Line Of Fire

by KB Winters

  He gave me another smile and a soft kiss. Then he turned back to his phone and pressed call, putting it on speaker as it started to ring on the other end of the line. I felt his body tense up a bit when it was connected on the second ring.

  “Aidan,” came Flynn’s voice. “I had a feeling you’d be calling. Good to hear from ya, brother.”

  “It’s good to hear your voice too, Flynn,” he said. “I’ve been worried sick about ya.”

  I took hold of Aidan’s other hand and gave it a squeeze. I could tell he was nervous, though I wasn’t sure why.

  “No need to worry, mate,” he said. “I’m living a good life out here.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Aidan said.

  “You and Maggie need to come out for a visit soon,” he said. “Stay for a little while, and we can catch up.”

  Aidan looked over at me, and I saw the questions in his eyes. How did Flynn know about us?

  “How did you—”

  Flynn’s laughter cut him off. “I’ve been keeping tabs on ya, brother,” he said, “and from what I understand, you’re developing into a fine leader of men.”

  Aidan smiled and shook his head. “I’m just keeping your seat warm,” he said.

  “No, brother,” Flynn replied, “you’re carving out your own niche. You’re making the syndicate your own, and I couldn’t be prouder.”

  “But I have the proof that you’re innocent,” Aidan said. “You can come back and take your rightful spot at the head of the table.”

  Flynn laughed softly. “I’m afraid that time has passed, brother,” he said. “I appreciate you working so hard on my behalf, but I don’t intend to come back. I’ve built something new out here, and I’m happy.”

  Aidan leaned back on the couch, a look of stunned disbelief on his face. He looked as if his every waking nightmare was becoming a reality—and yet, I could see a small sliver of relief in his eyes. Maybe not every piece of him wanted to give up leadership.

  “So, what are you saying, Flynn?” Aidan asked.

  “I’m saying that you are the head of the whole organization. I’m never setting foot in Chicago again if I can help it. The job and the city are yours, brother. Treat it well.”

  I squeezed Aidan’s hand a little harder and kissed the back of it. He looked at me with an expression that was inscrutable. I couldn’t tell if he was happy or terrified by the news.

  “I also meant it when I said I want you and Maggie to come out and spend a little time with me,” he said. “I want to get to know this wonderful woman who puts up with you and spend some time with my little brother, of course. We need to make that happen very soon, brother.”

  “We will,” Aidan said, sounding almost numb.

  “Brilliant,” Flynn replied. “Listen, I have to run, but call me soon. Let’s get something set up. I want to catch up with you. It really has been too long.”

  “Aye. It has,” Aidan said. “And I will.”

  “Then we’ll speak again soon.”

  “Aye. Love you, little brother.”

  The call was disconnected, and Aidan sat there staring at the phone in his hand for a few minutes. Finally, he tossed the phone onto the couch next to him and stared off into the distance.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  He nodded. “I’m fine,” he said. “I’m just trying to wrap my head around all of this. I can’t believe he’s not coming back.”

  “It doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” I said.

  He sighed. “I don’t know how I’m going to balance being a lawyer—an officer of the court—with the things the syndicate is engaged in.”

  I shrugged. “You learn to delegate,” I said, “and maybe you start steering the brotherhood in a different direction. Maybe in time, find a way to take them legit.”

  He laughed. “I don’t know if I can ever pull that off. I don’t know if the syndicate is built to ever be legit.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” I said. “One way or another, we’ll find a way to balance these two halves of your life. We’ll figure it out…together.”

  Aidan looked at me and smiled. “With all this uncertainty and how terrified I am to face it, I’m glad I’m not facing it alone,” he said. “You are my rock and that beacon of light in the darkness for me, Mags. I don’t know how I ever got by without you before, but I’m glad I don’t have to do any of this alone.”

  We sat there for a few minutes, marveling in being together. My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my purse. It was a text from Maya.

  Where’s my man, girl?

  I’d forgotten she approved of Gary, and I needed to get him her phone number. “Baby?”

  “Mmm-hmm?”

  “Is Gary outside? I have a phone number I need to give to him.” I giggled, remembering the conversation we’d had about Maya.

  He picked up his phone and slid his finger across the screen. “Here, text it to him.”

  I took the phone and sent him a message. She said yes, have fun and you owe me one! 555-0123

  “Done!” I gave him a soft, chaste kiss and smiled at him. “I love you, Aidan O’Brien.”

  “And I love you. Margaret Burke.”

  We stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment and everything around us seemed to fall away—Amon, the syndicate, Flynn, everything. All that mattered was us. The life we were going to build together. No matter what we had to do, no matter how this all played out, I had hope. I was optimistic. Because I knew that whatever happened—good or bad—we’d do it together.

  * * * *

  ~ T H E E N D ~

  Wow! I hope you loved Aidan and Mags as well! Turn the page for a sneak peek of Mick!

  Mick Sneak Peek

  A Military MC Romance

  By KB Winters

  Copyright © 2017 BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC

  Published By: BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Prologue

  Talon – One month ago

  My father was dead. To be fair, I thought my dad had been dead all of my twenty-three years because that was what my mom had told me. She said he died before I was born and had no family. So, it had always been just the two of us. Mom and me against the world. No father for me unless you count mom’s string of boyfriends who had no use for a curious little girl in need of male attention.

  Obviously, that was all a lie because I finally sat down with the baby faced lawyer in the expensive blue suit who’d been hounding me for weeks to learn that my father had actually died less than a year ago. Nine months to be exact. How could I not feel it? How could I not know that while I wished and prayed for some kind of family as my mom lay dying in the cancer ward, someone else had been out there? He’d been looking for me my whole life.

  And only months after his death had he succeeded. Damn. Actually, the lawyer told me a friend of my dad felt compelled to finish the search after his death and that right there turned me into a hot mess of emotions because that kind of friendship was rare. Special.

  I had so many mixed up thoughts and feelings about all the information that had just been dumped on me, and I j
ust sat on the wall overlooking Lake Michigan to try and clear my mind. Sometimes the cool breeze off the water helped, but I had a feeling nothing could help me now. And the worst part about it? My mom wasn’t here anymore, so I couldn’t ask her why she kept me from him. Why she denied me a father. I didn’t know if I wanted to scream, puke or cry.

  At first, I thought maybe she’d been afraid of him, but as I remembered the things she’d told me—he fixed motorcycles, had a great laugh, played the guitar like a pro—I realized that she still loved him. Even years after fleeing and hiding from him, she loved him. So why, Mom?

  Sliding off the wall, I made my way back to the parking garage a few blocks away and decided I’d give my boyfriend, Damon, a chance to help me figure things out. According to the lawyer, my dad Magnus Ashbee—funny how we still had the same last name—spent the past thirty years in a small California town along the Mexican border called Brently. He owned a house on a few acres of land plus a diner, and now it was all mine.

  If I was ready to step up and claim it.

  By the time I made it home, I was no closer to a decision. I couldn’t deny a certain amount of interest about my dad’s life all these years. Did he have a wife or other children? Did I have brothers and sisters? Was he happy? Did he hate Mom for hiding from him all these years? The curiosity burned in my gut with the need to know.

  I probably should’ve been paying more attention because I didn’t even notice my best friend Abby’s car in the drive, though her teal hobo bag lay across the sofa and her laughter rang out from the kitchen. With a smile at the laughter I heard, I shrugged off my jacket and hung it up then followed the laughter. No, not the laughter I corrected as my eyes settled on the scene before me. Giggles. Abby was fucking giggling. With her bare legs wrapped around Damon’s waist while he sank his cock inside her.

  “Guess you weren’t expecting me home so soon.”

  Both of the lying, cheating cowards froze. Probably worried about how I might react. “Talon, babe let me explain. Shit!” Damon gave me that slick salesman smile that I fucking loathed. In that moment, I hated it more than I ever had.

  I pushed my palm into the air and pinched my eyes closed, tamping down the fury of rage that fired through me. I heard the unmistakable sound of bodies untangling and forced my eyes open as Damon pulled out of Abby. Raw, I might add. “I’m not really interested in anything you have to say. Put your dick away and get out. Both of you.”

  Abby slid off my kitchen table with her bare ass and stood in front of me, contrition shining in her traitorous green eyes. “Talon, we just got carried away—ow! What the fuck?” Now anger shone, and I dared her to retaliate, to give me a reason to give her the beat down she really fucking deserved.

  Yeah, I’m not ashamed to say I slapped the shit out of her. “I don’t give a shit what you have to say, you rotten skank. Get the fuck out and don’t come back.” When she didn’t move fast enough I pushed her, causing her head to slam against the wall. I had zero fucks left to give. “Go!”

  “Talon baby, calm down. It was just a mistake.” Damon smiled that pop star grin, a flop of blond hair hanging over one eye.

  I smiled at him and cupped his jaw. He really was a beautiful man with blond hair and clear baby blue eyes, but apparently, he had a slippery cock, and I didn’t share. “I doubt it was a mistake,” I told him as I raked my nails down his left cheek. “And I doubt it was the first time. What’s more—I don’t give a fuck. Get out, and don’t come back,” my voice tremored with anger.

  “Ow, you crazy bitch! My face!” He held his cheek as blood trickled to the surface, and I smiled proudly. It’ll be hard for him to go into the office tomorrow with those marks on his pretty little face. “I’ll be back when you’ve calmed down,” he tossed over his shoulder as he strolled out of our apartment. Our former apartment, I amended.

  I didn’t bother with a response because those two—the closest thing I had to family—had helped me make the decision I’d been struggling with for the past two hours.

  Looked like I was going to Brently.

  Chapter One

  Mick

  It was another fuckin’ beautiful day, and I should have been out on my bike letting the warm breeze brush my skin as the sun shone on my back. Instead, I was leaning against the house that used to belong to my mentor, my surrogate father, and my club brother. Magnus Ashbee had been gone for almost nine months, and I missed that old man more than I thought possible. Something about his death had left my guts churning with a desperate need to find the truth, and I’d figure it out. No matter what. Magnus was a decorated Navy SEAL. The man had done more covert operations than anyone I knew. He’d seen so much shit, it had changed him, made him realize who the real enemy was.

  CAOS Five was actually started in the seventies by Vietnam vets. They were responsible for ridding the area of drugs permanently. Even before the fucking War on Drugs and before crack decimated whole neighborhoods and then meth, they had taken on drug traffickers, cartels, and gangs looking to get rich on the suffering of others. Now the rest of us continued their legacy. We did our own shit, mostly bikes, guns, and girls, but that shit never included drugs. Ever.

  Figuring out the truth behind Magnus’ death was for another day, though, because I didn’t come by to stroll down memory lane. I stood out here waiting for the kid Magnus had never been able to find after two decades of searching. Going through his things after we put him in the ground, I knew I had to finish what he’d started. It had taken some time, but we’d found her. Talon. What a sexy ass name.

  She stepped from the cute little red SUV, showing off shapely legs covered in short shorts and punctuated with those little wedge sandals with big loopy ribbons around the ankles. When she straightened, I saw she was a tiny thing, probably just over five feet, but enough curves to keep a hungry man satisfied. And dammit, I was starving. The red and white sleeveless blouse she wore tied at the waist gave her a Midwestern farm girl appeal that made my cock stand up and pay attention. Get it together, man, she’s Magnus’ daughter. “You Talon?”

  She turned at the sound of my voice, silver eyes as wide as saucers. “Y-y-yep.”

  She’s afraid of me. My lips curled up at that thought. Most women bent over backward and offered all kind of sexual depravity just for a night with me, and this little thing stuttered at the sight of me. “I don’t bite, darlin’, unless you ask me to.” I chuckled at the way pink rose up her bare flesh.

  She laughed, and damn that husky sound was another arrow of lust between my legs. “I’m not afraid, it’s just I’ve never seen someone like you in real life.” She reached forward, about to touch one of the tats on my arm, but she pulled back at the last minute. Damn. “You’re so big. And colorful,” she said, eyes again straying to the ink covering my arms. Then she licked her lips, and I wanted to believe there was desire in her eyes, but I couldn’t be sure.

  I groaned and took a step back, forcing myself to remember who she was. “I guess all this was a pretty big surprise?” I motioned to the house and the land.

  She nodded and explained that the lawyer had given her a couple letters written by Magnus. “My mom always told me he had died before I was born.” Her voice went wobbly, and I froze. Like most men, I couldn’t handle a woman crying. “Did you know him well? Was he a good man?”

  I knew what she was asking because the world had exactly one view of motorcycle clubs. Thought they were gangsters, criminals, and all around outlaw assholes. Not CAOS. Sure, we were outlaws, but we had a code of honor. “Magnus was one of the best men I’ve ever known.”

  “Really? How’d you meet him?” I stared at her ass for minute when she bent over to reach for a couple bags before remembering my manners.

  I took the bags from her hands and led her inside, continuing, “Well, when I left the Navy, I had no idea what I wanted to do next, so I spent some time riding up and down the coast.” I couldn’t believe I was opening up to her so easily, but she was as easy to talk to as her
dad had been. I took a long drag off my cigarette and continued, “I guess you could’ve called me a beach bum. I had plenty of money saved up and even if I didn’t, I didn’t have a desire to do anything. So I took odd jobs just to break up the boredom.” I let out a chuckle. “One day my bike sputtered to a stop in the middle of the desert. Next town was fifty miles either way, and then I heard the roar of bikes. It was CAOS.”

  Her brows bunched in confusion. “CAOS?”

  “California Outlaw Sentinel. The club. Anyway, they stopped and your dad got my bike running long enough to get me back to town. We had a few drinks, hit it off and the next thing I know, I’m getting my cut.”

  She turned her attention back on me from checking out the unfamiliar space, and her gray eyes smiled in my direction. “And they became your family.”

  I couldn’t believe she understood. “More than that, they gave me a purpose when I was at loose ends. But yeah, Magnus was like a father to me and I knew he wanted you here, taking care of two things that meant the world to him. This place and the diner.”

  “I’m glad you did. I never got a chance to thank you for giving me a piece of him…oh my God! I didn’t get your name. It’s like I completely forgot my manners.”

  Damn, she was as adorable as she was sexy. “Mick.”

  She took my hand which pretty much swallowed hers whole. “Nice to meet you, Mick. And thank you for this.”

  “My pleasure.” I held her hand a little longer than I needed to, but she felt so damn soft. And she smelled like sunshine and honeysuckle.

  Her mouth curled into a smile, those bee-stung lips tantalizing all on their own but with the glittery shiny shit on them—I couldn’t help but think about them wrapped around my cock. “I’d ask what you’re thinking right now, but I’m not sure I’m ready to hear it.”

  I loved a girl with a sense of humor, and this chick seemed to have it in spades. Instead of throwing herself at me, she just talked.