by S. Nelson
After calling Salzar and giving him detailed directions as to where he could find us inside, I headed back toward the room we’d escaped from. I wasn’t shocked to find Marek standing over Psych’s bloodied body, his knuckles raw from beatin’ the hell out of Sully’s father. Seeing the look of gratitude on Marek’s face when he saw me return was all the thanks I needed.
“Stone will let you know whose shift is up next,” Marek said, smirking at his VP. The tension between the two men had finally dissolved. They threw themselves back into the daily running of the club, focusing more on their immediate plans for Psych, who just so happened to be shackled in the basement of the safe house. For the past two weeks.
Our prisoner of war, I supposed.
The men took turns checking in on him to make sure he was as destitute as possible. We fed him the bare minimum, only giving him the amount of water needed for survival until Marek decided to finally end his wretched life. I knew he was cooking up something good, and Psych’s death was definitely something I wanted a hand in. Not only had he hurt Sully her entire life and injured Adelaide, who thankfully was recovering nicely, but he’d had the audacity to touch Kena as well.
She’d told me what he’d done to her. He’d violated her, and for that alone he needed to pay dearly.
Every day Kena’s face looked better and better, the bruises fading to a light yellowish color. She wore her hair down a lot, trying to shield the damage from me because she knew how angry I became seeing evidence of what I’d essentially allowed to happen. Even though she argued, telling me it wasn’t my fault.
I didn’t believe her, though. Most times I would concede because I wanted to move on and not focus on the guilt that ate at me on a daily basis. I’d talked in length with Stone about what I’d been going through, and he asked me one simple question: Did I love her? I told him the truth. I did. I had no idea how I’d lived on this earth without her by my side all these years, but I thanked fate for bringing us together.
I vowed to never leave her side again. Something she seemed more than pleased about, except of course when I’d become overprotective about her going places alone. But because of what had happened, she hadn’t argued too much, realizing her safety was my number one priority.
We spent a lot of time joined at the hip, the guys in the club referring to me as pussy-whipped, but I didn’t care. I welcomed their jabs because it meant Kena was really mine. Hell, we’d already started talking about moving in together someday in the near future.
Lost to thoughts of my woman, I missed most of what the men had been discussing. Until Marek shouted my name. “Prospect! Are you fuckin’ listenin’?” he yelled, glaring at me.
I knew he’d been under a tremendous amount of stress dealing with Psych. Then add to that he worried about Rabid, the Reapers’ VP. Our prez wanted to make sure the man stayed hidden. He’d never been an issue before, seeing as how the man had no backbone, but things sometimes changed when a leader was dethroned, so to speak. People sometimes rose up and wanted to assume power, even though the Savage Reapers had no sustainable source of income to speak of. Once the cartel cut them off, they’d been slowly drowning, selling subpar product they’d either stolen or bought off one of the local gangs, the drugs utter shit. And their customers knew it.
“Prospect!” Marek yelled again. Shit, I was two for two. I really needed to pay attention.
“Sorry,” I said, waiting for him to speak again.
“Come here,” he demanded. When I finally stopped in front of him, I glanced around the room, but none of the other men gave me a clue as to what was going on, their faces expressionless. “Gimme your cut,” Marek said, grabbing my vest as soon as it slid past my shoulders. “Ever since you came to this club, you’ve done as asked, no matter how degrading or dangerous the request.” Stone handed Marek a knife. I glanced down at my cut lying on top of the table, the prospect patch being pried away from the leather. Every stitch being ripped apart.
“Over these past few months, you’ve really proven your loyalty. First with helping to dispose of Yanez, then with being the reason we all made it out of that warehouse alive. So I think it’s time,” he said, pulling something from the inside pocket of his vest, “that you become a permanent member.” On his last word, he handed me back my cut along with a full member patch.
Two words sewn onto a thick piece of material.
Knights Corruption.
No more prospecting.
“If your woman can’t stitch it on, I’ll have Sully do it,” he offered. I stared at the patch for what felt like forever, my eyes becoming glassy, but I knew they’d never let me live it down if I allowed my emotions to escape. So I tipped my head back, allowing the water building in my eyes to recede.
When I finally looked at Marek, he was smiling.
Full-blown.
At me.
The gesture alone almost made me gasp in shock. But I returned the sentiment, beyond thrilled that I’d finally been accepted as an equal to all the brothers in the club.
Kena
Waiting outside their meeting room killed me, but I was so excited for Jagger. Braylen had grabbed me as soon as I came out of the bathroom, shouting for me to get dressed, that we had to get to the clubhouse as soon as possible. At first, I thought something was wrong, but she quickly explained it was a good thing.
Today was the day Jagger was being fully patched into the club.
Ryder had told my sister it would be real nice if I was there when he came out of Chambers. His exact words.
In past conversations with Jagger I knew most of the hierarchy of his club, some of it confusing me so he’d go over it again. To which I’d give him a blank stare. But the one thing I did know for sure was that it was a huge deal to become a fully patched member. He loved that club, almost as much as he loved me. At least that’s what he’d told me. I wasn’t fully convinced it was true—not yet, at least—but he was making promising strides to prove it to me.
I heard shouts and laughter behind the large wooden doors, hyping my excitement to the next level. A few moments later, the handle turned, the large room coming into full view.
And there he was, standing tall and proud, a smile so big I would’ve thought he’d won the lottery. Then again, in his eyes, I was sure that’s how he felt.
Jagger was a good man. He deserved life’s every happiness, and I was thrilled he’d chosen me to join him in this next chapter of his life.
“Hey, babe!” he shouted, breaking away from the others and heading straight for me. The prospect patch on his cut missing, nothing in its place.
Why is there nothing in place of the patch?
“It’s right here,” he answered, holding up his hand. “Do you know how to stitch?” His smile was infectious, my breath catching in my throat looking at the pure joy on his face.
I do.
Drawing me into his arms, he pressed his eager lips to mine, his tongue teasing me in the most delicious way. Just like that, I wanted to be alone with him. To celebrate privately.
Breaking the kiss, his mouth found my ear, whispering, “I think I like those two words. I might just make you say them again real soon.” His warm breath tickled the side of my neck. Leaning back, I stared at him, waiting for him to tell me he was joking, but he never did. Instead, he winked before kissing me once more.
“How about we go back to my place and celebrate?”
I loved it when he read my mind.
Tripp
Knights Corruption MC Series, book 4
January 2017
To my hubby- thank you for your continued support while I lose myself for hours on end in my office. Thanks for holding down the fort and entertaining our furry children while I’m lost inside my head. Love you, baby!
A huge thank you to my family and friends for your continued love, encouragement and support. What a wild ride this journey has been, and hopefully will continue to be for many years to come.
To the ladies at Hot Tree
Editing, both editors and beta readers, I can’t say enough great things about you. You continue to amaze me and I can’t wait until our next project together. You have been beyond fantastic!
To Clarise from CT Cover Creations, what can I say other than you’re freaking amazing, woman! Your work speaks for itself. I’m absolutely thrilled with each and every cover you’ve magically created for me. They just keep getting better and better, Jagger being number 9! Can you believe it? If you lived in the same country, I would track you down just so I could give you a huge hug. ☺
To Kiki, Ruth and all of the other amazing ladies at The Next Step PR- You work tirelessly to promote my work, and “thank you” just doesn’t seem adequate enough. For all of your love and support, and for helping to guide me through this wonderful book world we all love so much, I’m eternally grateful. I’m beyond excited to see what the future holds for us all.
To Beth ~ Your love and support is truly priceless. I’m beyond thrilled we’ve become such dear friends. I don’t know what I would do without you! You cheer me on when I’m nervous, and celebrate when I succeed. Love you! Here’s to many more wonderful years to come.
To all of the bloggers who have shared my work, I’m forever indebted to you. You ladies are simply wonderful!
To all of you who have reached out to me to let me know how much you loved my stories, I am beyond humbled. Thank you so much, and I’ll continue to do my best to bring you stories you can lose yourself in, even if it’s only for a few hours.
And last but not least, I would like to thank you, the reader. If this is the first book you’ve read from me, I hope you enjoy it. If this is yet another story from me you’ve taken a chance on . . . THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!
S. Nelson grew up with a love of reading and a very active imagination, never putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard until 2013.
Her passion to create was overwhelming, and within a few months she’d written her first novel, Stolen Fate. When she isn’t engrossed in creating one of the many stories rattling around inside her head, she loves to read and travel as much as she can.
She lives in the Northeast with her husband and two dogs, enjoying the ever changing seasons.
If you would like to follow or contact her please do so at the following:
www.snelsonauthor.com
Email Address: [email protected]
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Stolen Fate
Redemption
Addicted (Addicted Trilogy, Book 1)
Shattered (Addicted Trilogy, Book 2)
Wanted (Addicted Trilogy, Book 3)
Torn
Marek (Knights Corruption MC Series, book 1)
Stone (Knights Corruption MC Series, book 2)