BAD INFLUENCE: A Dark Bad Boy Romance

by Callie Pierce

  She did. She sat down on the edge of the bed and told him everything she could remember. An idea formed in Cody’s head, but he didn’t want to interrupt until Donna was done talking. “There’s a group of kids, they make a nuisance of themselves sometimes. Breaking windows and tagging buildings, like we saw Kyle doing that night? I’ve never seen a blond guy with them, but if he’s trying to build himself up he might just send them out.”

  She blinked up at him. “You lost me.”

  “I think someone is trying to build a gang in the White Tiger territory. I think Kyle got mixed up with it.”

  “But how?”

  Cody shrugged. “Usually it’s blackmail, or getting others hooked on drugs so that they have to be a part of the group. It’s… well, it’s not like a MC.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  “We go find them. And we handle this.”

  She reached behind her and hit the nurse call button. “Okay.”

  “Donna, are you sure about this?” he asked, already pulling the phone out of his pocket. “I’m not sure that you understand what I’m saying here.”

  “Well, I don’t think you’re about to call the cops.” She gave his phone a look. “Am I right?”

  “Well… yes.”

  “You’re going to call your buddies. You are going to tell them what’s up and what you know, and then, as motorcycle clubs are prone to do, what follows after that won’t be altogether lawful.”

  “And you’re okay with that?”

  She leveled her gaze at him. “It’s my brother, Cody.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Donna

  There was a gun holster over her shoulder, perched under the black leather jacket that Cody had lent her. It had been a very long time since she had shot a weapon, but it wasn’t a skill that the body just forgot. She had her arms wrapped around his middle as the bike shifted gears beneath them both. Logically she knew she ought to be back in bed and resting. The doctor had made it very clear that she had lost a great deal of blood and that it had only been luck that kept the knife from hitting anything vital. He had also made it clear that Donna should not be up and around; he’d made her sign a whole slew of forms.

  The doctor had probably been right. Her entire side hurt. Twisting sucked. Breathing was something she’d rather not be doing, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was finding her brother and putting an end to whatever hold this group had over him. Whatever it was, she was going to fix it.

  The doctor had taken so long that the better part of a day had been wasted. It was going on ten thirty, and the night had long since set on Carson. A bright moon was shining down, turning the road into a line of smoky silver. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

  Cody said he had a clue about where the kids were going to be tonight. He wanted to go there, scare them a little. Nothing bad. It seemed like a good idea to Donna. For all they were doing stupid things, they were still kids.

  “Do we have to be nice to Blondie?” she had asked. “Because I don’t much like him anymore.”

  Cody had promised her that they wouldn’t be that nice to the man who had stabbed her. Good. She didn’t feel like being magnanimous. She felt like kicking butt. That man had stabbed her; he had made her feel weak and useless, and she wasn’t a fan of either of those feelings. She didn’t like that she had lost two days of her life and now she was going out into the night to break the law.

  It took her a moment to realize where he was taking her: the long road down toward the overpass, where Kyle had been caught tagging property, where Cody and she had shared their first kiss. The lights were bright enough to block out the moon and illuminate the group that was hanging out beneath the slabs of formed concrete. She couldn’t make out faces, but she knew that this was the same group that had accosted her a few nights before. Would Kyle be there?

  With expert movements, Cody brought his bike around and parked it to one side of the pass, tucked up against the pile of earth pockmarked with grass.

  “You all right?” he asked as the engine shuddered to a halt.

  “Yeah,” she said, looking around at the empty lot behind them. “I didn’t know it was going to be just us though.”

  He bent down and kissed her on the brow. “We’ve got this.”

  She looked up into his eyes and found strength there. It radiated around her until she felt like she could drown in it. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling the outline of the guns that he was packing. “Yeah,” she said. “We do.”

  “What’s this, what’s this?” an all too familiar voice called out. Donna didn’t need to look over Cody’s shoulder to know that the tall man was sauntering over to them. She could hear his strange rhythmic steps. “We’ve got company.”

  Donna clutched his shoulder. Memories of blood dripping off her shirt and onto the ground came flooding back to her with enough force to take the strength from her legs. Cody’s arm tightened around her back, mindful of her wound.

  “We’ve got this,” he repeated. His voice was firm and certain.

  She swallowed hard, shoving the memories to the back of her mind, unwilling to look anymore into them. This mattered more. She cleared her throat and stepped away from Cody, hoping the certainty she felt showed in her eyes. His hand reached up to touch her face, touching it gently. She kissed his palm and stepped around the barricade of his body.

  “Where is my brother?” Donna was happy to discover that her voice was smooth. It was boardroom confident and carried across the empty lot and echoed beneath the overpass.

  “It’s the mouthy bitch,” the blond man said with some surprise. “Wow, didn’t expect you to be up so quickly.”

  There was a familiar titter of laughter from the group of teens behind him. Donna was dimly aware of the way they were whispering to one another. They looked so young. Donna felt a mix of pity and contempt.

  “Shut your mouth,” Cody said, leveling a gun at the other man, “and answer the lady’s question.”

  Several teens gasped and stepped away, and suddenly there Kyle was. She recognized the slant of his shoulders and the mop of hair that covered eyes she knew to be identical to her own. He was slim, she realized, too skinny to be healthy, and even from this distance she could see the dark rings around his eyes.

  “Kyle!” she called out. “Come on, it’s time to go home.”

  Her brother took a single step forward. The blond male shook his head. “Oh no, no. Kyle is one of mine, and he isn’t going anywhere.”

  “Mark…” Kyle started to say.

  So, Blondie had a name. Donna had expected something more sinister or maybe even exotic: Antoine, perhaps, or Xavier. Mark was the name of the boy next door, the class nerd, or the new intern. Not the name of a guy who stabbed a woman on the street.

  Mark hissed and held up one hand. “You’ve caused enough trouble, Kyle. Just shut up and let the adults handle this.”

  The sound of the gunshot echoed loudly. Guns, contrary to what Bruce Willis films showed, were loud. Donna flinched from the sound, and her ears began to ring. In the split second that her eyes had fluttered, several things happened. Kyle stepped away, Cody moved to the side, and Mark leveled a gun she hadn’t known he carried at her. The barrel was aimed at her chest, perfectly center. It didn’t waiver one inch.

  “Let’s not be stupid,” Mark said. “We both know you aren’t a hero, Cody.”

  Oh no, she thought to herself, not this. This skinny peroxide-ridden jerk had already made her feel threatened once—it was not going to happen again. Donna’s hand dipped inside her jacket. The gun felt heavy in her hands, but the weight was a comforting one. She jerked it out of the holster and took it in a teacup grip, one hand cupping the bottom of the gun, the other on the grip. Her finger wasn’t on the trigger, but rather hovering over it, waiting for an excuse to fire.

  “I am my own hero, but it’s nice to have eye candy for a sidekick,” she smirked.

  Mark’s look was surprised. “Wow. Big bad bi
ker boy can’t control his own woman.”

  Cody snorted. “A man knows how to stand with his woman, not in her way.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Mark’s voice was incredulous. “Is this supposed to be my competition? Some pathetic lieutenant and a boardroom bitch?”

  “Drop the gun,” Donna said, keeping her voice firm.

  “No.”

  She saw the decision to fire come into his eyes. His finger slid upward at the same time that hers came down. She prepared herself to get hit with a bullet. Two explosions went off, echoing through the night. Donna braced for pain that didn’t come.

  She heard the thunk of bodies. Kyle and Mark were on the ground. There were a flurry of angry limbs and connecting punches. Donna blinked in confusion, wondering where her bullet had gone, and if the adrenaline pumping through her veins was keeping her from feeling pain. She glanced down at her body but couldn’t see any blood.

  The two men tumbled over one another. It wasn’t until Cody hit the ground that Donna understood what had happened. He’d dove in front of the bullet. The dark color of his jacket and the late hour hid just where he had been hit, but all Donna could do was wonder if she had hit him or if Mark had.

  Movement caught her attention. Kyle, no longer willing to stand in the background, was moving for the gun that Mark had dropped. He scooped it up in shaking hands and pointed it at the wrestling men.

  “Kyle, don’t!” she shouted. Her brother faltered, but the gun was still in his hand.

  Cody made a sound as Mark shoved his hand against the biker’s shoulder. Blood dripped down Mark’s hand. Cody made a growl and slammed a fist into Mark’s jaw, making his blond head snap back. He tumbled backward with the force of it. Cody was on his feet in an instant.

  “Stop it!” Kyle screamed out, his too-young voice faltering and cracking. He pointed the gun at Mark and fired.

  Donna turned her head, expecting the worst, but nothing happened. A dull click was all the gun gave, even when Kyle fired twice more. The gun was empty.

  “Kyle,” Cody said. “Go to your sister.”

  Somehow, somewhere along the line, Donna had forgotten just what Cody was to the White Tigers. She’d seen the scars on his body, heard him say the name “enforcer,” but that did not compare to seeing him in action. He moved like an animal, all swift muscles and certainty.

  He swung hard, and the sound of his fist connecting with Mark’s side was the sick wet sound of meat against meat. Mark stumbled and pulled the same knife that he had used on Donna out of his pocket. He shoved it in Cody’s direction, trying to keep the other male at bay.

  “What the hell?” he demanded over his shoulder, clearly addressing the teenagers behind him. “We outnumber him.”

  Donna waved her gun at them, but there were too many. Inch by inch they crowded closer, clearly intent on getting involved. Some pulled out blades of their own; one or two had bats. They moved like a single unit, intent on following the orders that Mark had given them.

  “Stay back!” Donna cried, but the sound was swallowed up by the roar of bikes. She didn’t look. She didn’t have to. She knew exactly who was coming to the rescue. She could, however, imagine what they saw: the full club from Carson and the next town over, all thirty members, rolling up like ancient warriors on silver horses. They hadn’t even come to a stop at Donna’s back before the teens scattered, everyone but Kyle and Mark, who wasn’t actually a teen.

  Mark faltered, stumbling back, the blade still in his hand. “Wow, so much for loyalty.”

  “Loyalty is earned,” Kyle said, throwing down the useless gun. “You tried to steal it.”

  A hand pressed down on Donna’s shoulder. She turned and saw the handsome face of Slade McGee. There were more lines than there had been when they were young, and a few scars too. He looked older, tired, and more muscular than he had all those years ago, but he was still Slade, and he was still drop-dead gorgeous.

  “Hey,” he said gently. “You all right?”

  She got the distinct impression that he wasn’t just asking about the immediate problem. His eyes looked sorry, and she gave him a look. “Yeah, I am.”

  He squeezed her shoulder and then stepped around her. “Markus Finch, you creepy little shitbag. What the hell are you doing running around with a bunch of friggin’ teenagers? They don’t got losers your own age?”

  Donna raised her brow, but it was Cody who asked. “You know this kid?”

  “Yeah,” the boss of the White Tigers said, tucking a thumb into the tactical gun holster that was barely covered by his jacket. “He’s my older sister’s kid. Stupid from the day he was born.”

  “You never let me in!” Mark cried out, suddenly looking a lot younger. He surged to his feet and closed the distance between him and Slade. Donna heard the safeties come off several guns. Slade held up one hand. “You kept me out!”

  Mark raised the blade. Slade stepped back and delivered one single punch to the other man’s gut. Mark doubled over and spilled the contents of his stomach.

  “Your mother begged me to keep you out, you idiot… and tough older sisters are hard to ignore.”

  Kyle snorted. Donna raised a brow. Cody stepped up and said, “If you want me to take care of him, boss.”

  “I ain’t your boss anymore, Bannik. Get out of here, this is club business now.” Slade jerked his thumb toward the single car that had driven up with the pack of bikes. It was Cody’s car, dusty and true. Twitch stepped out of it, holding up a set of keys.

  “But… what about the exit ceremony?” Cody asked.

  Slade glanced at Cody’s shoulder, which was clearly bleeding. “My nephew shot you. Pretty sure that covers it.”

  “The gun was empty,” Mark said.

  “I shot him,” Donna interrupted. “I didn’t mean to.”

  Slade laughed. It started off as a soft chuckle and then became a full barrel laugh that had him doubled over. Several of the other bikers joined him. Donna looked down shyly. She repeated that she hadn’t meant to shoot him, but she was pretty sure no one heard.

  “Ohh,” Slade said when he was finally done. “That’s even better. Go on, Cody, get out of here. Take your wild woman and her kid brother with you. We’ve got business here.”

  Donna didn’t look back at the club as she and the two best men in her life piled into Cody’s car. She didn’t have to. Whatever they were going to do, Mark deserved it. He had hurt her, and Kyle, and he’d been willing to hurt everyone else. She laid her head back on the headrest as Cody turned the key over in the ignition.

  “It was drugs, wasn’t it?” Cody asked as he navigated the car onto the highway. “He got you hooked.”

  Kyle looked away. “He used Becky to do it. She offered me a little pot when I went with her to a party. Then it just… it went from there.”

  “Anything hard?” Cody asked.

  Donna wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but she reached across the space between the two of them and took Cody’s free hand. He gripped it and brought it to his lips. Kyle nodded. He didn’t say what it had been; Donna didn’t really need to know.

  “We’ll take care of it,” she said. “We’ve got each other.”

  “Are you guys getting married?” Kyle suddenly asked. “Where are you going to live?”

  Cody laughed and kissed her fingers again. “It doesn’t matter,” he said as he took the road that would take them back to the hospital. “Maybe I’ll teach, maybe I’ll stay at the auto shop, maybe I’ll follow her to California. All that really matters… is that we are together.”

  Donna couldn’t have agreed more.

  THE END

  I hope you enjoyed the story! If you enjoyed the story, I would greatly appreciate if you could leave a review for it on Amazon. Thank you for reading!

  Bonus Novel – TORMENT: A Dark Bad Boy Romance

  How delicious is pleasure after torment?

  Cobra

  I’m not proud of everything in my past.

  I’ve done a
lot I regret.

  Some of those things I did because I had to.

  Some of them, because I didn’t know any better.

  But that was six years ago. Six years is a long time.

  I’m different now.

  No longer a boy. I’m a man.

  And I’m coming back to claim what’s mine.

  Ashleigh

  I’ve worked hard to put my life back together.

  He left it – left me – in utter chaos.

  No money, no job, no future.

  Just a baby to feed and long, endless hours to wonder where it all went wrong.