by Hope Stone
Ryder
An MC Romance (Outlaw Souls Book 1)
Hope Stone
Contents
Dedication
Outlaw Souls Members
1. Ryder
2. Paige
3. Ryder
4. Paige
5. Ryder
6. Paige
7. Ryder
8. Paige
9. Ryder
10. Paige
11. Ryder
12. Paige
13. Ryder
14. Paige
15. Ryder
16. Paige
17. Ryder
18. Paige
19. Ryder
20. Paige
21. Ryder
22. Paige
23. Ryder
24. Paige
25. Ryder
26. Paige
27. Ryder
28. Paige
29. Ryder
30. Paige
31. Ryder
32. Paige
33. Ryder
34. Paige
35. Ryder
36. Paige
37. Ryder
38. Paige
39. Ryder
40. Paige
41. Ryder
42. Paige
43. Ryder
44. Paige
Epilogue: Paige
Also by Hope Stone
Connect with Hope
About the Author
Free Gifts and Email List
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It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental.
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to all those who have been impacted by the recent global pandemic. My heart goes out to you and your families. In tough times, I have always turned to reading, and I hope that this book can in some way provide you with some joy and a temporary escape to allow your mind to enjoy a break from reality.
With love,
Hope Stone
Outlaw Souls Members
MEMBERSHIP ROSTER
President
Paul “Padre” Padillo
Vice President
Robert “Ryder” Hernandez
SGT at Arms
Susie “Swole” Holt
Road Captain
Raul “Trainer” Lopez
Secretary
Open
Treasurer
Gabriel “Pin” Gallegos
Enforcer
Michael “The Moves” Jagger
Prospects
Kimberly Delasante
Carlos Brown
Patches
Pedro “Hawk” Sanchez
Diego “The Dog” Christopher
Vlad “The Enforcer” Kushniruk
Robbie “Chalupa” Iglesias
Chaplain
Ming “Yoda” Chi
One
Ryder
The worst thing about living near the Pacific Ocean is that you only see the sunset and not the sunrise. On days like this one, when I’d been up all night, I’d rather see the dawning of a new day over the ocean instead of it coming at my back.
I didn’t spend much time at the beach, honestly. It seemed like a waste of time, and then you find sand up your ass for days.
Part of me envied the surfers, though—those carefree guys who only lived to catch the perfect wave, with no cares in the world. That wasn’t the La Playa I lived in. My La Playa was inland. Instead of million-dollar homes and high-end convertibles, the Outlaw Souls lived and worked in North La Playa, where the windows had bars and the bars had no windows.
The thing about this town, though, was that it was big enough that you could be anything. La Playa was the largest suburb of Los Angeles, and had a university (if you were the book smart type), a performing arts center (if you were the artsy type), and a convention center (if you were the business type). There was a huge gay and lesbian community (if that was your thing) and, of course, since it was by the beach, you had the surfers, sailors, skaters, and runners.
But none of that was my world. My La Playa was the dark, seedy side of town where drugs and crime were more popular than burgers and fries. The funny thing was how dramatically things changed as you went east from the beach. The houses became apartment complexes, the Starbucks became dive bars. Banks became Check Cashing places.
When Lily and I first moved to La Playa after our parents were killed, all I could afford was a one-room apartment in the bad side of town. She was only eleven years old, and I was eighteen. I knew nothing about raising a kid, but what the hell was my choice? Our parents didn’t leave us shit for money, I was fresh out of high school, and there were no relatives that could take her. It was either me or the foster care system.
So while all my friends went off to college, I got a job in an auto shop and tried to learn a trade while Lily tried to cope with middle school. We had no family, very little money, and were just two kids trying to stay alive.
As I sat on the beach, with the sun rising behind me, getting sand in my boots, I was grateful to have the leather jacket I was wearing. It was more than just a piece of clothing that kept me warm. It represented the family that took me in when I had nowhere to turn. The day I took the job at Ortega’s Autos five years ago was the day that changed the trajectory of my entire life. Joining the Outlaw Souls MC gave me back the family I’d lost in the accident. It gave Lily and me something to live for.
My trip down memory lane was cut short by the buzzing of my cell phone. Digging deep in the pocket of my jacket, I answered the call as soon as I saw it was Hawk.
“What did you find?” I asked, standing up and brushing the sand off my jeans. “Has anyone seen Lily?”
Hawk had gotten his patch a couple of years ago and made it his business to watch over the members and their families. Whenever something happened, the first person we called was Hawk, because he could find information faster than anyone else. That’s why when I got home last night after the Blue Dog closed and saw that Lily was gone again, I called Hawk.
“Chalupa said that he saw her down at the Point with that Las Balas prospect again.”
Dammit. What the fuck was she doing with them? She knew full well the Las Balas were bad news. Why the hell would she start hanging out with one of our sworn enemies?
“There’s nothing more dangerous than a sixteen-year-old girl with a woman’s body and a rebellious attitude.” That’s what Yoda told me the first time she ran off like this.
I growled with rage, but just said, “Thanks, Hawk. I’m going to head back to the complex and wait for her there.” I had half a mind to head down to the Point, but she probably wasn’t there anymore. She was probably at that scumbag’s place, letting him put his sweaty hands all over her.
Just the thought of that caused fury to coil in my belly. My hands twitched and became fists. That fucker better be glad I have a little bit of self-control. Otherwise, he’d be dead before he could even beg for mercy.
As I turned to walk back to my bike, I saw a blonde beach bunny kissing a guy in a wetsuit and heard her say, “Let’s get a smoothie before class…”
That should have been Lily. I should have been able to give her a better life so she’d be thinking about college and smoothies, not risking her life in the middle of an MC war.
“Maybe it’s not too late,” I said to no one. “Maybe it’s t
ime to make some changes.”
Two
Paige
“I don’t know why you don’t just listen to Mom and Dad.”
My sister was sitting across from me at the outdoor table at the little coffee place down the street from our house. There was a yellow and black awning providing shade, and we were surrounded by people enjoying the sunshine and having a croissant before tennis or shopping or whatever their plans were this Saturday morning. My sister was sipping a cappuccino and keeping an eye out for cute guys.
“You’re one to talk, Bailey. How many times have they told you not to drink coffee at sixteen years old?” I grinned as I said it, because we’d both heard it a thousand times.
“Because it will stunt your growth…” we both said in unison, mocking our mother’s voice before breaking out laughing.
Bailey was eight years younger than me, a “surprise” that my parents tried to play off as a gift to me. “You get to be a big sister!” they’d said.
It was only later that my mother admitted to me that they’d had her because my dad had an affair with one of his OR nurses, and the “punishment” was that she would finally get the second baby she’d wanted all along. Bailey and I had been as close as sisters who were eight years apart could be. Now, looking at her, wearing her MAC makeup and a tight tank top over designer jeans, I wondered if she knew how lucky she was. My parents had spoiled her because of their guilt and anger over the affair.
She took a big sip of the coffee as if to make a point. “Right, but drinking coffee is a lot less dangerous than what you’re planning. I don’t know why you don’t just go to grad school, become a social worker, and change the world that way. Mom and Dad are right about this, Paige. You don’t have to put yourself at risk to help other people.”
I’d been hearing the same thing from my parents ever since I graduated from USC. “Go to grad school, Paige. You can affect far more people with an education than you can without one.”
While I saw the logic in that, I was sick of hearing it. After graduating, I got a job at the free clinic in the nearby city of Terrance and spent my days working with women and girls who couldn’t go to their parents for things like birth control or STD treatments. Many of them showed up pregnant and totally scared.
I was well aware of how lucky Bailey and I were. We were raised in Verde Hills, one of the wealthiest beach communities in LA. I went to a private college and had all my expenses covered. Bailey was on track to do the same thing, although she was more likely to go to UCLA and study law.
Terrance wasn’t exactly a bad neighborhood, but it did have some seedy areas. Working with the disadvantaged community there had sparked a passion in me to help people who didn’t have the country club upbringing Bailey and I had. I wanted to help make a difference where it was needed, not sit in some classroom writing papers about it.
I took a sip of my cold brew and shook my head. “I don’t know why you guys keep saying it’s dangerous. It’s La Playa, for fuck’s sake, not Tijuana. People choose to live there!”
“Yeah, people who go to Cal State La Playa. That’s not what you’re doing. You want to move to the worst neighborhood in all of La Playa, and what? Get a job as a waitress? Is that why you went to college?” Bailey was talking to me, but her eyes were following a couple of young men as they got into a BMW convertible. “Hey, Chad.”
They nodded hello before putting on sunglasses and pulling out of the parking space next to the cafe. Guys like that had no idea what it was like to work a minimum wage job for years to save up for a beat-up used car. In Verde Hills, most kids got a new car for their sixteenth birthday. Even I did, although it was a Honda and not the Porsche I’d asked for.
I sighed before pushing my chair out and standing up. There was no use talking to Bailey or anyone else about this. My family didn’t understand at all. I’d seen things that they didn’t want to see. I was a lot tougher and more streetwise than they gave me credit for. “You sound like Mom.” I threw away the plastic cup and headed to the car as Bailey followed me.
No, if I was going to do this—move to La Playa and help the people who needed it the most—I was going to have to do it on my own.
Three
Ryder
“Where the fuck have you been?”
I was sitting on the couch watching Cops when Lily finally came in. I’d heard the bike pull up and the engine cut a couple of minutes before, and it took all my self restraint to sit in here and not kill the guy with my bare hands.
“None of your fuckin’ business,” she said, throwing her keys in the bowl next to the door. Her hair was dark brown and curly like our mom’s had been, and it was tied back in a braid. She wore jeans and the same top she’d been wearing when I dropped her off at school yesterday. The material was too thin for her to have been warm all night, which meant that the asshole she was with probably lent her his jacket.
The idea of my sister wearing a Las Balas jacket made me want to puke. “It is too my fuckin’ business Lily. You have no idea what you’re dealing with. The Las Balas are bad people. When they see someone like you, they only want one thing.”
She was standing with her back to me in front of the open refrigerator, drinking orange juice straight from the carton. I marched over there and grabbed it out of her hand. “Stop that shit, Lily. It’s disgusting.”
She looked up at me, and for a moment I saw the little girl she once was. Those big brown eyes had once been innocent and trusting. One drunk driver had ended that for her when our parents died. What looked back at me now was an angry face, with a hard-set jaw and a bottom lip that stuck out defiantly.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Ryder. Scorpion loves me. And when he gets his patch and becomes a member of Las Balas, we’re gonna move in together and you won’t have to worry about me anymore. I won’t be your problem.” She stomped off to her room, leaving me holding the empty container of orange juice.
There was no way in hell my sixteen-year-old sister was moving in with a twenty-year-old prospect. I’d kill him before that happened. He didn’t fucking love her, that was for sure. The only question was, why was he with her? Yeah, she was beautiful and young. Any guy with a dick would want to hit that (she’s my sister, but everyone is somebody’s sister and I’m not an idiot). She was also the kid sister of the Vice President of Outlaw Souls. There were tons of girls whose pants you can get into.The fact that she was my sister had to mean something.
But there was no point in getting into that now. Lily was home and was safe. Maybe I’d talk to Padre and see what we could do about keeping Lily from getting too close to the Las Balas. They were responsible for some of the worst crimes in La Playa. If a kid got sex trafficked or someone OD’d from dirty drugs, it was likely the Las Balas who were behind it. Don’t get me wrong— the Outlaw Souls were not saints. We got our name when our founder stabbed three guys to death with a filero knife in a street fight in downtown La Playa in the 1970s. But sex trafficking and shit? That was low even for Outlaws.
Throwing the empty carton in the trash, I went into the living room to crash on the couch. It has been a long night, and now that Lily was home, I might be able to catch a few hours of sleep before heading to the bar later for our meeting.
“Where the hell is everyone?”
I pushed open the door to the back room of the Blue Dog Saloon. Padre’s brother owned the place, and the back room was where we held our meetings. Yoda called it “the chapel,” but the rest of us just called it “the back.”
The only ones in the room were Swole and Yoda. “I think they got stuck in traffic,” Swole said.
“All of them?” That wasn’t likely, unless there was a ride and I wasn’t aware of one.
“There was a car crash on the 710,” Yoda said. “Couple people killed by a drunk driver. They shut down the freeway.”
My stomach tightened when I heard that. It had been years since my parents’ car crash, but the memory of it was still fresh.
I yanked out a chair and twisted off the top of my Coke. Looking at my phone, I saw that it was only five minutes after. Per the rules, we had to sit here for twenty minutes and needed a minimum of five members to hold the meeting. Since I was the VP, if Padre didn’t show, I’d have to run it.
“I hope they get here soon,” Swole said. “Tammy is making dinner for us. It’s our anniversary.” Swole had pledged with us right after I did, and she was the first female member in the history of the club. There’d been a lot of arguments about whether to let women in. But she was a badass who fought like a dude, and that’s why we put her in charge of security. A lot of guys tended to underestimate Swole until she had them in a chokehold.
“How’s that adoption thing going?” I asked. She and Tammy had put in an application to adopt, but they hadn’t heard back from the social worker. It was likely going to be hard for them to get approved because of her association with Outlaw Souls. Of course, there was no official association, but our MC was pretty well known in La Playa.