Prez: Company of Sinners MC #3 Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Lisa J Hobman

  This is a fictional work. The names, characters, incidents, places, and locations are solely the concepts and products of the author’s imagination or are used to create a fictitious story and should not be construed as real.

  * * *

  PRIVATE MOMENTS PUBLISHING & BOOKS, LLC

  PO Box 16507

  Denver, CO 80216

  www.privatemementspublishing.com

  * * *

  ISBN13: 978-1-63112-184-5 ISBN10: 1-63112-184-7

  * * *

  PREZ. Lissa Jay

  * * *

  Copyright Lissa Jay 2016

  Published by Private Moments Publishing

  Amazon Edition

  * * *

  Cover Credit: Viola Estrella

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations, reviews, and articles. For any other permission please contact Private Moments Publishing and Books, LLC.

  * * *

  First Edition 2016

  PRIVATE MOMENTS PUBLISHING AND BOOKS, LLC.

  For every biker-loving, bad-boy-adoring, tattoo-worshiping reader I've met, and those I've yet to meet.

  Chapter One

  Ellie

  I hated myself.

  That was all there was to it. I had lowered myself to their level. The bikers. The greasy, violent, foul-mouthed engine monkeys. The way I had berated their President, Colt, when he was visiting my best friend Chloe in the hospital, was totally uncalled-for, and I had never felt so ashamed of myself.

  Regardless of how much I hated them—and boy did I hate them—I wished I could suck the words back in as soon as they had fallen from my big, stupid mouth. Even after I arrived home, the whole debacle kept on playing over and over like a horrible Candid Camera reel.

  I was pissed already that day as my on/off boyfriend had dumped me, claiming not to be ready for a serious relationship. Asshole might as well have said, “It's not you, it's me.” So I had stomped up to Chloe's hospital room in a snit, ready to spill my angst out on my best friend. But as I approached, I heard Colt's voice—the President of Company of Sinners MC in case you were wondering—and ironically he was talking about respect. The thug who had caused endless heartache in our small town was talking about something he clearly had no clue about.

  I just flipped.

  How the hell dare he?

  Stepping into the doorway of the room I laughed derisively. “Respect? That's a frickin' joke if I ever heard one. You could give Jerry Seinfeld a run for his money with material like that. And you want to know the really funny part? I bet you can't even spell respect never mind knowing what it means. If it weren't for you and your stupid club, Chloe wouldn't have gotten mixed up in all this shit. And she wouldn't be in the goddamn hospital!

  I glanced over at Chloe, who was now drained of all color, mouth open.

  She gasped. “Eleanor Cassidy. Please, would you just stop with the hostility.”

  The blonde, tattooed bimbo I'd heard referred to as Delilah was there too, she stood and stepped toward me with a sneer of violent intent on her face like a little pet pitbull.

  Oh, bring it on honey. Bring. It. On.

  Colt grabbed her arm and fired her a warning look and like a good little pooch, she heeded her master and sat back down with a huff. However, the narrowing of her eyes told me this wasn't over.

  Fine by me, bitch.

  Moving my focus again I discreetly trailed my gaze over the huge hulk of a man. His long, black hair was tied back in a ponytail, and his steel grey eyes held a kind of fierce fire that would no doubt intimidate the strongest of men. Never mind the bulk of his biceps where they bulged out in all their tattooed glory from the leather vest sleeves of his cut. Tribal tattoos wrapped around his arms and the glimpses of some kind of winged beast were visible from the neck of his T-shirt. From what I had heard, he was an older guy. Around thirty-eight or forty, but he hid it well. No doubt the tattoos and beard covered any of the usual signs of aging, and only a couple of grey flecks peppered his facial hair. If I hadn't been looking so closely, I would no doubt have missed those. Yes, he definitely didn't look his age.

  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was checking him out.

  What. The. Ever. Loving. Frick?

  Reminding myself that I hated him and everything he stood for, I turned my attention to the girl I was most concerned about; and whom I cared about deeply. The one who had been innocently caught up in their sordid motorcycle gang war.

  I stepped toward her. “Chloe, I'm only speaking the truth. You're my best friend, and I hate to see what you go through because of these… these animals.” I gestured wildly in the direction of the two Company of Sinners bikers who were sitting there. Apparently they were staking their claim on my friend.

  Chloe's cheeks flared a bright pink, and she opened and closed her mouth as if searching for the right words. Was she about to throw me out? Had I overstepped a mark? Were they suddenly more important to her than I was?

  In a move that took me completely by surprise, Colt stood, towering over me at what I guessed must have been six foot four or more. He held out his hand. “Miss Cassidy? Is that right? Eamon Cassidy's daughter?”

  I snapped my aggressive stare up to the eyes of the low-life before me and then glanced down at his hand. What a strange gesture from someone I've just insulted. Bewildered, I reached out and slipped my hand into his where it was immediately swallowed up.

  He squeezed gently and lightly ran his thumb over the back of my hand sending a shiver of awareness along my arm. My pulse quickened in an unwelcome reaction to the contact and I swallowed, hoping my sudden heartbeat spike was due to anger; but knowing deep down that it wasn't.

  I snatched my hand back like I'd been stung and shook my head to dislodge the ridiculous sensation and accompanying thoughts that he had caused.

  Lifting my gaze back to meet his I stiffened my spine. “That's right. What of it?”

  He smiled to show a row of perfect white teeth and rubbed at the stubble on his angular jaw as he dropped his gaze sheepishly. “I've spent the odd ni
ght at your father's hotel when my wife kicked me out.” He lifted his chin again and locked those grey eyes on me once more.

  Angry at myself for noticing details about him. Personal details about his appearance, I snapped, “Sounds to me like your wife is a sensible woman.”

  He lowered his head briefly and nodded. When he lifted his face once more a distinct impression of pain clouded his eyes, and his brow crumpled. “She was. Sadly Maria passed away four years ago now.”

  Oh, shitty shit. Oh God. What the hell do I say? Ground swallow me up, please. “Oh… I'm… I didn't mean… I'm sorry, I…”

  He held up his hand dismissively. “Don't sweat it, Red. You weren't to know.”

  My stomach flipped. He called me Red. No-one's ever given me a nickname before. Why did my stomach flip?

  Okay, I'm leaving.

  I refocused my attention on my only friend in the room. “Chloe… I think I'll come back later. I'm… sorry for my outburst. Really I am.” And as soon as the words had left my lips I turned and high-tailed it out of there.

  Once I was outside the hospital building, a wave of dizziness washed over me and I leaned on a bench to catch my breath. A mixture of guilt and something else I couldn't quite allow myself to acknowledge swirled around my head and I just wanted to get home.

  Chapter Two

  Colt

  Losing Maria to her fight with breast cancer had almost broken me. She was my life. My heart. How the hell do you come back from losing the one person you were meant to be with forever? The walls I had built up around my heart ever since were impenetrable, and I'd made sure to keep it that way. I didn't need a woman to nag me and hold me back. Maria had never done that and I knew that there was no-one else out there as perfect for me as her.

  Anyone else would simply pale into insignificance.

  Nah, the truth was I was done with love. But fucking? Oh, I liked fucking a whole lot. And for some reason unbeknownst to me, the women at the club liked fucking me, too. So there was an endless supply of willing pussy for me to get my fill of—if you pardon the pun.

  Things had been changing around the club lately, and both my VP and his best bud had found themselves long-term relationships, meaning that my wingmen were seriously out of action. I guess at thirty-eight I maybe should have known better than to be chasing ass, but I couldn't help myself. It should've been me settling down but if I'm honest, the thought of doing that just didn't appeal to me. I'd had my forever stolen from me, and I was never going to get that back, so I was planning on growing old disgracefully with as many tats as my body could take and as much sex as my dick would cope with.

  One thing that continually pissed me off was the attitude that the local folks had about the club. Company of Sinners were seen as a force of evil; a group to do more harm than good in the community. And yeah, okay, we were notorious for getting shit done and taking the law into our own hands, but let's be straight here, sometimes the law by itself just wasn't sufficient. I mean, don't get me wrong, in the past we did get involved in drugs and guns and the stuff that people expect of a club such as CoSMiC, but you know, we had to bring in the dough somehow. And okay maybe I was a known criminal, but that was my past and I had fucking feelings too.

  That was never truer than when I lost Maria.

  At only a couple years younger than me she was the toughest bitch you were ever likely to meet. After the shit she had been through she was afraid of nothing. And I mean nothing. Not even death. She had this long black hair. A mass of curls that shimmered almost blue in the sunlight.

  I met her when I was taking some time out and traveling the West Coast. Things happened fast between us, but regardless of that fact, they lasted ten years.

  She was the typical Italian goddess. Curves in all the right places, luscious full lips and dark eyes. She was in an abusive relationship with some dumb fucker who didn't know how good he had it, when I met her. Around the time I was twenty-four, she was twenty-two and working in a diner that I frequented. In spite of fixing her hair in different styles, her bruises didn't go unnoticed. Not by me. I knew the signs, since I'd witnessed that shit before on my travels, and the more I saw her covered in marks, the more I wanted to kill the son of a bitch who had put them there.

  One night I was sitting at the counter in the empty diner eating the best scrambled eggs I'd ever had in my life when my wish became a real-life opportunity. The douche bag showed up intoxicated and threatening to do all kinds of bad shit to her when she got off work.

  It transpired that she had plucked up courage and left his ass, and he hadn't taken too kindly to it. I sat there, gritting my teeth and clenching my fists trying to stay out of it, as he hurled abuse at her, figuring she didn't know me from Adam, and it probably wouldn't help for me to intervene. Well, that was all fine and dandy until he slapped her. Her head ricocheted to the right, and she cried out. There was no way on God's earth I was staying the fuck out of that shit.

  In two rapid steps, I was behind him. I had him in a choke-hold as I informed him through gritted teeth, “You lay a fucking finger on her again, my friend, and I swear I will rip your goddamn arms from their sockets. You hearin' me?”

  He struggled and flailed, gasping for the scant amount of air that I would allow him. And when I glanced up at the black-haired young woman before me and locked eyes with her, that was it.

  I was done for.

  Lost.

  The dark chocolate hue of her irises penetrated me. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on, and I wanted her. To protect her from bastards like the guy in my grasp.

  Realizing I still had her ex in my grip, I growled into his ear, “You're gonna leave here, and you're never going to bother her again. You hear me? And if you think I'm joking when I say I'll tear you limb from limb if you don't leave, then you are very much mistaken. I don't joke when it comes to a guy abusing a woman. And just so you know, you're getting off lightly here so I'd take this chance and get the fuck out of Dodge. Just sayin'.” I released him and shoved him toward the door he stumbled and almost lost his footing, but when he righted himself, he turned around.

  Snarling at me, he gave a humorless laugh. “Yeah? And who the fuck do you think you are?”

  Doing a 180-degree turn so that I faced him full on, I stepped forward and raised my eyebrows. “Oh, did you not see my patch? My sincere apologies… here.” I turned my back to him and glared at him over my shoulder as I gestured to the logo on my leather cut. “Heard of these guys?”

  The color drained from his face as he read the words Company of Sinners MC Nomad and when his eyes met mine again, I couldn't help grinning at the way he seemed to shrink by several inches right before my eyes.

  I chuckled. “Oh, I see you have heard of us? Well, I'm guessing now you know I'm serious you'll be on your way, huh?”

  Without further words, he made a dash for the door and yanked it open so hard I thought I was gonna be carrying out door repairs.

  Once the dick-weed was out of the way, I turned to check on the Italian beauty and as I did, she launched herself into my arms. “Thank you. Oh, thank you so much. You have no idea what you've done for me. Honestly, you can't possibly know.”

  That first embrace will stay with me forever.

  As will our final one.

  Six had met a beautiful erotic dancer at The Fox Hub, a strip joint in town. Her stage name was Nina, and he became obsessed pretty much as soon as he laid eyes on her. No wonder, considering she was stunning. Turns out the real her—Chloe—was sweet too. Six had fallen hard in spite of trying not to. He had fought to keep her safe when a rival gang—Loki's Legion—decided to target her to get at him—well to get at us.

  Keeping her safe even entailed him choosing to push her away so that she would keep her distance from the club and all the violence surrounding the club war. It turns out the heart wants what it wants and he failed miserably at staying away from her. I mean the guy was head over heels in love with her, and as the President
of Company of Sinners MC, it was my remit to ensure the safety of my VP. The problem was, Loki's Legion were hellbent on seeking revenge for shit they had no right being pissed over. And Six was slap bang in the middle of the revenge attacks.

  When all hell broke loose, and Chloe was kidnapped by a former Legion puppet, it was me that accompanied Six right up to the building where she was being held against her will. Six was shot in the process of Chloe's rescue. I thought I'd lost him, and my fucking heart broke. Six has been like a brother to me for so long I'd almost forgotten I actually had a brother by birth. An identical twin brother in fact.

  But more about that another time I guess.

  Anyway, I felt the need to protect Chloe while Six was in the hospital undergoing surgery, and during his recovery. But the main issue I had was with one fiery redhead who just happened to be the best friend of my new charge.

  My God, if looks could kill I swear the rest of the club would have been buying funeral attire and weeping over my fucking grave. My encounters with Ellie Cassidy had been anything but civil, and it burned me that she hated me so much without having anything to base her misguided opinion on.