Rake's Redemption (Wind Dragons Motorcycle Club)

by Chantal Fernando

NEXT weekend comes around faster than usual. Lana texted me a few days ago and asked if I could meet them at Rift, which was the last place I wanted to be. When I told her as much, she told me that we could meet at a bar called Knox’s Tavern instead. Tia offered to keep Cara for the night so I could go out and enjoy a night with my old friends. Still, I’m feeling a little unsure.

  I love Anna and Lana, but being with them brings back so many memories. Having them in my life brings back Adam. My Adam, not the biker badass known as Rake. The Adam I loved, before he broke me. I keep trying to find a love like what we shared, but it just never measures up. And it makes me hate him even more. I need to get over it, I know. But I’ve tried and I can’t. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get to the point where I can see him and not feel anything, good or bad. I wish I could.

  I’d love to see him and feel absolutely nothing, to be numb. For my heart not to race, for my chest not to get tight. For me to be able to breathe freely, not feel like tears are about to drip down my cheeks.

  Maybe one day.

  I glance at my reflection in my full-length mirror, looking from side to side. My dark hair is down and curled at the ends, and I’d done a red lip and winged eyeliner. My brown eyes are nothing special, but I’m lucky to be blessed with thick, long lashes. Lashes that Cara inherited from me. With a final inspection, I grab my black clutch and slip my feet into my black strappy high heels.

  Then, I call a taxi.

  * * *

  “Do they only hire sexy men here?” I ask with wide eyes, as I take in the hunks around me. “And twins. Seriously?”

  How are they real?

  Was being sexy a requirement for working here?

  Anna looks toward the bar and laughs. “I used to work here. Reid, Ryan, and Tag, they’re all good guys. Reid can be a pain in the ass though.”

  She says that fondly.

  “He can be a pain in my ass any time he likes,” I say, leaning my cheek on my palm and studying him from the safety of our booth. When Lana and Anna break out in laughter, I realize how what I just said could be interpreted. If you have a dirty mind, which these girls clearly do.

  “That isn’t what I meant,” I say, giggling. I then blurt out, “I’m still an anal virgin.”

  They laugh harder.

  I roll my eyes and suck on my straw, letting the chilled drink fill my mouth and slide down my throat. When I notice a rough-looking man standing by the door watching us, I ask, “Who is that guy?”

  Anna looks at the man and purses her lips. “That would be my compromise. Bringing him along was the only way the men would let us out without them.”

  “I see,” I reply, checking the man out. “He’s hot though.”

  Lana leans back in the booth and grins. “His name is Ronan; he was just patched in. The men have started calling him Shark, although no one will tell us why.”

  “So do you call him Ronan or Shark? It sounds confusing.”

  “We call him Ronan because we’re used to it,” Anna replies. “I don’t get the whole road-name thing either. There obviously aren’t any rules to it, because we still call Vinnie, Vinnie.”

  Lana’s brows furrow in though. “Vinnie’s road name is Wolf, didn’t you know that?”

  Anna looks confused, wrinkling her nose adorably. “How the hell do you know that?”

  Lana shrugs her shoulders, pushing her glasses up on her nose. “I pay attention when people talk.”

  “So do I,” Anna says easily. “I don’t know how I missed that. That’s interesting information.”

  “Yeah and his first name isn’t even Vinnie. Vincent is his middle name.”

  “What’s his first name then?” Anna asks, absorbing all the new information.

  “Tyler.”

  “Hmmm. I can’t picture him as anything except Vinnie,” Anna says.

  “I like your hair, Bailey,” Lana says, pointing to the curls at the ends.

  “Thanks,” I reply, lifting a curl between my fingers. “I thought I’d try something different.”

  “It looks good,” Anna agrees.

  The sex god with the scar on his face walks up to our table, and I try not to hyperventilate. His biceps are so sculpted, and I can almost see his six-pack through his white T-shirt. Or is that just my pervy imagination? His face is chiseled perfection too. The scar only adds to his appeal.

  I squirm on my seat.

  “Anna,” he says, lifting his chin, his firm lips twitching. “Back at the old stomping grounds, I see. What trouble will you be causing me tonight?”

  “None at all, Reid,” Anna replies with a grin, trying to look innocent and failing.

  “Right,” he murmurs, turning his attention to Lana. “You keep her in line for me, will you, Lana?”

  Lana nods her head. “Always.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Reid,” Anna says, rolling her eyes. “I see you’re your usual charming self.”

  Reid smirks in response. “You know me, I never change.”

  His gaze turns to me then. “And which one are you?”

  “Bailey,” I tell him, waving my fingers at him.

  His eyes narrow as he studies me. “You going to be a pain in my ass too?”

  The other girls giggle, obviously remembering our previous words. “Only if you want me to. Knowing these two though, probably.”

  Yeah, this is my awkward way of flirting.

  Reid actually grins then. It’s fucking devastating. He turns to Anna. “Why did you have to come here tonight of all nights? Next time call up and let me know you’ll be here so I can keep my ass at home.”

  “Why?” she replies, perking up and looking around the bar. “What’s happening tonight? Male dancers on the bar? A pole-dance show? Morning Alliance playing here? Oooh, that would be awesome.”

  Reid cringes and tells Anna to slide over so he can sit down.

  “None of the above. Summer decided she wants to have a weekly karaoke night.”

  “And it’s tonight?” Anna asks, doing a crazy little happy dance. “Fuck yeah! We’re all over that!”

  She glances at me. “Bailey?”

  “I’m in,” I look to Lana. “Lana?”

  She picks up her glass. “Few more of these and why the hell not?”

  Reid scrubs a hand down his face. “I’m going home early. I knew I shouldn’t have come in tonight. I told Summer that listening to people try to sing all night isn’t a fun time, but you know her.”

  Anna wraps an arm around him. “Aww, come on now, Reid. You can do a duet with me. It’ll be great. Where is Summer anyway? I haven’t seen her in ages, and I think we’re due for a catch-up.” She looks at me and explains, “Summer is Reid’s babe of a wife. She’s great; you’ll love her.”

  “She’ll be here in an hour or so,” he says, glancing down at his watch. “She keeps trying to come to work, and I keep telling her to stay home. We finally agreed on her only coming in during peak time and then going home to relax.”

  “Excellent,” Anna says, looking to me and Lana. “We should make this a weekly outing, girls. Karaoke night at Knox’s Tavern! We can bring Faye next time. She’ll love this shit.”

  We all cheer.

  “Try to keep your men at home,” Reid suggests, raising his eyebrow at Anna. “Generally where you are, they follow, and with them comes even more trouble.”

  “Oh, please, we’ve all been so good,” Anna says, waving her hand in the air. “Nothing’s been going on recently. I know you keep up to date with the gossip, Reid, so you would know.”

  “Men are such gossips,” I throw out there.

  “It’s true,” Lana agrees.

  “I own a bar,” Reid says drolly. “People like to talk. Unless it involves me or mine, I generally don’t give a shit, but yeah, I do hear a lot of stuff. That doesn’t mean I repeat it though.”

  Anna nods her head. “True. Hey, you know, you should host a ladies’ night with shirtless male waiters and male strippers.”

  “Y
ou’d probably make a heap of money,” Lana says, grinning. “We could come here for all the bachelorette parties.”

  “Maybe you could take your shirt off too,” I blurt out.

  Lana and Anna start laughing. Reid stands up and walks back to the bar, his shoulders slumped.

  Poor guy. I wouldn’t want to deal with us either.

  “Another round?” I ask, which is greeted by more cheers. I walk to the bar with a smile on my face. Some things don’t change; these two always knew how to have a good time. There’s something nice about going out with friends who actually care for you, ones who won’t leave you stranded at the end of the night. The only good friend I have is Tia, but one of us usually stays home with the kids, so we rarely get a night out together.

  “Can I get three screwdrivers, please?” I ask Reid’s twin.

  He smiles, eyes crinkling. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”

  His friendly demeanor gives off a completely different vibe than that of his brother. Reid makes you sit up straight; Ryan makes you want to relax in the chair.

  “Thank you,” I tell him as he starts to make the drinks. I open my bag and pull out a fifty-dollar bill.

  “It’s on the house,” he tells me, waving away the money.

  “Oh, no, I can’t,” I say, feeling a little awkward, but he just winks at me.

  “Anna and her friends get free drinks. It’s one of the rules,” he says in a no-nonsense tone.

  “That’s a terrible business decision,” I advise him, which makes him laugh.

  “It is, but sometimes life isn’t always about business, is it?” he says, eyes shining with humor.

  “I guess not,” I reply. “But I’d still feel better if you let me pay.”

  He just shakes his head. “Come on, I’ll help you carry the drinks.”

  He takes two glasses in his hands, and I carry the third back to the table.

  “What great service they have here,” Anna teases as Ryan places the drinks down. He sits down in the same place Reid did.

  “Best bar in town,” he replies with a smirk. “Haven’t seen you in a while, Anna. You’ve been ditching us for Rift, haven’t you? That hurts, Anna.”

  “You should be happy about that,” Anna says, bringing her glass toward her. “Less drama for you.”

  Ryan shrugs his broad shoulders. “Those sound like Reid’s words. I like it when things get a little interesting around here.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Anna murmurs, lifting her glass in the air. We clink our glasses together, then take sips. “Ryan, you met Bailey, right?”

  “Met her, didn’t know her name,” he says, nodding his head at me with a smile. He then looks back at Anna. “Where did you find this one? I always see you out with the same people, now all of a sudden you have a new friend?”

  “Why does everyone say that? Bailey is an old friend. We went to school together, actually,” Anna replies. “And she’s Rake’s ex-girlfriend. So he doesn’t need to know she was here.”

  Ryan grins. “See? Trouble. My lips are sealed. It’s not like I talk to Rake unless he comes in here anyway.”

  “I’m telling you just in case,” Anna says, stirring her drink with the straw.

  “Well in that case, noted. And how have you been, Lana?” he asks, turning his attention to her. “Punch any women in the face recently?”

  Anna slaps his arm. “Dude, don’t speak ill of the dead.”

  My eyes flare. “Wait, what?”

  “I’ll tell you later,” Lana says to me, sighing, then looks to Ryan. “Thanks for bringing that up, Ry. But I’m good. Same old. Why don’t you have a drink with us?”

  Ryan raises an eyebrow at Lana. “Trust me, I would, but it’s going to get busy as fuck any minute now and it wouldn’t be the greatest idea to get comfortable.”

  He kisses Anna on the cheek, then glances at me. “Hope you all have a good night. Let me know if anyone harasses you.” He smirks. “So I can send Reid.”

  We all laugh at that.

  He stands, then flashes us one last cheeky grin. “I expect to see you all on the microphone.”

  “You won’t be able to tear it away from us,” I tell him, then check out his ass when he walks away.

  Anna makes a sound of amusement. “He’s so very taken.”

  “The good ones usually are,” I say with a huff. “I can still look from afar. You guys are used to seeing all these men, but I’m still wondering where they all came from, and where they’ve all been hiding.”

  “The good ones are faithful,” Lana agrees, taking an ice cube out of her glass and placing it on her tongue. “All you can do is hope you can catch a man who will be the same to you—ridiculously loyal, physically and emotionally.”

  “The two of you have,” I say, trying to keep the wistfulness out of my voice and failing. They’d been telling me about their men all night. Who knew bikers were the way to go? It’s probably just these bikers, which makes the women even luckier. Would Adam and I be at a different place if we had that kind of trust between us? It’s going to be hard to completely trust a man again, because in my experience all they do is let you down in the end.

  “You’ll find someone worthy of you,” Lana says sincerely. “It happens when you least suspect it.”

  “Then bam!” Anna pipes up, slamming her fist on the table for emphasis. “He comes into your life and nothing is the same. He takes up every thought in your mind and there’s nowhere you’d rather be than in his arms.”

  Lana nods. “You’re a goner. Then you realize you never really stood a chance at all. If love is out to get you, you might as well stop trying to fight it and just go with it.”

  I roll my eyes. “I don’t think it’s going to happen for me, to be honest. I think I’m actually okay with that now though. But enough talk about me and my singleness, let’s have another drink and get ready to sing our asses off!”

  FOUR

  AFTER our terrible rendition of “Man Down” by Rihanna, we give up the microphone to others. I meet Summer and Taiya, Reid’s and Ryan’s wives. Both are so beautiful and charismatic, I can see why the men chose them over all others. They could clearly get any women they wanted, but they’re obviously in love with these two incredible ladies.

  “That was fucking horrible,” Reid says as we sit back down at our table. He sounds extremely amused, and I can tell that he really doesn’t mind the fact that we’re here, no matter how much he tries to pretend otherwise.

  “That was fucking great!” Summer disagrees, hugging her baby bump. She’s five months pregnant and dressed in a cute black baby-doll dress. After watching Reid with her all night, I feel a pang in my chest. He’s so protective yet sweet. Gruff, but to her he turns into someone completely different. Yeah, that’s love all right.

  “I’d like to see you do better,” Anna challenges back. Reid simply grins and shakes his head, wrapping his arm around Summer and affectionately kissing the top of her head.

  “Wouldn’t want to make you all look bad,” he says smoothly.

  “Cop out!” Anna calls out.

  “Come on, Reid,” Summer says to him. “We won’t even give you shit for how terrible you’re going to be.”

  He kisses her to shut her up and it works.

  We all try again to get Reid to get up onstage to sing, but he turns us down flat.

  “No way in hell I’m getting up there,” he says, standing up. “And my beautiful wife and I are going to make an exit before you guys get back up there again. I’m pretty sure Rihanna is fucking crying right now after hearing you annihilate her song.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Summer says, moving to the music. “I want to stay with the girls!”

  “Summer,” Reid says, waiting until she looks at him. “You’re pregnant and tired. Let’s go home and rest; you can see the girls another time. You know we can’t get rid of them, they’re bound to come back.”

  Summer glances at all our faces. “Will you come back and see me?”<
br />
  We all agree.

  “And I like the ladies’ night idea,” she says, winking.

  Reid groans and shoots Anna a look that promises retribution.

  Anna simply gives him a thumbs-up.

  The two of them head off, leaving us to our own devices.

  We’re talking about the good old days when Lana suddenly stands up and points. “Holy crap, look who’s here.”

  We all look in her line of sight.

  I see a tall, lean man with shaggy white-blond hair coming toward us. Next to him is a larger, scarier-looking man dressed in leather and sporting a Mohawk. As they come up to our table, I see the blond man has beautiful green eyes, while his friend’s are dark and ominous.

  “Talon!” Anna squeals, jumping into his arms. Talon wraps her in his embrace, his muscled, tattooed arms holding her almost tenderly. Who exactly is this Talon? I glance at Lana, but she’s too busy smiling up at the man. He lifts Anna in the air before putting her down, then hugs Lana.

  When he lets her go, he looks down at me. “And who do we have here? Did you two finally find a new friend?”

  Gently pulling me up from my chair, he pulls me against his chest. “I’m Talon.”

  Feeling a little awkward at being held by a complete stranger, yet oddly attracted to him, I look up at his face and say, “Nice to meet you. I’m Bailey.”

  “Slice, I’d say it’s nice to see you again, but that would be a lie,” I hear Anna tell Talon’s friend.

  Slice laughs deeply in return. “Don’t be like that, Anna.”

  “Let her go, Talon,” Anna chastises, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from him. “She’s off-limits.”

  “Ah, come on,” Talon grumbles. “You just made her forbidden. Do you know what that does to a man like me?”

  I look at Anna. “I thought you said no bikers were going to be here tonight beside our guard?” I look toward the door. “Speaking of . . .”

  Where is that guy?

  “I meant no Wind Dragons,” Anna replies, nodding her head at Talon. “These guys just seem to pop up everywhere.”

  My brow furrowing, I ask Talon, “You’re not a Wind Dragon?”

  Talon scoffs, sitting down next to me and laying his arm on the back of my chair. “Definitely not, gorgeous.”