Dead Souls MC: Prospects Series Books 1-5

by Savannah Rylan

  I nodded, unable to say anything.

  “You aren’t as bad as them, Kaylynn. They exploited you. A weakness. Just like they do everyone else. Just like they’ve done with the guys of this crew. Me with my daughter. Cage with his girlfriend. Saint with a family he didn’t know he had. Bear with his, well, everything.”

  I snickered. “What does that mean?”

  “Just—the point is, you’re a victim. Just like those kids you took care of. You aren’t them. You’re someone forced to work alongside them. That’s it.”

  I paused. “He’s still my brother, Ryker. I have to try and find a way to protect him.”

  “And that’s fine. I get it. I’ll do what it takes to make sure he isn’t killed. By our side, at least. But I need you to know that if it comes down to it—if there’s ever a situation where it’s him or Ariel…”

  I nodded. “I understand.”

  “I need you to know I’ll choose my daughter every time. No matter what.”

  “And that’s why you’re a great father. Even though I know you don’t see it.”

  21

  Ryker

  And that’s why you’re a great father. Even though I know you don’t see it.

  Her words stuck with me all morning. Great father? Was she high? I wasn’t a great father. I’d been a terrible father to Ariel over the years. Yet, her words warmed and comforted me. Made me feel as if I were impenetrable.

  What had this woman done to me?

  After our talk this morning, she wanted some alone time. I couldn't blame her, either. Especially after everything that had happened. In less than twenty-four hours she’d fled her only home, slept with a man she barely knew, and risked her brother dying simply by saving her own skin. It was a lot to process. And I had no issues giving her the space she required.

  Though, I had to take her phone from her.

  She didn’t fight me on it like I thought she would. If anything, she looked relieved when I asked. A reaction I didn’t expect from her at all. I took the battery and the SIM card out of the back of it as I walked out of her room, heading straight for the kitchen. The sun was barely up, and soon the guys would pile into the kitchen looking for food for their families. A modern-day pillaging of the fields and forests to quell the crying kiddos. To satiate their stay-at-home women.

  Since no one had really gone anywhere since this bullshit kicked off.

  I tossed the remnants of her phone onto the kitchen counter and grinned. The seat still sat there, bucked up against the cabinets. The shirt Kaylynn wore last night sat on the floor. I scooped it up as a wide smile spread across my face. One of those smiles that indefinitely reached my eyes. Memories of the night before flooded back all at once. How she’d spread for me. How she tasted. The phantom taste of her salted body appeared on the tip of my tongue. Throbbing my cock and calling to my soul.

  Go back and find her. No one’s up yet.

  But I steeled myself against it.

  Instead, I rolled the shirt up tightly. I tucked it into my pockets, trying to conceal it as best as possible. I started the three pots of coffee we had on the kitchen counter. Then, I put the chair back and started cleaning up. I wiped down the counter where I’d claimed Kaylynn. I made sure to erase any part of our debauchery that might’ve been seen to the naked eye.

  Because the last thing I wanted was for someone to tease her for being in such a vulnerable position.

  She’s a strong woman. She deserves better than that.

  The first guy out into the kitchen was Toxin. Of all people. Did that man never fucking sleep? He was always up before the sun, practically. Always staying up late. Always stumbling in at odd hours whenever we were free to roam. In all the times I’d had to call him for shit, I’d never caught him sleepy. Or groggy. Or gravelly from a nap. While the guys were probably pissed about the fact that I didn’t open up much, it was more because I was silent. I didn't talk much. And my stare left much to be desired. I constantly looked as if I were zoned off into space. When really, I had “resting bastard face.”

  Toxin, on the other hand, was a complete mystery.

  “Morning,” he said, his voice clear as day.

  “How long you been up?” I asked.

  He grabbed a mug. “What makes you think I fell asleep?”

  I wanted to ask, but I knew better than to do that with Toxin. He was the epitome of locked up. And it seemed the guys simply accepted it. I studied him for a while as he poured his coffee. Fixed it up with some of the sweet cream out of the fridge. His eyes fell out the kitchen window as the sun rose high in the sky. Casting a warm glow over his face and igniting something behind his eyes I’d never seen before.

  “Toxin?” I asked.

  He shook his head, as if I’d ripped him from a trance. “You wanna fuck me too or something?”

  “What?”

  “You keep staring at me long enough I’m gonna assume you wanna suck my dick. Piss or get off the pot.”

  I blinked. “Did you say—”

  “Yeah. You two weren’t as quiet as you thought you were. Happy for you, though. Yay for being like the rest of them, I guess.”

  He rose his coffee cup to me, almost in salute. My brow furrowed deeply as his eyes turned to meet mine. And when they did, a shiver worked its way down my spine. I knew why they kept Toxin around. Because he was intimidating. Because I’d seen that man stare down more enemies, forcing them to give up their guns without ever firing a shot from his.

  Not that the man needed a gun, anyway. His hands were practically registered weapons.

  “Thank fuck for coffee,” Brewer murmured.

  “At least the kids are still sleeping,” Grave said, yawning.

  “Any food?” Knox asked.

  “Diesel up yet?” I asked.

  I turned around, leaving Toxin’s side. Leaving his mind to wander as he stared out the window. I picked up my untouched coffee and made a beeline for our president just as he came out of the hallway. I hated to hit him at such a rough time of the morning, but we really needed to talk.

  Diesel held up his hand. “Can it wait?”

  “There’s been some developments with Alex. Can we talk as a group?” I asked.

  He sighed. “Coffee and church? You guys up for it?”

  And when all the guys grumbled and rose their hands in the air, I knew I had their attention.

  “Kaylynn’s brother tried calling her a lot last night,” I said.

  “She’s got her phone on her?” Bear asked.

  “Don’t worry. Once I found her with it, I removed the battery and the SIM card. And by the sounds of it, he hasn’t tracked her or anything. My guess is he doesn’t have the capability without going to his boss, which he hasn’t done yet,” I said.

  “How do you know that?” Brewer asked.

  I sighed. “Her brother left her a voice message late last night that has her really fucked up. If you want me to risk putting the phone back together, I’ll let you listen to it.”

  The guys looked around before nodding their heads. Then, Toxin appeared. He handed me the pieces to the phone he’d already put back together, and I stared at him for a long time. That intense stare of his pierced my chest. His downturned lips seemed to frown a little deeper. I knew how he felt about all of us bringing girls and shit into the picture. But I didn’t realize he was that pissed with the whole situation.

  Apparently, Toxin had never fallen for a girl before.

  Either that or he was all right with his own loneliness.

  I took the phone and moved away from the guys, walking down the hallway to find Kaylynn. I knocked on her door and she answered quickly, her eyes traveling up and down my body. I handed her the phone. I stayed silent as she unlocked it. I navigated to her voicemail box and it prompted her to enter a code.

  And instead of punching the code in…

  “It’s 2-5-3-9,” she said.

  “2-5-3-9?”

  “Mhm. Spells ‘Alex.’”

  My h
eart broke a little more. “Thanks.”

  I left her bedroom and made my way back out for the guys. I punched the code in and turned up the volume on her speakerphone. Listening as her brother’s voice poured through to our ears. At first, he’d been frantic. Upset. Infuriated, really. But that anger morphed into fear. Before morphing again into a soft moment of panic.

  “There any others?” Diesel asked.

  I shook my head. “That’s the only voicemail he left.”

  “How do we know this isn’t some trap her brother’s setting for her? Or us?” Cage asked.

  “He knows our M.O. now. Helping anyone, apparently, who comes through our doors and has tits,” Toxin said.

  “We help women and children. Especially our own. Simple as that,” Diesel said curtly.

  “This is her brother, though. If we’re going to help her, then we should at least try to respect her wishes when she says she doesn’t want her brother to die,” I said.

  “And why the fuck should we do that?” Saint asked.

  “No offense, but he’s part of the mafia. He took your little girl. How the hell can you not want retribution for that?” Bear asked.

  “Simple. He’s falling in love. Like the rest of you idiots did,” Toxin said.

  “Shut up,” everyone said in unison.

  I disassembled the phone again. “All I want is to make sure Alex doesn’t die by our guns. His boss? That’s a different story. But if he doesn’t come after anyone else, I’d like to not gun the guy down intentionally.”

  “Yeah, for fear of you pissing off your new slice of pussy,” Toxin murmured.

  “I’m sorry that you’re a miserable, lonely little man. But you don’t have to shit on everyone else’s parade, Toxin,” Cage hissed.

  Toxin leveled him with that stare he possessed. “Try acting like you know me one more time and I’ll show you why I don’t need the gun I always keep on my fucking ankle.”

  “Enough,” Diesel said.

  The guys fell silent as I continued sipping my coffee. Wondering why the fuck this bothered Toxin so damn much.

  “We still move ahead with the plan to meet up with Lars. Face to face. We take the meeting he’s offered, especially since we’re working with an upper-hand,” he said.

  I nodded. “I think that’s our only play right now that doesn’t require us to automatically pull guns out.”

  “We need to exploit it to the best of our ability, too. Kaylynn was right about that last night, apparently,” Brewer said.

  “She was, yes. He hasn’t gone to his boss. No way in hell. You heard him on that voice message. He’s petrified. He knows he dies if he can’t come up with a solution. Right now, he’s probably waiting for Kaylynn to return,” Cage said.

  “Which means Lars is in the dark about what’s happening. He doesn’t know he’s lost his leverage again. So, we set ourselves up well this time,” Diesel said.

  “I’m in if you guys are in,” I said.

  “Yep,” Grave said.

  “Still not awake, but I dig it,” Knox murmured.

  “You’ve got my vote,” Saint said.

  All the guys agreed, prompting Diesel to pull out his cell phone from his back pocket. He set his mug of coffee down and turned on his speakerphone, dialing some sort of number. Probably the number that called him a few days ago when we were sitting out on the fucking porch.

  Holy hell, it’s only been a few days.

  Felt like a few fucking weeks had passed.

  “I was wondering if I’d ever hear from you,” Lars said.

  His voice came alive as we gathered around the phone. Diesel put his finger to his lips, silencing us as we clung to our coffees. Though none of us would ever admit it out loud, we were all shaking in our boots. Wondering if we’d already lost our upper hand. Wondering if Lars was about to shit on our parade somehow.

  “Thirty seconds before he can track any call,” Rock whispered.

  And that prompted Diesel to speak.

  “That meeting still on the table?” he asked.

  Lars chuckled. “I knew you’d eventually see it my way.”

  “Meeting or not?”

  “I’m assuming you still want to exchange the girl during this meeting.”

  Diesel grinned. “Of course. Yes.”

  “Well, sure then. She’s a pain in my ass anyway. Must not have quality parenting for a mouth like hers.”

  I snarled, trying my best to swallow my growls. Knox locked his finger in the loop of my jeans, holding me at his side. I looked over at him and he shook his head. The last thing we needed to do was blow this. So, I drew in a deep breath, nodded, and tried my best to settle down.

  Even that asshole knew I was a fucking bad parent.

  “When and where?” Diesel asked.

  “Fifteen seconds,” Rock whispered.

  “I’ll send you a text with the time and place. Just stick by your phone, yes?” Lars asked.

  “I’m not your pawn. I won’t wait for your beckoning call.”

  “Then, I suppose you really don’t care about this child after all.”

  “Not my job to care. She’s not mine.”

  Diesel tossed me a sorrowful look, trying to apologize with his eyes.

  “Ten seconds,” Rock whispered.

  “Early tomorrow morning. Four A.M. I’ll send you the address of the house,” Lars said.

  “Send it to me while you’re on this call,” Diesel said.

  Rock chastised him with his eyes as Lars chuckled.

  “You really think you can boss me around?” the man asked.

  “I just did, and you followed spectacularly. Let’s try it again,” Diesel said.

  “Five seconds,” Rock whispered.

  Come on, Diesel. Don’t fuck this up.

  And when his cell phone vibrated with a text message, I was stunned.

  “See you there. Otherwise, you’ll never see that girl again long enough to try and save her yourselves,” Lars spat.

  Then, he hung up the phone call. And we had a meeting on the books.

  To try and save a girl we already had in our possession.

  22

  Kaylynn

  I heard the guys talking down the hallway for forever. I didn't know when the hell they’d shut up. But once their voices died down, I heard them filtering back to their rooms. Women up and down the hallway sighed and giggled. Wrapping their arms around the men they loved and pulling them behind closed doors. Must’ve been nice, being loved like that. Being wanted like that. Being needed like that.

  I need to call Alex.

  Just after lunch time, silence fell over the clubhouse. Not a peep to be heard, either from adults or children. Which was odd. But it signaled for me to come out. I crept down the hallways and made my way into the kitchen, trying to figure out what the hell had happened to my phone. Did Ryker put it in his room? Did he stash it somewhere? I got lucky, though.

  Because there, on the kitchen counter, was my phone.

  In pieces.

  I scooped them up quickly and put the phone back together as I rushed back to my room. And the second I turned my phone on, I cursed myself. Thirty percent. If I was lucky, that might get me two hours’ worth of basic time on this piece of shit thing. I scrolled through my missed calls, then dialed my brother’s number as I tucked myself away in the small bathroom.

  And it didn’t even ring twice before he picked up.

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

  “Alex, calm down. Take some breaths,” I said.

  “Take some breaths? Have you lost your damn mind, Kay!?”

  “I’m all right. Thanks for asking,” I said flatly.

  “Obviously, you’re fine. If you’re calling and you aren’t breathing heavily or sound like you’re in pain. I knew that man didn’t have it in him to hurt you when you ran out of here with him. What the hell would Mom and Dad think of what you’ve done?”

  “I’m more interested on how to save your life than w
hat to do about our dead parent’s expectations. Which I didn’t live up to anyway, asshole.”

  “And now I see why. Always making the wrong decisions. Like running away with that fucking girl! You get her back here right now.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t do that. So, let’s talk through how to get you out of your own predicament.”

  “Can’t do that without the girl. You know this.”

  “Or you could leave the life you’re living and come back to a crew you apparently tried to pursue at one point in time.”

  He paused. “Who the fuck told you that?”

  “The Dead Souls did. Is it true, Alex? Did you try to become one of them once?”

  He sighed. “I can’t talk about that mission.”

  I paused. “So, you infiltrated them.”

  “I can’t—”

  “I’ve been told you intentionally botched something they were doing. You did it for Dad, didn’t you?”

  “I can’t. Talk about. That mission.”

  I bit back a growl. “You’ve been doing this for years. Even before you took that position after Dad died. You’ve been with these people far longer than I know of, haven’t you?”

  “Someone had to make money to upkeep you seeing as you didn’t want to marry and start your own family.”

  “Don’t you dare lay this on me. I’m fully capable of taking care of myself. I told that to Dad for years.”

  “Says the woman who didn’t have an education and no job prospects other than the ones I brought.”

  “Because you exploited me for that. You made me a victim, just like those children!”

  “That what they’re telling you? That poor old Kay, the daughter of a mafioso, is a victim?”

  I sputtered. “I—you—it—Alex, damn it. Work with me here. Tell me how we can get you out of this.”