Fighting to Ride

by Debra Kayn

  Going off the willingness last night from the women in Risa's employment to sleep with Ink, he concluded that she ran a prostitution ring on the side. That too didn't sit well with him. Women came in all different flavors, so he wasn't surprised some of his men had found a warm bed, but to pay for sex...he'd never be that desperate and he'd bet his Bantorus brothers had never paid women for sex before either. An active sex life was part of the biker lifestyle, and a benefit he never took for granted.

  He massaged the sore muscle in his neck and searched the lobby, spotting Remmy. "Hey."

  "Prez." Remmy, his vice president and one of the Bantorus first riders from Pitnam who came to Federal as his VP stood in the lobby and lifted his chin at Kurt.

  "You pay for a woman last night?" Kurt asked.

  Remmy coughed. "Are you shitting me? When have I ever needed to flash some greens to get between a woman's legs? I've had years of practice. I don't even need to ask. Women just know what I need."

  "Spread the word. I don't want any of the men paying." Kurt stalked toward the nearest upholstered chair by the window. His VP looked half-worn and even his goatee failed to hide his displeasure.

  "We'll get this mess cleared up and be ready to settle down," Kurt said. "Then I'm firing Leo's ass for not following orders."

  Remmy arched his back, groaning at the movement. "Right. We're good. It's nothing we haven't dealt with before."

  Kurt fell into the chair and stretched his legs out, anxious to set up the club and check out the area. "I'm going to bust Leo's balls if he fucked up the rental agreement."

  "Might want to pocket your hands. Murder charges on our first full day in town are probably frowned on." Remmy moved over and sat in the chair opposite Kurt, yawning loud. "You think there's a chance that we'll have trouble securing the Sterling Building?"

  "That's what we're about to find out." Kurt turned his gaze to the door opening and Leo walking in.

  Leo, an older man with glasses and a soft chin, adjusted the front of his blue-buttoned dress shirt in a nervous gesture. "Kurt...Remmy, good to see you again."

  Kurt remained sitting. "Start talking."

  Leo continued to spend more attention on his clothes, tucking in his shirt, adjusting the buttons on his sleeves, and rearranging his belt buckle. Only when he had nothing else to adjust, he met Kurt's gaze. "At the time I negotiated the contract with Ms. Risa, Bantorus had no plans to come to Federal. The town needs Silver Girls and the entertainment they bring to the miners."

  "Are you shitting me? You're telling me the chick that baths in the middle of the street is some kind of Mother Fucking Theresa because some men can't find their own pussy?" Kurt muttered. "She doesn't need the building for her little outside show."

  "It's more than that. The girls entertain the miners and give them something worth staying in Federal for. Without them, there's nothing for them to do to let off steam, except drink and fight. For the kind of entertainment that makes a man content to stay in one place, they'd have to go into Coeur d'Alene and with the hours they work, it's too long of a trip," Leo said.

  Kyle swallowed the bad taste in his mouth. "So, you let the chick set up a prostitute ring in my building."

  "They're not prostitutes. I swear on my job that nothing illegal goes on here in your building." Leo stood in the middle of the room. "If Risa closes business, Meghoni mine will lose workers. Families will lose men. It hurts the whole valley."

  "My fucking name is on the deed, and you let the woman sign a contract I wasn't aware of." Kurt stood. "Do you see the problem I'm having with your excuses?"

  "Risa's taken the responsibility on herself and succeeded. Okay..." Leo's head bobbled on his shoulders. "At first, the whole town was worried about history repeating itself for what her mother did, but over the years, everyone benefits from Silver Girls. Everyone. You're right, I let her stay here, allowed her to sign a new contract, because it's the right thing to do. Meghoni Mine owners pressured me to keep Silver Girls in business, because they know without some form of entertainment, miners will leave. You have to understand, the silver is what keeps Federal afloat."

  "Wait." Kurt widened his stance and crossed his arms. "Who runs Meghoni Mine?"

  "On paper, two brothers by the name of Robert and Chad Oman," Leo said, clearing his throat. "Though there's a rumor they answer to someone bigger controlling the union. As far as I know, nobody knows who that is."

  "I get why the miners would want Silver Girls here, but what's keeping Risa from leaving this town. If what you say is true, and it's a profitable business, why doesn't she load up and put her bare ass in one of the bigger cities? There has to be more money and more business in Coeur d'Alene." Kurt's patience ran out the moment Leo walked into the building.

  Leo shook his head. "I can't say. I respect Risa's need for confidentiality."

  Kurt motioned toward the stairs. "Remmy, call the men downstairs."

  Remmy walked across the room and put his hand on the railing for the stairs. Leo said, "Wait. Okay. Shit. I'll tell you."

  "You've got ten seconds to start talking and giving me better answers," Kurt said, bored with the pussy footing around.

  "Risa has ties to Federal. She's unwilling to go somewhere else." Leo rubbed his hand across his receding hairline. "Between you and me, she needs protected. She's been lucky so far that nothing has happened and the men haven't got out of control. I don't know how she does it, but she runs a straight business. When you let me know you were coming to Federal, I thought—"

  "Bantorus would do the protecting," Kurt said, meeting Remmy's gaze. He wondered how much his father and Rain knew about the trouble in Federal before voting him as president to take over the new charter.

  Remmy lifted his brow, but remained silent. Obviously, the information came as a surprise to his VP, too.

  Kurt turned his attention back to Leo. "I need inside this building and the girls out. Today."

  Leo's rounded jaw hardened. "I can't kick—"

  "Leo," Risa said, stepping down the remaining stair steps and entering the lobby. "That's enough. I'll talk with the men now."

  Leo nodded and said, "Sorry, Risa, honey."

  "Go on, and please let Doris know I'll be in to see her later this morning about my order." Risa watched Leo nod to the men and leave the building, and then she turned to Kurt and handed him a Manila envelope. "Here's my contract. I've already informed you. I have the right, under the law, to continue running my business from this location. Also, read the added addendums. You can't kick me out of the building until my contract is up and negotiations can start. At that time, if we haven't agreed to new terms within seven days, you can ask me to leave. That doesn't happen until next year. If you do try and kick me out, I'll come after Bantorus MC and everything you own."

  Kurt turned to Leo. "You're fired."

  "I understand, and I'll have the records from the office delivered to you by the end of the day." Leo dipped his chin, turned to Risa, and mouthed, "Sorry."

  He had no use for a man that couldn’t keep his word. He also had no use for any man or woman threatening him.

  Risa crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up higher and spilling over the edge of her white tank top. Kurt moistened his lips, slowly gazing down to her hips covered in tight cutoff jeans, fringed with the strings of the denim tickling her thighs, to shapely legs that weren't too skinny, and shaped to comfort a man's hips. On her feet, she wore a pair of canvas Converse with no laces. He fought a grin. She was even sexier than when she tried to seduce men. He always preferred a woman with curves. Risa had sexy curves that knocked his knees out from under him and left him sucker punched.

  The sultry set of her lips and the natural swing of her ass caught his attention from the start, whether she wanted that attention or not. His chest warmed when her cheeks flushed with color. Hell, she could wear a ratty pair of his sweats and he'd still see her body when he looked at her.

  He returned to the chair and opened the envelope. For
the next ten minutes he read the contract, line by line, growing frustrated the more he learned. After he finished reading the first addendum, he lifted his head and met Risa's gaze.

  Strength, determination, and anger stared back at him. He refused to look away, because below the surface, he recognized something he hadn't seen in another person's eyes since his younger brother, Lee, crawled into his bed as a child, scared to death, and needing protection. Lee had experienced fear so crippling, it blinded everyone from the truth of what was going through his head.

  Even as adults, Kurt was the only one who recognized the senseless direction Lee took himself in, and in the last few years, his prediction that Lee was blindly running away came true. Lee distanced himself from the club, from family, and preferred to live on the edge.

  He saw that same irrational misdirection in Risa's eyes. He didn't know her. He didn't have time to figure out her troubles. He also had never walked away from a woman who needed his help.

  Kurt zeroed in on the rest of the addendums. Risa had covered all the bases. He flipped the paper and ran his finger along the edge of the paper. One thing bothered him.

  What the hell was a woman with the smarts to run a lucrative business doing stripping?

  One thing he knew from experience. Damaged people were a wild card. They were dangerous. They knew how to survive. That's how he found himself sitting in Federal, president of a Bantorus MC charter, and dealing with Risa and her running Silver Girls out of his building.

  Raised within Bantorus MC, he belonged to the club as an active member from the age of sixteen after Rain accepted him as a prospect as a wayward teen with the taste for vengeance after his stepmom almost died at the hands of a nomad Los Li member. He'd sat at the table, rode into chaos, and defended his brothers, including putting a Los Li member in ICU after he shot him in the chest.

  The man lived, but Kurt would finish the job someday. Los Li was not going to harm another Bantorus woman in his lifetime. He'd take them all out before he took a bullet and left this earth. He straightened the sheets of paper and slid them back into the envelope. Desperation and justice he knew, and that's why he had no problem doing what he was going to do.

  He tossed the envelope to Remmy. "Burn them."

  "Right." Remmy took the papers and walked past Risa into the back hallway.

  Risa showed no sign of stopping him. He stood and walked toward her. "We talk now."

  "It doesn't matter if you get rid of the contract, I have another copy." She lifted her chin and nailed him with attitude.

  Her defiance bounced off him, and he suddenly felt more awake than he had in two days. He inhaled, recognizing the sweet aroma that'd circled him while sleeping in her bed. "All your concerns from now on will come through me. Do you understand?"

  "No." She shook her head. "The contract speaks for itself."

  He placed his finger under her chin, holding her still. "You're on Bantorus land, you live in a Bantorus building, and from what I understand you're running a business that flashes red lights with the Feds on and in Bantorus territory."

  "It's Federal—"

  "It's Bantorus territory." He dropped his hand to his side. "Now, before you tell me what the fuck is going on, you're going to explain why you're scared of me being here. Then you're going to tell me why you feel putting women in the position of spreading their legs for dirty money is something that lets you sleep at night."

  She opened her mouth, worked her jaw, but no words came out. He waited, until she finally closed her lips and stepped away from him. She moved with grace over to the old brick fireplace with the elaborate mantel carved out of timber, probably from the same trees that littered the Bitterroot Mountains all around the valley.

  The papers told the truth. He had to get Bantorus MC inside the building to go forward with his plans. Risa would fight him every step. The risks were high, the money—he imagined by looking at her and the girls he met last night—was also high, but he'd buy her out before he forced his men to step back from the clubs' plans.

  Chapter Four

  Once Risa's throat loosened and she thought she could speak, she moved her tongue up, down, side to side, testing, so when she did open her mouth she didn't sound like an idiot. Then she turned around and faced Kurt.

  Until Kurt and Bantorus MC showed up last night, she'd been confident about succeeding in changing her reputation.

  "Before you jump to conclusions, I'd like you to stay here tonight and learn exactly what we offer at Silver Girls. I'd like to show you how we benefit Federal and are welcomed here by every single person who claim this valley as their home," she said.

  "As much as I'd like to see you naked again, I'm not going to allow you to parade yourself outside my business," Kurt stated. "That's not happening."

  She waved her hand. "My show in the street only happens once a month. Tonight, you'll see what happens every evening. The entertainment, the business side, and you'll understand that I run a legit place for the girls I hire."

  Kurt stared at her neck. "I've got business to handle today. You'll have tonight to convince me not to close this place down, but my men will stay here. You want to take me to court. Then you'll need all the money you can earn."

  She fingered the silver heart dangling from her choker. "You can't do that."

  "I can, angel," he said, his voice low and soft. "I get that you're not used to having Bantorus MC an active landlord, but things are going to change around here. Despite your belief that you can destroy Bantorus, you can't."

  Desperate to make her point, she said, "I'll talk to Sheriff Colby. Maybe there's a way the town can buy this building from you."

  He shook his head. "Not happening. We need this building for the riders who are staying in town. The rest of us will be out at the clubhouse. We had an old abandoned mine building converted into our headquarters, two miles outside of Federal. We need both places to operate. The Sheriff knows our plans, and is working with is."

  "You bought the sheriff off," she said, floored at the news.

  She'd grown up with Colby, and although as a child his parents forbid him to associate with her, as an adult, he'd supported her when he stepped into the position of being Federal's sheriff. He'd backed her when she went in front of the city council to open Silver Girls, and helped keep peace on the odd occasion the miners got out of hand.

  "Now, if we're done sizing each other up—"

  "I'm not," she said.

  His mouth softened. "Oh, yeah, you are, angel, because you've already made up your opinion of me in your head. The wrong one. I'm stopping you from making a mistake that you'll regret."

  She glared. He was right. She'd battled others her whole life, but none of them every looked like him, pushed her like him, or made her hyperventilate like him. She tilted her head back far enough to look down her nose. "If you'll excuse me, I'll see you tonight."

  She stepped around him, and he caught her arm. "Why do you do it?"

  "Do what?" She refused to step away.

  "You're a sexy woman, who should be settled on one man and not letting every guy with a cock have you," he said, sweeping his thumb against the soft side of her arm. "You deserve to be someone's special lady."

  Half insult, half compliment, she should slap him. Yet, her stomach fluttered and warmth rushed to her face. She inhaled swiftly, and knew he'd taken a shower in her apartment.

  Her shower. His body. Wet and hard.

  She shivered, covering the reaction by lifting her chin higher. "You don't know a damn thing about me."

  "Enough with the bitch attitude." He lowered his hand, taking his sweet time. "If you don't want to talk yet, then you're going to play by my rules. Tonight, make sure you don't fuck another man."

  She gasped. "You can't—"

  "I just did, angel." He lowered his gaze as he stepped back. "You're going to play by my rules."

  "That's a personal invasion of my rights and has nothing to do with Silver Girls," she said.

&nbs
p; His brows lowered. "Considering how Bantorus MC owns everything in this building, including you, I can do anything I want."

  When his gaze hit her breasts, his mouth twitched. Her legs weakened and a pulse deep inside of her thrummed, contradicting what her mind was screaming in denial. She liked the attention from him, and she had no idea why she was attracted to him when she could have any man in town, if she wanted.

  She didn't want any man, especially a rude, crude, badass biker that would only be after one thing. She had a lifetime of men who didn't measure up to her standards, and he was way, way off the map of even being someone she'd want to get to know better. Way off.

  She forced herself to walk past him and push through the door. On the sidewalk, she ran into Colby.

  "Hey, Risa, slow down." Colby chuckled. "What's your hurry?"

  She glared up into his handsome face. Blond, blue eyed, looking lean and tall in his blue sheriff's uniform. She smacked his shoulder. "I can't believe you."

  Colby frowned, rubbing his arm. "What?"

  "Kurt Ramchett. Bantorus MC. Silver Girls. Losing my business." She raised her hand to slap him again, and he caught her wrist. "How many years have you known he was coming here and bringing his whole club with him? I thought you supported Silver Girls. With everything that's going on, the last thing I need to deal with is a biker gang."

  "Motorcycle club," Colby stated.

  "Seriously?" She rolled her eyes. "Let's try my life. He thinks I'm sleeping with most of the men in Federal. Just now, he threatened....threatened me, not to have sex as if he owned me along with the building. Leo signed the amended contract. I have a right to stay in the Sterling Building for one more year. At least then I'd have a chance at figuring out where I can go next with the girls."

  "Calm down, Risa. You're blowing this up into something it isn't." He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. "Bantorus MC's presence in Federal will benefit you. You need more protection during the summer when the tourists come through."

  "Not if I don't have a place of business," she snapped.