by Annie Buff
They finished the first round of drinks and ordered a second when the burgers came. As much as Reagan didn’t want this to be a. date it was. Probably one of the best she’d ever had. Renegade was funny, he made her laugh constantly. Until the door opened to the bar. That’s when she freaked out. “Oh shit! No, no, no! Not here! Not now! You need to leave, please Renegade I don’t want you to get hurt!”
He had no idea what she was talking about until he saw who walked in. “You know Raul? Damn Doll, I’m sorry. He’s a prick.”
“He’s my brother and this is bad, he’s going to kill you because of me. Please just go.” The look in her eyes pleaded more that her words.
Ren had no intention of going
anywhere. Reagan was all he wanted, sister of Raul or not. This wasn’t stopping him, not by a long shot. “I ain’t leaving. I ain’t afraid of your brother. Me and you are just having dinner so he can fuck off.”
Reagan hoped to God Raul di dn’t see them, but she knew better. Her car was still in the parking lot and he was ‘That Guy’. The one who had to know
everything. She saw him heading their way and sent up a silent prayer that he would just leave them alone.
“Amigo, Reagan!” Raul greeted them as he approached the table. “I did not know you knew each other. Mi Hermana failed to mention she was joining you for Cena… oh, excuse me ‘Dinner’. Reagan go home. We will talk later.”
She was terrified, Renegade could see that and it was completely unacceptable. No woman should ever be afraid of a man, especially a relative. She stood to grab her purse when Ren stopped her.
“She ain’t leaving . We’re having a nice night. Nothing wrong with her having fun, and she likes me. I like her. So why is this any of your business Raul?”
The shit was about to hit the fan by the look on Raul’s face. Reagan knew her brother way too well. Renegade obviously knew him too, but probably not the way she did. The best thing to do was leave, and hope Renegade got the message.
“I’ll go, I’m sorry Ren. This isn’t your fight.” She said as she fled from the table. Ren watched her go, feeling like his heart was being ripped from his chest. It couldn’t end like this, not after all the time he had waited. Raul was not going to get in the way. Renegade would go to war for Reagan if that’s what it took.
“Amigo,” Raul soothed, “I will let this one go for old times’ sake. Remember who she is, don’t push me. Because I will cut you into bits and feed my alligator with your remains.”
Renegade chuckled, Raul didn’t know just how determined he could be when he wanted something. He wanted to make Reagan his in the worst way.
“I’ll remember . But you need to remember something too, ‘Amigo. She’s a grown adult, and makes her own choices. And I’ll do whatever I have to so that I’m the choice that she makes.”
With that Ren brushed past Raul and headed for the door, dropping a fifty on the bar to cover the tab.
Trouble To Follow
Ren took the long way home, trying to clear his head. Reagan was Raul Paulo's sister. He was still trying to process the night’s events. He had a feeling this was about to get bad. Raul wasn’t the kind of man you wanted for an enemy, but Renegade had no intention of backing off. He needed to talk to Smoke and explain what had happened. He hoped like hell his President would agree to help him win Reagan.
The winding roads through the canyon were therapeutic. As the speedometer hit ninety, Ren knew he was going way too fast for these roads. He throttled back. The last thing he needed was to get a ticket or lay the bike down. Not only would Smoke be pissed, Peyton would kill him.
Ren had to laugh at the night ’s events. Only he would fall for the Sister of Raul Paulo. And he had, very hard. She was the most perfect creature he had ever come across in his thirty-two years, and nobody was going to ruin this. He knew deep down she was the ‘one’. Ren would do whatever he had to when it came to Reagan.
When he pulled in to his usual spot at the clubhouse, he saw Smoke and Peyton sitting by the fire along with Jace Morrison; Slinger’s Prospect. The lights were on in the pool room so he assumed the rest of the brothers were playing. That was a good thing, he didn’t want to share all the grit just yet. Smoke needed it first, then once a decision was made Renegade would share.
He sat down on the log bench, pulling his flask from his cut. Just the look on his face spoke volumes. “We got a problem Prez… okay, I got a problem. Eighty-eight of them.”
Peyton understood it first. It took Smoke a minute to catch up. “Shit Wyatt! How did you get the Eighty-eight and Raul involved? You just went on a date with Reagan!”
Smoke looked at his VP shaking his head. None of them liked Raul and nobody trusted him. He was a snake, slithering and striking when you turned your back.
“Turns out Raul is Reagan’s brother.” Ren told them. “She’s terrified of him. I ain’t backing off, don’t care how many threats he throws my way. She’s it man, I know it and I think we’re about to have a war because of how I feel for her.”
Smoke sat quiet for a few minutes, thinking. He remembered meeting Peyton and going to war with her father over her. How could he tell his brother they weren’t going to help him when the Brotherhood had helped Smoke? He knew this was going to be one hell of a shit show, but love was love. The decision came easy.
“VP, you go get big Mosh to Prospect. He’s yours. Jace, you’re about to get a permanent patch, and I’ll alert Red and his crew. That’s your girl Renegade. Which means she’s family, and the Devil’s protect family. Go tell the boys I need them out here now. We need to start planning for the hurricane that’s coming.”
Peyton smiled at her husband, this was the right decision and he knew it. She had a feeling the women and children would be spending an enormous amount of time at the cabin; out of harm’s way. They all dispersed, leaving the couple alone for a few minutes.
“Nero , you did good, Wyatt is already completely in love with that girl and we need to help him. On a totally different note, I had something I wanted to tell you.”
Smoke nodded and smiled at her, Peyton was the love of his life and she kept him grounded. Without her Smoke figured he’d be either dead, or in jail.
“Nora is getting that sibling you’ve been bugging me about,” Peyton told him, matter of factly, “in about seven months, that is.”
Smoke grabbed his Wife, holding on like the first night they made love. They were having another child and he couldn’t be happier. Smoke had a sneaking suspicion it would be another girl. Seemed girls were the norm with the Devil’s. Slinger was the only one with a son.
The brothers filed out, sitting around the pit so they could hear what their President had to say.
After Smoke laid it all out, Falcon had things to say. “Can’t I just take him out? The Desert Tech SRS is just sitting in the corner of my room waiting for some action.”
As much as Smoke wanted to say yes, this needed to be handled a little more delicately. Taking Raul out would start something none of them were prepared for. They knew Raul, the next one could be worse. That in itself was enough reason to play this carefully. Raul was a bastard, but he was predictable. None of them wanted to deal with the unknown.
Ren took a walk. He needed to think awhile. He just knew Reagan was the one he had waited for, but with Raul as her brother he was afraid for her. He had her number and desperately wanted to call just to check on her, but he hesitated. She didn’t understand how he felt, he barely understood it himself. He didn’t he want to scare her off, so he decided against calling. Instead he headed for his room in the clubhouse. Maybe some sleep would do him some good.
Renegade was rudely awakened by pounding on the main door. As he shook off the fog he saw the clock, two fifty-two in the morning. He had no idea who the hell could be there at that hour aside from one of the brothers.
He assumed it was Krispy looking for the couch again. The kid lived in a weekly motel that was less than habitable and would periodica
lly show up looking for a roach free place to sleep. Peyton was having a one bedroom mobile home set up for him on the property but until then he was stuck in Motel Hell.
When Renegade opened the door he almost lost it, on the porch was a bloody Reagan.
“Oh Shit Doll!” he shouted, gathering her in his arms. She was crying and shaking, all he could do was hold her. Ren needed to know exactly what had happened, but she was too upset to speak at the moment.
He took her inside, sitting her at the bar and grabbing a towel to stop the bleeding from the gash on her forehead. Renegade made a quick text to Bones. He gave him as much information as quickly he could, so Bones could bring the necessary supplies.
“Doll what h appened? Did Raul so this?” Ren was steaming mad at the thought of Raul hurting her. Reagan shook her head.
“No, not exactly.” She said in between sobs. “His goons came to my apartment, and told me I had to pack and leave with them. Raul was going to force me to go live with him. They said I can’t see you ever again if I wanted to stay alive.” She cried harder as she spoke. “I already like you too much to never see you again.”
“How did you get hurt? Did they hit you? I will fucking kill them all!” He let his fist hit the bar top harder than he meant to, making her jump. Ren instantly knew what he’d done and took it down a few notches.
“I ran from them.” Reagan told him. “They chased me, so I got in my car and drove as fast as I could but they came after me. I took a turn too fast and went off the road. I’m sorry to drag you into all of this.”
The tears were falling hard and Ren hated seeing them. He was going to make all of this right. One way or another, he would fix it all for her. Renegade gathered her in his arms, trying his best to console her, and calm her fears. “You’re safe here. Ain’t nobody gonna get to you here. That I can promise.”
She nodded. She felt a bit more at ease. The gin she stole from him helped that too.
Bones came with medical bag in hand and assessed his patient. He cleaned her wounds and numbed the big gashes with lidocaine, so he could stitch her up and not cause her any more pain. She was already in enough.
“Hi Reagan, I’m Bones . This looks like it hurts like hell. Want some pain meds?” Reagan didn’t like pills and declined, wincing after with every dab of the antiseptic.
“After I get you closed up , I’d like to give you a little, small something. Nothing heavy duty, but it will help you sleep. Can we do that?”
Reagan agreed to that small
something. She was starting to get dizzy from the headache and sleep sounded wonderful.
Once that was finished, Bones gave her a mild sedative so she would relax and rest. As soon as she fell asleep on the sofa, Ren woke up his President with his phone.
“Smoke, we got a problem . Reagan is here and she’s messed up pretty bad, I think shit just went from bad to worse.”
Smoke grumbled a few unintelligible words before he hung up. Renegade knew the morning would bring hellfire. For the moment, he would just enjoy her being in his home.
He grabbed a pillow and gently slid it under her head, covering her with the afghan that Peyton had put over the back of the old sofa. Renegade sat across from her in the recliner and watched her sleep. Reagan was a beauty with her heart shaped face and full, kissable lips.
Ren was imagining what those lips would feel like wrapped around his cock. He knew it would be bliss, but this seriously wasn’t the time for his fantasies. She needed so much more than sex. Reagan needed a Savior, a Knight. This one would be riding an iron horse. This one would be a little bent. Maybe dented, and definitely wouldn’t be in any shining armor. This knight would be in leathers, and on an old Harley. His armor would be tatted. He would fight to the death for her, if that’s what it took. Wyatt James was in love with Reagan Caswell, and that meant everything.
Reagan woke to sunlight streaming through the windows. She tried to figure out where she was. It only took mere seconds for the events of the night before to come crashing back. Raul sent the goons after her and she remembered running from them. Remembered crashing her car and fleeing straight to Renegade. Her head was pounding, she vaguely remembered getting the stitches she was feeling on her forehead. Reagan had no idea what she was going to do now. Her brother would be on the war path because she had defied him.
The scent of coffee got her off the sofa, looking around to see if she could find the kitchen. The Devil’s had to have a kitchen in this place, so she wandered until she found it, and Renegade.
“Good morning Doll, how you feeling? Want some coffee?” He asked, with that lobed sided grin.
Reagan nodded gently, her head was not happy. “Do you have any aspirin? I think I’m dying… my head feels like it’s going to explode.”
He expected that, Bones said she had a concussion and the cuts and bruises would hurt today. His instructions were for her to rest and not to stress out, that’s exactly what Ren was going to have her do. He had business to attend to so the Queen would be keeping her company today.
“Once I get you fed and medicated , you’re going to the main house. Peyton is going to keep you company while I handle some shit. She’s the same size as you so she’s got clothes for you, get a shower and wash the blood off just be careful not to pull those stitches.”
She still had the look of fear on her face, and Ren still hated it. Raul would regret the day he ever messed with Reagan. The glassy look in her eyes told him she was on the verge of tears again. This needed to end, Reagan didn’t need to do anything but laugh and smile.
“Doll, I’m gonna make all this better. I promise you this isn’t how it’s gonna be, don’t cry Reagan. Please just trust me, I ain’t never gonna hurt you. Come here.” He said with his arms open, she didn’t hesitate. Reagan let Renegade wrap her in a safe and comforting embrace.
She had never felt safe in her entire life, but somehow one hug from Renegade had Reagan feeling like she was okay. Like everything would finally be all right, and that felt good. Reagan knew she was already falling, it was going to be a losing battle to fight what she was feeling. She had a sneaking suspicion he was feeling the same thing, just by his actions. By how he stood up for her to Raul, by how he took care of her. He was similar to her brother but worlds apart at the same time.
Renegade commanded respect from his peers, her brother got it by instilling fear in everyone he came in contact with. Reagan knew in her heart this man who had saved her would be the one to save her every day for the rest of her life.
Meeting Royalty
Renegade left Reagan with Peyton, heading to M&M Tires to have a chat with big Mosh. They needed him now more than ever. With Raul and the Eighty-eight involved.
Reagan sat in the main house on the floor in the living room, playing with Nora and Micah. She had always loved little ones and these two were as precious as could be.
“Wyatt will make sure you’re safe Hun, don’t ever doubt that.” She wasn’t sure who Peyton was talking about. She could see that the Queen knew she was confused.
“Renegade, his n ame is Wyatt. I call them all by their given names, this is a family and I love all my idiots. Smoke is Nero, Bones is Zeke. You met him last night, he’s our resident physician. Trust me, these guys need a doctor close. They’ve all been either shot, stabbed or wrecked on their bikes. Some of them have had all the above. I’m pretty sure Wyatt has hit the trifecta more than once.”
Reagan smiled, she could see him getting hurt a lot. Not that she liked it, but he was definitely that kind of man. One that probably took unnecessary chances.
Peyton made sure Reagan had clean clothes so she could shower and wash off the blood from her cuts. “What am I going to do about my job?” Reagan Asked, dispirited. “I mean I need to work or I’ll be broke, and my apartment? I have a cat there, I need to go home and get some stuff until Raul calms down. My cat needs to be fed, his litter box needs cleaned. This is such a mess.”
It was a mess, but Peyt
on knew the men would do whatever they had to so it would be resolved. “I think Wyatt has plans for you to stay here with us, the Devil’s. Don’t worry. We’ll get your cat, and whatever else you need. Your job is probably done for. Otherwise Raul or his cronies could get to you. Don’t worry about money. Wyatt has plenty, even if he looks homeless. He’s not even close.”
“Peyton that’s his money, how can I ask for anything when we just met?” Peyton figured she should know, even if it wasn’t really her place to say. “Wyatt might be angry I said so, but Reagan you need know the truth. Hun, he’s been going to Handlebars for almost a year just hoping he will see you. Wyatt has it bad for you Reagan, he would give you
anything you wanted. I’ve known him Damn near three years now and that man is crazy about you, trust me on that one.”
That blew her away. Renegade had been watching her for almost a year? He was quite the surprise. A very nice surprise at that to tell the truth. When she showed up at his door she had no idea what to expect, and to hear this was just incredible.
Ren pulled up in front of the tire shop Big Mosh worked at, throttle stomping his old Harley. It was his way of announcing himself, then he cut the engine and waited. It took maybe two minutes before Mosh flung open the front door to see who was making so much noise.
“You’re fucking loud.” Mosh shouted at him. The big Mechanic wasn’t known for being long winded, most of the time all he did was nod.
“Got your attention and that’s what I needed. We, like me and Smoke have a proposition for you.”
All Ren got was a slight forward head nod, he wasn’t expecting more than that though. This was Mosh, he never had many words but he was definitely one of those that you wanted in your side. Big Mosh was close to six feet four, but it was his width that intimidated people. He had to be two seventy-five or better.
“We need to add to our numbers , I think you’d fit with the Devil’s. Smoke said this is okay. So wanna Prospect? Let me be your Sponsor?” Ren could see Mosh mulling it over deeply. He wondered why nobody had ever asked him before, or maybe they had…. Why had he never taken a patch?
