Hard & Reckless
Copyright © 2017 Victoria Ashley
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, 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 such as electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. 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 these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Cover Model:
Jonny James
Photographer:
Wander Aguiar
Cover Artist:
CT Cover Creations
Interior Design & Formatting:
Christine Borgford, Type A Formatting
Contents
Hard and Reckless
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Sneak Peek at Hot & Reckless
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Books by Victoria Ashley
Jameson Daniels
WRAPPING AN ARM AROUND MY neck, Katie stands to her tiptoes and presses her lips against mine, before pulling away with a sexy little laugh. “Here you are. Thought you got lost. It’s been close to an hour since I’ve seen you.”
Growling, I lift her off her feet, and roughly bite her bottom lip, before moving around to speak against her ear. “I’m always around, baby. Just got a little busy talking about club security. I’ll meet you downstairs in a minute. Just need to change first.”
With a small moan, Katie releases my neck and slowly runs her hands down my chest and abs, stopping at my belt and tugging on it. “Alright, but hurry. I’ve been waiting all night to get my greedy little hands on you and have you to myself.”
I roughly cup the back of her head, placing my forehead to hers. “Keep talking like that and I’ll bend you over the railing right now and fuck you. I don’t care that my house is full of people. You know me.”
“Mmm . . .” she moans. “Sounds tempting.”
“Hey, man. I need you for a minute.”
Pulling my forehead away from Katie’s, I look over to see Rowdy standing in the hallway with a drink in hand. He’s a good friend of mine and another security guard at the nightclub I work at. That’s exactly why I like having him around when I decide to throw a party here. More help keeping the people under control when needed. “What’s up, Rowdy? Everything okay downstairs?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I need to talk to you in private. Now.”
Katie groans and kisses my cheek. “This is going to be a looong night.” Smiling, she gently slaps Rowdy’s cheek. “Don’t keep my man busy for too long, handsome. I need him if you know what I mean.”
Rowdy looks tense, but doesn’t say a word as he watches Katie walk away. “Let’s go back to the game room,” he says stiffly.
He doesn’t even wait for me to respond, before he walks away with purpose. Has me thinking that something major is happening.
I don’t like that feeling one bit. Has me on edge, ready for something to go down.
Once we get inside the room, I shut the door behind me and walk over to lean against the table. “Alright, well what the hell is going on?”
He runs his ink covered hands down his face and mumbles, making it hard for me to understand what he’s saying. “Cole is fucking Katie.”
Rage courses through me, causing my blood to boil, as I demand Rowdy to repeat the words that just left his mouth.
I’m hoping like hell that I heard wrong, because I’d hate to have to kill my best friend tonight.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
I grip the table behind me, feeling the veins in my neck begin to throb as I wait for him to speak again. Feels like the longest ten seconds of my life.
“Wait. Shit, I need this first.” Holding up his finger, he takes a long swig of his vodka and leans against the wall, before pulling out a joint and lighting it. He takes two quick hits, before blowing out a cloud of smoke. “Cole is fucking your girl. They’re sneaking around behind your damn back, man.” His eyes meet mine, showing me just how gone he is right now. Even high and completely wasted though, he knows that’s something you don’t fuck around with me about.
“How sure are you?” I growl out, squeezing the table tighter. Something’s about to break soon. Probably my damn hand at this rate. “You better be damn fucking sure, Rowdy and not just assuming.”
Flexing his jaw, he downs the rest of his drink and then slams the empty glass down next to him, looking pissed that I would even question him. “I wouldn’t come to you out of a damn assumption, asshole. I saw the two of them sneak out of the guest room together, looking thoroughly fucked. I wasn’t quite as drunk ten minutes ago, but seeing one of my best fucking friends sneak around with my other best friend’s girl, had me downing a few shots on the way to find your ass.”
Pushing away from the table, I turn around and flip it over, before running my hands over my face and yelling, “Fuuuuck!”
I’ve never felt so betrayed in my life and there’s not a damn word that can explain how I truly feel right now. Over twenty years of friendship with Cole and this is the shit I get. He sleeps with my girlfriend of four fucking years.
“I’d be pissed too, man,” Rowdy says from across the room as I pace, trying to gather my thoughts and piece this shit together. “Cole just broke the bro code and in your house to top that shit off. That’s messed up. I’d kill him.”
My heart is racing so fast that I need to get out of here, before I explode and take it out on the wrong person. My chest is tight and I can’t think straight. None of his words seem to make sense right now. All I feel in this moment is pure hatred.
“Where is he?” I stop pacing to look at him. “Is that piece of shit still downstairs?”
“Nah, man. I saw him walk out the door right when I got up here to find you. He left about five minutes ago.”
Cracking my neck, I reach for my jacket and slip it on, before reaching for my helmet. “Watch my house and keep everyone in check until I get back. Don’t let anyone upstairs.”
“You’re gonna chase him down and beat–”
“Damn straight, I am,” I say, cutting him off as I rush out the door, headed on a mission. Cole might’ve left five minutes ago, but I’m faster and more reckless.
“Jameson!” Katie rushes out of the kitchen, grabbing my arm, once I make it downstairs. “Where are you going? Everything okay?”
I yank my arm away, clenching my jaw, as I stop to look at her. She’s beautiful as hell, but it’s not worth trying to fix this shit. Fuck me over once and you’re done. “To find Cole.” Feel
ing my chest ache, I lean in close to speak against her ear. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to her again. “Get the fuck out of my house. We’re done.”
The color drains from her face, realization finally kicking in, that I know about her and Cole.
“Jameson, wait!” She attempts to grab my arm again, but I shake it off and push my way through the crowd, needing to get to Cole.
I can hear Katie following behind me, yelling for me to let her explain, but all I see is red as I straddle my Hayabusa and start the engine.
Cole lives less than fifteen minutes from me, so I have about seven minutes to catch him, before he makes it home for the night.
Shoving my helmet on, I rev the engine and speed off, leaving Katie to scream and cry after me, asking for something that I’ll never give her: a second chance.
Leaning forward, I weave my way through traffic, speeding pass vehicles, while on the lookout for Cole’s car.
After a while, I spot him two stoplights ahead of me, so I turn off at an alley that I know leads to where Cole is headed.
Speeding up, I fight to control my breathing, but all I can think about is my best friend between my girl’s legs, fucking her and making her scream. It only makes it harder to breathe.
Reaching the end of the alley, I turn left, heading toward the side street that I know Cole will be approaching from any second now.
As expected, Cole’s black Dodge Challenger, comes into view, making me speed up along the side to pass him.
Pulling out in front of him, once I give myself enough room, my bike skids to a stop, causing Cole to honk the horn and slam on his brakes, almost hitting me.
I don’t even care at this point. Him hitting me would only give me more reason to kill his Don Juan ass.
After a few seconds, he pushes his door open and steps out of the car, looking me over as if I’m crazy. “What the fuck, Jameson!” He closes the driver door behind him, before throwing his arms up and walking closer to me. “What the hell is your problem? I could’ve killed your ass. Or shit. Even my damn self. I’m too fucking sexy to die, man,” he shouts. “The female population would be left devastated and it would be your fault.”
Kicking my stand down, I jump off my bike and pull my helmet off, tossing it at the road.
That’s when I see it register on his face that he knows exactly what my problem is.
“Good thing you didn’t.” Clenching my jaw, I step up in his face and crack my neck, locking my eyes with his dark ones. “Then I wouldn’t get to do this to you for fucking my girl.”
Swinging out, I punch him in the mouth, causing him to stumble back, before I quickly swing my elbow out, connecting it with his jaw.
This causes him to fall back, but he quickly recovers, jumping back up to his feet and looking me over, with heavy breaths.
His jaw flexes as if he wants to swing back, but he doesn’t. Maybe it’s because he knows he deserves that and much more.
“Fuck!” Wiping his thumb over his bloody mouth, he cusses to himself, while cracking his neck. “That’s some fucked up shit! All over a girl, too? Katie isn’t right for you. Never has been. I did you a favor. Open your fucking eyes.”
“Fuuck! Always over a girl, Cole.” I step up until we’re nose to nose, so he can feel my anger with each breath. “Especially when that girl is mine. No one fucking touches what is mine.”
With that, I grab his throat and squeeze, causing him to growl out as if he wants to rip my throat out just as badly as I want to his. “We’ve been friends for over twenty years, but fuck me over again and I will kill your ass.” I slam him down onto the hood of his car and squeeze his neck tighter. “I’ll never forget this shit, asshole. This is the worst way to break my fucking trust.”
Releasing his neck, I step away from him and bend down to pick up my helmet, before walking back over to hop on my bike. If I have to look at him for another second, I have no idea what I’ll end up doing to him.
I hear him coming up behind me as I slip the helmet on and breathe heavily into it. “That’s it?” he questions, throwing his arms out and circling around my bike. “We’re not going to talk about this shit so I can explain? I wouldn’t just fuck your girl without good reason. You know me better than that. You’re like a brother to me. Hell . . . you are my brother.”
I rev the engine and look him up and down, standing there with his tattooed fists clenched at his sides. “No, I thought I knew you better than that. Your words don’t mean shit, so don’t bother coming around for a while. This was nothing compared to what I really want to do to you. Consider yourself lucky, motherfucker.”
Gripping the handle bars, tightly, I take off, finding open road for me to cut loose on, so I can calm down enough, before returning to my party.
I’m usually good at being in control. But not tonight . . . Cole has me all worked up.
This is beyond fucked up on so many levels. Cole’s always been the playboy type when it comes to women, but I never in a million years thought he’d pull that shit with my girl.
I thought he knew better than to fuck me over.
I was wrong.
After driving around for thirty minutes, I call Rowdy and tell him I’m on my way and I’ll deal with Katie when I get there.
Apparently, after I left, Rowdy tried making her leave, and she got mad, swinging at him.
So, he threw his hands up and backed away, letting her get a few hits to his chest to calm her down.
I’m gonna owe him later for taking a few hits for me.
When I pull up outside my house, Katie is sitting on the porch, but she stands up immediately, when she hears me coming.
The sight of her walking toward me has me tightening my jaw as I take my helmet off, and get off my bike.
“It was just this once, I swear. It’ll never happen again. All the other rumors about me aren’t true though. You’ve got to believe me. I’d never hurt you on purpose. I’m just . . . I’ve been drinking. I wasn’t thinking clearly.” She grabs my arm and pulls on it, when I just keep on walking. “Will you stop for two fucking seconds and talk to me!”
“Stop with the fucking excuses.” Taking a deep breath, I stop walking and look down at her, as she stands in front of me, pushing on my chest to keep me from moving. “Your words mean nothing,” I bark. “It’s your actions that speak, but you just showed me that trusting you was a mistake.”
Her face is red from crying, so I turn away, not letting her tears sway me to change my mind. I know she’s not drunk. She might forget how well I fucking know her. She knew perfectly well what she was doing when she went into that room with my best friend.
I hate hurting her and seeing her cry, but I stand firm on this shit.
“Jameson, please!” She grabs my face and yanks it so I’m looking down at her again. “Give me a chance to make it up to you. I’ll prove to you that I can be trusted. I love you. I love you so damn much.”
Grabbing the back of her head like I did earlier, I lean in close to her face and stop just inches from her lips. “Goodbye, Katie. Now get the fuck off my property.”
With that, I remove her hand from my face and walk inside the house, leaving her outside to let it all sink in.
We’re done and there’s nothing she can do or say to change that. Just like there’s nothing I can say or do to change the fact that she fucked my best friend.
Rowdy meets me at the door with a bottle of Jack, knowing damn well what I need at a time like this.
“Here you go, man. Get fucked up and I’ll take care of the party.” He grabs my shoulder and squeezes it, as I walk toward the staircase. “You deserve to drown in whiskey so I’ll sober my ass up. For you.”
Grabbing the bottle from Rowdy, I tilt it back, while making my way up the stairs and to my room.
I’m going to need more than just this bottle to numb the pain I’m feeling right now.
This is going to be a long night . . .
Two weeks later . . .
J
ameson
THE CLUB IS PACKED TONIGHT, causing me to keep my guard up and my eyes open for drunken assholes, looking for a fight.
One fuck up and they’re out.
Touch any woman in this room wrong or even give them a disrespectful look and I’ll be on their ass so fucking fast that they won’t even know it until they’re out the door, with my knee in their neck.
I’m still on edge over the fact that Cole decided to take his job here back, knowing damn well that I still can’t stand the sight of his ass.
I’ve still been picturing them together, thinking of all the ways I can rip his damn throat out for laying his hands on my girl and touching her in places only I should’ve been.
That’s what him being here does. It allows more scenarios to fuck with my head, intensifying my hate for him.
It’s been haunting me, making me want nothing more than to make him feel just a small bit of the pain he fucking made me feel and to let him know what it feels like to be stabbed in the back by the person you trust the most.
I’ve tried to move on, but I can’t. Words can’t fix the damage Cole did.
He’s across the club, working the back section, but I’ve had my eye on him, watching him as he flirts with some dark-haired chick.
She’s been coming here for the last week since Cole came back, so I can only assume she’s here for him.
The animal inside of me, has me wanting to get her alone so I can dig my claws into her and work my way under her skin before Cole gets in too deep with her.
I want to make his ass work for what he wants. He doesn’t deserve to have it easy after the shit he pulled on me.
Releasing a frustrated breath, I pull my eyes away from his section of the club and focus back on section A, walking around and making my rounds.
Stopping up at the bar, I tap it to get Violet’s attention, noticing that the guy in front of her hasn’t given her space since he walked through the door an hour ago. “You good over here, V?”
Looking away from the bearded guy, Violet flashes me a quick smile and leans over to grab my face and press her red lips against my cheek. “I’m always good when your sexy ass is here to keep all the jerks in check. He’s a friend, but thank you, Jameson.” She makes a sad face and places her hand over mine for comfort, most likely noticing my expression. “Everything okay, honey? I heard about Katie. What a bitch. You’re too hot for her anyway, babe. You’ll find better.”
Hard & Reckless (Club Reckless Book 1) Page 1