by Erin Osborne
Harley’s Surrender
By: Erin Osborne
Copyright 2018© Erin Osborne
All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author except for brief quotations used in book reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Photographer: Reggie Deanching at R + M Photography
Cover Model: Tionna Petramalo
Cover Design: Graphics by Shelly
Editor: Jenni Copeland Belanger and Kim Richards
Harley’s Surrender Blurb
Harley
My life is a series of letting people in and watching as they leave. It started with my brother, then my parents, and slowly every single person I’ve ever considered a friend. Now, my brother is back in my life and he uses me for whatever I can do for him. When I try to push back and refuse, he begins to beat me. One man steps up and tries to protect me, let me live life the way I’m meant to. Can I trust that he won’t walk away from me when things get too real for him?
Ethan ‘Steel’ Stone
I grew up in a home where I was more likely to have my ass handed to me than have anyone care about me. I don’t let anyone close, especially women. I’d rather get mine and leave than wake up next to anyone else. I won’t be vulnerable again in my life. No one will get hurt because of me. Because of the life that I live. Until one girl breaches any barriers I’ve built around my heart.
Secrets come out that threaten to destroy us. Will one person that’s meant to protect her the most do everything in his power to destroy Harley? Can she finally let go enough to let people in her life?
Dedication
Harley’s Surrender is dedicated to a woman that is a very close friend of mine, Bettie. She’s the type of woman that would give someone the shirt off her very back if they needed it. Bettie is always quick with a smile, a few words to kids that are lucky enough to be in her life or a dollar for an ice cream. Bettie has helped me out on more than one occasion when I needed it, and she always encouraged me in my pursuits whether it was going to school or beginning my journey in writing. Fly high and look over everyone that loved you and were lucky enough to know you!! You truly are an amazing woman!!
Character List
Full Patch Members
Brock ‘Gage’ Wilson: President
Brent ‘Crash’ Evans: V. President
Dominic ‘Trojan’ Martin: SAA
Ethan ‘Steel’ Stone: Treasurer
Chris ‘Tech’ Stevens: Secretary/IT
Old Ladies
Darcy Quinn: Crash and Trojan
Riley Adams: Gage
Harley Stone: Steel
Prospects
James ‘Shadow’ Patrick
Wayne Anderson
Mike Evans
Kitty Kat Lounge Dancers
Addison: Manager
Harley: Addison’s Assistant
Alyssa
Kaitlyn
Club Girls
Sally
Tina
Nessa – new
Ashley – new
Club Businesses
Kitty Kat Lounge – Strip Club
King’s Bar – Bar and Grill
King’s Ink – Tattoo Parlor
Country Corner – Diner
Table of Contents
Harley’s Surrender
Copyright 2018© Erin Osborne
Harley’s Surrender Blurb
Dedication
Character List
Table of Contents
Part One
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Part Two
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
Playlist
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Books
Part One
Prologue
Harley
I’VE BEEN STAYING AT STEEL’S apartment for a few weeks now. Alan, my brother, has been calling and texting me non-stop since the night I walked out the door to the apartment we shared. Honestly, I knew that sharing a place with him was a bad idea, but he’s my brother and I’ve always tried to have his back. Right now, I can’t be a part of what he’s got going on. Things are getting too dangerous and I know that it’s only a matter of time before I start being made to do more of what I don’t want. I have to start worrying about me and getting back on my own two feet.
Alan is three years older than me. He started to change the summer of his senior year of high school. There was a whole new crowd of people he started hanging out with and when the time came to go back to school, he couldn’t be bothered to go most days. Instead, he’d sleep all day and stay out all night long. My parents started calling him out on his shit and it became a source of arguments every day in our home. Finally, about three months into the school year, right after he turned eighteen, things came to a head. I’m not sure exactly what was said, but I know Alan put his hands on my mom to the point that she had bruises on her arms and a black eye. I’ve never been so scared in my life. That night was the last time I saw my brother in our home for about six months.
I saw my brother every now and then when I’d be walking to or from school. He was rapidly losing weight, his hair was becoming unkept and greasy, and he would yell horrible things to me when he noticed me. The Alan that used to protect me, love me, and spend time with me was gone forever. In his place was a guy that would beat whatever girl he was fucking that day, he never looked sober, and he was only out for himself. That’s not how we were raised, and I couldn’t understand what was going on with him. What made him turn to whatever he was using to escape the demons chasing him? My young mind couldn’t comprehend that there wasn’t anything chasing my brother, he chose to go down the path of destruction he was on.
Six months after he walked out the door, Alan returned home. My parents had gone out to celebrate one night. After busting his ass in the same job as a mechanic for over thirty years, my dad finally got a promotion with a raise. The garage came under new owners and they recognized how wrong my dad had been getting treated. They wanted me to go with them out to dinner, but I didn’t feel like tainting their good mood with my melancholy one. I had just been dumped that day because I refused to have sex with my boyfriend of a month. I’m not easy and I wasn’t going to be used because of the way I looked. I was almost sixteen and not ready to have sex with anyone. Anyway, it was a little after midnight and I was relaxing on the couch waiting for my mom and dad to come home. Instead there was a knock on the door and I answered it hesitantly. That one moment changed my life forever.
Two police officers stood on my porch. They came inside and asked if anyone was home with me because I was a minor. When I answered that I was home alone, they asked if there was anyone that could come stay with me. This is when I really started to get pissed because I knew it wasn’t good news if they were here.
“Look, my parents went out to dinner, they should be home soon. I have an older brother, but I don’t know where he is anymore. Either say what you came to say, or I’m going to have
to ask you to leave and come back when my mom and dad get home,” I say, plopping down on our worn out couch the way I have a million times before, letting my annoyance shine through.
“Well, under the circumstances, we’ll tell you why we’re here, but then we’re going to have to figure out what to do with you. Since you’re a minor, we may have to call in the proper authorities until we can locate your brother,” the older police officer said, and I instantly felt my entire body fill with dread and a sense of loss so overwhelming I didn’t know what to do. “Honey, your parents were in a car accident tonight. I’m not sure of all the details right now, but they didn’t make it. It appears to be a hit and run, we’re guessing a drunk driver hit them and took off. Are you sure there isn’t anyone else we can call to come get you? An aunt or uncle? A grandparent?”
For long moments, I couldn’t say or do anything. My parents were my entire world and I was just told that they were never coming home again. My mom would never again greet me as I walked in the door from school. Dad would never be there to teach me everything he knew and shield me from the boys that wanted to take advantage of me. I had no clue what was going on with Alan and so there was no one I could turn to. None of my grandparents were alive and my dad had a sister, but she was off the grid. “There’s no one,” I numbly reply, just as the screen door creaks open.
“What’s going on?” Alan asks, coming out of nowhere and surprising the hell out of me.
“How did you know I needed you to come here?” I ask, not letting my brain take in the reality of the situation.
Without thinking, I jump up and run to my brother, who never answers my question. He wraps his arms around me and listens as the cops tell him the same story that I just got told. Alan doesn’t show an ounce of emotion as he learns that our parents are now dead. I should’ve known staying with him wouldn’t turn out good, but I was a teenager whose world was just torn apart and he is the one person I had left that I knew. So, I went to my room as he convinced the cops to let me stay with him in our parent’s home. We would have to have routine visits from Child Protection Services, and he would have to go in front of a judge to be granted guardianship of me, but we would have help with all of that. And that was only if my parents didn’t have a will stating otherwise.
The days and months that went by got worse and worse. I swear if he could’ve gotten away with it, Alan would’ve started pimping me out to support his habits. Our house was constantly filled with random people he barely knew and there were things that no teenager should be seeing going on. I learned more about sex and drugs in the first month after my parent’s death than I ever thought I’d know. But, no one noticed anything wrong, so I was left in Alan’s care. Too bad I didn’t realize how bad things were going to get sooner. Or the bombshell that was going to further wreck my world.
Steel is the only one that knows most of the story of what I’ve been dealing with for the last few years. It’s humiliating to share my life with anyone, but most of all the man that has captured my attention from the second I laid eyes on him. I knew that Steel was different the first time he came strutting into the Kitty Kat Lounge where I’ve been stripping for a little over two years now. His presence demanded the attention of every person around him. The men wanted to be him, and the women wanted to fuck him. It was amazing and disgusting at the same time. Even though I want him, I’ve kept him at arm’s length so that he can’t break down the walls that I’ve carefully constructed since my life started turning to shit. I’m not saying I haven’t had sex with him because I have, but that’s all I’ve allowed it to be, a bit of fun with no strings attached.
It’s not so much his looks that captured my attention, it was the strength and the way that he dominated the room when he entered. Steel is tall with shoulder length blond hair and startling blue eyes that can see through to a person’s soul. He’s muscular and his body is covered in tattoos. Some display the pain that he’s been through and others showcase the lighter side of his personality. Over the last two years he’s bulked up even more than when I first met him. I normally don’t like a lot of muscles on a guy, but it works on Steel. He can make me laugh when I need to and he’s a source of comfort when he knows I’m having a bad day. Honestly, Steel has become my knight in shining armor. Instead of riding up on a white horse, he appears on a chrome and dark blue Harley. Our story is just that, ours. We may be wrong, we may be right, but it’s all ours and no one can change what happens. The decisions we made are the ones that led us down the path that we’ve found ourselves on and further shaped our lives.
Chapter One
Steel
WHEN I’M NOT WORKING, OUT ON CLUB business, or home with Harley, I’m out keeping an eye on her scumbag brother. He’s into so much shit that she doesn’t even know about and I’m not going to be the one to tell her if I don’t have to. What I do know is that I have to talk to her about going to sit down and let Gage know about what’s been going on. I can’t be at the Kitty Kat constantly and I want more guys there in case her brother has the balls to show up. He’s threatened to in a few of his messages and I know that he’ll do it. Alan is getting hard up for money and most places are getting clued in to the fact that he’s been stealing from them. It’s just a matter of time until he steps up his game for whatever plans he has with Harley.
Right now, I’m lying in bed next to Harley watching her sleep. It’s been something that she’s not getting a lot of and I wish I could do something to help her. Hell, it’s hard enough to get her to take over the counter medicine when she’s not feeling well or has a headache. Drinking and anything else that can be put in her system is a hard no for her. She doesn’t want to turn into her brother and I can’t blame her one bit for feeling the way she does. I would probably feel the same way she does if the situation was reversed.
“Steel?” she asks rolling over to face me, her voice sleep filled and raspy.
“Yeah angel,” I respond, turning my head but continuing to lay on my back. It’s hard enough sleeping in the same bed as her but I’m not riding the couch.
“Do you think Alan will ever get the help he so desperately needs?” Harley asks, opening her gorgeous brown eyes and looking directly at me.
“I don’t honestly know. He has to want to get the help. You can’t force him to make that decision,” I tell her, knowing from experience that if the person doesn’t want to get help, it doesn’t matter what you do.
“I know. I just want my brother back,” she says, showing her rare and vulnerable side as a tear escapes and rolls down her cheek.
I’ve come to learn that Harley hates to show anything other than the hard, loud, and sometimes bitchy side to her. Anything other than that is a weakness in her eyes. She has walls built so high that I’m surprised she called me for help when she walked out of the apartment that night she left the apartment she shared with her brother, Alan. Or that she let me know what was going on to begin with. I may have been more persistent than usual, and she put up a good fight, but I won in the end. Now, I have to convince her to talk to Gage and give him the full story. Yeah, the guys will know so that we can figure out how to step-up security in the club, but it’s a need to know basis.
No matter what I do, Harley won’t let me in any further than she already has. I’m sure that she’s holding back pieces of her life in an attempt to regain control in the fucked-up situation Alan has put her in. I have sex with her, and I’m pretty sure that I’m the only one she’s fucked in a long time, but it’s not enough for me. For the last year and a half, I’ve done nothing but try to find a way into her life and nothing has worked. Hell, I’ve even taken it to the level that I made her believe I was fucking the club girls. In reality, I haven’t touched them since I laid eyes on the beauty that is taking up half my bed. Harley didn’t get pissed or upset. She just told me that if I was fucking them and her, I needed to get checked regularly and wear a condom with her.
Getting out of my head, I realize that she’s fallen bac
k asleep. I wait a little longer to make sure that I won’t wake her up before climbing out of bed and making my way to the front porch. Taking out my smokes, I light one and inhale deeply. My thoughts won’t shut off about the girl in my bed and finding a way to make her let me in completely. It’s not that I feel used when we have sex, it’s that I want so much more. I want everything from her. Fuck, she won’t even kiss me. When I’ve asked her about it, Harley always changes the subject. She rocks my world and makes me feel so many things, and I want to know that I’m doing the same for her. This is starting to feel like a no-win situation. I don’t want to cut off everything with her, but I fear I might have to.
Harley isn’t the only one that’s had a shitty life. I’ve been dealt more pain and feel more rage than I’ve ever let on. Knowing that she’s suffering and has only opened up a little hasn’t given me the confidence to spill my secrets to her. Ever since I was a teenager, I have had to deal with more things than most. None of it was good, but it was the hand I was dealt. I live with the torturous pain every single day, and only bring the rage out when I need to. Some days it’s hard to keep it contained when I get inside my own head for too long, but I fight and claw to keep that side of me hidden. Only a few people have seen it and it honestly scares me sometimes. That’s part of the reason that I decided to leave my Nomad status behind and find a place I could try to call home. Tragedy helped me make that decision too. That’s a story for another day though.
Throwing my cigarette in the butt can I have on the side of the porch, I make my way back inside and into the kitchen. I grab a glass of water and down it. Before I can refill my glass, I hear Harley padding her way toward me. Like I said, she doesn’t get much sleep. Instead of turning to face her, I wait to see what she’s going to do. These are the nights she practically begs me to take her and make her forget the thoughts tumbling through her head on a constant loop. The questions that won’t stop plaguing her. She won’t talk about it, she just wants to forget. Personally, I think she’d be better off talking, but it’s a losing battle right now.
