Bound by Desire (Ravage MC Bound Series Book Two)

by Ryan Michele

  Loud pops surround me. Glass shatters and falls to the carpet. Fear takes over as I fall to the ground. More shots. Gunshots. At my house. Crashing through windows, walls, and through furniture.

  Brewer barks. I feel his hard body on top of mine. It doesn’t even register that my dog is protecting me.

  It takes me a moment as my house gets blown up around me before I get out from under Brewer, crawl over to the gun cabinet, and pull out my piece.

  Darting to the bedroom, Brewer right beside me, I look out the window and see a lone black car, windows tinted and plates covered. Both the passenger side front and back windows are open, and two assholes, whose faces are covered, are shooting up my house.

  Fuck!

  As I lift my gun to take a shot, they drive off, squealing their tires down the road.

  It’s not until I see their taillights brake as the car turns that it hits me.

  A drive-by.

  Holy shit. A drive-by shooting. Exactly like what happened to my parents.

  My insides seize at that thought as a fear I haven’t felt in years takes over. I rush to find my phone, dialing the one person I need.

  “In the middle of somethin’,” Deke answers on the second ring.

  “Drive-by. I’m fine, but they blew my house up,” I get out, my voice not having its usual strength.

  I bend down and give Brewer a rub, trying to calm him from the action and looking him over to make sure he’s not hurt. Thank Christ, he’s not.

  “Fuck.” I hear some muffles on the other side of the phone. “Be there in ten. Are they gone?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you have your gun?”

  I look down at the silver in my hand, the weight of it giving me little comfort. “Yeah.”

  “Baby, breathe. I’ll be there in ten.” He disconnects as I fall to the floor by my bed, my emotions taking over.

  My parents died in my childhood home. Assholes shot up the house when I wasn’t there. Killed them both. They were in the kitchen, which was a direct aim from the road, and were hit several times.

  Now my house. Shot up.

  I try to stop the thoughts, but they whirl around like a cyclone. I rest my head on my knees, willing them to go away.

  Brewer lays his head in my lap as everything comes crashing down at once. Why me? Why this? Haven’t I suffered enough, living without my parents after such a heinous act? Why repeat it?

  It feels like forever before Deke charges into the bedroom, scoops me up in his arms, and places me on the bed.

  Brewer barks at him, but one command, and my dog listens to him.

  Before I can say anything, Deke’s inspecting me, roaming his hands up and down my body.

  “Clean,” he calls out, and then I see a few of the Ravage MC men come into the room.

  Once again, Brewer barks, coming to my side. Deke leans down, rubbing him and telling him to chill. Brewer once again listens.

  “I didn’t get hit,” I croak out. “They drove off. Black, four-door Chevrolet Impala, blacked out windows and plates. Both passenger windows open, shooting out. Black masks, but their hands weren’t covered. Both Caucasian.”

  “Damn, baby,” Deke says, impressed, as Cruz stands in the doorway, taking it all in.

  Coming up behind Cruz is GT, Deke’s father. I have no clue what went down, but him being here should be a good sign. Or maybe it’s just me keeping up hope. Hope that this shit will be done.

  “My … parents, they had a drive-by.”

  Deke cradles me in his arms. “Know that, babe. I’ll get you out of here, and then figure out what the fuck this is.” Deke looks at Coop, who nods his head once. “Get anything you don’t want to see destroyed together. We’re going to the clubhouse.”

  This surprises me, but I shake it off, nod, and pull out a bag. I hear the guys going through each room. Me, I throw in clothes and shoes, stuffing it as full as possible. Grabbing another bag, I throw in my bathroom crap. Then I finally move to my closet, pulling down the worn and torn shoebox. It’s the only thing I have left of my parents. I tuck it under my arm, grab some cash, my gun and bullets, and head out into the living room.

  “Comin’ to stay with me, sweet thing?” Ryker says, and then Deke is there, hand at Ryker’s throat. Ryker just smiles. “What can I say? Women love me.”

  “Only woman you’ve gotta worry about is Austyn. Remember that.” Deke pushes off Ryker, grabs both my bags, and hauls them out of the house, then he comes back, Brewer following him the entire time.

  I watch as my Harley is loaded into the back of a box truck by Jacks and Green. Deke tosses them the keys to my Jeep, and they hook it up to the hitch on the back. Guess I don’t have to worry about my vehicles.

  “Nothin’ fancy with the bullets,” GT says, holding one in his hand. “Dime a dozen. We’ll get the feed from the streets around the house pulled.”

  Just then, sirens are heard in the distance.

  “Clear out,” Cruz orders, and everyone piles out. “Deke, bring her to the clubhouse. You two can camp downstairs.”

  Deke nods.

  “You don’t want the cops in this?” I ask him as he helps me in the truck.

  He doesn’t answer until he comes around and gets in. “No. They’ll contact you. You say you weren’t home. They’ll want to do a report, but you won’t know shit because you weren’t there. You have no enemies. They’ll let it ride.”

  “Got it.” I rest my head back on the seat as we pass the cops heading toward my house, Brewer sitting at my feet. Someone must have heard the shots. Still, it took Deke ten minutes to get to me.

  The drive doesn’t register, neither does going into the clubhouse, down the stairs, into a room, or even Brewer’s paw steps. Not until the door clicks shuts does my attention catch.

  Deke’s concerned gaze comes to me, and I don’t think. I race to him and burrow my head into his chest as he wraps his arms around my body.

  “You’re okay, Ry,” he assures, lifting me and holding me in his arms as he sits on the bed. “Give me all those trembles.”

  I do. The fear of my parents going out like that, their last breaths, their last thoughts when it was going down—it all bombards me in a rush, and I have no choice but to give it to Deke. All of it. He’s such a rock, taking in everything I give him.

  Brewer whines as he lies down, letting me give all of this to Deke.

  “I’m gonna make this okay for you, Rylie. I swear it.”

  I nod absently, hearing him, but unsure of many things right now. This isn’t me. This weak, trembling woman. I’ve always been strong. The only time I wasn’t was when my parents died.

  It feels like hours later, but probably is only minutes, when Deke asks me to recall exactly what happened to me—sounds I heard, thoughts I had. I relive it all. It’s easier wrapped in his strength. Having someone to lean on when I haven’t had that in so many years. He takes it and holds me tighter, giving me everything.

  My body begins to calm and feelings start to recede.

  “I’m okay, Deke. Thank you,” I whisper into his shirt.

  Brewer sneezes from the floor, but doesn’t move.

  Deke massages my back, comforting and relaxing me. “Good. Glad to hear it. I need to get upstairs and find out what’s going on. Need to get in the loop about this and JK. I’ll send Princess down here to stay with you. I’ll be back in a bit.”

  “Right.” I can’t fall apart now; there’s shit to sort.

  Pulling deep within myself, I finally find what I was searching for—the tough bitch who doesn’t let anything get her down. Nor will this. We’ll find out who this is and take care of it.

  “Sounds good. Let me know what you need me to do.”

  He pulls away and kisses my lips. “There’s my strong girl. This shit will be sorted.” He kisses me again, plants my ass on the bed, and then disappears. And surprisingly, after all the shit that happened, I don’t feel the fear anymore. I feel the anger.

  My mind spinni
ng, I call Charlie, then my friends, wondering if they’ve heard about the shooting. None of them are happy.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I’ll kill him. Fucking kill him.

  Buzz, a brother and computer guru, presses buttons on his computer, bringing up the car in question, tailing it to a known associate of JK’s crew. It’s the link. Fucker thinks he’s going to get away with this shit, I’ve got news for him.

  Fucking come at my woman, not even having the balls to come at me, man to man. Shows how big of a pussy he is.

  Luckily, the Ravage MC know some of the police department and were able to get the delay to Rylie’s house. Not that I told her that. She’s not in a place for that right now.

  “We don’t have sound, but we have visual,” Buzz says, pointing to a screen off to the left.

  The car pulls into an open bayed garage. The view then moves to inside where the men exit the vehicle. A man with his back to the camera lifts a gun and plucks off all four guys with precise accuracy.

  “Fucking hell,” Cruz clips. “At least we don’t have to deal with them.”

  “Collateral. He’s cleanin’ up as he goes. No more leftovers like me,” I tell the room and hear grunts of approval.

  “Right. JK is at his place with strong guards around it.”

  Buzz gives us another visual, and we see JK lounging by the pool, drink in hand, a woman next to him. Sure enough, his two-story home is surrounded with men.

  “Got markers. I’ll call ’em in,” Cruz calls out, putting his phone to his ear and walking out of the room.

  “Where’s Emery?” I ask my father, saying anything to him directly for the first time.

  “Home with your mother.”

  I fully turn toward him. “Don’t you think you need to get them here? This fucker just shot up my woman’s home. You don’t think he’s gonna try your house next?”

  “She’s sick, Deke.”

  “No shit,” I clip, really wanting to knock a few licks into him. “Get her out of there and here. Just in case.”

  My father stares at me, and for the first time in forever, he relents, taking away his eye contact and moving to his phone.

  “What about the rest of the kids?” I ask the room at large.

  “Calls are going out now. Expect them here within twenty,” Cooper calls out.

  “Austyn?”

  “Yep, called her personally. She’ll be here.”

  A small bit of weight lifts, but I want my mom and sister here asap.

  Buzz takes us through the lay of the house, noting things we may get stuck in or places that are secret. Fucker has an entire compound.

  Calls are made, and people start showing up at the clubhouse, including my mother and sister. Only when I see them do I let out a sigh of relief.

  JK has left the pool area, and Buzz hasn’t been able to get visual on him, but we know he hasn’t left the place.

  My body thumps, waiting for the go-ahead to tear this man apart. No more living with him over my head. No more him giving that poison to kids and having them go through what I did. No more of him.

  “Meeting,” Cruz calls into the room, and we make our way to the basement in the wide-open space down there that’s next to Buzz’s computer area.

  We move into the room as one, something that doesn’t quite register.

  “First thing’s first.” Cruz grabs something from the back of the couch and holds it up in the air.

  Leather.

  “Deke, come put this on,” he orders, causing my throat to close up.

  A cut. He wants me to put on a prospect cut. Fuck me.

  I stand there paralyzed for a moment, unable to think, unable to move, unable to do anything.

  The one thing I desired so damn badly is now within my grasp.

  “Boy,” Dagger calls out, snapping me out of my surprise. “Get your ass up there.”

  “Want you to be in on this. You’re one of us. We don’t do shit with outsiders,” Cruz says, and I feel the eyes all around me, but it’s my father’s that I meet.

  When he lifts his chin, something inside me settles in a profound way.

  Not only will I be part of this operation, by taking this cut, I’ll be committed to Sumner, the one place that I said I wouldn’t go back to. There’s no going back from this. The only out is death.

  The acceptance around me, though, fills a part inside that I thought would never get filled. Never thought it would be an option. I put this leather on my back, I’m in.

  The weight of the material settles on your shoulders. You carry the weight of the club with those colors. The rag, the single garment that means everything: family, loyalty, freedom.

  While I wanted this for so much of my time growing up, now seeing that leather, it’s more. It’s not a desire to be like my father or uncle. It’s being my own man, knowing what I want out of life, and knowing these men will take my back, no matter what, as I will do for them.

  Being angry for so long changed a part of me, and not in a good way. I know that, and I dealt with life the way I could. If I made different choices, went to someone else, I more than likely would’ve never left. Never grown into the man I am today. The one who deserves that cut.

  I nod, feeling a peace surround me and allowing it to come in.

  “Prospect, you’re in for the most grueling year of your life,” Cruz says, then chuckles are heard throughout the room.

  I slip on the leather, the weight heavy in a way that doesn’t feel like a problem, but a solution. Damn.

  Cruz slaps my shoulders. “Alright, now let’s get to business.”

  I move through the guys, back to my place, getting hand pats as I move. This easy? This fucking easy, and I’m in the fold? Knew working at the garage would put me in with the Ravage MC, but to actually have the cut on my back is unreal.

  “Alright, we’ve got the Vipers Creed and Ruthless Rebels on their way. Luckily, they’re in the neighborhood. Okay, not quite, but they will be in the next hour, guaranteed. Buzz, we need all entry and exit points in the house. Tug and Breaker, we need eyes everywhere around the place. Jacks and Green, need weapons locked and loaded. Dagger and Rhys, get ready for retribution. No one touches the Ravage MC. No one threatens our kids. No one takes from us,” Cruz states. “You’ve got one hour, then meet back here.”

  The guys leave, yet I stay rooted to the spot, leaving Cooper, Nox, Cruz, Ryker, and my father in the room.

  “We got a lot of shit to work out, Deke. Know this. But we’re not going to let it get in the way of what we need to do. JK needs to be extinguished,” Cruz says.

  Princess races into the room. “Have you heard from Austyn?” she asks all of us.

  “Talked her about thirty minutes ago, Mom. She’s on her way,” Cooper calls out.

  “She’s not answering her phone. Not here. Tried tracking her. The car and phone are still at her house. Something’s wrong.”

  “Fuck!” Cruz clips. “All of us, to Austyn’s house now. Deke, you drive the truck with Nox and Cooper in case we need more fire power.”

  I haven’t taken orders in four years, but now, it just comes natural when it comes from Cruz. I’m not sure how I’d feel if it were my father. This, however, feels right.

  “Let’s fucking go!” Ryker calls out, pain written all over his face. About fucking time he gets his head out of his ass.

  We leave the room, and I make my way into Rylie’s room.

  Panic in her eyes, she tells me, “They can’t find Austyn.”

  I pull her close. “Know that, babe. Goin’ to look for her. Need you to stay here. Don’t leave for any reason at all.”

  “You’re wearing leather,” she comments instead of answering.

  “Another time.” I lean down and kiss her hard.

  Meeting the guys outside, we then head over to Austyn’s house.

  When we get there, she’s nowhere to be found.

  The pit of my stomach hollows out, and I feel my body jerk, remembering the wom
an who came to me, strong as can be, after doing something that proved hard for her. Strong, independent. There’s no struggle, so whatever happened had to come as a shock.

  We have to find her. Now.

  Chapter Twenty

  High.

  Flying.

  Soaring.

  My eyesight is hazy, like there is a fog over it. I’m unable to see ten feet in front of me. Sounds of movement are all around me, though, along with murmurs from a stern voice.

  That voice.

  I remember it.

  I hear it in my nightmares. The ones that were only tamed when Deke stayed at my house.

  I desperately have to get out of here, far away from him. However, my arms feel like hundred pound weights, yet light at the same time. I go to move them, but they don’t want to. It’s the same story with my legs and torso.

  Blinking, I try to make sense of where I am and what exactly is going on.

  When I left my apartment, I looked everywhere around me before exiting. I didn’t expect a Taser to come shooting from a distance and knock me on my ass. He injected me with something, probably the same thing as last time that made my limbs go weak, then my mind.

  Last time …

  Panic fills me at just the thought, as the memories bombard me, ones I want to forget and move past.

  This doesn’t bode well for me. I barely got away before. I didn’t even think I’d ever be able to stand on my own two feet again. This time will be worse. I know it. He’s evil. Beyond evil.

  Cooper told me to get right to the clubhouse. He warned the brothers would notice if I’m not there. They have to because, for once, no amount of the brute strength force my mother taught me is going to help. Not when my body is uncontrollable, and my brain is as high as a kite.

  My head jerks from a powerful force, maybe a hand. There are no cries or tears. I don’t feel the pain, only a slight sting and the movement. The drugs he gave me must be more powerful than before, because I felt everything last time. Remembered everything. The brutality, the tearing, the burning—everything.