Joker (Salvation Kings MC Book 2)

by Ana Night

  Joker

  Salvation Kings MC

  Ana Night

  BOOKS BY ANA NIGHT

  Please visit your favorite eBook retailer to discover other books by Ana Night

  THE BLACK RAIDERS

  A Detached Raider

  Deceiving a Raider

  A Guarded Raider

  Disarming a Raider

  SALVATION KINGS MC

  Saint

  Joker

  Warning

  This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature audiences.

  This book contains mentions of crime, death, and violence.

  Gabe is a prospect at the Salvation Kings motorcycle club. He’s also the president’s son, which isn’t as fun as it sounds. Especially because he’s in love with Joker; the club’s vice president and his father’s close friend. Joker is good at keeping people at arm’s length and Gabe knows it’ll be close to impossible to tear down all the walls Joker has built over the years. But he’ll do whatever it takes to earn Joker’s trust and, hopefully, his love.

  Joker has been the vice president of his club for nearly two years. He loves being a King, and he’s done everything he can to live up to the responsibility he’s been given. He’s always been pulled towards Gabe and when he moved into Joker’s spare bedroom, that pull grew into something much stronger. He’s never wanted anyone as much as he wants Gabe, but he’s been keeping his distance, knowing if he gave in, there would be no turning back.

  The Henchmen still pose a big threat to the club and it’s not long before Joker and Gabe find themselves in danger. Forced together, passion soon ignites between them, but is Joker willing to put everything on the line for a chance with Gabe?

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  About the Author

  Connect with Ana Night

  Chapter One

  Joker

  HE LOVED the wind blowing against him, having the beast of a machine between his legs, and the road ahead of him. He lived for it. He put the bike into a higher gear and sped up. He’d never felt as free as he did when riding his bike. Nothing could compare really.

  He drove up to the clubhouse and parked his bike next to his president’s. He pulled his helmet off and dismounted. A smile teased lips as he ran his gaze over the place he considered home. Two of the prospects were standing by the cars and when they noticed the smile on his face, they both stepped back. They were scared of him. Most people were and it’d served him well so far.

  He was headed to church, his club’s monthly meeting between members. He walked into the room to see that almost everyone was there. He found his way to his chair and sat down. There was a bit of chatter which all ceased when King, their president, arrived. King walked to his seat at the end of the table. King sat down as Auggie, who was the last one missing, arrived and closed the door after himself. Joker turned his attention to King.

  “We’ve just got word from Ares,” King said. “Ronin is planning something. The Henchmen took a hit when they lost those drugs. Apparently, Ronin has decided to find another way into Baltimore.”

  “Remember those guns they’d given the Jackals?” Stiletto pulled a sheet of paper out of a folder and laid it on the table. “These are the ones. Auggie helped me track them and these exact weapons were stolen from a military facility a few months ago. From the looks of it, they’ve got at least a dozen more crates left from that heist.”

  Joker turned to Zayne. “Did Ares mention anything about this?”

  The look on Zayne’s face was grim as he shook his head.

  “He might not have been involved,” Auggie said. “From what he’s told us so far, Ronin has gone over his head several times before.”

  “What good is a damned spy if he doesn’t even know what’s going on in his own house,” Reaper said with a shake of his head.

  “Reaper’s got a point,” Joker said to Zayne.

  “Maybe so, but having Ares be our eyes and ears on the inside is at least better than not having him at all.”

  “Are we seriously going to trust this guy just because he’s got a hard-on for Nash?” Bullet asked and threw his hands up when Zayne glared at him. “Nothing against your man, Saint. I’m just sayin’.”

  No one said anything for a while, most of them seeming to take in the information they’d just been given. Joker wasn’t entirely sure they could trust Ares either, but he trusted Zayne and if Zayne believed Ares was on their side, then that was all he needed. Now, whether Ares could get them the information they needed, that was a whole other thing.

  “What are the Henchmen planning on doing with those guns?” Hawk asked.

  “We’re still waiting for Ares’ answer to that, but we do know that if they want to sell them, they’re probably going to do it here,” Stiletto said.

  “Fucking bastards,” Rooster growled.

  Joker couldn’t agree more. The Henchmen hadn’t known whose stash they were raiding, but that sure as shit hadn’t stopped them from taking what wasn’t theirs. They’d gotten the weapons back, but in doing so, they’d made an enemy out of the Henchmen.

  The Henchmen had then moved in on the King’s territory, hiding a whole lot of drugs in their damned backyard. They’d stolen the drugs from the Henchmen, none of them wanting that shit in their city. They made sure the cops found the drugs, so they got off the street. Ronin, the Henchmen’s president, kidnapped Nash in an attempt to get his drugs back. They saved Nash and took Ares who’d been helping Nash get away from the Henchmen. Turned out, Ares was tired of Ronin’s regime and wanted change. They agreed to help each other out which was why Ares was now reporting to the Kings.

  After they’d faked Ares’ escape from them, Ares had convinced Ronin not to retaliate by telling him the truth. Their drugs were with the police. They couldn’t get them back. At least not through the Kings. Ronin had backed off, using the past few weeks to lick his wounds and as it were, coming up with a new plan.

  “Do we have a lead on who was shooting at the Jackals yet?” Zayne asked.

  Auggie shook his head and said, “The footage of the shooting was mostly of the Jackals. According to the guys you and Joker talked to, it wasn’t the Henchmen who shot at them. Which wouldn’t have made sense, anyway. Why shoot at the guys you hired to protect your drugs?”

  “The Jackals didn’t know who they were, so it’s more likely they were after the Henchmen,” Joker said.

  “Ares didn’t even know about the drugs then,” Zayne said.

  “So we’re basically back to square one,” Reaper said.

  “More or less.” King stood, putting his hands on the tabletop and leaning forward. “We can’t do much more than keep digging into those weapons and wait for Ares to report back.”

  With that, King pushed away from the table and walked out. Joker stood and made his way out of the room with Zayne at his side. They stopped by the bar where Zayne grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

  “I’m gonna go to the auto shop and have Len look at my bike. She’s been sounding a bit off the past few days,” Joker said to Zayne.

  Zayne gave him a nod, though his
attention was on the man walking towards them. Nash was one big smile as he stepped up to Zayne, wrapping his arms around the back of his neck to lean against him and press their lips together. Joker watched them for a moment, then tore his gaze away. His heart was doing stupid things in his chest. He wasn’t sure what it meant except that it probably wasn’t good. Seeing his best friend happy and in love warmed his heart but he didn’t think that was for him. Never had.

  “Hi, Joker,” Nash said.

  “Nash.”

  Nash opened his mouth to say more but Joker didn’t stick around to hear it. He had better things to do.

  Twenty minutes later, he drove up to the open garage door at the auto shop. He parked his bike and walked inside where he ran into Len’s son, Jonah. The kid looked up at him with huge eyes and Joker just ruffled his hair before stepping around him, knowing not to make a big deal out of the interaction.

  “Hey, Len,” he called out.

  She came walking out from the office, narrowing her eyes at him when she saw him.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I was hoping you’d have time to look at my bike?”

  He knew Sully was out on a run with Gash. Jack and Jet were both still at the clubhouse after church, leaving only Gabe and Walker with Len so he knew she might have too much to do.

  Len sighed deeply. “Not really. I’m kinda three men down. Nash isn’t here either.”

  He’d spotted Walker before, recognizing him from the boots he was wearing because he was under a car.

  “Where’s Gabe?” he asked with a frown.

  “Not here,” Len said.

  “What? He’s supposed to be here.”

  “He called in sick.”

  Joker’s brows hit his hairline. “He what?”

  Len waved him off, saying, “Doesn’t matter. Just forget about it. You know what? Bring the bike in. I’ll have a listen to her.”

  “You sure?”

  She threw him a pair of car keys.

  “Go get us something to eat and I’ll fix your damned bike,” she said.

  She gave him a cheeky smile that made him roll his eyes at her. She knew he hated cars. Ever since the army where he’d been stuck in a Humvee for hours on end, day after day, he’d hated any kind of closed vehicle. When he’d joined the club and found out they called cars cages, he’d known he was at the right place.

  “Text me what you want from the sandwich shop,” he said and turned to walk out of the garage.

  “Will do,” Len yelled after him.

  He got into Len’s Range Rover and pushed the seat back to make room for his legs. He grabbed his phone and considered texting Gabe. He doubted the kid was actually sick. He hadn’t been home for two days and it was a school holiday, so his guess was that Gabe was sporting a hangover. When he saw him, he was going to chew him out for leaving Len understaffed because he couldn’t control his alcohol consumption.

  His phone buzzed with an incoming text. He opened it and saw it was the list from Len. He put his phone down on the passenger seat and started the car.

  Gabe

  He found Nash and Saint sitting on one of the couches in the clubhouse. He sat down next to Nash, a sigh pushing through his lips. Nash looked at him with a raised brow.

  “What’s up with you?”

  “Nothing.” Gabe shook his head. “I’m just tired.”

  “From doing what?” Saint asked, a teasing smile on his lips.

  Gabe flipped him off. “I’ve been watching my sister the past two days.”

  She was on summer break from school which meant their parents were working overtime to keep her in check. They’d needed a few days to themselves, so he’d agreed to watch his sister for them.

  “Ugh. I feel ya,” Nash said.

  His sister, Dara, was in some rebellious phase where she snuck out every damned night. The first night had gone just fine. Or so he’d thought. He’d made them dinner and then they’d watched a movie before going to bed. He’d tried to stay awake but after a whole day at the auto shop, he’d been worn out. He’d woken up at two in the morning and on a hunch, he’d gone to check on Dara. Of course, she wasn’t in her bed. She hadn’t even bothered to make it look like she was.

  Very much unlike her teenage self, she’d left her phone behind so he couldn’t use it to find her. Instead, he tracked her through the necklace their parents had given her on her fifteenth birthday. She still didn’t know there was a GPS tracker in it, thankfully.

  He found her at a damned frat party. He threatened to tell their parents, but Dara knew he didn’t want them to know that she snuck out while he was supposed to watch her. He’d yelled at her, she’d yelled at him and then she’d refused to speak to him for most of the next day. He had no clue how his parents dealt with her every day. She was seventeen but she acted like she was twelve, even though she kept claiming she wasn’t a kid. It was frustrating as all hell. He’d barely slept the night before, determined not to let her get away again.

  “I’m never watching her again.”

  Nash chuckled and asked, “Isn’t she too old for a babysitter?”

  Gabe shook his head. “She’s a Wolff to the bone. If she wants to do something, you’d better believe she’ll do it. Hell, she’s more a Wolff than me in that regard.”

  “And she wants to party,” Nash guessed.

  “She wants to give Pops a heart attack, is what she wants.”

  They talked for another fifteen minutes, then Nash looked at his phone and stood.

  “We’re going to the harbor to get something to eat. Do you want to come?” Nash asked.

  “Sure, I’d love that.”

  He followed them to the harbor where they found a place to park their bikes. They walked to a restaurant and waited for about fifteen minutes to be seated. Once they’d ordered their food and received their drinks, Nash leaned forward in his chair, a teasing smile on his lips.

  “How are things with Joker?”

  Gabe snorted, meeting Nash’s eyes. “How do you think?”

  “He’s being an ass?” Nash suggested with a raised brow.

  Gabe nodded and rubbed his hands down his face, a sigh escaping him. Moving in with the man he was in love with had seemed like a great idea at first. But he was beginning to regret it. It didn’t help that he was also Gabe’s sponsor; the one who’d brought him into the club as a prospect. He was supposed to stay close to Joker, learn from him, but Joker treated him with kid gloves.

  “Give him some time. His whole perspective of you just shifted,” Zayne said.

  “I get that. It’s just, he still sees me as a kid.”

  “He’s nine years older than you and he has seen you grow up. It might be a bit weird for him,” Zayne said.

  Gabe nodded, turning his gaze to the hands in his lap. He knew all those things, but that didn’t make it any easier. He wouldn’t keep pursuing the man if he thought the attraction was one-sided. He’d seen the way Joker looked at him sometimes when he thought no one was watching.

  “How long have you been in love with him?” Nash asked.

  Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know. From the first time I saw him, maybe?”

  “What is it about him? I mean, I get why physically. ‘Cause his body is pretty damned—”

  Nash was cut off by Zayne’s hand over his mouth. Nash’s tried to speak but his words were too muffled to understand.

  “No,” Zayne said, shaking his head. “No talking about my best friend’s body. In fact, no talking about any men’s bodies. Especially my brother’s. Or other bikers’.”

  Gabe couldn’t help his chuckle at the offended look on Nash’s face.

  The server arrived with their food and the lovely smell made his stomach growl. He was much hungrier than he’d thought, and he dug right in. During their meal, they talked about anything other than Joker which suited him just fine.

  An hour later, he unlocked his front door and stepped inside. He toed off his boots and hung his vest on the co
at rack. He walked into the living room, finding Joker on the couch watching TV.

  “Hey, roomie.”

  Joker looked up, an irritated expression falling over his face. Gabe felt a grin spread on his lips. His new favorite pastime was pissing off Joker. He loved getting a rise out of him.

  “Where have you been?”

  Gabe rolled his eyes and said, “With a friend, mom.”

  Joker’s jaw ticked and he stood from the couch.

  “You were supposed to be at the auto shop,” Joker said.

  “I traded my shift with Jet. I needed a day off after watching my sister.”

  Joker didn’t look pleased with that explanation, but he didn’t care. He went to the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge.

  He’d been dying to move out of his parents’ house. He’d been looking for a place for a few months after moving back from college. He hadn’t found anything in his price range that worked for him. He was only a prospect, so he didn’t have a room at the club. Most of them shared rooms anyway. When Zayne had offered him the room he hadn’t hesitated, not even knowing he’d be living with Joker. Once he’d thought that through, he’d realized he might have to watch Joker bring someone home but then Zayne had told him Joker and he had a rule not to bring one night stands to the apartment. So far, Joker had kept to that rule.

  He walked back into the living room and sat down in the opposite end of the couch. Joker was watching some soccer game. He settled in, not expecting Joker to talk to him.

  “There’s a party at the clubhouse tomorrow,” Joker said.

  “What are we celebrating?”

  “Chain knocked up his old lady.”

  Gabe sat up. “What? Are you serious? Mariah’s pregnant?”

  Joker nodded.

  “Wow,” Gabe said, leaning back in the couch. “They’ve been trying for years.”

  He was happy for them. He knew the party would probably get a bit crazy, but he could use some of that. Especially with how Joker was affecting him. He was sure he’d been drinking more since moving in with the man.