Batta
Blackwings MC - Devil Springs - Book Four
Teagan Brooks
Contents
Acknowledgments
Note from the Author
Prologue
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Epilogue
Bonus Scene
Special Mentions
Playlist
About the Author
Also by Teagan Brooks
Copyright © 2020 Teagan Brooks
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
The only legal means of acquiring this eBook is through Amazon, Amazon KU, Amazon’s lending program, or if someone gifts it to you through Amazon. If you acquire it in any other way, you have stolen it, and I hope it came with a virus.
Adult Content Warning: This book is intended for readers 18 years old and older due to sexual content, explicit language, and violence.
Acknowledgments
Cover Design: C.T. Cover Creations
Cover Model: Hank Meyer
Cover Photographer: FuriousFotog
Proofreading and Copyediting: Kathleen Martin
Content and Developmental Editing: Rogue Readers
Special thanks to Kathleen Martin, Melissa Rivera, Tina Workman, Jennifer Ritch, Jenna Sage, Katherine Smith, Brittany Franks, Courtney Lynn Rose, and Jamie Hensley.
To my Guinness.
I miss you.
Blurb
Batta
At this stage in my life, I want nothing more than to settle down. I want an Old Lady and I want to start a family. Too bad my gut is telling me the woman I want more than anything is trouble looking for a place to happen. Tatum is my match in every way. She's intelligent, sassy, and isn't afraid to stand toe-to-toe with me. And she’s sexy as sin. Half the time I don't know if I'm infuriated with her or just that turned on. But Tatum has secrets. And I'll be damned if harm will come to my club because of her. Lies and secrets took my mother, but I won't let them take my current family. But none of that stops me from wanting Tatum so bad it hurts.
Tatum
Part of my job is keeping secrets. That’s nothing new for me and my sister. My career and her lack of luck in love puts us smack dab in the middle of a major kidnapping case—leaving the authorities no choice but to relocate us. With new identities in place, we end up in Devil Springs, right next door to a business owned by the local bikers—the Blackwings MC. As much as we need to ignore these men, circumstances beyond our control force us into their orbit, and then into their world. As if that wasn’t enough, the club Enforcer, Batta, sparks a fire in me that I wasn’t expecting. Now, I’m forced to continue lying to someone about who I am and what I do, when all I want to do is tell him truth. But my honesty could mean blowing the case and putting my sister's life at risk—not to mention jeopardizing his.
Note from the Author
Trey is a common nickname for the third person in a family to have the same name. Batta’s name in Jace Ryder Wild III, but he went by Trey until he was given his road name.
Prologue
Thirteen Years Ago
“Mom, I’m going out with Copper, Bronze, and Jonah,” I called as I headed out the door.
“Just a minute,” she called out as she quickly walked down the hall. “You boys behave yourselves. Call me or one of the other moms if you need a ride home.” She’d been saying those exact words to me every time I left the house on a Friday or Saturday night since I started high school.
“We will. I promise.”
“Good,” she said and wrapped her arms around my waist. “I love you.”
Since I’d long outgrown her, I held her against my chest and kissed the top of her head. “I love you, too, Mom.”
“Your dad called a little while ago. He’ll be home in a few hours, so I’m going to go over to Sarah’s and watch a movie with her. I left a note for him on the kitchen table, but he might not see it, so let him know if he calls you.”
Sarah was our next-door neighbor. When she first moved in, she kept to herself; we didn’t even know she was there for the first few months. Mom ran into her at the mailbox one day, and they’d been friends ever since. Something about the woman bothered me, but Dad was happy that Mom had a friend close by. Between his responsibilities for the club and his job, Dad was gone more often than he was home. Mom had friends in the club, particularly Goldie and Leigh, but both of them lived on the other side of town and Mom didn’t like to drive at night.
“Have fun. We shouldn’t be too late,” I told her and hugged her once more before I left.
The party we went to was boring as hell, so we left and went back to Jonah’s house and started a small bonfire in the backyard. We were about ready to call it a night when we heard bikes in the distance. A lot of bikes. And they were headed in our direction.
Jonah jumped up and took off toward the house in a full sprint. I completely froze when I was hit with a weird sense of déjà vu. The year before, the four of us were standing in the parking lot after school when we heard the rumble of multiple motorcycles approaching. That was the day Jonah’s dad died.
Copper grabbed my shoulder and gave it a firm shake. “Come on, man. Something must be wrong.”
His words were enough to get me moving and I followed him to the house. Leigh was in the kitchen pacing and wringing her hands. “I don’t know anything. Hawk called and asked if you boys were here. As soon as I said yes, he told me not to let you leave and hung up.”
“What do you think it is?” Jonah whispered.
“There’s no sense in speculating. They’ll be here in a few minutes and we’ll know.”
Those few minutes seemed like an eternity. Copper and Bronze’s dad, Hawk, came through the door with a grim look on his face. His officers were right behind him with matching expressions.
We were all frozen in place, anticipating the delivery of devastating news. And then his eyes landed on me. “Trey,” he croaked and attempted to clear the emotion from his throat. “Have a seat, son.”
I shook my head. “Tell me now. Mom or Dad?”
Hawk dropped his head and clenched his hands into fists. “Your mother.”
“Is she…?” Bronze whispered.
“I’m sorry,” Hawk rasped.
For a few seconds, everything stopped. My heart. My breath. My life. Then, it all came rushing
back and hit me like a sledgehammer when Leigh’s heart-wrenching scream filled the air.
My mother was gone.
Mom.
Dead.
The crushing pain in my chest was too much. I couldn’t breathe. I needed air. I needed to get the fuck out of that room.
Jumping to my feet, I ran for the door. Copper tried to stop me, but he was no match for the rage and hurt coursing through me. Shoving him out of the way, I ran for my truck and grabbed my bat from the bed. The next few minutes were a blur of wood swinging, glass breaking, and metal crushing as I roared like a wild beast into the night with each hit I landed. Tears blinded my vision, but the rage wanted out, so I kept swinging.
I could have continued beating the hell out of my truck, and anything else that got in front of me, for hours, because the anger was keeping the pain at bay. I don’t know how long I went at it, but my bat finally splintered into useless pieces of wood, and I collapsed to the ground. Hawk dropped down beside me, wrapped his arms around me, and held me while the pain, anger, and complete devastation destroyed me. One by one, Copper, Bronze, and Jonah joined Hawk on the ground, and the four of them tried to hold me together.
“We’ve got you,” Copper promised. “We’ve always got you.”
They stayed with me until I could finally speak. “Dad?” I asked.
“We’re trying to find him,” Hawk told me.
“Does he know?”
“He does. He was the one who found her, and he was the one to call it in. He disappeared after the police arrived. We thought maybe he was on his way to you but realized that wasn’t the case when we talked to Leigh.”
“I don’t know what to do,” I confessed.
“The only thing you need to do right now is get in the car with my boys and come to the clubhouse. Jonah and Leigh are coming, too. The club will take care of everything else.”
“Okay,” I agreed dazedly. I felt like I was in a fog, and the pain where my heart used to be was trying to consume me. I couldn’t even begin to make my body execute the most basic functions. My best friends, who were more like my brothers, helped me to my feet. With Copper on one side and Judge on the other, they carried me to the truck and climbed in the back with me, while Bronze drove us to the clubhouse. Then, they stayed by my side and held me up during the darkest time of my life.
Days passed, and Dad was still missing. Even though no one would say it, we all knew what he was doing; we just didn’t know where he was doing it.
As it turned out, our new neighbor, Sarah, had an abusive husband she’d finally managed to get away from…until he found her. And my mother was caught in the crossfire. Sarah’s husband kicked in the front door and shot my mother, killing her instantly. Sarah’s death was not as quick, and it was much more horrifying.
My father disappeared the moment he learned who the main suspect was. Hell, the man didn’t even try to hide his identity. He left the gun in the house along with fingerprints all over the place. The cops knew who they were looking for within thirty minutes of being on the scene.
The detectives hadn’t been able to find a single trace of the man, and I had no doubt it was because my father found him first and was making him pay for killing my mother.
Three days after my world was shattered, my dad walked into the clubhouse and came straight for me. He wrapped me in a bear hug and told me how sorry he was. He asked me to make sure my mother’s funeral would be as beautiful as she was. Then, he walked out the door and got on his bike.
Hours later, I learned that he rode straight to the police station and turned himself in for the murder of Sarah’s husband. Since he spent three days torturing him in ways that made my skin crawl to even think about before he finally ended the man’s life, all chances of pleading temporary insanity were gone.
Hawk’s uncle, Tommy Black, was a lawyer and did everything he could to help. He didn’t have a lot to work with, but he was able to get the charges reduced to second-degree murder. Even still, Dad was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
I never returned to the house where I grew up. I stayed at the clubhouse or with Jonah until Dad was sentenced. Then, I permanently moved in with Leigh and Jonah.
After losing my mother, my father, and the only home I ever knew, my entire world was shattered, and the entire course of my life was completely off track. All because a woman with secrets moved in next door.
Prologue
Two Months Ago
“I need help, Tatum,” my sister whispered into the phone. “Right now.” I could tell she was crying, but the blatant fear and panic in her voice sent chills down my spine.
“I’m on my way. Tell me what’s going on,” I instructed.
“You need to bring your friends and come now,” she whispered. “I have to go.”
“No! Josie, don’t hang up!” I shouted, but she was already gone.
“Dave! Let’s go,” I yelled to my partner as I grabbed my keys. “Jack, you and Matt follow us.”
Dave took the keys from my hand. “You tell me where we’re going, and I’ll drive.”
“My sister’s house,” I said shakily. “I don’t know what’s wrong. She just said she needed help and that I should bring my friends.” I took in a deep breath and tried to ignore the dread swelling inside me. “I’ve never heard her like that. She sounded…terrified.”
On the way there, I drove myself crazy trying to figure out what could possibly be wrong. If it was a home invasion, she would’ve called 9-1-1, not me. I immediately discounted a domestic dispute as the reasoning. My sister’s extremely wealthy husband was…disinterested at best. I never understood why she married him. They didn’t seem to be in love, but she said she was happy and swore he was good to her. Personally, I thought he married her for appearances. Regardless of their reasoning, I couldn’t complain; he spent a lot of time traveling for work, which meant I got to spend a lot of time with my sister.
My thoughts were interrupted minutes later when we arrived at the mansion Sheldon bought right after he and Josie were married. I thought the place was an ostentatious eyesore, but my sister loved it; so, I kept my opinions to myself.
Dave pulled into the driveway, and I jumped out of the car before it completely came to a stop. “Tatum!” he hissed. “If you want to help your sister, you need to stop thinking with your heart and follow your training.”
Fuck. He was right, but my sister was inside, and she needed me. In a very uncharacteristic move, I conceded. “You take the lead.”
With guns drawn and ready, we approached the house and started to check the perimeter. The two gunshots that sounded from somewhere inside the house had me breaking protocol and running for the front door. With a burst of adrenaline, I opened the door with my booted foot and barreled inside.
I followed the sound of a scuffle to the partially open door that led to the basement. Just as I was about to open it fully, someone running up the stairs plowed into my chest and immediately began to fight against me.
With a brief glance at the small woman, I dismissed her as a threat and shoved her out of my way so I could see what was going on in the basement.
I rushed down the stairs and stopped dead in my tracks. My sister and her husband were lying motionless on the floor as a pool of blood formed around them. Sheldon’s injury was obvious, but I couldn’t immediately see where Josie was hurt.
“Nooooooo!” I screamed. “No! Oh, please, no! Josie! I need help! Fuck! Somebody help me!” I wailed while I frantically tried to search my sister’s body for a wound.
Large hands landed on my shoulders and tried to pull me away. “Let me help her,” Dave said softly. “Go upstairs, Tatum. You don’t need to see this.”
“I’m not leaving her,” I cried.
“That girl up there needs a woman to help her. Go!”
I twisted and shoved him away as hard as I could. “I’m not leaving her,” I cried and didn’t bother to wipe away the tears clouding my vision.
“Josie! Wa
ke up!” I screamed and started to shake her limp body.
“Tatum!” Dave roared in a tone I’d never heard from him before as Jack physically separated me from my sister. “Go upstairs!”
“No!” I yelled, kicking and thrashing against Jack.
Dave slapped his hands together millimeters from my nose, effectively stunning me long enough for him to speak. “I won’t help her unless you go upstairs and see to the other woman.”
I snarled and briefly considered kicking a man I adored and respected in the balls, but then Jack whispered in my ear. “Go get the answers we need from the woman upstairs. Do it for your sister.”
And that did it. For my sister, I went into work mode and climbed the stairs with a fierce determination. Come hell or high water, I would find out who was responsible for this mess, and they were going to pay.
When I reached the kitchen, Matt was standing off to the side keeping his eyes on a woman curled into a ball in the far corner. “Local PD will be arriving any minute now.”
Batta (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 4) Page 1