Smolder: A Devil Chaser's MC Romance

by Wilder, L

  I also decided it was time to give my folks a call. I hadn’t really talked to them much since my stay at the hospital. I knew it was hard on my mom for me to leave town while I was still such a mess. She was more than a little excited to hear from me.

  “Taylor! I was wondering when you were going to call me. Are you home? Do you want me to come over to your place? I’ve missed you so much,” she said lovingly. Just hearing her voice made me feel homesick.

  “Mom, I’m fine. Really. You don’t need to come over. It looked a lot worse than it really was. I even get the cast off later this week, and they’re planning to give me a brace to wear. In a few weeks, I’ll be good as new.”

  “I can’t believe that boy hurt you like that. I just don’t understand how any man raises his hand to a woman in anger. I want you to stay as far away from him as you can.” I could hear the worry in her voice, and I hated that she was so upset.

  “You don’t have to worry about that. I have no intention of ever seeing Gage Davenport again,” I said firmly.

  “Do you need me to come stay with you for a few days? I could help you around your apartment. Maybe fix you some casseroles to put in your freezer.” It was a sweet offer, but my mother’s casseroles were the last thing I needed.

  “No, Mom. I’m good. Ms. Louise is fixing me dinner tomorrow night, so I’m all set.”

  “Fine. But I’m coming over soon to have lunch with you later this week. I don’t like you being by yourself after everything that’s happened. You never said how things went while you were at Renegade’s. Did that go okay?” she asked.

  “Yep. Everything was Hunky Dory. Now, I’ve gotta run. I have a ton of work to catch up on,” I clipped. I needed to get off the phone before she asked me more about Renegade. She always had a knack for knowing when something was wrong. It drove me nuts!

  “Not so fast. I know that tone, Taylor. What happened?” she asked.

  “Nothing. Really, Mom. We’ll talk more when you come for lunch this week. I’m tired, and I still have lots of work to do.”

  “I’ll let you off the hook this time, but please call me if you need anything.”

  “I will. Thanks, Mom,” I said as I hung up the phone. I could feel the tears slipping from the corners of my eyes. There was something about my mother that brought out the sap in me. I just didn’t want her to know what an idiot I had been. How could I tell her about Renegade? The humiliation of Jessica? I didn’t even understand it myself.

  The thing that pissed me off the most was, I was still in love with the jerk. I actually missed him. I couldn’t close my eyes at night without thinking about his lips pressed against mine. Dammit. There was just no hope for me.

  After I hung up with my mom, I spent the next eight hours working on the final edits of two books that were due by the end of the week. I really liked the books, but there was a lot of work that needed to be done. There was always so much pressure dealing with authors. It was hard to tell them that they needed to make changes or that their grammar sucked. It was like telling them that their kids were fat. There was just no good way to say it.

  The next night, I went next door to have dinner with Louise. Sweet Louise. She had quite a spread laid out for me, and it meant the world to me. She was like the grandmother I never had. Both of my grandparents had passed away before I was born, so I never got to know them. Being with Louise made me regret never having the chance to get to know them.

  “There you are. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it,” she said looking concerned.

  “Sorry, it took longer than I thought at the doctor’s office. They took off my cast and gave me this new brace.”

  “Well, I’m glad you made it, and I know you’re glad to have that awful cast removed. I hope you like spaghetti. It was always my husband’s favorite. I never really have anyone to make it for anymore,” she said looking lost in her thoughts.

  “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble, but I’m glad you did. It looks wonderful.”

  “I was happy to do it. Thank you for the cookies you made me. That was very thoughtful. Now, sit down and make yourself a plate. I want to hear all about your visit with that handsome man that came to your rescue.”

  “You’re the one that came to my rescue. He just helped pick up the pieces. I was a mess.”

  “Well, tell me all about it. And don’t leave out any of the good parts. I may be old, but I still like to hear a good story.”

  “I think you may be a little disappointed. Hmm… maybe you could give me a little advice.”

  “I’m not all that great in the advice department, but I’ll give it a shot.”

  “The man that came to see about me is one of my brother’s best friends. They were both in the same motorcycle club, and I’ve always had a soft spot for him. To be completely honest, I think I’ve been in love with him since that first day I met him. There’s just something about him. He has this rough exterior and doesn’t let people in very often, but when he does, there’s nothing like it in this world.” I smiled, wishing he were there with me.

  “I felt the same way about my husband. I don’t necessarily believe in soul mates, but there’s something about knowing you’ve found the one,” she explained.

  “I hated that he had to see me like that in the hospital, but he was so sweet about it all. He made me feel so safe, and I just knew he’d make everything alright. We didn’t spend a lot of time together while I was gone, but the times we did were incredible. He just makes loving him easy.”

  “Does he know how you feel about him?” she asked.

  “I’ve tried to show him. I thought I’d broken through finally, but he pulled away again.”

  “You need to talk to him. You have to find out what is holding him back.”

  “I know. His friend, Goliath, said the same thing. I’m just not sure how. I don’t know if I will even get the chance again. I haven’t heard from him since I got back. Honestly, I haven’t even talked to him since we spent the night together,” I said, and I could feel myself blushing.

  Louise patted my hand reassuringly, “Why is that?”

  “When I woke up the next morning, he was gone. He left a note on the door, but other than that I haven’t heard one word from him,” I said, shrugging my shoulders and trying to ignore the pain I felt inside admitting that out loud.

  “Give it time, honey. If it’s truly meant to be, you’ll see him again. When you do, you need make him listen to you.”

  “I guess you’re right. I just… I guess I’m afraid. My emotions are so strong with Ren… I get afraid....” I trail off, not knowing how to finish. Louise goes back to patting my hand reassuringly, letting me know she understood. “Thanks for tonight. I really appreciate it. Plus, this spaghetti is amazing. You have to give me the recipe.”

  “I’d love to share it. Maybe you can fix it for your Renegade sometime.”

  “If this spaghetti doesn’t win him over, nothing will!”

  After dinner, we watched a few game shows and ate a piece of her homemade chocolate pie. It was a really nice night, and I was thankful that I had her. I’d have to make more of an effort to check on her.

  The next morning, I had to run to Paducah to turn in my revisions and pick up the next few books that needed to be edited. I was throwing my bag in the backseat of my car when I felt someone standing behind me. When I turned around, I was shocked to see Gage standing there. He was blocking me from the front door of my car.

  “You headed to work?” he asked.

  “What are you doing here, Gage? I don’t have anything to say to you.”

  “I think we should have a little chat,” he said with a demanding tone. I could tell he was angry, and I hated the fear that went through me.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. They’re expecting me at the office, and I don’t need to be late.”

  “You don’t have a choice. We’re going to talk, and we’re going to talk now.” He grabbed my arm and squeeze
d tightly. He pulled me around to the passenger door and shoved me inside.

  I was in full panic mode by the time he got into the driver’s seat. He took the keys out of my hand and started the engine.

  “Where are we going, Gage? You’re scaring me,” I pleaded.

  “We’re gonna take a little ride, and then you’re gonna tell me everything you know about your friend’s MC.”

  “What are you talking about? Why do you want to know about the Devil Chasers?”

  “They’ve been watching my club, and I need to know what they’ve seen. I know that Renegade fucker you ran off with is up to something, and I plan to find out what.”

  “I don’t know anything about that. He never told me that they were watching you or your club. There’s really no reason for him to go after you-- unless you try to hurt me again.”

  “I’d never hurt you again, Taylor. I told you that was a mistake. You made me so angry. You shouldn’t have tried to leave me like that. What we got, babe, its special. I never meant for that to happen. I really do care about you.”

  “If you really care about me, you wouldn’t kidnap me in broad daylight,” I spat.

  “I’m not kidnapping you. I’m trying to help you, Taylor. If you work with me, you might actually live through all of this. If you don’t, there’s nothing I can do to save you,” he said sincerely.

  “Help me? What are you talking about? I don’t understand what’s going on.” I had no idea what he expected from me. Live through this? What the hell was going on?

  “The Red Dragons know that you and that asshole are responsible for the cameras around our clubhouse. They plan to use you to get to him.”

  “He doesn’t care about me. Using me won’t work. If he cared about me, I’d still be with him!” I said, obviously without thinking, but I was panicking.

  “I tried to tell you that weeks ago, but you wouldn’t listen to me. Now, he’s put your life in danger, and I’ve got to find a way to fix it. I need to know what he saw on those tapes before the President gets to him.”

  “What do you think he’s seen, Gage? He already knows that your MC is dealing drugs. The Devil Chasers don’t care. I’m sure there’s nothing there that even matters,” I tried to explain, but I wasn’t sure what I was even talking about. Who knew what they’d seen on those videos. Whatever it was, I could tell Gage was worried about it.

  “Either way…. I need to find out what he knows, and you’re going help me.”

  I stayed silent. There wasn’t a lot I could say, and I needed to come up with a plan for how to get away from my ex-boyfriend from hell. God, I was such an idiot.

  When we made it to his clubhouse, no one was there. They didn’t even have anyone watching the main gate. It looked like an empty warehouse in the middle of a stupid cornfield. For a second I got my hopes up that I might be able to get away from Gage, but he pulled my car around back and dragged me inside quickly, before I even got a chance to fight back. He was agitated, and I was pretty sure he was close to breaking my arm again. I knew, without looking, there would be angry bruises already forming.

  “Gage, you’re hurting me,” I said as I tried to appeal to him and keep the fear out of my voice.

  “It wouldn’t have been like this if you’d just listened to me in the first place. I told you that Renegade was a piece of shit, and he’d never do right by you.”

  Chapter 21

  Renegade

  “Hey, Renegade? I think you’ll want to see this before you leave!” Crack Nut called out just as Sheppard and I were heading out to Kentucky. I followed him as he ran back towards the room where his equipment was set up.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “I finally found this. Isn’t that Tank pulling her into their clubhouse?”

  “That’s him. Can you turn up the sound so we can hear what they’re saying?” I asked.

  He nodded and turned up the volume. My heart stopped and stuttered slowly back to life at what I heard.

  “Gage, you’re hurting me,” Taylor screamed.

  “It wouldn’t have been like this if you’d just listened to me in the first place. I told you that Renegade was a piece of shit, and he’d never do right by you.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about. None of this is Ren’s fault!” Taylor shouts.

  “Of course this is his fault! It’s all his fault. He’s the reason your brother is dead. He’s the reason you never really gave us a chance. He’s the reason you’re here right now! Stop defending that asshole!” Tank shouted.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Gage! I love him. A part of me will always love him no matter what happens,” Taylor told him and even with the black and white video, I could see her tears.

  “You’ll never learn, Taylor. Your life is in his hands now. I don’t care what they do with you.”

  He pushed her into a room and locked her inside. My head was spinning. I couldn’t believe the words that just came out of her mouth. How could she love me after everything I’d put her through? Maybe I’d been wrong about everything.

  I felt better knowing he’d left her alone for now. It bought me a little time. We decided to take the SUV, so we could all ride together. Bobby and Bishop were still going through all the video footage to see if there was anything we could use to our advantage. I hated knowing that this could cause the Devil Chasers to go to war with another club, but I had to focus on getting to Taylor before they had a chance to hurt her.

  We had been driving for over an hour when I got a call from Bishop.

  “I think we found something we can use,” Bishop stated.

  “I was hoping you’d say that. What did you find?” I asked.

  “I’ll tell you all about it when we get there, but I think the Red Dragon’s president will be very interested in what we found. Hopefully, it will be enough to get them to back down and let Taylor go.”

  “How do you want to handle this?” I asked. It was up to him to decide where we went from there.

  “I’m calling their president now. I’ll tell him I want to meet privately to discuss what we found. Hopefully, that will buy us more time. We’re loading everything up and heading your way.”

  “You gonna meet us at Taylor’s place?” I asked.

  “Yeah. I’ll bring the rest of the crew with me in case we need back up. Tell Sheppard to have his guys ready. I’m not sure how this guy is going to handle the news.”

  “He’s making the call now. I’ll see you at the apartment in a few hours.”

  It was almost dark by the time we made it to Taylor’s place. I used my spare key to get in, and we tried to wait patiently for Bishop and the guys to get there. I couldn’t sit still. I’d been pacing around the apartment since we walked in. As I moved from room to room, I can’t help but notice that I actually really like her apartment. I even like all her damn throw pillows. I felt kind of bad for giving her a hard time about decorating my place on the lake. Just thinking about that day had me fighting the urge to go to the RD clubhouse on my own. I want to get Taylor out of that place. Every minute we wait, we put her life in more danger, but I have to trust Bishop on this.

  My phone beeps with a text message from Bishop.

  Bishop:

  He agreed to the meet.

  Renegade:

  When?

  Bishop:

  Tonight at 10:00. He’ll send the address

  Renegade:

  Who’s going with you?

  Bishop:

  Just you. The others will be close by

  Renegade:

  Good

  At least we had a plan now. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to Taylor because of me. This guy had turned out to be more trouble than I’d ever thought.

  I was still pacing back and forth, when there was a light knock on Taylor’s door. I looked through the peephole and her neighbor was standing there with some kind of casserole dish. I opened the door to her smiling face. Would she be
smiling if she knew I had failed to protect Taylor yet again? Hell no.

  “Well, well… if it isn’t Taylor’s Renegade. It’s nice to see that you’ve come to your senses, young man.” At her words, my chest got tight. Taylor’s Renegade. I couldn’t deny that anymore, and I fucking loved the sound of it. What would happen if I never got the chance to tell her? To show her?

  I cleared my throat from the emotion that was choking me. “Nice to see you again. How are you?” It’s was a lame ass question, but I couldn’t tell her anything about Taylor. We had to keep a lockdown on the situation, and I couldn’t trust anyone. Not even this woman who’d managed to save Taylor when I’d failed. Shit.

  “Better now that you’re here. I hope Taylor talked some sense into you. She’s a fine young lady, and you’d be lucky to have her.”

  “You don’t need to tell me that, always known it. She’s just too good for the likes of me,” I explained.

  “I doubt that. I doubt that very much indeed. She told me how you’ve always been there for her, and how you make her feel safe. Seems to me in today’s world that’s no small feat. Don’t throw away love, young man. Not everyone is blessed enough to get it.”

  I couldn’t say anything. Her words washed over me and swelled, and I had no idea how to respond. “Taylor’s not here right now…” I said when I finally found my voice.

  “I just wanted to bring over this poppy seed chicken. I thought she might be tired after going back to work and all.”

  “That’s real nice of you. I’ll be sure to let her know.”

  She handed me the casserole and said, “You know, everyone has a past. Sometimes, it’s what makes us who we are, but sometimes, it lets us know who we don’t ever want to be. I’m not sure what your past has been like, but I do know it doesn’t have to be your future. You’ve got a lot of good in you. You need to share it with Taylor.”

  “I’m going to try my best,” I told her. She reached up and gave me a hug before she left the doorway. Who knows? Maybe she was right. I had to save Taylor. That was all I could focus on right then, but once I had her back? Fuck, I was never letting her go again. I couldn’t.