by Vera Quinn
Copyright © 2017 by Vera Quinn
Edited by: Darlene Tallman
Format by: Liberty Parker
Cover Designed by: Tracie Douglas @ Dark Water Covers Photographer: Reggie Deanching
www.The StableModel.com
Cover Model: Alfie Gordillo
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person or use proper retail channels to lend a copy. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. Only small excerpts may be used for review purposes of this material. All other use must have written permission from Vera Quinn. Address below:
[email protected]
*****Disclaimer*****
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance of actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This book is intended for adults 18+. This book contains adult situations and language, violence, drug use, and sexual activity. Mature readers only. If any of this is offensive to you this may not be the book for you.
Beginning of the Reckoning is the third book in a series. As part of a series, it is highly recommended to read the first two books first to grasp the full experience of the book.
List of characters:
Feral Steel MC Devil/Kylar-President Hacksaw/Heath-VP Bowie- SAA
Crockett- Enforcer Road Captain- Cowboy Treasurer- Tito Tech- Oz
Patched Members: Kane/Rome
Slick
Thrasher
Creole
Ridge/Rix
Edge/Cricket
Prospects:
Granger “Possum” Trask Sam “Gully” Gulliver Jason “Jay” Taylor Brodeaux “Bo” George
Ol’ Ladies:
Callie ol’ lady and wife of Devil. They have three children: Kellan, Killian, & Kaitlyn
GertieSlick’s ol’ lady
Tara Rome’s ol’ lady
Club Girls:
Terrance- Shay- Roz- Indigo – Teal
BlackPath MC: Oklahoma Chapter Rye Black
Bourbon Black
Blade
Gator
Rizer
Gage
Stump
Bear
I had to escape the family I helped create. I helped create the family but I am not really a part of it. They forgot to tell me being a surrogate to two children would leave a gaping hole in my heart. My mind knows the children aren’t mine but my heart hasn’t got the memo yet. I came to Oklahoma for a fresh start and I have sworn off bikers, too much trouble. My heart is in pieces and I don’t think I can survive another heartbreak.
As VP of the Feral Steel MC, I have worked hard to help put our club back on the right path. We will still give club justice to our enemies but our reputation is to be fair and on the right side of the law. I love my club brothers and family but lately I have longed for more. More women, more alcohol, and more open road. I live my life free and hard. Then Joy walks into my life. All bets are off but just when I have found the woman I can see keeping, trouble comes calling again.
This time it looks like it is the Beginning of the Reckoning.
Some people go through life looking for a meaning or always asking why. Those questions are rarely answered except in reflection of one’s life. The people that we encounter or one small incident can change the course of a whole life. All we can do in life is live it one day at a time and show kindness to each other and hope we are taking the right path. Mistakes are expected. Live free, love hard, keep the open road in your view, the wind to your back, and hope like hell we survive another day...
Reflective thoughts of Vera Quinn 2017
To my readers… My first series, the BlackPath MC series, is so blended into my Feral Steel MC series that I have put the first two books of that series, Never Forever and Catching My Forever, in the back of Beginning of The Reckoning. It’s not to boost word count or pages but so you can go back and read where it all began because a reckoning usually begins at the beginning. Just think of it as a bonus from me to you.
Thank you:
I would like to thank my husband who is my biggest supporter. He is my rock, my sounding board, my best friend and the love of my life. Thank you for standing by me and always letting me know I am your best person.
Thank you to my entire family for supporting me.
Thank you to Nicole Lloyd for being the best PA I could ever hope to have. She is the best at what she does.
Thank you to Darlene for stepping up and editing for me at the last minute. You saved me lady.
Thank you to Liberty Parker for stepping up and formatting. You too saved me. Thank you to Nikki Horn for the fabulous trailer. I love your work. Thank you to Amanda DiPierro for the great blog cover reveal.
Thank you to Reggie Deanching and RplusMphoto for the beautiful photo for my cover. It was a pleasure working with you. Thank you to Alfie Gordillo for being in the photo that became my cover. Thank you to Tracie Douglas for the beautiful cover.
Thank you to Joanne for always being the best beta reader.
Thank you to all of Vera’s Teasers, you ladies are the best support system and I appreciate every one of you.
Thank you to all the bloggers who put my books out there and share my cover and teasers. Thank you to every reader who takes a chance on reading my books and I hope I never let you down. Thank you again for taking the time to review my books. It helps tremendously.
Table of contents:
Copyright
Disclaimer
Characters
Blurb … Joy
Prologue
Vera’s Thoughts Chapter 1 … Joy
Chapter 2 … Hacksaw Chapter 3 … Joy
Chapter 4 … Hacksaw Chapter 5 … Joy
Chapter 6 … Hacksaw Chapter 7 … Joy
Chapter 8 … Unknown
Chapter 9 … Hacksaw Chapter 10 … Devil
Chapter 11 … Hacksaw Chapter 12 … Joy
Chapter 13 … Hacksaw Chapter 14 … Joy
Chapter 15 … Hacksaw Chapter 16 … Joy
Chapter 17 … Hacksaw
Chapter 18 … Hacksaw Chapter 19 … Micah
Chapter 20 … Joy
Chapter 21 … Hacksaw Chapter 22 … Devil
Chapter 23 … Joy
Chapter 24 … Hacksaw Chapter 25 … Tara
Chapter 26 … Rome
Chapter 27 … Devil
Chapter 28 … Maddie
Chapter 30 … Hacksaw Chapter 31 … Joy
Chapter 32 … Hacksaw
Chapter 33 … Maddie
Chapter 34 … Hacksaw Things to Come
Ways to follow Vera
Teaser book … Severed Ties that Bind Other work by Vera
Keep up with Vera
BONUS BOOKS: Never Forever Never Ever Catching Forever Never Ever Pt. 2
I have been in a downward spiral since I gave birth over three years ago to the most beautiful little girl with the sweetest smile. An experience I will never forget. I carried her for nine months. I felt her grow, felt the first kick, and felt relief when she was finally born and she was completely healthy. Adeline Destiny Black came into this world screaming her little lungs out and it was the sweetest sound to my ears but I am not Adeline’s mom. I wa
s the gestational surrogate. I have never wanted children of my own. Em was the one who got all the maternal feelings in our family. Em is my younger sister and she was born to be a mom. Me, not so much. How could a club girl and a motorcycle club bartender want a family of her own? I am a party girl or at least, I was. I’ve never had the tendency to want my own children or even be in a relationship with one man. My friends and sister look at me like I am crazy and Em says in time I will change my mind but I never believed it until after Adeline was born.
Laurie and Driller are good people. Trent “Driller” Black is the VP of the BlackPath MC and Laurie is a grade school teacher. The BlackPath MC is where I became a club girl. I know, I am too old at over thirty years old to be referred to as a girl but it is better than what some people called us. Bitch, slut, whore and that is some of the better ones. I own who and what I am but people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. I have never pretended to be anything that I am not. I do not lie or steal. I don’t fuck married men or men with ol’ ladies. I am loyal to the bone. That’s why I stayed with the BlackPath MC, they didn’t make you do anything you were not comfortable with. They accepted me for who I am and there were no double standards with the club members if I remembered my place and that is something I had a very good grip on. I wasn’t looking for a patch on my back. I moved up from being just a club girl to taking care of the bar and keeping the other girls in line. I quit being just another pretty face that was around when one of the members had an itch to scratch to being part of the family. I didn’t know how much I needed that until it happened. Driller always treated me with respect. Laurie didn’t come around much when I was at the clubhouse and I never understood why until she experienced a heartbreaking miscarriage when I was at the club. Laurie spiraled into a deep depression after that and Driller was away from the club a lot. It wasn’t the first miscarriage that Laurie had suffered. Laurie and Driller had tried for years to have a child. Each time it ended in miscarriage. When Em, my sister, started coming to the clubhouse and ended up marrying the President, Chief, I started spending more time with the families. Laurie and I formed a friendship and I volunteered to be their surrogate when all their other options had been taken away. Driller was not on board with this plan to begin with but after the doctor explained to Driller the process, Laurie coaxed him into it.
The day I found out the process had worked I held Laurie as she cried tears of joy. The day Adeline was born Driller cried. I had never seen a big biker cry before and I knew I had done the right thing. The day that I left the hospital was the first time that I felt an emptiness inside me that I couldn’t fill. I went to my counselor and talked it out. I got a handle on the feelings and threw myself into other things in my life. Then three months after Adeline was born, Laurie approached me about being a surrogate again and I was hesitant but then Driller asked me to do it and explained he and Laurie wanted Adeline to have a sister or brother to grow up with. I remember growing up with Em and I wanted that for Adeline too. I had kept my distance from the new family so I could heal but when they approached me again I knew it would not be that easy. Em tried to talk me out of going through with it and I knew I should listen but I just couldn’t. I wanted Adeline to have every experience in life she could, including a sibling. We started the process again. I visited the doctors and there was no way that the reproductive endocrinologist would even consider it until the six- month mark and only then after me having a complete physical examination and a thorough mental review. That gave us the time to speak with an attorney and have the birth order drawn up. Once I passed the physical exam and got the green light, I went to my counselor and she warned of the things I may be feeling after the birth again but gave us an okay. Then Laurie and I synchronized our cycles through hormones and the harvest was done and the embryo was fertilized and then transferred to me. That day a peace overtook me and I knew the next nine months were going to be another blessing for me to experience. Don’t get me wrong, I am not an overly religious woman, but carrying a child and giving birth can only be described as a miracle and a blessing.
Thirty-nine weeks later, Lucas Whisky Black weighed in at eight pounds and six ounces and twenty-one and a half inches long. He wasn’t screaming when he came into the world but it didn’t take him long to get there. They didn’t even let me hold him and my heart broke watching Laurie and Driller swaddle the newborn to them. I know Lucas is their baby but I knew then I wouldn’t be able to go back to my old life. I wanted this family to have their happy ending but I couldn’t watch it.
So, four months after giving birth for the second time it was time for me to move on. I hated leaving my sister and her family and the family I had made with the BlackPath MC but I went to Chief and he helped me find a place to land. He arranged with Callie, his daughter married to the President to the Feral Steel MC in Oklahoma, to help me find a place to work and live. I have decided it is time to give up on the club life. No more bikers for me and to tell you the truth the last thing on my mind is a man at all. I just want to work on getting my life to a place I can survive. A small place of my own and a job that will pay my bills. If I can keep in touch with Em and her family then that is all I need. Callie and I have always been on friendly terms and she agreed to help me out. Her dad is married to my sister so we are practically family. I have saved all my money, so I have a good little nest egg to start this new life outright, but I need to find a job to keep my mind off other places.
My first week here I stayed with Callie’s three best friends which is kinda weird. They are all from Texas and they followed Callie to Oklahoma and they have their own lives but they still live on the Feral Steel property in Devil and Callie’s first house. Fe, Hanna and Sarah welcomed me with open arms, but I still needed my own space. Luckily for me the Feral Steel MC had bought some apartments and they had some available immediately. A filled-out application, a good look around the apartment complex and my first, last, and deposit paid and I now have my own apartment. It took all of one day to get settled. It’s been a long time coming. Now for a job. Tara, Rome’s ol’ lady, told me about a diner she used to work at but waiting tables is not really my thing. It requires being nice and smiling all the time. I haven’t felt like smiling for a long time. Devil gave me a heads up about a job at their gym and I am applying today. Hopefully I will qualify and then my new life will be set. Now, if only my heart would just quit hurting. I have picked my phone up a dozen times since I have been here and started to dial Laurie or Driller’s phones but I hang up every time. I start texts but delete them. Distance, that is what I need. I have a new life and new friends. I can do this.
I barely get my eyes open when I realize my mistake from last night is still here. Indigo has her arm wrapped around me like I am going to snuggle with her ass, like I would snuggle with any woman. Hell, I don’t even know what a snuggle is good for. We sweated our asses off while we were fucking last night. Who wants to be next to a sweaty ass if you don’t need to be. I don’t want to be an ass to Indigo but she knows my rules. I start snoring then your feet hit the floor and get out of my space. My mouth is dry with the taste of stale alcohol and too many smokes. It reminds me that we were both drunk off our asses last night so I will cut the woman some slack. She may have just fallen asleep. Hell, it happens. Her and her sister Teal are our newest recruits for pussy. Both are up for any action a man could want, together or alone. Any hole they have are up for action. I throw her arm off me hard enough to wake her but not so hard to hurt her just get her awake and out of my bed. Indigo doesn’t open her eyes but I know she is awake. I’m not playing these damn games. All thoughts of being the nice guy go out the window. Who the hell ever said I was a nice guy? Not me or anyone who knows me. “Out, now!” I tell Indigo. She opens one eye and I give her the look.
“I must have fallen asleep last night.” The way she says it, I know that is not the case. “Since I am already here how about we have a little more fun today. You might like having me around.”
That gets me moving. I roll over to the edge of my side of the bed and stand up. I see that my morning wood has Indigo’s attention but I ignore it and walk to my closet and grab the first pair of jeans my hands hit. I don’t bother with anything else. I fix my sights on Indigo and give her the stare down.
“I’m getting in the shower. I want you gone when I get out and st ay clear from me until you can remember the rules. They are simple so you should be able to get a grasp on them but until then, stay away.” I don’t raise my voice and I put no malice with them. I am calm and state it quietly.
“I just thought we had a good time. We always have a good time but you keep me at armslength.” I try to hold my calm with this woman but it is hard. I take a close look at her. Indigo is a beautiful woman. Too skinny for my taste but she can suck a cock like a pro and yes, I know how a pro sucks a cock. The closer I look I realize Indigo is young. Too damn young for my old ass. I try to keep calm. Indigo and her sister Teal haven’t been here that long but I hate breaking in new club pussy. They are all the same and never learn the rules.
“Let me save you a lot of grief her e, babe. I am not now or any time in the future looking for an ol’ lady and if I did it wouldn’t be a club girl all my brothers have fucked. I’m not trying to be an ass by saying this; it will just save us both time if you have that clear in your head. I will treat you no different than any other piece of ass in this clubhouse. There is nothing wrong with being a club girl if that is the life you choose but you need to learn your place. Makes it easier for us brothers. I will only tell you this once to not make the mistake of falling asleep in my bed again. We fuck and then you leave. You suck me off and then you leave. Same thing every time. I have been over this with you before. We may fuck more than once. We may fuck and then you suck me off or the other way around but in the end, you always leave. Now get your ass out of my room and stay clear of me until that sinks in. When I get out you better be on the other side of that door and it better be locked.” I don’t wait for Indigo to say anything. I know I wasted my breath but I tried being a nice guy, now she gets the real me. I slam the bathroom door and lock the door for good measure. I start the shower and wait until the room starts to fog over from the hot water. I grab the bar of soap and wash away another wasted night. I have been restless lately and I have no idea why. After the situation with THC Hempcan was settled, things have been quiet. We know it is only a matter of time before Douglas rears up again but for the time being it has been normal living, whatever the hell that is. We’ve been keeping eyes on Douglas and he is regrouping and taking on new players and one day we will have to put Douglas in the ground if one of his other business partners doesn’t do it first. We haven’t decided if it is easier to deal with the evil we know or an unknown evil but that is not what has me living on edge the last few weeks. The Feral Steel MC is not afraid of anything and neither am I. I don’t mind getting my hands bloody sometimes as compared to sitting in an office pushing papers around. Maybe that is it. Maybe I need to tell Devil to put me somewhere besides that damn gym I have been pushing papers around in. Don’t get me wrong it has its perks. I can work out any time I want to. I get to see the gym bunnies in their tight little shorts and barely-there tops. Those women are no better than the club girls except they hang around the gym instead the clubhouse. They crave the attention of the men that hang out in the gym. You can tell the difference of the women that go to the gym to work out to the ones that go there to get attention by what they wear. Then we have the middle-aged women that are trying to turn back the hands of time by getting a little action on the side by someone younger than the old man they have paying their bills. Cougars on the prowl. I don’t judge, I just observe and avoid any random hands that want a walk on the wild side with a random biker. It’s the bad boy syndrome. Right now, I am just tired of all the bullshit. I want to get on my bike and head to the first open road. I miss the runs we used to go on. We still have some runs for the community and the occasional security detail, but I need more. Maybe I just need to go back to the garage. At least then I am working with my hands. I shake my head as I rinse the shampoo out. I would never leave the Feral Steel. This is my home and my family. Maybe I just need a fucking vacation. I turn the water off and jerk the shower curtain back and grab my towel. It doesn’t take me long to dry and then take care the rest of my morning routine. I leave the bathroom and see that Indigo followed my directions and she is gone. I get my phone from the table and check the time. I still have plenty of time to grab a bite to eat before I am expected at the gym. I grab my jeans from the floor where I took them off last night and empty my pockets and put everything in the right place in my clean jeans. I open the closet and grab a t-shirt and slip it on and then my cut. I sit down and put on my socks and boots. Then I head out to find me something to feed my face. Coffee sounds good about now, who knows what today will bring.