Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
But she was clearly connected to a chapter in his life that he’d spent years trying to forget as he started his new life over in the club.
When she gets away from him, he has no choice but to follow her for answers.
Before long, he’s tangled up in a mystery that’s turning deadly.
Someone doesn’t want the truth uncovered.
And every step they take puts a target on their backs, even as it pushes them closer together
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER ONE
Rune
The blonde let out a high-pitched squeal as the redhead whacked her with the inflatable baton and finally loosened her slippery hold on my shoulders with her legs, sending her crashing backward into the water.
She surfaced, sputtering, as the redhead threw up her baton in victory while she sat on my brother’s shoulders.
“You good?” I asked as the blonde pulled herself up onto the edge of the pool, trying to wipe the eyeliner that had smudged under her eyes.
“I want to blame you for this,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me, “but I lose every time we play, no matter whose shoulders I’m on.”
“You’re taller, which makes you easier to hit. Also, your legs flail when you get whacked,” I told her.
“They do not.”
“They do.”
“Consolatory drink?” Spike asked, moving to drop down next to the blonde and offering her something red in a glass… with an umbrella.
He nodded toward the clubhouse in a universal ‘get lost’ gesture. Maybe another night, I would have been annoyed by that. But I wasn’t really vibing with the blonde. Or anyone else at the party, to be honest. And judging by the way the blonde giggled and leaned into the tall, dark-haired, slim-fit biker, I figured he was halfway on his way to having a very good night.
It wasn’t that the parties had gotten old, per se.
There was always a different kind of energy to them when the club had new prospects like Spike and Cain.
It was probably more that, for the first time since coming back to Navesink Bank, I was the most senior club member at the parties. It changed the vibe. I felt more in charge and less like someone who was just there to have some fun.
Add in the fact that not only was my twin brother here, but so was our younger brother, Vas. And two of our cousins around the same age: Ronan and Carver. Those three weren’t technically prospects yet, but it would be coming soon.
I felt like I’d spent half the night making sure no one did anything so stupid it couldn’t be undone.
The responsibility of it, that suddenly took me back. To another place, another organization, another phase of my life that I’d walked away from declaring that I never wanted the mantle of leadership again.
That was what was so appealing about the club. Yeah, some part of me knew my brothers and I would always find our way back to that life, but it took on a new meaning to know not only was Fallon the one in charge, but he was followed by Brooks, Malcolm, and a whole list of other guys who would outrank me. No one would be looking to me to make life-or-death decisions again. I’d never have anyone’s fate on my conscience again.
Objectively, I knew I could relax. There was very little trouble these guys could get into. But some roles stuck with you: big brother, leader.
Cain moved in at my side, surveying the grounds with me.
Like Spike, he was a newer prospect. Unlike Spike, he wasn’t a lifelong delinquent. Cain had been on the other side of the law for most of his life, working SWAT until he saw some shit he couldn’t look past in his crew, reported it, and got kicked out on his ass for it.
The two men were as contrasted in looks as they were in their histories. While both were tall, Spike was almost thin, whereas Cain was a big fan of the gym. Spike’s face was thinner with cheekbone hollows that almost made him gaunt-looking, black hair and black eyes. Cain had a square jaw, dark blond hair, and blue eyes.
“Looking for fires to put out?” he asked.
“Not used to having my little cousins and brother here.”
“Get that they might be ‘little’ to you, but they’re grown men.”
Grown men.
Christ.
When did that happen?
I could swear it was just a year or so ago that I was grumbling that they were always hanging around me and the older kids like little lost puppies.
He wasn’t wrong, though.
Vas, my youngest sibling, had shot up like a weed while Croft and I were away. Then he’d filled out like a man, looking more like our father every day.
Ronan and Carver were both tall and fit too, like all three got a deal on a fucking gym membership and used the hell out of it. Gone was all the baby fat on their faces, chiseling them out.
It was a strange feeling sometimes being back. There was a familiarity spliced with the unknown. Because I’d been gone during some of the most formative years of their lives. When they stopped just being kids and became actual human beings. I knew what shows they liked as kids, what embarrassing shit they used to do, but I had no idea who they actually were anymore. And it was that way with all the cousins. It’d taken me a long time to get to know the ones in the club already, and the princesses. It was really just these younger ones that were still basically strangers to me.