BULL: MC ROMANCE (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 6) (2 page)

Sasha rolled over and blinked blearily at the clock on the nightstand. It was the middle of the night and she had been having trouble getting back to sleep after her grandmother had woken again and started screaming through the dark.

It had been a long week with her, but Sasha didn’t mind. They were all each other had in the world and she would always take care of her; much like her grandmother had taken care of her when she was a child.

But now, it was as if the roles had reversed.

Sasha leaned up and flicked on her bedside light. The clock told her it was nearly 4am, but it felt like it could easily have been daylight. She climbed wearily out of bed and stretched. She knew there was no chance of her drifting back off now and she quite liked the idea of a dawn run to help clear her head.

She crossed her bedroom to her chest of drawers, opened the middle one with a big pull, and reached inside for her sweats. She dressed quickly and then sat down on the edge of the bed whilst she slipped her feet into her sneakers and tied them tight.

She could see out of her bedroom window that the world was beginning to brighten and even though it would be an hour or more before the sun actually rose, it was light enough outside for her to run without feeling intimidated.

She grabbed her cell and her headphones, strapped it to her arm and tied her long blonde hair up into a tight bun. She opened the door of her bedroom quietly and slipped silently outside into the hallway. From down the hall she could hear the soft sounds of her grandmother’s breathing and she knew then that she was asleep. Without wanting to wake her, she tiptoed down the stairs and towards the back door. She opened it wide and slipped out into the dawn air.

She walked quickly down the street so she was certain she was well out of earshot of her grandmother’s bedroom and then she began to stretch and warm up. The air was already warm and she was glad that she had only put on a tight sports vest and not anything heavier. She stretched out her legs and then her arms and then she jumped on the spot before she cranked up her music and started off down the desert road.

Town was completely empty as she jogged through Main Street and out the other side. She looked at all of the shops, closed up and sleeping as if they were barely even real and Sasha couldn’t help but smile. She had always loved living in Slate Springs. Even after she had gone off to college and been on her own two feet, she always knew that she would end up coming back.

She had left when she was eighteen and had gone to study Art and English on the East Coast. But when she had finished her degree and looked for work she realized that, like most of the people studying liberal arts subjects, there wasn’t exactly an abundance of jobs to choose from. Sasha hadn’t been disappointed, rather just accepting. She packed up her things, left the city and travelled back West to her quiet little hometown of Slate Springs. It was almost as if it was all meant to be when her grandmother started to get sick and she realized that there would be no getting better. She had watched her deteriorate in front of her very eyes and she now knew how important family was to her, even if the little old lady who now took up most of her time was all she had.

She didn’t mind the getting up in the middle of the night to calm her down when her grandmother woke up and didn’t know where she was. And she didn’t mind the fact that, apart from her job at the local biker bar The Bleeding Bullet, she didn’t have much of a social life. She had become accustomed to it and it was what she enjoyed. She cared for her grandmother during the day and on her nights off, and then on an evening when she had to work, nurses came in to take over and give Sasha some respite. Her only other escape was running, even if it was before the sun came up.

She weaved in and out of parked cars as she made her way out of the other side of Main Street and down towards the outlaws’ end of town. There weren’t many girls who would have the nerve to wander down to those parts, especially at that time of the morning, but Sasha knew all of the bad boys in Slate Springs and none of them scared her.

She picked up her pace and thumped on down the tarmac. Each step she took made her feel even more empowered, and she loved the feeling of oxygen flooding through her and making her feel more alive. Her heart pounded in her chest and she ran in time with the music that was banging in her ears. She turned her head to the side and noticed the sun was rising slowly as some of the shop windows were turning gold and shining bright. She smiled. She loved her early morning runs, and this one was certainly blowing the cobwebs away.

She rounded another corner and saw the familiar collection of bikes and trucks scattered along the roadsides. She was nearing her place of employment and even with the music blaring loud in her ears, she could tell that day that something was different. Normally as she neared The Bleeding Bullet, all she could feel were the vibrations from the rock music thundering up through the pavement, but on this particular morning there was nothing. And that wasn’t because dawn had arrived, the bikers were well known to party every day until noon from the night before, and it made Sasha nervous.

She slowed her pace right down just as the huge, blacked out building came into view and she reached up and slipped the headphones out of her ears. Her mouth was dry and her chest heaved with exertion, but as she breathed in deeply and slowed her pulse rate down, she realized that she was definitely right. There was no music coming from the bar and the street was completely silent.

She turned off the mp3 on her cellphone and walked slowly forwards. The bikes and trucks that she was accustomed to seeing were all in their usual spots. Some half on the sidewalk and half in the road, and some bikes had just been left to capsize into the street. But whereas there would usually be the roar of laughter, music and sex coming from inside and the overspill of drunks out there on the sidewalk, this morning there was nothing.

Sasha stopped and looked around.

It was almost eerie, it felt so unnatural.

She stepped quietly forwards, her sneakers crunching across broken glass as she headed towards the steps to the building. She strained her ears to listen, unsure whether she had the nerve to climb up them and potentially put herself in a dangerous situation. She knew of all the troubles The Forsaken Rides had been having with the rival gang one town over called Ironhill. A lot had been happening over the past year. Men had died, a nightclub had been stormed and taken over, and a girl had been supposedly kidnapped and kept in Slate Springs. Sasha had seen glimpses of her over the past few weeks. She was pretty and striking looking but she couldn’t understand why any of the bikers would have even given her a chance if she was a supposed rat… But Sasha knew how decent and loyal the bikers were, and the girl had caught the attention of Hawk and now it seemed as if she was safe.

Sasha shrugged her shoulders, her mind was going a mile a minute. She was standing on the doorstep to the bar, obsessing over a girl she didn’t even really know, when in reality she should be paying attention to what was right in front of her. She also knew that in a place like The Bleeding Bullet, rumors surfaced most days and nothing was ever quite what it seemed. For all she knew the girl had been a victim in the whole thing, only time would tell.

She breathed in deeply as she reached the top step and listened hard. She felt the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end. She couldn’t believe how quiet and deserted the place was. Sasha had over time worked every night of the week at that place and she had never once seen it dead and quiet at dawn. She swallowed and took a step closer.

She reached up and pushed the door slowly open. Inside she could see that all of the lights were low and the place was empty and quiet. She moved forward and stepped inside, letting her eyes scan from left to right, searching for something that might explain this bizarre situation… And then, right at the back towards the leather couches she noticed the huddle of people…

“Guys?” she whispered, realizing that she recognized the patches on the backs of their leather jackets. It was the club. All of the members of the Forsaken Riders. They were all there huddled around a back table, quiet and cradling drinks.

When they turned, Sasha knew immediately that something was wrong. The men who were big, brutish and afraid of nothing all turned to her with tears in their eyes and looks of woe.

“Oh my god,” she whispered as she moved forward. “What’s happened?”

King slowly stepped out of the crowd with his head bowed and his shoulders hunched.

“It’s Reid, Sasha,” he said sadly as he looked up into her eyes… “He’s dead.” 

Sasha felt as if a rug had been pulled out from beneath her feet.

Reid, the head of The Forsaken Riders, was dead… Surely it couldn’t be so? She felt herself falter and she reached for the closest thing to her to steady her feet. She looked up at King and at all of the other sad faces around her and she knew that there was no chance they were joking.

She rubbed her eyes and sat down on one of the high stools at the bar side. Her heart rate had returned to normal, but now it was racing again, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She breathed in deeply and looked up to find King in front of her. She searched his eyes, but couldn’t think of anything to say that could be of comfort. She knew what this meant for the club… a lot was going to change.

“I’m sorry,” she stammered, “I shouldn’t have come in… I was out running and I thought something terrible must have happened when I couldn’t hear any music… and the door, it was unlocked… and…”

“It’s alright Sasha,” King soothed. “I know this is a lot to take in.”

She nodded her head.

After being a part of the ways of the club for some time, she knew what this meant… Anything could happen… And at that present moment in time, they were vulnerable as hell.

“You should go home and stay safe,” King said as he touched her lightly on the shoulder. “We will be continuing as normal so just come in for your shift tonight, but please, keep this news to yourself for now.”

She nodded and got to her feet. She could sense all of the eyes on her… All of the men of the club were all watching her intently, studying her, probably to take their minds of what was really happening and just trying to focus for one moment on something else.

Sasha wiped a lone tear from the corner of her eye and bowed her head in respect. She walked quickly and quietly to the front door and fled out into the fresh morning’s sun. She staggered forward and held onto one of the wooden beams that supported the second floor balcony and leaned against it.

“Jesus,” she whispered to herself as she looked around at the deserted street… At the bikes collapsed to the ground and the low whistle of the wind whipped around her.

It was the first time since she had been on that side of town that she felt afraid. With Reid gone, The Forsaken Riders were open to an attack… especially if no one had been chosen to take over the reins. Sasha shuddered. She made her way forward and began to walk down the street. She couldn’t help but look up at the empty windows on the deserted buildings that flanked either side, and just prayed that there were no enemies lurking… that no one was watching her and considering snatching her and taking her for revenge.

The tensions between the two bike gangs had been rife for the past six months and Sasha knew that things could only get worse from here. She quickly picked up her pace and broke out into a run. She sprinted as fast as she could through the streets, around corners, weaving in and out of cars and didn’t slow down again until she was nearing town and out of the land of the outlaw. Her heart was pounding loudly and the blood rushed through her ears. She stopped and put her hands on her knees and caught her breath. Up ahead, Main Street was coming alive and she walked with her hands on the base of her spine as she tried to recover from both the shock and the exertion.

Nothing was ever going to be the same again. She knew that for certain. All she could think of was how going to work every night was going to be very different indeed. Going to a place where she had once felt safe was now going to feel like she was running the gauntlet every time she approached that part of town and tried to make it inside The Bleeding Bullet.

She thought of all of the stories that she had heard about the Iron Riders storming the local strip club, Red X, and killing the owner and Tanner, one of the Forsaken… With Reid out of the way, would they now set their sights on her bar? On The bleeding Bullet? Would she be safe going in to work every night?

She shuddered at the thought but then shook it out. She had to keep focused and get things into perspective. None of this was about her. And if she really wanted to, she could easily remove herself from it.

She stopped at a coffee shop on the corner and ordered a latte, before walking the rest of her way home with her mind awash of confusion and questions. She thought of Lexi, and of how she would be holding up…

When Lexi had come into the fold of the Forsaken Riders, her and Sasha had become friends and she had watched and listened to how proud and happy Lexi was to have found her father. Now he had been taken from her; who knows what the future would have in store for Lexi, King and their relationship to the club. She had seen members wanting out when an older member had died, especially if they were a relation. But on the whole, once someone was a part of the club, they were there until the bitter end.

No, Sasha shook her head as she weighed it all up in her mind, there was no way Lexi and King would walk away from the club. They were far too invested. They loved it now as much as they loved each other. Plus, she was pretty sure that King would be the natural choice to take over from Reid.

Sasha sipped her coffee as her mind raced and the town buzzed around her as it came alive for the day. By the time she got home it was only 7 am, but she felt like she had been awake for hours and she was ready to rest again.

She pushed open the front door and slipped her sneakers off quietly. After she crept upstairs and checked on her grandmother, who was thankfully still asleep and peaceful, she crept down to her bedroom, turned the TV on low, and crawled back underneath her blankets. It was a complete waste of her day off, and she knew that she should be doing the housework, but her body and mind were so exhausted she didn’t care.

***

The nurses arrived at midday to take Sasha’s grandmother out for a couple of hours and then to care for her whilst Sasha would be out working. There were times when she honestly didn’t know what she would do without them. Her grandmother had good and bad days, but lately it had been more of the bad kind and it was beginning to take its toll.

Sasha had always resisted the idea of putting her in a nursing home, but as her illness and dementia had taken hold of her more, she knew it was only a matter of time before she would have no choice. Sasha couldn’t be by her side twenty-four hours a day, even though she may have wanted to. She had to go out to work and earn money to put food on the table. Without her job, both her and her grandmother would be in a terrible state.

She watched them lead her to the car and put her in the backseat, waving to them from the window. As the car pulled off the driveway she found herself sighing with relief and then she finally let herself cry.

She cried for Reid. She cried for Lexi. She cried for her own grandmother who was fading away before her eyes, and then finally, she cried for herself. Life hadn’t been easy, but Sasha was the kind of girl who would always make the best of what she had and be grateful for it.

She walked quickly through to the bathroom, closed the door and turned on the shower. Her clothes were still sticking to her from her run and her hair was damp underneath. When she stepped inside and soaked herself, it felt as if she were being reborn and she couldn’t help but let little sobs escape her lips again. She needed to cry so that she could move on. She needed to release all of her pent up energy and go into work with a clear head and a clear mind.

After she turned off the shower and climbed back out she wrapped herself in a big fluffy towel and went out the back into the garden. She sat down in the sun and let herself dry off in the warm summer afternoon. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the world pass by. Even though they lived in a desert town, Sasha and her grandmother had always taken good care of their garden; it was like their own little oasis in the middle of the sandbox. The grass was lush and green and they had a small, but pretty Grecian style water feature in the center. Sasha opened her eyes and smiled as she watched the birds dipping in and out of it to drink and ruffle their feathers.

“Ahh,” she sighed, “That’s better.”

She suddenly felt totally destressed and ready to take on whatever the day had to throw at her.

She got to her feet and skipped across the warm ground back into the house. In her bedroom she dressed for work, pulling on a pair of ripped denim shorts and a tight black t-shirt. She slipped her feet into a pair of leather boots and outlined her eyes with eyeliner. She’d never been asked to dress this way to tend the bar at The Bleeding Bullet, but she liked the way it felt. She always saw herself as being more in control and as if she wouldn’t stand out as a pretty, blonde, educated girl who had ended up there as some kind of stopgap. Even though she had always had intentions to leave, once she had started working there and got sucked into the way of life, she realized she enjoyed it far too much to give up.

There was something exhilarating about watching the men of The Forsaken Riders. They were all so wild and lawless, it made her both nervous and intrigued. Many of the guys had tried to win her attention over the years, but Sasha had only ever had eyes for one man, but unfortunately for her it seemed as if he had barely noticed her existence.

Bull…

Every time she thought of him, she tingled all over.

A wry smile played across her lips as she gathered up her things and slipped them into her purse. She would be early, but she wanted to get over to the bar and find out what was happening. She needed to see some people and hear about what had gone on with Reid.

She grabbed her house keys and made for the front door. Her grandmother would be well looked after by the nurses until the following morning and so she knew that she didn’t have to wait around or be back at a specific time. She closed the door behind her and headed toward her car.

It was strange, but even considering all of the uncertainty and drama, she was really looking forward to getting into work.