by Ally Vance
“Welcome,” he smirks, stepping aside and allowing us into his sanctuary. Papers are strewn along the ornate desk and the walls are covered in shelves of books. One would not envision something like this when stepping into the office of the President of Fallen Saints MC.
“I wanted to introduce you to Rylee,” I tell him as we settle on the sofas that sit opposite his desk. “She’s going to be living with me, and…” I turn to her, offering her a smile.
“You don’t have to explain shit to me,” he tells me, then turns his attention to Rylee. Jackal holds out his hand, and my beautiful girl takes it and shakes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rylee. Please, don’t ever feel scared to be here. Since Vincent is wanting you as his old lady, you’re considered family. You may not wear a cut, but you’re one of us now.”
“Thank you.” Rylee’s cheeks blossom with a pink hue and she looks more beautiful right now than she ever did before. “I’ve always wanted to meet you and see the club.” Her voice is soft, so feminine and sweet, all I want to do is take her and hold her in my arms.
“Then you’re welcome here any time.”
Our meeting is quick, nothing more than a pleasure to meet you and we’re on our way home. I wanted to stay longer, to introduce her to the others, but that’s for tonight. Jackal is having a get together and we’re all meant to be present.
Tonight my girl will be a part of my life, and our future seems bright.
Afterword
Thank you for taking this taboo journey with me. I hope you loved Vincent and his princess, Rylee. This isn’t the end. I’ll be writing a full length story about them in 2020.
Mad love,
Dani xo
Also by Dani René
Stand Alones
Choosing the Hart
Love Beyond Words
Cuffed
Fragile Innocence
Perfectly Flawed
Black Light: Obsessed
Among Ash and Ember
Within Me (Limited Time)
Cursed in Love (collaboration with Cora Kenborn)
Beautifully Brutal (Cavalieri Della Morte)
Taboo Novellas
Sunshine and the Stalker (collaboration with K Webster)
His Temptation
Austin’s Christmas Shortcake
Crime and Punishment (Newsletter Exclusive)
Malignus (Inferno World Novella)
Virulent (collaboration with Yolanda Olson)
Tempting Grayson
Sins of Seven Series
Kneel (Book #1)
Obey (Book #2)
Indulge (Book #3)
Ruthless (Book #4)
Bound (Book #5)
Envy (Book #6)
Vice (Book #7)
The Stolen Series
Stolen
Severed
TBC
Four Fathers Series
Kingston
Four Sons Series
Brock
Carina Press Novellas
Pierced Ink
Madd Ink
Broken Series
Broken by Desire
Shattered by Love
The Backstage Series
Callum
Liam
Ryan
Forbidden Series
From the Ashes - A Prequel
Crave (Book #1)
Covet (Book #2)
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About Dani René
Dani is a USA Today bestselling author of a variety of genres, from romantic suspense to dark erotic romance and even BDSM romance. She loves to delve into the raw, emotional journeys her characters venture on, and enjoys the dark, edgy, and sensual scenes that fill the pages of her books. Dani’s stories are seductive with a deviant edge with feisty heroines and dominant alphas.
Dani lives in the beautiful city of Cape Town, and is a proud member of the Romance Writer's Organization of South Africa (ROSA) and the Romance Writers of America (RWA). She has a healthy addiction to reading, TV series, music, tattoos, chocolate, and ice cream.
www.danirene.com
[email protected]
III
South of Nowhere
Megan Daniels
Chapter 1
The ballroom was humid and sticky. The excitement of everyone that lingered around the barricade made me feel even more alone than when I drove to the venue by myself. I guess it was something that I should have been used to at this point, but even hearts that bask in the dark serenity of loneliness sometimes want to see the sun too. That’s honestly why I drove the three hours to this exact place to be here at this exact time and to hope that he would notice me.
Hope.
What a fucking concept.
I hadn’t seen him in a few years—not the real him anyway—and hadn’t spoken to him in the same amount of time, but I hoped that being as loyal to this band as I have been lately, he might somehow know that I was here for him.
I had already stood through three opening bands—a local act, a semi-small act, and one big enough to be on the bill under Halos Down; the newest and baddest band on the metal-core circuit.
A sigh escaped me as I watched the droves of concert goers start to make their way back to the floor. I turned my back to them and draped my arms over the steel barricade that I had been holding onto for dear life. If anyone wanted this spot, they were going to have to drag me away from it.
One of the security guards that had been leaning on the edge of the stage for most of the break, nodded to the others around him and cracked his neck, before crossing his arms over his chest. I assumed that made him the head bouncer of the evening, but I didn’t care. I didn’t plan on giving anyone trouble so they were the least of my concern.
Above me the lights began to dim until the ballroom was plunged into darkness, the crowd letting out a collective roar of excitement as I turned my eyes toward the door that led to the stage. They’d come through there; I knew it because that’s where I watched the rest of the bands walk through and then the lights would come on and I would do my best to get his attention.
This was the fourth show in three months that I had followed them to, and four had always been my lucky number.
I instantly perked up when the door opened. In the dim light from the hallway, I could see the members of the band making their way onto the stage as some random Journey song blared over the sound system.
First was Mick, the drummer, who made his way up to his set and got comfortable, smiling at a crowd that couldn’t see him just yet. Alex the bassist followed, tossing his ball cap into the crowd after he secured his instrument around his body. Next was Roman the guitar player who was shirtless, lean, and from what I understood, mean as the days are long. But even he managed a smirk for the row of teenage girls in the front row next to me.
And then it was him.
The entire reason I had spent a month’s rent to chase this fucker around to begin with.
He walked to the center of the stage, a bottle of water tilted to his lips, which he capped and placed in front of the drum set. He raked a hand back through his dark, obsidian colored hair as he walked up to the microphone, sunglasses still on his face as he gripped the stand, looked down assumingly at the set list taped onto the floo
r beneath him then back up at the crowd.
Alex began to strum the chords on his bass guitar, Mick began to move his feet quickly and his hands just as fast on his drums tying in to the beat that Alex had set forward. Roman walked over to the center of the stage, they nodded to each other, and as soon as the lights flashed on brightly, Knox Whitaker opened his mouth and commanded the attention of the room with the guttural growl that made him as famous as he is.
Chapter 2
“Alright! We’ve got one song left for you guys, then we’re out of here!” Knox announced to the crowd. The statement was met with obvious disappointment, and he pouted at the crowd before putting his hands to his mouth and blowing them a kiss. That was met by a bra flying over my head and hitting him in the chest.
He laughed into the microphone but anyone that was in the front row with me caught the obvious disdain on his face when he rolled his eyes. I couldn’t help but smile up at him because I remembered when he used to look at me like that sometimes. He’d give me a smile for the sake of being kind but his eyes never lied to me.
Knox used the tip of his sneaker to push the bra out of the way, turned around and nodded at Mick who brought in a fast and furious beat. It was the song that made them famous, Lies on Magnolia Lane, and it was my honest to God favorite because I knew the meaning behind the words he sang. His fans ate up the imagery, but I lived it with him and felt his pain each time I heard him screaming the lyrics for the world to hear.
When the song had come to it’s end, when the crowd was much louder than it had been before, Knox held his hands up to the sky. The smile on his face, wide and fake, but the crowd ate it up like he was praising them when in reality I knew that he wanted nothing more for than the entire room to disappear; himself included.
But I wouldn’t let him get away this time without noticing me—I couldn’t. the moment the lights went down and the crowd started to chant for one more song, I did the only thing I knew I could do. I cupped my hands over my mouth, took a deep breath, and screamed his real name.
“LENNOX!”
I wasn’t sure he heard me until he whipped his head around and walked toward the edge of the stage, searching the crowd. He walked back to where he had dropped the microphone onto the stage, scooped it up, and gave the light technician a simple command.
“Turn those fucking lights back on.”
Once his direction was followed, he let the microphone fall from his hand again as he scanned the crowd through narrowed eyes. He blew out his breath and just about gave up looking for the sound of the voice that called his name. I could tell that he was ready to walk away from the stage, so I did it again.
“LENNOX! OVER HERE!”
His eyes immediately darted in my direction and when he saw me, a small smile curved the edge of his lips. He hopped down between the stage and barricade and made his way over to me.
“Jules?” he asked with an unsure smile. I nodded immediately and he moved forward to embrace me. That was enough to piss of the head of security who’s team had to start pushing back the teenage girls that were trying to get his attention away from me.
“Back up!” the head guard shouted, giving me a rough shove back into the crowd.
“That’s my fucking brother, man!” Knox barked at him as he hoisted himself onto the barricade and held a hand out toward me. One of the guards reached up and held onto Knox’s shirt so that he wouldn’t fall into the crowd that suddenly noticed him back in the spotlight again, but as soon as I placed my hand in his, he used all of his strength to pull me over the railing.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” he asked scuffing my hair playfully.
“Because I haven’t had your phone number in years,” I replied with a sheepish shrug.
“Touche,” he chuckled. “Come on.”
Knox pulled himself up onto the stage, then me after him. As the crowd continued their chant for another song, my brother draped an arm around my shoulder and walked me off into the backstage area making me feel like I meant something to someone again.
I knew it wouldn’t last forever, but for that moment, there was hope.
Chapter 3
“I never knew you had a brother,” Alex said to Knox as he stared at me incredulously. My brother rolled his eyes and blew out his breath as he dropped down into the ridiculously oversized bean bag chair in their dressing room as he glanced at his bass player.
“Do you have a brother?” Knox asked him thoughtfully.
“Nah, I have a sister, though. Why?” he replied curiously.
“Imagine that—you have a family I never heard about.”
The way he said it was meant to sting Alex but I think it hit me harder than it did him. I get that our family life wasn’t the happiest and I would understand why he never talked about Mom and Dad, but that fickle little bitch hope made me think that he might have mentioned me once or twice.
Mick entered the room with the fattest blunt I had ever seen in my life. He lit it, took a hit, then held it out to Knox who glanced at me for a moment, then shook his head.
“You can if you want to,” I told him, shifting uncomfortably on my feet. “You can just pretend I’m not here, man. Be yourself.”
He let out an amused laugh as he leaned back on the chair and turned his face toward the ceiling.
“How long do you think those kids will stand out there tonight?” he asked no one in particular.
“This crowd was fucking ruthless,” Mick replied excitedly. “I don’t know if you saw that crazy fight that broke out on the side near the stairs, but I don’t think they’re going away any time soon. Tonight was pure dedication.”
“How long would you stand out there?”
The room fell silent and I suddenly became aware of all eyes being set on me. I glanced down at Knox who was waiting patiently with a smile and an arched eyebrow.
“What?” I asked.
He chuckled as he sat up, resting his arms across his knees. “How long would you stand out there? To meet your favorite band or whatever.”
“Oh. Um. You’re not my favorite band, you’re my brother,” I replied clumsily. A round of laughter exploded in the room but when I looked down at my feet and scuffed the tip of my shoe against the dirty floor, Knox got to his feet and gave me a nudge.
“Likewise,” he teased with a wink.
I forced a smile onto my face for his sake, and he shook his head, letting out his breath in a long winded sigh.
“Alright, let’s just go out there and take some pictures. I’m getting hungry and we can probably find somewhere to grab a bite before we skate out of here, right?”
“Come on, kid! Let’s make you a rock star for the night!” Roman yelled as he put his hands on my shoulders and guided me out of the room.
I sat on the small railing outside of the tour bus while my brother and his band mates smiled and posed for pictures. I smiled as they made small talk with their fans, making damn sure that everyone that was still outside waiting for them got a picture and at the very least, a small conversation.
I was happy to sit in the background, a nobody to everyone there, dangling my long legs over the side of the railing and glancing up at the stars. The night was cool, but not cold enough where I wanted to go to my car and get my jacket. The sky was dark, but not enough to blot out of the stars that shined down on me with their little flickers of hope.
But I sat quietly, faded into the background like a good little rock fan, instead of the brother of the lead singer of Halos Down, and waited for him to see me again.
And when it was finally time--when the last rabid fan of the greatest rock band on the circuit dispersed, he noticed me again.
“Let’s get some grub, huh?” he said as he held out a hand and helped me down from the railing. As he put an arm around my shoulders again, I smiled slightly. I may not have been a favorite memory of his, but he still treated me like he cared about me and that was all I could have honestly hoped for.
Chapter 4
We were seated in a booth in the corner furthest away from the door. Knox asked for it specifically, and when we sat down, he explained that sometimes fans would follow them on foot or in cars, and it was easier to hide from them if they couldn’t see him.
“Besides, we can’t catch up properly if I’m signing autographs, right?” he asked with a wide grin as he shrugged his jacket off.
I smiled and nodded.
“How many years has it been Jules?” he asked thoughtfully as he raised his glass of water to his lips.
I blew out my breath as I tried to do some quick calculations. I honestly didn’t know, and I didn’t think that “a lot” or “I’ve seen you four times in three months” would be smart responses so I shrugged and opened my menu. I winced at the feeling of the sticky plastic. It was obvious that these damn sleeves don’t get changed very often and I sighed as I tried to read through the coating of old soda that someone had spilled on it God knows how long ago.
“Here,” he said as he reached across the table. Knox took my sticky, dirty menu and slid his cleaner one in its place. “I’m used to dealing with trashy things, so I’ll do just fine with this,” he explained with a laugh.
Trashy.
Like me?