by Jess Winters
The Forsaken Biker
MC Protective Alpha Romance
Jess Winters
Contents
The Forsaken Biker
Prologue
1. Gabriel
2. Athena
3. Gabriel
4. Athena
5. Athena
6. Gabriel
7. Athena
8. Gabriel
9. Athena
10. Gabriel
11. Athena
12. Gabriel
13. Athena
Epilogue
Copyright © 2020 by Jess Winters
All rights reserved.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Prologue
Tears filled her eyes as the blood pooled along the old oak floor. It wove into the wood like streams, slowly flowing towards her. Athena stepped back, unable to fathom what she had done in her act of desperation.
It had to be a nightmare.
Her lips quivered as the gun slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor. It landed next to her feet with a sound that caused her to jump. There was no denying it - this was real.
She’d dreamt of this, during those silent nights when he wouldn’t come home. The idea of it had always nagged at the back of her mind, as though it was some sick premonition. She never thought it would actually happen. She’d never considered herself as someone who could commit such a crime.
Athena’s long auburn hair fell in front of her face as she brought her shaking hands to her mouth and withheld a scream. Tears fell from her eyes as she backed towards the door.
There was nothing else she could do - except run.
1. Gabriel
The parts always arrived on time. And damn right they did, because he supervised the men that brought them home. Home was, of course, the den.
At least that’s what they called it.
Joe was lighting a cigarette in the dark corner of the den, reaching for his drink as Shorty dropped the packages onto the table in the middle of the room. The den was their own personal bar. Basically what they’d always needed ten years ago.
It took a while, but it finally became a reality a year ago.
“Just delivered from Chicago. Pristine Suzuki and Kawasaki engines. We’re also talking about some navigation systems for Porsches and,” Shorty raised his hands and pointed towards the boxes, all while his lips formed into a crooked smile, “rims. We got these from across the state, from a rival, you could say. Can’t go wrong with rims, man.”
Joe’s smoke filled the air between the three of them. The dim lights hanging above them cast an ominous glow against the boxes. The smoke danced between the three men, hanging in the air like a deep, flowing mist.
“Is that it?” Joe asked him, his voice deep and raw from years of smoking. “I was expecting more.”
Gabriel turned to Joe, who always had a deadly look in his eye. He could barely see him through the smoke in the air as Joe took another deep drag of his cigarette. “There’s supposed to be another shipment in the next couple of days.”
Joe brought his eyes to Gabriel. “You sure about that?”
“Yeah,” Gabriel told him. “I’m sure of it.”
Joe exhaled deeply. “Alright. Sounds good, then.”
Gabriel could always feel the weight of Joe on his shoulders. It didn’t take much to set the man off and shipments always made him an easy target for his anger. If he missed one, it was troublesome for everyone.
The man was a beast.
“Thanks, Joe. Let’s take these out back, Shorty.”
Shorty nodded and went to lift the packages off the table. Gabriel grabbed the remaining two packages and followed Shorty, feeling Joe’s gaze on him throughout. The metal pieces in the boxes shifted from side to side as they walked.
“You think he’s upset about this run?”
Gabriel kept his eyes ahead, the box growing heavier with each step. They just had to get motorcycle and car parts. They always weighed a goddamn ton.
“I don’t know,” he replied, trying to keep his tone neutral so Shorty wouldn’t freak out. “He’s hard to read.”
“Looked pretty pissed off to me, man.”
Gabriel halted, clenching his teeth. “I don’t want to think about it. Whatever’s going through Joe’s head is his business. Let’s just lay off the talk and get this shit where it needs to be for the others.”
Shorty recoiled. “I was just trying to say-”
“And I’m telling you to stop saying it.”
Shorty knew his boundaries. He shrugged and followed Gabriel, who walked ahead with a grunt. Gabriel knew that Short was picking up the fact that he was on edge. Truth was, he’d been feeling tense all week.
Gabriel took a deep breath and dropped the boxes onto the hoist, which delivered them onto the truck. He just needed to relax a bit. A drink outside of the den was the best choice.
No. It was the only choice.
2. Athena
“I asked for rare, and this is obviously medium rare,” the woman said, brushing her short blond hair behind her ear. “Can’t you see that it’s barely pink? And this is a fifty dollar steak. Unbelievable.”
Athena stared at the woman. God, she hated these customers. How the hell did she end up in a place like this?
“I’m so sorry about that. I’ll take your steak back immediately and let the chef know.”
The woman raised her thin eyebrows at Athena, clearly making the attempt to test her patience. Women like the one in front of her loved to cause a scene, as though it was some universal rule between those kinds of women that once they had kids, it gave them the right to be assholes. “I'd like to speak to your manager.”
She hated when customers said those seven words.
Athena heard the woman’s husband sigh from across the table. She wanted to laugh in the man’s face - he’d chosen this woman. Now he had to live with the consequences of his actions, which meant spending the rest of his life dealing with embarrassing situations.
“Absolutely. I’ll go grab the manager for you right away,” Athena said, having spewed those same words so many times they were like the mantra of the steakhouse. “Just a moment, please.”
She lifted the woman’s plate off the table and stared at the steak which was, essentially, rare. Great. Now she had to report to the chef that this woman had no idea how she wanted her steak cooked. It would be the closest thing to raw without her getting sick.
She passed the other tables in the restaurant and hit the door to the kitchen with her foot and placed the plate on the counter. The three chefs were busy preparing other dinners, too busy to notice she’d entered the kitchen at all. Athena cleared her throat, only to hear a long, deep groan from Rob.
“Why are you bringing that back here?” he asked her, throwing some onions into a pan.
“Why do you think?”
Rob glanced up from the pan. “Let me guess,” he said, and flipped the onions in the pan. “She thinks it’s cooked wrong.”
“How do you know it’s a she?”
“It’s never a dude.”
“True,” she said, and pushed the plate further away. “Wants to see the manager and everything. She said it’s too overcooked. Wants it even bloodier.”
“I’ll give her bloodier.”
“I’m sure you would, but I need my tips at the end of the night. So just keep the blood to the steak, please.”
“Fine. I’ll jump on that after this.”
“
Thanks. I’m going to get-”
The door to the kitchen opened and Justine popped her head in. Her dark brown hair was dishevelled from wandering the restaurant constantly, always checking on patrons, as she called them. “Saw you bring a dish back.”
“Lady at table three’s unhappy.”
Justine rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen her before and she does this every time. I'll see if I can make her happy with a discount.”
“Thanks, Justine.”
Athena watched as Justine closed the door. She didn’t even want to look through the window at the top of the door to see the lady’s reaction. She just wanted her shift to end.
She never finished soon enough. Athena brought her hands to the top of the bar and lowered herself, stretching her aching back. Having worked as a waitress for most of her professional life, she’d found that being on her feet all day every day had begun to take its toll on her body.
“We’re going out for drinks tonight, if you want to come with us,” Justine told her, counting the money behind the bar. “Might do you some good to actually come out for once.”
“I need to head home tonight,” she lied, stretching her back until it cracked. “And I have to run errands beforehand. Just too busy.”
“You don’t even work tomorrow.”
“Which is why I don’t want to be hungover in the morning.”
Justine kept her focus on counting the bills in her hands. Despite that, she could see that Justine was unimpressed with her answer. “Seriously? You haven’t come out once.”
“I’m just not big on drinking.”
“No one said you needed to drink.”
Athena stood upright. She really had told them no too many times and it was getting suspicious. One night out wouldn’t be the end of the world. Or so she hoped.
“Fine,” she said after considering her options. “I’ll go.”
Justine placed the last of the money into a small black bag. “Awesome! I’ll let everyone else know. You need a ride?”
“Better than a cab.”
Truth was, she couldn’t afford one anyway.
3. Gabriel
The feel of the cool wind against his skin was enough to make him forget about Joe, who always seemed to hover in his mind like a ghost. He slowed into the parking lot and noted the other motorcycles already lined up outside the bar. He could tell which ones belonged to who.
He counted through, seeing that Mikey, Dirtbag and Davey were already in the bar. They’d be easy enough to find - it was hard to miss a group of bikers drinking.
He needed to get some drinks into his system as soon as possible. Having to deal with Joe was always a shit day. The den might’ve been the gang’s home base, but Cranky’s was their bar away from the tension. He liked drinking at the den, but was careful never to get wasted.
There was no telling who’d be around. Some of the older guys liked to fight, as though bloodying up the young guys solidified their place in Devil’s Roamers.
Gabriel parked at the end of the lot, not wanting to take the risk of some dumbass drunk driver hitting his bike. He straightened out his leather jacket and walked towards the bar entrance. The live music reverberated from inside the bar as he opened the doors.
It was busy, which was a nice change. He saw his fellow Devil’s Roamers members over in a far off table with multiple pitchers between them. Saved him the trouble of having to order a drink, which would’ve taken over a half hour with the capacity almost at maximum.
He waved to the group at the table. He saw Mikey already starting to pour him a drink, which Mikey pushed towards the end of the table. Gabriel lifted it to his lips and took a swig of his beer.
Felt damn good after a long day of being around Joe.
“Thanks, man,” he said, swallowing the bitter taste of the pilsner. He always preferred lighter beers, but it would have to do for the meantime. “What time did you guys get here?”
“Few hours ago,” Dirtbag replied, and ran his hand through his thick beard. “Been busy drinking while you were getting beat down by old Joe.”
“One afternoon is enough for me, man.”
The band had finally grown silent and announced that they would return after a short break. Gabriel wasn’t a huge fan of live music, so he didn’t care much that they’d stopped playing. He always found live bands too loud.
“Damn. Look at that over there,” Mikey said, pointing towards the other end of the bar. “Any of you guys recognize that woman with Justine?”
Mikey wasn’t wrong. The woman he was pointing at was surely one to attract the attention of every man at the bar. Long legs, dark red hair, and an expression on her face that made it clear she didn’t take anyone’s shit.
As though she knew they were talking about her, the woman glanced in their direction. Her expression, though, was fearful. Gabriel couldn’t entirely blame her.
Being ogled by a group of bikers made most women uneasy. Whatever it was that she was thinking of was brought on by some kind of terror. She lowered her eyes instantly and tried to nudge herself further into the crowd of people she was with, as though it would make her invisibile.
Hard to make yourself invisible when you’re the hottest woman in the bar.
Gabriel leaned back against the table and took another drink from his pint glass. “I’ve never seen her before.”
“I’ve seen her,” Dirtbag said, leaning closer to the group to get a better look. “She works with Justine at Alpine Steakhouse.”
Gabriel kept his gaze on her as she ordered a drink at the bar. “She must be new in town.”
“When I saw her working there, it was about three months ago. So she ain’t that new.”
Gabriel chugged the rest of his beer and slammed the glass onto the table, causing the rest of the guys to sit at attention. “I think I need to buy a beer. You guys want anything?”
“You’re going in?” Mikey asked him, running a hand through his short red hair. “I don’t know if she wants to talk to anyone. I mean, she doesn’t seem too impressed with us checking her out.”
“I like a challenge,” Gabriel said, and winked. “The harder, the better.”
He heard the guys laugh as he made his way across the bar. The woman with Justine was still keeping her eyes lowered, and trying to duck into the crowd in an attempt to become invisible. He wasn’t sure why she was trying to hide, but it was clear she’d seen him approaching.
“Hey! Justine.”
Justine pushed her brown hair back and turned around to see Gabriel. Her tan skin was illuminated by the roaming lights in the bar, which switched from red to a gold hue. “What’re you doing here, Gabe?”
He neared the group, which was made up of people he recognized as her coworkers at the steakhouse. “Needed a drink after doing some runs today. How’s things going tonight?”
She shrugged. “It’s fine, I guess. Finally got Athena to come out with us, though. You guys haven’t met yet, right?”
Athena had her head down towards the bar, and quickly took her drink into her hand. She was even more beautiful up close, with her strong cheekbones and pouty lips. He felt the urge to grab her where she was sitting with her eyes averted away from him.
“So, you don’t come out often?”
Justin nudged Athena, who kept her eyes on her drink. “No. She doesn’t.”
Gabriel chuckled to himself. “What? You shy or something?”
Athena narrowed her eyes at him. “No, not shy. Just here for a few drinks.”
He checked to see if the band was starting again, but it seemed as though they were grabbing a few shots for the group. He breathed a sigh of relief. It gave him a few more minutes to get to know this woman.
Knowing that she didn’t want him only made him want her more.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
“I’ve already got one.”
His lips formed into a half-smile. “Really? What about your next one?”
“Justine said she’s buyi
ng my next round.”
“You know what?” Justine said, and stepped away from the two of them. “I’ll leave the next round to you. Saves me some money.”
Athena’s expression shifted into surprise. She lifted her hands up to her hair and parted the front behind each ear. He could sense the frustration off of her, as though Justine had left her to the dogs.
“You all right?”
“I wasn’t looking to get hit on tonight. Just wanted a few drinks.”
He brought his elbow to the bar and leaned against it. “Was just looking to buy you a drink. I can take it back, if it pisses you off that much.”
“It’s fine,” she said exasperatedly. “Just one drink.”
Gabriel waited for the bartender to notice him, and nodded when he finally caught her eye. “What’re you drinking?”
“Basic rum and coke.”
The bartender arrived and handed a bottle of beer to the older man standing next to him. “What can I get you, Gabe?”
“I’ll get another pint of Creemore, and a rum and coke for her.”
The bartender turned from them without saying anything and got to making their drinks. Athena’s expression was neutral and hard to read. Sure, she seemed bothered by his being there, but she didn’t shove him away, either.
That was as good a chance as any.
“Why don’t you go out with your coworkers?”
She took the last sip of her drink and pushed it over to the ledge of the bar for the bartender. “Usually I have things I have to do, and drinking only gets in the way.”
“What do you have to do tomorrow?”
“Does it matter?”
The bartender returned with their drinks and he brought his up in cheers. “To only one drink, then.”
When he’d first approached her to have a drink with him, this was not what he was expecting. She had her arms leaned at the top of the chair with her chest pressed out from the support of the back chair. Completely relaxed, and a little drunk.