second in my chest, I cried, “Yes, Mark. Yes, I’ll be your wife and old lady.”
He got up and hugged me after sliding the diamond ring on my finger. The MC applauded us, and I knew where my place was. I knew I was his, and I knew I wasn’t going anywhere. He no longer claimed me as a possession. With that ring, Mark had claimed my heart.
THE END
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One More Gift -- His Precious Angel: Steel Gods MC
By April Lust
My precious angel will do what I say… or she’ll face the consequences.
I’m supposed to bring her back home, whether or not she likes it.
But Nicolette is desperate to stay away from the Steel Gods MC.
She offers up her body to me – whatever it takes to retain her freedom.
Now, I’m faced with a choice: do I finish the job and reel her back in – or keep her for myself?
I’m a bounty hunter, not a detective.
It’s not my job to ask questions.
So, when my MC president tells me to go retrieve his runaway girlfriend, I get on my chopper and track her down.
But it’s never that easy.
For starters, she’s a stone-cold stunner.
I’m having trouble sleeping at night – my head is too occupied imagining how it would feel to tear her clothes away and bend her over my bed.
And as I follow her trail, I learn that there are secrets contained in that pretty little body.
Secrets like hidden scars.
Secrets like bruises from the man I’m bringing her back to.
And beneath all of that… an unborn baby.
I’m risking my patch and my brotherhood if I do the things I want to do to her.
But screw it…
This one is mine now.
Chapter 1
Nicolette
“Good morning, Nicolette.”
“Good morning, Brenda.” I smiled at the front desk woman as I breezed through the front doors of Stephens & Coolidge, Attorneys at Law. I’d only lived in Durango, Colorado for about three weeks, but I loved it so far. It was boring. It was quiet. It was absolutely everything I needed after spending the past five years in hell.
“How was your weekend?”
I smiled, setting my bag down on my desk. “It was good,” I said slowly. “A little boring.” I couldn’t help but blush. “I’m finally fixing up the inside of that cottage. I got such a good deal on it! But wow, it needed so much work.”
Brenda nodded as though she understood. She was a little older than me – maybe late twenties – with a bubbly head of blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Despite our differences, I really liked her. She was sweet and caring, not the type of woman I was used to being around.
I knew if she ever discovered my background, she’d probably hate me.
“How was yours?”
Brenda grinned. “I had a date,” she said with a secretive hint in her voice. “Connor finally asked me out.” She glanced down at her lap self-consciously. “I told him yes, as long as he doesn’t mind two girls for the price of one!”
I laughed politely. Brenda was a single mom, and she often joked about how difficult it was to find men interested in dating someone who wasn’t childfree. I couldn’t underst
and it; she was obviously gorgeous and fun. Why wouldn’t a guy want someone like her?
Because brats are trouble. I shivered at the recollection of Jack’s – my ex’s – voice inside my head. Getting away from Jack was just one of the reasons I’d moved to Durango, and one of the reasons I knew I could never go back home to California. I’d grown up in Carlsbad, and for years I’d never thought of leaving. But after things with Jack turned sour, well, I knew if I didn’t get out, I’d probably be dead within a year or two.
“I’m sure it’ll work out,” I told her.
The office was quiet for a Monday. Both of our lawyers – Mr. Stephens and Mr. Coolidge – were in court, and I knew I could expect a long morning of editing documents and preparing motions for later court dates this week. Still, I felt happy. It was such a welcome change from everything I’d run away from that it almost seemed like a dream. Hell, it even seemed too good to be true at times. I couldn’t believe I’d made it out of Carlsbad and begun to turn my life around.
