Ryder: (A Gritty Bad Boy MC Romance) (The Lost Breed MC Book 1)

by Ali Parker

  “So, ready to get to work?” She asked uncertainly. She knew how to deal with asshole Cayden, or horn dog Cayden, but wasn’t sure how to react to the sudden distance, especially after what had happened between them the night before.

  “Yep.” He answered curtly, his sunglasses shading his eyes and Sophie found herself wishing that he would take them off so that she could see what was going on in their blue depths. Sophie opened her mouth, about to speak again but then stopped herself. She knew he didn’t do commitment. Hell, he didn’t even do relationships, but it was like the night before hadn’t even happened.

  She didn’t know what she’d been expecting but this cold indifference definitely hadn’t been it.

  “Well, my taxi’s here.” He said, breaking the tense silence that had fallen around them. “Good luck with your article.”

  "Yeah, you too," Sophie muttered after him, but she might as well have saved her breath. He was already out through the lobby doors and ducking into the waiting car. "I guess I'll just have to find my own way to the protest site.”

  It took her nearly twenty minutes to catch a cab in the crush of the weekend's protests, and by the time she finally did, Sophie was fuming. She should have known better when it came to Cayden, but she had expected…something. Anything. A firm handshake would have been better than the cold shoulder and downright rudeness he’d shown her back in the hotel lobby.

  She needed to put all thoughts of Cayden Ray aside and focus on the job in front of her. That was the most important thing now. She deserved that promotion, and she was going to go down swinging if she had to. She just needed to put all her attention on writing the best article of her career and leave all memories of the night before where they belonged, in the past.

  By the time she made it to the promenade where the protest was being held the streets were already filled with people marching and shouting slogans. With the thrill of the job rushing through her she leaped from the cab, her notebook already in hand as she dove head first into the thickest part of the protest.

  Sophie could practically feel the chaotic energy in the air, in the way the protester’s shouts grew angrier and angrier, spurred on by the mass of churning people waving signs and fists.

  She didn’t waste any time, leaping into the fray and writing furiously as she moved from protester to protester asking questions. The pages of her notebook filled with interview gold, the excitement of getting a good scoop on the story spurring her deeper into the mob. Before she even realized it, she was in the most furious part of the street.

  As if a switch had been hit, in an instant the feeling in the air changed, morphing from charged to downright dangerous. The shouts turned into war cries, and before Sophie could make it back to the safety of the sidelines, police swarmed the area driving the tension even higher.

  Everywhere she turned there were angry faces, their shouts filling her ears and she was lost in the middle of it. The police force on one side and the protesters on the other. Trapped with no way out.

  Her only thought was to get out of there with her notes intact, so she ran towards the officer in the blue uniform that had just stepped out of a sheriff's car. Sophie had just opened her mouth to ask for help in getting outside the perimeter of the protest turned riot when a sickeningly sharp pain stabbed into the side of her just above her left temple.

  Sophie didn’t have time to scream, didn’t have time to do anything except watch the pavement come up to meet her a snap second before her whole world went black.

  Chapter 7

  Cayden

  Cayden paced the hospital waiting room nervously. He was pretty sure he'd worn tracks into the old linoleum tiles from walking back and forth so much. He glanced at the clock. He'd been at the hospital for over an hour, and still, his anger hadn't faded.

  He could still see it clearly whenever he closed his eyes. He’d been walking the safety perimeter of the protest, interviewing one of the city workers that had been there when he’d heard the shift as the crowd of protesters had grown louder, angrier sounding. Cayden had been on the front lines of these types of things often enough to know that that change never meant anything good.

  He had just started to fall back even further when a squadron of police had shown up, throwing fuel onto the already unstable fire. And that's when he'd seen it. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd caught sight of a brunette with a messy bun on the top of her head. Sophie! And she was smack dab in the middle of the worst of it. Cayden couldn’t believe his eyes at first, was furious that she’d put herself in danger like that just to get a story.

  From where he was standing by the perimeter he had a perfect view of one angry protester. He'd bent down and picked up a large rock, threw back his arm while shouting something about the cops and then hurled it through the air. The protester had thrown it in the direction of a police officer, but at the last minute, Sophie had stepped directly in its path.

  He'd watched the rock hit her on the side of the head, and he'd watched her fall to the pavement. Before he had even realized what he was doing, Cayden had rushed head long into the fray. The riot was growing even more dangerous, but he didn't stop, he didn't slow down until he reached Sophie's side. He was terrified she was going to get trampled by the outraged crowd.

  The only reason she hadn’t been trampled was that Cayden had been able to get to her in time and pull her away from the chaos. He had carried her, still and unconscious, outside the perimeter of the protest and called 911.

  While waiting for the ambulance, he'd caught sight of the guy who'd thrown the rock that hit Sophie and Cayden had just reacted. He'd grabbed him, landing a few solid punches to the asshole's smug face before delivering him to a nearby officer and explaining what happened. Somehow, seeing him arrested and shoved into the back of a police cruiser did nothing to ease the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  Sophie was still unconscious by the time the ambulance made it through the crowd of people and Cayden refused to leave her side, riding with her as they made their way to the nearest hospital.

  Cayden glanced over at the nurse’s station, wondering when he’d be able to go in and see her. The doctor had told him she would be just fine. She’d had to get a few stitches and had a mild concussion that would keep her in the hospital overnight. But he couldn’t get the image of her, lying there unmoving and unconscious, out of his head.

  With a sigh, he glanced down at the cell phone he had clutched in one hand. It wasn't his; it was Sophie's. While he was waiting, he'd made phone calls to Sophie's parents to let them know what had happened, that their daughter was okay but would be held in the hospital for a day or so.

  Sophie’s father, Frank, had been adamant that they would fly out to D.C. as soon as they could, but Cayden knew the Midwest was getting hit with a pretty severe storm that had delayed flights already. Frank had asked him if he would stay with Sophie and without thinking, Cayden had agreed. And now he was stuck there.

  He had one more phone call to make, a call he was dreading but dealing with Harry was like ripping off a band aid sometimes. Better just to get it over with as quick and painless as possible.

  Reluctantly he pulled his own phone out and hit the number to reach Harry at his office. It was the best way to contact him. Harry never answered his cell. It rang a few times, and then Harry's gruff voice answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Harry, It’s Cayden.”

  "Cayden! Glad to hear from you. Been keeping an eye on the riots. Things are turning pretty nasty. Nice to know you're safe and sound."

  Cayden swallowed hard at Harry’s words. That sick feeling was still sitting heavy and tight in the pit of his stomach.

  "Boss, that's what I'm calling about. Sophie got hurt in the midst of the protest," where she shouldn’t have been in the first place, he added silently, "I'm at the hospital with her now. She's got a concussion, and they want to keep her overnight but the Doctor says she'll be just fine in a few days. Listen, I reached ou
t to her parents, and they're on their way. I really would love to fly back to New York–."

  “No, Cayden,” Harry said, interrupting in his characteristic curt manner, “Stay there with Sophie until her family gets there. Got it?”

  It was odd, but Cayden almost felt relieved at Harry’s words. After the attack, Sophie had looked so vulnerable. So fragile. Words that he’d never attached to the inimitable Sophie Stone before. He felt close to her, now, but he also felt the sick feeling of guilt. He should have been with her. He should have watched out for her.

  “Yeah, I got it, Harry.” Cayden finally said before hanging up the phone and letting it slowly fall, still lost in his thoughts. They drifted back to the night before like they had all damn day.

  By the time Cayden got back to Sophie's hospital room, she was just waking up. Groggy, but at least conscious now and with some color back in her cheeks as she looked around her in confusion. He stepped into the room and cleared his throat to let her know he was there and she gasped, drawing the white blanket up to cover her hospital gown clad body. He couldn’t help the rough chuckle that was surprised out of him.

  “You don’t have to hide from me,” he said as he walked to the side of her bed. “I’ve already seen everything, remember?”

  "Not really," Sophie said with a pout hanging on her lips that he felt the sudden, desperate urge to kiss away. He cleared his throat again, more disturbed by the impulse than he wanted to admit.

  "Well, let me fill you in. You rushed into the middle of a violent protest, like an idiot and got hit in the head with a rock aimed at a cop standing next to you. You were knocked unconscious, and I saved you from being trampled to death. You were rushed here in an ambulance. You had to get four stitches and have a mild concussion, but the doctor wants to keep you here overnight just to make sure. Oh, and your parents are on their way. I think that should pretty much bring you up to speed."

  “That’s…that was…”

  “Dumb? Idiotic? The stupidest thing you’ve ever done in your life?” Cayden blurted in a rush earning him a wincing glare from Sophie.

  "I was going to say that was terrible. I've worked in war zones and have never gotten hurt. Step into one little protest, and I get knocked unconscious by a rock."

  “What were you thinking, rushing into the middle of something like that? What were you trying to prove anyway?” Cayden asked, his tone softening as her expression grew more upset.

  “I wanted to write a killer story, that’s all. I didn’t realize where I was until it was too late and then I couldn’t get back out to the safety line. Oh shit, Harry!”

  "It's okay, I already called him too." Cayden couldn't stop himself from reaching out and sweeping a stray lock of hair away from her cheek and behind her ear. She looked at him then, with those too big, too serious gray eyes of hers and he felt a moment of vertigo. Whoa, slow down there player.

  Cayden drew away his hand as if burned, tucking his still tingling fingers behind his back as he took a step away from the bed, and her. He needed to put some distance between them.

  "Wait, will you…will you stay?" Sophie asked, freezing him on the spot. He made the mistake of looking into her vulnerable gaze again, and it was all lost.

  "Yeah, sure. I'll stay until your family gets here. I promise." Cayden didn't know what made him add those last two words, but he spoke quickly to try and cover it up, "Why don't you try and get some rest, okay? You're going to have one hell of a headache."

  "Thank you," Sophie said, so softly that he had to lean even closer to hear her. "Thank you for saving me from getting trampled. That is definitely not my preferred way to die. I mean it Cayden, thank you.”

  Cayden found himself clearing his throat one more time, this time to try and dislodge the sudden lump of emotion that was wedged there. He waved away her words as casually as he could. “You don’t have to thank me, Sophie.”

  “Yes, I do.” She blinked up at him with heavy lids. Whatever medication they had her on was obviously still taking its toll. “My hero.”

  “I’m nobody’s hero, Sophie Stone. You remember that.” He whispered roughly, but the words were lost on her. She was already fast asleep.

  Chapter 8

  Sophie

  Sophie woke to the worst headache she'd ever had in her life. It was like someone was trying to drive a jackhammer through her skull and the high-pitched piercing ringtone wasn't helping. Every single note sent another sharp wave of pain stabbing through her from her bruised temple all the way to the tip of her toes and back.

  She didn't know what time it was or what day it was, but as she looked around the hospital room, it rushed back in a tidal wave of fuzzy memories. She remembered the protest, the angry mob erupting in violence and then Cayden, saving her. His actions were so at odds with the distant attitude. She didn't know what to make of it. She did know if she didn't get her hands on that ringing cell phone soon, and preferably with a sledge hammer, she was pretty sure her head was going to explode all over the sanitary white hospital room and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

  "Jesus, alright already." Cayden's deep, and very annoyed, grumble reached her from the other side of the room, and she could just make out his shadow slumped in the uncomfortable arm chair that had been shoved in the corner. Her chest tightened with an unfamiliar emotion as she realized that he'd kept his promise. He'd stayed there with her. He had slept in that hard chair all night, for her.

  With an impressive string of curses, Cayden grabbed the ringing atrocity and answered it with a sharp stab of his finger.

  "Hey, do you have any idea…Yes, I know I'm not Sophie, thanks for that little nugget of information…No, I don't care who…This is a hospital! You shouldn't be calling at this hour…Absolutely no way in hell…Hold on a minute.” Those last few words sounded defeated as Cayden walked over towards the bed. He held the phone out, looking exhausted and more than a little grumpy. “It’s Blair. I’m going to get some coffee.”

  Sophie took the phone, feeling an electric thrill as her and Cayden’s fingers brushed, despite everything that had happened.

  "Thanks." She whispered. It was all she could manage without making the pounding in her head any worse. Gingerly, she held the cell phone to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Sophie! Sophie, oh my god I was so worried!” Blair’s loud exclamation had her wincing and drawing the phone a few more inches away from her ear. She watched Cayden shuffle zombie-like from the room before answering.

  "I'm okay, Blair." Sophie lied. Between what had happened with Cayden the night before, and then at the protest, she was feeling pretty far from fine, but she didn't even know where to start explaining that to her friend. She wouldn’t know what to say even if she wanted to.

  “You’re not. I can hear it in your voice, Soph.”

  She should have known that Blair would be able to figure her out. She always knew when Sophie was lying.

  "What happened? We were watching the protests at the office and saw the violence break out, then a few hours later Harry tells us all that you were hurt in the riots and that Cayden was there or something, but he wouldn't spill any details so I've just been pacing my apartment worried sick about you and then Cayden of all people answered your phone–."

  "I'm still at the hospital, Blair," She quickly interrupted her friend's tirade before Blair could ask any questions that Sophie wasn't ready to answer just yet. "Cayden was the one who brought me here. He's staying with me until my folks can get here, that's all."

  "Yes, but what happened? I mean, Harry wouldn't tell us anything except that you were hurt and it sounded like Cayden rushed in and saved you? I’m still not sure I believe that part. Please, just tell me that you are going to be okay."

  “I promise you I’m going to be fine,” Sophie took a deep breath as memories of the riot rushed back. “I was interviewing some of the protesters, and things got a little out of hand–."

  "A little out of hand? Honey, you ended up in the hospital. I would ca
ll it a bit more than that."

  “Well, it was an accident really,” Sophie tried to explain, “Someone tried to throw a rock at a cop, and it hit me instead. I got knocked unconscious and had to get a few stitches but I swear, I am okay. The doctor said I have a concussion which is the only reason they kept me overnight. I am going to be just fine. I've just got a little headache, that's all."

  “You swear you feel alright?”

  "I swear, Blair. I feel fine. Just a little tired." And in pain, scared, overwhelmed, and confused as hell about Cayden. But she kept those last ones to herself. She didn’t want to upset her friend any more than she already was. The last thing she needed was impulsive Blair deciding to hop on a flight to D.C.

  “So, what happened after you got hit?” Blair asked and Sophie’s brows furrowed at the question.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, how did you get out of that mob? We saw it on the news, Soph. It was bad. Really bad.”

  Sophie let her eyes fall shut again. After she got knocked unconscious, there was nothing but a black void, but she did remember coming to for just a second in the ambulance and seeing Cayden's worried face staring down at her.

  “It was Cayden. He, uh, he saw what happened and rushed in and got me out of there. He saved me.”

  “Huh, I never would have pegged Cayden Ray as a knight in shining armor type, at least not if there wasn’t something for him waiting at the end of it. Preferably female and willing.”

  Her friend's offhand comment hit a little too close to home, and she wasn’t ready to untangle her feelings about what had happened, let alone try and explain them to Blair.

  "Listen, Blair, I've got to go." Sophie said quickly, taking the coward’s way out as she tried to get off the phone before her friend could ask any more difficult questions.