Ryder: MC Biker Romance (Great Wolves Motorcycle Club Book 8) (10 page)

Ryder

I did not have a
good night. Ridge and Cruz teamed up to get me out of the Wheelhouse. One on
each side, they practically carried me out of there. Just in time, by the way,
to see Jules get in the car with The Judge.

I needed to punch
something. Tear something up. Do damage. I felt uncontrollable and furious.

What was she doing
here? In Michigan. Engaged again? Was she the biggest liar in the fucking word?
Was I the biggest idiot? Great Wolves Southwood did not have an MMA gym. I
could have used that. Instead, I made a fucking mess of a store room. I knocked
shit down. Broke shit and in the end didn’t stop until I was exhausted on the
floor. At some point, I fell asleep because I woke up to the door opening and
Bret’s sarcasm.

“A lot of drama
over Jules Maldonado I see.”

“Fuck you.”

“Such language
from our esteemed mentor.” I looked at the mess I’d made.

“Give me an hour
to get this shit together.”

“Forget it. I’ll
send a few probies in. You need to get some coffee.” Bret put a hand out to me
and yanked me up off the floor. We walked to the office, and I tried to push
the shame of my outburst to the back of my head. I was supposed to be guiding
this chapter, and I lost my shit. Massively.

“So you know
Jules.”

“Yeah, she’s a
friend. I guess.”

“A friend?”

“Well, old friend.
We were junior high besties before I dropped out and decided to become a
tortured runaway.”

“You friends now?”

“Uh, no. It was
the Devil’s Hawks that introduced me to my first hit. I stay far away from
those fuckers.”

“Did Jules? Was
she the one who got you hooked?” It didn’t seem possible, but I clearly didn’t
know much about Jules.

“Oh, hell no. One
of the young guys in the club. Jules daddy kept her in a glass cage. She went
to school, got good grades, was the prom queen. All that shit.”

“And then
college.”

“So what’s your
deal. Why’d you go berserk when you saw her?”

“You realize she
ran away from a wedding?”

“Yeah, she was
supposed to marry the son but traded up it looks like for the old man. He’s got
her in a cool loft downtown I heard.”

“That’s Judge
Wexler, David Wexler’s dad?” I was trying to piece it together.

“Yep. I did hear
she broke it off from David. Good thing. That guy is a weak asshole. At least The
Judge has balls.” Bret handed me a Styrofoam cup filled to the top with hot
black coffee. It scalded my tongue. Just what I needed.

“I met Jules when
she was sprinting at breakneck speed away from the church in her wedding
dress.”

“So naturally you
thought this is good relationship material.”

I laughed out
loud. She was so fucking right. I’d met a runaway bride on the side of the road
and expected some non-insane ending to that.

“Yeah, we had a
few great days. And then I put her on a bus going west. She told me she was
going to get away from her Dad and Devil’s Hawks. I hadn’t heard from her in
six months.”

“Well brother
she’s been here for six months and as far as I know engaged to The Judge. This
isn’t the first time I’ve seen them together. He’s really proud of his young
piece of ass.”

“Hey.”

“Well? What?”

“Nothing.”

“So there you go. She
left you for an older rich man. Not too original.”

“So you know where
this loft is?”

“Yeah.
uh no.”

“You’re going to
take me there.”

“The fuck I am.”

“Why not?”

“Number one she’s
the daughter of Sonny Maldonado, Devil’s Hawk king asshole. Number two she’s
banging The Judge, who’s in charge of my probation for my possession conviction.
Number three you just tore up an entire room after talking to her for less than
a minute.”

“And your point?”

“My point is no.
We need you to help us not get arrested or killed for talking to a woman who
has no interest in you.”

“You think that’s
true?” Maybe Bret was right. I was reading into everything. Jules and I’s time
together. How she looked at me last night… everything.

Bret stared at me
for a few seconds.

“No. I don’t. I
think she looked at you last night like you looked at her.”

“Which is how?”

“Like you wanted
to jump all over each other. Which is exactly why I’m not taking you to her
place.” Bret turned and walked out to the garage.

I didn’t need Bret
to do a damn thing. It wasn’t over between Jules and me. I had questions, and
she was going to damn well answer them.

I needed to get to
her, confront her, and ask her what the hell happened? I would probably get my
gut kicked in for it, but I had to know.

I had my eyes open
for her now I’d find her easy in this small town. A cool loft downtown. That’s
what Bret had said before she declared she wasn’t helping me.

I looked around
the garage. Looked to me like we needed office supplies or a computer printer
or some shit. I was going to be in downtown Southwood as much as possible until
I found Jules again.

I was hatching my
stalking plan when Ridge and Cruz interrupted.

“One of our new
security clients called. They were robbed,” Cruz explained.

“Shit. Under our
noses? What the fuck?”

“Worse, it’s more
like thumbing a nose,” Cruz said.

“Let’s check it out,”
Ridge said, and we headed to the local hardware store that had just signed up
for Great Wolves Security services.

“This is what I
can expect?” The owner of Southwood Do It Better Hardware, Tom Oswald, was
pissed.

He was a man in
his fifties, skinny, nervous, and mad. He had a right to be.

Shelves were
dumped over, a back door wrenched open, and the cash drawer was empty.

“Did they get a
lot?” Cruz asked.

“Not really. I had
already been to the bank. But look. Look!” On the front display, there was a
message for us. Spray painted on the brick it said Great Wolves Security Sign
Up Today! The message was clear, and in red, and in the fucking brick.

“It’s the Goddamn Hawks.
They don’t want us dealing with you.” Oswald was looking more nervous by the
second.

“You want to keep
dealing with them?” Cruz said.

“Devil’s Hawks
have been raping this store since I started. They demand cash from me and then
they want me to launder their money. All of here in town would rather have Great
Wolves instead of Hawks. But I can’t have this.”

“You’re right.” I
stepped in.

“Who are you?”
Oswald asked.

“Ryder, Great
Wolves MC out of Grand City.”

“So what are you
going to do about it?” Oswald directed his question to me.

“We’ll beef up,” I
told him. I didn’t know how but if Great Wolves Security was going to protect
Southwood we couldn’t let another incident like this happen.

“You damn well better,
or I’m going to shut this down and move to Florida. My brother has a store in
Gold Cross. I hear it’s nice.” Oswald left us while muttering about getting out
of Michigan and then directed his employees on clean up.

“So how are we
going to beef up?” Cruz had a valid point. Southwood’s MC didn’t have that many
extra bodies.

“We’re all on it.
Polk, Nero, Bret, and me. Devil’s Hawks are trying to crush you. Time to stop
that shit.” I said.

“Agreed.” Ridge
chimed in. The garage could wait. Great Wolves wouldn’t get anywhere here if Devil’s
Hawks could walk all over them.

“And I’m going to
help get this off the damn wall.” Fuck you Devil’s Hawks and your bullshit
graffiti. Juvenile crap.

We had convinced
Oswald we could protect his business. That meant pitching in when shit went
down. Ridge and I had Great Wolves pride to protect. If Devil’s Hawks wanted to
send a message, we’d send one right back.

Ridge and I power
washed and scraped for the rest of the day. Three times I saw Hawks bikers
drive by. They were taking note to send back to Jules Daddy. Fine. Take my
fucking picture for all I cared. Great Wolves were staying in Southwood, and
they could suck my dick.

Then it happened. 
Jules.

She came around a
corner and was headed for the sidewalk where Ridge and I were working. She wore
tight jeans a leather jacket and boots. I took in every inch of her. She looked
beautiful but in a hurry or distracted. She carried two bags and didn’t see me
at first.

When she did look up,
she stopped. She’d have to walk by me if she stayed on her current path. She’d
decided against it and darted across the street.

“I’ll be back.”
And I handed Ridge the power washer made a b-line for Jules.

She had stepped up
her pace and was already to a door of a building and had darted in. But her
little legs were nothing compared to my stride, and I closed the distance.

I entered a lobby
with metal mail slots and buzzers. No doorman or desk. My eyes adjusted and
there she was at an elevator door that opened.  She saw me and darted in.

I got my boot in
the elevator as she backed into the corner of it.

“Shit,” she said.

“Floor?”

Jules looked at me
and didn’t say a word.

“I can just push
all the buttons.” There were five stories to this building.

“P.”

“Oh, penthouse.
How very nice for you.” I pushed the “P” button. The doors closed, and I closed
in. I stepped directly into her space.

“So, The Judge put
you up here in the penthouse suite? He up there waiting for you?” I was mean. I
was angry. And I was in her face.

“It’s not like
that.”

“Really? Why don’t
you explain?” Jules’s eyes darted around.

“I don’t owe you
anything.” She jutted her jaw out. The elevator reached her floor and opened
straight into her loft. It looked pretty damn nice. It was all open. No walls.
I even noticed a workspace.

Jules sidestepped me,
and I followed her.

“You don’t? Didn’t
I help you run away? Kind of stuck my neck out if I remember.”

She walked to the
kitchen area and put down her bags.

“I didn’t ask you
up here. Please get out.” I’d thrown her off balance that was something.

“Let me help you
with the groceries.” I walked into the kitchen, and she stepped out of it. She
was trying to keep her distance, and I was trying to close it. I wanted to
touch her. I wanted to shake her.

Instead,
I grabbed a carton of almond milk and put
it in her fancy refrigerator.

“Ryder you can’t
be here.” She had turned from agitated to pleading. It was getting to me. In
the end, I didn’t want to hurt her or make her cry. Dammit. I felt everything
for her, and she wanted me out.

“Fine. Answer me a
question and I’ll get out.”

She exhaled and
leaned on the back of her couch.

“What. What do you
want?”

I stepped forward
again and this time, she didn’t run away, but she held her breath. I could
smell her. I wanted her, hard.

“I want to know
why you’ve been here the whole time. Did you lie to me from the beginning? Was
I basically a quick ride and easy fuck to you?”

She flinched when
I said it. Jules lifted her eyes slowly and locked with mine. She swallowed.

“Yes. I used you
until I didn’t need to anymore.” Her lips were drawn in a tight line.

“Oh really?” I
didn’t have a smart answer. But my anger and desire were bubbling up and
choking me. I raised my hand, and she closed her eyes. Maybe she thought I was
going to hit her. I wasn’t. I’d never hit a woman and never would. I did run my
knuckle lightly across her soft cheek. Damn her.

“You said you’d
leave.”

“Yes, I did.” We
stood there less than an inch apart. She’d confirmed that she was a cold-hearted
bitch, and I was an idiot who thought with his dick.

“Please.” She was
near tears now, and it shifted my aggression to something else. I didn’t want
her to cry. I stepped back.

“Well, you worked
me good Jules. I believed all your bullshit. I even thought I loved you. Nice
work.” Then a tear did slide down her cheek.

“Get out.”

“My pleasure.” And
I turned to her elevator and stepped in.

“If you ever get
sick of fucking that old man. Give me a call. I’ll be in town for a few weeks.
No strings attached now that I know what you’re really into.” The elevator
doors shut.