I pulled him out of the trunk and walked him to his mother’s grave.
To my shock, the grave was dug up. A wide open hole in the ground. Her casket dangling in the air, looking like a crane machine with a prize in its claws.
And Annie stood in front of her own grave.
Damon saw his mother and started to shake his head. Right on cue he started to piss himself.
“Ah, shit,” I said. “What is this?”
Annie stepped forward. “This is the end, Knight. The end of it all.”
Mother came to son and she touched his face.
I stepped away, not wanting to get mixed up in whatever was about to happen.
“You did this, Damon,” Annie said. “My only son. You screwed it all up. Your greed. You stole from the company to fund your illegal activities.”
“I didn’t know that,” I said.
“None of your business,” Annie snapped at me.
I felt a hand grab my shoulder. It was Knox. “Come on, brother. The less we see, the better off we are.”
“He’s right,” Annie said. “It’s done.”
Damon looked back at me. He was terrified.
I couldn’t blame him. I was almost terrified.
I started to walk away and Annie called my name.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Leave the car,” she said. “I’ll make sure it disappears. You’re going to lose whatever you put into it. That’s your punishment for knocking up Priya.”
“If that’s the case, best money ever spent,” I said.
Annie flickered a smile and winked at me.
I started to smile but a second later she swung her right hand at Damon’s back. She stuck out her right foot and tripped her own son right into her own grave.
Holy shit.
She was going to bury Damon in her grave.
They’d never find him.
They’d never find her.
They were both - along with the car - going to disappear forever.
My brothers all got on their motorcycles and I realized I had no ride. I had no wheels - two or four.
Knox grinned at me and patted behind him.
“I’m not sitting bitch with you,” I called out over his rumbling engine.
“What are you going to do then?” he yelled.
“You’re going to go get a car and pick me up,” I said. “Until then, I’ll just hang with the dead. Talk to the reaper.”
The guys all cruised away, their motors thundering into the distance.
I walked slowly along the headstones. It was the end of it all. Meaning we all knew the ending to our stories. We were all going to end up in the ground. Either in a grave or our ashes scattered.
“But not today,” I said and looked up to the sky.
In the distance I heard the rumbling of an engine. It was the heavy duty tractor that held up an empty casket over Annie’s open grave.
I grabbed my phone and called Priya. I needed to hear her voice.
“Knight,” she said, taking the call.
“Sweetie,” I said.
“Is it over?”
“Trust me, it’s all over. How’s my family?”
“Waiting for you,” she said.
“I’ll be home really soon, Priya. I swear. And I love you, sweetie. I’ve always loved you. We spent all those years trying to protect each other by staying away. Fuck that, right? Let our world’s collide and see what happens.”
“So far… it’s been wild.”
“I’m your wild Knight, sweetie.”
Priya laughed. “I really do love you, Knight.”
There was something sickly poetic hearing the woman you loved tell you she loved you while you were standing in a cemetery.
I ended the call and walked to the dirt path.
There I waited for my ride home.
To see my brothers.
To see my club.
To see my family.
40
(knight)
*THEN*
Dougie showed me the gun but he didn’t have a clue what he was doing with it. He had been sipping cheap vodka and was acting drunk. He was that kind of pussy. Two sips and then he’d act all stupid and pretend to be drunk so he wouldn’t have to drink anymore.
I stood in the garage and looked around at the people that were my “friends.”
I hated them all.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened with Knoxville. That guy had been choking him out. I saved Knoxville’s ass big time. I took a beating by my old man when he bailed me out of jail. There was still some legal shit hanging over my head but the angle we were playing was that I was a teenager full of anger and just letting it out. Everyone told me I was lucky I was just shy of eighteen or else my ass would have been locked up for a long time.
I didn’t give a fuck.
I wanted to know more about Knoxville. About the Reaper’s Bastards. About the life.
“Man, what are you going to do with that gun?” Frank yelled out.
“We shoot one of them,” Dougie said. “Roll up and pow pow pow.”
“Pow?” I asked. “Are you fucking insane?”
“Hey, we do this and we set the bar,” Dougie said.
“That’s serious shit,” Frank said.
“Fuck those guys. They think they’re part of the motorcycle club. They’re not. They’re just a bunch of punk pussies.”
“Punk pussies,” I said, nodding.
“Look what they do to you,” Dougie said, pointing the gun at me. His finger was nowhere near the trigger so I wasn’t worried. “You like that girl, man. You should be fucking her by now.”
“Dougie, shut the fuck up,” I said.
“What? You going soft?”
I stepped at Dougie and he thrust his hand out at me. He had no idea what to do with a gun.
I grabbed the gun from his hand. I quickly took out the clip before anyone saw it. I tucked it into my back pocket and then twirled the gun in my hand and gripped it the right way.
“Soft,” I said. “Not a chance. I’ll take care of this.”
“Holy shit,” Frank said. “Knight…”
“I got it,” I said. “I’ll settle it all up. You fuckers just stay here.”
“No way,” Dougie said. “We do this together.”
I pointed the gun at Dougie. “Fuck off. You do what I say.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Frank yelled out. He jumped up, dropping his cigarette to the concrete floor. “Take it easy.”
I spun and put the gun to Frank’s chest. His face went white.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” I said. “All of you. You’re all fucking worthless pricks. This entire town. The other town. Fuck this.”
I stormed out of the garage and walked to my shitty apartment. I had the gun in my back pocket. I kept the clip, too. I knew what I had to do next in my life.
My father was asleep on the couch, the news blaring, a beer bottle in his hand. There was an empty whiskey bottle on the table next to him. I looked at him and shook my head.
I went into my bedroom and packed a large bag. I filled it up with everything I could think of I’d need. Then I grabbed a notebook and sat on the floor. I flipped it open. Trust me, I wasn’t going to write a letter to my father and explain why I was leaving.
Only one person needed to know what I was doing.
I put the pencil to paper.
Priya -
I don’t know what I’m really supposed to say right now. I know we don’t know much about each other. It really pisses me off that a fence and a set of train tracks matter so much to so many people.
You’re going to hate me for being gone, and I don’t blame you. I want you to know it’s for good reason. I’ll come back for you, sweetie. I feel it in my heart that you and I aren’t done here…
I stopped writing.
Another idea hit me.
Could I ask Priya to run away with me?
Would she run away with me?
/> There was so much we didn’t know about each other. Dammit, I should have stayed. I should have put the notebook down and stayed. Suffered through whatever was left of this town and then move on.
“No,” I whispered.
I couldn’t do that to Priya. Leave her hanging like that. I couldn’t stick around with my father. This town. The people in it. The border of the fence and the fucking tracks. Not with Knoxville and what I had done for him. I heard rumors that the Reap would come looking for me to take me out. To keep things quiet around the town and in their club.
I was better off on my own, on the run.
Even still…
I put the pencil back to paper and finished the letter to Priya. I then folded it up and tucked it into my back pocket. I left the apartment and never went back. I never looked back either. I didn’t say goodbye to my father or anyone in that fucking town.
I walked the tracks and crossed the so-called barrier.
I wasn’t done yet.
My first stop was Priya’s house. I stood in her yard and looked around. While nobody was rich, I had to say that Priya’s little house was almost perfect. It had that small town feel to it. I suddenly saw her leaving and going to do great things. I’d be a blip on the radar for her. The boy she had a crush on from another town. She’d grow up and laugh to herself that it was so dumb we didn’t pursue things.
I had no idea what window was her bedroom. I took the note out of my pocket and stood there.
“Now what?” I asked myself. “What’s the fucking plan?”
The plan… just go. Survive. Live. Be in the present. Never forget the past. Fuck the future.
I shut my eyes and tore up the letter to Priya. I left her yard and walked the pieces of the letter to the creek and dropped them. They floated away into the night, far away from Priya.
I then crossed the tracks and kept going.
I walked for two hours before someone picked me up. For all I knew the guy could have been a serial killer. But he wasn’t. His name was Todd. He was on his way home from work. He dropped me off at the bus station and that was it for me.
Somewhere in my heart I knew the thing with Priya was far from over.
41
(priya)
*THEN*
I woke up and looked at my window. I just had a feeling. A really weird feeling. I threw the covers off and ran to the window. I swore that I saw Knight standing in the yard. I blinked, rubbed my eyes, and he was gone. My window was the only part of the house I liked. I had a little chair and I’d sit there and stare out. I could see everything. From my yard to the road to the creek. Even to the tracks. Sometimes if the wind was right and the trees cooperated, I could see the water flowing in the creek and hear it at the same time. I never saw a train though. I heard the tracks weren’t used anymore.
Putting my hand to the window I thought about Knight.
I thought about everything actually.
A fence? That’s what kept us apart? What would happen if Knight and I started dating? Would someone kill me? Not a chance. That’s not how it worked. It didn’t make much sense to me that they all hated each other. Because of high school football? Two teams that really weren’t good at all. And a bunch of guys that were the opposite of jocks. They were all rough and tough, ripped jeans, long hair, smoking, drinking, fighting kind of guys. Walking the dangerous footsteps of becoming outlaws.
I sighed and my breath fogged the window.
With my pointer finger I wrote Knight’s name.
I smiled.
Tomorrow… that’s when it would all change.
Tomorrow I would see Knight and tell him exactly how I felt about him.
42
(knight)
*NOW*
Knox grabbed a folding chair and slammed it on the table. Everyone stopped talking. Besides Knox I was the only one standing. Knox made fists and put them to the table.
“I’m going to keep this short. Knight has proved himself. He’s wearing the cut. He should have a seat at the table. And a vote. Our history may go back years and years but it’s about right now. What we’re doing together as a club. The Reap has a long future. We’ve got legit business on the outside and we have our personal business on the inside. Anyone who objects to Knight sitting at this table with a voice and a vote, speak up right now.”
There was silence.
Then to my shock, Matteo raised his hand.
I nodded.
“Matteo,” Knox said. “Speak up.”
“I just want to say that for a long time I was a friend to Knight. I hated the bullshit between the two towns. And I know Knight helped us. Back then. And now. So I have nothing bad to say. Anyone at this table who doesn’t welcome Knight as a longtime brother to the Reap… I’ll give up my cut.”
“That’s crazy,” Knox said.
“So who votes nay?” I asked. “Get it over with.”
Nobody spoke.
In fact, Ari moved his chair to the left. Liam moved to the right.
I had my answer.
Knox slid the chair across the table and I grabbed it.
I officially had my seat.
There was no turning back now on the Reap.
“Thank you,” I said. “This means a lot to me.”
“Enough of this shit,” Slam said. “What’s our next business?”
Knox looked around the table. He grabbed the gavel and hit the table. “Nothing. Garage is in full swing. We’ve got two orders for restorations. And I think we’ve all earned some time to cut loose.”
“Strip club,” Ari called out and whistled.
“Whiskey,” Matteo said and licked his lips.
I smiled and shook my head.
Those were the old days.
There was only one place I’d rather be.
Home.
“Do not drop him,” Priya said.
I looked back at her. “Did you have to say that?”
“I’m nervous, Knight.”
“Stop. Just get some pictures.”
I held Kyle at the top of the slide. I couldn't stand the swing set not getting used. Yeah, he was too young to go down the slide by himself. So I held him there and planned on holding him the entire way down.
Priya was at the bottom of the slide with her phone out, taking pictures of this little family moment of ours.
“Ready?” I asked Kyle.
He just looked at me. No clue what was going on. He’d never remember this but I would. I would never forget it.
I slid Kyle down the slide going at a snail’s pace. Keeping the baby safe. Keeping his mother’s heart calm.
I took him down to the bottom of the slide and smiled.
Kyle threw a big smile back at me and then waved his hands.
“Again?” I asked. “You got it, son.”
Son.
I picked Kyle up and turned. Priya was right there, taking a picture of us. She then got next to me and put the phone out for a selfie.
There I was - an outlaw taking a selfie.
“Did you take the picture?” I asked.
“I think… wait…” Priya laughed. “I bumped the screen and it’s recording now.”
Before she could stop the recording, I touched her wrist. “Keep it going.”
“What? Why?”
“Keep your arm out,” I said.
I had a million ways to finish up the rest of this business. But this moment just felt right.
I dug into my pocket and pulled out the diamond ring. I held it up so it would be on the recording.
Priya let out a gasp. “Knight…”
“I want it all, sweetie. I need it all. This house and this family isn’t complete until you’re wearing my ring and you become my wife. You ready for that?”
“Yes,” Priya said. “Oh, Knight, yes!”
I reached out and stopped the recording.
Priya stuck out her shaking left hand and I put the ring on her finger. I kissed her. I held her tight. I held my son tight.
In our backyard. Outside our house.
We kissed again and it was time to put Kyle back on the slide.
Before Priya could slip away, I put my lips to her ear. “There’s one condition with that ring.”
“Oh?” she asked.
“When the kid goes for a nap… I want you wearing nothing but that ring.”
“I already planned on it,” Priya whispered back.
I smiled.
My outlaw heart had met its fucking match. For life.
I was Priya’s wild Knight…
And we were going to have a wild life.
THE END.
About the Author
Hey darlin’
Before you go, I’m going to ask you a couple things. First off, I really hope you enjoyed WILD KNIGHT. This book was a piece of me and it’s an honor to see it published. I hope you’ll take a second and jump over to Amazon and leave a review. It means the world to me to read reviews.
Also, shoot me an email. No lie, I love hearing from readers. I’m always here: [email protected].
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Thanks for reading, darlin’. I hope we get to do this again sometime real soon.
Jaxson Kidman
Also by Jaxson Kidman
This is the list of my books in publication order. They are all stand alone novels.
Hard Knox
Renegade Fire
Slam Her
Reaper’s Kiss
Wild Knight: a bad boy romance novel Page 16