Hammer (28 page)

What if…

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Griffin growled, interrupting my inner diatribe.

“I know,” I lied.

He snorted. “Stop shaking. I said I wouldn’t harm you. I’m a cop.”

Yeah, but good cops didn’t beat the shit out of people in the dark of night.

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Challenged

By

Ryan Michele

Copyright ©2016 Ryan Michele

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

Lust, love, and second chances.

Growing up in the fast-paced and rough life of a motorcycle club wasn’t easy. Cleaning up the mess his father had made of Vipers Creed meant sacrifice. Cade ‘Spook’ Baker had given up everything to bring the club life back to what it was supposed to be: a family.

The choices he made were not what he wanted, but they were necessary for the club as a whole.

Second chances rarely came to Spook, so when his Trixie walked boldly into his clubhouse, the decision was made. Trixie would once again be his, this time for good.

Trix Lamasters was raised by a master—a master con. All grown up, she made her life solid by making it about her club, Sirens. But one bad business decision brought her to her knees, forcing her to call on the one person she had sworn she would never trust again.

Pasts have a way of not staying there. Things that were buried deep have a way of finding themselves in the light of a new day. Could something that had once crashed and burned for Spook and Trixie find a way out of the wreckage? With the odds against them, can they find a way to overcome the challenges, or will it all blow up in their faces?

**Due to content, mature audiences only.**

Excerpt:

Prologue

My head was cloudy, filled with a dense fog that I couldn’t shake. Even with my eyes open, a filmy haze fell over them, making everything blurry. Voices were muffled, as if I were under water, sinking. I thought I recognized one, but it was too hard to tell, too hard to think.

Attempting to pull my arms up, they were immediately halted by something. It was hard, cold, heavy, and clinked like metal. Even straining to move them, my muscles were so weak, so lethargic I couldn’t. I tried my legs, and the same thing happened.

A hard surface pressed against my back, and the cool air of the room cascaded over my skin, my nipples, stomach … Oh God, was I naked?

I opened my mouth, needing to scream as deep panic set in. Unfortunately, nothing came out but air, and even that took more effort than I had in me.

Placing the pieces of the puzzle together, I couldn’t make heads or tails out of anything.

Heat at my side had me turning in that direction, only to see a fuzzy, black figure. I squinted then blinked, trying to get the focus to come back, but nothing. Not a damn thing.

“Hello darlin’. Welcome to Hell.”

Chapter One

Trix

A lump gathered in my throat, settling like a rock, hard and brutal, sucking the wind out of me. My hand shook slightly as I dialed the number I had never in a million years thought I would call. I switched the phone to my other hand and shook out the shaking one because nervousness wasn’t happening. I was fucking Trixie Lamasters, and a single phone call was not going to turn me into some twit who couldn’t think straight. I was a shrewd businesswoman who had learned from the best how to not let shit get to me, how to compartmentalize things and deal.

I swallowed hard, letting that rock settle in my gut, and then breathed in and out evenly. The steel in my spine was so much thicker than anything life could throw at me, including this call. Including the man who would be on the other end of the line.

The green button stared back at me as my finger hovered over it then pressed. I pulled the phone to my ear just as it started ringing.

One ring … two … three …

“What?” was barked into the phone with a male’s voice tainted by harsh impatience.

“May I talk to Cade? Shit. I mean, Spook.”

Silence.

“Hello?” I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the bright screen, making sure the call hadn’t dropped. Nope, the little numbers in the corner were still counting away. I pressed it back to my ear, waiting a few beats.

“Who wants to fucking know?” His tone turned gruffer, almost as if he were a protective watch dog of Cade’s, and nothing or no one got past him.

Watch dog or not, I wasn’t about to get eaten.

“This is Trix Lamasters. I need to speak to him.”

More silence, not even a breath or noise in the background.

“Hello?”

His voice came over the line right as I was going to speak again. “Stop fucking saying hello. I’m here.”

I couldn’t tell if he was ticked at the world or just at me. Hell, maybe someone had pissed in his Wheaties this morning, and his attitude had nothing to do with me. Or maybe it was just him.

My palm came to my head as the word
dumbass
rang in my mind.

“Sorry, I thought the call dropped.” Now I was apologizing to the rude man?
Get a grip, Trix.

“What do you need with Spook?” The guard dog didn’t give me an inch, but I wasn’t going to tell him my business, because it was none of his.

I was going to have to try a different tactic.

“Will you just get a message to him to call me?”

“Babe, either tell me what you need, or nothing fuckin’ gets to him.” His tone turned flat and resolute. I wasn’t getting anywhere without giving him something.

“Fuck,” I muttered to his chuckle. The damn man needed a bone before he played. Asshole. “An employee of mine has been seen at your clubhouse. I need to talk to her.”

“Call her,” he quipped.

“She doesn’t have a phone,” I retorted, feeling the fire burn in my veins.

“Not my problem,” the man sneered, and I could tell he didn’t care one little bit. He would have no problem hanging up on me right now and never telling Cade that I needed to talk to him. It was a good thing I was used to dealing with assholes on a regular basis.

“Look, the bitch owes me money.” Anger raced through my body, and I let it be heard through each of my words.

He let out a laugh this time that was so deep and raspy it was almost intriguing … if he weren’t a jerk.

“You may as well kiss that cash good-bye.”

My pride had other ideas.

“Fuck no. I want it. Tell Spook to give me a call.”

“This is gonna be fun. Hang on.” The man covered his hand over the mouthpiece, making everything said muffled, but I could hear him calling Spook’s name.

My adrenaline spiked at the thought of Cade walking to get the phone.

“Yeah?” A voice I recognized from my dreams came over the line. The deep, raspy tenor that slithered down my spine all the way to my knees made them give the slightest tremble. One word was all it took to make my stomach to flip. Fuck, I had known this was a bad idea, but
I wasn’t that girl anymore. He would not have power over me. I wouldn’t allow it.

I paced my small living room, needing the movement to shake my knees back in line.

“Cade? It’s Trix Lamasters.”

“First, the name is Spook. Second, who?”

That one kind of stung. All right, more than stung. It tore another hole in my already battered heart was more like it. The asshole didn’t even remember me, but what had I expected? I was one in a sea of many. There was absolutely no reason I would have stood out to him.

“We went to school together.”

Silence.

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, hoping for divine intervention.

It didn’t come.

“Whatever. I get that you don’t remember me, but you have one of my employees there, and I need to talk to her. She owes me money, and I want it back.”

“Trixie Lamasters.” I could hear the devilish grin as his words snaked over the line. Not going to lie, my pussy quivered.

No one now called me Trixie, because once upon a time, he had, and I had loved it. After he had abruptly left my life, taking the one thing I could never get back, I had refused to let anyone call me that ever again; not allowing the hollow feeling it had given me to penetrate. Now, hearing him after fifteen years, the vault of memories opened wide, something I did not want to happen. I didn’t want to feel.

“Long time.”

“Yeah, very long. Anyway, you have a woman there, Nanette King. Will you hand her over to me?”

There was no way I was letting the smoothness of his voice draw me in like it had all those years ago, sucking me in and turning me into teenaged mush. This was strictly business, and business, I could handle.

“How do you know she’s here?”

“I had her followed, and it led to you.”

He turned the phone from his face and uttered a curse. I guessed he didn’t like the fact that I had found her that way. That made me smile. I had a payroll of people who worked for me now, and I wasn’t about to let some little twit-fart run off with my money. That wasn’t how I operated.

“First, if she’s here, there’s a reason. Second, bitches here don’t go by their real names, so I don’t know if she’s around, because I don’t know a Nanette. Third, come to the clubhouse, and we’ll talk.”

Business was business, but my heart spiked at the thought of seeing him again. He was part of a club called Vipers Creed MC. They had been in Dyersburg for years. Even before I was born, their presence was well known.

This town had tales, but now the Vipers were mostly known for Creed’s Automotive where they made custom bikes and cars. While they ran a business, they were on the outskirts of town where they stayed in their own little world.

I had hoped to avoid a meeting since there wasn’t any point to it. I wasn’t in the mood for a high school reunion. The past needed to stay there.

“I’ll describe her to you. Tell me if she’s there, and I’ll send someone over to get her,” I declared, trying to veer him from this path.

I excelled at negotiations. I was sure we could come up with an arrangement over the phone that was suitable for both of us. This was ultimately the best course of action. The less contact I had with him, the better. I could have Ike, one of the bouncers at Sirens, come and get her. Win-win all around.

He chuckled, and my body went on alert.

“Babe, you don’t get how this works. You want something from me that I have. Bring your ass here, and we’ll discuss it. Tomorrow night, seven.” Silence.

This time, when I looked at the screen, the number fifty-seven blinked rapidly. He had disconnected or more like hung up on me.

“That arrogant piece of shit!” I growled, tossing my phone to the couch where it bounced on the cushion and almost fell to my hardwood floor.

I should have known he would still be a dick. Some things never changed. I guessed I was going to meet up with Cade.

I ignored the slight tremor.

***

The entire drive, I berated myself for giving the money to Nanette in the first place. One stupid decision had started this path, one I could have avoided if I had stuck to my rules.

Nannette’s eyes cast to the floor of my office as she rung her hands together absently.

When she didn’t talk, I prompted, “Speak.” It sounded like a command I would give a dog, but at times like these, when people wouldn’t get on with their shit, it was deserved. I had shit to do, and she obviously needed something.

“I need to borrow five thousand dollars.”

I leaned back in the leather chair at my desk, my brow raised as her eyes looked everywhere but at mine. She was so nervous she was almost petrified.

I waited out the quiet for her eyes to meet mine, the fear coming out loud and clear. When they did, I asked, “For what?”

I wanted to hear her out, because if she were having problems, I needed to know if those problems would blow back onto Sirens. It was always about the business. Always.

“The bank is going to foreclose on my house if I don’t come up with five thousand by Friday.” Her eyes lit with moisture, and while I wasn’t a cruel and heartless bitch, this wasn’t my problem. She was a grown adult and needed to handle her own problems.

“No,” I answered firmly. “You can go now.”

Nannette’s face turned to dismay as my answer rolled around in that head of hers. Her skin paled, her nose twitched, and she swallowed hard as if not to puke. She began to say words; only, they came out as sounds of breath as she lost control of her composure.

“Stop trying to talk. Listen.” I held up my hand in an effort to stop her choking rambles. “I’m not a bank; I’m not an ATM machine; I do not run cash in advance. If you need money, you work for it. That’s how the world goes round.”

“Please,” she started in a rush. “I’m taking care of my dad. He’s sick, and if I lose the house, I’ll have nowhere to make sure he’s okay.”

“Not my problem.” This was a reason I had closed off to people around me, only letting a small few into my tight-knit circle. I had heard so many sob stories over the past seven years running Sirens that not much penetrated the thick wall around me.

“Trix, I’ll pay you back every penny with interest. Please. You’re my last hope. My dad has lung cancer, and it’s progressing quickly. All my money goes to his treatments, and I got behind on the mortgage. I just need an advance on my checks. I’ll work extra shifts, come in whenever you want.” Her words strung together like a melody, and fuck me, I was feeling for her panic.

She continued, “He has no insurance, so I’m paying for everything out of my pocket, and it’s bleeding me dry. I don’t know what else to do.” Tears rolled down her face. Judging from her body language—I had learned from the best how to hone in on it—the bitch was telling the truth.

Fucking hell. I didn’t want to feel it. I tried to push it back. The businesswoman inside of me screamed,
No fucking way!
while the woman inside of me was almost proud of how Nanette took care of her father. Was I really going to do this? Shit.