Staking His Claim

by Winter Sloane

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2018 Winter Sloane

  ISBN: 978-1-77339-831-0

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To my readers, I hope you enjoy Ryker and Sky’s story as much as I loved writing it.

  STAKING HIS CLAIM

  Severin Family, 1

  Winter Sloane

  Copyright © 2018

  Prologue

  Five Years Ago

  Ryker grunted, shoving another handful of dirt into the grave he’d newly dug. That done, he wiped the sweat off his brow and lit himself a smoke. Holly Grove Cemetery was quiet at this time of the night. Empty. No surprise, given the chilly evening. The neighborhood kids considered this old place haunted and avoided it at all costs. It was also Severin Familia territory, and even cops avoided cruising by the place at night.

  That made it the perfect dumping ground for the Familia’s clean-up crew. In other words, him. At twenty-one, Ryker had every ambition to work his way up. He wished his younger brother, River, had more ambition, but River had always been squeamish about getting his hands dirty.

  Ryker finished his smoke, grabbed his shovel, the rest of his gear back and headed back to his truck. River and the meth-heads he called friends better be done with their poker game by the time he headed back to their apartment.

  Ryker wanted a hot shower and some quiet time to himself after spending the night digging. Reaching his truck in the parking lot, he dumped his stuff in the back and got behind the wheel.

  He leaned against his seat and shut his eyes a couple of moments. Just a couple more months, maybe a year of doing this, and he’d finally graduate from gravedigger to Familia enforcer. Gino had already taken him along a couple of jobs, even recommending him to Giovanni, the Severin Familia head.

  Ryker only prayed River wouldn’t fuck things up again. His brother only seemed to be good at one thing—opening his big mouth and getting into trouble. Opening his eyes, Ryker pulled out his wallet and look at the only family photo he owned—their mother in the hospital bed. River had been twelve, him fifteen.

  He promised her on her deathbed. He’d look after his shit brother, even if it killed him, but fuck. River always tested his patience. Ryker recalled the last conversation he’d had with Giovanni.

  “You have promise, Ryker. I can see you becoming an asset for the Familia. Most of the men already see as one of us, but your brother…” Giovanni paused and let out a tired sigh. “He’s a loose cannon.”

  Ryker tucked the photo back in his wallet and drove back home, contemplative. He promised Giovanni he’d try to straighten River out, but lately, he saw River as a lost cause. Ryker couldn’t count the number of times River picked random fights, or broke the law, only to claim the Severin Familia had his back.

  Truth was, the Familia only tolerated River because of him. Thirty minutes later, he parked his truck on the street opposite their apartment building. He took his gear and went around the back. The neighborhood they lived in had the worst reputation in the city, but it never hurt to be extra careful.

  Ryker took the stairs in the back, relieved to find no one in the fifth-floor corridor. The couple living next door was, as usual, in one of their heated shouting matches. He narrowed his eyes as he caught the smell of weed near their unit. Ryker silently counted to ten in his head. At least it wasn’t worse, right?

  He took out his keys and gritted his teeth, hearing loud voices from within. Just great.

  Ryker stepped in, locked the door behind him, and dumped his bag on the floor. River and his two friends Ryker didn’t bother knowing the names of, sat around the dining room table, playing poker.

  “Out,” he practically growled out the single word.

  River noticed him, grinned, and waved at him like an idiot. Bloodshot eyes. Check. Ryker narrowed his gaze and noticed the new line of needle marks up River’s right arm.

  “Don’t be like that, bro. Why don’t you join us? Loser needs to throw the trash out. You out on a job?” River leaned his head to one side and probably spotted his gear bag. “Excellent, you got your usual shit.”

  His usual shit? What the hell did River mean by that? River was definitely high, but he always knew when River did something stupid. Gut feeling told him he just walked into another of his brother’s messes.

  He strolled over to his brother and River’s dick friends. River mooching off him was fine. River was blood, his only family, but he didn’t care for River wasting all his allowance on drugs or deadbeat company.

  Ryker cursed, nearly tripping on something heavy on the floor. He took a step back, spotting the black garbage bag.

  “What the hell, River? Didn’t I tell you to clean up? You had one job to do.” Ryker paused, because he finally noticed the distinct shape formed by the bag. Dread filled his stomach. River better not have a fucking body in there.

  Ryker never saw himself as a good man. He’d done plenty of bad shit in the name of the Severin Familia, but those bastards they eliminated usually deserved what they got.

  “River,” he said in a quiet voice, barely able to contain his rage. River finally looked up. Fear flickered in River’s eyes. Good. River should recognize when he switched from being big brother to predator. “Who the fuck is inside there?”

  River’s two friends sniggered. Ryker reached for the gun inside his jacket. River got up hastily from his chair, knocking it on the floor.

  “Just some whore no one would miss,” said one of the guys.

  “Bro, I can explain,” River said quickly.

  The top of the bag spilled open, the tape coming off when he’d bumped his shoe onto it a moment ago. A pale and slender hand slid out, marked with knife cuts and drying blood, followed by a tumble of tangled golden locks, streaked with more crimson. Shock rippled through him.

  Ryker didn’t need to look inside to know more violence probably marked this corpse. Corpse. It was easier to call it that than a former human being because he’d bumped into this same girl a couple of times in the morning.

  Ryker didn’t know her name, but he remembered once thinking that she must be some kind of angel heaven sent down to this hell by mistake. The dazzling smile she flashed him always lifted the gloom he felt on his bad days.

  Innocent. Pure. Those were the two words he’d used to describe her. He nearly asked her out a couple of times but always lacked the courage. Ryker told himself that bringing her into his world would only doom her. As it turned out, her being in the same building as him and River eventually led to her death.

  Rage thickened in his vision. Ryker might have helped Gino making men sing, but the Familia and he always drew the line when it came to women and children. They might be monsters in suits, but they followed a certain code.

  “You fucking idiot.” He fisted River’s shirt. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  River tried to bat him away, but Ryker was so much bigger. River pouted. “I know I messed up, okay? No one’s going to miss the bitch. We just wanted to play with her, that’s all, but she had a bite to her. Besides, the Familia—”

  “Shut the hell up,” he interrupted.

  He curled his fingers into a fist and sm
ashed it across River’s nose. River’s shriek followed by the satisfying sound of breaking bone made him curb his temper a little.

  We wanted to play with her. He’d always brushed aside Gino’s comments about River’s attitude about women, but he should have paid more attention. There was that one incident two months where Gino’s men had to pay off a strip club owner because his brother got a little too rough with one of the girls.

  Ryker always made excuses for River. In his mind’s eye, he kept seeing their mother on her deathbed, clutching his hands and making him promise to always look out for River. Even she had known something wasn’t entirely right with River, that something was lacking.

  He’s different from the other kids. There’s something missing in him, but that’s why you’re here. Promise me you’ll always look out for him, Ryker.

  Ryker hated to think his kid brother was capable of violence because in his eyes, River was still the same, gawky, gap-tooth, awkward kid who followed him around.

  He’d been so busy doing jobs for the Familia and paying the bills that he never realized his brother had turned into this.

  “What the hell, bro?” River sputtered.

  Ryker flat out told River the truth. “The Severins don’t give two shits about you, or me for that matter, if they decide I’m no longer useful to them. I know what Gino’s going to think, how he’d deal with this body. He and the guys would wipe this place clean, and take you, me, and your useless dick friends out in body-bags.”

  Footsteps. Ryker whipped out his gun and fired at the two cowards who’d begun to make their way to the door. One cried out in pain. He wasn’t worried about the noise. The couple next door continued to hurl obscenities at each other.

  They lived in a kind of rathole where gunshots weren’t something to be concerned about. Just a week ago, a homicide occurred on the tenth floor and it took the cops two hours to arrive after the witness made the call.

  “You asshole, you shot my knee!”

  Ryker ignored them.

  “You just shot Kenny,” River said. “For what? Because you’re worried about your precious reputation?”

  Something gripped his left leg, and he looked down. Time moved in slow motion. He stared uncomprehendingly, at the broken fingers clutching his leg, to one half-closed brown eye staring up at him, a silent plea in it.

  He let out a breath. His angel was alive. How was that even possible?

  River always did things half-assed, and for once, Ryker was glad. Gino used to assign them both tasks, but River always screwed up some way or another. River sneered at him. Fuck. River might be high most of the time, but sometimes his brother could be alarmingly perceptive.

  River knew. Knew this woman was special to him. It wouldn’t shock Ryker that River picked her for a reason. His anger cooled, his breathing turning even. He flashed River a smile that meant nothing. Ryker had gone to that special place when he killed. Numb certainty filled his entire body.

  Ryker loved his brother, had defended him so many times to Gino and the rest of the Familia. He’d refused to believe them when they said there was something rotten in River. This wasn’t the same River he defended from school bullies back in elementary school. This River seemed to completely lack empathy.

  “Tell me, brother. Why did you pick her?” he asked in a voice that lacked emotion that he wondered if he really uttered those words.

  “Because no one would miss the bitch,” River began, but then his expression turned ugly. River smiled back at him, and Ryker wondered who this stranger was, who wore his brother’s skin and shared his name.

  “You know why,” River answered.

  Ryker raised the revolver, aiming it right between River’s eyes. The extreme hate in River’s gaze told him that his brother had gone off the deep end. When he took his first life, it had gutted him, but it had been quick. River and his pals got off hurting this woman, taking their time hurting her.

  “You’re not really going to shoot me. I’m your fucking brother. You’re going to choose a half-dead cunt over me?” River practically yelled at him.

  The hold on his leg tightened. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of courage and strength, of willpower it took for her to latch onto him. She barely could see out of that black eye. She probably mistook and saw him as some kind of savior, but it didn’t matter.

  I’m sorry, Mom.

  Ryker pulled the trigger, turned and finished off the other two without a shred of guilt in his heart.

  ****

  Sky wove in and out of unconsciousness. Nightmares plagued her. Leering faces. Painful hands that cut like knives. Sky cut those pieces from her mind away and put them in a box. She didn’t want to look at them again.

  During her lucid moments, she could make out the blurry figure of a man with black hair and blazing blue eyes the color of an angry storm. Unlike the demons in her nightmares, she remembered feeling safe with this man. She tried to open her mouth, to thank him, but her throat felt parched. He cursed and a moment later, gently pressed a glass of cool water to lips. She drank greedily, not realizing how thirsty she was.

  “Shh. You should rest,” he said, setting the glass down. He began to stand, but somehow, she found the strength to grip his arm. The man looked startled, but didn’t push her away.

  “Will you be here, when I wake?” she rasped.

  “I’ll be here,” he said with a nod. “I won’t let anyone hurt you again, Skylar. Ever.”

  Satisfied by his answer, she loosened her hold on his hand. How did he know her name?

  She didn’t realize she asked that question out loud until he answered her.

  “I went to your apartment for some of your clothes.”

  Clothes? She looked down, finding herself in someone’s unfamiliar bed, wearing a giant shirt and covered in bandages. Parts of her ached, and she had a feeling it had something to do with her nightmares. Sky couldn’t recall what happened before she met him.

  When she tried to remember, her stomach turned queasy, her insides twisting. Panic seized her. Trembles ran up and down her arms, and she could see faint, red lines peeking from some of the bandages.

  “What happened to me?” she whispered. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Ryker. All you need to now is that the problem’s been taken care of,” he said in a firm, but gentle voice.

  God help her, but she believed him. Sky had felt so alone her entire life. Her parents had been both meth addicts. She’d practically raised herself, so she didn’t know what it felt like, having someone who cared, until Ryker.

  She didn’t know why, but she felt safe with Ryker, even though he was a practically a stranger to her. Some part of her knew it was wrong that she should trust a man she just met. Sky couldn’t quite explain it, but she knew that he’d hurt himself first before laying a finger on her. He leaned over, brushed the strands of her hair away, and kissed her forehead.

  “Sleep, sweetheart. I’ll be here when you wake. No one’s going to touch or fuck with you again. They have to go through me first.”

  Chapter One

  Present

  Ryker got out of the shower when he heard the ping from his cellphone. He plucked it from the sink counter. A message from Raul, telling him they’d clean up the dishes. Code for finishing the clean-up job. He set the phone down and dried his hair. It was hard to believe five years had gone by. Since then, Ryker had taken over Gino’s position. Now, he was the one giving orders and had someone else digging at graveyards.

  Some of the guys he’d worked with would say he had everything he ever wanted, worked hard for it, too. Except Ryker didn’t have the one thing he truly needed. He put on his favorite pair of jeans and shirt and wandered out of the bathroom.

  Ryker lingered on the corridor, staring at the room that used to be hers. Skylar’s. He approached the door, touching the pink sign hanging outside with her name painted over it. Heart heavy, he turned the knob. He didn’t think Sky would mind.

  Memories tugged
at him. How they went to the furniture store to pick out her bed, vanity table, cabinet, and study desk. The whole set. She’d been delighted. He could never forget the way her entire face lit up, or the way she hugged him.

  She’d felt so warm and tiny against him. He’d remembered thinking that back then—this was the same woman he’d found shoved in a garbage bag, half-dead, but her determination to live, to survive could put any self-made man in the Familia to shame.

  Ryker left her room the way it was and had no plans to clean her things out, although from their last phone conversation, she said to leave them in boxes. If Ryker did that, then he’d erase any trace of evidence that she’d lived in this house.

  His gaze lingered on the framed photographs on the shelf next to her bed. Fuck, but he missed having her around. Ryker had practically encouraged her to move out, knowing if she continued being with a monster like him, she’d end up on the same road to hell.

  Since she moved in with him, she’d also gotten to know the other Severin Familia members. Even Giovanni took a liking to her, but Ryker never wanted to expose her further to his world. She belonged to the light, to everything good and normal. Sky deserved a life different from the one he’d chosen.

  His phone rang, and he frowned. Ryker made it explicitly clear to his men not to contact him at night unless it was an emergency. He pulled his phone out. Seeing Sky’s name flash across the screen, he forgot to breathe for a second.

  “Sky? What’s wrong?” he asked, voice coming out a little harsh. Ryker hadn’t heard from her in two years, not surprising considering how their last conversation went.

  Ryker practically shoved her out of his life, thinking it had been for the best. He’d regretted making that decision since the day she packed her bags and left.