Reaper (Kings of Korruption MC Book 4) Read online

  Fuck. In all honesty, I don’t believe that whore can change, just like I’d told her. I’m the type of man that doesn’t mince words. I say what I’m thinking, and I always tell the truth—almost always, anyway. One thing I’d said to her hadn’t been completely honest, though. I’d called her ass scrawny, and while that had once been true, it certainly didn’t escape my notice that it wasn’t the case anymore.

  When Anna had been around before, right as all that shit went down with Charlotte and the Devil’s Rejects, she’d been so thin. Unhealthy, even. She had been gorgeous, but frail looking. One look at her now, and it was easy to see that had changed. Anna has definitely filled out. Though I hadn’t been able to see her ass from behind the bar, I was able to see that her upper body and her face have both filled out nicely, and her tits were virtually spilling out of the top of her tight, little black lace-up tank top. She looked fucking healthy. Incredible, actually, and I hated it. I hated that the sight of her peaked any kind of interest anywhere inside of me. I’d already been fucked over by one whore, and I’d be damned if I let another do the same.

  Flashing lights and the scream of a siren startle me from my brooding. There are almost no cars on the road at this time of night, and I’d been so lost in my own head that I hadn’t noticed the police cruiser following right on my ass. For fuck’s sake.

  Gritting my teeth, I slow and pull over to the side of the road. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t speeding, so I have no clue what reason they have this time for pulling me over. But I’m too tired and drained right now to give a shit. The city cops around here know who every member of the Kings are, and they like to pull this shit every once in a while, just to remind us who’s in charge. Or, at least, who they think is in charge.

  I turn off the motor and place my feet on the ground, watching in the left rearview mirror as a tall uniformed police officer steps out of his car, the lights still flashing wildly on the roof. He approaches slowly, his hand over the butt of his sidearm, his eyes seeming to scan my bike and me for any sign of a threat. Just hurry the fuck up, asshole. I need a beer, a blowjob, and an uninterrupted eight hours in my bed.

  As he steps up on my left side, I turn to face him. “License and registration,” he says, his flashlight beam hitting me directly in the eyes.

  “It’s in the saddlebag,” I say, gesturing to the bag behind me. “And can you cool it with the spotlight? I can’t get my papers if I can’t fuckin’ see.” I know enough to be somewhat respectful. I haven’t done shit wrong here, but an altercation with the law isn’t going to help in Ryk’s mission to play things straight for a while.

  “Just get the papers out, Mr. Landry,” he orders, his flashlight moving to hit me more directly.

  So, apparently, this guy wants to be a prick, and he knows exactly who I am. Just what I need. Turning, I keep one hand in the air as I try to locate what I need by touch, seeing as I’m fucking blind at the moment.

  My fingertips brush the edge of the paper I keep tucked into the side pocket of the bag and I pull it out, handing it over to him. “My licence is in my wallet, which is in my back pocket.”

  I can’t see him at all. All I can see is the round circle of light with a dark outline standing behind it. The dark outline has a voice, though. “Get it, slowly.”

  Still keeping one arm in the air, I reach back and pull out my worn, black leather wallet and hold it up to show him. With my hands in front of me, I flip it open and pull out the plastic card, proving I have a right to be out on my motorcycle any damn time I please. “What’s your reason for pulling me over?”

  “Speeding,” he clips, his flashlight now aimed at my papers, allowing my eyes a chance to recover. Bright circles dance in my vision as I try to get a better look at his face.

  “I wasn’t fuckin’ speeding,” I grind out. I hate assholes like this guy. Cops with a superiority complex that think just because a guy that looks like me is out at this time of night, he’s up to no good.

  The flashlight beam comes back up to hit me full in the face. “You saying I’m lying?” And there it is. The challenge in his voice makes me realize that arguing with this fuckwad is exactly what he wants. He has nothing, but if I give him a hard time, he can take me in on disorderly conduct. Who knows why this guy is looking for trouble, but I’m in no mood to give it to him right now.

  “Just write the fuckin’ ticket then. I want to go the hell home.”

  The cop chuckles, but there’s nothing good-natured about the way it comes out. “Oh, you wish it was that easy, don’t you, Landry?” I stare through the flashlight, wishing I could get a decent look at his face. So far, I haven’t been able to, and I have no clue what his name is. Who the hell is this asshole anyway?

  “Tell you what,” he says, not lowering the beam as he hands back my paperwork. “I’ll let you off with a warning for now, but remember that I did, because I have a feeling you and I are going to be getting to know each other a whole lot better real soon.” I can hear a malevolent kind of pleasure in his voice when he says, “Have a good night, Mr. Landry.”

  I take the papers back, aiming my glare at him as he backs away. Did he just fucking threaten me? I turn in my seat and watch as he spins back toward his car and gets inside, the interior light not on long enough for me to get a good look at him. What the hell was that all about?

  Anna

  I stare up at the old stone church, my heart lodged in my throat. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to go in there. I don’t want to rehash my story, yet again, for a crowd of strangers, just to make them feel better about their own miserable lives. But I have to. I’d promised Knox that I would find a meeting, and that I would keep up with them, making sure to get at least one in every week. Part of me wants to lie, to tell him that I went and just ditch it altogether, but I can’t. I’ve been able to lie with ease to every single person in my life, but never to Knox. He’d seen right through me every time I’d tried.

  Gathering my courage and swallowing down my unease, I begin to climb the stone steps leading to the huge, carved, wooden doors. One step at a time, Anna.

  “The meetings are around the side entrance,” a voice calls out, breaking my focus and causing me to yelp. Turning, my eyes land on the elderly man standing just a few feet away. He lifts his hand and points to a small sign, advertising that the joint Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meeting is indeed at the side entrance.

  My cheeks flame, and I lower my eyes as I turn and brush past him. “Thanks,” I murmur.

  He doesn’t try to speak to me again, but I can hear his footsteps on the sidewalk, not too far behind my own. Knowing he’s so close, I don’t have time to dwell anymore on how much I hate these meetings before opening the door. Instead, I reach for the curved handle and pull it wide, holding it open and giving him a shy smile as he walks through.

  “Thank you,” he says. He keeps walking, and I follow him this time toward a room down the hall, where several voices carry on conversations, sharing hushed chuckles, and the drone of more serious chatter. Just as the man is about to go into the room, he looks back over his shoulder and gives me an encouraging smile, then he’s gone.

  I stop dead in my tracks, my entire body now trembling with anxiety. I can’t do this. I can’t go in there. I’ll join an online group or something, but I can’t go to another meeting. Retelling my story is too much for me right now, especially with Reaper’s words from yesterday banging around inside my head.

  I hear the door to the outside open behind me and heavy footsteps as they approach, but the sound barely registers. The war inside my head continues. I don’t need these meetings anymore. It’s been almost a year. The only reason I even came to this one was because Knox made me promise, but I can’t do it. I’ll just tell him the truth, and he’ll have to deal.

  Spinning around, I bolt for the door, barely making it two steps before my face smashes into a solid wall of muscle. Hands clamp around my elbows, steadying me as I give myself a shake. Finally
, my eyes focus on the chest I’m pressed against, and when they land on the patch adorning the black leather vest, panic sets in.

  “Anna?”

  Oh God. Oh fuck. Terrified, my eyes lift, not sure if I’m ready to know who’s gripping me so tightly, and the fear lessens only slightly when they meet Bosco’s confused gaze. He blinks back at me, and his eyes drift over my shoulder to the room behind me before realization dawns on his handsome face.

  “You’re here for the meeting too, huh?” he asks, a small smile playing at his lips.

  I shake my head frantically as I yank away, out of his grip. “No, I…I…” I can’t think of one damn reason why I would be in the basement of a church, standing outside of an AA meeting besides I was attending it myself. “I gotta go,” I say quickly, moving around him.

  “Anna,” he calls out, his voice filled with hesitation. “Nobody knows I come here either.” I turn and meet his eyes, noting the fear I see swirling in his. “Keep this between us, yeah?”

  I force a smile and shrug. “Hey, that’s why it’s anonymous, right?”

  He nods and watches me, but I can’t take his worried stare for another second. Nodding a curt goodbye, I turn and rush from the church. As I step onto the bus, just over a block away, a fresh bout of shame washes over me. I should have gone in there. I need to face my own demons, maybe now more than ever, and part of that’s going to those damn meetings, no matter how much it scares me.

  Flopping down in the empty seat, I think about Bosco. The fact that he was at a meeting surprises me. I didn’t know bikers did that kind of thing, not even baby bikers. Bosco’s a prospect for the Kings, and can’t be any more than twenty-two years old. Just a baby. Knowing Bosco is back there, facing his demons when I didn’t even have the courage to glance into the room fills me with a fresh wave of shame.

  Maybe Reaper was right, maybe I can’t change. I want to. I want to so badly, I can’t think of much else, but in order to do that, I have to stop living my life in fear. Especially if that fear is only fear of myself, and what I’m capable of doing.

  Reaper

  “Do you have any idea where she might be?”

  “If I did, why would I be askin’ you to fuckin’ find her?”

  Cam chuckles and shakes his head. “Do you have anything at all to go on, or am I just searchin’ for a ghost?”

  I reach into my back pocket and pull out the slip of paper Sharon had given me. It had taken a lot of convincing for her to give me Laurie’s phone number, but with some carefully worded reassurances, she’d finally caved.

  “I tried calling it, but it’s disconnected now. Her mother doesn’t know how else to contact her.”

  Cam takes the paper and reads it over. He casts a skeptical eye in my direction and watches closely as he says, “I know it’s none of my business, but why do you even want to find this bitch, man? After what happened between you two, I’d think she’d be the last person you’d want to see again.”

  He’s right, it’s none of his fucking business, but Cam was there. He knows exactly what went down, and he’d been the one to pick my broken ass up off the floor and begin putting back together the shattered pieces of me she’d left behind.

  I’d met him in basic training, and after a little competitive rivalry, we’d become friends. After spending time in combat together, we’d become brothers. Though our lives had gone in completely different directions, nothing would ever change that.

  “I don’t. Last I heard, she was engaged to some rich prick that worked at some big law firm downtown. Mustn’t have worked out, though, because her mother informs me she’s been calling her for months, beggin’ for money.” I shake my head. “I don’t give a fuck what kind of trouble she’s in now, but I do care that she’s takin’ advantage of her own mother. That needs to stop.”

  Cam’s face is hard as he nods in agreement. He hates Laurie almost as much as I do. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

  I have no doubt he will. Cam has been a private investigator since the day he got out of the army, and he’s the best at what he does. The army trained him well. The question now is, what am I going to do with Laurie once he does find her?

  After Cam leaves, I grab a beer from the fridge and pop the top, leaning back against my kitchen counter. Call me an idiot, but I’d thought Laurie was out of my life for good, that I’d never have to deal with her or her special brand of crazy ever again.

  I hadn’t seen her since the day I walked out of our house, leaving her in tears, screeching my name from the bedroom. I’d been crushed. Devastated. Ready to commit murder. I’d thought my life was over. I didn’t know how to deal with it all.

  I’d met Gunner shortly after, and within days, I was a prospect for the Kings of Korruption, and with theirs and Cam’s help, I made a whole new life for myself, deciding to leave that bitch where she belonged—in the past.

  Fifteen years later, and now I have to deal with her again. Tipping the bottle back, I swallow down the rest of the cold, frothy liquid, the carbonation burning a pleasant trail down my throat, warming the tightness in my gut. I hate that tightness. I thought I’d lost it, but the other day, when Sharon mentioned her name, it came back and it hasn’t gone away since. I just want her gone. I want that tightness gone.

  Glancing down at my forearm, my eyes roam over the eagle tattoo I’d gotten all those years ago. I don’t know why I’d chosen an eagle. I just wanted something to cover what was already there. It wasn’t visible to others, but I knew where to look. A faint outline, buried beneath the feathers of the regal bird’s head spelled out her name. Laurie. A woman I’d loved with every breath I took, and a woman who’d remorselessly betrayed me without ever looking back.

  I’m not broken anymore, though. The damage she’d done hadn’t ruined me forever, like I’d once thought it had. It just changed me. I’m not the same naïve, lovesick man-child that thought she hung the moon anymore, and my life has been better without her in it. I intend to make sure it stays that way for me, and for Sharon.

  The shrill ringing of the phone yanks me back to reality and I dig it out, glancing at the caller ID. Tapping the screen, I accept the call. “Yeah?”

  “Reap, we have a problem,” Jase says.

  Of course we do. There’s always a fucking problem. My eyes fall closed as I ask, “What?”

  “The fuckin’ cops just showed up at the clubhouse, man. Turned the whole goddamn place upside down.”

  My body locks solid and I grip the phone tightly in my hand. “Did they find anything?”

  “No,” he says, his voice sounding strained. “That’s just it. There isn’t anything here to fuckin’ find anymore.”

  I frown. “Gotta say, Jase, I’m not sure what that problem is you mentioned.”

  “They arrested Ryker.”

  Anna

  Day two back at this old bar, and I’m actually having fun. Darla is hilarious, and since it’s not so busy, we’ve had more of a chance to talk and get to know each other tonight. I’ve learned that she’s got a five-year-old daughter named Rayna, and goes to university during the day to get her degree in nursing. Her husband left her about two years ago for another woman, and she hasn’t spoken to him since. This leaves her to take care of Rayna all on her own, and she works her ass off to do it. Her strength and determination through all she’s had to deal with are incredible.

  I’m selective when I tell her about myself. I don’t tell her much at all outside of where I come from, and some funny stories about Charlotte and me. I can’t. I like Darla, and the thought of telling her who I really am turns my stomach. Telling someone you’re a screwup with a long history of letting people down, and no accomplishments to brag about is not the way to make a new friend.

  Even with those thoughts in the back of my mind, making a friend is exactly what I’m doing…at least, I hope it is. It’s been so long since I’ve made a real one, I really can’t be one hundred percent sure.

  “So then he says, ‘These salt shak
ers are empty.’” I finish wiping down the counter as Darla tells me more about the creepy customer she’d had the night before. “I knew he was full of shit because I’d just filled the damn things at the beginning of my shift. But being the nice waitress that I am, I picked it up and shook a little out into my hand and showed him that there was plenty of salt in that shaker.”

  “This that pervert from last night?” Jake, our bouncer for the night asks as he approaches the bar and leans against it.

  Darla places the last of the stray empties on the bar and cringes. “Yep. Anyway, I leaned forward to put the shaker back on the table, and the fucker grabbed my hand, pulled it to his pasty face and licked my palm.”

  “Ew!” I cry. “What did you do?”

  “I didn’t know what the hell to do, but luckily, I didn’t have to.” She grins. “Jake here saw it all and promptly ejected his ass from the building. He also gave all his buddies a warning that they were next if they didn’t learn from their friend’s mistakes and show me a little respect.”

  “Way to go, Jake!” I say with a laugh, then shudder. “I don’t know what I would I have done. What a creep.”

  “Guy was a douche.” Jake reaches behind the counter and nabs his jacket, then pulls it over his muscled shoulders. “Ladies, I hate to break up this little hen party you got goin’ on, but my little guy is sick, and the wife’s at home, waitin’ on me to bring home some medicine.”

  I hand Darla her purse and grab my own before hitting the switch for the neon lights around the bar. We follow Jake to the door, and together, we walk outside and wait while he locks up. Ryker’s supposed to pick me up, and I figured he would’ve been here by now, but he’s not.

  “Ryk pickin’ you up again?” Jake asks.

  “Yeah. He must be running a little behind. You two go ahead, I’ll be fine.” Jake looks unsure, but I know he needs to get going so I push farther. “Go!” I say with a laugh. “Ryker will be here any minute. Go get that medicine for your boy and make him better.”