Claiming Mine (Unforgiven Riders MC Book 1)

by Amy Davies

  “So how was Ace last night? Did he sleep well, or did you go at it all night long?” He winks at me, making me blush. Grace gurgles, dragging my attention from her unfiltered dad.

  “He’s fine. I left him sleeping. I know he’s been struggling lately.” Batch nods while rubbing the baby’s back. I smile at the action. “You’re a good father, Batch. You’ll make a great husband one day.” His response surprises me.

  “I hope so, babe. I really fucking hope so.” My eyes widen at his words.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’m sick of shagging nameless girls or the club girls. I want to find someone with stability. I have to think of Grace, long term.”

  “That’s good, Batch.” I sip my tea, watching him interact with his little girl. She’s only a baby but she has all the boys wrapped around her little finger. If one of the club girls come anywhere near her while she’s with a brother, she screams the place down.

  “Yeah, babe, she needs to come first.” He nods down to the baby.

  “Call my woman ‘babe’ once more, fucker, and see what happens,” Ace says sleepily as he walks into the kitchen.

  “Language, honey. I swear that girl’s first word is going to be a swear word.” The boys chuckle and Ace leans in and kisses me. Not a quick peck either. He savours the morning kiss.

  “Morning, baby. You sleep okay?” he asks as he makes his coffee.

  “I did. Did you?”

  “Yep, but it was shitty waking up without you. Wake me up next time.”

  “God, language. Honey, you needed sleep so I left you and came down here. Do you want breakfast? I can make you boys something.”

  “You sure, Mouse? It’s your day off from the cafe, so I wouldn’t expect you to cook for us here.”

  “Honestly, it’s fine, Batch. Full breakfast for you both?” I ask them again.

  “Yeah, babe, that’d be great.”

  I make the boys their breakfast and some for myself. I don’t eat like these big oafs. They get the works; bacon, egg, sausage, beans, toast, fried bread, tomatoes and mushrooms. Me, well I have some fruit and yogurt.

  We sit and talk for a while, not really anything of special topic—besides Grace’s mother has text Batch about seeing her daughter. It’s a few hours later when the club start to wake up, and me being the cook of the club, I make a huge amount of breakfast foods for the boys and the old ladies. One or two club girls are still there, but they give us a wide berth.

  I rest against Ace, who is leaning against the kitchen counter, and take in the group—no, not group, a family. I see now that I do belong here with them. With Ace McGowan.

  Ace

  Shit around the club has been mental. I haven’t seen Ana in three days. I miss her like fucking crazy. The feel of her against me, the taste of her on my tongue, how she manages to leave a lasting impression on my cock for days after it has been inside her… We were happily chilling in her bed, after I had just fucked her in the shower, when Dyson phoned telling me this suit guy had attacked again, this time Eva had been hurt. Not as badly as Sienna, but still hurt.

  This fucker is really starting to fuck me off. The boys are all sitting around the large table in the upstairs office, Suede at the head, looking angry as fuck.

  “This twat needs to be found and put six feet under. He keeps hurting these girls, but none can catch him. What the hell is up with that?” he bellows out.

  “Prez, he’s like a fucking ghost. He comes in, makes his play, leaves his mark, and poof… vanishes,” EC explains. Suede slams his fist onto the table top, making the table shake. I don’t flinch. I’m used to his outbursts. We’re all worried about the girls, so much so we’ve tripled up the boys who guard there at night.

  I’m missing my fucking girl because I’ve been here at Silk, watching people, or trying to find this ‘suit’ via my street connections. I’ve reached out to a few other MC’s, and none of them have been having the same shit as us, so this makes me think it’s personal.

  “ACE.” My names is yelled, but again I don’t flinch. I slowly turn my head towards Suede, who’s glaring at me. “You listening or not?” I nod. “Well listen up and get your head out of your girl’s pussy for five fucking minutes and fill us in on what you’ve found out.”

  “One: don’t ever refer to my girl’s pussy again. Prez, I will knock you the fuck out. Two: the surrounding MC’s haven’t had fuck all happen to them, so I’m thinking this bloke is targeting Silk because we own it. No clue why yet. I’ll do some more digging.” Suede cocks a bushy brow at me before he speaks.

  “Okay, following on your little rant… One: you could fucking try.” I smirk at him. “Two: get Click on it too; see what she can drag up.” I nod. Click is an old member’s daughter. She’s only nineteen but she can hack any computer system she gets her hands on. She’s protected by the club but doesn’t come around the clubhouse much, mainly just for family functions. Her dad is still a patched member but isn’t active due to an injury.

  I look over to EC and see his face light up at the sound of her name. EC has some hidden feelings for Click, also known as Mae Holden. I cock an eyebrow at him when his gaze catches mine. He smirks at me and rubs his hands over his thighs. EC is one of our younger members, at twenty-two, but the fucking ladies love him, the dirty bastard.

  “Dyson, have you checked out the security cameras from the back alley when Eva was attacked?”

  “Yeah, can’t see fuck all.” Rage crosses Dyson’s face. Fuck, rage fills us all. These girls are here making a living, not hurting anyone, and some dumb fuck is trying to force them into leaving here and working for him, doing God knows what.

  A scream snatches our attention. I slam my chair back and run down the stairs, knowing my brothers are following me. We follow the screams out to the back doorway. Lacey is standing just outside the door. Her hand is over her mouth, her body visibly shaking as she stares down at the floor. I grip her shoulders and shake her making her look at me.

  “What happened, Lace?” Her fearful eyes lock on mine, before dropping to the floor again. I follow her gaze and see what has her shaking like a leaf. My stomach rolls, but I force the sensation down.

  “Fuck,” I mutter, and run my hand over my beard. I close my eyes and try to control my rage.

  The boys come barrelling out of the door and all stop in their tracks when they see what I’m seeing.

  “Holy shit,” Maze mutters, before dropping to Eliza’s bloody body. We stand and watch as he checks her pulse. His head drops, and we all know the answer to the next words that will be spoken.

  “She’s dead,” he whispers. We all loved Eliza; she was a good girl. Lacey lets out a full, grunting sob. I turn to look at her, just as she starts to fall to the floor. But Court catches her. He lifts her off her feet.

  “Take her up to the office and get a strong drink,” Suede tells Court, who nods and steps inside. We all stand around, looking down at Eliza’s body. The air is thick, because we know we need to retaliate for this. This fucker needs to be gone. Now.

  Maze stands, still looking down.

  “We need to call nine-nine-nine, Prez. This is bad. This…” He points down to the body. “We can’t hide.” Some of the boy’s nod in agreement.

  “Do it.” He turns to Dyson. “Make sure there’s nothing dark in there.” He points to the club. ‘Dark’ is our code for anything illegal. Dyson leaves us in the alley to make sure everything is clean inside. Suede pulls out his phone and dials up Officer Daren Horton. He’s a friend of the club since we helped him out a few years back with his sister’s dickhead husband.

  “Dare, we have a situation. I’m letting you know before I dial the numbers. One of the girls at Silk has turned up dead behind the club. We thought we should call it in.” With that, he hangs up and dials the officials. Not ten minutes later the sirens fill the air and the red and blue lights flash off the buildings. The police take statements and check over the CCTV footage, but they only see a guy dressed in a black
suit. We never see a face.

  My anger builds with every passing minute we don’t find the guy. I pull out my phone and send a text to Click.

  ME: I need you at the clubhouse tomorrow morning.

  Click: Hello to you, too, Ace. How are you? I’m okay. Thanks for asking.

  ME: Smartarse. There’s been another attack at Silks. I need your help, Click.

  Click: Who?

  ME: Eliza was killed tonight.

  Click: I’ll be there by eleven. I have a class @9

  ME: Nice one.

  I lock my phone and put it back in my pocket, before walking around the bar and picking up a bottle of Jack Daniels and taking a mouthful. The liquid burns as it goes down, but then again, the first taste always does. I drink back another, this time savouring the flavour.

  I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing the image of the bloody and beaten body of Eliza out of my head. I lift the bottle and tip it back, opening my throat to let the liquid slide down. I don’t taste it this time. I just want to forget.

  “Slow there, brother,” Batch says, taking the stool next to me.

  “Nah, don’t think I will.” Who the fuck does he think he is telling me to slow down?

  “So are you planning on getting absolutely smashed and crashing here? With Asia flapping around?” He nods in her direction. Asia is a fucking cunt, plain and simple, but the customers love her. None of the brothers have slept with her because they reckon she’s a snake and will swallow them whole.

  “Fucking hell.” I slide the bottle across the bar towards my brother. He chuckles.

  “Yeah, thought so.”

  “Prick.” I climb off the stool and head outside, nodding in the direction of my brothers as I leave. I text Ana to see if she’s awake—I need my girl right now—but see it’s after three a.m. Bollocks. I climb on my bike and start her up. Maybe a long ride will clear my thoughts.

  So much has happened in the last month, and if I’m being honest it’s fucking with my head. I’m being pulling in a million fucking directions and something needs to give. We need to find the cocksucker who’s hurting the girls so we can go back to a semi-peaceful MC, and I can go to fucking my girl whenever I see fucking fit, and not go for days without seeing her.

  My phone vibrates in my pocket, so I pull over to check who it’s from. I hope to hell it’s from Ana, but my stomach churns when I see it’s from Click.

  Click: Click the link.

  I click on the link and there’s a short video clip of a black BMW X5. Three men in suits climb out and step towards Silk. That’s where the footage stops, but we get a good look at their faces. My phone dings again. It’s another link. I click it and watch again. This time the video shows the same three men in suits walk back to their car, but this time, one of the men has blood covering his shirt and part of his jacket, and both hands.

  “Fucking cunt.” These are the ones that hurt Eliza. I will fucking find them and put them into the ground. She didn’t deserve this. She was hurt because of us; the club. The club will pay for her funeral, since she didn’t have any family.

  ME: Find them.

  I send a text back to Click. I know she won’t let me down. She’ll find these fuckers. Even though she isn’t heavily in the club, she’s still very loyal to its members. I send a text to all my brothers telling them to meet me at the clubhouse, so I can tell them what Click found. I tuck my phone away and make my way back to the clubhouse where most of the boys should be waiting for me.

  I pull up at the compound and Bull opens the gates for me. I nod at him as I drive in and park my bike next to Dyson’s. Knew they would be here. I walk up and push through the door, seeing the room is pretty much empty. Everyone is mourning Eliza. Like I said, she was well liked in the club.

  “Everyone’s in church, Ace,” Ditch says from behind the bar. I walk down the hall to the one room only patched members are allowed to enter. The boys are sitting around the table when I get there. I take a look at each of them, their faces show pure rage over what happened tonight.

  Suede bangs the gavel and speaks to the room. “Okay, Ace, you wanted us here. What have you found out?”

  “Click found something. She sent CCTV footage of three fuckers in suits. They drive up a few buildings away from Silk. They walk in the club’s direction, then a few minutes later they walk back to the car. One suit is covered in blood, blood we can assume is Eliza’s.”

  “Can we get an ID on these wank-stains?”

  I nod. “I have Click working on it. You get to see two of the guys’ faces. She’s running it now. She’s also coming to the club tomorrow at eleven to do more digging.” I see the boys nod.

  “She can do it. She can do fucking anything.” EC sings her praises. ‘Pussy whipped’ gets muttered, and we all laugh. “Fuckers. You all know how good she is at hacking.”

  “Hell yeah, she is. Just be careful because she may hack up her stomach when she sees that tiny cock of yours, since, you know, she’s a little nerdy virgin and all. But then again, maybe she does need a big, fat cock to show her the way,” Court pipes in from across the table. EC’s face goes red, and he slams his chair back as he stands.

  “Fuck you, Court. You don’t say shit like that about her. I’ll slit your fucking throat, I swear to fucking God.”

  “I’d love to see you try, pretty boy,” Court taunts. EC bolts around the table, but Maze catches him before he gets close.

  “Enough!” Suede bellows. “Jesus fucking Christ, how old are you two? Fucking toddlers, I tell you. EC, sit the fuck down. Court, shut your trap and stop pissing him off. We know Click don’t like the pretty boys anyway.” The room erupts into laughter, easing the heavy tension between the two men.

  “Piss off, Prez. I don’t like her like that, man,” EC grumbles, looking down at the table top.

  “If you say so, brother,” Suede jests back.

  We run over a few more things before church comes to a close. I go to my room, declining a drink with the boys. I’m fucking shattered; I need sleep. My eyes burn like hell, my body aches. I close the door behind me and manage to undress before I collapse onto my bed and sleep takes me under.

  I dream of my brown-haired girl walking towards me with a beautiful brown-haired little girl.

  Ana

  Four days. Four bloody days since I’ve seen Ace. My man—or so I thought. He has barely text or called me, and when he does, it’s at stupid times of the night when I’m sleeping like the rest of the UK. I shake my head and look down at the menu while Zarah gets our drinks from the bar.

  We’re at the pub having a meal tonight after working our arses off at the cafe. There is a building being completely renovated in town and all the builders are coming into the cafe throughout the day, wanting food or cold drinks, since we are having a heatwave. Everyone is suffering with it. The UK doesn’t know how to cope with this kind of heat. Whether it’s hot or cold, the UK shuts down.

  My mustard-coloured dress is sticking to my skin because of the heat. I pull a hair-tie out of my bag and put my hair up in a messy bun to keep it off my neck. The bare skin there feels cooler now, and I sigh in relief.

  I fiddle with the necklace around my neck. It was a gift from my mum for my birthday one year. It’s a simple, thin silver chain, with a pretty silver feather pendant. Zarah got a similar necklace but with a rose pendant.

  I reach into my bag and pull out my phone to see if I’ve had anything from Ace. I can't hide the disappointment when I see there’s still nothing from him. Zarah sets our drinks down on the table with a huff.

  “Still nothing?” I shake my head. “Typical man. Bloody hell, it’s so damn hot in here.”

  “Don’t moan, because you would be moaning if it was raining as well,” I snark back, smiling at her before taking a sip of my ice-cold strawberry and lime Kopparberg. You have to drink it with ice.

  “True, but we’re British and we moan about everything.” She winks at me. “So, what are you looking to get to eat?”

&n
bsp; “No clue. I’m too hot to eat, but I know I need to eat something.” We both sit quietly, looking over the menu. To be honest I think we’re both ready to crash for the night. My eyes flick between the menu and my phone sitting on top of the table. I know what’s on the menu, I just can’t decide what to actually eat. A yawn breaks out and Zarah laughs.

  “Tired?”

  “Like you wouldn’t believe,” I answer her.

  “Then you need sleep, baby.” I close my eyes as his voice laces my body. I shiver as Ace slides into the booth next to me. His arm wraps around my waist, pulling me to him. I turn my head to look at him and take in his handsome face.

  He looks tired but happy. His beard needs a trim and he has slight bags under his eyes. I reach up and cup his cheek. Our gazes lock. Ace smiles a smile at me that tells me he missed me, too, but that doesn’t stomp out the anger from the loss of contact from him. I drop my hand and turn to face Zarah, who’s now sitting next to EC. I didn’t even see him sit with us.

  “Hey, EC.”

  “Mouse.” That poxy nickname the brothers have given me… I shake my head and smile at him. Ace growls next to me, making EC’s smile get wider. He really is a handsome bloke.

  “Why the fuck does he get a smile and I don’t? I’m your man, not him.”

  “My man? So why hasn’t my man contacted me in three days?”

  “Club business,” is all he says.

  “Well that explains a lot,” I say sarcastically. I cross my arms across my chest, and I notice EC’s eyes track the movement.

  “Hey, fucker. Eyes off, yeah.” Ace puts his fingers under my chin and turns my face to meet his gaze. “Baby, we had shit to deal with that I can’t fully talk to you about. That is how the club works; you know that.” I can hear the tiredness and anguish in his voice. What the hell has happened in the club? See, this is one of the things I dislike about the club. I like to know things, and the club rules say old ladies are to be told shit unless they’re in dire need to know the information.