Prologue
Ryder
Six Months Ago
“Marcus and Micah, you two get back over here,” my new neighbor calls out from her porch.
Fuckin’ hell that house has been vacant since I’d finally decided to settle down in a house rather than at the clubhouse. Gives me a break from all of the chaos there. And when my nephew, Chains, who I’d given up the President patch to a while back, was shot, nearly losing his life, I needed to have my own space. Somewhere where I could get my head on straight when I needed to.
Now I’ve got a neighbor. I knew I should have bought both places. At least then I’d have solitude when I wanted it.
“I won’t tell you again.”
“We’re coming, Maman,” a boy’s voice returns.
Kicking my legs up off the banister where they’d been resting, I stand to my feet in order to see who the fuck the loudmouth woman yelling for her children was. I didn’t expect the woman to be a beauty, let alone so young. Dark hair, long down her back, from the side view I’d say she were no more than mid-twenties. As the boys came into view, I notice that they’re either very close in age or twins. The kicker was the boys looked to be roughly ten or eleven. For a woman so young you’d think her kids would be younger as well.
“You know you can’t go traipsing outside without me knowing.” I hear her chastising them.
“Sorry, Maman,” one of them mutters.
“It’s okay, let’s get inside so we don’t disturb the neighbors,” she states wrapping an arm around each of the boy’s shoulders.
The three of them go into their house and I sit back down in my chair and kick my legs back up in order to enjoy my beer. Guess maybe it won’t be so bad having a neighbor if they look like that.
Four Months Ago
“Hey, cool, you ride a motorcycle,” the excited voice of one of my neighbor’s boys says. Lifting my head up from where I’d been looking at what I was doing with the brakes on my bike.
“Yep,” I mutter and go back to what I was doing.
“So cool. When I get old enough, I’m going to get my own bike. Micah and I both want one, but Maman doesn’t think it’s a good idea.” Guess this is Marcus.
Over the past month, I’ve barely been home preferring to stay at the clubhouse with the shit we’d had going on. Hell, I’d thought I’d at least have a reprieve from the drama when everything went to hell when my nephew Breaker’s ol’ lady was kidnapped and ended up being strung up over a fuckin’ snake pit.
Who does that shit?
“What make is yours?” Marcus asks.
“Harley Davidson, FXS 1200, super glide low rider,” I grunt.
“Cool, I want one like this one,” he says and out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of the kid sitting down on the ground near me. “Micah probably too. We always get the same thing but that’s ‘cause we’re twins and like the same thing, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah,” I mutter focusing on what I was doing.
“You don’t talk much, do you?”
“Nope.”
“That’s cool. Maman, she used to talk all the time. She says she doesn’t anymore because Micah and I do it for her,” Marcus states.
“Marcus, what are you doing over there? Come on we have to go.” Glancing up I take in the beauty I’d seen before calling her son. With a full-frontal view of her she’s more than beautiful she looks to be majestic.
“Coming,” Marcus calls out as he stands. “See you around, mister,” he says, and I give him a chin lift as I go back to what I was doing.
Three months ago
Those boys I swear are becoming my freaking shadow. Every time I’m home and they know it, they immediately descend on me. Don’t know why but they do and as much as I want to say it annoys me, I can’t. I’ve become used to it.
The mom on the other hand, I haven’t even spoken to her. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her leave the house besides that one time a month ago when she loaded the boys up in a rush and left. They were gone maybe an hour, hour and a half tops.
She also barely lets them boys out of her sight. Only time I’ve noticed this was when they were with me does she seem to relax somewhat. At least enough to sit on her porch for a bit while they’re hanging with me. Whether it was them sitting on my porch talking my ear off or while I’m doing something in the yard.
Not much gets past her as she sits there, eyes glued to her boys.
“Maman has been really busy lately. I don’t think she’s sleeping,” Micah states from his perch on the porch.
“That’s because she isn’t,” Marcus retorts, shrugging his shoulders.
Their mom doesn’t sleep?
“Why doesn’t she sleep?” I grunt.
“She sca . . .”
“Shut up, Micah. You know you’re not supposed to talk about it,” Marcus mutters, interrupting his brother.
“But,” Micah starts again only to have Marcus lean and whisper something into his ear. Micah’s face grows pale. “No. I don’t want that.”
I don’t know what’s going on with them and their mom, but I’ve got a feeling from the look on Micah’s face and the protectiveness Marcus is showing it’s not good.
“Look, boys. I’m going to say this, and I want you to hear me, really hear what I’m going to say to you. If you need me for anything, you come to me. I am going to give you my cell phone number and another number just in case I’m not home and it’s an emergency. Use them only if you need to. You got something you want to tell me go ahead. I will make sure to take care of y’all if I can. Got it?” Why I said this I don’t know but like my four nephews and niece a sense of needing to protect them hits me.
Little did I know just what that trouble was and what it would bring.
Chapter One
Brielle
Present Day
“You stupid bitch. Open the fuck up,” Titus, my ex-boyfriend and the father to my boys calls out as he slams a fist on the door.
How did he find me?
I escaped him nearly a year and a half ago and I figured Marcus, Micah, and I would finally be okay. I guess I was wrong because he’s out there banging on my door.
Even though I hadn’t been with Titus since the boys were born, ten years ago when I was seventeen, he’s controlled my life. To him I was nothing but a possession that he wanted to control. Every time I’ve tried to escape his hold on me, he always found me and brought me back.
This last time I escaped I’d thought I’d been smart about it. I ran taking the boys with me, like I always have, in an attempt to give them a better life. Titus left to handle business for his uncle, Louis Pelletier, leader of one of the most profound gangs back home. The Péché Mortel also known as the Deadly Sinners. Titus is Louis’ right hand man so when he’d been sent to go handle whatever it was he did, I packed up the boys, ran to my best friend who had her cousin, Ice and his club the Toxic Warriors MC help me. They’d made sure to cover my tracks and for the last six months I’d been able to stay in one place with my boys.