Ryder: MC Biker Romance (Great Wolves Motorcycle Club Book 8) (11 page)

She’d knifed me in
the gut with that answer and the way she wanted me out of her space.

I’d been fooled by
her damsel in distress bullshit. I’d been fooled into thinking I loved her.

Jules

I sunk to the
floor. I don’t know how long I stayed there. Something in me had broken off and
was careening through my chest and through my body. I guess it was my heart.

I wanted to tell
Ryder I loved him. I wanted to do exactly what I did before, get on his bike
and hold on tight. I wanted to thank him for showing me I could sell my
designs.

But I couldn’t.
The whole reason I was here, stuck, and ready to marry The Judge was because I
wanted to save Ryder, his mom, shit, even Ross’s remaining eight fingers.

I had made a deal
because I had no choice.

Ryder was here,
he’d shown up, followed me, knew where I lived, and he wanted me still. I could
feel it rolling off him to me.

It was why I had
to lie. It was why I had to crush him. If I told him the truth, he’d try to
rescue me. That’s the man he was. I knew it.

Saving him was
going to keep taking a chunk out of my heart every time I had to push him away.

I was still a pool
of raw nerves and in a puddle on the floor when The Judge showed up.

“Darling, what is
it? Are you ill?” He put out a hand and helped me stand up. I quickly wiped my
eyes.

“I’m okay. I’m
sorry. Truly. Just a moment of stress.”

“I’m sure you’re
stressed. All the planning and wedding details. It’s a lot of work.” The Judge
saw me as a baby in a lot of ways. And I let him. It was to my advantage not to
let him know what I really thought. He needed to believe that I was weak, and
he was strong. He liked me relying on him. He liked thinking he was my rescuer
not my jailer.

“Right. It really
is.”

“Can I have my
secretary help with some of the more mundane aspects?”

“No, no. I love
it. I’m better. Sometimes a girl just needs a good cry.” I tried to pull myself
together.

“Sure darling. Now
you need to hurry up and get dressed. Your father’s coming over before we head
out.”

“Head out?” It was
coming back to me. I was going to escort The Judge to some function with a
bunch of lawyers. Ugh. That was enough to make me collapse in a heap again. And
Daddy. Here. I had avoided him since he’d sold me to The Judge. Now he was
going to be here in my apartment. I hated the thought of it.

“The dress I sent
you is in your closet. Let’s clean you up. We have about ninety minutes.”

The Judge's eyes
glossed over from my tear stained face to my body. I knew what came next. We
walked into my bathroom, a huge room actually, and it was set up with a
comfortable chair in the corner. The shower itself had a clear glass door. The
Judge sat in his chair. It was his chair really. Everything in here was his.
Including me.

“Now get started,
darling.” And I removed my blouse, bra, jeans, and panties. I was naked and
stepped into the shower. The Judge sat in his chair and watched as the water
ran over me. I was like an exotic animal he could view when he wanted.

He insisted my
showers take ten or more minutes.

“So I can enjoy
them to the fullest darling,” he said. It was a bizarre dance we did. But it
was what it was. It was easy for me to forget he was watching. Though if I
forgot to lather something he’d remind me.

I let the water
run over me and pretended The Judge wasn’t there. I pretended I wasn’t there. I
pretended that I didn’t want Ryder so much that it made every cell in my body
ache.

I heard The Judge
say my name, but ignored him, I blocked it out when he repeated, over and over
again, “My darling baby.”

I really was an
exotic bird he was going to keep in a cage.

He watched me dry
off and kept his eyes on me as I put the dress on he’d bought. But, mercifully,
he kept his hands to himself. I knew watching me tired him out and at the same
time energized him.

I sat quietly on a
kitchen stool as Daddy and The Judge met in my apartment. My mind was racing,
but I was passive. I’d let them all think I was submissive and not to be
worried about.

The two of them
couldn’t look more different. Daddy, head to toe leather, iron gray hair taking
over the black it used to be, and his tan skin. He was weathered from hard
living and hard riding. His inner self and outer self-matched now. My mother
had thought he was handsome and rugged back when she married him. I just
thought he looked hard now.

It was no wonder
she didn’t come near him or us really anymore. I wondered if I could talk The Judge
into letting me travel to see her. A worry for later I supposed.

Richard, The Judge,
there was nothing hard looking about him. Except for his eyes. He was twenty
years older than Daddy. Where Daddy was weathered, he was withered. Any trace
of youth was impossible to find on him. Except when he watched me. It was then
that a spark appeared and it was that spark I was going to learn to control.

Daddy’s leather to
The Judge’s ever present tailored business suit. Both men were in control of me
and both, expected me to sit there, look pretty, and not interfere.

“Why in the world
would you think that was a good idea, Sonny?”

“Great Wolves are
trying to take this town. I’m not going to fucking let them.”

“So let me
understand this, they’re repairing cars and offering, uh, protection?” The
Judge said to Daddy. I pretended to care about my hair and makeup but the
minute Daddy said Great Wolves I was listening. Closely.

“They’re soft. They’re
trying to be legit. And they’re trying to expand here. I fucking won’t take it.
They’re starting to send Grand City members here to Southwood.”

“So you spray
painted the hardware store to retaliate?” The Judge’s sarcasm was clear.

“It was a message.
Just the first. You know me.” Daddy got out a cigarette and lit it. No question
of whether he was allowed to smoke in my apartment. I hated the smell.

“I do know you.
Just don’t let any bloodshed spread to civilians. That makes it more difficult.
So what do you want from me?” The Judge’s end of the bargain. In exchange for me,
he did what Daddy needed. He was corrupt. I wondered about how many light
sentences he doled out for the Devil’s Hawks. How many cases were thrown out
due to lack of evidence?

And for the first
time I wondered if there was a way I could find out. I felt ugly and dark about
the universe listening to the two of them. I couldn’t go on this way. My mind
raced.

“Blood goes where
it goes. You’ll do what you always do. Get my guys off when I tell you. And tell
your kid to divert the patrols away from downtown. I need access. Also, you’ve
got three guys coming before you tomorrow morning. They walk. Evidence problems
is my guess.”

“Three?”

“Yep. I’ve got
work for them to do. We’re going to take care of the out-of-towners first.”

“Do I want to
know?” the Judge asked.

“No. Don’t worry.
We’ll leave it nice and clean.”

“Fine.”

“That will grind
the new Great Wolves Southwood into dust. Without Grand City they got nothing.
Easy to dismantle.” Daddy dropped his cigarette on my wood floor and turned to
look at me. He ground it out with his boot. It was another little gesture to be
sure I knew where I stood.

Then he turned
back to The Judge after never saying a word to me.

“Keep a close eye
on her too. She knows one of those Grand City dildos. One I’ve got special
plans for.” Terror seeped from my heart ran through my body. It settled in my
stomach and left a sick feeling. Daddy walked out but not before letting me
know he planned to hurt Ryder.

I replayed
everything Daddy had just said. My mind raced.

It took me a
minute to realize that The Judge was holding a hand out to me. He didn’t fire questions
about Daddy’s last statement to me. That was something at least.

“Come on darling.
I’ll have the floor repaired.” I stood up. We had his event to go to. How could
I get out of it? How could I warn Ryder?

“Thank you. It’s
okay.”

“How he is your
father I’ll never understand.” Richard put a kiss on my cheek. When I set aside
his creepy voyeurism and totally corrupt actions on the bench The Judge did
treat me gently. He was offended by my father for me. But in the end, he was
also afraid of him. I could see that. It was very clear that my father could
and did murder people to maintain his power.

“I take after my
mother.”

“She must be
exquisite.” He said and his driver whisked us away to the dinner event.

I quietly did my
duty as Richard’s fiancé at his event. All the while taking apart each sentence
Daddy had said.

He was going to
kill Ryder and some other member he was with.

He was going to do
it soon.

I had to warn him.
I had to get to him tonight.

Ryder

Jules had laid it
out pretty clearly. She used me, and I’d let it happen. If I could turn a
switch to cut off all I felt for her I would have done it gladly. Jules Maldonado
was calculating, she was dangerous, and she was unfaithful.

And she was still
the woman of my fucking dreams. I was so twisted up about that fact that it was
screwing up my damn life.

I tried to focus
on the garage. If I had Great Wolves Southwood Auto Body making cash, I’d be on
my way. I’d be making cash from two operations, and I knew Sawyer would have me
doing more in other cities. That ought to make me fucking happy and rich.

I should not worry
about women. I should worry about my brothers and our concerns. Not the fucking
princess of the Devil’s Hawks.

I thought about the
Devil’s Hawks little stunt with the hardware store. That shit could not happen again,
or Great Wolves Southwood would lose respect, security clients, and eventually
their charter.

That night Ridge
and I took patrols downtown. We would be visible and intimidating as shit.

While Ridge patrolled,
I made myself a fixture in front of Do It Better Hardware. It was the middle of
the night, and I wasn’t moving from the spot until sun up. Every once in a while,
Ridge would drive by on his bike, and we’d check in.

All was well in
Southwood and for the businesses we were hooked in with. We were making damn
sure of it.

I had a lot of
time to think about what Jules had said. The way she said it. And the way it
felt to have her so close to me. I wanted to kiss her even while she was
crushing my heart underneath her feet.

Standing guard
gave me hours to pick at the fresh scab she’d left on my insides.

I heard the rumble
of more than one engine, and it put me on alert. I was used to hearing Ridge’s
engine this night but this time, there were at least three.

As I stood there
Polk, Bret, Nero and Cruz drove up.

“You okay?” they
asked me. All three looking on edge and scanning the streets.

“Yeah, what’s
going on?”

Cruz spoke up.

“We had a visitor,
a warning, a warning that The Hawks were headed to kill you tonight. We got out
here for back up as soon as we could.”

“Well, I’m fine.
There’s been no trouble all night here.”

I spoke too soon.
We heard pops in the distance, and it was no mistaking the sound. Gunfire.

“Where’s Ridge?”
Cruz asked.

“He’s doing ten
block circles.”

“Let’s go,” Bret said,
and she was right. If someone was trying to get me, getting Ridge was the next
best thing.

We followed the
direction of the gunfire, and it didn’t take long. There was Ridge’s bike, laid
on the ground, Ridge was half under it, and the concrete was stained.

I got to him
first.

“Ridge. Talk to me
brother.”

“I’m okay. I
think. Went through my side.” I lifted his leather and the t-shirt underneath
it. The blood made it hard to see what had happened. Where exactly he’d been
hit. I didn’t trust him to tell me he was okay.

“Shit, there it
is.” It was his side. No way to know what it hit, but it also looked like it
made its way out the back.

“I think it went straight
through,” Ridge said.

“Like you’re a
fucking medical doctor now?” I replied.

“We need to get
him to the hospital,” Bret said. And she was right.

“Yeah, fine.
Fine.” Ridge said, and he was looking as pale as the moon that lit the deserted
street.

“Call an ambulance,”
I said.

“Wait, you gotta
listen,” Ridge said.

“They’re trying to
find you. That’s what they asked me. I flipped the bird.”

“Who warned you
guys to come find me?” I turned to Cruz and company.

“Sonny’s daughter,”
Cruz said.

I looked at Bret.

“Jules, she said
she needed to find you and that she knew her Daddy had plans for you tonight.”

“Where is she
now?”

“We left her at
the shop. We told her to stay there,” Cruz said.

“Oh my God,” Bret
said almost at the same time I did.

“What?” Polk asked.
All three of us were struggling to get Ridge and his bike out of the road.
Ridge was barely conscious, but he got it too.

“They’re headed to
the club. They have to be,” Ridge said.

“Fuck,
” Cruz said.

“Ryder go,” Ridge
said.

“I’ll stay here
with him,” Bret said, “You guys need to move fast.”

I patted Ridge on
the shoulder.

“I’m sorry man, I
gotta.”

“It’s fine.” And I
was back on my bike before the one syllable word, fine, finished leaving
Ridge’s mouth.

Cruz and Polk
trailed behind me. I hoped we were wrong. I hoped they were looking for me and
were happy to settle the score with Ridge.

But I knew I was
right. And Jules. I was right about her too.

The Great Wolves
Auto Body Shop should have been closer to the club. I knew that. Damn it, I knew
it in the beginning. It was too far from the main club, and that meant if the
club would be at their Den while the shop stood alone and unprotected.

If Jules was
there, alone, God knew what was going to happen. No one from The Den would see
her or would know shit was going down.

We drove up to the
shop. The door was wide open. The front window was shattered.

I raced into the
shop and had to blink to process what I was seeing. The front waiting room was
empty, the larger work bay was filling with black smoke. But through the smoke,
I saw her.

There was Jules,
in a fucking formal dress again, in three-inch heels, and covered in soot. She
was wielding a garden hose.

“Ryder, I’m
trying. But it’s spreading.” Flames were shooting from the floor and up the
wall.

“What the hell are
you doing here? You need to get out.” There were at least two-dozen things that
could explode in that room.

“Daddy’s guys threw
a Molotov Cocktail. I had to wait for them to drive off before I started.” I
put an arm around her waist and took the hose.

Polk, Nero, and
Cruz started to file in. They’d unlocked a few of the fire extinguishers and
got to work on the line of flames. It actually looked like they were making
headway. I didn’t want to lose the shop, but I wanted Jules out. Now.

“Here, here it’s
crawling up here.” She had an iron grip on the little hose.

“They got this.
You’re done.” I lifted her up and hoisted her up on my shoulder. I was getting
her out of there.

I hauled out the
front door and into the fresh air. She tried to head back in, and I put a handout.

“It’s almost out.
I know I can help. I’m so sorry, my Daddy’s club did this. It’s all my fault.”

“Jules. JULES!”

I grabbed her by
the shoulders. She looked from the shop to me.

“I came here to
warn you. And I panicked when Bret said you weren’t here.” She looked afraid. I
didn’t know of what. Me, the fire, her dad?

“I thought what we
had was all an act. That’s a lot of trouble to go through for an act?” She
pulled away from my grasp.

“Look, you’re
okay, your shop’s okay. I’ve got to get out of here, my car’s around back. I
can’t be seen.” She wanted the hell away from me that was clear. But she’d also
risked God knows what to get here.

“Ryder, get in
here a minute. We need you.” Cruz was calling me. I turned back to the shop to
try to hold him off and in that instant, she pulled away.

“Jules!”

“Ryder, we’ve
almost got it, help us out in here. I need to get the guys from the club to get
over here.” Cruz was right. I needed to be in there. But I also needed more
from Jules.

 A white Jeep
Wrangler peeled out of the parking lot. Dammit. She was out as fast as she was
here. I had unfinished business with Jules, but I had a literal fire to put out
in front of me.

I walked back into
the shop, resigned that saving it was my immediate priority, but distracted as
hell. I didn’t care what Jules said. I was going to get answers.

As soon as we
cleaned up the mess that the Devil’s Hawks had caused.

After an hour it
looked pretty clear that we may have saved the shop from a massive fire but not
from damage. There would be no repairs to cars for a while, but the building
was intact. The cars of our clients were also unscathed.

The idea that I
needed them to get insurance was at the top of my responsible business advice
list. If those cars would have been destroyed so would have any hope of this
club moving forward.

As Polk, Cruz, and
Nero led the rest of the crew in cleaning up the fire mess my cell buzzed.
Bret.

Shit, I hoped
Ridge was okay? I’d forgotten in the swirl of fire and Jules that Ridge getting
shot started this fucked up night.

 “How’s the shop?”
Bret asked.

“You first, how’s
Ridge?”

“Tough as we
thought. The bullet went right through. He also gave the cops a description.
There’s a few Devil’s Hawks that match it.”

“Good. Very good.”

“So, the shop?”

“Salvageable.”

“Ugh. Well, that’s
something.”

“They keeping
Ridge?” I asked.

“No, he won’t let
them. We’re headed back. The cops are done with him, and the doctors can’t keep
him down.”

“Good.”

“Ryder, you know
you owe her?” Bret said.

“What?”

“Jules, she warned
me about someone coming after you. And, sounds like from what Nero tells me she
saved the shop.”

“Yeah, well she
ran out of here like a bat out of hell. I didn’t get one second to even ask her
why.”

“I think that’s
probably fucking obvious. But if her Daddy finds out. She’s dead.”

“I’m headed to her
place now. Give Ridge a kiss for me. You’ll have better luck than me in that
department.”

“Whatever.”

Bret was right.
And I could hear Jules saying, “I can’t be seen.”

I kept it in mind
and had one of the probies drop me off at her place. There’d be no evidence of
my bike at her apartment.

It was still a few
hours before dawn when I headed up to see why Jules had risked her life for
mine.