Riding Danger (BBW Biker Romance)
Read Riding Danger (BBW Biker Romance) Online
Authors: Adriana Hunter
Tags: #biker romance, #bbw romance, #bad boy romance, #alpha romance, #adriana hunter, #Alpha Male, #new adult romance, #new adult biker romance, #bbw biker romance
Riding Danger
BBW Biker Romance
Copyright © 2014, Adriana Hunter
All Rights Reserved.
Published by Tangled Press
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This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and places are solely the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, including events, areas, locations, and situations is entirely coincidental.
Chapter One
“W
e’ve got a pick-up tomorrow.” The brusque, raspy voice came at Jace Dawson with the scent of chewing tobacco and beer. He wrinkled his nose, both from the strong odor and because he wasn’t exactly keen on being a part of this deal in the first place.
Turning from the bar, he came face to face with Alec Stone, the president of the motorcycle club and the only man who held any real power over him. He wouldn’t give away his distaste for what gun-running had done to the Iron Soldiers Motorcycle Club until he could pull them out from under the hold the dealers had on them and finally get things back on track. Back to the way they used to be when his father was still alive and president of the club, a club he lived and died for.
“And what does that have to do with me?” Jace asked, clearly aggravated.
Alec drew his brows together as he spit into his cup, his dark eyes as ruthless as he’d always been after the dollar signs called to him, greed controlling his every move.
“I can’t trust just anyone to take care of this, Jace. You know damn well the Haitians are bringing in over a half million in product, and we have to pull this one off without a fuck-up if we’re going to keep the agreement going. It will mean a good payout if we play our cards right. I need you there, son.”
Jace wanted to ask where Alec would be while he was risking his life in order to fulfill Alec’s agreement with the dealers, but he knew better. The man didn’t want the middleman seeing his face or to be part of a situation that could get ugly quick. He would rather put all the men who’d devoted their lives to his club in danger than to risk himself being vulnerable to a double cross. He claimed that the distribution of money to the club was fair, but Jace knew he was pocketing a great deal more than any of them were. He also knew better than to question it. Everyone did.
“And when is this supposed to go down?” Jace tossed a quick glance at the man he once admired, his fallen hero who now used the club to his advantage rather than standing behind it as they had once promised to do.
Alec threw back a shot of whiskey, his eyes never meeting Jace’s. “Hit the building at about ten. Your delivery should arrive within the hour. I’ll send you the inventory list to check over. Take Donnie, James, and Rafe with you. I don’t want to take any chances that something might go wrong, and they’ll be able to watch your back.”
Taking three men who were just as unhappy by the whole arrangement wouldn’t do a damn bit of good if Eliezer Pierre, the middleman, brought his own reinforcements and decided to open fire. But Jace could only clench his jaw to avoid saying something he might regret later. He’d handle this, and he’d find a way to kill the next deal so that they could unbury themselves from this disaster before the Bandidos caught wind of it and came after them for gaming in their territory.
“I don’t think Eli’s smart enough to try anything stupid,” Jace replied gruffly, reaching for the beer he’d been nursing. He was done with the conversation. At this point, he just wanted to finish his drink and get the hell out of the bar for the night. Most of his buddies had turned in early, and he had no more reason to be here.
“Good.” Alec clapped him on the back the way he always had, like an old friend. And they had been, good friends for nearly ten years now with Alec once taking on a father figure role after Jace had lost his dad to a deal gone wrong. But in the last year or so, since the little one-off side deals had turned into a full time illegal gun-running business that was bringing in millions of dollars, their friendship had gone to hell and the club had turned to a new, dangerous direction.
Jace understood the lure of money and greed, but when the first brother had been sent back three months ago, bloodied and nearly dead, as a ‘warning’ from the local chapter of the Rogues, an opposing club, they had taken it seriously, backing off from further deals. Everyone, that is, except Alec. He’d simply paid the hospital bills and given the member extra money before throwing him right back into the business, sending him out to handle an even bigger exchange with greater risks.
Jace was beyond frustrated, but he had to tread carefully or he’d only get himself and anyone else who decided to go against Alec’s orders killed. These days, the man trusted no one and had a serious temper, reckless and uncontrollable. It would be foolish to incite that rage, especially without a plan in place. If there was one thing that Jace knew, it was that the club couldn’t get out from under this without him. Being able to see the future and predict someone’s next step had kept him alive more times than he cared to remember. But Alec was one of the few men that Jace had trouble understanding, much less be able to stay one step ahead of. He was unpredictable and selfish and Jace knew just how much greed could change a man, leaving him unrecognizable even to his own mother.
Placing the empty bottle on the bar and sliding a fifty-dollar bill across to the bartender, he pulled his leather jacket over his shoulders and nodded goodnight to Alec. He stepped outside, breathing deeply, enjoying the fresh, light breeze of early summer as he straddled his Harley Seventy-Two and started her up. He sat for a minute, engine purring beneath him, pulling hard and long on a Marlboro, before he tossed the butt to the ground and rolled onto the street.
His house was just outside of town and he cruised along, trying to let the stress roll off his shoulders and fade into the wind behind him. He wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing the real danger his men faced tomorrow, but there was nothing he could do to pull them out of it. He needed a plan and he needed it now.
P
iper Reece caught the knowing look that Carrie sent the orderly passing by and the twinkle in his eye as he smiled back. Shaking her head, she raised an eyebrow at her flirty co-worker.
“I take it you found your next conquest.”
Carrie nodded, a smile creasing the corners of her eyes. “Oh yeah, I sure did. And it was fabulous.” The tiny little woman with the perfect curves somehow managed to make her scrubs look as sexy as a little black dress. Carrie had made it clear that she had no qualms about hitting on patients or dating co-workers, especially new doctors.
Piper, on the other hand, couldn’t imagine using her job to pick up men, especially as hard as she’d worked to land the head nurse position at Parkland hospital. Her salary was finally climbing to a reasonable level, and she was looking at several private hospitals that would double her pay once she had a bit more experience under her belt.
Nonetheless, there were times when she was jealous of the cute little nurse and her crazy love life. Piper had been so focused on school for so long and had jumped right into her career when she’d graduated that she hadn’t been on a date in over a year, much less have time for a real relationship. She was very ambitious; wanting to prove to her parents that she could be something on her own without needing them to foot the bill.
“Carrie, you’re really something else,” she responded with a giggle, printing out the last set of prescriptions for the resident doctor and the patient who was being discharged this evening before she headed home for the night. She had a date with her DVR, a frozen pizza, and a bag of microwave popcorn. It was the first real downtime she’d had in the last three months, and she wanted to enjoy every minute of it.
Carrie was headed home as well, her shift over, and she tapped Piper on the shoulder as she blew by with her usual flurry. “Hey, if you feel like it, I’m meeting some of my girlfriends at Grapevine for a drink. It won’t be a late night. You should join us. It’ll be fun.”
As much as she appreciated the invitation, Piper didn’t feel incredibly social. “Thanks, but I’m really tired tonight. Think I’m just going to chill at home.”
Carrie shrugged and said goodnight as they both retrieved their belongings from the staff room and made their way toward the parking garage. Piper climbed into her car and considered what it might be like to meet up with Carrie and her friends, but then shook her head and turned in the other direction, heading toward her apartment in Addison. She wasn’t the party-girl type and she knew she never would be. She just didn’t fit in with those kinds of girls.
Her phone was ringing when she walked in the door, and she moved quickly to answer it.
“Hello?” she answered breathlessly.
“It took you long enough,” her sister, Sterling, quipped in an irritated voice.
Piper smiled as she dropped into a chair by the kitchen table to talk. “You know, if you would call my cell, you’d find me more easily. I just walked in the door from work. What’s up?”
“Oh, sorry,” Sterling replied. “Listen, word has it there’s FBI crawling around the area, a couple of agents from out of town. I just wanted to know if anything out of the ordinary had come through the hospital, any unusual shootings or stabbings or anything that may be considered... suspicious?”
Piper covered her mouth to keep from giggling. Her sister had just landed a job at a local news station and was determined to catapult her career with a breaking story before anyone else in the media. She was constantly calling Piper, asking her about patients, arrests at the hospital, and just about anything that may turn into a lead. Except each time Piper refused to discuss her patients or share any confidential information that could cost her the job.
“Sorry, I can’t help you there, but I’ll keep my eyes open.” And she would. She knew better than to share the information should anything come her way, but she knew it was much easier to just let Sterling believe otherwise.
“Thanks, Piper. Oh, I was thinking of going to see a movie this weekend. Want to come?”
“Sure, I’d love to. Just text me a time and a place when you figure it out.”
She said goodnight and hung up, finally ready to relax. She got up and made her way into the bathroom, turning on the hot water, preparing her bath. It was going to be a long, relaxing night and after a long week of endless shifts at the hospital, she was so very thankful for it.
T
hey carefully scoured the perimeter of the building in the old warehousing district of Dallas, looking for any sign of a setup or sting. James, one of their most loyal members, was posted as a lookout on the third floor that overlooked the truck docks and the main dock entry. He sweated inside his long leather duster, the early summer heat beating down from the sun high overhead, but he had two pistols buried in the back of his jeans and two more in the pockets of the coat for anything that might come up. He needed the duster as a cover.
Donnie and Rafe flanked Jace as the delivery truck backed towards them, and as it pulled in, Jace received a text from the man upstairs notifying him that Eliezer Pierre was on his way to meet them. He left his two men, who were carefully watching the truck, while he greeted Eli with a brief nod, trying hard to bury his suspicions.