Entwined
Iron Bulls MC #3
Phoenyx Slaughter
Digital ISBN #978-1-943950-91-1
Contents
Title Page
About Entwined
Copyright
Note From the Publisher
Credits
Acknowledgments
Newsletter
Social Media
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Notes From Nyx
Sneak Peek of Vexed
Sneak Peek of Infatuation
Also by Phoenyx Slaughter
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Untitled
About Entwined
In Entwined, the highly anticipated third book in the Iron Bulls MC series, shocking secrets and desires are revealed. Can Dante and Karina’s passionate bond survive or will they be torn apart?
Entwined is the third book in the Iron Bulls MC series. It is a 28,000 word novella and should probably not be read as a stand-alone, as it picks up where Disconnect left off. But it’s up to you.
Karina’s young, so the ending could be considered a Happy For Now.
Entwined (Iron Bulls MC #3)
© 2016 by Phoenyx Slaughter
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Digital ISBN#: 978-1-943950-91-1
[email protected]
Note From the Publisher
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Entwined and the Iron Bulls MC series are works of fiction. All names, characters, locations and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, things, living or dead, locales or events is entirely coincidental.
Entwined (Iron Bulls MC #3) is ONLY available for purchase at the following locations:
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
iTunes
IF you downloaded this copy from any other location, YOU ARE STEALING.
Published by Ahead of the Pack, LLC
Entwined (Iron Bulls MC #3)
Written by Phoenyx Slaughter
Edited by: PREMA
Stock Photo © Dollar Photo Club
Cover designer: AJ Lake
Formatting: AJ Lake
Thank you to my amazing and persistent readers who kept asking me when Entwined would be available. I’m forever grateful for your love of Dante, Karina and the Iron Bulls MC. Your emails, Facebook messages, posts, reviews, and support mean so much to me!
Thank you to my awesome Beta Readers, Amber, Kim, Melony, and Storm for sticking around!
My ladies in the Iron Bulls MC Clubhouse Facebook group, thanks for keeping the faith! Tanya, you’ve been especially persistent and I thank you for it!
An extra special thank you to Vanessa at PREMA for taking the boys of the Iron Bulls MC on.
Rosa Sharon, thank you for taking a last look and embracing Dante.
Donna Cox, thank you for all your hard work and helping authors like me get the word out about their books.
There are a chosen few I’ve entrusted with this dirty little secret. Thank you for supporting me, even though you think I’m nuts. I’d be lost without you.
Finally, I need to thank my old man, who constantly asks if he can help me with the “dirty” research.
If you’d like to be kept up-to-date on new releases, special giveaways or what I’m working on, sign-up for my newsletter.
I post book teasers and mildly kinky stuff on Facebook.
Or you can join the clubhouse.
Goodreads.
I always enjoy fan mail.
Follow Me on Amazon.
Chapter One
Being in the same clubhouse where I’ve had some raunchy and sometimes public sex usually turns me on. Not today.
After the president of the Iron Bulls MC so casually informed me that my father has another family, we all went back to the clubhouse to “chat.” So now I’m seated at a table—not the official table where the club has church—with my boyfriend, Dante, Romeo, and my father. Uncomfortable doesn’t adequately describe this scenario.
Dante’s been making murderous faces at my father since before the bombshell announcement. He hates my father for many different reasons.
My father nods at Dante. “Karina, how did you two meet?”
Before I open my mouth to answer, Dante places his hand on my knee and leans forward. “Better question is what the fuck kind of father leaves his daughter alone to fend for herself for so long, you piece of shit.”
My father’s shrug of indifference hurts so much, I have to avert my eyes. “She’s smart and capable. I’ve never had to worry about her.” It may sound like a compliment. But to me it just sounds like a convenient excuse.
Dante shakes his head. He sits back, but keeps his hand on my leg.
Romeo’s gotten tired of being ignored. “The real question, Tucker, is how you plannin’ to work off your debt? Because from what I hear, Kadence is tight with the Savage Dragon’s VP.”
A pained look crosses my father’s face and he glances at me with tired eyes. “She doesn’t need to be here for this.”
Romeo sits forward, placing his elbows on the table. “Oh, I think she does.” He focuses his gaze on Dante. “I’m sorry, brother. Until you told me you thought she was his kid, I had no idea.”
Dante remains silent, but the tension radiating from him has a life of its own.
Romeo’s scary eyes move to me next. “Your father’s got a pretty serious gambling problem, sweetheart. About three years ago I bailed him out of trouble. Since he was never going to make enough to pay me back in cash, he offered a trade.”
“You fuckin’ shittin me?” Dante explodes, throwing his fist onto the table with enough force it rattles the thick oak. He seems to have grasped what Romeo’s explaining right away, while I’m still in the dark. Whether Dante’s pissed at my father or Romeo, I can’t be sure.
“Relax, brother. I ain’t gonna touch your girl. Ol’ Tucker here’s just gonna have to come up with some cash now.”
My mind’s spinning from everything Romeo just laid out. I can’t deal with the fact that my father apparently tried to sell me off for a gambling debt. My own father treating me as if I’m some disposable whore? That’s too disgusting to contemplate. No. Instead, my mind latches onto one thing and one thing only.
“Who the hell is Kadence?”
Killing Karina’s father right in front of her is probably a bad idea. But it’s a battle not to wrap my hands around his fuckin’ throat and throttle the life out of him.
“I want to be clear on what you’re tellin’ me, prez. My girl’s father offered, what exactly, if you took care of his debt?”
Romeo sits back, a sadistic smile curling his mouth. He flicks his gaze at Tucker. “He offered me one of his virgin daughters.”
Next to me Karina lets out a harsh sob and my vision swims red.
Tucker’s real quick to defend his worthless ass. “It’s not like they’re making it sound, Karina. I fig
ured I’d introduce you, and you’d get along.” He glances at me and shrugs.
What a piece of shit.
“Who’s Kadence?” Karina asks again. Her voice comes out clear and strong even though her body’s trembling.
“She’s your half-sister,” Tucker finally answers.
“I don’t understand. How? Mom—”
Romeo—like the jackass he is—watches the family drama with a smirk that I want to punch right off his face. Him taking joy in my girl’s misery is pissing me the fuck off.
“I had an affair with your mother. Met her when she was waitressing at one of the truck stops. She had you and I moved her down here, so I could still see the two of you.”
“Hence the gambling. What with two families to support and all,” Romeo chimes in.
Ignoring Romeo, Karina sits forward. “But Mom died years ago. Why didn’t—”
“I couldn’t tell my wife about you. She would have used—it doesn’t matter now. We divorced shortly after your mom passed away.”
“Then why were you still gone all the time?”
Fucker’s got no answer for his daughter.
Like I said, he’s a worthless piece of shit.
“Did you tell Logan to stay away from me?”
Tucker opens his mouth—and by the seedy smile on his face he’s planning to lie through his teeth. “Don’t fuckin’ lie to her,” I growl at him and he snaps his mouth shut.
“Yes,” he finally answers.
“Why?” Karina lets out a miserable sniffle. “He actually took care of me when you were gone all the time.”
Tucker flaps his hands in the air. Christ, his daughter has more spine than he does. “I was fixing to set you up with Romeo and I couldn’t have Logan fuck that up.”
Romeo snickers like an asshole.
Karina sniffles. When Romeo sees the tears rolling down her cheeks he stops laughing.
“He broke my heart because of you?” she asks. The innocence in her voice fuckin’ shreds me.
“I’m sorry, Karina. I didn’t have a choice.”
“The hell you didn’t!” she snaps at him and I’m proud of my girl. “You’re the one who sent that guy to talk to me, aren’t you?” She swipes the tears from her cheeks and stares her father down, waiting for an answer.
Tucker’s guilty gaze swings away and I lose my fuckin’ shit. “You set your own daughter up to be molested? What the fuck’s wrong with you?”
Both Romeo and Tucker explode out of their chairs. Next to me, Karina whimpers and grips my hand tighter.
Tucker stutters and shakes his head. “What are you talkin’ about? I never—”
“You hire men to deliver a message like that to a beautiful teenage girl all alone. What the fuck you think was gonna happen to her?” I ask, dropping each word low enough for Tucker to sense he’s skating close to getting a bullet in his empty head.
He spreads his hands out in a helpless gesture. This fucker isn’t nearly as concerned as he should be about what he’s put his daughter through. “Karina, I just couldn’t have you keep sniffing after Logan. He was only supposed to scare you. Not hurt you. I’m so sorry.” The apology seems to come as an afterthought and the urge to kick him to death makes my feet twitch.
Ignoring her father, Karina turns to me. “Dante, please, can we go now? I’ve heard enough.”
I raise an eyebrow at Romeo who nods.
I stand and she follows. Her father doesn’t say a thing.
If Romeo doesn’t put this waste of air in the ground, I swear to fuck I will.
Chapter Two
As soon as we’re out in the main room, away from the insanity of my father’s betrayal, Dante pulls me into his arms. There’s a good chance Romeo might kill my father and I can’t call up an ounce of concern. That probably makes me an awful daughter, but I honestly don’t care. All I feel when I think about my parents is a lot of nothing.
“You okay, baby girl?”
“No. I’m not okay at all.”
His mouth tightens into an angry line. The need to get away from the clubhouse claws at me. “Can you take me for a ride?”
“Yeah. Anywhere in particular you wanna go?”
“No. As long as I’m with you, it doesn’t matter.”
Once I’m tucked onto the back of Dante’s bike my head clears and everything I learned today sinks in.
I have a sister.
I was the product of an affair.
This explains my father’s long absences.
No wonder my mother drank.
He takes us to the first restaurant we ever ate at together and I smile at the memory. On our way inside, he takes my hand calming me and making me feel safe at the same time. We sit in the back and there’s no one else around us. The place is quiet at this hour.
“Feeling any better?” he asks after the waitress leaves.
“I feel better being with you. But about my family? No.”
One of his big, warm hands slides over mine. “Baby, I’m your family now. The club’s your family. You don’t have to waste another second on that guy pretending to be your father.”
“Thank you.” More of the afternoon sinks in. “Dante, would Romeo have really taken me to pay off a debt? I don’t understand.”
His face hardens and he squeezes my hands a little tighter. “I don’t know what the hell their arrangement was all about, baby girl.”
“And my sister? I can’t believe I have a sister. I wish I’d stayed to find out more about her.”
“I’ll help you find out whatever you want to know. Promise you that.”
His words make my heart jump. “Thank you. It’s weird. I always wanted a brother or sister. And I’ve had one this entire time. I wonder if she’s older or younger?”
“Probably older.”
“Do you think she looks like me?”
“Don’t know. No clue what her mama looks like. Doubt anyone’s as pretty as you though.”
He always knows what to say to make me feel better.
“Can we go home, Dante?”
“Yeah, baby girl. Whatever you want.”
I’m so…torn. I don’t know how to express myself or how to process everything.
When we step in the front door, I turn and slump against Dante. His arms band tight around me, strong and comforting. “What does my baby girl need?” he murmurs next to my ear.
“I don’t even know.”
“Got homework?”
“Shit. Yes. It’s in the car, at Romeo’s shop.”
As if they’d heard me, two cars pull into our driveway. One is my new car. One I recognize as a truck from Romeo’s shop. While Dante goes out to meet them, I hang back in the kitchen.
All three men stomping into the house rattle me. Luck’s been here before. But Romeo hasn’t. And I always feel uneasy or off-balance in his presence.
Dante holds his hand out to me. My signal that it’s okay for me to join them I guess.
“Thanks for bringing my car up,” I say to Luck, who nods at me. Dante hands over my backpack and I set it by the stairs.
The living room seems to have shrunk in size with three big men taking up so much space. My man is the biggest, but the other two aren’t far behind. They’re just as scary, too. A skitter of fear brushes over me.
I’ve been around these guys at the clubhouse plenty of times. But this is more intimate. Strange having them in our personal space. What if they decided to hold me down and do whatever they wanted to me? I’d be powerless to stop it.
A different sensation prickles over my skin. Excitement. A tingling spreads all over as I picture the three of them—
As if he hears my perverted desires, Dante turns my way. “Here’re your keys, baby girl.” His words draw Luck and Romeo’s attention to me again.
My heart hammers and my panties are definitely damper than they were a few minutes ago. Now it’s the combined focused attention of all three of them making me squirm.
“You okay, baby girl?”<
br />
I’m still standing there like an idiot instead of taking the keys he’s holding out. “Yeah. Um, tired.” I grab the keys and set them on the counter. “I’ll leave you guys alone. I’ve got homework.” Romeo smirks at the word “homework.” My face burns with shame.
I turn and take the stairs two at a time before I do anything else to embarrass myself.
“What’s up with her?” Romeo asks after Karina races upstairs.
“You really have to ask after that fucked up situation with her Dad?”
For once Romeo shows some compassion for someone other than his dick. “Yeah. That was fucked. Think she’s worried I’m—”
“Don’t even finish that thought.”
“I ain’t gonna touch your girl.” He almost seems offended.
“Go check on her,” Luck says.
Romeo nods and the idea of my prez telling me to take care of my woman over discussing club business makes for a massive what-the-fuck moment. What a fucking day.
Karina emerges from the bathroom just as I’m about to call out her name.
“Oh.” She slaps her hand over her chest. “You startled me. Did the guys leave?”
“No. Wanted to check on you.” My gaze lingers on her face. Flushed cheeks, wide eyes. Travels lower. Neck and chest also pink. Hard nipples straining against her tank top. “Are you okay?”
Her bottom lip trembles and her cheeks turn even pinker. “Yes. I—” she gestures at her backpack over by the bed.
“Homework, yeah, I know.”
I’m still studying her as I crook my finger and motion her closer. “Come here.”
When she’s standing in front of me, my hands settle on her shoulders giving her no option other than facing me. Except, she keeps her gaze lowered and it’s buggin’ the fuck outta me. “What’s wrong?”
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